Jacob woke up in a hospital style bed with the steady beep of a heart monitor beside him.
"Don't try to move too much," came Caitlins soothing voice. "You'll rip those stitches. You're lucky to be alive as it is."
He groaned again, barely moving his neck to look at his chest. Pink squares of gauze decorated it with small strips of tape. He turned to her and smiled.
"I think lucky is a stretch, you always were the best doctor we knew."
"What do you mean?" she asked, standing up and walking over to the bedside. "i've never met you before."
He laughed slightly and groaned at the strain it put on his chest.
"You look just like I remember. You used to patch me up a lot when I was a kid." he looked her over. "I know how Cisco's powers work but I never thought he could manipulate time as well."
"You know him as well?" she asked growing even more confused.
He smiled sadly and looked away.
"I must be on a different earth…" he muttered looking down at his hands. "My wedding ring...where is it?"
"You have us all a bit confused. Thea saw her initials engraved in it when we took it off," she whispered, pointing to where Thea slept in a chair. "I had to put you into a medically induced coma, you've been asleep for about a week and she hasn't left since."
Jacob shifted slightly in the bed to look at her. Thea sat curled up in a chair a few feet away, exhaustion showed on her face. Her hair spilled down around her head and a few strands rested over her eye. Jacob made a move to stand up from the bed but Caitlin stopped him.
"You really should rest for a while," she insisted.
"Chill out," he groaned as he laid back, cocking a sly smile at her.
Her cheeks flushed and she laughed silently.
"I take it you know about my other side as well?" she asked. "What about you? I didn't see any traces of dark matter when I analyzed your blood."
"Nope," he laughed darkly, wincing. "Nothing here except old fashioned human."
The elevator dinged and Oliver stepped out with Cisco.
"Good to see you alive," Oliver said gruffly.
"You too, da…Oliver." Jacob replied hesitantly. Oliver stared at him.
"He's stable and healing, but he needs to rest yet," Caitlin admitted standing up and heading for the door. "I need a few hours sleep myself."
"With you here, was there ever any doubt?" Jacob replied, grinning and waving as she got into the elevator. Caitlin smiled back and gave a tired wave, the doors shutting infront of her.
"I need you to answer some questions," Oliver growled, folding his arms over his chest. "But first, Cisco.."
"I'm on it," Cisco quipped, stepping forward and reaching for Jacob's arm. Jacob held the arm up welcomingly, surprising both Oliver and Cisco.
"By all means, I have nothing to hide."
Cisco lightly touched the man's arm and concentrated, activating his power. He stood there for a few minutes before a look of puzzlement reached his face.
"What the hell…" he asked aloud, breaking his concentration and gently letting go of Jacobs arm.
"Whats wrong?" Jacob and Oliver asked at the same time.
"Nothing…." Cisco muttured staring at them both. "There was nothing there, like a complete blank. Nada."
Pain spread to Jacobs face and the heart monitor sped up.
"What do you mean nothing's there?" Oliver asked grumpily. "I thought you could Vibe anyone?"
"Not if there's nothing there to see…." Cisco replied grimly, looking apologetically at Jacob.
Jacobs face showed the obvious pain from Cisco's words.
"What does that mean?" Oliver growled. "What the hell happened?"
"They're gone….I thought someone might…" the man muttered, voice cracking in his throat. "I need a minute here guys.."
Jacob closed his eyes and sank into the bed in pain, a single tear rolling down his cheek.
Oliver pulled Cisco to the side.
"Did you get anything from his vibe?" Oliver asked gruffly. "Why does he have a picture of me and Thea, not to mention Laurel?"
"Dude I don't know," Cisco replied just as confused. "I've got no freakin clue at this point. Why don't you just ask him? Better yet why don't i?"
The both turned to the man to see him wiping his eyes and wincing at the movement.
"Yea, I got this." Cisco said stopping Oliver with a hand to his chest.
"Look dude, I know you're in a lot of pain and that's partially my fault," Cisco pressed to Jacob. "Level with me, what's your story?"
Jacob smiled and laughed a painful laugh.
"Same mannerism as the Cisco I know," he chuckled grimly. "It was my wedding day…"
"From the beginning would be best," Olliver growled from behind Cisco.
"I got this man," he replied.
"Ok fine," Jacob sighed. "I'm from Earth- 111."
"But there's only 35 known earths," Cisco interjected.
"Look ask a Harrison Wells, he tried to explain to me why it was named that but I didn't pay that much attention," Jacob grumbled, shifting in pain.
"Jacob Lance isn't exactly my birth name. After my parents were murdered by Prometheus Laurel thought it would be best to change it."
"Wait a minute," Oliver growled interrupting him. "How does Laurel fit into this?"
"You wanted from the beginning," Jacob grumbled. "Just hold on."
"My parents were murdered when I was very young. I was forced to hide in a closet, that's the only way I survived. Don't ask me anymore details about it. Thanks to a few years of therapy I've successfully blocked it out." he spoke sternly.
