Crisis on Infinite Earths: The Brave New World

by Ghost-and-Miracle42

Answer to Charmed-MilliE and Sigma's Super Shipping Challenge. With Crisis over, the Paragons sit down to discover all the things that have changed in their new world, and its a lot more than they imagined. Explore the new secret histories of Earth-Prime, and discover the stories Oliver reimagined with his final sacrifice. Karry.

2. The Legion of Superheroes

PART TWO: THE LEGION OF SUPERHEROES

---

The Present...

"You brought me flowers?" Kara asked with a sly smile. Barry blushed, scratching at the back of his head.

"I suppose I did." Kara raised her hand to her mouth to hide a giggle. Then she paused. Sitting on her left index finger was a ring. A gold ring. With an L and a star symbol imprinted on it.

"The Legion!" She exclaimed, holding her hand away from her face to stare at the ring. How had she not noticed she was wearing it? Mon had one exactly like it… so did Brainy. Why did she have one?

Barry grabbed her hand and stared at it.

"That's cool. What is it?"

"It's a Legion Ring. But I never got one…" She trailed off, eyes flickering to Ray, who was trying not to laugh.

"What?"

Still struggling, he lifted up his own hand and showcased a similar golden ring on his own finger. Then he grabbed Sara's hand and held it up. The same ring, identical to theirs, sat there, glinting in the light.

"How did I not notice that?" Sara whispered.

"Wow," Barry said, holding up his own hand, "Wait, mine's different." Kara stared closer at her ring, and her jaw fell open just a tad. The star wasn't a star at all. It was her 'S' symbol. She glanced at Barry's and saw his star was replaced by a lightning bolt.

"I suppose that brings us to the next big change," Cisco said, gesturing to his timeline. The next black circle was marked 'Trinity Crossover: December 2015,' and saw the green, pink and red lines all meet up for the first time.

"Trinity?" J'onn asked, stumped.

"Supergirl, The Flash and the Green Arrow," Cisco, Dig, Alex and Ray said in unison.

"What?"

Cisco rolled his eyes. "In May 2015, Eddie Thawne killed himself to erase the Reverse-Flash, Eobard Thawne, from existence. Eddie being his ancestor, if he died, then Eobard would never be born. We thought that was the end of the Reverse-Flash. What we didn't know at the time, was that Thawne had been preserved thanks to his connection to the Negative Speed Force. The opposing force to Barry's own powers. As a result, Barry can't defeat Thawne, and Thawne can't defeat Barry. So, Thawne has made it his mission to screw with Barry's life as much as superhumanly possible. We've been dealing with incarnation after incarnation of the Reverse-Flash ever since. Every time we take him out, he just pops back up again." Barry growled in the back of his throat.

"Imagine that," he said, casting his gaze around the table. "A villain that you can't defeat, because the cosmic balance won't let you. The same person who killed your mother and sent your father to prison. Who corrupted your daughter and then erased her from existence? You can't defeat him, and he can't defeat you. Locked in an eternal loop."

No one had an answer to that. Even Kara.

"So, um," Cisco continued, "the second time the Reverse Flash appeared in this new timeline was in Barry's second year as the Flash, shortly after his back was broken by Zoom."

"Wait your back was broken?" Kara exclaimed, punching him the shoulder, "Why did you never tell me that?!"

"It never came up?" He said, rubbing where Kara hit him.

"No!"

"Um, I broke my back fighting an evil speedster from another Earth called Zoom who was actually pretending to be my friend Jay, who was really a time-remnant of the original Zoom whose name was Hunter Zoloman. That cover everything?"

Kara narrowed her eyes at him, "We will be having words later." Barry lowered his head, gesturing for Cisco to please continue.

"It was just after Kara defeated her aunt Astra for the first time. Thawne… the Reverse-Flash… we think this was one of his first attempts to travel through time, so he wasn't too prepared for what happened next…"

---

SUPERGIRL: S1EP09 – THE WORLD'S FINEST

December 2015

Kara stood up from her desk at Catco Worldwide Media, clipboard in hand, and stepped into her boss's office on one beautiful Monday evening in National City.

Cat Grant's office, it should be noted, is not like ordinary people's offices. No. Her office is a shrine to her supreme awesomeness. A dozen TV's of different shapes and sizes are positioned on the wall behind her white modern art-deco style desk, all of them featuring one of Catco's many media channels. Catco 24/7 Worldwide News, Cat Corp News, Channel 52… even Cat TV (a children's channel) could be seen on one of the screens. And sitting, framed by the wall of news, was Cat Grant herself, typing rapidly into her computer.

Cat liked to write the 'big' superhero stories for Catco Magazine herself. Right now, her big story was coming not from Supergirl, but from Central City's guardian: The Flash. Cat had lamented to Kara when the Flash had first been sighted and named about how his name sounded like someone jumping out of an ally in a trench coat. Kara had been highly offended by this, as she knew that Oliver had actually suggested the Flash, and Kara had secretly hinted the name to Iris, who had coined Barry's superhero alter-ego). Then she had gone on to complain that National City didn't have a superhero of its own. Well, National had a superhero of its own now. That didn't stop Cat Grant from writing about other heroes, however. No. She had written headline stories about Superman's fight against General Zod in May, and she'd covered the Starling City Siege by travelling to the city herself undercover. Kara had had a heart attack when Cat quite simply vanished off the face of the Earth for an entire week leaving nothing but a firmly worded sticky note on Kara's desk saying that if she called the police, she'd be fired. Now her target was the Flash's recent battle, and defeat, at the hand of the demonic speedster known as 'Zoom'.

Kara was trying very hard not to defend her sort-of-not-really-boy-friend to her boss. It was complicated. She'd flown to Central City in hysterics after she'd seen Zoom carrying what looked like Barry's corpse and parading it on live TV. By the time she got there, Zoom had been gone – returned to a place called 'Earth 2'. Barry, fortunately, had woken up soon later, and he was now walking again. She knew Oliver had called as well, but he was dealing with some magical psycho named Damien Darhk. Clark had pulled her aside when she came out as Supergirl and warned her rather forcefully of their weakness against magic, so Kara had decided that avoiding Starling City while Oliver dealt with… well, whatever his latest bad guy wanted was a good idea. Besides, she was kind of busy herself. Astra and her alien army were still out there, and she had no idea what their plan was, or when they would attack again. Clark had asked if she needed help, but she'd told him she had things handled. He was busy dealing with Lex Luthor at the moment and didn't need the distraction Astra's army would provide. Kara could handle it.

Cat, however…

"I read over the article as you asked Miss Grant," Kara said carefully, handing the dossier over to her boss. Cat took it without looking up, and Kara turned to leave.

"Well, Kiera? What do you have to say?"

Kara winced. So much for getting out of this the easy way.

"Your prose was exquisite as always Miss Grant, and I thought your humanising the Flash was a good choice."

"Kiera, I was recently talking to Sean Bean, and he told me a quote that I found quite interesting. He said, "Anything before the word 'but' is bull crap." So, keep going…"

Miss Grant watched Game of Thrones? Actually, Sean Bean probably had just said it to her. That was far more likely.

"Well… I just thought maybe we should be trying to, I don't know, placate the public, not terrify them."

Miss Grant raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? And what happens when some metahuman monster smashes into their homes and goes on a killing spree?"

Kara swallowed, that comment striking a little close to home given Barry's family history. "I would hope they could trust the Flash to save them."

"But clearly, he is outmatched by this Zoom, character."

"I'm sure the Flash is working on a way to defeat Zoom, Miss Grant. We just have to have a little faith." Miss Grant narrowed her eyes at Kara.

"I hope, for Central City's sake, that you're right Kiera." Kara took that for the dismissal it was and made her way towards the door. Just as she was about to exit, the window on the far side of the bullpen surrounding Miss Grant's office exploded outwards. In its place, a shimmering blue portal began to form, red lightning crackling off it and catching a nearby computer. Everyone in the bullpen was stunned, even Kara. Dozens of people stood up from their desks or walked out of their separate offices to stare at the vortex, mouths gaping open. Miss Grant herself even stepped up behind Kara, taking her reading glasses off.

"I think you might have tempted fate, Miss Grant," Kara whispered, trying desperately to think of a way out of this one. Hank had only just used his shapeshifting powers to make Cat believe Kara wasn't Supergirl. If she changed now or took on whatever was trying to come through that thing, there would be no putting her identity back in the bottle.

James and Winn appeared beside them, and Kara glanced to James out of the corner of her eye. He nodded almost imperceptibly. He'd called Clark. But it would take time for Superman to get here, even at top speed. Perhaps she could stall? It depended on what came out of that thing. And she had a bad feeling this was more Barry's territory than hers. The lightning was a dead give-away.

A team of security guards arrived, pointing guns at the vortex. The portal convulsed slightly, collapsing in on itself, shrinking. Then, with a final pulse, it spat out a man, dressed in yellow. He rolled along the floor, groaning as he crashed into things, before finally coming to rest a few metres away from Kara, Winn, James and Cat.

