Cisco pointed at the boomerang as he set it down gently. "Stay."
Caitlin walked into the Cortex from the medbay, talking to Felicity. "Have you heard of color psychology?" she asked. Felicity nodded.
"The theory that changes in the color spectrum can affect emotion," she answered. Caitlin sighed in relief.
"It is so nice to have another woman to talk to," she gushed. Felicity smiled.
"I know."
"I was thinking," Caitlin got back on track, "that if Bivolo uses color to induce the temporary psychosis, maybe we can use light and color to reverse it."
Felicity opened her mouth to answer when Dr. Wells rolled in. "Ms. Smoak," he called. "A word, if you please." He rolled out without waiting. Felicity jogged to catch up.
"Hey, what's up, doc?" She cringed as the words came out and pushed up her glasses. "Sorry, that was dumb. Remember I went to MIT."
Wells nodded. "Yes, you're smart," he agreed. He rolled his chair around to face Felicity. "Felicity, I like to surround my team with known quantities." Felicity was 90% sure it was Barry's team, but she didn't voice this. "That is because I find the unknown to be toxic, dangerous." Felicity felt a sense of uneasiness as she realized where he was going with this. And sure enough, "The Arrow is unknown."
Felicity just gave him an unreadable look. "I can assure you, Dr. Wells, he's not dangerous." Wells raised an eyebrow and Felicity amended her statement. "To us."
"Well, of that, I have little doubt," he agreed easily. "And yet, I find myself with a conundrum. How can I completely trust a man when I don't even know his name?" Felicity's uneasiness grew. "And so, I was hoping, Ms. Smoak, that you could help me trust him. Who is he under the hood?"
Felicity kept her face unreadable. "That is not my secret to tell, Dr. Wells."
He smiled genially. "Of course." He started to roll off, and Felicity started to relax inside. "I'll figure it out on my own."
Felicity stood and watched him leave, not entirely sure what it was about the man that set off her danger senses. She turned when she heard the telltale whoosh of Barry speeding in. She shook off the feeling Wells left her with and went to meet him in the hall. "Hey," she greeted.
"Hey," he returned. He started off to the Cortex, still a little miffed at the universe.
"How'd it go with Oliver?" Felicity asked as she followed him.
Barry scoffed. "You know, to be honest, not exactly the partnership I thought it would be."
Felicity winced. "Oh, did he really do the thing with the arrows?"
Barry turned to her incredulously. "You knew he was going to shoot me?"
Felicity threw up her hands. "Whoa, it is practically impossible to tell when Oliver's making a joke."
Barry just shook his head as they walked into the Cortex.
"Hey," Cisco said as they walked in. "We just got a ping from the facial recognition software on Bivolo, aka, Prism."
Barry blinked. "Since when do we have facial recognition software?"
Felicity did jazz hands. "Happy Chanukah." Barry nodded his thanks and turned back to Cisco.
"Where can I find him?"
"Traffic cameras just caught him entering a residence at 168 Jarvis," Cisco told him. Caitlin stepped forward, a nervous look on her face.
"We should let The Arrow know," she said.
"I can handle this solo," Barry argued. "I've done it before."
"Barry, I really think you need to wait..." Felicity frowned when Barry snapped at her.
"Felicity, I don't need his help." He was gone before anyone else could say anything.
〰️〰️〰️〰️
Barry entered the house slowly, looking around. He didn't see anything and went to leave when he was shoved up against a wall.
"I knew you'd be coming for me," Bivolo snarled in his face as he struggled. "I could see it in your eyes at the bank. When I turned those people against each other, it made you angry." Barry's struggling paused as he met Bivolo's suddenly red eyes. "Have some real anger."
When Barry shook off the weird feeling, Bivolo was gone. Barry growled in frustration and sped back to STAR Labs.
〰️〰️〰️〰️
"No signs of macular damage," Caitlin told Barry, shining a flashlight into his eyes. "Your retina and cornea seem unaffected."
Barry brushed her hand away and stood. "I told you, I'm fine."