"Now from what the police knew, I was in that closet for days. A young detective by the name of Laurel Lance was the one who found me while investigating the murder. Thanks to a brilliant social services program at the time, I was going to be placed in a shitty foster home. Laurel told me years later that she refused to let them take me with the state I was in, so she took me home herself. I don't remember much of the early days, except that there were times I would be left with a friend of hers that was a retired detective. His name was Joe West."
"Joe West…" Cisco stared in disbelief. "Big surely guy, Barry's father?"
Jacob just glared at Cisco and continued on.
"Joe was a good friend of Laurels, and after he retired from the force he became a lounge singer. The man had raised a daughter and adopted a son, whom both grew up and was now taking care of his grandson. His wife Cecile loved having Wally around and welcomed me as well. Wally and i ended up growing up like brothers. Thanks to my trauma, I would wake up in the middle of the night screaming. Joe and Cecile would come into the room and Joe would sing to me this melody he knew from the lounge as Cecile held me. He eventually taught it to Laurel, she would sing it to me every night…" he choked up a little at the end. With a cough and lightly rubbing his chest, he composed himself.
"She even gave me a nickname of sorts because of it. My little blackbird, she called me."
"Blackbird?" Oliver asked stunned. "like from that old gangster movie?"
"The lady had a thing for birds," Cisco chuckled.
Jacob shrugged.
"I didn't know she was the Black Canary for a few years." he admitted. "it didn't click in my mind. I figured she was just a busy detective, the city was pretty bad those days. Sometimes she would disappear at night and in the morning I would wake up to a new face and a note from her. I was young and didn't understand, but the people who would watch over me helped me through it. When Joe and Cecile were busy, their son Barry would be there. Barry was a forensic consultant for the police and worked out of a research facility called Star Labs. I always enjoyed those mornings I would wake up and Uncle Barry would be there. Hed fix me these huge breakfasts and end up eating everything I couldn't. I always thought it was weird that a skinny man could each so much food. He used to joke and say it was his high metabolism. After we ate and cleaned up Laurels apartment, he'd take me on the monorail that ran through central city and directly beside Star Labs. I remember the first time I saw it, it shone out from all the rest of the buildings like a giant diamond. We would meet his wife, Iris outside and they would show me all around the building. I had never seen such technology and science before. It left my head spinning in circles. He would show me his lab and introduced me to all of his co-workers, the great inventor Cisco Ramon (Cisco puffed out his chest and beamed with pride), the beautiful and kind Doctor Caitlin Snow, the wise Professor Martin Stein and then he would take me into the depths of the building where I met the man who built and imagined it all. The man who Barry had so much respect for, Doctor Harrison Wells."
He stopped, took a breath and fidgeted with the bandages on his chest.
"Do you need me to get Caitlin?" Cisco asked standing up.
Jacob shook his head and winced, taking a deep breath and starting again.
"It just itches," he grumbled. "Harrison Wells was a widower you see, his wife had died in childbirth. He kept a picture of her on his desk and sometimes I would catch him looking at it longingly. His daughter was always with him, constantly at the lab. She was a fiery girl, a few years younger than me but oh so much more brilliant. Her name was Jessi and with the way she would solve problems before either Wally or I, we ended up calling her Quick. Harrison overheard us one day and i don't think I ever saw him smile more, he took our moniker and would always use it. His little Jessi quick. The three of us were always together when I was under Barry's care. She became my sister. Wally would chase her all around the lab and at the school they both went to, Harrison even made a quip at one point that they would get married. The look on both of their faces when he said that always made me break out in a laughing fit."
Cisco pulled out his cell phone and started tapping the keys rapidly.
"What are you doing?" Oliver asked him as he typed away.
"You think I'm gonna let Wally live this down?" he replied back laughing.
Oliver rolled his eyes and motioned for Jacob to continue.
"Whenever they could get us to sit still, they all tried teaching us things. Professor Stein would go on and on at length about nuclear fission and it would put both me and Wally to sleep as Jessi sat there nodding along. Cisco, tried to teach all three of us about building mechanics and circuitry but Wally and Jessi had no interest; I'd always be right there beside him, soldering iron in hand. Now in the chance that one of us got hurt, scrapped a knee or anything like it, which happened a lot, Caitlin would sit us down in the med bay, patch us up and tried to teach us basic medical skills. She had this way about teaching and was so kind to us. Probably didn't help that after she was done, she would always give us a sugary sweet and send us on our way."
"That sounds like our Caitlin as well," Cisco said through a smile.
"She was one of the greatest things I missed when I grew up," Jacob said sadly. "But back to the beginnings. A few years passed and Laurel said she had good news, she was going to adopt me and we were going to be a real family. I remember it being the best thing I had heard at the time, the way she hugged me and even the name we picked out. Jacob Robert Lance."
"My father's name was Robert," Oliver muttered.
"I'm getting to that part." Jacob grinned. "After the adoption papers and legalities went through, she said It was time I truly became her son, I had to meet her parents, her boyfriend and his parents. I was ecstatic. My family keep growing. I remember that same day I went with her to the precinct she worked at, all her co-workers welcomed me, there was a cake and decorations and I met her Captain and her father for the first time. Captain Quentin Lance. A surely wise man with a grip that could crush your fingers. I would spend weeks with Quintin and he would teach me all about being a detective, how to follow clues, how to recognize patterns and most importantly, the need for justice to be served."
