13

Magic Is In The Air


Barry rubbed the back of his neck, stretching the strained muscles as he stood from the floor, twirling a screwdriver in his hand. He tilted his head, spitting a screw from the corner of his mouth into his palm. "Okay, now where's this going to go?"

His voice was quiet, scratch with sleep, surveying the mess he'd made. At least, he'd been trying to fix it up, but there was truth in what people said about leaving things to professionals. He never would've let someone off the street do his job, he never should've taken on something like that. Even as a speedster, he wasn't quite sure if his speed actually managed to help things or hurt things even further.

Barry scratched his hairline with the pointed end of the screwdriver, twisting his mouth as he surveyed the lamp table he'd put back together. Superspeed and all the instructions in the world and he still couldn't quite figure out where one last screw went?

"What's the point of having super speed if you can't build furniture?" He muttered to himself. Leaning aside, he picked up the instructions and turned it this way and that, eyebrows pinching together. "I knew I shouldn't have gone to Ikea." And to think, he thought everyone was joking when they said Ikea furniture was hard to put together.

"The big bad Barry Allen can't figure out how to put a simple table together?" Savitar drawled, leaning against the wall behind Barry. His arms were folded, feet crossed at the ankle. He tilted his head, watching Barry's movements with an uninterested and equally amused eye. "And I thought you were smart."

Barry sighed heavily, turning back toward Savitar. "Are you just going to stand there or are you going to help me?"

Savitar spread his hands. "I don't know if I can help you. I'm not supposed to be here, remember?" He pressed a finger to his cheek. "Now, if only we could figure out a way where I can get back into the Speed Force. That hell hole is much better than the one I'm stuck with here."

"Look." Barry placed his hands on his hips. "Until we figure out what's going on with this, and the Speed Force, it looks like you're stuck here." Especially if he couldn't quite explain to his friends what was going on. They heard nothing but gibberish when he tried. He'd suggest getting his head checked out in the Medical Bay but was never sure if it was his mind or Savitar's mind that would be scanned. Let alone, the more horrifying thought, were their minds connected?

He and Savitar hadn't done a mind-meld, not like he and Earth-2 Barry had, not like Cadence and Burnout had. But Savitar was the version of Barry that was in the original timeline that no longer existed, what was making it so that Savitar was able to leave the Speed Force with Barry? The Quark Sphere had latched onto his particular particles, and if Savitar was that…?

Barry shook his head, unable to think about it without his head hurting. All he knew was Savitar had made his life hell in the past year and however much time had passed for them in the Speed Force, and, somehow, they had to find a way to get him back inside. Barry turned away and added under his breath, "It'd be nice if I didn't have to be reminded of it all the time."

"I heard that."

Barry sighed heavily, ignoring Savitar. He'd gotten so used to him being around by that point that he hardly responded to his presence or his comments. There were many times that Savitar didn't appear, that would make it so that Barry would feel a sense of hope. That, finally, his life was getting back on track. Then Savitar would rear his ugly head once more and they'd continue to get stuck in the limbo of traded barbs and working to figure out what to do next.

If there was anything they could do.

"Whoa!"

Barry looked over his shoulder to see Cadence stepping off the last step that led to the living room. She scanned the mess on the floor, trailing from the broken vases and flowers festooned on the coffee table and the floor, to the haphazard and broken glass of the photographs lined up along the counter by the front door. She hugged her gym bag closer to her side, eyes locking onto Barry, who waved the screwdriver at her in greeting.

"Did we do this?" She asked.

Barry shrugged, unable to keep a smug smile from his face. "Well, it's not quite a straight path to our room."

Cadence laughed quietly. It faded as she walked closer to her fiancé, eyeing the screwdriver in his hand. Then the mess on the floor, then back to him. Nervousness flashed over her face. "Uh…are you trying to fix things?"

"Yeah. I popped over to Ikea to get a replacement end table and figured I'd try to set it up." He waved the instructions in his hand and smiled sheepishly. "Guess it didn't work out too well, I can't figure out where this last screw goes."

"Well, until then, I wouldn't put anything on that table."

"Gee, thanks."

