13

Triumph

"Mick, I already told you, hovering around isn't going to help anything," Caitlin said through gritted teeth. She tore her gaze away from Cadence, whom she had her hands pressed against to glare at the fire toting criminal. "All you're doing is getting in my way."

"Sorry, frosty," Mick said, sounding anything but. He lifted his feet to rest on the end of the bed Cadence lay upon. Crossing them at the ankle, a smile stretched across his face. "But when I get idle, that's when things start to go wrong. And besides, you need me here." Caitlin's voice dripped with sarcasm as she asked him what he meant. "Well, if something happens and Princess here wakes up completely out of her mind, then you'd need someone who knows a thing or two about fire to handle it."

"Trust me." Caitlin lifted a hand away from the side of Cadence's face, where a vapor wafted around her hands. "I can handle it."

"Are you sure? I think I heard something about you being afraid of your powers." Caitlin fixed him with a sharp glare and he held up his hands, one of which held onto his heat gun. "I know we've had our differences before, but believe me, I want nothing more than to help." His eyes flickered towards Cadence's prone body, almost lovingly.

Caitlin lifted a skeptical eyebrow but didn't say anything else. She was tired of having to deal wit Mick. Tired of having to deal with everything. Having powers was supposed to make life easier and, instead, it made things harder. For all of them. Since Barry became the Flash, too many secrets were being kept at the worst time. And she was the biggest hypocrite about it, snapping at Barry for things he tried to work out on his own when she tried to do the same when it was her instead.

And now? What did it matter if they weren't being the team they knew they could be? A formidable force that no meta could stop?

Shaking the thoughts from her head, Caitlin focused her attention on her powers. Allowing the bitter wind to wash over Cadence. Her temperature needed to stay down. She wasn't sure what it was, but the second she'd been knocked out, her body immediately started to convulse while her skin erupted into bullets of sweat. They'd seen it a few times before, had managed to work through it each time. You've found something your powers are good for, Caitlin thought, holding her stream steady. Don't lose control now.

Footsteps caught Caitlin's attention as Cisco walked into the medical bay. He lifted his chin when their eyes met, Caitlin smiled back, glad he'd made it from Star City okay. They hadn't heard anything since he left. Things had been too quiet. And as far as she was concerned, no news was good news. Nothing on the Dominators had been said on the news other than a few reports from callers into news stations describing the space ship they'd seen.

And to link, a long time ago all this happening would've been only something we could imagine, Cailin thought. She waited for Cisco to come close enough before asking, "Anything yet?" as she straightened herself. A twinge of pain set in her lower back, she'd been working for hours.

Cisco shrugged. "I vibed one of Oliver's arrows, and got a look at where they could be. I think they're on one of the Dominator's ships but…we couldn't figure out anything else other than that. We'd need some of their alien tech to get an idea of how to take down their tech, which, of course, I'd like to see for myself. So the team an I, Team Arrow, I mean, Felicity, Curtis, and Renee, very…very interesting guys, those guys, and brought the back to get some more work done."

Caitlin blinked rapidly, trying to discern all the information Cisco had unpacked onto her. "Well, what about the—"

"—the spaceship that Barry and Cade saw when the Dominators first came frolicking to town? Yeah, we tried that. The government must've taken it for their own purposes. Whatever those are, can't really trust the government, right? They tap our phones and everything, though I have to admit they'd hear some pretty weird conversations that I have with my friends."

Mick groaned under his breath and rolled his eyes.

Caitlin, on the other hand, continued to listen patiently until finding a natural break in Cisco's rhythm. "Did you—"

"Yes, I debrief our fearless leader on everything," Cisco said sarcastically. "And he can do whatever he wants with that information. He already does. It's no skin off my nose."

"Cisco…" Caitlin folded her arms. "Are you ever going to let Barry off the hook?" She shrugged, glancing away from her best friend. "He made a mistake, we all know he did. We would've done the same—"

"—Caitlin, he's selfish, okay," Cisco interrupted. "Every time something goes wrong for him, he's willing to go back and fix it, so he lives in peace. But he won't do it for anyone else? You're the one who is waking up from nightmares every night wondering if you've finally managed to lose control and kill people. So why doesn't he just go back in time and make it so that you don't have powers."

Now Caitlin transfixed Cisco with a hard look. "You know it doesn't work like that," she said firmly. "The only way I wouldn't have my powers would be if I wasn't in Central City when we turned on the Particle Accelerator. I wouldn't be friends with you, or Barry, or have had any of the experiences we've ever had. Is that what you want?"

Cisco pressed his lips together.

"Or maybe it's that you want everyone around you to be pushed away," Caitlin continued. "Because you're doing a great job of that already. Maybe you're the one who's selfish. You have a life that you're proud of, you're excited to be a part of, and you're afraid that the moment it all goes away you'll go back to what you're afraid of being again. A loser." The two stared at each other for long seconds of silence, Caitlin was the first one to break it. "I need a break. Her temperature seems to be stabilized, let me know if anything changes." She then nodded to Mick. "And make sure he stays away from her."

With that, Caitlin left the medical bay, heading towards her office. She passed by Barry, Brady, and Deity, who were coming in the opposite direction, retiring from the field. Barry was in the process of taking off his gloves when he noticed her and the stern expression on her face. "Is everything okay?" He asked her. "Did something happen?"

"Is my mom awake yet?" Brady added anxiously.

Caitlin gave him a sad smile. "Not yet," she said then added, "But I'm sure she will be soon. You'll be the first person I look for when she does."

Brady sighed heavily. "Okay. Thanks, Aunt Caitlin," he said. "I'll go work on the inventory then."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Brady walked off, head hanging towards the medical bay with Deity following along behind him, casting a curious glance to Barry and Caitlin as she went.

Barry turned back to Caitlin, eyebrows furrowed in concern. "I think he's taking this really hard," he said.

"Well, he did just have to fight against her," Caitlin reminded him.

"I meant having been mad at her before, about Conner," Barry corrected. "You didn't hear everything he told her, but it was bad. I think he's beating himself up about it."

"Didn't you do the same when your mom died?"

"Yeah…I kept thinking she'd wake up and everything would be over. We'd go home. When it started to become more real, that she was really gone, I started to wonder what I could've done to help her. Why did I have to run away?" He chuckled. "Of course, it wasn't until almost 20 years later that I find that I ran myself away but…" Caitlin laughed along with him, a sobering laugh that made Barry glance at her before looking closely. "Is everything okay?"

"I just needed to take a break," Caitlin said. "I didn't want anything to happen…" she gestured with her hands and Barry nodded in understanding. "Cisco told me that you guys got some leads on where Oliver and the others are?"

"Yeah." Barry nodded. He took in a deep breath, running his hands over his face and through his hair. It was then Caitlin noticed how tired he looked. Dark circles sat under his eyes, of which she also noticed quickly jerked back and forth, as if a muscle spasm to keep himself awake. She didn't remember him sleeping at all since everything with the Dominators started. "Professor Stein and Jax got into contact with those on the Waverider and they're going after the ship they're on."

"So, they really are on a Dominator's ship?"

"They got beamed up like Scotty, Caitlin. I don't think they're having a good time floating around in space."

Caitlin gave a half smile at his joke. "That was so lame."

"I'm glad my lousy sense of humor is good for something."

With that, Caitlin laughed and stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Barry tightly. He opened his arms and hugged her back, squeezing her just as hard. Things were difficult, but at least they had a moment to relax. Barry rubbed her back then rested his hands on her shoulders. "You deserve a break, Caitlin."

"So do you."

"I know, I will when all of this is over." Caitlin stared to protest but Barry tilted his head. "Go."

Amused, Caitlin lifted her eyebrows. "Are you pulling rank on me?" Technically, as Harrison and Tess named Barry the one that would take on STAR Labs when they were gone, effectively making him the sole owner of the property, he was her boss. They'd never spoke much about it before, what it meant for their team dynamic. It was bound to come up at some point.

Barry smiled. "Yes, I'm pulling rank on you. Go get some rest, Caitlin. I'll get you if there's anything you need to know."

"Alright." Caitlin stared to go then stopped. She looked at Barry seriously. Eyes searched his. "Don't push yourself too hard, Barry."

"I won't." Barry watched her walk away, being sure she did as she was told, before letting out a heavy sigh. Much like Brady did before, his shoulders slumped, the weight of the world slamming heavily on his shoulders. First the Dominators came to the city, then he lost trust in everyone, then he had to fight his friends, gained everyone's trust back, and they were taken away to some spaceship floating in space above their heads?

When would things get easier?

Barry straightened himself when he walked into the Cortex, doing his best to appear unaffected as he walked into the Cortex. Harrison and Tess were nowhere to be found—he remembered only seconds later they were in their offices, fielding phone calls with their connections to those in law enforcement and the government to know the plan moving forward, and he was glad HR wasn't there as well. There was only so much mindless talking he could take before snapping.

Glancing over, Barry twisted his mouth to the side as he watched Brady systematically move through the inventory in the medical bay, checking things off on a clipboard while Deity sat aside, the two talking about something that made them laugh. Mick sat snoring loudly in a chair by Cadence's bedside while Cisco continued to glare at him with every abnormally loud snore that drowned out the sound of the heart monitor beeping quietly.

Hearing a quiet sigh, Barry turned around to see Kara sitting at the computer desks, watching—but not focusing—on some late night comedy show that was playing.

"Hey," Barry said, walking over to Kara, who sat dejectedly with her chin in her hands. She sat up and tried to appear as perky as ever as he approached, watching Barry as he grabbed a nearby chair and sat down. "How's everything going? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kara said. But even she couldn't muster up enthusiasm. Barry gave her a look and Kara sighed, folding her arms. "I just…I don't get it," she said. "I know that my mind should be on all of this, the Dominators and Cade and everything but…I just don't get why she ran away."

"Because she felt like she had to," Barry said with a sense of definition he hadn't anticipated coming from him. It didn't take him long to realize he was telling the truth, however. As he felt it. He still didn't know everything, and wouldn't push her either. The situation was something he found to have in common with the young teen now that he thought about it.

"But why? And why won't she talk to me? And why can Cadence get her to do something the moment she asks and I have to practically bribe Debby to do something when at home? Do you know how long it took for me to get her to go grocery shopping with me?" A hollow laugh followed.

Barry bobbed his head back and forth. Unsure of how to respond, or even if he should. It wasn't his business, but… "Because you give her a choice," he said bluntly, grudgingly.

Kara frowned. "If I don't, she doesn't listen…"

"Because you give her a choice," Barry repeated. He was silent for a long moment, blinking back the tears that threatened to come. "When my mom died, and my dad was taken away, I moved in with Joe and Iris," he explained. "I hated it." Kara looked confused. She'd heard nothing but good things about the family that had taken him in, that had become a family of his own. "Don't get me wrong," Barry said quickly. "I didn't hate them, I hated that I had to be there. I hated that my mom was gone, that my dad was gone, that I was constantly being asked questions about that night. The night that is so engrained in my head that if there was anything I had missed or didn't say outright, I would've told them in a heartbeat. Anything to save my dad. But I knew that night inside and out, yet I was still being asked about it. I hated that the police and therapists thought they were helping me. And to top it off, I had a man who was trying to tell me what to do. When to go to sleep, when to eat, when to do my homework." He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't blame Joe for any of this. Actually, if he hadn't done it, I probably would've ended up on the streets."

"What do you mean?" Kara murmured.