Felicity gave him a look. "You said Bivolo whammied you?"
"No desire to go MMA on any of us?" Cisco asked. Barry shook his head.
"No," he answered. He rubbed at his eyes. "Yeah, I mean, something weird happened with his eyes for a sec."
"Weird thing?" Caitlin echoed.
"Yeah, everything went red," Barry told her.
Felicity met Caitlin's eyes. "You were right," she told her, then turned back to Barry. "Okay, next thing you know, Bivolo was gone."
Barry rolled his eyes, a little frustrated. "Look," he snapped, "obviously his powers didn't work on me, so..."
Caitlin interrupted. 'It was stupid for you to go out there alone," she scolded. "You take too many risks. As fast as you are, that's going to catch up with you." She stepped back as Barry glared at her.
"Caitlin, I'm not Ronnie," he snapped. "You gotta stop treating me like I am." She backed away further.
"You're right," she said quietly. "You're not." She walked quickly out of the Cortex, Cisco right behind her. Barry looked up to see Felicity staring at him.
"What?"
She shook her head at him. "You are such a lovable dummy," she told him, looking down at her phone when it buzzed. "It's Oliver, he wants to have another session." She looked back at Barry. "I'm sure he's not going to shoot you again." Barry rolled his eyes and started out of the Cortex. Felicity stopped him. "Maybe you should wear body armor." Barry just sped out of the Cortex. Felicity sighed.
"That went well," she said to no one.
〰️〰️〰️〰️
Barry came to a smooth stop inside Team Arrow's hideout. Oliver was standing in the doorway, looking out, Hayley perched on a table next to him. Barry growled at the sight of them.
"Thinking of new ways to embarrass me?" he asked them.
Oliver sighed. "I'm not trying to embarrass you, Barry," he said, "but you went after Bivolo last night alone and you lost him."
Barry scoffed. "And you've never had missteps?"
"'Course we've had missteps," Hayley answered for Oliver. "We wouldn't be human if we didn't."
"Barry, I have been living this life for almost eight years, encountering things that you can't even fathom, and I am still alive," Oliver continued, turning to face him. "Not because super-speed kept me out of the ground. It was because I realized that I needed to keep learning, keep training, keep getting smarter, and until you get that, despite your best intentions, you will do more harm than good."
"He's right, Bar," Hayley agreed. "You need to learn to adapt to anything, train for any possibility. Otherwise, you're just going to get yourself and others killed."
"I finally see it," Barry said, smirking. "You're a little bit jealous of me, aren't you?" Hayley gawked, looking over at Oliver to see him just as shocked. Barry stepped a little closer to Oliver. "A guy like you, handsome, rich, can have any girl he wants," he gestured to Hayley who shook her head rapidly, "jealousy's probably a new emotion for you, so you might be a little slow to get what it is that you're feeling."
Oliver hummed, nodding slowly. "That's your theory?" Hayley winced at his flippant tone.
"Absolutely," Barry spat. "'Cause you can train, lift weights, climb that stupid barn till your heart explodes, but you'll never be as fast as I am." His smirk turned a little darker. "You'll never be what I am. And that's gotta hurt your rock-hard pride, Ollie." He spat the nickname like a curse.
"I told Felicity he didn't want my help," Oliver said to Hayley, who was watching the exchange with wide eyes. Barry chuckled lowly, a twisted sound Hayley didn't think Barry was capable of making.
"Yeah," he laughed. "You're finally right about something." He turned and left in a blur of yellow lightning.
Hayley met Oliver's eyes. "What the hell was that?"
Oliver was watching the way Barry had gone. "Didn't Barry say the meta made people angry?" he wondered aloud.
Hayley nodded, then her face paled.
"Oh, no," she jumped off the table. "I should go make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, like get himself fired."
She ran for her bike.
〰️〰️〰️〰️
Barry stalked into the precinct, still pissed at what Oliver said. He was partway up the stairs when he heard Singh.