"You know the water pressure in our kitchen faucet hadn't been the same since you tried to fix it. I don't think reading about plumbing and putting it to your short-term memory makes you an expert."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…"

"Especially cause I kept telling you that you weren't keeping in mind the bend in the pipes, but…" she held up her hands. "What do I know?"

"Not much more than me."

Cadence elbowed him in the side then looked over at the sound of banging in the kitchen and leaned over. "Everything alright in there?" she asked.

"Everything's fine, mom," Brady replied. He turned from the skillet with a spatula in hand, carefully lifting a pancake to a plate Connor was holding out. "Just finishing up breakfast." Connor took the plate and placed it on the table, along with the other silverware that'd been set up.

"Everything looks really good, Brady," Barry said, looking over the spread. Suddenly feeling very hungry. How did looking over instructions for putting together a simple table make him so hungry? It was probably the exertion of arranging and re-arranging the table due to missing pieces and leftovers that threatened to make the whole thing collapse.

Silence stretched between the two as Connor continued to carefully bring the plates to and from the counter. Barry glanced at Cadence, who pursed her lips, eyes turning steely.

"Brady." Cadence folded her arms, looking sternly at her son. "Barry's talking to you."

"Sorry." Brady lifted his chin, looking Barry in the eye. "I thought it was just static." Brady snapped the tongs together to emphasize his sentence. He turned when he heard a knock on the door and pointed with the extension to his hand. "Connor! Door!"

"Brady!" Connor shot him the middle finger, making Brady laugh quietly.

"I'm sorry." Barry looked over to see Cadence standing by his side, as if having suddenly teleported there. He wouldn't have put it past her. The only time they almost exclusively used their powers was around the loft. Though he always found teleporting from two feet away to be a bit overkill…especially after the previous Halloween where she kept scaring him half to death "I really don't know what to do about him."

"It's alright." Barry shrugged. He turned away to toss the screwdriver back into the tool box. An excuse so that she didn't see the swirling disappointment and hurt in his eyes. "I get it."

He did get it. He was gone for a long time and Brady was still feeling that pain. He just didn't understand why it was lasting so long and why Brady was being so vehement about it. Brady'd been happy to see Barry back out of the speed force, had been the once to knock some sense into him—literally—when they finally got him out then quickly cooled off right after. Barry couldn't remember many of the conversations they'd have within the last three weeks that didn't have a sarcastic edge to the young boy's tone.

What could've made it so that he was able to flip on a dime so easily.

"No, Barry, it's not okay," Cadence insisted.

"He's mad," Barry reminded her. "Probably about the same thing you were. I get it. But…" he shrugged once more, folding his arms. "At least we made up." Cadence lifted an eyebrow. "Sort of. Look, I know there's still a lot we need to talk about, but at least we're on the same side. I'm afraid to go to sleep in case Brady decides he suddenly wants to play Whack-A-Mole."

Cadence tried and failed to keep form giggling in amusement. "That's not funny," she said, despite the smile on her face.

"It's a little funny," he denied.

"Dad?"

Eyebrows lifting, Barry turned at the sound of Connor's quiet question, and met Oliver Queen's gaze through the open door of the loft. Connor backed away, dropping his hand from the doorknob as he did so, almost as if he'd been burnt. He glanced at Barry and Cadence and took another step back from Oliver.

It at least gave Oliver space to step into the loft, closing the door behind him. "Hey buddy," he greeted Connor, speaking quietly. A voice much different than the 'Oliver-Queen-Arrow' voice. A voice of a man who was gratefully, yet hesitant to see his son again. Barry's eyebrows furrowed. So there was something else he missed…

A lot of that was going around.

Oliver looked up and blinked in surprise, seeing Barry cross the apartment to reach him. So surprised that he wasn't able to keep the speedster from getting in a quick hug, arms pinned to his sides, before Barry stepped back. Nevertheless, Oliver smiled an honest smile at Barry, happy to see him.

"Last I heard, you were on a long sabbatical," Oliver remarked, his smile turning wry. He folded his arms, taking on that familiar 'Oliver Queen' stance that many duplicated but could never replicate. Where he always meant business and was always the strong man in the room. "I knew that wasn't true the second I was told, but it does sound a lot better than prison."