Barry pressed his lips together. "I ran away all the time." Kara's eyes widened in surprise and he nodded. "I wasn't very smart about it; I was always running towards Iron Heights. I thought if I could get there with my dad, maybe they'd let me stay. But Joe would quickly catch me and take me back home. I wouldn't do any of the chores he asked me to do, I wouldn't do my homework…" he chuckled. "Until right before school."

Kara tried her hardest not to roll her eyes, but Barry noticed it. "Hey, you're about as good as I am and even I don't think you've never not done your homework." Then she smiled sheepishly, which made him laughed. "I was never the kind of person that just didn't do my homework, so I'd wait until I got to school and did it fast. I wouldn't listen to what Joe had to say. Because, in my head, I knew he wasn't my dad and I didn't understand why he was trying to act like it. I told him so a while go and once recently. I'm not proud of either time I've said it.

"But Joe sat me down and reminded me that I didn't have anyone else other than him and Iris and if I continued to push them away, I didn't have anyone. Then what would happen? I'm not saying that Debby doesn't think of you as her mom, because you are in every sense of it, but you weren't there when she was born, you weren't there when she first learned to walk or crawl or fly or whatever it is Kryptonians learn to do first. It's in the back of her mind and it's always going to be there. Especially since she's a hybrid and not completely Kryptonian. No matter what there's a part of her that feels doesn't fit, just like no matter how much Joe and Iris are my family, I'm not a West.

"My dad and Joe…they got into a fight about it before he died but they managed to understand each other. It took them time to reach that understanding just like it's going to take time for you and Debby to reach an understanding. She knows she's different and now something's happened to her that's made her afraid of accidently killing somebody."

Barry was suddenly struck with the realization. He'd heard Deity say it to Oliver before, but when you had multiple people you loved attacking you, it was hard to keep things straight. Hearing it now, he realized how much it made sense. He'd been afraid of the same thing when he got his powers. What would happen if he was too strong and killed someone? He made the vow not to and had still only done it once. It was something he and Cadence argued about from time to time, she said there was no way to accurately protect the city without having to kill of a major threat every now and then, Barry was a staunch believer that things could be solved with rehabilitation and incarceration. Even being face to face with the Reverse-Flash time and time again hadn't made the decision any easier. He had every opportunity to kill him and still couldn't bring himself to do it.

He had to be better.

"You and Debby just need to get to where things work for you both. You giving her free-reign isn't going to do it. She's scared, probably since she first crash landed on your Earth, but even more so now. Something happened and right now what would really help her is to not be alone. I know you're hurting and really want to know what happened, but you have to let her come to you with it. Because she's afraid you'll think of her differently."

"I never…" Kara trailed off. True, she had never left Deity alone, she was always there for her daughter. It was only now that Barry was pointing it out however, that she realised that had all been her. She'd been shoehorning herself into Deity's life more ways than one, when maybe all she'd wanted was some time alone. But she'd been loose with her, too. Maybe Deity's insistence of doing things on her own and pushing back against everyone was a sort of cry for help. "Thanks, Barry," Kara said to him. "And…I'm sorry about what happened to your dad."

Barry nodded. He couldn't speak. It was still too painful to talk about.

"That's why you created Flashpoint?" Kara asked. "Because you missed him?" Barry nodded again. Kara's eyes lowered. "I miss my parents and Krypton every day…if I had the ability to change things, to keep them alive…I might do the same." "Trust me, the consequences aren't worth it."

"Well, that's how you're strong, Barry. You can handle it."

The two smiled at each other before both turned their eyes back to the comedy show. They weren't in the mood for laughter, but something had to take their minds off the fact they didn't have any leads to what the Dominators were up to or where their friends were.

Barry could only watch for the first half hour before he closed his eyes and turned away. He turned his head, resting his cheek on his upraised fist as his eyes turned back to the medical bay. Times like these, he'd have someone from his team be there to talk him down, to give him some sympathy or empathy. It was a time where Cadence would give him some tough love and seamlessly add in compassion that he really missed. What hurt him the most was that he couldn't be there for her in the current situation, unsure of what to do to help.

He hated feeling so powerless.

The last time, he'd run back and created Flashpoint. This time, he had no choice but to work through it. He couldn't mess things up again.

"Everything's going to be okay, Barry," Kara said gently. He could hear the smidge of uncertainty in her voice. "Cadence is going to be fine."

"It's not that," Barry croaked. He blinked a few times before turning to her. He looked at her for a second before twisting his head once more, hesitating. But his feet propelled him back to the apartment and back, where he dropped into his chair once more. He dragged his feet on the ground to keep the chair from rolling across the floor at top speeds.

He took a breath and held his closed fist out. Instinctively, Kara held out her hand and watched as a ring dropped into her palm. She stared at it for a moment then realization crossed her face. A giddy smile stretched her lips. "Barry!" She practically squealed. "You're going to propose?"

"I've been thinking about it," Barry admitted, motioning for her to keep her voice down. He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. "That was my mom's ring. But with what's happened lately…"

"We haven't lost yet, Barry. Don't let that get you down." Kara turned the ring back and forth in her fingers then asked, "Am I the first to know?"

"No, I told Brady first."

Kara thought for a moment, her nose wrinkling. "Ah. Okay, that makes those strange little comments make more sense."

"Yeah, he's excited."

"What about his dad?"

"I have to talk to him about it, too. I know he won't mind, but he still deserves to know before I do it. And there's Joe and…" Barry licked his lips. "I would've liked to tell my dad but…I guess that wasn't meant to be." Kara smiled sadly, handing the ring back over. Barry superspeeded it into a pocket on his suit when Deity poked her head out of the medical bay.

"Uh, Cisco says he's going to try vibing Cadence," she reported. "I don't really know what that means, but it sounds like you would."

Barry immediately leaned over and pressed an intercom button on the closest computer and called Caitlin out of her office before hurrying into the medical bay. He looked over at Caitlin when she arrived, breathless, then back to Cisco. He jumped when Mick continued to snore loudly behind them. He and Caitlin exchanged glances and rolled their eyes.

"Are you guys ready?" Cisco asked. It was then Barry noticed he had his hand wrapped around Cadence's, fingers hovering over the ring that sat on her pinkie finger. He got nods in reply and took a deep breath. "Here we go."

Cisco clamped his fingers down onto her ring and in a second, he was transported into an area of complete darkness. He waited for his eyes to adjust, but it was the sound of a struggle that got his attention first. Grunts of pain, the sickening squelch of flesh beating flesh. The cries of someone in pain seconds before an equally loud grunt of effort. There was a sudden flash of light and Cisco turned towards it.

There was silence before another flash. Cisco's eyes narrowed as he walked towards it. It took only a few steps before it was suddenly in his face. Breathtaker stood before Cadence, who frantically and impulsively threw fire towards him. Breathtaker merely held up his hand and deflected each attack. Cisco yelped as a fireball hurtled his way and he ducked aside, feeling the heat singe him at his shoulder.

"Aw man, that was my favorite shirt," he whined.

Cadence let out a sound of intense frustration, grabbing her head as if squeezing it hard enough would give her the answers she needed. "What do you want from me?" She demanded.

"I need your help, my child." The answer was so simple, rolling out of his mouth like dry leaves. Breathtaker clearly wasn't annoyed by having the same repeated conversation.

"I already told you," Cadence's voice continued to increase in strength, in ferver. "I'm not helping you anymore. I'm not going to blindly follow you anymore."

Breathtaker shook his head. "You're all my children and you're lost because you follow blind leaders." He gestured his hand around the darkness. "These false gods you follow so blindly, so lovingly. Systems of the weak. They've ruined my world. No more. Only you can help me."

"What do you want?" Cadence's shoulders slumped in exhaustion, though her voice continued to hold firm. She wasn't backing down.

"I want you to feel the full reach of your powers," Breathtaker clenched his hand into a fist, eyes continuing to glow hauntingly form beneath his hood. "You've only had a taste of your true strength, unlike others who seek to control you. I want to set you free." He gestured towards the darkness once more. "This was meant to be the center of the universe before I was betrayed. This…the metahumans. You believe that the metas you work with were the first created. That the Particle Accelerator is the first interest of those to the unknown. There have been unexplainables, metahumans, around for much longer than you'd ever imagine. I used to lead them. We used to live in a world where they were heralded as much as your so-called presidents and prime ministers of now. I want to return the world to that former glory."

"You want to kill all the humans," Cadence snarled.

"There must be casualty in war. Surely, you know that by now. You were one of the best followers. Your combined talents with Mindboggler, Incognito, and Stratos are what can show the world it's former glory."

Cadence started to pace back and forth, too agitated to stand still. Moving like a lion or a tiger stalking it's prey.

"Everything you made us do…it was to bring metahumans together?"

"No, my child. It was to be sure I had the right protectors on my side. Those that no longer had souls, those that would do anything I asked. It took me a vast amount of time to figure out those who had what I needed. But when I found them…those special talents…I knew they could be used to achieve my dream. I brought you everything you know."

"I'm not your puppet," Cadence hissed.

"No, my child. But you are one of the keys to cleanse the Earth. And I will not rest until it is achieved."

Cadence lifted her hands, the room illuminating in so much light that Cisco had to raise his hands to shield his eyes. Even with his eyes closed, the light was so bright he could see Stratos's and Cadence's shadowy figures moving as they became locked in battle. Cauldrons of fire erupted beside her as she raised her arms. With screams of effort, Cadence controlled the fire, twisting and snaking out of their perches. As they stretched, they formed the shape of dragons that shot directly towards Breathtaker. Breathtaker merely lifted his hand, casting the fire to the side.

A low, dry chuckle filled the area, bouncing around Cisco, filling his head no matter how hard he pressed his hands against his ears. With miniscule movements; twisting it left and right as if he were swiping for a match on Tinder, Breathtaker exhibited his powers. Without touching her. Invisible enemies gave her a brutal beatdown.

A solid punch to the stomach immediately had blood flowing from her mouth. Bubbling over her lips to fall down her chin. She fell to her knees, one arm wrapped around her stomach, spitting a mouthful of blood to the ground. Then she was struck on the side of the face, pitching her over to her side. Systematic attacks came next, not giving her any chance to defend herself. A slam against the edge of the darkness that surrounded them, a headbutt to the forehead, a crushing blow to the knees that immediately caused her to collapse, unable to hold her weight on a broken leg. A kick to the stomach. A stomp to the ribs. Devastating assaults that broke the bones in her face and hands as she tried to fend herself off.

Her healing wasn't kicking in, his powers overriding hers.

Still, she continued to fight back, her movements were sluggish but continued to hold onto her fire. She was strong and determined with a fire in her heart that she wouldn't let life, let alone Breathtaker, put out. No matter how much of a disadvantage she was at, she wouldn't stop fighting until he was dead. Her arms snapped to her sides, head lolling forward as if ropes suddenly bound around her.

Breathtaker lifted her off the ground and moved her directly in front of him. Cadence's head tilted back, hair moving out of her face. Despite blood continuing to puddle down from her mouth, pitiful wheezes escaping her lips, an eye completely swollen shut, bruising along her jaw, Cadence continued to glare defiantly at Breathtaker.

"It's only a matter of time," he warned.

And he dropped her, leaving Cadence in a free fall through the darkness.

"Gah!"

She came to a hard stop, head and neck cracking against the ground, her body falling in a heap seconds after. Her body bounced once in the ground before lying still. The darkness pulsed around her, throbbing in and out along with her slowing heartbeat.

A last sigh escaped her lips as her eyes fell shut.

