No. No. She had to be lying, there was no way she could be telling the truth, Aiden's mom couldn't be gone. She was fine, perfectly fine, just waiting for him to come home and welcome him back. He would walk into his house, she would be cooking for one, and then she would see Aiden. She would start to cry and engulf him into a motherly hug, then proceed to make him all his favorite foods. There was no way in hell Tracey Riley could be gone, it just didn't make sense to Aiden. If that was true, then that would mean Aiden was an orphan, no home, no family, no nothing.

He pried Jesse out of his arms and looked her dead in the face, "You're lying, right? This is just a sick joke. She can't be gone." Aiden searched her eyes for any indication of a lie, anything resembling a sick satisfaction of pulling his leg, he found none. Then reality came crashing down around him, she was telling the truth.

Aiden Riley was an orphan.

He sat down on an empty chair and put his head in his hands. She was gone, dead, she was moving on to the next great adventure. Then a barrage of questions entered his head. Where would he go? Where would he live? What kind of place would his parents send him to in their will?

"The ceremony already happened," Barry said, placing his hand comfortingly on his shoulder. "She passed a few weeks ago, your friend, Liam, and his family held the ceremony."

This was some comfort, he wasn't going to have to plan a whole funeral for his mom, when his father had died she had shielded him from any of the planning, instead spending her time alone. But then, Tracey Riley had been in perfect health when he had last seen her, granted that was three months ago but still, how much had her health deteriorated? Had losing Aiden to the coma killed her? Had this accident pushed her to the brink of death because she couldn't bear the thought of losing another person? He needed to see her, no matter what.

"I need a lift to the cemetery." Aiden stated, his voice hollow and empty. He eyed the people around him, some were looking apprehensive, the others were looking at him with pity. For some unexplainable reason, this angered him, he didn't want their pity, their support, all he needed was some time alone, to think.

"Sure kid, we'll go in my car." Detective West said, gathering his coat and keys. Aiden got up and followed him out of the cortex. Neither of them noticed the way that Dr. Snow was breaking down into tears herself, being comforted by Barry.

The drive was too quiet; the endless silence gave Aiden nothing but more time to think about the fact that his last parent was gone and would never come back. She would never be there for him anymore, never be there to welcome him home from a particularly bad day at school. In fact, she would never see Aiden attend university or get his first job in the real world. This angered him further, he was angry at her for abandoning him, leaving on his own when she knew Aiden needed her. Then he immediately felt guilty about being angry at his mother, it wasn't her fault that sickness took her, although, no one at Star Labs had told him what the cause of death was, but that was slippery slope.

With these emotions swirling around in his head, the car came to a stop outside the cemetery, for some reason, the archway seemed extra gloomy today, highlighted by the people who were processing out of it, clearly coming from their own funeral.

"You don't have to wait for me." Aiden said, still not meeting the detective's eyes. He didn't want to see the pitying look in his eyes. Aiden left the car without hearing his response, likely a protest. He slammed the door a little harder than he meant on the way out. He heard a small smash, and for some sick reason, Aiden hoped his window had broken.

Aiden assumed that they would have buried his mother next to his father, so he made the familiar walk towards his father's grave. Three rows in, seven off the right of the middle headstone. After the first row, he began to think about what arrangements would have to be made for him now, undoubtedly the people at Star Labs would have contacted his parents' attorney, letting him know Aiden was awake. He would to either be put in the care of his next of kin, which if his memory served him right, was an uncle who lived in Canada. This, he felt, was too far away from his whole life, if they could manage it he wanted to stay in Central City, close to his friends. The other option, if his uncle wouldn't have him, would be in an orphanage. This situation would place him in Central City, but with people he didn't know. After he passed the third row and turned right he began to hear people conversing close to his parent's graves.

"I still can't believe this happened, especially with Aiden in a come." The first voice said, it was female, and her voice was shaking with tears.

"He needs to wake up, I can't bury another Riley." The second voice said, a male one, the voice sounded as hollow and empty as he felt. It was then he realized who these voices belonged to, his two best friends. Liam and Christina.