"Believe me, this prison you don't ever want to experience," Barry agreed. He could practically feel Savitar's stare burning a hole in the back of his head. "Not unless you want to see the worst thing that ever happened to you play out time and time again as a strange form of therapy."

Oliver licked his lips. "Well, I have a lot of moments in life to choose from, I don't think any of them would be much less traumatizing than the others," he remarked. Finally, he cleared his throat and momentarily glanced at his feet. "I'm sorry for keeping you from breakfast, but I had some time and I was hoping I'd be able to see Connor."

"Why?"

Barry looked over his shoulder, surprised to find how steely Cadence's face had become once more. This time, however, her gaze was planted firmly on Oliver. Barry looked back and forth between them, unsure of what was going to come next. A little scared, honestly. Oliver was already an imposing man before getting stuck in Lian Yu, Barry had seen more than enough finance magazine covers and socialite photo shoots that covered the magazines in the waiting room of Iron Heights to recognize Oliver before having met him. Seeing him as the Arrow, the Green Arrow, made it easier for Barry to see where he channeled all the darkness and pain that'd encompassed him.

It, sometimes, surprised him to see how much darkness was held within Cadence as well, she radiated so much light and warmth, making it difficult to believe she'd done anything with the Assassination Bureau, becoming a pawn in their game. But seeing the way they looked at each other, something was off between them.

Oliver paused for a moment. Spoke slowly. "Because I haven't seen him in a while, and I'd like to see how he's doing."

"I'm not keeping you from him, Oliver, you had plenty of time to come see him before now."

"Well, considering I've got half the city convinced I'm the Green Arrow and that I should be impeached, that was a little more pressing." Oliver noticed Cadence's eyebrow raise and continued, voice turning gruff. Almost 'Arrow' gruff. "There was already a disagreement with the citizens of me becoming the Mayor, you know what happened with Damien Darkh, and I couldn't have that happen again."

"Wait a second," Barry broke in. "They know you're the Green Arrow?"

Oliver cast a glance at him but didn't respond. Instead, he continued speaking to Cadence. "I couldn't, in good conscience, keep him where he was and not worry about him. Not worry that someone else was going to target him to get to me."

"Oliver, I'm telling you this as your friend," Cadence said slowly. "He can't go back with you. Shouldn't go back with you."

Oliver briefly closed his eyes. Sucked a breath in through his nose. Let it out. Opened his eyes. "I know you're angry about what happened with Sam, Cadence, but Connor needs me."

"What happened to Sam?" Barry asked.

"He needed you from the beginning and you sent him here," Cadence continued.

"I asked if you would take care of him. And you did that. It wasn't safe for him in Star City."

"It wasn't safe for him around you! Star City is just fine, it's your constantly making Arrow decisiosn before you think about him. He was being raised by Raisa. You weren't there!"

"And are you so sure that Brady's safe around you? With everything that's been going on? With your powers and his and how often you put him in the line of fire. You think Brady's safer with you than, say, Ryder, who doesn't wat much to do with any of this?"

"What Ryder does and doesn't want, I at least have him around to get his input before we make a decision. He doesn't like that Brady goes out there, no, but he at least understands why he does. That's a lot more than I can say about Sam or Thea."

Oliver's eyes flashed. He opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by a quiet but firm, "Stop," from Connor, who'd been standing quietly nearby the whole time. He looked at the two with an expression of disappointment that, usually, only a parent could muster. Clearly, Barry realized, he'd been in the middle of the conversation numerous times before. "Would you stop?" He started to say something else then stopped. Took a deep breath and let it out. "Can we just…" He clenched his hands into fists, brought them up by the side of his head then dropped them. "Can we just go to school?" He picked up his nearby backpack and slung it over his shoulder.

Brady, who'd watched the entire interaction with wide eyes, only managed to ask, "What about breakfast?" before Connor's glare shut him up and he turned off all the burners before following his lead to take his backpack and swoop toward the door, calling goodbye to his mother as he went.

Cadence sighed firmly, looked at her feet. "I have to go to work," she finally said, lifting her gaze toward Oliver. He stared back at her, a look that was half between a glare and something Barry hadn't seen very much of before; begrudging acceptance. "We can talk about this later."