Cisco gasped and stumbled backwards, dropping Cadence's hand. He stumbled into the wall behind him bringing his hand up to his chest as he fought for breath.

"What'd you see?" Brady demanded.

"What happened?' Barry asked.

Cisco continued to gasp for air, trying his hardest to breathe. He screamed at his brain to calm down, but his hands continued to shake, chest heaving up and down. Had he been the one that was attacked? "Cisco, what's wrong?" Caitlin asked.

Instead of responding, Cisco pointed to Cadence. All eyes turned to her as her eyelashes fluttered. In seconds, bruising formed on her face, blood dripping form her lips and down the side of her head. Kara and Deity gasped.

"Mom!" Brady grabbed onto her hand and leaned over her. As the seconds passed, the wounds continued to worsen, darkening on her pale skin. "Mom?" His voice quivered as he called to her again.

They continued to watch as her wounds continued to darken. Then, as quickly as they appeared, they faded away. Brady smiled and leaned forward, resting his head against her stomach. Caitlin glanced at the monitors attached to her friend and shook her head in amazement.

"What?" Kara asked. "What's happening?"

"She's healing," Caitlin explained. "But…she wasn't hurt before. Something hurt her."

Barry looked to Cisco, who finally caught his breath, continuing to press against the wall behind him. He swallowed hard and looked back at him before looking away. Barry moved to Cadence and gently pushed her hair from her forehead. "Cade?" He murmured. "Hey, can you hear me?"

Cadence gently nodded, her squinting open. "My head hurts," she croaked.

"I'm sure it would," Barry smiled in relief. "Welcome back, Miss. Nash."

There was a loud thumping sound, completely with a snort when Mick's feet fell off the bed, jolting him awake. He smacked his lips and looked around, blinking slowly when all eyes turned his way.

"What'd I miss?" He asked.

It wasn't until the next morning when Barry had gotten the call, immediately shooting him awake from a restless slumber filled with the Reverse-Flash, Zoom, his parents, and the Dominators, that sent him racing off to STAR Labs. It was hard to believe, but true. Oliver, Ray, Thea, Diggle, and Sara had managed to get off the Dominator's ship they had been held captive on. The moment he saw them, Barry went over to Oliver and surprised him with a tight hug.

Though stunned at first, Oliver couldn't help himself but reach up and pat Barry on the back, a move of solidarity, to let him know he didn't blame him for anything that had happened. Barry stepped back and looked Oliver in the eye, silently questioning him, and Oliver gave a single nod back that reassured him. Everything was going to be okay.

"So, what happened?" He asked.

And they told their whole story. The Dominators had taken them as they were the only humans in the group and wanted to probe their minds for any information that was pertinent to them. They explained how they were placed in pods that kept them in a deep slumber and the only way they managed to break out of it, was due to Oliver, who was the first to notice that something was wrong. That there were too many changes in their lives that hadn't managed to stick, things he broke through thus starting off the uprising against the Dominators that got them.

After being introduced to Nate Heywood, and the rest of the Legends team, Barry gathered everyone to meet at the hangar once more.

"I can't believe you managed to escape an alien spaceship," Cisco practically squealed to Oliver as those that had been kidnapped by the Dominators as they all walked inside the hangar. "You'll totally have to tell me the story later, once we defeat all of this alien butt."

Oliver looked at him and shook his head. He continued his forward stride to Barry, who was flanked on either side by Kara, Felicity, and Professor Stein. "What's our status?" He practically barked.

"Nothing," Barry said, slapping his hands to his sides. The word he hated the most in the world as it typically proceeded a lie and followed a question of what could be wrong. "Now that the Dominators have paid their little visit to mess with your heads."

"While…" Ray pointed above their heads. "We were up there we realized they took us because we were human and everyone else is a meta or an alien of some sort. They wanted to probe our minds to determine what makes us different. Trying to pit us against each other."

"Why can't these guys just send us an IM asking us to fill out a questionnaire?" Felicity asked, voice tight with frustration.

Brady gave her a look. "Because no one uses IM anymore, we all use Snapchat. Duh."

"Metas pose the biggest threat to their invasion," Kara said, pushing her cape behind her. "It would make sense that they want to learn as much about their enemies as they can."

"Perhaps they were searching your minds for any potential metahuman vulnerabilities," Professor Stein suggested.

Oliver shook his head, already tired of the conversation, of the inaction against those that threatened their planet. "Then, maybe it's time we return the favor," he said.

"What do you want to do? Kidnap one of them?"

"Ever since we fought off that ship, they've kind of been in short supply."

"Well, if there's anyone who can find a Dominator it's my mom," Brady suggested with a shrug. His eyes shifted back and forth from Oliver to Barry and back again. "She can find anyone really fast. Why not aliens, too?"

"Right now, I think it's a good idea that she rests," Kara said gently.

Brady smirked. "You don't know my mom very well, do you?" His smile faded when Barry gave him a look, almost imperceptibly shaking his head. Brady nodded back, pressing his lips together. Now wasn't the time to brag.

"Actually," Nate said slowly, scratching at the tiny bit of beard that covered his chin. "I think I know where to find one." Confused glances came his way and he folded his arms, addressing everyone standing in front of him. "On our way back into the atmosphere—"

"—Which, incidentally isn't as cool as Train would make you believe," Cisco interrupted.

Nate smiled. "I looked over some footage of the army of their first encounters with the Dominators and I think I pegged the fight to this one moment in time. Redmond, Oregon. 1951."

"That's what Joe was talking about earlier," Barry said.

"Yeah, he said he remembered watching it on the SyFy channel," Brady said.

Brady's head tilted to the side as his nose wrinkled. "So…you're saying we should travel to 1951 and abduct a Dominator in order to torture it to get intel on its inventions?"

"They kidnapped us," Sara pointed out. "Seems fair." An eye for an eye.

"Time travel," Cisco murmured dreamily. "I'm definitely in."

"Okay, hold on, Professor Stein and Caitlin have been talking about a way to take down the Dominators, they could probably use your help."

"Pass," Cisco said flatly.

Felicity nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'm with him. Not that I don't want to help here, but I also don't want to lose my geek cred. I mean, time travel!"

"Oh, and we wouldn't want that," Cadence drawled as she sauntered over, cleaning off the lenses of her goggles as she walked over. Deity walked along with her, looking at her periodically as if afraid she'd start to keel over. She'd been sticking close ever since Cadence climbed out of bed, claiming she was just watching her in case she collapsed suddenly. It was also a pretty good excuse for avoiding her mother too.

Coming to a stop and letting her goggles drop around her neck, Cadence asked, "What's the plan?"

"You shouldn't be up," Oliver said, having been debriefed on what happened while he was gone. "You should be getting some sleep."

"I'll sleep when I'm dead," Cadence replied shortly. "I'm not missing any of this. You guys need my help. We're a team. And," she tilted her head to the side. "I don't think you'd want a pissed off meta fighting against you."

Oliver smiled a little. "Got enough of that before, you're right." He nodded towards his oldest friends, who nodded back.

Barry continued to give her a worried look, of which Cadence shot back with a sharp one of her own. "I'm fine," she stressed. "We can deal with that later, right now we need to handle the Dominators. And figure out the best course of action against them. Offense or defense?"

"I'm taking Amaya and Mick and Cisco and Felicity with me back to 1951 to catch a Dominator," Nate replied.

Deity nodded in agreement. "What's the game plan?"

"I'm taking Amaya and Mick and Cisco and Felicity with me back to 1951 to catch a Dominator," Nate replied.

Deity bobbed her head back and forth as she mulled over what had just been said to her and Cadence. "So time travel," she said. "That's kinda cool."

"Speaking of cool, which would be much better under completely different circumstances, the new president called," Barry said, trying and failing to keep the excitement out of his voice. "Wants to arrange a meeting."

"Then we'll need to bring serious backup," Oliver murmured, eyes shifting as he thought of a game plan. "Ray and Sara will come with us."

"What about me?" Kara asked, almost eagerly bouncing on her toes. Itching for a fight. "I can do backup."

"I need to talk to you for a second," Oliver said. Kara and Barry exchanged a glance while Barry held out his arm, indicating Oliver shouldn't be left waiting. Kara gently floated along behind the gruff older man as he walked them a few paces away from the group. The intense frown never leaving his face. "I would like to minimize you, and your daughter's, involvement in this," he said quietly.

Kara immediately frowned. "Why?" She demanded. "Because we're aliens? We also happen to be your biggest weapon."

"Kara, this is not personal."

"Except, that's exactly how this feels. Especially after the way you were speaking to Debby before," Kara argued defensively, still itching to pick at Oliver's bones for raising his voice at Deity when all she'd been trying to do was help.

Oliver's nostrils flared in irritation. "Kara, when I started living this life it was just me. I was going up against human threats. I can handle that. Then it was metahumans, I can handle that. Now, I know there's multiple Earths and I was held aboard this alien spacecraft—"

"—I'm sure that was unnerving—" Kara started.

"—I don't get unnerved," Oliver swiftly interrupted. Kara pursed her lips, folding her arms. "But when I go up against something new, I push back. Right or wrong, it is who I am and it is what I do. So, I am asking for a little bit of space because I have to draw the line somewhere. I have to claw back a sense of normalcy. Please, stay here."

He took Kara's silence as her answer and turned to walk away, leaving Kara almost pouting behind him. She could help it, it was the whole point of her being on this Earth, to stop the Dominators. But to be, to be…grounded like that? Now she knew how Brady and Jesse felt. To know you could help but not wanted around?

She could help, it was the whole point of going to their Earth, to stop the Dominators. But to be, to be…grounded like that? Now she knew how Brady and Jesse felt. To know you could help but not wanted around?

It sucked.

Kara was itching to fight, and nothing would stop her when she needed to fight. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Kara turned around finding Deity watching the two. Her eyes flickered to Oliver, anger flashing through them, before locking on with Kara's. Kara watched quietly as a soft look came to Deity's eyes and she turned away.

Hope filled Kara.

It was a start.

Caitlin walked into STAR Labs holding two cups of coffee. She handed one to Professor Stein, who stood by one of the transparent dry erase boards set up in the cortex. Gently nudging his arm, she got his attention, tearing his eyes away from the board and all the work he'd scribbled across it.

"Thank you, my dear," Professor Stein said, taking the Styrofoam cup from her. "This is exactly what I needed."

"Exactly what the doctor ordered," Caitlin agreed. She took a sip of her own coffee, lifting her brown eyes to the equations and figures written out in front of her. "No luck yet."

With a shake of his head, Professor Stein said. "It's highly unlikely we can fashion a weapon with sufficient force ot overcome the Dominators."

"I agree," Caitlin said. "I was thinking the same thing."

"So, what if instead, we tried to attack them with something small. I'm sure you're familiar of the story of the lion with the thorn in its paw."

"My dad used to read that to me all the time," Jesse said wistfully, walking up behind Caitlin, placing her hands on her hips. "He told me it all the time when I was a kid." She turned to Caitlin. "The lion with the thorn in its paw is a parable about a big ferocious creature that is felled by something small." She grinned eagerly. "So, what do you need help with?"

"Jesse is Harrison daughter," Caitlin explained, gently nudging her forward. "Not our Harrison, but Earth-2's, Harrison. So she's, technically, Cadence's sister, but not really. Anyway, she's a speedster and she also holds five degrees."

"Five degrees?" Professor Stein nearly keeled over in surprised. A light twinkle came to his eyes as he held out his hand for Jesse to shake. She did so with gusto. "My, you're quite a remarkable young woman, aren't you?"