"Allen!" Barry grit his teeth and stopped. "Where are you with the Bivolo case?"
"I'm working it," Barry answered flatly. He started back up the stairs.
"Care to be more specific?" Had Barry not been whammied, he would have acknowledged the dangerous tone in Singh's voice. As it was, he just ignored the captain and continued towards his lab. "Hey, how 'bout you answer me when I ask you a question?"
Barry whipped around, eyes blazing angrily. "Hey!" he shouted. "How 'bout you back off?" He took satisfaction in the way the captain stepped back in shock before narrowing his eyes.
"Excuse me?" Singh asked icily.
"Look, I work just as hard as anyone in this building," Barry snarled, heedless of everyone stopping to stare. "I don't need you constantly berating me to do my job. When it's done, you will have it, all right?"
Joe ran up as the Captain stepped forward angrily. "Sorry, Captain," he placated, grabbing Barry and dragging him away. "He's... having and allergic reaction to some bad medication." Singh did not look as though he believed Joe, but he nodded and stepped back.
"You remind him who answers to who," Singh snapped before walking off. Joe nodded, then dragged Barry off to a corner.
"Have you lost your mind?" he asked Barry.
"I'm so sick of Singh talking to me like that," Barry answered. Joe sighed.
"He's still our boss," he reminded Barry. "Now I know you're upset about losing Bivolo..."
"Wait, wait..." Barry cut him off. Joe faltered, caught off guard by the sudden fury in Barry's eyes. "You're just like him. Like Wells, and Oliver, and everyone else my whole life that didn't think I could get the job done." Joe was silent. "Do you want to help me, Joe? You want to help me?" Barry stepped forward, getting in Joe's face. "Get my dad out of prison. You helped put him there, didn't you?"
Joe raised his hands placatingly, very aware of the scene Barry was making. "Barry, I need you to calm down," he said lowly. "Why don't we both take a ride to STAR Labs?"
"I'M CALM!" Barry yelled, eyes flashing red. "Okay?" His voice suddenly lowered to a hiss. "When I am not calm, you'll know." He turned and stalked out of the precinct.
Joe looked around the precinct, everyone's eyes on him, then took a deep breath and walked out. He needed to get to STAR Labs.
〰️〰️〰️〰️
Hayley caught up with Barry as he was leaving the precinct. "Hey, Barry," she said as she ran up to his side. He didn't even look at her.
"What do you want, Hayley?" She blew out a breath.
"Are you... feeling okay?" He suddenly turned on her.
"I am fine!" he snapped. "If one more person asks me that, I swear to god..."
Hayley looked around at the busy sidewalk, then pulled Barry into an alleyway. "Look," she hissed. "I get that Oliver's methods aren't the best, and I get that he can be frustrating, but you are not in your right mind." She knew instantly that she'd said the wrong thing as his face twisted.
"Not in my right mind?" he hissed lowly. "You shot me! And you're always keeping so many secrets! Can I even trust you? Or are you just biding your time till I need assassinating?" He jerked back as Hayley's fist met his face, and Hayley gripped the front of his shirt.
"Don't," she hissed, pulling him close to her. "Don't you ever bring up my past like that ever again." She released him and he stumbled back. "And as for my secrets?" She glared. "You're not really one to talk, Flash." The name was hissed. "You've been keeping secrets from your family and friends since you got these powers."
He straightened suddenly and sneered. "At least I have friends and family," he snapped. "You killed all of yours."
She stepped back as if physically hit at his words, inhaling sharply as his eyes flashed red. Before she could say a word, he sped off.
She watched him go, then ran towards STAR Labs.
〰️〰️〰️〰️
"Okay," Felicity said into her phone, pacing in front of Caitlin and Cisco. "I'll call you back later." She hung up and turned to face the two scientists. "That was the Arrow. He says Barry is acting strangely."
"Strangely, how?" Caitlin asked.
"He's been whammied," Joe answered, walking in. "He was acting angry." Joe shuddered a little. "It was scary. And his eyes..." Joe waved his hand near his eyes. "They glowed."