Oliver tipped his head back, staring at the ceiling as the door closed behind the fire metahuman, who left in a hurry, yanking her gym bag behind her as she went. Barry watched Oliver for a minute then said, "I guess I really did miss a lot."

"Mhm," Oliver agreed. He lowered his chin then looked at Barry, really looked at him. "How are you, Barry? I mean, really? You've been in this…prison, and you come out of it smiling as if nothing's been going on?"

"Yeah, I don't know." Barry mimicked Oliver, folding his arms. "After everything I've seen, knowing what's coming up, know what's out here waiting for me…it's hard not to be positive about that. Yeah, it's hard having to catch up on things but…" he feebly gestured towards Oliver. "You get that. I mean…you know what it's like. There must've been something you liked about coming off that island, other coming off the island, I mean."

A small smile came to Oliver's face. A genuine one. "Seeing everyone again," he admitted. "Seeing Thea, so grown up, getting in trouble with Tommy…it was like…nothing changed. Like everything I saw on the island was a dream." His smile faded and he reached up to wipe a hand over his face. "Then…I figured out everything with Merlyn and there was the list and…I met Diggle and Felicity…"

"And me," Barry added.

"And you." Oliver shook his head. "I should've known my life wasn't going to get back to normal when I met you." The two laughed.

Barry gestured over his shoulder, "Did you…did you want some breakfast or something? I mean, you came all the way form Star City. I could just run you back, but you must be tired after that long drive."

Oliver nodded. "I could eat," he agreed. He peered around Barry at the table that was set up. "Looks like you've got a lot to choose from." Barry led the way to the table and sat, motioning for Oliver to take a plate before Barry took one himself. He glanced around at the other cooling plates on the table and with a burst of speed, lined them up on his. "You know, I'm starting to wonder the same thing Diggle was asking about the first time you met. You eat so much so fast, I can't imagine what your bathroom habits are like." Barry made a face over the first bite of pancakes. Oliver grinned. "This is actually, really good."

"Yeah, Brady's a great cook," Barry agreed.

Oliver nodded once, twice. He slowly chewed his bite of pancake, as if pondering something. Then he lowered his chin and said, "You two aren't getting along, are you?"

Barry's eyes widened in surprise. "How could you tell?"

"He was quick to say 'bye' to Cadence, but he didn't say much of anything to you. I don't mean to pry, and as you can see it's really not my area of expertise, but…it kind of seems like—"

"—Like, to him, I don't exist?" Barry broke in. Oliver nodded. "I may as well not. He doesn't say much to me unless it's a thinly veiled jab at me. And even then, most of the time it's not thinly veiled." He twisted his mouth to the side. "I don't know, man. I don't have much expertise in this area of things, I don't know if I should try harder or back off. Half the time I don't even know if I want to say anything to him before I know it's coming. I don't suppose you have any experience in this, either."

"Mmm." Oliver thought for a moment. "Maybe a little. When I found out my mom was with Walter. In a way, I thought she was forgetting about dad. He died on that boat for me, and she went and married someone else. In my head, she didn't give much thought to my dad maybe still being alive. I thought she was trying to do everything but think about him. And that made me angry. It took me a long time to understand that my mom knew he would've preferred she moved on and not stuck around for him. That he wouldn't have blamed her."

"But I'm not dead, and Cade's not dead. We're still together, we're still going to get married."

"Right, but you still left. You were gone for six months, as far as he knew, you were dead. Have you asked him, what he thought while you were gone? What he went through?"

Barry shook his head. "I guess I never really thought to ask. I mean…" he tried not to let his breath catch in his throat, his pain manifest as an image of his father behind bars appeared in his head. Even in that image, no matter what, his father was smiling. Somehow, even when in one of the worst places on Earth, he smiled as if he was the personification of the sun whenever he saw Barry on the other side of the glass partition. "When my dad was in prison, he never asked me what I was thinking about, with him being gone. I'd talk about it, all the time. I always told him I'd find a way to get him out of prison and he'd change the subject and ask how school was going, how I was doing. He didn't want me to think about it."

"Brady's not your dad."