"I wouldn't say so," Jesse said modestly. "I'm still getting used to everything around here. Like…Ubers. I thought it was people saying they thought things were really awesome. I had no idea slang on my Earth was so far behind than it is here."

"Believe me, young lady, you are not the only one that is trying to catch on with the fancy lingo," Professor Stein reassured her. "I don't believe Jax will stop laughing at Cisco's trying to teach me the use of the word 'lit' anytime soon."

Caitlin smiled in amusement. Professor Stein gave her a stern look and she made a show of sliding a hand over her face, making sure to drop the corners of her mouth down into an exaggerated frown. That made Professor Stein slowly start to smile.

"You know, if Ronnie were here, he'd had a lot of fun teaching you those things as well," Caitlin said.

"Yes, well, with the massive amounts of pizza that he made me consume, I believe he owed me a favor. And that favor would be to keep all of this slang and newfound technological hijinks away from me. I'm perfectly capable of using an old-fashioned Encyclopedia when I want to look something up, thank you very much."

"So, what are we doing? Something that needs work on nano-technology?" Jesse leaned aside and glanced at the board. She stepped around Professor Stein, rubbing her hands together. "I thought of getting my PHD in it, but didn't know if I liked it enough to devote even more of my time to the study, you know? So, I guess I'll figure it out, here."

"And we could use your help," Caitlin agreed with a warm smile. "It's very welcome."

"Okay!" Jesse beamed. "Then let's get to work!"

Redmond, Oregon. 1951.

Cisco's heart jolted as the Waverider touched to the ground. The moment the engines stopped whining, he unbuckled himself and looked around. "Oh my god, we're in the 50s," he said. "It's so sick." There was a sudden hurling sound and Cisco jumped aside, nearly scrambling up his seat when Felicity leaned forward and started to throw up. "Girl, I was everything is sick, not to get sick!"

"Sever time jumps can cause nausea, temporary deafness, linguistic orientation…" Nate explained as if he were reporting the weather outside. Of which, was as bright and sunny as it was back in Central City in 2016.

"You," Mick declared, pointing at Cisco, his gruff voice making him jump again. Then he pointed to the pile of vomit that sat on the floor between Felicity's feet. "Clean that up. And stay here, we're going to hunt some aliens."

"Okay, no," Cisco said. He lifted a finger, watching as Nate and Mick got up and started to get ready for the confrontation. "I didn't travel through time to stay on the ship."

"You're staying on the ship," Mick growled seriously.

"No way, we can help you," Felicity insisted, taking a step forward.

Amaya Jiwe lifted an eyebrow, waiting for Nate and Mick to reach her side. "You want to go up against a bunch of super strong aliens with nothing to defend yourself?"

At those words, Felicity's eyes widened behind her glasses. She thought for a moment, tapping her fingertips against her lips before taking a large step back, the heels of her dress shoes clacking against the metallic floor as she did so. "On the other hand, what use will I be if something breaks down around here, right?"

"So, I guess we'll take that as, 'have fun storming the castle'," Nate said with a smirk.

Cisco's eyebrows rose in offense. "For real? Cisco asked, taking a step towards Nate. Not that he felt he could take down Nate at all, or even intimidate him. The man's biceps were even bigger than his head, but no one was going to out pop-culture reference him. "You're going to use Princess Bride against me?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Okay, well, you can do that. But I'm not going to be left behind, alright?" He moved to Nate's side, trying to appear bigger than the quivering mess he was on the inside, a combination of nerves and excitement. "I've got mad vibe powers, you may need me."

Nate looked at him for a long moment before rolling his eyes, muttering something under his breath. "Fine, but listen to everything I say."

"You got it."

Ten minutes later, Nate and Amaya were dressed in their suits while Mick grabbed his heat gun and Cisco took his vibe glasses. It may not be another Earth, but being in a different time may affected he vibrational frequencies, he reminded himself. If something was going to happen with his powers, he'd need the tech to go along with it. Cisco followed the three members of he legends team out into the wilderness they parked their, now invisible, space ship.

Mick glanced at Nate, lifting an eyebrow on the Captain America-esque suit that covered his powerful body. "Getting ready for the 4th of July a little early, this year?" He groused.

"Ray made it for me," Nate replied simply.

"You look like a Star-Spangled Idiot."

Amaya sighed, used to an equally annoyed by their consistent bickering and put downs. "We need to find the army." The second the words left her mouth, a low explosion reached their ears. Cisco exchanged glances with the three before they started running, following the sound of the explosions and gunfire.

They rounded a turn in the bend and came face to face with a large space ship hovering over the canyon in the mountains. Gun blasts, from the humans and spaceship alike sent clouds of dirt hovering in the air. Screams from the army and screeches from the Dominators mixed together as the battle raged in front of them.

Cisco's eyes widened. He muttered a prayer in Spanish under his breath, watching the carnage unfold in front of him. With green energy blasts raining down from the spaceship above them, the resulting implosion lifted them off their feet and hurtled them through the air like rag dolls. Dominators ran over and threw those that stood in their way, others driven back by the force of the bullets being sprayed against them.

"So, what are we waiting for?" Nate asked after a few seconds of the group watching the aliens fighting against the army, taking them down with ease. Cisco slowly felt his excitement give way to fear. "Let's grab an alien and get out of here."

"Just…waiting for one of the weaker ones in the pack," Mick said slowly. He cleared his throat and looked away when Amaya glanced at him.

"I don't think there are any weak ones," Amaya murmured.

Just what I wanted, Cisco thought with a shake of his head. Being able to see life like one of Spielberg's movies. And it's one of the most horrifying things I've ever seen. He tucked some of his hair behind his ear, wondering if he'd be seen as a coward if he went back to the ship. You can't run away now, he chided himself. What sort of hero is that? You can on the Waverider to…to what exactly?

To get away from Barry.

The thought came to mind against his tries to keep it out. Mostly because, it was a conversation Felicity wouldn't let him drop, talking to him about it the entire way through their time travel. Which…coincidentally, isn't as fast as anyone would think. It felt like years as they traveled through time and space to get back to the 50s and Felicity wouldn't stop nagging him.

"You know, it's insane to be mad at your best friend at a time like this when all life on Earth is at stake."

"Excuse me?" He repeated. "My best friend? No, a best friend wouldn't sit back and bask in the glory that's his own life when there's so much going wrong around him." Cisco paused, tilting his head to the side. "I mean, all of that money was pretty sweet." Felicity gave him a hard stare. "But that's not the point! He was responsible for everything, he needed to save his family and in the middle of that, he ended up destroying our lives."

And now here Cisco was, watching everything with the excitement he'd dreamed about since he was a kid sliding away, like sand down the side of the mountain. I used to dream about doing this all the time. Time traveling and beating up aliens. But this doesn't feel like a dream, it feels weird. And it's only going to get weirder.

Cisco gasped, shocked into staring as the Dominators dragged the twisted, lifeless bodies of uniformed men to their spaceship. They disappeared up into the monstrous vessel in beams of yellow light, just like Oliver and the others had been before. Disappearing before he could even blink.

"They're taking off," Amaya realized. "It's a RAF mission. Reconnaissance and force."

"So, we're not going to get any of them?" Cisco asked, not particularly enjoying the way his voice quivered as he asked. He stared to take a step back, to turn away, to go back to the Waverider, but was cut off by Mick abruptly lifting his heat gun to point into the smoking clearing.

"Look what we've got here," he drawled. "A straggler."

Cisco squinted to see through the dark haze, then saw it. A smaller Dominator slowly walking through the rubble, as if looking for anyone who had been left behind. It bent down to upturn a ship and Mick took the chance to eagerly move forward.

"We need him a live, Mick," Amaya reminded him.

"I'm just going to rough him up a little," Mick replied. "As a little bit of payback!" He charged up his heat gun as he slid down the mountainside, kicking up dust as he went. Nate and Amaya exchanged glances before jumping down behind him.

Cisco took a deep breath. Okay, this is it, he reminded himself. It's time to see what you're made of. Cisco slid on his vibe glasses and punched open a breach, jumping inside. He landed on the ground behind Mick, just as he called out towards the Dominator.

The Dominator screeched and raised a hand to attack Mick, but then squealed in pain as Mick sent a direct line of fire into the Dominator's face. It brought up its arms, backing away rapidly, but didn't move fast enough to Nate, who leapt high and delivered a punch to the side of its head. It got to its feet, trying to get away and, startled, Cisco punched forward, striking it with a vibrational blast.

The Dominator dropped lifelessly to the ground.

Cisco gasped, chest heaving as he watched the Domintaor's breathing slowed. It was still alive, but hurt. They'd captured it. He'd done it. A grin slowly came to Cisco's face. He'd done it. Now he knew how it felt, how Barry and Cadence felt when out in the field. How it felt to have done it as a team.

The sobering thought immediately made Cisco's smile fade.

Almost as quickly as a disembodied voice saying, "Great job," menacingly behind them. The group turned to see a young man dressed in a sharp suit walking out of the fog, like a zombie popping up from the ground. "I see that you've managed to catch us a specimen. I'm afraid we'll have to keep this one."

'Who are you?" Amaya demanded.

"Just a humble civil servant," the man said. He pushed his glasses up his nose and presented a badge from his pocket.

Mick immediately growled. "I hate men with badges."

The man smiled at Mick seconds before the men that stood behind him, bodyguards of some sort, Cisco realized, all pulled out guns and trained them on the group. "Now, I'm sure you have a lot of questions but there aren't any answers I can give you at this time. We want to ask you some questions as well."

"We're in a bit of a hurry," Amaya said, starting to turn away.

"And so are we," the man said.

He nodded, giving the signal. One by one, Cisco watched as Nate, Amaya, and Mick were all shot in the neck with tranquilizing darts. For a brief, moment, he felt exhilaration over recognizing the colorful ends to the needles that stuck out of the necks of his quasi-teammates. Then icy cold washed over him when he realized it meant he'd be the next one to be shot.

As a gun was pointed directly at him, Cisco opened a breach and leapt inside, narrowly missing getting hit by seconds. He landed on the ground, slamming his knees into the metal of the floor so hard it made a clang so loud that it made Felicity, who paced the floor jump.

"Finally, you're back!" She cried. "Wait a minute. Where's everyone else? Did they get Mick? Not that I'd be too upset but—"

"Felicity, not now," Cisco interrupted. "We're in trouble here. Like, major trouble. We were attack, by, like, Men In Black."

"Which would seriously be so cool if it weren't so terrifying!" Felicity agreed.

"Right. And, you know what they're going to do? They're probably going to put them in some secret lab and run experiments on them. Have you seen Stranger Things? We'll have to be the ones to rescue them."

"Yeah, but we're the tech support!" Felicity cried.

Cisco hurried around the Waverider, trying to figure out what each cabinet held and what was going to help them. Finally, he found what looked like a suitcase and flipped it up onto a desk, opening it. A smile came to his face when he saw a row of massive guns sitting inside. "No," he said. "This is tech support."

Central City, 2016.

Barry paced back and forth in front of Oliver, Ray, Sara, and Cadence. The president was late. He didn't need a watch to know that. Oliver's low grunts as the seconds continued to pass let him know for sure. If there was one thing Barry knew about Oliver, it was that he hated to wait. Especially when it was his time that was being wasted.

