Starling City
Night
"Hey? Why you taking me here?" one of Brickwell's men demanded as Quentin hauled him out to the back alley. "If you gonna beat me, just get it over with."
"Not my style. But you're gonna wish I was gonna beat you," Quentin chuckled before pushing him a few feet away. "He's all yours."
Before Brickwell's man could say a word, an arrow flew out, striking a wall behind him. Pale, the man looked up, seeing The Arrow standing on a fire escape.
"Told ya," Quentin said with a laugh.
"Daniel Brickwell, his phone's gone missing. You're gonna give me the number," Oliver said as he jumped down.
"Why do you care?" the man asked before Oliver grabbed him by the collar and the man almost pissed himself.
"The number," Oliver growled.
New York
Same time
"Well Peter, I hope you've enjoyed our chief's steak," Norman said casually as he, Harry and Peter sat in the dining room, which Peter thought was almost twice the size of Aunt May's garage.
"It's delicious, Mr. Osborn. Thank you," Peter said politely before taking another bite.
"So how have you been? You know how we've been, what about you?" Harry inquired.
"Same old, same old I guess. I work for the Daily Bugle as a freelance photographer. Not the most exciting job, but it pays the bills, helps me support me Aunt May," Peter said with a shrug.
"I was sorry to hear about your uncle, Peter. I didn't know him well, but he seemed like a good man," Norman said in sympathy.
"Thank you, he was," Peter said with a tight smile and an awkward silence descended on the room.
"If you'd like a more stable job, we could always pull a few strings, get you a job at Oscorp," Harry suggested.
"An excellent idea. Oscorp could always use bright young men like you, Peter," Norman said, taking Peter aback.
"I appreciate it, but I don't think that would be a good idea. My uh, ex-girlfriend works at Oscorp," Peer said awkwardly, swallowing the lump in his throat.
Even just referring to Gwen like that felt like the Lizard had reached inside his chest and yanked his heart out. He knew the reasons why he had to stay away, but that didn't make it hurt any less.
"I see," Norman said, a bit surprised.
"She a model employee?" Harry asked and Peter chuckled.
"If they handed out golden stars for that, Gwen would probably have a hundred by now," Peter said and Norman put a hand to his face.
"Gwen Stacy. Yes, I met her upon my return to the New York. She does work study, am I right?" Norman asked, taking a bite of steak.
"Yeah, that's her."
"She's a bright young woman, from what I've seen. I'm sorry it didn't work out," Norman said, seeming genuine and Peter smiled tightly.
"Thank you, Mr. Osborn. Me too," Peter said and it was silent for a moment.
"But Oscorp is a big company. There are multiple branches, in fact there's a new project that I have a team working on at the Metropolis Branch, Harry and I were just about to head out there tomorrow to check on its progress. Why don't you join us, see if that's something you'd be interested in," Norman suggested, taking both Harry and Peter aback.
"That…sounds great, Mr. Osborn. I'll have to tell my Aunt first," Peter said awkwardly.
"Of course, nothing more important than family," Norman said with a seemingly charming smile.
Xavier Mansion
Same time
Barry looked around the mansion, seeing the students playing around, some of them even using their powers. After all the time he'd spent fighting Metahumans, it was a nice change of pace seeing kids using their powers for fun that didn't involve robbing banks.
"Something wrong, Barry?" Barry looked over as Ororo walked over to him.
"No. Just…spent a lot of time fighting Metahumans since I got my powers. It's nice to see that there are people with powers that aren't up to no good," Barry said with a slight smile.
"Believe it or not, I used to feel the same way about humans," Ororo said and Barry looked at her in surprise. "I'd spent so long being persecuted by humans. After a while…I got angry, I got bitter. I stopped looking for any good in them. Then, a few years ago, I met a human who was willing to help us for no reason other than it was the fight thing to do, was even willing to stand with us against other humans. And he reminded me that not all humans were hateful."
"You mean Oliver Queen, right?" Barry asked and Ororo looked at him in shock. "Chloe mentioned he knew you guys. And that definitely sounds like something Oliver would do."
"Yes. Oliver was…the first human I'd met in a long time that was willing to help us, that saw us all as people rather than Mutants," Ororo said, eying Barry carefully. "You know him?"
"I met him not long before I got my powers. He was a little…rough around the edges, but we got to the point where I would call him a friend," Barry said and Ororo laughed.
"Don't be too hard on him. He has good reason to be wary of trusting people," Ororo said, thinking of Dragon. "Some things leave scars. Not all of them you can see."
"You don't have to tell me," Barry said, eyes growing solemn as he thought of his mother. "Not all pain comes from a wound."
"No, no it doesn't," Ororo said and it was silent between them for a long moment. "Dinner should be ready soon. We should head over there."
Central City
Same time
Thawne arrived at his home, still silently seething.
It had been two days since Barry had departed Central City, one since he had been sighted in New York. And Thawne was still no closer to figuring out what was happening.
What caused him the most concern was the news article kept flickering, like it was trying to decide which future was going to happen. A new timeline was about to emerge. And it all had to do with that woman. Chloe, Barry had called her.
Thawne had run her picture through Gideon's database but found nothing. It was like she didn't exist. This Chloe had somehow erased all digital traces of herself throughout history. She was good, very good.
Thawne got to his feet, heading over to where he kept his liquor, turning on some music when he paused, seeing some liquor had been opened and a glass was missing.