"A few days later she introduced me to her boyfriend, and from the way she talked about him, the man she would marry. He was a rough guy, had apparently spent some time in places out of most people's nightmares yet survived. The man had a good heart, even if he was stubborn as all hell and wouldn't listen at times. I ended up growing to respect him greatly, and even grew to call him my Dad. His name was Oliver Queen."
Oliver stood there frozen in shock, unable to speak, staring at Jacob. Jacob ignored his hesitance and continued on.
"Oliver and Laurel had been together for years, growing up around each and were thinking about finally getting married. I remember the first day i met him quite clearly; mainly because that was the first day i met the love of my life. Thea Queen happened to be a few years younger than myself, and was always running around with her brother. It wasn't long before she shared her childhood nickname with me; Speedy she was aptly named. I spent many a year chasing after her, both literally and figuratively. In the end, I finally caught up to her and she agreed to marry me. She had been in love with me since she first met me as well."
Jacob paused, looking longfully at the ring Thea was holding before sighing and continuing on.
"I met both of their parents that same day. Moira and Robert Queen were, at least on the outside, wonderful parents; soon they became pseudo grandparents to me. Grandma Moira used to always have the best cookies hidden away for Thea and myself. Grandpa Robert would take us on all sorts of exotic trips, flying in his small plane, out on the Queen family yacht, you name it. Unfortunately Grandpa Robert died in his 60s from stress and alcoholism. Grandma Moiras end was a bit more gruesome and not something I would like to reiterate. Despite his problems, i respected Robert Queen and it was in his honor that i used it as my middle name."
"Now It wasnt till my teenage years that things finally began to make sense, mainly due to the fact that Wally started developing the powers of a speedster. Everyone started coming clean to the children then. Barry admitted to being the Flash, taking Wally under his wing so to speak and training him to use his powers for justice. Cisco revealed his ability to manipulate frequencies and vibrational energy. Oliver came out as the Green Arrow, both publicly and to our family. Laurel revealed she was the second Black Canary and all her disappearances made sense; my mother was a true hero. On and on it went, finding out more and more of my family were heroes or vigilantes in secret. Most people would have been terrified, i was happy; i felt honored to be brought into such a family."
"Now it wasn't all good times. An explosion leveled Star Labs when i was 16. Wally and Jessi were both inside. Unfortunately Wally was vaporized leaving Jessi the only survivor and developing speedster abilities herself. We lost a lot of our family that year." He lamented, looking down at his hands in shame. "Ted Kord, Hellena Bertenelli, Jason Todd, Barbara Gordon, Tula, Harrison Wells, Roy Harper. Each brother and sister lost was devastating. Oliver went to a very dark place, killing the Ra's Al Ghul of the time, burying a few other low level drug dealers. There for awhile i didn't think we would be able to pull him back from becoming a serial killer. Thankfully it was Laurel who brought him back. With him came a new rule that he set for the whole Hero family. No more young proteges or young sidekicks. After a few dark years, they managed to achieve an age of peace. Or at least, that's how it seemed."
"The day of our wedding, that peace came to an end. I'm not sure how they managed it, but literally all the worst criminals that my family managed to put away, broke free. Prometheus, Dahmien Dark, Eobard Thawn, Riddler, Trickster and The Toymaker crashed my wedding and well," he gestured at his chest and face, "You can see the outcome."
"That's a lot of information to digest," Oliver admitted.
"How do you two have the same blood type?" Cisco asked.
"Out of all of that," Oliver butted in. "That's what you ask?"
"Fate? Kismet? Sheer dumb luck?" Jacob joked, shrugging his shoulders as best he could in the bed. "Caitlin could probably answer that one better."
"We'll give you time to rest," Oliver muttered, the confused look still across his face. "Come on Cisco."
Cisco smiled, gave a small wave and followed Oliver into the elevator and back up to the main floor of the lair.
"What do you make of this?" Oliver asked, folding his arms over his chest.
"He seems like he's telling the truth, of at least believes it himself." Cisco admitted, frowning slightly. "I'm a little thrown with not being able to vibe him."
"Do you think he's a threat?"
"The dudes been cut to ribbons. He's not going to get very far if he was a threat."
"I wonder if we should restrain him at all…" Oliver muttered to himself as they stepped out of the elevator and almost collided with Felicity.
"Oh!" she squeaked, nearly dropping the coffee cup in her hand. "How's our mystery man?"
"Alive, full of mystery," quipped Cisco cracking a grin.
"Caitlin patched him up. There's a lot of questions still." Oliver agreed.
"Well i was just on my way down to talk to him myself," she said stepping back and letting the two through.
"Let him rest," Oliver grunted, steering her back towards her computer chair. "Pull up the camera in the infirmary, i want constant surveillance on him."
"Scared he's going to go somewhere?" Felicity asked, tapping away at the keyboard till the camera feed popped up on the monitor to her left.
"Already had too many surprises, don't need another one," Oliver grunted.