Eight months.

Oof. Sorry about that.

Yeah, this is really short, a lot shorter than I realized lol. But hopefully, you still find enjoyment from it. I'm trying to get back into writing (I know, I say this every time) so I'm still a little rusty. So, apologies in advance!

Disclaimer: I wish I owned it, tbh, but I don't. Ugh.

Three days.

It had been three days since the meta-human had robbed the bank. Three days since Oliver had begun to lose faith in changing the future.

Basically, it's been a long week.

A full night's sleep was pretty much just a good memory to Oliver right now. In a way he was glad the meta-human hadn't attacked again. It gave him time to go over plans, even if he really didn't have one, and gave him time to think of ways to just avoid the entire situation.

But then again, it was pretty crappy having to wait.

Don't get him wrong, he wanted as much time as possible before this possible fate arrived. But it was like waiting on pins and needles. Not to mention his entire team was practically walking eggshells around him. Should he tell them? Maybe it would help.

Or maybe, it would make things worse. Maybe they wouldn't trust you anymore and even more things could go wrong.

Truthfully, they didn't seem to trust him all that much right now, anyway. Maybe it wasn't a case of mistrust, but more anxiety. God knows he was suffering enough of it himself to cover for the rest of the team.

The most infuriating thing of it all, was how Barry was treating him. He was worried, Oliver knew. He was constantly checking on him and asking him the same question almost every two hours on the dot.

Are you alright?

No, Barry, he wasn't.

He was pretty much the opposite of alright.

Oh no, Barry, I'm great. Just trying to figure out how to stop the inevitable future of you dying by my hands. No biggie.

He wanted to yell at Barry for being so Barry. Stop being so trusting, he wanted to tell him. Someday it may get you killed. And Oliver did not want that day to come anytime soon. He wanted to tell him to leave. Get as far away as humanly possible. Just keep running -run, Barry, run- and never look back.

But that wasn't going to happen, so now what was he supposed to do?

He brushed a hand over his face, stopping when he reached his eyes and letting his hand rest over them. He heard footsteps slowly coming down the hallway and a low growl of annoyance slipped through his lips.

Could he not get one moment to himself anymore?

He inhaled as he removed his hand and looked up to see the tall figure entering the room. He sighed and shook his head.

"Don't you sleep?" He questioned, looking up as Barry entered the room.

"What are you doing down here?" Barry asked as he moved to sit beside him on the weapons chest.

"Needed some air." Barry squinted as he looked at the dimly lit room and it's cluttered contents.

"Yeah, looks like the perfect spot for that," Barry stated dryly and Oliver turned to look at him.

"Is there something you wanted or did you just come down here to judge?" It wasn't rude, but then again he wasn't exactly pleased with the interruption. Of what? Your oh-so important self deprecating thoughts? The voice sounded more like Felicity's than his own. Barry sighed.

"Look, man, something's up with you. I just wanted to see if you were alright," Ahh. Cue the annual Barry Allen checkup.

"I told you, I'm fine."

"No, you're not." Oliver began to speak but Barry cut him off. "And don't give me any of that crap, you know you're not okay right now." He softened his voice. "What's going on? You've got us all really worried, Ollie." Oliver's jaw tensed at the nickname.

Ollie, you don't wanna' do this.

"You really don't wanna' know," Fear me, run from me, you aren't safe, I'm going to hurt you and I don't know how to stop it-

"You can't say that. Seriously, what is going on?" Oliver stood up abruptly.

"Barry, believe me when I tell you. You don't want to know." He sighed quietly, looking down at Barry's face only to look away when he saw the hurt expression that resided there. "It's better if you don't." He wasn't even done speaking when suddenly Barry joined him at his full height.

"How can you say that? You don't know, maybe we can help-" I don't know if anyone can help, that's the problem, Barry. A buzz from Oliver's phone cut Barry off. And he wasn't pleased with it. But he remained quiet as Oliver pulled out his phone and answered the phone call from Felicity.

"Hello?"

"Oliver, it's the meta-human. We found her." Oliver's heart dropped with those three words. He hung up as he looked at Barry, and from the looks of it, he had heard.

"Let's go."

WHY ARE THESE ALL SO SHORT AHHH

I hope this satisfied you for now. Hopefully, you won't have to wait too long for the next part ;)