"Ow. Wow. There really is no way to prepare for how disorientating that is," the man said, moaning as he stood up. The safeties on the guards' weapons all clicked off simultaneously, and Cat pushed her way past Kara to stand, hands-on-hips, in front of the intruder.

"Well, that was certainly an entrance. Very Tom Hiddleston. Who are you, and what do you want? If it's an interview, I'm free for two minutes at seven." The man in yellow ignored Cat. He wore a suit similar to Barry's, with an identical cowl and symbol, but his lightning bolt was red, and backwards. Oh no. Was this the man that killed Barry's mother? Barry had said Wells was a time-traveller, but he'd also told her the monster was dead. Erased from existence. How could he be here?

The Reverse-Flash, because that was the only person it could be, cracked his back then held his palm upwards.

"Gideon? Did we make it?"

A holographic blue head appeared in his hand, then spoke back.

"Yes, Dr Thawne. We have successfully travelled to National City in the year 2014, bypassing the Flash's temporal defences."

"Excellent." Crap. Definitely the Reverse-Flash. Fortunately, STAR Labs had their satellite tracking temporal anomalies at all times, so with any luck, Barry was already on his way here. She just had to stall for time.

"I am not the type of person one ignores, Doctor Thawne," Cat stated, glaring at the man. Finally, Thawne… Wells… whoever he was, looked up and stared at Cat. Or… actually past Cat. He was looking straight at Kara.

"Kara Danvers," Thawne said, smiling beneath his mask. Oh, she was in so much trouble this time, "Just the woman I wanted to see." He shot forward as a blur, red lightning sparking with every step. Kara braced herself, ready to dodge at superspeed, then froze at the last second. He hadn't called her Supergirl, hadn't called her Kara Zor El. He had called her Kara Danvers. He didn't know who she was!

She didn't react, instead letting Thawne grab her by the neck and speed into Cat's office, holding her high in the air as his lightning flickered around him, sparking off Cat's computer.

"Kara!" James yelled, rushing forward stupidly until Winn grabbed him by the wrist.

"Put her down!" Cat said, voice taking on that angry tone she usually reserved for firing people who had particularly pissed her off. The security guards pushed Cat out of the way and trained their weapons on the Reverse-Flash.

"Hold on a sec," Thawne whispered to her, then he sped off. He flashed around the room, stealing the guards' weapons and sending them all flying, then returned to his previous position so fast Kara didn't even hit the ground before he'd caught her again. The urge to use her powers and just cave the guy's chest in was particularly palpable right now.

Most of the other employees screamed and ran. Not Cat. She stood there unafraid. James and Winn remained too, though they looked slightly more frightened.

"Now, where were we?" He asked pleasantly.

"Why me?" she hissed.

Thawne chuckled softly.

"Because you married him."

"Put her down, or I swear…" Cat demanded, but Thawne cut her off.

"Or you'll do what? I can kill you with my bare hands. Watch as I kill your little assistant if you want an example." He turned back to Kara. Then raised his free hand and began to vibrate it. Somehow, she didn't think her invulnerability would protect her from that.

Just as she was about to move, she spotted a flicker in the corner of her eye and couldn't help the grin that split across her face. A figure in red slammed into Thawne, throwing him across the room and dropping Kara to the floor.

"Thawne! You died!" Barry yelled, sliding to a stop and pulling Kara to her feet. Thawne righted himself as well.

"Good to know." Barry ran at Thawne, and the two began chasing each other, running up the walls, across the roof, through the bullpen, all of it so fast even Kara could barely follow them. To everyone else, they appeared as yellow and red balls of lightning, chasing one another through the building.

Kara coughed dramatically as James grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards the exit with Miss Grant and Winn.

"Kara, what is happening?!" Cat demanded.

"My friend Barry. He works with the Flash," she lied, trying to hastily put together a believable story.

"And you never TOLD ME!"

"Really? We're doing this now?" James asked as they ran for Cat's private elevator. Winn slammed the button, and the doors opened slowly.

"Fair point." Barry and Thawne snapped back into real-time, facing one another, Barry standing protectively in front of the elevator as Kara and the others moved inside.

"Get them to safety K… Miss Danvers!" Barry said, vibrating his voice.

"I can break your time-barrier now Flash! You can't stop me from coming back again and again and again to try and destroy you, your friends, and your legacy!" Thawne yelled. "I will kill everyone you love!"

"Not while I'm here to stop you!" Thawne shot a blast of lightning at Barry, sending him flying across the room. The elevator doors finally closed, and they began to move down. Kara leaned against the glass wall and took several deep breaths.

"Are you okay?" Winn asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah," she said softly, trying to take everything in. She needed a way to get out of Cat's sight so she could help Barry with… whatever this was.

"Kiera, you and I need to have a long discussion," Cat said, staring at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I think Kara should go to the hospital Miss Grant," James said as the doors opened on the ground floor, "We need to make sure she's not injured."

Cat huffed. "Very well. But I expect you back tomorrow, where and when you will be telling me everything you know about the Flash." Cat stormed off, and once she was out of earshot, James and Winn both turned on her. Fortunately, she was already out of her clothes and flying back up the elevator shaft by the time they'd moved to demand answers.

Kara smashed through a window and flew up and into the office, but by the time she got there, the Reverse-Flash was gone. She landed on the ground, and Barry appeared beside her, pulling her into a hug.

"Thank god you're okay," he said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"I'm fine. What was that?"

"The Reverse-Flash. He killed my mother. He should be dead."

"Well he isn't, and now he's on the loose. Where did he go?"

Barry released her and stepped up to the broken window.

"I don't know. But… he seemed different somehow. More emotional. Every time I fought him as Wells, he was cold, calculating, always one step ahead…"

"He came out of some sort of portal. Could that explain it?" Barry threw his hands up in the air.

"Maybe. Cisco detected a massive tachyon surge coming from here, and the only time we've seen anything like that was when I've time travelled before. He must have come from the future. But how? He was erased from existence." He bit his lip, then stiffened.

"Oh, god."

"What?"

"Oliver." Barry flashed down the side of the building, bolting north faster than the speed of sound. Kara followed him in the air, heading straight for Starling City. So much for not going anywhere near it.

But the entire time she flew, one single sentence kept repeating itself in her mind, over and over and over again.

"Because you married him."

---

Barry ran up the coast so fast he left electrical burns on the road behind him. He ran so fast in fact that he left even Kara following in the air long behind him. Thawne! How was he back! He'd died. Barry himself had watched as he was erased from existence. He didn't understand it, but what he could understand was Thawne's words. "I will kill everyone you love." He had gone after Kara. Barry's future self must have done something to keep the Reverse-Flash trapped in the future. This version, however, he was still alive, must be from the past of the man Barry had known. That's why he had gone after Kara and not Barry's mother. He still thought he could win, and hadn't resorted to killing Barry's younger self yet. He wasn't sure whether this Thawne knew that Kara was Supergirl, or if he was the Flash, but he knew that future Wells had known Oliver Queen was the Green Arrow before he'd come back in time. He couldn't trust that this one didn't know the same thing.

Barry flashed into Starling City, slowing down so he could weave through the streets.

"Cisco! Patch me into the Arrow Cave!"

"Already done," Cisco's voice came over the comms, "Felicity you there?"

"Yep. Hey Barry, what's…"

"Where's Oliver!?"

"On a mission. He's fighting Damien Darhk…"

"Where?!"

"A warehouse on thirteenth and Alastor. What's going on?"

"The Reverse-Flash is coming after him."

"What?! I thought he was dead!"

"He's supposed to be," Kara's voice broke into the comm. "I'm two minutes behind, you're too fast for me…" Barry found the right street and phased inside the warehouse. The Green Arrow was pinned to a wall by Thawne, a man dressed in an elegant black suit and striking blonde hair standing with a thoughtful look on his face standing in the centre of the room – surrounded by dozens of men armed with automatic weapons. Dig and Thea were standing in a corner, somehow frozen in place.

"You're supposed to be dead," Oliver groaned.

"So I keep hearing," Thawne said. Barry threw a lightning bolt – silently thanking Jay for teaching him that trick – at Thawne, blasting him across the room.

"Well, this is entertaining," the well-dressed man, presumably Darhk, stated cheerfully. Oliver tried to pick himself up, but Darhk thrust his hand forward, and he too became immobilised. Telekinesis. That was a new one. A meta. Oliver should have called him.

Barry was too busy to deal with this guy now. Instead, he had his own arch-enemy to deal with.

Thawne had recovered and was now running full tilt at Barry, a horrific scowl on his face. Barry dove over Thawne, hitting the floor and sliding to his feet, before beginning another chase around the room.

"Well Mr Green Arrow," Darhk continued casually as if there weren't a speedster battle going on all around him, "You should really introduce me to your friends." He stepped up to Oliver and placed a hand on his chest.

Barry tried to peel away from Thawne, but the other speedster saw the move and used Barry's distraction to kick him off the roof and into free fall. He landed on his back in real-time, wincing in pain. Thawne ran up to him, kicking him at 900miles an hour and sending him into a wall.