"It's possible that his body is fighting off the effect," Caitlin said thoughtfully, "so it's hitting him slower."
Cisco paled. "When it comes to rage, that is not a good thing. The longer you suppress your emotions..."
"The bigger the explosion," Joe finished. He looked at the others. "Considering what he can do, how do we even stop him?"
"The Arrow said Hayley went after him," Felicity said, looking down at her phone.
"A cold-gun would come in real handy right about now," Cisco muttered. He held up his hands at the three glares he got. "Hey. I'm just sayin'."
"None of us can stop Barry." They all turned to see Wells roll in. "Fortunately, Felicity knows someone who can." He smirked at the frozen hacker. "I think you better call back Oliver Queen. We're gonna need the Arrow's help."
Felicity's face was pale as Joe, Caitlin and Cisco turned to stare at her.
〰️〰️〰️〰️
Iris glanced over as Eddie changed the radio for the third time in as many minutes. "Is this your way of telling me that you want satellite radio for Christmas?" she asked. She sighed when he just turned the radio off. "Look, I amn't mad at you."
"Good," Eddie replied. "'cause there's no reason you should be."
"Eddie," Iris sighed, tired of this conversation. "Both you and the Flash care about protecting this city. You would both give your lives for it. You're more alike than you think, okay?" She glanced at him. "He's not the bad guy."
Eddie eyed her. "How do you know so much about him, Iris?"
She winced at his tone. "He got in touch with me after I started the blog," she explained, "and I've seen him a couple times."
"A couple times?" Eddie's voice was incredulous. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"
"Well, given the fact that I think he's a hero," Iris retorted, suddenly irritated, "and you want to put him in jail, do you really need to ask that question?"
"How could you ever think I would be okay with this?" Iris looked over and slammed on the brakes, tires screeching, as a blur of yellow lightning suddenly snatched Eddie from the car and threw him across the pavement. She got out of the car as soon as it stopped to see the Flash standing menacingly over Eddie.
"I heard you've been looking for me," he sneered in a voice Iris didn't recognize as his. "All this time, you've been trying to catch me, and I caught you first." Eddie pulled his gun. The Flash smirked. "Guess you haven't read your girlfriend's blog."
Eddie aimed, and despite what she was seeing, Iris screamed. "Eddie, no!"
Eddie fired.
〰️〰️〰️〰️
Oliver stood in the Cortex in full Arrow regalia, mask off, rolling his eyes as Cisco fanboyed behind him.
"Ooh, see, I knew the Arrow was Oliver Queen," Cisco said to Dig and Hayley. Dig raised an eyebrow.
Hayley snorted. "No, you didn't."
"I mean," Cisco sputtered, "I had it narrowed down to, like, a list of 150 people, but he was definitely on that list."
"Was he, though?" Hayley countered.
"Do you have a way to stop Barry's rage fest?" Dig cut in over the bickering the two had dissolved into. Wells rolled forward.
"I have an idea on how to do that," he answered. "Joe, we're gonna need your help."
"We need to find him first," Hayley said. She had walked into the Cortex in full Silver Archer regalia, sans mask, right behind Oliver and Dig.
"Before he hurts somebody," Joe agreed.
"I have him," Felicity suddenly piped up. "Facial recognition picked him up on a traffic camera downtown." She watched Barry walk towards the figure on the ground. "Oh, god."
〰️〰️〰️〰️
Eddie stood and tried to run. He didn't get very far before the Flash caught him and threw him down.
"Who the hell are you, huh?" the Flash snarled. Eddie started crawling away as the Flash stalked towards him. "You think you can just come along and get to have whatever you want? What gives you the right?"
Eddie was thoroughly confused. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"What are you doing?" Iris cut in, making the Flash stop. "What has happened to you?"
The Flash didn't turn away from Eddie. "I feel fine," he snapped at Iris.
"You are not fine," she said. The Flash rolled his eyes.