Not entirely, Barry thought. He saw a lot of things within Brady that reminded him of his father. Mostly, his curious nature, asking questions at every turn. Something his father had encouraged in the young boy. His wide-eyed wonder and excitement about everything that came his way. He shook his head, changing the subject, or else Oliver had. Asking about the Speed Force and Barry explained the best that he could so Oliver would understand. Tried his hardest to explain everything with Savitar, the longest way around without going into the same frantic details he'd tried before, spurting out nothing but gibberish. Instead, he explained there was something about it he couldn't quite understand and didn't know where to turn to for answers.

"You said it was a Speed Force prison?" Oliver said slowly. Barry nodded. "And only speedsters can go in? Then the answers right in front of you, you need to talk to a speedster."

"'I tired that already. I tried to tell Wally about it, and he couldn't understand me."

"Then, maybe, you need to find a speedster who's been in there about as long as you have."

Barry nodded, slowly perking up. He glanced at the time, chewing his lower lip, wondered how long it'd take to run to Earth-3, and if he'd be late for another day of work.

He needed to talk to Jay.


"I kind of want to skip school today."

Brady lifted his chin in surprise, looking at Connor out the corner of his eye before stopping at the crosswalk. He watched as the white palm turned to a red running man before he faced his best friend, who appeared more miserable he'd ever seen. "You want to skip school? You love school. If it were possible, you'd marry it." He shrugged. "I'm sure Leah would be upset, but I think you and school would make a cute couple."

Brady grinned at his joke while Connor managed a small twitch of the side of his mouth, an eerily similar smile to one that Oliver could give at times. "I just don't feel like going," Connor said. He scrunched his nose, brushing it with his shoulder as he shrugged. "I don't…" he briefly closed his eyes and turned away.

Brady didn't have to ask what Connor was thinking about. He'd seen the way his best friend's face paled when seeing Oliver for the first time in…about the same amount of time that Brady hadn't seen Oliver, Brady realized. Thankfully, he didn't have as many bad dreams as Connor did. Didn't have to dream about seeing his mom dying in front of him, he'd lived it—though was that Burnout, not his mom—didn't have to wonder if his mom was a hero or villain, he fought alongside her and knew the hero side to be true, didn't see her as a completely despicable woman because…she'd never sent him away.

They'd talked about it a little, the first night Connor had stayed at the apartment, of how confused he was for having been sent away. Talked about what Damien Darkh had done to him, and what Adrian Chase then wanted with him. Talked about how he'd been ripped away from his mom after they'd spent a night out at a dinner and movie. How he'd been held captive on a boat for God knew how long until Oliver finally got to him. How Connor saw Adrian Chase stick a gun against his head and shot his brains out.

It was one thing to work against metahumans, trying to take as many of them down to be thrown into the Pipeline or Iron Heights, but they had powers to keep from being killed. Not that Geomancer didn't try to kill you, Brady reminded himself. Or Breathtaker, Bronze Tiger…the list of people not caring that he was a kid and still worked to kill him was getting unsettlingly long.

"Okay, so we won't go," Brady replied. He pulled his phone from his pocket and started to compose a text. "Um…I'll just tell dad to make an excuse for us." He shrugged. "He'll come up with something."

Connor looked skeptical. "Do you really think your dad'll lie to your mom like that?"

"If he's not afraid for his life, sure." Brady finished the text and replaced his phone in his pocket. He looked around the bustling sidewalk and grabbed the straps of his backpack. "Cool! Day off, what do you want to do?"

"Umm." Connor turned in a quick circle, checking for cars before they crossed the street. "I don't know, I didn't think you'd agree with me." He smiled a little. "Honestly, I'm waiting for the police to chase us down or something."

"They wouldn't do that. People play hooky all the time!"

"Yeah, but your mom works for the police. And so does Barry. And so does Joe."

Brady frowned, suddenly concerned with how many people they knew that worked with the CCPD. Even Patty had been part of the CCPD once upon a time, even though they weren't even that close. And, apparently, Iris had wanted to join the CCPD at one point, with her investigative journalistic skills, she was at the CCPD a lot—her connection with Joe and Barry aside. "Okay…maybe we should stay away from there for a while."

"Let's go play a game of soccer then," Connor suggested.

