Author's Note: Hey guys! I'm happy with myself that I managed to get this up before a week passed lol, that was my goal! Anyways, PSA: Oliver and Felicity come into play in this chapter. However, I do not watch Arrow. So I everything I know about their characters and lives comes from the episodes they crossed over with the Flash, and anything I look up. Also from the amazing TrueLoveExists02 who I constantly go back and forth with, so thanks again for that! But I thought it would be fitting since Double Down is from Arrow, and a reviewer suggested bringing them in also so I decided to go with it! If anything is wrong or seems off about the information I give, please let me know!
The warehouse that was currently housing the triumphant team of metahumans was awash with smiles and high spirits, as opposed to the fighting that had been occurring before the live broadcast that had just been sent out to the entirety of Central City.
"I can't believe you actually got that to work," Clay Parker was saying with a chuckle, placing the video camera he had been holding down on one of the many old crates lying around.
"I told you, that was the one good thing that came out of that idiotic Trickster," Mark Mardon replied with a chuckle of his own, crossing his arms and looking down at Barry, who still hadn't moved. "Nice of you to play dead, Flash. Thanks for your cooperation," he added with amusement, nudging the battered speedster with his boot. Barry let out a small groan, but otherwise said nothing, his eyes fluttering to a close and his head drooping farther down to his chest. Mardon looked temptingly at the steel pipe he had left on the floor, eyeing it and the speedster as if considering finishing the job that had been started.
"Don't you dare," Shawna said sternly, as if guessing his thought process. The weather meta turned to glare at her, the happy mood suddenly seeming to break.
"Your leadership is questionable," he said, nudging Barry's limp form with his boot one more time. This time he didn't make a noise nor move, clearly dead to the world. "What kind of a plan is this? You offer us revenge on the Flash and then try to protect him?"
"I'm not - I'm not protecting him," Shawna spluttered. "The plan was never to kill him, Mardon. And revenge on him was not the only reason I broke you out of jail. It was to gain control over Central City."
"Which, you know, would be a lot easier with him completely out of the way. Permanently," Tell said, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed as he cast a quick glance at the unconscious hero. "It would be so easy. I could just use a card right now to slice his -"
"Oh my God! We are not killing him! Get it through your thick skulls!" Shawna yelled, throwing her hands up in the air in a frustrated gesture. All of the men in the room eyed her; even Clay, she noticed, was looking at her as if she were slightly nuts. Her eyes narrowed.
"He's down for the count," she continued, gesturing at Barry. "Let's just leave him. No point in threatening a city if we're not actually going to carry through with the damn threat," she said with a pointed look at Mardon, who glowered.
"You want to just leave him here, unguarded?" he asked. "That's probably the stupidest -"
"Look at him!" Shawna interrupted exasperatedly. "There is no way he's getting out of here. He's sick and injured, and he's not even conscious."
"For now," Mardon replied, looking down at the speedster again as well. He was quiet for only a moment before coming back with, "One guard. There needs to be at least one person here with him."
Shawna let out a huff, but didn't argue. She supposed she had to pick her battles, and this was not something she was going to challenge Mardon on. Though she was starting to regret her choice of breaking him out of Iron Heights. Among other things. No one, however, seemed intent on staying behind to watch their captive, wanting to be where the action was.
"Bliss," she spoke out, volunteering the man. "You stay, keep an eye on him." Said meta did not look happy to be singled out, his eyebrows furrowing.
"But -"
Shawna shook her head. "You'll have plenty of opportunities to wreak havoc," she told him. "Just - do this for now."
Bliss let out a huff of his own. "Fine," he grumbled, glaring down at Barry.
Shawna gave a nod of approval. "Let's go, boys," she said. Mardon, Tell, Bivolo and Clay were all too happy to get moving, walking towards the warehouse's only point of exit and entry. Shawna followed behind them out of the building, though not before casting a sidelong, almost apologetic look at the man chained to the wall as she left.
Iris felt like her heart was trying to break out her chest. It was pumping so hard she could hear the blood rushing in her ears, drowning out practically everything else. Not that anyone else was talking; they all seemed just as shocked as she was. Everything was dead-quiet except for the occasional lapping of the water against the dock, a steadiness in a world that seemed far too chaotic and unpredictable and wrong at the moment. If it hadn't been for Joe's phone going off, startling them all out of their own thoughts, they might have stayed like that.
Slowly, as if moving through tar, the detective reached into his jacket pocket to pull out his ringing cell. He stared almost blankly at the screen.
"It's...Captain Singh," he said slowly, and hit ignore without so much as a second thought. There could only be one thing he would possibly be calling about after what had just happened, and he was in no place to talk to his boss about it yet. He didn't even want to accept it.
"Barry...oh, God, Barry…" Caitlin said after a moment, her eyes wide, her arms wrapped around herself as if for some comfort, even though it clearly would not help.
"You all look like someone just died. Did someone just die?"
At the sound of the new, snarky voice, four heads suddenly whipped around, four pairs of eyes landing on a figure dressed in a familiar blue parka. There stood none other than Leonard Snart, the man that, just minutes ago, they had anxiously been waiting for. Now his presence seemed almost like an intrusion, taking them by surprise in a moment of utter shock and fear. The thief raised an eyebrow at their silence, checking the watch on his wrist as if time was the problem.