That's when an entire section of the roof ripped away, and Kara Zor El drifted down into the factory, arms folded beneath her breasts.

"Let him go, or I melt your face," she said, eyes burning blue. Darhk sighed, then gestured to his men.

"Are you going to shoot her or just stand there like idiots?" Snapped back to reality, they all opened fire on Kara, who just shook her head and let them bounce off her invulnerable suit. Barry used the distraction to run at Darhk, kicking him at superspeed across the room, which seemed to release Oliver, Dig and Thea, while Kara swooped down, bulldozing through the armed men.

"Thanks," Oliver growled as Kara landed beside them. Thawne sped to a stop in front of them.

"The World's Finest," he faux bowed, "It's an honour."

"Arrow, Supergirl. Whatever you do, don't tell Thawne anything," came Cisco's voice, "This guy isn't the Thawne we know. Harry says he must be from an earlier point in the Reverse Flash's timeline, he doesn't know any of you yet."

"Understood," Oliver growled. Behind Thawne, Darhk finally got to his feet.

"Now it's a party!" He thrust his hands forward, and Kara, Barry and Oliver all went flying backwards. Barry recovered first, landing on his feet and dodging just in time to avoid a fist from the Reverse-Flash. He caught Thawne in the leg and kicked him forward, but he recovered, and they dissolved into a chase once more.

---

Kara felt like she'd been sucker-punched. And, considering it usually took another Kryptonian or a very large bomb to do that, she was kind of impressed with this Darhk person. Kind of. Wouldn't stop her from punching him. As Dig and Thea ran up to Oliver's side, she flew forward, intending to hit Darhk in the stomach then perhaps kick him into the roof. Instead, Darhk held up his hand, palm forward, and a force slammed into her, locking her in place.

"Huh," Darhk said, nodding to himself, "Wasn't sure that would work, but I'll take it."

Kara thrust herself forward faster and began to brute force her way through whatever power Darhk was using against her. Grunting with effort, he raised a second hand, and Kara ground to a halt, fist extended about a metre from Darhk's chest.

"Nice trick," she said, then powered up her heat vision and blasted him. He sailed back across the room, his clothes catching fire, and the magic holding Kara in place vanished. She accelerated forward and came to a stop standing over Darhk, who was coughing and dabbing at his clothes.

"Mine are cooler." She picked Darhk up by the shirt, then punched him once in the ribs at full strength. A boom echoed through the factory, temporarily overshadowing the sound of gunfire. Darhk slammed into the concrete so hard he left a human-shaped crater. Satisfied he was dealt with, she turned back to the battlefield. Oliver, Dig and Thea were finishing up with the goons, Green Arrow disarming the last one with a bolo arrow, Speedy then punching him in the side of the head. Kara stepped over to them, and together they watched as Barry and Thawne did battle around the room, moving as lightning.

"Is there anything you can do?" Oliver asked, arrow knocked to bow.

"They're moving too fast for me to keep up with," she said, trying to follow them. She could see the figures moving in the lightning, which was more than Oliver and the others could see no doubt, but she couldn't trace their movements as they ran around the building, instead only catching after images.

"Come on Barry… You can do this," she whispered, fists balled.

"What's he doing here?" Oliver asked softly.

"Came after you. He attacked me too."

"Head's up guys. I'm picking up another temporal anomaly, right on top of you."

Kara and Oliver looked to one another.

"Great," they said in unison. Another blue portal appeared in the wall of the factory, and the three vigilantes all trained their weapons on it as Kara stood in front of them defensively.

A flash of red and black emerged from the portal as it slammed shut, crashing into Kara and knocking her back into the others. They all went flying, but Kara righted herself in the air, and caught a glimpse of the… creature. Barry and Thawne both slid to a stop, also staring at it.

It was a… zombified version of the two speedsters. Wearing a Black suit and trailing ashen red lightning, its face was falling apart, teeth sharpened to a point.

"What the f?" Cisco breathed in her ear. Oliver, Dig and Thea jumped back to their feet.

"EOBARD THAWNE," The creature snarled, its voice grinding and baritone, possessing an echoing quality to it that left Kara feeling as though more than one person was talking out its mouth. "YOU WERE WARNED."

"Racer!" Thawne exclaimed, voice thick with fear, throwing a hate-filled glare at Barry.

"I'll never stop Flash. One day, I'll defeat you." Thawne raced away, and the Racer took off after him, leaving Barry to let out a long shaky breath, before collapsing to the ground.

"Flash!" Kara said, rushing over to Barry and placing a hand on his back.

Oliver moved towards the crater where Kara had punched Darhk.

"Um…" Thea asked, raising her hand, "Just, like, a few questions. What just happened, who was that, how does he know us, what was that thing, and we know Supergirl, and nobody told me?!"

"Damn it!" Oliver yelled, throwing his bow on the ground. Barry and Kara both looked towards him, then down at the crater. Darhk was gone.

---

Oliver led Barry and Kara to his new hideout, and they all slumped into chairs around the conference table. Kara had already called Clark to let him know the situation had been handled for the time being. Cisco and Caitlin were on a TV screen on the wall looking out at the table. It was at this point Oliver demanded answers. Answers neither Barry nor Kara had.

"But why come after us?" Oliver asked for perhaps the third time. "Does he know who we are?"

"I don't know," Barry said again.

"If it's not the same person, he must find out somehow. And he's going to come back. We need a way to stop him, and that other thing, Thawne called it the Racer."

"I SAID I DON'T KNOW OLIVER!" Barry shouted, eyes red. He sat up, shoving away his chair, and stormed away. Oliver and Kara watched him go, then Oliver turned on her.

"You need to talk to him, calm him down."

"Well if you hadn't riled him up in the first place," Kara snapped.

"Don't. You know that had nothing to do with me." She sighed, nodding her head. He was right after all.

"On the bright side," Caitlin said, "We detected a time-portal outside Starling. Looks like Thawne has returned to the future for now."

"Whatever Barry's future self-did to protect us, we need to figure out how Thawne got past it, and either repair it or replace it. Hopefully, lock him out permanently," Oliver said to the screen.

"Agreed," Cisco said, "We'll get right on it." Caitlin terminated the call, and Oliver moved to sit beside Kara.

"Spill Kara."

She looked Oliver in the eye and suppressed a shiver as she stared into his discerning gaze.

"Reverse-Flash. He… he said he came after me first because… because I married him." Oliver raised his brows.

"You married Barry?"

Kara shrugged. "I can't think of anyone else he might have meant."

He sat back in his chair and ran a hand through the stubble on his chin.

"Makes sense," he said thoughtfully, "If I was a villain that could time-travel, I'd probably go after Felicity. Find the most important person to my enemy and take them out before they can stop me."

"Thanks," she said dryly. Oliver frowned then.

"But he didn't know who you were?"

"No. If he had, he wouldn't have wasted time trying to taunt me. He had to know the only way to kill me would be to shove that vibrating hand through my chest before I could react. He also would have called me by my real name."

"Agreed," Oliver said, "Whatever future Thawne comes from, he knows Barry, and he knows me, but he doesn't know you. Your secret identity remains intact. I recommend you make sure it stays that way." She nodded solemnly.

"Is being married to him have you that unsettled?" he asked softly, leaning forward.

"No!" she exclaimed, shaking her head rapidly. "I… Barry is amazing and funny and brilliant and clever and… he's Barry. My Barry. But we haven't even gone on a date yet. How am I supposed to feel if I know something like that is preordained? I'm not sure I like the idea of marrying someone just because some message from the future told me too."

Oliver grinned, patting her hand in an odd display of affection.

"If I've learned one thing from Barry the past year, it's that nothing is certain. He can time-travel for crying out loud. He can go into the past or future and change things how he sees fit. I wouldn't take Thawne's words to mean anything. All it means is that you might have married him where he comes from. Don't let that force you to do anything. If you want to go out with Barry, do so because you want to, no other reason. Also, you're going to have to ask him, because we both know he'll never pluck up the courage to do it himself." He chuckled softly to himself.

"Wow. I'm giving dating advice to an alien now. This is not what I had planned when I got on that bloody boat all those years ago." He stood up and walked away.

---

Barry found himself staring at the mannequins that held Team Arrow's costumes, rolling things over in his mind. This was supposed to be his problem, and now Oliver and Kara were caught up in the thick of it. Not to mention, Zoom was still out there and could return any minute. He hated Thawne so much. The man had killed his mother, now he'd tried to kill his best friend, and his… God, why did everything have to be so fracking confusing! Why couldn't something in his life be easy? Here he was, a superhero trying to fight a time-travelling nemesis hellbent on killing him and his friends, and he still couldn't ask the girl he really liked on a date.

He supposed his biggest fear would be that she said no. That any blushes or smiles directed his way had just been him miss-reading the situation. That if he finally got up the courage to ask her, she'd reject him like Iris had, and it would ruin their friendship forever.