"How would you know?" he taunted, starting to walk towards Eddie again. "Because you write about me? You don't know me! You don't know who I am." He glared at nothing in particular. "You never did."
Iris took a step towards him. "I know that you have risked your life to help people, to save them!" she cried, insistent. "Someone who does that does not suddenly turn around and want to hurt people." She swallowed, then begged. "Please."
The Flash was standing over Eddie now, and as he lunged, a cable wrapped around him and pulled him away. Iris looked over to see the Arrow standing in an alley.
"Run," he told her. Iris didn't hesitate.
"Eddie, run," she gasped, turning and fleeing.
The Arrow looked at the Flash. "You need to calm down."
The Flash smirked darkly. "And you need to hold on." He took off, dragging the Arrow behind him. He stopped in an empty alley a few miles away and deposited the Arrow in a puddle. The man pushed himself up, groaning, then threw a punch at the Flash's head. Predictably, he dodged, and proceeded to dodge every hit thrown. Finally, the Arrow landed a hit with his bow, knocking the Flash back.
〰️〰️〰️〰️
"I just hope they can turn Barry back before he kills Oliver," Caitlin worried, watching the fight on her computer screen. Dig scoffed.
"Me, I'd be more worried about what Oliver might have to do to Barry." He got disbelieving stares.
"Barry has superpowers," Caitlin defended. "Oliver has a bow and arrow."
Dig raised an eyebrow at the two scientists. "Do you have any idea how many people Oliver has killed with that bow and arrow?"
Hayley hummed. "Not that this is the time, but I'm with Dig."
"Recurve bow arrows can travel up to 300 feet per second," Cisco countered, eyeing them both, "so, like, 200 miles an hour. Barry can run three times that fast."
"Whatever," Dig shook his head. "Oliver's been doing this a lot longer. My money's on experience."
Cisco turned slowly back to the fight. "My money's on speed."
Felicity couldn't believe them. "Please tell me you're not actually having this conversation right now."
〰️〰️〰️〰️
Oliver shot two arrows simultaneously, and watched as they hit their marks in the wall behind Barry's head. Barry smirked, and Oliver decided he didn't like that look on Barry's face.
"You missed," Barry taunted. Oliver shook his head.
"No." The arrows exploded, throwing Barry forward. While he was disoriented, Oliver quickly fired his tranq arrow and Barry wavered before landing in a thud on his knees. "2000 milligrams of horse tranquilizer should be hitting you any time now," he informed Barry. He turned and started to walk away.
There was a grunt, and Oliver turned to see Barry forcing himself up, panting heavily. He reached up and pulled the arrow from his shoulder, dropping it with a clang. Oliver watched, stunned, as Barry vibrated the tranquilizer our of his system.
"Where you going?" Barry called to him, eyes flashing red. He ran at Oliver and attacked with a flurry of punches that met their mark. "We're not done!" He threw Oliver to the ground, then smirked darkly as he didn't get up. "Is that all you got?"
〰️〰️〰️〰️
Felicity chewed her nails nervously. "Oliver, get up," she whispered.
〰️〰️〰️〰️
Barry grinned when he heard a faint beep from behind him. He whirled band caught the two arrows the machine had fired. "Fool me once," he gloated. He suddenly stumbled to his knees as a piercing pain hit in his left knee. "Ah... ah... ah!" He screamed and pulled a green flechette out of his leg. He dropped it as he turned to see Oliver standing up. He stepped towards him.
Oliver lashed out with his bow and hit him in the chest, knocking him back a step. When he came back up, he was met with Oliver's fist to his chin, then Oliver spun him around and held him tight to his chest.
"I still believe in you, Barry," he told the speedster.
〰️〰️〰️〰️
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Joe asked as he barreled towards the two vigilantes in a STAR Labs van.
"He just needs to see the right colors," Wells reassured from the passenger. When they were close enough, he yelled, "Now, Joe!"
Joe whipped the steering wheel to the side and the van slid to a stop broadside to Barry and Oliver. Wells hit the button on his remote and the side doors slide open, the rainbow light display they'd set up inside flashing brightly.