Brady nodded in agreement and the two headed towards Central City Park. They got halfway there, coming upon Central City Pier first. Though Central City was landlocked, the Gardner River gave it the illusion of being a beach town. The pier had a boardwalk that stretched close to a mile along the coast of the river, with jetties extending out over the water so fishermen could cast their lines and waste the day away.

It was on that pier that they noticed the large crowd of people gathered around something. Usually it was the old Ferris wheel or the House of Mirrors that held the attention of those that went to the pier. But something else had grabbed the attention of a large crowd. The rides and attractions had closed for the season, while some of the food stalls stayed open. There were clusters of families and friends, enjoying a rare day without something trying to kill them.

Curious, they headed toward the group, passing by a few anti-meta protestors who shouted and passed out flyers as they went. Brady waved one off, keeping his eyes straight ahead. His heart rate increased, hearing the pure hatred that shot from their mouth as they passed. He glanced at the flyer, seeing Lex Luthor's name attached and made a mental note to ask his mom, Harrison, or Tess about it later. Even Maya was a good option, she really seemed to be around now that she was looking to move from Metropolis.

Brady looked over as Connor hesitated, closely watching the group of anti-meta protestors. "Maybe we should head back," he said slowly. His hands twitched at his sides, as if itching to go into the app he'd created, to scan the area for any metas. Either that or he was feeling residual frustration from seeing his father earlier that morning.

"They don't know I'm a meta," Brady reassured him. "We're fine."

"Maybe we should hide out at STAR Labs?"

"And have Uncle Cisco call my mom or Barry? Forget it." They nudged their way forward. "And, if Oliver's still here, you'd have to see him again, too." Selfishly, Brady didn't think that was too bad of a thing, he hadn't had a good training session with Oliver in a while. Not that his mother was a slouch in the training department, there were many times he wondered if it was a sort of abuse of how much and how hard she trained him over the last six months, but Oliver was the one who first really, properly trained him and knew how his fighting style worked.

Connor frowned and nodded. He perked up the further they got from the anti-meta group and closer to the crowd. Leaning to the side, he managed to peer through a split in the group and pointed. "Look! A magician!"

The two went closer to the group of about twenty people gathered around a man standing atop a bench. He was a tall, handsome man, with a goatee that was perfectly coifed. A darker color compared to his white, white hair. He wore a black tuxedo with a white shirt dress, hair perfectly styled as if ready for a special dinner rather than a show for a bunch of families.

"Gather round, gather round, prepare to be amazed," the man called in a low, confident tone. His eyes, piercing, swept over the group, one hand pressed lightly to his chest. When he was sure he had everyone's attention he continued. "I hope not to take up too much of your time, I understand how valuable it is." His eyes flashed over the group as he spoke. "So, let's get this party started." He started to turn, chuckling to himself. "I promise my tricks are better than my jokes."

He reached into his coat pocket and whipped out a wand. As he did so, a bouquet of flowers shot out from the front and careened toward a young woman in the front. She shrieked in surprised, catching the bouquet against her chest.

There was a light smattering of applause, from the young children at the front, younger than Brady and Connor, who's eyes widened in surprise. The man smiled even wider. "I think I'm a little old for you, but I hope you enjoy the flowers," he remarked, making some people laugh quietly, waiting for the next trick. "I promise there's no water in them." The young woman smiled and brought the flowers to her face to smell, then shrieked once more when a stream of water shot out and struck her in the face. Water dripped off her chin and onto the front of her blouse, as blue as her blue eyes. "Oops, maybe forgot to take it out of them one."

Another laugh.

"Let's try to warm you up a bit then." The man tapped his wand against his head, then thrust out his empty hand. A gout of flames spurted out with a roar. Brady hummed to himself. It might've been impressive to everyone else, but for the son of a metahuman who used her increasingly improving fire powers as a 'show and tell' trick for him since he was a toddler, it wasn't that great.

The man snapped his gaze toward Brady, making the young meta's eyes widen. It was as If the man was waiting for him to say something, to reveal himself. So much so that the man then spoke in a low, confident drawl, looking directly at Brady. "Believe me, that's the least impressive of my tricks."