She probably would reject him. He was nothing compared to most of the people he knew. He made next to no money, was always late, and he still lived with his Dad. Not exactly a pretty enrapturing resume when she was a solar-powered goddess who could have any man she wanted.

Thawne had known something about her. Something that had made her his first target. Was it Barry's feelings for her? The way his heart tried to beat out of his chest whenever he laid eyes on her, or the way his stomach flipped when she laughed.

Grinding his teeth, he sat down on the stairs to Felicity's raised workstation and continued to stare.

"Hey," Kara's voice whispered as she sat down beside him and put her hand over his.

"Hey."

"How are you holding up?"

He sighed and rubbed his eyes with his free hand.

"Honestly? I'm a little bit tired, a little bit frustrated, a little bit terrified, and a whole lot of angry."

Kara lay her head on Barry's shoulder, and his stomach tried to jump out at him again.

"I get that," she said, "But right now, anger isn't going to help anyone. All anger does is cause you to lash out. We need you focussed and at your best. Oliver and I… we can't stop Thawne on our own. We need the Flash."

"Yeah I know," he said, breathing in the strawberry scent of her shampoo, "Every time I see his face… It just sends me back to that night all over again. Where I stood by and watched her die."

"I try not to sleep while I'm stressed because I know that if I do, my brain will conjure up nightmares. Force me to relive those final moments as before my planet was destroyed forever. I'm the last daughter of a dead world Barry, but you still have a family to live for. Don't let them down by letting revenge consume you."

Barry let out a long breath, and couldn't help leaning into her in an attempt to absorb some of her warmth.

"What would I do without you?" he whispered.

Kara swallowed, then swivelled her head to look Barry straight in the eye.

"I don't know," she said, voice taking on a breathy tone that sent Barry's blood flowing somewhere he really didn't want it going. "But I know what you can do with me?"

"What?"

"Have a drink with me," she said softly, and Barry forced himself not to freeze, to continue staring into those gorgeous eyes.

"I can't get drunk."

"You haven't had Kordathian Rum."

Barry laughed. "No, I suppose I haven't."

They drifted into silence, just staring at one another for… honestly Barry wasn't sure how long it was. All good moments come to an end, unfortunately.

"Temporal anomaly detected!"

"Guys, you're going to want to see this!" Felicity called. Barry and Kara disentangled from one another and rushed up to Felicity's workstation, Oliver coming up from another direction. They stopped in front of a TV screen showing a security feed of the parking lot outside and were just in time to see an honest to goodness space ship materialise out of nowhere and land on the asphalt.

"This is some serious Star Trek level awesomeness?" Cisco muttered.

"Um…" Felicity said, sitting stunned in her chair, "Do I call the others?"

"No," Oliver said, "Barry, Kara and I will handle this." They nodded and made their way towards the elevator, Cisco and Felicity's voices carrying in the background.

"BEST. TEAM-UP. EVER!"

---

The trio stepped out onto the street, staring at the space-ship in slight awe. It was easily the size of a house, shaped kind of like a two-pronged fork. A large glowing sphere structure connected to the bow between the two prongs, and the rear was comprised of some sort of engine Oliver couldn't even begin to describe.

"Do you recognise it?" Barry whispered to Kara. She shook her head.

"It's not Kryptonian, or any other species I've known. To be honest, it looks very Earth-like."

Oliver bit his lip and tensed his fingers around his bow.

"What now?" he asked.

"I think this is the point where they give their whole 'we come in peace' speech," Barry answered, deadly serious. Sure enough, a side door in the ships starboard side slid open, and a ramp extended down to the ground. Standing silhouetted in the doorway was a woman with a floor-length braid of golden hair. Not blonde hair – golden hair. Her outfit screamed military: a flak jacket, belt with numerous pouches and pockets, arm and leg guards, and combat style boots. Only the colour scheme was completely off. Her coat and boots were stark white, and the underclothes a vibrant red. Stitched on her shoulder was an image of Saturn. Her eyes glowed purple.

"Who are you?" Kara called out, standing with hands-on-hips slightly in front of Barry and Oliver.

"My name is Saturn Girl, commander of the Legion of Superheroes. I'm from the 25th century, and I need your help to save the timestream."

"Let me guess," Barry said, "from the Reverse-Flash?"

"Precisely."

"Why should we trust you?" Oliver shouted back. Saturn Girl smiled mischievously.

"Because you've always trusted me, Olly. I've known you since I was a little girl. Sorry, but I can't tell you everything. Time-travel rules. I'm sure Barry can explain those to you." Oliver flinched. She knew his name. Begrudgingly, he supposed it made sense to know who he was if she was a time-traveller. But he certainly didn't know her.

Saturn Girl rolled her eyes and laughed to herself.

"Okay. You want proof? Here's your proof." She unzipped her jacket and lifted up her shirt. Displayed on her abdomen was a series of Chinese characters. A mirror image of Oliver's own magical tattoo. He resisted the urge to start in surprise. He couldn't give this girl anything else to use against him.

"Satisfied?" She asked, clearly finding the whole situation incredibly humorous. "Then come aboard the Waverider, and let's get started."

---

The Present...

"Saturn Girl?" Kara asked, putting down her drink, "You mean Imra?"

"That doesn't sound like the Imra Ardeen we knew," J'onn said. Cisco just shrugged.

"I don't know. Earth 38 stuff." Alex was staring between the two of them with an odd look on her face.

"Really? How was she different?"

"Well for starters, she was a brunette, had a personality like cardboard and was like the equivalent of a space princess," Kara said snorting in derision.

"And she married her ex-boyfriend," J'onn said. Everyone nodded.

"What?!" Kara said, glaring at them, "She was!"

"So you guys don't…?" Alex trailed off, glancing between Barry and Kara, looking incredibly stumped.

"Wow. You don't know. That's a twister."

"Don't know what?" Barry and Kara asked in unison.

Alex opened her mouth, but J'onn held up a hand to forestall her.

"Wait," he said, "Let them learn it for themselves…"

---

THE FLASH: S4EP08 – THE LEGION OF SUPERHEROES (VARIOUS TIME PERIODS)

Saturn Girl led Barry, Kara and Oliver aboard her ship, the Waverider, and Barry had to try very hard not to utterly geek out. The ship was bigger on the inside! This was like living Star Wars, or Doctor Who. So what if he had superpowers? This was a spaceship that could travel through time!

And it looked kind of like STAR Labs. The walls were the same shade of chrome, though the doors and lights were all much more sci-fi. The walls had metal compartments – which looked suspiciously like the walls of the Gideon Room – embedded in them, but they didn't seem to have switches or buttons to open them. Barry had a feeling that, if he were to place his hand on the right place beside the compartment doors, they would open the same way as Thawne's hidden room.

They passed several corridors holding what looked like crew quarters, and one with a mess-hall, until finally they reached a bulkhead. Saturn Girl placed her hand on the wall beside the door, and just as he'd expected, it slid open. There were actually two doors. One that receded into the roof, and then the standard sliding door.

"Clever," Oliver muttered under his hood.

Kara bounded through the door and spun around, cape flaring.

"I've been on alien ships before, and this one is definitely not like those. It feels… human," she said, taking in the room.

"That's because it is," Saturn Girl said, leading the way onto what Barry assumed was the Bridge. It was a vast, open-plan space. The front was dominated by a captain's chair and a control console facing straight towards a large window. It seemed that the captain actually did the flying. 'Very human,' Barry silently agreed. Several more chairs – with overhead restraints – were arrayed behind the pilot, two with their own consoles and screens. Weapons and operations, perhaps? In the centre of the room was a large circular meeting table with a holographic display very similar to the Cortex in STAR Labs. On a raised and slightly closed-off section at the back of the room was what he guessed was an office for the Captain, with wooden walls, a large mahogany desk, and several shelves holding knickknacks and other objects that Barry couldn't identify.

"This ship, the Waverider, was one of five Time-ships built by the United Earth Authority in the 31st century. Us, the Legion of Superheroes, was founded to protect history from alteration by time-criminals and time-pirates, as well as provide superpowered support throughout the history of Earth when cataclysms occur, or, when Crisis events strike," she said.

"Crisis…" Barry whispered, shivering as his mind jumped to the future newspaper hidden in Star-Labs.

The pilot's chair swivelled around, revealing a man Kara's height, with blue skin and three glowing dots embedded within his forehead.

"Ah! The Leaguers. Excellent." He rose from his seat, then strode over to Barry, Kara and Oliver. Oliver reached for an arrow, and Barry grabbed his arm. The man didn't seem to notice, approaching Kara, then bowing to her.

"It truly is an honour Supergirl. Your heroic exploits are legend across history. I constructed my thesis on 21st-century history around your activities. My 17th degree from Metropolis Grand University." He took her hand and kissed it. Saturn Girl burst out laughing.

"Seriously, Brainy?"