〰️〰️〰️〰️
Barry's struggling slowed, then stopped as the lights flashed. Oliver let go tentatively as they stopped and Barry stumbled forward, hands rubbing his eyes.
"Barry, you okay?" Oliver asked. Barry just groaned and straightened slowly. He turned to look at Oliver.
"Oooh," he sighed. "This is going to be a special kind of hangover." Oliver laughed with him.
〰️〰️〰️〰️
"So..." Cisco mused, putting his fingers together. "It was a tie." He winced as Hayley threw her pen at him and it hit his forehead.
"Seriously?" she asked. "You wanna do this now?"
"It's a valid question!"
Felicity sighed as the two of them started to go back and forth again.
〰️〰️〰️〰️
"Oliver," Barry started as they headed towards the van. "I'm so sorry."
Oliver shook his head. "It's not your fault," he assured. "But we do still have your meta-human to take care of. Anything left in the tank?"
Barry grinned at him. "Well, if not, there's two of us, right?"
"Right," Oliver laughed.
〰️〰️〰️〰️
A few hours later, they were locking Bivolo in the pipeline.
"You think this will stop me?" Bivolo shouted through the glass. "I will make you tear each other to pieces! You will all die screaming with rage!"
"Blah, blah, blah," Cisco mocked as he closed the pipeline on Bivolo still screaming. "'No prison can hold me.' Heard it all before, pal!" He locked the pipeline and headed for the door. "Adios, Prism."
Caitlin walked up behind him. "I liked 'Rainbow Raider.'" she said, grinning at Cisco's disgusted look. Hayley smiled.
"I like that," she agreed. Cisco's disgusted look turned to include her.
"Okay, you two don't get to pick the names," he told them as they walked out.
Oliver looked around the pipeline's entryway. "I have a prison like this," he mused. "Mine's on a nearly inhospitable island in the north China Sea, but this works too."
〰️〰️〰️〰️
Support Team Flash stood across from Oliver and Felicity, feeling very much like children in the principal's office. Hayley sat in a chair next to Cisco, watching in amusement.
"My identity is a closely-guarded secret known only to a few," Oliver told them seriously, "and if it were to get out, it will endanger my family, my friends, and it would embolden my enemies to retaliate at me through them." He surveyed them all. Felicity, seeing the uneasy looks, quickly stepped forward to intervene.
"What Oliver is trying to say," she said, giving him a look, "is that he had a lovely time working with you and getting to know each of you, and he can't wait to do it again soon."
Oliver paused, then nodded. "Right."
"You know, it didn't sound like that's what he was saying," Cisco muttered to a snickering Hayley.
"It wasn't," she told him. Joe stepped forward and shook Oliver's hand.
"I may not agree with your methods," he told him, "but... Thank you."
"You're welcome," Oliver smiled.
"Hey." Felicity walked up to Caitlin. "If I had a DNA sample we were unable to fully break down, do you think you could isolate the genetic markers for me?" Caitlin glanced at Hayley, somewhat confused, before nodding.
"Sure, what's the sample from?"
"The Canary's murder." Caitlin smiled gently.
"Of course."
Wells rolled to Oliver. "Mr. Queen, I met your father once," he told the billionaire. He waved off Oliver's questioning look. "Charity event. One of the things we spoke of was you. I think he would be very proud of the man you've become."
Oliver regarded him silently for a moment before smiling and nodding. "Thank you," he offered a hand to the doctor. "And please, call me Oliver."
Dr. Wells smiled as Felicity joined Oliver in walking out. As they met up with Diggle in the hall, Oliver shook his head. "There is something... off about that guy."
〰️〰️〰️〰️
Iris looked up as her customer walked away to see Eddie standing in the doorway. He walked over to her.
"Captain Singh approved the task force," he told her, searching her face. "You wanted me to believe The Flash was real. Now I do. I believe he's dangerous, and I am going to take him in." He took a breath as she stared at him. "How do you feel about that?"