Even with his own speed, Barry continued to have the habit of being a few minutes late here and there. He had all the time in the world and it still managed to get away from him. For something as big as this, the extra time was giving him too much time to think. Too much time to wonder what the Dominators would do if they were able to move ahead with their plan. Too much time to wonder what it was that Breathtaker wanted and what he could truly do. Too much time to wonder what Alchemy and Savitar were doing while he was distracted by the Dominators.

"The president will be here soon," Iris relayed, after looking at her phone. She turned to face the heroes, press badge flying as she did so. "There's been a bit of a hold up as they left but they're on their way."

"Well, you gotta figure she's got a lot on her plate," Ray pointed out. "What with the alien invasion thing."

"And her predecessor being killed," Sara agreed.

Iris lifted an eyebrow, folding her arms. "Man, you guys are a merry bunch, aren't you?" She asked.

Sara smirked in response. "Comes with the territory," She said. "Sometimes you laugh, sometimes you cry, sometimes you gripe about the long line in the nearest coffee shop chain. We all deal with lost time one way or another."

"And considering what we do, it's hard to keep straight every now and then," Ray agreed, making Iris laugh.

Iris turned around when she heard the sound of squealing tires heading their way before a fleet of black cars all came to a stop. She looked at Cadence, who tilted her head to the side, eyes glowing a shocking orange as she used her thermal vision to scan those inside the cars.

"We're good," she said after a moment, making Barry nod.

The cars came to a stop, doors flying open at once. A tall, gray haired, weather beaten man slid out of the car closest to the heroes. His tie flapped in the wind, but he made no move to push it down, a frown, almost a snarl, etched into his face. As if he hadn't seen anything to make him smile in years. He stepped out and faced the group while other men, dressed in matching black suits surrounded them.

"They don't look very friendly," Ray murmured.

Oliver's eyes narrowed as he looked at the man. "And where's the president?"

"Let me handle this," Iris replied. She walked up to the man, holding out her hand. "Iris West, reporter for the Central City Picture News. We were to be meeting with the president today—"

"—I'm sorry," the man said with a soft shrug. "The president couldn't make it."

"Who are you?" Barry asked, voice tinged with suspicion.

"If I tell you," the man said. "I'd have to kill you."

A cacophony of safeties sliding off guns filled the air as the suited men that surrounded them lifted their guns and pointed it directly at them.

"Uh, I think we have misunderstanding. You see, we're the good guys."

"The president invited us here," Sara added.

Oliver lowered his voice so that only Barry and Cadence, who stood on his other side, could hear. "Barry, I think it's time you do something. And fast."

"It's the only way I know how," Barry said. And he started to run. The second he moved, everything came to a standstill. He was running so fast, he was invisible to the naked eye, time slowing down around him. A plume of smoke erupted from the first gun and Barry reached over, grabbing the bullet that slowly snailed its way out of the muzzle. Then he ran to the others and did the same.

He skidded to a stop and the armed men all fell to the ground in a heap.

A single shot rang out, a bullet embedding itself into the face of the car beside them.

Oliver immediately stiffened. "Sniper," he reported.

"On it," Barry said before disappearing once more.

At that second, Oliver and Cadence turned back to back, taking on the men that came towards them. Oliver shot one directly in the shoulder with a well-placed arrow while Cadence leaned back, resting her weight onto Oliver and lifted her leg as high up as it would go. She wrapped her knee around the neck of the man swinging towards her with his fist and sprang off Oliver's back. With the momentum, she swung her body around and locked her legs around his neck. He groaned in pain, bringing up his hands to Cadence's legs, trying to knock her off. Swinging her arms one way, Cadence snapped them back the other and flipped around in a butterfly twist, knocking the man to the ground, where she landed in a low crouch.

Sara and Ray pushed Iris behind them and fended off the men that came towards them with their bow staff and exo-suit, flinging men back and forth as they went. Sara jabbed her staff into the chest of a man that came too close and grimaced, hearing his ribs crack. He fell to the ground, screaming, holding onto his ribs. Ray punched one man in the stomach and grabbed his arm, hefting him over the top of a car and onto the ground. When he got up, limping away, Oliver sent a arrow through his calf, knocking him over.

Barry came to a stop in front of the man that had arrived amidst the chaos and shook his head, confused. "We're trying to help you," he said. "This is how you thank us?"

"You don't understand," the man said, blinking earnestly.

"Understand what?" Iris demanded. "How you're trying to kill us?"

"The xenomorphs are here because—"

"—because they have a beef with the metas," Sara interrupted. "Tell us something we don't know."

"Like, what we've done to them," Cadence pointed out. "From what we've seen so far, we're the victims of this whole thing."

"You've done nothing," the man insisted, almost pleading. He pushed his glasses up his nose, cleared his throat. Reaching into the pocket of his lapel, he retrieved a handkerchief and dabbed at his lips. "My name is Agent Smith. These Dominators…if they see individuals with powers such as yours, then they'll think we're a threat. And frankly, so do I."

"If you're such BFFs with the dominators—"

"—Then why don't you call them off?!" Oliver demanded, interrupting Sara with so much gruffness that not even Agent Smith could ignore it.

He looked at Oliver warily before speaking to Barry once more. He kept his eyes on the speedster, as if afraid to lock eyes with Oliver or the others around him. "Back in 1951, that incident, it was a reconnaissance mission."

Cadence shook her head. None of that was making sense. If they weren't the target then…"So what brought them back here? Now?"

Barry waited patiently for Agent Smith to respond. But found himself swallowing hard when the government official locked his eyes on him. He'd seen that look before, when he was being questioned by the police of his mother's death. It wasn't a good look.

"You did, Mr. Allen," Agent Smith said grimly.

Barry's eyes widened behind his mask, irises turning into pinpoints. His heart stopped, a cold sweat beaded down the side of his face. The man knew who he was. Iris said as much, muttering the same realization out loud. He knew his identity. The government knew his identity.

"You threatened the entire universe when you used your powers to upset the normal course of time."

"He's talking about Flashpoint," Iris murmured, connecting the dots in seconds. She tucked her hair behind her ear, lips parting to ask, "How do you—"

"They told us," Agent Smith supplied, speaking to her but still looking at Barry.

Barry swallowed hard. How many more things was going to be his fault. "I made a mistake," he murmured, voice lowering to a croak. "I'm not going to let it happen again."

"For the past sixty years we had a truce with the Dominators," Agent Smith said emotionally. "We lived in peace with them. A truce." Lifting his finger, he jabbed Barry hard in the chest with his finger. "You broke the truce."

"What do they want?" Oliver asked.

"I negotiated a deal with them. If Mr. Allen surrenders himself, they will leave us in peace." Barry lowered his gaze, looking away from Agent Smith. All the chaos and destruction was because of him. The fear and the pain. And now he had a way to fix things. "You really want to save the world, here's your chance."

Could he do it?

"These Dominator ships are coming in faster," Caitlin said, shaking her head, looking over the report Cisco sent her. "If we don't figure out this weapon, then…well, I don't know what'll happen. If Barry turned himself over, then we lose him, but if he doesn't…over two million people will die. And that's the non-meta casualties."

"We'll just have to keep working," Jesse said. She paced back and forth—fast enough that, to Caitlin, it didn't look like she was moving at all. "And fast. I mean, faster than I'm already going. They want to leverage us turning Barry over and we can't have that."

"No, we can't," Caitlin agreed. She let out a frustrated breath, blowing her hair back from her face. She jumped when a breach opened and Cisco leapt through. "How many times have I told you to stop doing that?"

"Sorry, but we need that weapon, like now!" Cisco said, frantically scrubbing his scalp with his fingers.

"Excuse me, Mr. Ramon, we're trying our hardest here," Professor Stein said.

"No, you don't understand! I vibed the Dominators. Nate and I did. And he told us some bad things. Really, bad things. Like, we could destroy the world, trying to make it a better place for everyone." He started to pace back and forth. "Barry screwed up by creating Flashpoint but…so did we. Back in 1951, we let the Dominator go."

"You messed with the timeline?" Caitlin asked, eyes widening in surprise.

Cisco nodded. "This whole time I've been mad at Barry…and now I'm the one who messed with time. I wanted to make things right. I wanted…I wanted to be the hero this time. And I made it worse. I'm just as selfish as he is."

"Cisco, you're not selfish," Caitlin said. She grabbed onto his hand and squeezed it gently. "You were…caught up in the emotion of what was going on. You had to have been terrified and you reacted the only way you knew how. The only way you knew was right." She peered at his face closely. "Just like Barry did."

"Why don't you twist the knife a little deeper, Caitlin?" Cisco asked, voice dripping with sarcasm. He shook his head. "I know, Caitlin. I know why Barry did what he did. I know I did what I did because…I didn't want to feel like a loser anymore. Like I'm not, not needed. I made a mistake. I get it. But we need to fix that mistake before Barry decides to turn himself in or that Breathtaker decides to do it for him."

"How's she doing?" Jesse asked, referring to Cadence.

"Surprisingly well," Cisco said. "But she has the strange ability to compartmentalize the things and talk about it later like it's nothing so…" He waved his hand. "That's not so strange."

"Yeah, it's just a little…" Jesse trailed off.

"is something wrong?" Professor Stein asked her.

Jesse's eyes lit up and, with a flourish, she turned to Professor Stein, pointing to him with her marker, her other hand gesturing towards the board. "The problem we're having with this weapon. The complexity of all of this, the nano-molecular reaction keeps breaking down because the replication is sequential not exponential."

"The reaction requires greater complexity," Professor Stein continued. He smiled widely. "By George, I think she's got it!"

"She got, what now?" Cisco asked, scratching the side of his head. The group looked at their phones as a message went out. Cisco moaned quietly when he saw that Brady had messaged them.

S.O.S. Barry's turning himself in.

"You guys go," Jesse said, when she saw the message. "I can get this done."

"Are you sure?" Caitlin asked as Cisco grabbed her hand and motioned for Professor Stein to take his shoulder. She glanced at the breach he opened then back to her.

"I'll be there as quick as I can."

With that, Cisco leapt the three through the breach and back to the hangar just as Barry was addressing everyone in front of him. "It's not up for discussion," he said as they landed, Caitlin holding tightly onto Professor Stein so that he didn't stumble. "I'm going to turn myself over to the Dominators. They'll leave the rest of the world alone. It's simple."

"No, it's not simple," Felicity denied.

"Barry, whatever you have to do…this isn't it," Diggle added.

"It's been an honor working with all of you," Barry continued, as if they didn't even speak. "To fight alongside of you. Now it's up to you to keep our home safe." Barry started to walk away, but Oliver's voice cut him off, made him stop in his tracks.

"Barry!" Oliver said, voice commanding him to halt. "I'm not letting you leave!"

"No offense, Oliver," Barry replied. "But you and what army?" He turned around to see his friends, all of the friends he'd made over the years, humans, metahumans, and vigilantes alike, standing behind him. All with expressions of determination that made them stand tall.

Kara looked around at the group standing along with her. "This one," she said simply.

Barry hid the smile coming to his face. His eyes levelled on Deity, who stood next to her mother, hands clasped together in front of her but with a renewed fire in her eyes. "You too?" He asked. "I thought you didn't want…" he trailed off, giving her the chance to respond so that he didn't have to alert the whole team to her personal issues.

Deity took in a deep breath. "How can I stand by and watch the Dominators kill a bunch of innocent people? My Earth or not…I now know…being strong doesn't always mean going out to attack." Her eyes drifted over to Oliver for a brief moment. "Sometimes it means to defend, to shield others from harm...especially when you invulnerable." She then looked to Kara, who gave a tentative smile back. "I was afraid before, I still am…but I'm not going to let anyone hurt you, Barry. You're my friend, that means I have too-That we all have to help you. Like you'd help any of us."