"What?" Brainy exclaimed, straitening and holding his hands over his rib cage with fingers shaped like a diamond. "I am merely expressing admiration for the efforts of these heroic individuals and their dedication to saving the Earth. As a citizen of Earth, I am very much benefited by their continued acts to safeguard the planet. Therefore, a thank you is necessary." Barry raised an eyebrow, still watching Oliver, who was trying very hard to keep his face neutral. Kara had no such qualms. She giggled; patting 'Brainy' on the shoulder.

"It's alright. You're… um, well, you're welcome I guess."

Brainy looked positively thrilled.

"Guys, this is Querl Dox from the planet Colu. He's also known as…"

"Brainiac 5," Brainy said, looking Barry and Oliver over.

"We just call him Brainy."

"You're an alien?" Barry said, jaw-dropping open.

Brainy stiffened. "I am a techno-organic organism and twelfth level intellect from the planet Colu. As far as I am concerned, you are the aliens."

Barry threw his hands up, "Hey, no, I'm all good. You're just the first alien I've met aside from her," he said, pointing at Kara. Oliver ignored the conversation, instead walking towards the central table.

"So, if you're here to help us, then help us. Why is Thawne still alive, and how did he attack us?"

Barry and Kara looked to one another and rolled their eyes. Only Oliver Queen would not care about being on an alien space-ship. Saturn Girl, who was staring at Oliver with a look of resignation in her eyes, leaned over to Kara and whispered in her ear.

"So, he was always uptight?"

"Pretty much," Kara admitted.

"Vibe owes me ten bucks," she said, repressing a smirk.

"Well?" Oliver demanded, and Barry resisted the urge to laugh at his friend.

"Alright. Gideon?"

"Yes, Commander?" A giant holographic head appeared, hovering over the central console. Oliver jumped back, knocking an arrow in a single fluid movement and loosing. The broadhead sailed through the hologram and stuck, quivering, into the ship's wall.

"Don't put holes in my ship!" Brainy exclaimed, rushing over to pull the arrow out, before proceeding to caress the dented metal. "It's alright, he didn't mean to hurt you." Saturn Girl fell to her knees, cackling, and Kara raised a hand to her lips to hide her own laughter. Barry, however, was transfixed by the giant floating head. Gideon. The same technology that the Wells had used.

"Gideon?" Barry asked hesitantly, "Do you know me?"

"Of course. Barry Allen, Director of Central City Police: CSI Division and co-owner of STAR Labs. Also known as the Flash. Founding member of the…"

"Gideon!" Saturn Girl snapped, and the AI went silent.

"Nice try," she said, shaking her head at him.

"What!" he said in mock innocence, shrugging his shoulders.

"Someone tell me what that is!" Oliver fumed.

"Greetings Oliver Queen," Gideon said.

"Great!" Oliver exclaimed, pulling back his hood and mask, "Even the floating head knows who I am!"

"I am an artificial consciousness with access to 4000 years of historical records, Mr Queen. Your tenure as the Green Arrow is a matter of public record."

"Fantastic," he grumbled.

"Harrison Wells… Eobard Thawne. He had a version of you, Gideon," Barry said.

"Yes. My records indicate Eobard Thawne broke into the Hall of Justice and downloaded a version of my database in the year 2587."

Oliver stared at Gideon's floating head, then he grabbed the table and bashed his head into it.

"I give up! Why do I bother? I swear everyone knows who I am these days. Even people whose names I don't even know!"

Saturn Girl stepped up to Oliver and patted him on the back as Kara and Barry laughed. Brainy finally decided to return, an intense frown on his face and Oliver's arrow in his hand.

"I did not see my first meeting with the Green Arrow going quite like this."

"My name, Olly, is… is Imra. Imra Ardeen. I'm a metahuman telepath, and I met you for the first time when I was four. You gave me that tattoo when I was sixteen, the day before I ran away from home to join the Legion. The same day, you told me that when you were my age, you were a horrible person and that your only hope for me was to make better decisions than you. You can trust me." Oliver turned suddenly, looking Imra in the eye. Then his gaze flashed to Kara, then to Barry, then back to Imra, and he grinned.

"Okay. I'll trust you. For now."

What?

Barry glanced at Kara, but she just shrugged.

"Gideon," Brainy said, "Give them, the lowdown."

"Absolutely, Captain Dox." Gideon's head vanished, replaced by a hologram of Eobard Thawne, a list of information beside it. "Eobard Thawne was born in the 25th Century in Central City. When he was eleven, he watched his father kill his mother, and as a result, grew up in an orphanage. In the year 2432, obsessed with the Flash, he recreated the accident that gave Barry Allen his powers. After waking up from a coma in Central City General nine-months later, he vanished. No further records exist."

"At some point," Imra continued, "The Flash, being you, obviously, used the Speed Force to build some sort of temporal barrier around the 21st century to stop the Reverse-Flash from travelling into the past to kill yourself before you reached your full potential."

"Yeah, he said something similar when he crashed into Catco," Kara said.

"Well clearly, he got passed it," Oliver pointed out, "Is there any way to repair it?"

"Considering no one knows how Mr Allen created this barrier, and there is next to no research available on the Speed Force to even hazard a guess at how such a thing is even possible, no," Brainy said, clearly annoyed.

"How did you guys get here then?" Barry asked.

"Our ship doesn't use the Speed Force to travel through time," Brainy explained, "Instead we use a quantum manifold to exchange the ship's positioning within time and space via Quantum Entanglement."

"Of course," Barry said, trying to remember that for Cisco and Ray.

"Do you have a plan then?" Kara asked.

"We do," Imra said, "Thawne's constant travelling through the timeline is causing extensive damage, and if he kills any one of you like he tried tonight, the entire future will be in jeopardy. We want to bring the three of you to the 25th century to try and stop Thawne before he becomes a villain in the first place."

"Thereby preventing him from going back in time and killing my mum," Barry whispered.

"Exactly. If Thawne doesn't become evil, then the alternate timeline he created when he set the Particle Accelerator off seven years early will cease to exist, restoring the natural course of history," Imra finished, clapping her hands.

"But, he was erased from existence when Eddie killed himself. How is he still alive anyway?" Kara asked.

"He was erased from your timeline, not ours. Eobard will never be born in your timeline, however, because the Reverse-Flash that is using the Speed Force to travel through time now is from another timeline, when the Flash was created in 2020, not 2013, he can still actively cause damage. The Black Flash, the Speed Force's enforcer, is hunting him down, trying to erase this… time remnant version of Thawne. But so far, it hasn't caught up with him."

"Ok," Barry said, plans already flying through his mind, "Lets…"

"Barry," Oliver said, holding up a hand to forestall him, "Give us a few hours to consider, then we'll decide." Imra nodded, though Brainy looked confused.

"Fair enough. It's a lot to take in. I'll escort you out."

---

Once they returned to the lair, Oliver began pacing.

"This is dangerous," he said as Barry and Kara took seats at the computer terminals. Felicity and Dig had both stepped out to give them some space.

"Everything we do is dangerous, Oliver," Barry pointed out. "Think about it, if we go forward in time and defeat Thawne before be becomes more powerful, then we fix the timeline, save my mum, and stop him from back again and again and again to kill us all. You heard what Imra said if any one of us dies…"

"History goes caput," Kara said, mimicking an explosion.

"Kind of nice if you think about it."

"I don't think you're taking this seriously," Oliver said, still pacing, "We'd be going into unknown territory, without back-up or support…"

"I'm sure the Legion…" Kara interjected.

"Without back-up, we can trust. We don't know what these Legionnaires really want. Their end-goal might be completely different from what we think it is. There are too many unknown variables."

"I'll grant you that," Barry conceded, "But, we'll have each other. That has to count for something."

"Agreed," Oliver said, nodding in Barry's direction as he made another loop, "There's also the benefit of learning more about Metahumans and aliens that we may end up facing in the future. Any valuable intel we can gather will be invaluable when we come back to the present…"

Kara perked up, twisting a lock of hair between her fingers. "I think it all boils down to this: what is more dangerous? Staying here where the Reverse Flash can keep coming at us until he picks us off, or going to the future and risking ourselves anyway? My vote is for going. At least there, we'll be together. El Mayara. Stronger together."

"What about our cities?" Oliver pointed out, "I can't just leave Darhk out there, and Zoom is still on the loose, and your crazy aunt."

"I can call Superman?" Kara suggested, "He can ask Hal to check-in, watch over National for a while?"

"Jax and Professor Stein should be able to hold Central for a while, especially if Ray is open to helping. Zoom seems focussed on me, I doubt he'll bother attacking if he doesn't have me to use as a punching bag," Barry said. Kara flinched beside him, subconsciously taking Barry's hand in hers and squeezing, though whether she was comforting herself or him, she wasn't sure. Maybe a bit of both.

Oliver stopped pacing and rubbed his chin.

"I suppose I can ask Sara to come back. She won't answer my calls, but Felicity should be able to track her down. She won't let the city be at risk just because of her grudge against me. And maybe Constantine can send someone with magical powers to help with Darhk? I was going to call him anyway…"

"Also, we're forgetting something," Barry noted, "It's a time machine. They can probably take us back to the exact moment we left, or at least close." Kara nodded rapidly, pointing a thumb at Barry.