She thought for a moment. "All I know..." she said, smiling at him. "Is how I feel about you." He smiled in relief and hugged her tight.
〰️〰️〰️〰️
Oliver and Felicity walked into Jitters to see Barry and Hayley already inside. They walked over to their table to greet them when Iris came up, smiling.
"Hey!" she greeted. "You guys heading home?"
Felicity grinned. "Yeah, we could use some javas for the road."
Iris returned the smile. "I will hook you up."
"Okay," Felicity followed her to the counter, and after a moment, Hayley did too. "Thank you." Oliver watched them walk away before sliding into Hayley's vacated seat.
"Uhm, so listen..." Barry said awkwardly, eyes on his coffee cup. "I'm really sorry for what I said in the field and then last night in the street. I wish I could say it was all because of whatever Bivolo did to me, but I guess I had more feelings bottled up than I thought." He finally looked up and met Oliver's eyes.
"You can always talk to me," Oliver reminded him gently.
Barry smiled. "Yeah. Thank you. And you were right, I still have... A lot to learn."
"There's one more thing..." Oliver told him. "And you're not going to like it."
"Does it involve you shooting me in the back?" Barry joked.
"No," Oliver laughed, before sobering. "No, the heart." At Barry's confused look, he turned and looked pointedly at the counter. Iris, Hayley, and Felicity were stood there, talking and laughing. Oliver turned back to Barry. "That's not going to work out for you." Barry looked down, face tinged red. "You need to let her go, for both of your sakes." The sound of Iris and Hayley laughing at Felicity's joke floated back to the table and Oliver smiled sadly at Barry, who had looked back at the girls. "Guys like us don't get the girl."
Felicity bounced back over to the table, Hayley in tow. "You ready?" she asked.
Oliver nodded, sliding out of Hayley's seat. "Mm-hmm."
Felicity handed him a coffee. "This one's yours."
"Thank you." Oliver turned to follow her out the door. Hayley looked at Barry's somber face.
"What did he say?" she asked him.
Barry didn't meet her eyes, instead choosing to stare at his cup. "Oh, you know, just some last minute advice." He fiddled with his sleeves for a minute before meeting her eyes. "Listen, I'm sorry about what I said yesterday." Hayley sipped her coffee, saying nothing. Barry fidgeted more. "I didn't mean it, any of it."
She stared for a minute, then nodded, looking at her phone. When she saw the time she suddenly stood. "C'mon, Sonic, we're gonna be late back to work," she said, pulling Barry along with her. "And after the whole Rainbow Raider thing, you can not afford to be on Singh's bad side."
She pulled him out the door.
〰️〰️〰️〰️
Late that night, Barry was back at Jitters as the Flash. He waited anxiously on the roof until Iris came out. She stood by the door, her face unreadable.
"Got your message," she said finally.
"I wanted you to know," Barry said, stepping forward, "last night... That wasn't me."
Iris' face was cold. "Sure looked like you."
"Yeah," Barry sighed, looking down. "I was affected by one of the meta-humans. He messed with my head." He looked back up. "But I'm okay now, I promise."
Iris scoffed. "I defended you. Everyone told me that you would bring me nothing but danger," she told him, shaking her head. "My father, Barry, Hayley, Eddie... I didn't listen to them. I never listened to them. But now it's time I did." She stepped closer to the door, opening it. "Don't contact me anymore, okay?"
Barry felt his heart drop. "Iris..." She stopped. "I'm sorry."
"Me too." She walked back inside and locked the door.
Barry stood there for a moment before speeding off and through the city, upset, running out his frustration.
〰️〰️〰️〰️
So this part was a lot shorter than I thought it would be. I'm really sorry it took so freaking long, but life hit and my Flash muse ran, so...
Anyway.
I started a new book, it's Doctor Who, called Running Across Timelines. I'm gonna try and take a page out of WritersBlock039's book and rotate updates, so the next book to be updated will be Of Heavens and Hells.
Sorry again to everyone about how long this chapter took. I hope to never leave it that long again.