Barry smiled and nodded.

"I don't like you, red," Mick said, his voice breaking through the smiles of the others. There wasn't a hint of a smile on his face. Almost as if he hated to have to speak the next words. "And I have no idea what Skirt Jr over there is saying." He gestured to Deity who looked down at her suit, confused by the nickname since she wasn't even wearing a skirt.

"But when you got a crew, you don't take a hit for the rest."

A light chuckle escaped Barry's lips. "That was actually pretty inspiring," he admitted. "Well, I mean, up to the point that Mick compared us to a bunch of criminals."

"Well, some habits are hard to break," Cadence said, tilting her head to the side, her eyebrows twitching upwards. Barry couldn't help but chuckle. They'd worked through a lot of problems from her past, some still needing to be worked through, but always came out the other end much stronger. She was his port in the storm and vice-versa. A sweet smile came to Cadence's face. "But with the right presence in your life…it can be done."

"According to the Dominators, we may as well be criminals," Amaya said.

"And maybe they're right," Nate added. "Maybe we do more harm than good, but at least we'll have the chance to find out."

"I'm not letting you sacrifice yourself, there's no way," Cisco concluded to Barry's surprise. "I don't care if that's what it means to be a hero." He shook his head. "You're not a hero to me. You're my friend. My best friend."

Barry smiled.

"And I'm not going to let my best friend go out like that."

Sara nodded with her chin towards the monitors set up behind them, indicating the ships that had arrived in Central City. "They're starting to open up," she said.

Barry looked at Oliver, who rolled his neck, stretching his muscles. "Here we go," Oliver murmured.

"Suit up," Barry said.

Team Flash, Team Arrow, and Team Legends quickly split up to go to the respective areas that would help while in battle. Caitlin and Cisco boarded the Waverider with Sara to aid in dismantling the meta-bomb the Dominators threatened to drop. Felicity and Iris stuck around the computers to watch the live feed of what was transpiring over the world and the city to relay to the heroes. Professor Stein and Jesse were in place to take the miniature weapon they created—when activated, would cause insurmountable amount of pain on the Dominators—and place them on as many Dominators as they could.

The others were to hold off as many Dominators as possible. They crawled through Central City, screeching at whoever got in the way. Citizens of the city screamed and ran for cover as the Dominators continued to drop down around them, swiping their long claws, hoping to cause as much damage as possible.

"Remember," Oliver murmured to Barry as the two led the group of heroes across a nearby rooftop where a horde of Dominators came their way. "We have to get the devices on the Dominators fast."

Barry smirked. "It's the only way I know how," he said.

With that, he raced forward, leading the pack of his teammates. Running in a circle, Barry started to apply the miniature devices to as many Dominators as he could. He ran by Nate, who threw a Dominator overhead, towards Barry, and slapped one to its forehead, just above the eye as it passed, seconds before crashing to the ground.

Oliver and Mick stood back to back, spinning in a circle as they took down the Dominators that started to come to close. Mick, all the while, snarling like a rabid dog as he did so. As they continued to spin, Oliver shooting arrows in rapid succession while Mick held down the trigger of his heat gun, Kara and Deity flew overhead, using their heat vision to take down those that got too close to the two.

Diggle shot bullets directly into a Dominator's face, but they continued to come too close, He was struck hard across the face before being knocked to the ground. The Dominator opened its jaws wide, razor sharp teeth ready to rip Diggle to shreds. Out of nowhere, a piece of ammo embedded itself into the Dominator's chest before blowing up, knocking the Dominator backwards from the blow of the explosion.

Brady allowed himself to look visible once more and elongated his slingshot into a staff, twisting it this way and that. With so much speed that the bow became almost invisible in his movements, knocking back any Dominators that came near him. "Ah!" Behind him, a Dominator leapt through the air and knocked Brady to the ground. It screamed into the young boy's face then brought back a claw to slash at him. Brady gasped and flinched, he always did when something came close to contacting with him. He phased the blow from the Dominator through him, its claws raking against the concrete of the rooftop, sending a loud screech into the air.

Ray flew by and grabbed onto the Dominator by the arms, lifting it high into the air. "See you later, Dominator," he quipped before dropping it off the side of the roof.

Amaya punched out a Dominator before pressing the talisman around her neck. She glowed the same blue that erupted from the magical artifact. The glow twisted and turned around her, creating the shape of the animal spirit she was taking on; a gorilla. The spirit growled loudly, and Amaya ducked her head, charging forward to smash into a Dominator with the strength of the Gorilla, sending it flying.

Cadence lifted her arm to shield her face as a Dominator moved to claw at her. "Ah!" She cried out in pain, her timing proving to be a bit off. The Dominator's claws raked through her hand, loping off fingers and reducing her hand to a stump. Blood splattered to the ground as Cadence backed away, holding her wrist.

"Cade!" Kara called, coming to a halt above her. She used her heat vision to strike the Dominator away from the fire metahuman.

"I'm okay!" Cadence called back. Immediately the wound started to heal, taking only seconds for her hand to grow back. The moment her hand was completely healed, flames licked out from between her fingertips, growing brighter and longer as the seconds passed before her entire body was engulfed in flames. The last time she'd managed to do so was when fighting against Zoom.

Cadence ran forward, her footsteps melting the floor behind her as she went. She ran into the Dominator and grabbed it in her grasp, immediately melting its skin to bone, which she easily broke and flung aside. "Let's see how you like it." The Dominator, now missing an arm screeched in agony when she bent backwards in a flip, catching it beneath the jaw with her foot hard enough to send it flying. Then whipped around and burned another Dominator, its skin blackening in seconds.

Up in the sky, Kara continued to fire her heat vision were necessary, covering her teammates whenever a Dominator got to closer without them realising. She could see Barry running circles around the roof top, dashing across whenever he saw an opening to plant one of the devices.

Suddenly diving down to the roof top, Kara slammed her fist into the ground sending out a miniature shockwave that knocked down all the Dominators around her. A flash of yellow lightning later and Barry had gotten each and every one. But they still got back up, ready to fight. Luckily, she wasn't alone as Jax landed beside her, eyes a cloudy white. The two nodded to each other before then unlashing a mixture of super breath and a nuclear fire that sent the Dominators flying.

Around and around Barry ran as his friends fought the Dominators, continuing to place as man weapons as he could.

Up in the Waverider, Cisco hovered over Sara's shoulder as she directed the ship to follow the meta-bomb that continued in its free-fall towards Central City.

"Does this ship have a tractor beam or something?" He demanded. "Anything to grab the bomb?"

"Yes, it does," Sara replied. She maneuvered the ship around until it was in the direct line of sight and sent out the beam. She grinned when the bomb immediately stared to backspin, caught in the Waverider's grasp.

Caitlin smiled, hovering over Sara's other side. "You got it," She said.

"Yeah, but it's not slowing down," Sara agreed. She gritted her teeth with effort as she pulled back on the, controls, stabilizing the Waverider as best as she could.

"Like, at all," Cisco added.

"Thank you, Cisco, that's really helpful," Sara ground out. "Firestorm, if you've got the time, we could really use your help right now," Sara called.

On the battlefield, Jax, with Professor Stein controlling his mind, nodded and took to the skies, racing to reach the Waverider as fast as possible. With one less hero to help fight, Oliver soon found himself surrounded by Dominators that edged him to the side of the rooftop. He sent out another arrow before stumbling backwards, tripping off the side of the roof

As he fell, Oliver struggled to string his bow with a retracting arrow. Two pairs of hands grabbed onto his elbows, immediately stopping his decent. Oliver looked up as Kara and Deity flew him back to the rooftop, capes blowing behind them. Once they were down, Oliver sent the two a nod before going back into fight.

Deity sent an irritated glare after the man. "Just for that, we should've dropped him," she said, making Kara give her a sharp glance. It didn't last long though as Dominators quickly descended on them. Kara threw out her arm catching one and sending him flying into two of his comrades. While Deity let sunlight consumer her fists and uppercutted one that got to close before then twirling around and kicking another that lunged towards her.

She then turned back to her mother expecting all smiles, but still found that disapproving glare. "What?" she asked innocently. "He was mean to you first." Kara nudged her on the arm before taking flight once more with Deity hot on her heels.

"You're doing a good job putting down the sensors, Barry, but there's still a lot more to do," Iris said from the hangar. "Like, a lot a lot. All over the country."

"There's still a lot of them out here I've got to do," Barry replied as he finished attaching the devices to the Dominators on the roof and started making his way through central city.

"Well then, since you're busy with Central City, I guess it's up to the girls to clean up the rest. Supergirl, Deity, Jesse, do your thing," Felicity said as she pinpointed the last of the Dominators invasion force throughout the country.

"We're on it," Jesse said. In a bolt of yellow lightning, she streaked out of Central City, running as fast as she could to place sensors on as many other Dominators as she could. She grinned as she ran, chugging her arms and legs, zipping back and forth across the street as she went. First her weapon was finalized and now she had a hand in saving the world up close? It was too good to be true.

"Jesse, you take central America, Deity the North and Supergirl the south," Felicity ordered as she watched the three trackers zip across the screen going from one location to the next in less than a second. All while applying more a more of the devices to the Dominators.

The Waverider continued to tilt back and forth as Sara struggled to hold onto the weight of the meta-bomb. "Jax, Professor Stein, now would be the best time to do what you do best."

Jax flew to the meta-bomb as it sat in the tractor beam and hovered over it. "As Ms. Lance said, now would be the best time to use our abilities of transmuting the meta-bomb into something harmless."

"You got it," Jax agreed. He placed his hands on the bomb and concentrated hard, focusing on their power to change the molecular structure of the meta-bomb.

"All of the sensors are going in place," Iris said.

"Just waiting for a signal to turn them on," Felicity said.

"Do it!" Oliver commanded.

Almost at once, the Dominators all started to screech, thrashing back and forth as pain erupted through their bodies. They writhed on the ground, wiggling, struggling to rip the sensors off them. In the air, Jax continued his hold on the meta-bomb, screaming loudly from the exerted pressure. Finally, the meta-bomb mutated, changing into a wave of rapidly falling water.

Caitlin gasped and grabbed onto Cisco's arm. "Cisco, open a breach!" She cried.

"Are you crazy?" Cisco's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "At this height? At this speed? Does cabin pressure mean anything to you?"

"If that wall of water falls onto the city, people will be hurt, killed. It'd be like getting smacked with concrete!" She tightened her grasp on his arm. "Now, Cisco!" Cisco did as he was told, opening a breach. Caitlin quickly threw out her hands, her ice powers circling through the breach until it reached the water that fell, turning the droplets into snow that drifted gently towards the ground.

"You don't see that every day," Brady remarked, looking up to see snowflakes falling." Hearing a screech, he turned to see a Dominator running for him, frantically waving its arms in an attacking motion. He readied himself to move but was too slow and would have been hit if Deity didn't run out in front of him and sent the Dominator flying aside with a solid glowing punch.

"You need more practise," Deity said as she turned around to face the boy who glared at her. They were so busy in their childish glares that they almost missed the next Dominator coming their way. Fortunately, Cadence teleported in beside them and quickly sent the Dominator running with an intense breath of flames like that off a dragon.

"You both do," Cadence said as she looked to the two young heroes, both with matching pouts as snowflakes began to lie on their heads. It made it a little hard for Cadence to take them serious in that moment as she smiled at the two.