Approaching them, if felt as though some of the weight from his chest had lifted, his friends were okay, they were just waiting for him to wake up. He was filled with some form of happiness and he knew that at least some of his problems were gone. He walked closer, and he could see Liam move his head slightly towards the noise of his approaching footsteps. Liam turned slowly and then looked straight into Aiden's eyes, he looked shocked, happy, and an indistinguishable feeling seemed to be lurking behind his eyes.

"Impossible…" breathed Liam, still looking at Aiden with wide eyes. At this, Christina turned around and looked at Aiden. Her eyes went wide too, and immediately her eyes filled to the brim with tears. She burst forward and immediately Aiden found himself in one of the most bone-crushing hugs he could remember receiving from her.

"You're okay," she cried, sobs racking her body so intensely she was shaking, "We thought that we might lose you, that you might never come back." Aiden wrapped his arms around her as she clutched his jacket tighter, dampening the front even more from her tears. He placed a hand on her back and began to draw soothing circles into it.

"I'm not going anywhere; you can't get rid of me that easily." It was at this moment that Liam began to walk slowly towards Aiden, a look of disbelief still on his face. Also at that moment, Christina seemed to realize that she was still hanging to Aiden as if her life depended on it. She broke away from him, untangling herself from his arms, much to Aiden's disappointment. Then, she began to walk towards Liam and threw her arms around him, although something much different happened.

Christina placed a hand on the back of Liam's neck, and they met halfway for a kiss, all the while whispering "He's okay, he's home," to him. No way.

Aiden sincerely hoped that he was dreaming, a piece of him wished to be back in the Speed Force, at least there he was with his father. This was impossible, there was no way that this could be true. His best friend with the girl of his dreams, there was no scenario where this was impossible.

But then said a treacherous part of his mind you were always worried about this very situation. Aiden couldn't lie to himself about this, he had been worried about this for some time now. The three of them were growing up, and so was everything about them. In fact, the more Aiden thought about it, the more this seemed to make sense, it was only a matter of time before Christina noticed just what kind of man Liam was becoming. And with Aiden out of the way in his coma, Liam must have known that this his perfect chance to steal-

No, he shouldn't go down that road, Christina was never his, and she certainly could make her own choices. She was not a prize to be won, but still, that did not help to soften the blow. Liam was the only one he had been comfortable to share his crush with, the only person he thought he could confide in. Where had that gotten him? No parents, no home, and certainly not the girl. This wasn't a movie, just because he almost died didn't mean Christina would see him in a new light. Just a friend as always. Aiden realized he should at least try to be happy for them.

Liam wouldn't meet his eyes, trying to look everywhere but at Aiden. Christina linked their hands together and looked towards him, her cheeks flushed, with embarrassment or happiness, he could not tell. The look in her eye seemed to be waiting for recognition of what had just happened from Aiden.

"Wow, congratulations guys." Aiden said, even partially startling himself. Liam tried to find his eyes, Aiden wouldn't meet them, this hurt way too much, his already fragile emotions were cracking further. First his mom, and now this, any more loss might kill him.

"Thanks Aiden, we were worried that it might be awkward." Christina said, still smiling. Aiden's brain seemed to stop, did Liam tell her? Did the one secret he kept from her finally came out. "Why is that?" Aiden asked hesitantly. Christina looked between Liam and Aiden, and then said, "We didn't want you to feel left out." Aiden's heart began to start again. At least Liam still valued their friendship. "Don't worry guys I won't." he lied, this was going to be a scar he picked at for a while.

"Do you think that I could get some time alone?" Aiden asked, needing the silence of the cemetery to think, to try and sort out what was going to happen next. Liam passed him, and took hold of his arm, "Can we talk later?" he asked. Aiden looked into his green eyes, "Yeah sure pal." Liam flinched and continued to walk past him. Aiden may have said that with a little too much venom.