He waved his hands and, in second, a blue vapor seemed to wash over him and he disappeared from the park bench, reappearing a good ten feet behind it, standing flat on the ground. A wild applause came, even Brady and Connor couldn't help but clap along with them.

"How the hell did he do that?" a man nearby asked.

"You think that's actually magic?" Connor muttered in Brady's ear. Brady hesitated, not quite sure. He did believe in magic, his mother was great with up-close magic and had actually taught him a few things, but the color of the teleportation was similar to a breach. Maybe someone like Cisco and Gypsy, who could breach and send out vibrational blasts so quickly it could easily be explained as anything else.

"I'm not sure," Brady replied.

"Maybe you can figure out how I did it," The man continued, seeming to speak directly to Brady once more. "But…I doubt you'll have time." With a flourish, he waved his hand over his arm, where a multitude of watches appeared. A roar of amazement waved over the crowd as many of the adults in the crowd checked their wrists which were then bare. "Yes, my puns are as good as my tricks."

He waved his hand and teleported once more. This time appearing behind the group. Brady could hear a sound of amazement pass from his lips. He actually was amazed at how…well put together it was and how amazing. If he wasn't a meta, he was doing a better job at magic than all of the other magician's he'd seen at all the birthday parties he'd been to combined.

All until he teleported once more, this time much further away, balancing atop a car of the Ferris Wheel, were he bowed, waved his wand, and threw a smoke bomb toward the ground, disappearing from view. Along with the watches.

"He still has the watches," Brady said to Connor. He grabbed his best friend's wrist and the two started toward the Ferris Wheel, the crowd dispersing, seeming to forget the items that were theirs.

"If he's not a meta, he's definitely a good thief," Connor said as they ran. The skidded around the far side of the Ferris Wheel to see the man walking away, calmly looking over the faces of the watches he'd taken, as if determining whether they were as valuable as he'd hoped.

He slowed to a stop then turned to face Brady. He didn't seem surprised to see the two boys behind him. As a matter of fact, his eyes briefly glanced over them before turning back to the watches.

"I don't think that's yours," Brady commented, feeling himself slide into his Shadowhunter persona, despite not in the comfort and anonymity of his suit. It was a second too late to think of putting himself in his suit, the man seemed to recognize him as it was.

"Ah, Braden Nash," the man said. He flicked his wrist, the watches magically disappearing. He cleared his throat, rolling up the sleeves on the dress shirt beneath his jacket. "Commonly goes by Brady. Doesn't like to be called Brad or Braden."

Brady blinked in surprise before his eyes narrowed. Beside him, he saw—and heard-Connor take in a sharp breath of surprise. "How'd you know that?" Connor asked.

"I'm from the future, Connor Hawke," the man replied. "Or should I say Connor Queen? You're a bit younger than I remember. Both of you. But such is life." Brady continued to watch him. The man shook his head. "You don't believe me, uh…" His eyes turned skyward. "Let's see, it's almost 2018…" A peculiar smile came to his lips. "How are things going with DeVoe?"

"DeVoe?" Brady repeated.

"Or are you still working on Demon?"

"Demon?" Connor asked.

"Well, Cisco's not the only one who can come up with some nicknames. But this is of an even more pressing matter, a certain…darkness…"

Brady felt his blood run cold. "You know…" He could barely get the question out, it petering out on the wind that blew by. He hadn't even really mentioned it to Team Flash yet and somehow, this man knew…

"I know everything about everyone." The man shrugged, smiled smugly. "And you." He brought up his arm, as if going to wave a cape and disappear from sight. Brady reacted quickly, he leapt forward and grabbed the man's arm, hoping to hold him still.

But the man kept moving…his arm coming off into Brady's hand. Connor cried out in surprise and Brady jumped backwards, dropping the, what he realized to be fake, arm to the ground. "What the hell."

"You just ripped his arm off!" Connor cried.

"It's not his real arm, stupid."

"You're the one who was stupid enough to grab onto him like that! You could've been zapped into another dimension." Connor looked at Brady out the corner of his eye. "I think it's time that Shadowhunter tried to see what's going on."

Brady nodded back, brought up his wrist to slap on his suit.