Oliver sighed, closing his eyes and counting under his breath a few times. Then he straightened his back and turned to Barry and Kara.

"Pack your bags. We're going to the future."

---

"Hal says he's dealing with some dispute on Tamaran, but once he's done, he'll head to National City. I promise to keep a lookout too. Have fun in the 25th century!" Clark said from Kara's phone as she stepped aboard the Waverider with a duffle bag of clothes. She'd left a voicemail for Alex and Hank, telling them that she needed to go to the future to save the world. The future! This was so exciting! She was sure they would be mad at her, but whatever. The future!

"Thanks, Clark. Will call the second I get back."

"You better! I'll want to hear it all!"

She hung up, making her way to the Bridge, where Barry and Oliver were waiting in their civilian clothes. Saturn Girl and Brainiac 5 – whom she assumed had nothing to do with Brainiac 1 given he didn't seem very homicidal – were already strapped in.

"Excellent. Back to the future then!" Brainy said, grabbing hold of one of the levers. Barry, Kara and Oliver all sat down, eyeing each other warily as the ship picked up off the ground without even a hint of G-Force.

"Smooth ride," Oliver commented.

"Inertial Dampeners," Imra said, taping away at a console. "Time-drive is clear."

Brainy steered the ship out of Starling City and up into the open sky, flying out over the Pacific Ocean at speeds that even the most advanced fighter jet would be hard-pressed to manage.

"It should be noted that you may suffer side-effects when time-travelling for the first time," Brainy said causally, "Expect extreme nausea, linguistic disorientation, intense headaches, or directional inconsistency."

"What?!" Oliver exclaimed, grabbing his restraints.

"Jumping!" Brainy pushed a lever on his steering panel, and the ocean outside vanished in a flash of golden light, replaced by what looked like a sea of green before another skyline appeared before them.

Barry blinked several times, staring out the window. Starling City was gone. Replaced by a city of soaring towers that stretched for miles. Many of the skyscrapers looked the same as modern cities, but by far the dominant architectural style was a chrome type structure, of various colours, instead of glass or metal. They were also immensely taller than any tower Barry had ever seen before.

"Wow…"

"Those buildings," Kara whispered in awe, leaning forward in her seat, "they look Kryptonian."

"They are," Imra said, swivelling her chair back to look at the trio. "In 2243 Mary-Felicity Palmer manages to combine the Firestorm transmutation matrix with her great-grandfather's molecular reduction technology to resize the bottled city of Kandor and free its inhabitants. In exchange, the Kandorians gave humanity two gifts – the means to cure Virus borne diseases, and the secrets to Kryptonian engineering."

Kara's brain fritzed for a few precious moments, her jaw falling open.

"Kandor? The people trapped inside. They're free?"

Oliver tried to ask a question, but the words that left his mouth were most definitely not in English.

"Gadzo Kan?" He froze, eyes flicking between Imra and Brainy.

"Linguistic disorientation," Brainy said once again, completely straight-faced. Barry, on the other hand, laughed his head off. Kara probably would have too, if she hadn't been so stunned. Kandor? She wasn't the last Kryptonian after all! She sat there, a warm fuzzy feeling flooding her body, and she couldn't stop herself from grinning foolishly.

Finally, Barry collected himself as Oliver glared at him.

"Vishi nar markatheth!"

"Kandor," Brainiac said, speaking as though to a child, "the Capital City of the planet Krypton before it was attacked by my ancestor, the first Brainiac. The city was shrunk and placed in a suspension bottle for placement amongst the Collector's collection. Superman managed to salvage Kandor, and several dozen other shrunken cities, from Brainiac 1's ship when it attacked Metropolis in the year 2001. The Green Lantern Corps returned all the cities to their respective planets, but Brainiac's shrink ray was destroyed in the battle, and thus the cities could not be restored. With Krypton destroyed, Kandor was left in the possession of Superman, a population of 49 million Kryptonians preserved in perfect stasis inside."

Barry's eyes lit up, and he turned to stare at Kara with a massive grin on his face.

"Your people Kara! That's amazing!"

"Yeah… it is…" She breathed, her body trembling unwittingly in relief. She turned to Imra desperately,

"Can I see it? Kandor?"

"I don't see why not," Imra said, shrugging, "Once the whole Reverse-Flash business is moped up, we can pop over to New Krypton and give you a walk around."

"That is not part of the mission, Saturn Girl," Brainy pointed out.

"So? She deserves a chance to see her people alive," Imra retorted.

"Very well, Commander." Brainy turned back to his controls and began steering the ship towards a building on an island in the middle of the Mississippi. Well, she assumed it was the Mississippi, they were in Central City. The building was massive. Shaped like an aircraft hangar, but built from a material even she had ever seen before, it dwarfed everything around it by virtue of its pure majesty. It was like the White House.

"Waverider, you are clear for landing. Welcome back."

---

Barry stepped off the Waverider's gangway and stared at the 'Hall of Justice'.

It certainly screamed 'look at me!'.

Domed, with a giant glass window at the peak, the building was easily the size of a city suburb. Trees of a half-dozen different species ran in rows away from the building and the giant four-pointed star hanging above the double doors. But the thing that drew Barry's eye straight away was the enormous, elaborate, solid gold fountain/sculpture that dominated the entrance courtyard. The incredible thing? He recognised most of the figures.

Standing on either side of the sculpture, water bubbling at their feet, was a man and a woman, both with arms folded. Displayed proudly on their chests was the symbol of the House of El. The S. Barry thought the resemblance of the woman to Kara was astonishing, and Clark's wasn't wrong either. Somehow floating unsupported above each Kryptonian were two more statutes. On Clark's side was a man Barry had heard Kara speak about, though he hadn't met him. Hal Jordan. Earth's Green Lantern. The symbol on his chest and the lantern ring displayed proudly on his outstretched fist were kind of a dead give-away. Bubbles of water that somehow didn't splash straight to the ground floated around his ring hand. On Kara's side, complete in what looked like an updated version of the ATOM suit, sans the helmet, was Ray Palmer, jets of water blasting from his hands.

Between Supergirl and Superman was a raised square pedestal that created a mesmerizing waterfall effect, with a statue on each corner. One was the spitting image of Sara, bow-staff in hand, though oddly it lacked her domino mask, and the uniform looked radically different to the one Barry had last seen her wear. The next two statues were of people that Barry didn't know. Opposite the Black Canary was another woman, wearing a full bodysuit with a cowl obscuring her face. She had long hair, and a symbol of a bat displayed proudly on her chest. But it was the suit that stunned Barry. It was more like Oliver's Green Arrow suit than Sara or Kara's more form-fitting uniforms. It looked more like it was a jacket, with shoulder pads, arm and leg bracers, and a utility belt. She carried no weapon in her hands but slung over her back was a computer. Why a computer? To her left was another man, in a sleek suit with a geometric bird-shaped emblem stretching from shoulder to shoulder, hands balled into fists. He did wear a mask, though the sides were far larger than the ones Oliver and Sara wore. Finally, there stood a stocky man in a more metallic suit of armour, two jagged lightning bolts stretching from shoulders to the torso. He stood with his feet planted, hands outstretched, electricity curling around his arms that let out jets of steam. His mask looked like a set of advanced goggles.

That left two.

On one final raised pedestal, a diamond to the square beneath it, stood a figure with a bow and arrow in hand, staring out to the west, head raised high. He stood the tallest of the whole group, and while a hood obscured his head, his mask was gone. The likeness to Oliver was perfect. Finally, frozen mid-run, pointed the same way the Green Arrow was staring, was the Flash. The lightning bolt emblem was the same, and the suit was far more streamlined. The boots ran up to his knees and tapered to points, and the devices on his ears to temper his hearing at high speed were shaped more like wings. But it was definitely him. Lightning trailed off the statute, water surging beneath his booted feet.

He lost his breath slightly.

Oliver and Kara came up beside him, bags slung over their shoulders, and stood in silence beside him for several minutes. Just… taking it all in. Eventually, Imra came up behind them and coughed. Barry, Oliver and Kara all jolted, spinning around to find the Waverider gone, and Saturn Girl changed into civilian clothes. Or, at least what Barry assumed were civilian clothes. It was sort of like a wrap, made of thin but not a see-through fabric. It wound around her chest, before tapering off at the waist to reveal a knee-length skirt beneath. She wore brown boots with flat soles that stretched up to her mid calves. Barry thought they might be made of a type of leather. Her hair remained in its long, intricate braid.

"Come on. I'll show you around," she said, seeming to understand how taken aback they were by the sheer breadth of what they were seeing. Barry wasn't even sure he had really taken it in.

Imra led them across the courtyard in silence, eventually reaching the large glass doors. They swung open at her silent command, and they stepped inside. Once again, Barry's breath left him in a sort of stunned shock.