Aiden finally turned towards the now two headstones. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words got caught in his throat, promptly being replaced by sobs. Finally, alone, Aiden could release all the grief he had been bottling up since receiving the news. He felt his body shaking and lungs burning but kept crying. A piece of advice from his mom came to the forefront of his mind during his father's funeral. She had said that it was okay to cry, the more you cried, the you cared about the person who was gone. It seemed that Aiden couldn't stop crying. He needed to get out of there, and fast.

Aiden began to move towards the exit. All the emotions were bearing down on him like a freight train, he couldn't breathe properly. Was he having a panic attack? He just kept walking towards the exit and closed his eyes. They were gone. He was an orphan. Aiden heard the jumbled sounds of the world around him pass by. He was all alone. Aiden heard car honks and some swerve. Where would he live? Aiden then heard a crack of lightning. This caused him to open his eyes and look around.

What just happened? Aiden took a second to take in his surroundings. He turned around and looked back, he could see the faint outline of the cemetery. He didn't know where he was. He looked at the street corner where the intersection was. Adams and King. If Aiden knew Central City right, that was at least 8 blocks away from the cemetery, so the million dollar question.

How did he get there?

He took his phone out of his pocket and began to scroll through the contacts. Aiden's thumb hovered over the profile entitled Liam Smith. He then thought better of this idea. After their confrontation, it probably wasn't the best idea to ask for help. He kept scrolling through his contact list and saw the name Caitlin Snow. The first thought was, how the hell did they get into my phone? His second thought was, if anyone could help him, Dr. Snow was probably the person to do it. 3 rings later, and a soft voice answered the phone.

"Hello? Aiden?" Doctor Snow asked, the worry evident in her voice. "Yeah, it's me, I know I was a bit of a dick to Detective West, but could I get a pickup?" He heard some shuffling on the other end of the line. "Okay, he's on his way."

It didn't take long. Before Aiden knew it, Detective West's silver car pulled up in front of him. Aiden opened the passenger side door and sat down in the comfy leather seat. "I'm sorry about this morning Detective West, I guess I was just upset." Aiden turned his head to look at the detective, he had an understanding look in his eyes. "Don't worry about it, I've seen a lot of kids like you in this position, I get that it makes you angry. But kid, you gotta stop with this whole 'Detective' thing, it's just Joe to you."

Aiden smiled, he barely knew this man, but already he was treating him like an extended family member. "Listen, Aiden, we got into contact with your legal guardians, the ones your parents left you in the care of. They showed up at STAR Labs." Aiden felt like he had been drenched in cold water. His new family was here to take him away. He would move away to some other city with no Christina, no Liam, no nothing.

"Your parents placed you in the care of Master Sergeant John Diggle and his wife Lyla." The name John Diggle tugged at his memories, he was the man who told him and his mother about his father's death. "They live in Star City, and you don't have to worry. They're trying to figure out a way to keep you here in Central City."

Aiden hadn't smiled so brightly since the news about his mom.

The rest of the drive was spent in as much happiness as he could under the circumstances. The Diggles were trying to keep him in Central City, they knew how important the city was to him. The only home he had ever known, the city housed his friends and the closest things he had left to family. He tried not to think of his recently strained relationship with Liam. One problem at a time. The situation had one major flaw in it though, if the Diggles were trying to keep him in Central City, where exactly would he live?

Walking into STAR Labs made him feel a bit nervous. He was meeting his new family for the foreseeable future. Would Mr. Diggle even remember him? Would his wife like him? Traversing the route to the Cortex felt like something had crawled into Aiden's stomach. Hello said the thing in his stomach I'm your insecurities and I'm going nowhere anytime soon.

When he walked into the Cortex he found Dr. Snow and the Diggles talking animatedly about something. Then, Cisco showed up from one of the rooms off to the side. He walked up to him, "You okay?" Cisco asked. Aiden nodded, "I'm about as good as I can be." At this, the Diggles turned around and saw Aiden. Something felt lodged in Aiden's throat as they walked over to him. John walked over and engulfed him into a massive hug.