Then one by one, the Dominators disappeared into the sky in bright bursts of yellow light.

"They're retreating," Nate murmured as he watched.

Barry skidded to a stop with Jesse beside him, both breathing heavily as they placed their hands to their knees. Barry grinned over at Jesse. "Great job, Jesse Quick," he said.

Jesse grinned back. "Thanks, Flash."

Barry stood up straight and turned his eyes to the sky. Watching as the Dominators boarded their ships once more to return to their homes. Oliver came to his side, resting his hand on the speedster's shoulder as Kara landed on his other side. "You did it," he said.

"No, Oliver," Kara denied, placing her hands on her hips.

Barry looked around at everyone that helped him. He let out a sigh of relief, the weight of the world finally lifting from his shoulders. Finally. "We did."

"Many responsibilities have fallen to me, since the president's passing at the beginning of this crisis. Sobering, sad responsibilities. This is not one of them. Today, it is my distinct honor to bestow upon you, a small acknowledgement of the great debt that the world owes to you all. Although your brave efforts must be a secret, know that metahuman or not, masked or not, each and everyone one of you is a hero."

Oliver, Diggle Ray, Jax, Professor Stein, Sara, Mick, Nate, Amaya, Kara, Deity, Barry, Cadence, and Brady stood in front of the applauding crowd with straight faces of pride, listening as the words of encouragement was bestowed upon them. As they were heralded for the valiant efforts they provided to Central City against the Dominators. As they were treated like the heroes they should've been recognized as from the beginning.

The new President gave her speech and many short ones that recognized each of the heroes individually, placing golden medals around their neck as she moved by them in a line. Iris stood aside, taking pictures as each one was presented, dutifully scribbling down notes throughout the ceremony as she grinned at her friends.

The ceremony that recognized them as great, yet secretive, assets to the city.

Once the press conference had ended, Barry invited everyone back to STAR Labs for a victory party. One that was not to be taken lightly.

"I just wish that I could tell people about this," Brady said, twisting his medal around is neck as he grinned up at Iris. "That I was able to save the city."

"And what do you think young readers of the newspaper can take from this?" Iris asked, then placed a tape recorder close to his mouth.

Brady started to respond, but a hand came out of nowhere and moved over his mouth. Brady tilted his head back and swatted Barry's hands away. "Hey! Barry! You're ruining my interview."

"One that probably shouldn't be going on the record," Barry reminded him. Then he lifted his gaze to Iris. "For real?" He asked. "You're interviewing a ten-year-old about a fight he probably shouldn't have been in, in the first place?" He ignored Brady's indignant cry.

Iris laughed, pausing the recording. "You're right," she agreed then winked at Brady. "I'll just keep this for my personal collection." Brady smiled before running off to the food table. Iris turned to Barry and gently tapped her fist against his arm. "I'm proud of you," she said. "Not just for what you've done as the Flash, but for everything. You keep making me see the good that can come to this city."

"And not the major leap in career once this article comes out, right?" Barry teased.

"Guilty as charged."

"I'm glad to help, Iris. Really." Barry took in a deep breath through his nose. "Just…now that all of this is done, all of this, Flashpoint…I'm ready to move on. And be happy. And have some fun."

"And you deserve it, Barry," Iris agreed. "More than anyone else." She opened her arms and the two came together in a hug. Barry rested his chin atop her head

When it ended, Barry turned to find Oliver standing behind him, holding onto a champagne glass. Barry took it with a smile, lifting it to his lips to take a sip. The bubbles immediately tickled his nose when he downed a sip. Oliver watched him expectantly and Barry made a noise of acknowledgement before lowering the glass.

"I still can't get drunk," he said.

Oliver shook his head, letting out a heavy sigh. "Barry, you're the only one I know how has powers that work against him." Then he bobbed his head back and forth. "Just be glad that in here, you're not going to be carded. Because you would be carded."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Barry stepped to the side when he felt something bump into him and exchanged a look with Oliver as Cadence and Kara, arms wrapped around each other, laughing quietly while simultaneously trying to shush each other. Wine glasses were held tightly in their grasp. Barry tilted his head and examined his girlfriend closely. "A-are you drunk?" He asked tentatively.

"Noooo," Cadence said, widening her eyes as she shook her head. "No, I just had…" Her face screwed up in thought. "Mmm, maybe a few shots…?" She hid her mouth behind her wine glass, like a little kid trying to hide from their parents after doing something bad and getting caught. "Maybe?"

"Just one." Kara squeezed her index and middle fingers together in a pinch. "Maybe, two…three…five."

"Five shots?" Oliver's eyebrows rose in amusement.

"Shh!" Kara whispered. "You can't let The Flash know!" She repeatedly pointed towards Cadence, the tip of her finger jabbing the other woman in the cheek, creating indents where her dimples were. "You know she's dating him, right?"

"Right, right." Cadence looped her arm around Barry's neck, after accidentally smacking him in the face first. "Barry…you can't tell the Flash that I've been drinking, okay? He wouldn't like it."

"Okay," Barry replied. He tried not to laugh, nodding along with her. Cadence lifted her fingers to her lips and started to shush him again, a gesture Barry mimicked before asking Oliver, "Has she always been a lightweight?"

"Only when she hasn't had a lot of food in her first," Oliver replied. He smiled, gently shaking his head.

"Hey! Hey, guys," Kara said, a little soberer than Cadence, but still smiling happily. "Have you guys ever saved the world before?"

"Mhm." Barry smiled.

"Last year," Oliver added.

"Doesn't get any better," Cadence agreed.

Happiness surged through Barry like a waterfall. "It sure beats screwing up the world," Barry said with a smile. At least he was able to poke fun at himself about it now. Now that everything was over. Now that he could breathe.

Kara grasped his shoulder a little too hard. Barry winced, feeling his bones creak together under what was to be a friendly grasp. "Hey, you're being too hard on yourself," she said.

Oliver chuckled. "That's what people usually tell me," he said.

"And with good reason," Cadence agreed. She pressed a finger to her chin. "Who was it that almost threw a temper tantrum when we were first working together." Barry pretended to rub his nose while pointing at Oliver, who rolled his eyes. The two metahumans snickered.

"I didn't throw a temper tantrum," Oliver lamely defended himself. "I just like to have things work out in a particular way."

"Your way," Kara pointed out.

"Exactly."

"Well, on my Earth it's just me and my cousin and our two shady friends in Gotham," Kara said. She bobbed her head back and forth. "And…and Debby if she wants to be there. And when it's us we—"

"—'re stronger than everyone in the room combined?" Barry guessed what she was going to say next. Cadence elbowed him in the side and he smiled back at her. She didn't have to say she was stronger or faster than him, he already knew it. And was proud of it.

Kara laughed. "No, not, that's my point. Everyone here, metahuman or not, super powers or not, you are Earth's mightiest heroes."

Oliver smiled warmly. Then he licked his lips and turned away for a moment. He twisted his mouth to the side. Shuffled his feet. Let out a breath. Finally parted his lips and said, "I owe you an apology. You and your daughter. Keeping you both at arm's length was a bad idea. The truth is that this Earth could probably use a Supergirl...and maybe a Deity."

"That's funny, because I was thinking my Earth could use an Oliver Queen," Kara agreed. "I know you said you don't get unnerved, but if you did…I think hardship is what makes us stronger. That's probably why these people look to your as your rock. As their leader."

"The best leader we could have," Cadence agreed.

Barry looked back and forth between the group with a cheesy grin on his face. "You guys feeling the group hug?" Barry asked.

"No," Oliver said instantly.

"Come on, Ollie," Cadence said. Barry used that moment when she wasn't paying attention to flash her wine glass away. If he were lucky, she wouldn't notice it was gone until much later. "You know you want to."

With a begrudging smile, Oliver opened his arms and allowed Barry, Kara, and Cadence to form a group hug with him. With a begrudging smile, Oliver opened his arms and allowed Barry, Kara, and Cadence to form a group hug with him. An outraged cry from behind broke up the hug a little too quickly and the four turned to see Brady standing with Deity beside him. The ten-year-old looked rather grumpy considering they'd just won and the teenager next to him didn't look to found of the all the sudden attention.

"What's up, bud?" Cadence asked, leaning on Barry as she spoke.

"Why aren't we involved in the group hug?" demanded the ten-year-old

"Oh, sorry, Brady. We-We can do another one if you want?" Barry suggested as he motioned for the two to join them. Although he could already feel Oliver searching for his bow, eager to put another set of arrows in Barry's back for dragging him into another hug.

"No, no, no. It's fine, we'll just go and grab Cisco and Caitlin and whoever else and get our own group hug," Brady said stubbornly as he grabbed Deity's wrist. "Come on, Debby."

"Wait, what?" Deity got out as the Brady pulled her along with a lot more strength than she'd originally credited him with. The drink her plastic cup spilling over as the liquid inside swayed along with her balance until she found her footing.

"That was weird," Kara said as she tilted her head to the side.

"His whole life's weird," Cadence admitted as she stared off after her son.

"No, not that. His heart, it kinda…jumped," she said as she turned to Cadence with a puzzled look.

Cadence's face suddenly lit up as she swung her body from Barry towards Kara, just able to stay on her feet as she held her body up. "There's something I have to tell you!" she hissed loudly with a drunken smile. She then leaned in towards Kara's ear and whispered. Kara squealed. More than loudly enough for the whole building to hear her. So much so that Oliver and Barry stumbled as their faces contorted from the sudden sound.

"Noo!" Kara said her widened eyes connected with Cadence's who nodded her head back and forth like a frantic bobble head. She too the joined in on the squealing as the two clung to each other, either in a hug or a desperate attempt to remain on their feet.

"I thought she couldn't get drunk either," Oliver said with a frown as he pointed to Kara.

"So did I?" Barry agreed, only now seeing how bad she really was. "Hey, Kara."

"Yeah," Kara said, turning her head while still keeping pressed against Cadence for support.

"How come you're…dunk?" Barry asked carefully, not wanting to end up on the wrong side of a drunken woman with super strength.

"I gave her that thing Caitlin gives you when you want to get drunk!" Cadence whispered loudly.

"Ah," Barry said nodding slowly while also searching for Caitlin who he was pretty sure had no idea about any of this.

"I should probably get some sleep," Kara said letting out an unstoppable yawn.

"You should stay with us!" Cadence suddenly cheered. "We can have a Nash, Allen, Danvers sleepover!" Even Oliver lifted an eyebrow at her sudden exuberant cheerfulness. It was getting much easier to understand how she was a cheerleader in high school.

"No…no. I think I'll just ask Caitlin if I can spend the night at hers," Kara said, a little sadness in her voice. Barry could see why, she obviously didn't want make Deity uncomfortable.

"I'm sure she'd be fine with that," Barry said with a supportive smile.

"In that case, I'll just go and find her," Kara said as she pushed off Cadence and began making her way across the room, leaving Cadence to lean back on Barry. He smiled down at her before then looking over to Oliver who was looking towards the main crowd in the room.

"Everything alright, Oliver?" Barry asked.

"Yeah, I just remembered I have someone I need to talk to," he said. At Barry's and Cadence's confused glances, he clarified by saying, "Brady had been asking me if I knew anything about what's going on with Conner and…I know I have some explaining to do. I lost my best friend shortly after becoming the Arrow and…I don't want to see Brady turn into what I've become because he's lost his best friend, too."