The statues from outside were mirrored in here, with the ten figures reflected in a large hemisphere shape, a giant globe hovering in the middle of the room. Only, there were several other statues, smaller than the easily three-story high golden ones, and coloured silver instead. Barry thought he recognised Cisco, Caitlin, Thea, Roy Harper, Firestorm… but there were so many others he had no idea about. There were easily six figures wearing some variation of the Bat symbol, men and women both.

"This is the Hall of Heroes," Imra said as they continued inside. Barry, needing support, instinctively reached for Kara's hand. She took it gladly with no words spoken. "The Earth's mightiest defenders get honoured here, regardless of if, when, and how they died. No origin story is too dark, no past to horror-filled, no mistake too great, that you're removed from this hall. Throughout history, many heroes have sacrificed themselves, or sacrificed their reputations, for the greater good of humanity. They all deserve respect." In the centre of the hall, beneath the globe, was a slab of marble. A golden plaque, carved by heat-vision, adorned the front.

"The Wall of Valour."

Barry couldn't bring himself to get any closer to it.

Finally, a welcome distraction emerged when a woman in a green and black uniform, the symbol of the Green Lantern's shimmering over her right eye, landed outside with a backpack. The doors swung open to let her inside, and she waved to Saturn Girl.

"Hey, Els!"

"Hey, Jess! Where have you been?"

"Vega," the brunette replied, her suit melting into green energy before disappearing entirely, leaving her in a wrap and skirt not unlike Imra's, though her's left her midriff exposed, "Those guys will never get along I swear. Every decade it's a new thing! Oh, the Okaran slave traders are abducting Tamaraneans! Stop enslaving people. Problem solved. Then, fifteen years later, the same argument pops up, only in reverse! That's what happens when seven sentient species develop in a system with only five habitable planets…" The mysterious 'Jess' froze, taking in Kara, Barry and Oliver.

"EEEEP!" She screamed, before flying straight for a door on the far side of the hall, a trail of green light the only sign she'd ever been there.

Imra just laughed. "That's Jessica Cruz. Green Lantern of Sector 2814, which is us. She's the seventh or so since Hal Jordan. Come on, this way." She led them to the same door Jessica used, though, by the time they arrived, she was long gone. The lights flickered on, bathing the hall in an ethereal golden glow.

"These are the guest quarters," Imra said, gesturing to about six doors in the hallway, "You can bunk here how you'd like. The elevator down there…" She pointed to the end of the corridor, where a white chrome coloured elevator was merged seamlessly with the cream painted wall. "…will take you to the various floors. Legion quarters are open only to their respective owners, obviously, but you're more than welcome to use the Gyms on levels negative five through negative thirteen. We have facilities for all super-powered, intellectual and combat abilities, or just simple fitness if that's your thing. The command and control platform is located on level three. Also, though I know you'll probably ignore me, please don't go down to the cells. The laser grids will not recognise your cellular structures and will vaporise you. Yes, that includes Kryptonian invulnerability and people moving at super speed."

Barry, Kara and Oliver each chose a bedroom (Oliver scoped out each one before picking one closest to the exit), then made their way towards the elevator, where Imra and another man were speaking. He was tall, with burnt red hair and a face covered in freckles. And he wore a Flash suit. Imra nodded to the man, who clapped her on the shoulder, before vanishing in a flash of silver lightning.

"Who's that?" Barry couldn't help asking.

"Spoilers," Imra said, a twinkle in her eye.

Oliver rolled his eyes before gesturing to the elevator.

"Let's see your plan for taking out the Reverse Flash."

Imra led them into the elevator, which had transparent walls that allowed a clear view outside the dome, and pressed the number 3 button. Kara stared at the list of numbers with a look of confusion.

"Why not a transporter?"

Imra winced. "We used to use transporters. We learned from that mistake."

"What happened?" Oliver asked.

"Let's say getting stuck seventy feet underground without any access to the surface when an electromagnetic bomb goes off that darkens the entire city is not a desirable situation and leave it at that."

The doors slid open, and Barry stepped out first.

The command and control centre was at the exact top of the globe, and formed what Barry had thought was the roof of the ground floor. In fact, it was suspended by the same anti-gravity technology as the statues outside. The roof, comprised of dozens of interlocking diamond shapes, doubled as a giant viewscreen and was currently displaying a map of the Solar System. Only Venus was marked as 'New Krypton'. There were also two points in the Asteroid Belt with names; Titan, Ganymede and Europa were all designated as separate to Jupiter, Pluto and Charon were both labelled entities, as was another object even further out called Sedna. Finally, as if Barry wasn't feeling inadequate enough already, at the very outer edge of the map was another marking, about the size of Jupiter, labelled 'Nemesis'.

In the centre of the space was a large circular console on a raised pedestal, with two breaks where ramps led down to the ground floor. A half dozen holographic screens floated above the console, and two human-looking men and a blue-skinned woman were throwing screens between each other, debating something to do with String Theory. On the far side of the room, beneath what looked like a modern art painting of a web with a series of multicoloured spheres, was a glass case containing a wheelchair. Why a wheelchair?

Another elevator, on the exact opposite side of the Command platform, opened up to reveal Brainiac in an in-depth debate with three other people – both of them in costume. The first was an African American man wearing a suit with two patterned blue and yellow lightning bolts over the chest. The second was a young woman with more traditional shoulder-length blonde hair instead of Imra's golden locks, wearing a green leather outfit, not unlike Oliver's own suit. Slung over her shoulder was a longbow. The last person was huge. Easily Six-foot six. He had huge muscles, a chiselled jaw and perfectly styled black hair. And he wore blood-red armour, with a giant glowing white lightning bolt travelling from his collar to his belt. Around his shoulders hung a white and gold hooded cloak embroidered at the hems.

"I'm just saying I don't agree with this plan," the man in the armour said in a phenomenally deep voice.

"You have any better ideas?" the Oliver lookalike asked with a raised eyebrows.

"No, but that doesn't mean this is a good one."

"Point conceded Shazam," 'lightning' man said, "but the matter is closed. We voted; this was the only solution we could come up with."

"I know Lightning Lad," Shazam said, shaking his head as the two groups reached either side of the raised platform. The three people already on the platform all turned, falling silent as they stared at Barry, Kara and Oliver in awe.

"This is seriously the best day of my entire life," the blue-skinned woman whispered.

"Mal'or'I," one of the men hissed – in fact, he looked bizarrely like Cisco, same long hair, same impish vibe… "Be cool! These guys are the original trinity!"

"I know that!"

"Mal, Sanderson," Imra said, "show us what you've got." The other legionaries stopped opposite Barry, Oliver and Kara, staring at them. Imra, wisely, standing between the two groups of superheroes.

"Kara, Barry, Oliver: meet Evelyn, Sammy, Garth, and you obviously know Brainy."

"Nice to meet you," Kara said, bowing her head slightly while Barry gave a pathetic wave. Oliver said nothing.

The woman, Evelyn presumably, stepped forward and shook Kara's offered hand.

"Its… an honour to meet you, Supergirl. I've read all your comic-books."

"Comic books?" Kara asked, brow crinkling.

"Oh yeah! I grew up reading all about the…" Imra shot Evelyn a glare, and the girl withered slightly, releasing Kara's hand. Then she glanced at Oliver, straightened her back, and saluted.

"Mr Green Arrow, sir!" She said, tone deadly serious despite her friend's laughter. Barry's jaw dropped open slightly, and Imra facepalmed.

"You know how to use that longbow?" Oliver asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, sir. I completed two-tours during the Plutonian Civil War, I was top of my class for hand-to-hand, I hold the Target Force record for per-second accuracy, and I can fire a plasma-bow three kilometres at a draw of 750 newtons. I prefer the longbow to the compound structure because I like the weight in my hand and my eye to judge the target, though I'm not above using a sniper target when conditions are poor, sir."

Oliver nodded thoughtfully, then a hint of a smile crossed his face as he looked Evelyn in the eye.

"Tomorrow, 0800, I want to shoot one of these plasma-bows."

"I'll have one ready for you, sir," Evelyn said, not breaking character for a second. Then she stepped back into line with her still laughing friends.

"Um, well, that's Artemis," Imra supplied, shrugging, "the bozo next to her is Lightning Lad, he's a descendent of Black Lightning, whom you haven't met yet…"

"And I'm Sammy Carmichael; Shazam." The man in the armour said.

"He's the biggest tank the Legion has," Imra finished, shaking her head, then she gestured to the blue-skinned alien.

"We've managed to pin-point Thawne's waking in the hospital to roughly 5pm tonight, three hours from now. That is probably your best bet to catch him."

Barry nodded, "Okay. I'll follow him, see how he goes about using his speed. If I can figure out what went wrong with Thawne, maybe I can figure out how to stop him before any of this starts."

"Brainy and I will quarterback from here, keep out of your way. Shazam and Lightning Lad will be your back-up. If things get out of hand, they'll intervene, but only on your say so," Imra assured them, glaring at her two friends. Both nodded begrudgingly.

Barry turned to Oliver

"How do you want to play this?"

Oliver pursued his lips, gaze flicking to Kara, then back to Barry.