"Or is this because I'm early?" he drawled, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly. "We don't have to do this, of course. Although I did take my valuable time to be here."
"No - no, that's not it. I - we - thank you for being here, Snart," Iris said, stumbling over her words in a way she never did. If his demeanor bothered her, she didn't let it show; there were more important things to worry about at the moment. "There's just - there's been a new development."
"In what, exactly?" Snart asked, eyebrow still cocked, arms moving to cross over his chest as he took in the rather depressed bunch of people gathered before him. "Lisa didn't give me many details. Just that you lot wanted to talk, something about Allen. I do hope that it's important."
"Barry's been kidnapped," Cisco blurted when Iris seemed unable, or at least unwilling to say the words. "By multiple metas. He's being held hostage. And we…" He took a deep breath. "We need your help, Snart." It took a lot for Cisco to admit this to the man who had held both him and his brother hostage, but they were at the end of their rope.
Even if only momentarily, something seemed to shift in Snart's expression at Cisco's explanation; it wasn't quite identifiable, but definitely there before his cold mask fell back into place.
"You expect me to do something about this, do you?" Snart asked. "Barry's a big boy. I'm sure he can handle himself."
"But he can't this time," Caitlin interjected. "He's - well, he's sick," she said. "His powers are on the fritz, and he's not - he's not at full strength. Not by a longshot."
"And this 'new development' future Mrs. Allen over here mentioned?" he asked, gesturing to Iris vaguely. If circumstances were different, Iris might have flushed, or smacked the villain, or both.
"Guess you didn't check your phone on the way over here. Live broadcast," Joe said. "They...exposed him. They exposed Barry, his identity. Everyone...everyone in the city knows he's the Flash."
Snart was quiet for only a moment before replying. "Huh. That certainly is a development," he said thoughtfully. "I suppose that makes our deal null and void, then."
The members of Team Flash chose not to comment on that.
Iris sucked in a breath and let it out in a huff. Having Cold here was her idea, and so far it wasn't getting them anywhere. And they definitely needed it to go somewhere, for Barry's sake.
"Will you help us or not?" she asked, her voice hostile, her eyes narrowed. "You do kind of owe us, you know. For saving your sister's life."
The corners of Snart's mouth turned upwards again at the tone of her voice, amusedly.
"You're a feisty one, eh? I was almost certain that I paid off that debt by giving you a little heads up last Christmas. Am I mistaken?"
"Oh, for the love of God. Are you going to help us or not?" Joe cut in; he, nor any of the others, liked the games the thief was playing; they did not have time for this. Snart rolled his eyes skyward.
"Pushy. I see you all have no patience," he chided. He paused for a moment before continuing, as if debating his options. "I'll help," he said finally. "Despite our differences, I would hate to see any terrible fate befall Mr. Allen. Of course you realize, he will owe me after whatever this little rescue mission of yours is done with."
Iris's gut clenched. She hated the idea of Barry owing Snart anymore favors, but it was the lesser of two evils. Barry owing a villain was better than him being held hostage and tortured by others.
"We're well-aware," she said.
Snart looked pleased. "Good," he said. "Then let's talk strategy. What exactly do you have in mind?"
"None of them are picking up."
"Try again."
Oliver was pacing back and forth in the Arrowcave, Felicity sitting at one of the rows of computer monitors; there was a cellphone in her hand and a frown on her face. After intercepting the live broadcast from Central City, she had immediately gone to show Oliver, and then tried calling everyone on Team Flash, the obvious exception being Barry. But not one of them was picking up, and she had no idea why.
"Oliver -"
"Just try again," he snapped.
Biting at her lip, the blonde woman did as she was told and started redialing the most recent number she had tried.
Hey, you've reached Iris! I can't come to the phone right now, but -
Felicity hung up, cutting the message short. She repeated the process, trying Cisco, Joe, and Caitlin again as well, only to get the same disheartening results. Voicemails all around.
"Nothing," she informed him as he continued to pace. "They're not answering."
Oliver ran a hand through his hair. "Dammit," he said frustratedly, and quickly started walking towards the other end of the room. Felicity quickly stood from her seat, putting her phone down on the desk and watching him, eyebrows furrowed.
"Oliver, what are you doing?"
"I'm going to Central City," he announced as he went to open the glass case that held his suit.
"I'm coming with you," she said firmly; Oliver paused in his mission, whirling around to face her.
"Felicity -" This time it was her who cut him off.
"Nope," she said. "Don't even try to pull that crap, Oliver. You're not convincing me to stay here."
"Someone needs to be here to watch over Starling."
"Then Dig can stay. I'll tell him we're leaving. I want to help, Oliver. And you know you could use me."
Oliver ran a hand over his face, letting out a frustrated grunt.
"Fine," he said, knowing that there was no way the stubborn blonde was going to relent on the subject. "Then go find Dig. I need to get ready."
Felicity gave a brief nod before exiting the Arrowcave quickly, her high heels methodically clacking against the floor.
They had a friend to save.
Author's Note: Captain Cold finally showed up! And Oliver and Felicity to the rescue? Will be fun to write them interacting with Snart! Well, as always, until next time! :)