"Oh, just one more thing." The man held up his palms, showed they were empty. Pushed up his sleeves, showed they were empty as well. He waved his hands and, suddenly a deck of cards appeared smack in the middle of his palm. He grinned, stood up straight, and adjusted his tie. Brady slowly started to lower his hands, watching. Suddenly, the man threw out his hands. All at once, the cards lifted and swirled through the air, creating a flurry, a storm that he couldn't break through. Nevertheless, Brady raced forward as fast as he could, bringing his arm back and thrust it forward, sending a shadow ball directly towards the man.

The same man who looked to slowly be turning into the cards themselves. Disappearing in front of his very eyes. The man disappeared, but the cards shot towards him, cutting his arms and legs as they whizzed by. Brady winced, wondering why he didn't think to phase sooner. He continued forward, toward the man.

Brady nearly jumped out of his skin when, suddenly, some of the cards were neatly cut in half by a sword that nearly sliced off the tip of his nose. He looked up at Black Blade, slightly surprised he didn't have to tilt his head back as far as he used to, watching as the cards fell around them, Black Blade re-sheathing the sword off his hip.

"Black Blade," Connor said.

Brady gaped at the fellow shadow meta in surprise. The young, Japanese man didn't venture out in the daylight as much as others did. His powered were weakened significantly due to it, he preferred to work at night. If there was something that brought him out to find Brady then, then something had to have been going wrong.

"What are you doing here?" Brady asked. He thought for a moment, squinting an eye shut. "Are you stalking me?"

The corner of Black Blade's mouth turned up. "Following a young boy around…that's even frowned upon on my Earth. No, I came to find you."

"Why?"

"I'm being followed," Black Blade replied.

"Followed?" Connor repeated. Black Blade nodded. "By who?"

"By what," Black Blade corrected him. His blue eyes narrowed a fraction, silver hair blowing on the sudden breeze that encircled the three. He lifted his chin, eyes narrowing even further against the sunlight. He watched for a moment, fingertips gently tapping against the hilt of his sword, waiting. Then, finally, something shifted and he turned and pointed. "That."

Brady watched as something in the sky moved closer, closer, closer, realizing as it did so, that it was a Samuroid. A Samuroid with its sword pointed toward the ground. Remembering what happened the last time, he grasped Connor's shoulder and phased at the same time Black Blade did.

The Samuroid landed on the ground in a crouch and slammed the tip of the sword into the ground. Just as before, there was a large wave of blue light and energy that burst through the area, knocking those that weren't prepared off their feet and to the ground.

The screaming and crying started almost instantly.

Once the shockwave ended, Brady let go to Connor's shoulder, suited up, and pulled out his yo-yo, transforming it into the hammer and stood next to Black Blade, who held out his sword toward the Samuroid in warning.

"It shouldn't take too long for The Flash to arrive," the Samuroid said. He spun his sword in a quick circle around his palm before holding it tightly. "I'll have time to take care of you two before I deal with him."


A/N: Oliver and Cadence both have points, to be completely honest. Even I'm not sure which is the best thing for Connor at this point. Again, I promise not everything is going to be so angsty all the time. But it's the first time Oliver's pretty big since his part of Flash Fire. Things will get better. Lol.

Also, if you didn't know…after five fics, 1123 reviews, 182,988 hits, 541 favorites, 210 chapters, and 1,676,613 words, today, October 18, 2019, it has been five years since I started The Flash and The Flame series. The Flash is one of my favorite TV shows and being able to stick with some characters for as long as the show is going, it something I hope I never get tired of. I don't have as much time as I'd like to write this story, the sequels (the sixth and seventh stories within the series for and for the fifth and sixth season of the show) as I used to, but this series is something I'm constantly working on, constantly talking about in real life (with my sisters), and constantly enjoying as I work to make it the best series of fics as I can.

Thank you all so much for being on this journey with me.

Cheers,

-Riles

Review Replies

Ethan: If anyone deserves a night off, it's Cade. You're absolutely right! Lol.

DarkHelm142: Sorry I have to tease you with one more chapter, but you're goign to love this fight scene. I intended on adding it to this chapter but couldn't do it without things getting wayyyyy too long, so I had to split it in half.