"I want Kara in stealth. Follow at a distance, undercover, ready to spring at a moment's notice."

"I can do that," she said, bouncing on her toes. Oliver turned to Brainiac.

"I need whatever counter-measure you have against Speedsters." Brainiac stiffened, glancing to Imra. She nodded her assent, then he held his hand out to Artemis. The blonde removed three arrows from her quiver, each with a modified head of red and gold.

"Temporal Piercing Arrows," she said, "these babies manipulate the Still Force to increase the density of the fourth dimension around them when activated. Basically, they nullify a Speedster's connection to the Speed Force. And they hurt. Big Time." Evelyn handed the arrows to Oliver, who weighed them in his hand experimentally. Barry shivered just looking at them. Those broadheads? They were his equivalent of Kryptonite. He glanced at Kara, who was looking at him with equal concern in her eyes. She knew it too.

Barry swallowed his pride.

"Let's suit up."

---

Barry watched Thawne, his rival, his opposite, his enemy, the man who killed his mother, trip over his feet at two-hundred kilometres an hour and face plant into a pile of water barrels. For the fifth time.

After waking up in Central City General – which was much bigger and much cleaner than Barry remembered it being – Thawne had instantly tried to move at superspeed. He ran into a wall, knocking over a machine. Then, when a nurse came into the room to see what the commotion was about then tripped on the very device he'd knocked over, Thawne had caught the woman and the coffee cup in her hand, righting them. He'd then apologised profusely. Apologised.

Now, thirty minutes later, he watched as Thawne ran laps of an abandoned airfield outside Central City. It was so weird, seeing Thawne, but as himself rather than wearing Wells's face. But what had to be even harder to stomach was seeing him struggle with his powers as much as Barry himself had when he started out. Not only that, but Thawne had no one to help him. He was on his own.

Barry couldn't believe it, but he almost felt a bit sorry for the man. He had such a similar story to Barry himself. Father killed his mother. Growing up in a foster home with parents who, according to all reports, had loved him just as Joe and Iris had loved Barry. A scientist. An outsider, forgotten, living on the fringes. And he had been obsessed with the Flash. Recreated the Particle Accelerator Explosion in a secret lab in the slums. That was how smart this man was.

And he was out here on his own. Still alone. The lightning bolt had given Barry STAR. Cisco. Caitlin. Everything he now couldn't imagine his life without. Thawne had no one.

Was this how Barry might have turned out if he hadn't had his friends and family around him?

He didn't like where those thoughts went.

As Thawne crashed once more, cursing to himself, Barry made a decision. He couldn't just leave Thawne to this fate. To fail and fail again and again until his anger turned to hatred. Hatred against Barry and his family. Kara… Mum… I'll save you this time. The right way.

Barry vanished, leaving his binoculars to fall in slow motion in the dirt. He ran slowly at first, keeping his use of the Speed Force to a bare minimum. Eventually, after several long minutes, he returned to Central City and activated his coms.

"Saturn Girl? You there?"

"Read you now and clear Flash. What's the situation?"

"I have a plan. Just to warn you though, I'm going to be making a big ass dent that's probably going to send every satellite and scanner you have on the fritz."

"Okay?"

"Flash, what's our play?" Oliver asked.

"You and Supergirl keep to the plan. I'm going to make contact. Time to spin Wells' tricks against him…"

Barry ran down what had once been Central City's main shopping district – now it appeared to be a restaurant strip – and turned on the fireworks.

A sonic boom rattled every window on the street (Central City has been the centre of Earth's sound-proof glass industry since 2015) and blasted trees backwards. Lightning jumped from his body in all directions as he breathed in the vibrations of the Speed Force. He could feel it swirling around him as he ran faster and faster, feel it pulsing around him like a giant eternal heart-beat matching his rhythm step by step.

"Flash! What are you doing?!"

Barry ignored Kara's voice and kept running. He reached Mach 2, and kept going… Finally, as his electricity began burning away at his feet even through the suit, he felt it. A wave of energy, of vibration, crashing over him. A blue began to form… and Barry slammed on the breaks as hard as he could. The force of his deceleration sent him flying over the time-window, which snapped closed with a reverberating 'BOOM!'. Barry crashed into a car, bounced off it, then crashed into another vehicle as the Speed Force fled his body in a rush. Three more cars he hit, before slamming into bitumen and rolling for what had to be twenty blocks.

"That… was so incredibly stupid it wasn't funny."

"Are you okay?!"

"Ow," Barry muttered, panting and grimacing at the pain lancing through his body from what had to be several broken bones and burns. Electricity jumped from his body in violent spurts for a few seconds, before slowly fading away.

The thumping heartbeat of the Speed Force was still there, and it was coming closer.

"I'll be fine. It's all part of the plan," he said, wincing.

Forcing himself to roll over onto his front, Barry began to vibrate his molecules to heal some of the more radical damage. He sat up and leaned against a car, heavy breathing. As he did so, several dozen people who had taken shelter in stores, slowly began to come back out. That's when the whispers started.

"Is that the Flash?"

"It looks like him."

"What else could have caused that sound?"

"Just another Tuesday in Central City."

"It's the Flash!"

Barry groaned again and looked down at his suit before cursing. He'd done more damage than he intended too. Cisco was going to be so mad.

Finally, as the heartbeat began to fade away, another figure wreathed in golden lightning appeared from down the street, skidding to a stop a few metres from Barry and staring at him in shock.

"You're… you're him!"

Barry pulled himself to his feet, holding his side in pain.

"Hi there. You're a speedster? Great. Maybe you can help me. See, my name is the Flash, and I think I may be in the wrong time-period," Barry said, looking around at the buildings in not-so faux awe. He might be getting used to the future, but it was still cool.

"Holy crash," Thawne exclaimed, running a hand through his wind-slicked hair, "Um… yeah, yeah I'm a speedster. I… I just got my powers, but I can…" he swallowed, then stepped forward, offering his hand, "I'll help you get home Flash."

Barry looked into the man's eyes and could find none of the evil, the twisted hate, that had been so clear in Wells. All he could see was admiration, and determination in the way Thawne held his Barry's gaze from beneath his cowl.

So he took the hand of the man who killed his mother, the man who tried to kill his friends and family, who'd ruined his sister's life, who'd murdered dozens and deliberately cursed hundreds more, who'd tried to kill his Kara, and he shook it with a smile.

I'll get it right this time. I swear to god I'll get it right. I'll save you, Mum. The right way.

---

Meanwhile, in the 21st Century…

Hal Jordan, Green Lantern of Sector 2814 since 2011, punched the slimy green alien into the back of a cement truck. Was that what 'Supergirl' would have done? No. She probably would have tried to talk the alien down. But Hal was a cop. An alien cop sure, but still a cop. He had a more… direct… approach.

"Subject is detained. The Galactic Database possesses a match on a wanted criminal in Sector 2742. Request repatriation to Science-Cells on Oa?" Hal's glowing ring asked, projecting the robotic female voice he'd become so used to over the past five years it was hilarious. He still hadn't figured out how to change the voice. He personally wanted it to speak in an Irish accent, much more amusing that way. To his mind, at least. No one ever said Hal Jordan was politically correct after all. The alien jumped out of the cement, dripping sludge everywhere, and Hal created a construct boxing glove to punch him into the road.

"Sure," he said, shrugging, "Tell Salakk he's got a green light. Ha! 'Green light.' I crack myself up."

Three black sedans rolled up to the scene. Ah. The DEO. About time.

The 'secret' agents piled out of their cars, training weapons on him and his new friend. His ring had told him what species the alien was, but Hal had ignored it. He could never remember all the species names. He had a hard enough time remembering planet names!

"You're late," he said pointedly. One of the agents, a woman with short-cropped black hair, stalked up to him and pocked his uniform in the chest.

"Where's my sister!?" She snapped.

"Who?" Hal asked, wondering if maybe the woman he'd laid last night had an older sister she'd neglected to mention.

"Supergirl!" She hissed. Ohhhhh. This was Alex Danvers. Clark had warned him about her.

"I don't know," he said, "Banging the Flash in the 25th century probably." That probably wasn't the most appropriate thing to say if the look of smouldering rage that flashed in Alex's eyes was any indication.

"Extraction complete."

A bubble of green energy enveloped the slimy alien, before sucking him up into space.

"Great! My job's done. I'm going to get some pizza. Bye!" Hal launched into the air and shot towards Coast City, enjoying the sound of Alex Danvers screaming, "LANTERN!" echoing from behind him. Hmm, maybe that hot bird was still in his apartment…

---

Authors Notes:

Okay everyone, question time. This chapter was originally supposed to be a single chapter with the whole Legion crossover. But it got to over 20,000 words, so we figured, you know what, best to split it. That leaves the question up to you. Do you want us to post the second half of this chapter up say, tomorrow or the next day, without the endings to Season 1 of Supergirl, Season 2 of the Flash and Season 4 of Arrow, or next week with the endings?

Choice is up to you guys, let us know in with a review!