"Hey Aiden," John said, he looked a little teary himself, "We heard about your mother and came as soon as we could." Aiden turned and looked at Lyla. He extended his hand to greet her, but she instead took him into her arms. "My condolences Aiden, I knew both your parents well." This stopped Aiden's reply. "They never mentioned you." John and Lyla both shared a knowing smile. "Come on Aiden, sit down and I'll tell you everything."

The rest of the team had given them some privacy as they continued their discussion. "Like Johnny, I served with your father. But unlike Johnny, I had the resources and the connections to make sure that your father was able to contact you and your mom every time he felt homesick, which was a lot."Aiden nodded, "I remember those calls, they seemed so frequent that I was a little skeptical that he even left for Afghanistan." They all laughed as much as they could.

Lyla continued, "Well, long story short, I ended up talking to your mom quite frequently, and we became close friends. So close in fact that they edited their wills, so that in the case of their passing, we were your legal guardians." Aiden understood why, every time his father left, his mother was left a little more sensitive to the world around her. Meeting Lyla, a soldier herself, and the significant other of another soldier meant that their connection would've been instant.

"There's only one thing I don't understand, if you were so close to my parents, how come they never mentioned you like they mentioned Mr. Digg-John?" On numerous occasions where John had visited the house, he had tried to coax Aiden out of his formal shell and this seemed like a good time to start.

"They couldn't mention me because once I got back stateside, I was recruited by an organization called A.R.G.U.S, one of those organizations that technically doesn't exist." Aiden's eyes went wide. "You're serious, A.R.G.U.S is real? I heard rumors among some conspiracy forums about an organization that is only real to a select few. Even the president doesn't know you exist." Lyla gave a small smile, "That's probably for the best. A.R.G.U.S deals with some of the more enhanced people out there." Aiden nodded, "So superheroes?" Lyla nodded. "Does that mean you know about.." Aiden trailed, wondering if he had said too much.

Lyla and John laughed. "Yes, A.R.G.U.S is aware of Mr. Allen's adventures. It's also hard to not know, being the director of A.R.G.U.S myself and being married to Johnny." Aiden's eyes narrowed, John smiled, "I work with the Green Arrow in Star City." Aiden was speechless.

Now came the difficult part of the conversation. "So what's the plan?" Aiden asked, feeling very scared. "Well, we've been thinking it over, and we do want you to stay here in Central City. You grew up here, it's your home, and you're going to graduate here as well," Lyla responded. "But didn't graduation already happen?"John shook his head, "The school was damaged in the storm, so they had to postpone the ceremony, it's in 5 days. It's pretty convenient for your predicament."

"So, where am I staying?" Aiden asked. John and Lyla shared an uncertain glance, "Caitlin offered to let you stay at her apartment in the spare room."

"Really?" Aiden asked, he had after all just met Caitlin, and now she was offering him her home to stay in. "We just met."

"She seemed really adamant about it," Lyla explained, "She told us that she understood somewhat of what you're going through. You shouldn't worry though, she's nice and she'll do everything in her power to make you comfortable."

"Okay."

Aiden and the Diggles were soon joined by Caitlin who walked in. Aiden looked at her and smiled. "Thank you for everything you're doing for me."

Caitlin gave him a soft smile back, "Don't worry about it, I wanted to help. Watching over you for 3 months means I have a soft spot for you." Aiden smiled. "You ready to go?" she asked.

"Yeah, let's go home."

A/N: So yeah, that's chapter 4. I know this has been a long time coming and I know that I haven't updated in awhile. I have only myself to blame for not making time. I'm going to try and make more time to write in the coming weeks.

Anyways, a lot happening this chapter, we got our first introduction to the larger Flarrowverse in John and Lyla, the first instances of the 'impossible' happening to Aiden, and a really convenient plot device to keep him in Central City, being Caitlin's new roomie/foster son. We'll see how that dynamic works out.

Also a little side thing, I'm looking for some artwork for the cover. PM me if you're good at that kind of stuff.

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own any DC related stuff, if I did I would make Snowbarry canon.

'Till next time!