Cadence grabbed Oliver's attention as he started to turn away. "Oliver, if it helps," she said. "You don't have to worry about becoming a good dad. You already are one."

Oliver smiled his thanks before walking across the room. Barry and Cadence then followed from a distance, heading towards the table laid out with food so that Barry could get some food into his girlfriend. And hopefully sober her up a little too. Not to mention, after the events of the last couple of days, he was starving.

After finding Caitlin and clarifying that it was alright for her to spend the night, Kara went looking for Deity to say goodnight. She figured that wouldn't be too damaging to whatever progress she'd made so far in repairing their relationship. She ended up finding her by the doorway alongside Nate who was glaring at the government official she'd heard about. The one they'd ran into in the past and the one that had originally told Barry to hand himself over to Dominators.

"Dr. Heywood," the agent said with a smug smile.

"Don't 'Dr Heywood' me. What the hell are you doing here?" Nate demanded angrily while Deity folded her arms at his side. They'd been having quite a nice chat about history, which was odd considering she hated the subject, until the man in the suit had walked in with his goons.

"I like parties," the agent said with a shrug.

"Well you weren't invited to this one," Deity pointed out with a hint of annoyance to her voice. She met government types before, and just like some of those officials, this guy was rubbing her the wrong way. She couldn't decide whether it was the smug voice or the smug smile. Both made her want to punch his teeth out.

"Fine then, I'll just do the mopping-up then."

"More like Cover-up," Nate snapped. "But you can't cover this up." The agent just looked at him, chuckling as he smiled confidently back at Nate. That was when Kara had stepped in.

"Agent Smith!" she proclaimed, catching him off guard as she walked up to Nate's side. "It's so funny seeing you here. I was just having the loveliest chat with your president about you. I was telling her, on my Earth, we have a Department of Extranormal Operations, which deals specifically with aliens. She thought it was an excellent idea." With each word that came out of Kara's mouth, the smugness left the agent's face and soon her was all but glaring at the perky blonde. Kara then stepped up to him, leaning in as if to whisper but still speaking just as loud. "She also loved my pitch about reassigning you to Antarctica."

Now the agent was glaring at her. Kara just smiled sweetly back before turning away, letting her ponytail whack him in the face as she walked off.

"Maybe next time you'll be a little nicer to alien visitors," Nate said smugly as he folded his arms. The agents sent the same glare to Nate and Deity before growling as he stormed out the room.

"Don't forget to pack a jacket!" Deity called after him teasingly as Nate chuckled.

"You know, your mom is a badass in more ways than one," Nate said as he looked down to Deity who's smile faltered slightly.

"Yeah…she is," Deity admitted. Nate didn't say anything else, just patted the teenager on the back and left her to her own devices. She stood still for a moment, reaching into her pocket to pull out the new version of the tachyon device he'd given her. Thankfully it wasn't as big, now pocket sized and was a one way connection between this Earth and her own with the bounce of communication features.

Staring at her in the palm of her hand, she knew if she really wanted to, she could leave now. But where had that gotten her? Nowhere. She had to start taking steps to fixing things, otherwise she'd never stop running. So she looked up and walked over to her mother, gently taping her shoulder.

Kara turned around. "Um…I have something for you." Kara waited for an explanation, but Deity just held out her closed fist. She then held out her own hand underneath, only to then stare when Deity dropped the new tachyon device into her hand.

"What's this?" Kara asked, staring at the small device in her hand.

"It's the new version of the tachyon device," Deity began to explain. "Cisco upgraded them both since I…you know." Kara just nodded. "This one's yours. Cisco's still go the other one. Cadence made sure he only gave me one so that if I ran off again you could follow me."

"Are you? Going to run off again?" Kara asked as Deity looked up at her. Deity shook her head, letting her long brown hair sway with her, then silence took over. Kara looked at her daughter carefully, closing her fingers around the Tachyon device. "I…" she swallowed hard. "It's your decision, Debby. What you want to tell me, what you don't want to tell me. But…just know that no matter what, I'm always here for you." It was all she needed to say, and it was all Deity needed to hear.

She managed a small smile, tugging at the ends of her long-sleeved shirt. Kara already had a feeling she knew what Deity was going to say. She wasn't coming back. And instead of pushing her, Kara reached out and grasped her daughter's hand. Surprised, Deity looked up into her mother's eyes, worried she'd find hurt and resentment but found nothing but love.

"I'm sorry," Deity said as a tear pricked at her eye.

"I know," Kara said, pushing back her tears. "I'm sorry too…" A sad sniff followed she held back her tears. "But I understand. And, I know, you're with the best hands here. There's a lot these guys can teach you. And I know you'll be safe with them."

Deity twisted her mouth to the side. Pouted. Folded her arms. "Yeah, but…I've got a curfew here. And did you know they want me cook?"

Kara laughed, remembering her first attempt to teach Deity to cook. How she had been so impatient she pulled the chicken right out the oven and blasted it with energy vision. It had ended in them ordering takeout, like they did most nights. Deciding not to teach Deity how to cook had been more of a safety decision than anything else.

"It's not funny!" Deity insisted as Kara failed miserably in her attempt to stop laughing, her face screwing up as she tried to hold it in. It wasn't long before Deity joined in. "The last thing I wanted to do was burn down their home. Though there was little chance of that happening since Brady's pretty trigger happy with the fire extinguisher." The laughter continued and then faded back into the serious moment they'd been having previously.

"I'm going to miss you, mom."

"I know. I'll miss you, too. But…if you feel you need to be here, then you need to be here. And besides," Kara flicked her Tachyon device back and forth. "I can still come back whenever you need me."

Deity smiled and hugged her mom.

Barry took stock of the hangar, making sure he had everything cleaned up. Everyone else had left, Team Legends going back to their time, and Team Arrow on their way to Star City. With every bit of trash picked up from their celebration, it was like nothing had ever happened. Almost like everything was turning back to normal.

With a smile, Barry turned to find Caitlin and Cisco waiting for him. "I thought you guys were heading out," he said.

"We are," Caitlin agreed, holding her jacket in her arms. "But we wanted to talk to you about something first." She exchanged a looked with Cisco. "Something serious."

"Something…serious?" Barry repeated. He swallowed nervously, running his suddenly damp hands along the sides of his jeans. "Okay…what's going on? What's up?"

Cisco cleared his throat dramatically. He folded his arms and tried to look stern as he said. "Mr. Allen, how can you think of proposing to someone and not telling your best friends about it?" Barry blinked in surprise as Cisco continued. "I mean, did you think we wouldn't find out?"

"It's a very big secret to keep," Caitlin agreed. She shook her head, curls bouncing all over the place. "They have a way of getting out."

"Wh-what? Who told you?" Barry demanded. He didn't think it was Brady. He had a big mouth that he liked to run to be funny, but didn't have a habit of spilling secrets either. Then again, with all of those little comments that Kara picked up on…

"Kara told us," Caitlin said, taking the wind out of Barry's sails, replacing it with a dull sting of rejection. "Well, she kind of slurred it, and then tried to take it back, and then said something about having a bunker on their Earth…" she waved a hand.

"But we figured she must've been telling the truth," Cisco said. "Boy, that girl likes to talk a lot." He patted Barry on the shoulder. "So, when's the big day, who's going to be the best man? I'm just saying it better be me."

"You guys are going to be so happy together," Caitlin added and threw her arms around Barry's neck. "I'm so happy for you."

Barry laughed and allowed the hug. He reassured them they'd be the first ones to know when he did actually, finally, propose, but pointed out he needed to talk to a few more people first. They left and Barry glanced at his watch before running off to a nearby bar. Oliver sat on a stool, taking small sips from a beer.

"You're late," he said as soon as Barry sat down.

"Story of my life," Barry replied, taking the beer that was handed to him. "I thought you were low on money."

"We lost the estate, not our way of life," Oliver shot back. He chuckled to himself, shaking his head. He bobbed his head to the music that was playing out of the boombox around them. "And, besides, if I spent so much of my time worrying about money…I wouldn't be able to beat you so much."

"Excuse me, I beat you last time," Barry quickly corrected his friend. Oliver rolled his eyes but nodded in agreement. It wasn't even close, if Barry remembered correctly. Oliver hadn't known the sort of speeds he could get up to, he didn't stand a chance.

And yet, Oliver wasn't someone who would give up so easily. Especially when it meant he had to admit losing at something. "It was a tie," Oliver gave him.

"Yeah, the first time. And the second time?"

"There were no witnesses then."

Barry grinned seconds before bursting out into hysterical laughter. A loud bark that drowned out the clinking of glasses and quiet conversation, drawing some eyes their way. Oliver couldn't help but laugh along with him. It was the part of Barry that Oliver liked to see. The young man who had a love of life and everything in it. Simultaneously, it was the Oliver that Barry liked to see. The one he could kick back and have a drink with. The one who was his mentor as much as he was his friend and confidant.

"Superspeed arrow duels," Barry mused when finally regaining his composure. "Our lives aren't exactly normal."

Oliver shook his head. "I'm not sure it's possible for us."

Barry nodded. "I know what you mean." He took in a deep breath and started to pass the beer bottle back and forth between his hands. Fast enough that it threatened to topple to the floor, if not for Barry's rapid movements. "We both took a look at what life was like, normal."

"It would've been happy," Oliver mused.

"But not full," Barry said.

"No, nowhere close."

Barry lifted his beer bottle and held it out to Oliver. He motioned for a toast. "To things not being normal."

"To life being full." Oliver clinked the mouth of his bottle against Barry's and the two took long swigs in solidarity.

Barry quietly ducked his head, climbing in through the darkened bedroom window of his loft. Old habits died hard, he realized. But it was also a good alternative to the heavy front door that slammed shut no matter how quietly you closed it. He gently jostled the stacked boxes by the bedside table and grabbed them before they could fall over. Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, Barry kicked off his shoes and socks, placing them in a pile on the ground before removing his shirt and jeans as well.

With a heavy sigh, suddenly feeling exhausted, Barry pulled back the covers and slid into bed. He shuffled forward, wrapping his arm around Cadence's waist as she slept soundly. Cadence grabbed his hand and pulled his arm closer around her.

Barry dropped his head to the pillow and closed his eyes, feeling completely at peace.

For the first time in a long time, he slept soundly.

He dreamt about his parents.

And how proud they were of him.

A/N: Well, that was a chapter filled with action and adventure, wasn't it? I hope you all enjoyed it and the next chapter will be up soon as Alchemy, Savitar, Wally, and Julian have not been forgotten. Though I hope you liked the added focus on Cisco in this one.

Also, I do have something that is a companion alongside this story coming up soon. It'll be called Naturally. Keep an eye out for it.

Please remember to review; any feedback helps me become a better writer and motivates me to write more. I respond to every review, even anonymous ones.

Cheers,

-Riley

iReview Replies

Ethan: Some of my favorite scenes of writing other characters is Mick (and Snart when he's around) and Oliver and Brady. Especially since Oliver is training Brady but is also very aware of the connection it brings his son to him and his old friendship with Cadence. He can speak to him a certain way, but obviously not the same he would to anyone who gets on his nerves.

DarkHelm145: Like I've said before, I wanted to give Jesse more to do and it made sense, to me, that what Wally did could work for her. Now all I need to do is get back to Wally being a speedster as well. Hope you liked this one.

Yummers: Yeah, that's always fun.

Babyj: I hope you liked the original parts thrown in as well. And I'm glad the chapter lengths worked out for you as well.

Josephguy217: Thank you! Thank you! Glad you're still around and enjoying it!