"Well, this is unexpected," Thawne whirled around, seeing Ross standing a few feet away, holding a glass of liquor. "Harrison Wells, not so paralyzed after all."
"Secretary Ross," Thawne said slowly, his mind trying to work on how to work this to his advantage. "What can I do for you?"
"The better question is what can I do for you," Ross said, drowning the liquor in one gulp before setting the glass down on a table. "I have the offer of a lifetime for you."
"Is that so?" Thawne said calmly, already planning on how to kill him.
"Hear me out, Well, and by the end, you won't want to turn me down," Ross said with a smirk.
Starling City
Not long after
Oliver and Sara jumped down from a rooftop, landing on the ground before Oliver tapped the Comms piece in his suit.
"Status on Brickwell's phone?"
"It's still holding at Aparo and Puckett," Felicity confirmed.
"Why would Prometheus lead us here?" Sara wondered as she and Oliver headed into a construction site.
"Exactly what I was thinking. Why didn't we call in Roy again?" Felicity wondered.
"Because we have no idea what we're dealing with. If Prometheus is as good as Merlyn, Roy'll be out of his league," Oliver told her.
As they entered the site, various flames were ignited. Oliver and Sara exchanged a look before heading down the trail of flames. As they reached the end, they heard a cell phone ringing. Exchanging a look, they followed the sound, finding Brickwell's phone on the ground. Oliver picked it up, seeing 'unknown caller' flash across the screen. He answered it, putting it on speaker phone.
"Who is this?" Oliver demanded.
There was no sound, save for breathing on the other end. Then, the flames went out before an explosion of sparks happened right in front of them, igniting more flames. Oliver and Sara stared as, spelled out in flaming letters were the words 'So it begins'.
New York
Not long after
"Sorry if my dad put you on the spot earlier," Harry said as he and Peter talked in Harry's room after dinner.
"It's cool. Just wasn't expecting it," Peter said with a shrug.
"You gonna go with us?" Harry asked.
"I don't know. I'd like to but my aunt…I don't want to leave her alone for that long," Peter said.
"It'll be a few days, maybe a week. What's the worst that can happen?" Harry asked.
A lot, Peter mused, thinking of what could happen to the city without Spider-Man around for that long. But he knew he couldn't explain that to Harry.
"Listen, I wanted to apologize," Harry said, breaking Peter out of his thoughts.
"For what?" Peter asked, confused.
"After mom died and dad sent me away…well, I guess I tried to forget everything about this place. And I guess that included you too. I'm sorry, man," Harry apologized.
"You aint gotta explain anything to me, man. We both got dumped," Peter said wistfully and a beat passed.
"You ever figure out why your parents bailed?" Harry asked and Peter smiled tightly.
"My dad left a briefcase. It's all I got, a briefcase full of junk. I don't know man, I try not to think about it," Peter said.
"How's that working out for you?" Harry asked.
"Perfectly," Peter said, his voice coming out a bit sharper than intended.
"Yeah," Harry said, looking at him with a bit of amusement. "Well, if you do come, at least the trip won't be completely boring. Running a company is not as fun as my dad makes it sound."
Xavier Mansion
Same time
"This is delicious, thank you," Barry said as he, Chloe, and Matt had dinner with the X-Men and Fury.
"It is an old family recipe. I cannot remember when I last used it," Charles said thoughtfully.
"Anything is better than my cooking," Matt said with a shrug,
Chloe merely shrugged as she took a bite. It wasn't Martha Kent's cooking, but it was still delicious.
"Surprised Summers isn't joining us," Fury mentioned, having noticed the absence of Scott during dinner.
Immediately, there was silence across the room, the X-Men all suddenly very interested in their plates.
"Scott…usually takes his meals in his room these days," Ororo said carefully.
"Scott is a…changed man, since Jean's death," Charles said grimly.
"That's one way to put it," Logan muttered, taking a drink of his water.
Barry and Chloe exchanged a glance, sure they were missing something. But it wasn't their place to press for more information.
"So tell me, Barry, what was it like to discover you had powers?" Charles asked, hoping to move the conversation onto a safer topic.
"Really weird. I just woke up from a coma and it felt like everything was moving in slow motion, until I realized I was just moving at super speed," Barry explained, happy to indulge Charles.
"I imagine it would be. An old student of mine once had a similar ability, although he was far faster," Charles explained, gauging Barry's interest.
"This old student….did he wear a yellow suit?" Barry asked, his mind going to the Reverse Flash.
"No," Charles said, smiling sadly at Barry, the speedster projecting his thoughts loudly.
It was difficult to read the mind of a speedster, but not impossible, especially not when Barry was broadcasting his thoughts so loudly.
"I do not know who the man who killed your mother is, but he is not my old student," Charles assured him gently.
Barry nodded, slightly disappointed not to be able to put a face to the name of the man who had murdered his mother.
Central City
Same time
"First, I'd like to thank you," Ross said as he and Thawne sat down across from each other. "Your technology was essential in…incapacitating the Enhanced at the Raft."
"That was our deal. I give you that technology, you give me military funding. Although I hope you didn't come all the way to Central City just to say thanks. I remember hearing something about an offer," Thawne pointed out and Ross chuckled.
"Quick and to the point, as usual. Fine. I need your help, more technology to handle Enhanced. It's been…getting out of hand," Ross said and Thawne raised an eyebrow.
"And why should this concern me? In case you haven't noticed, Star Labs is on the verge of closing," Thawne pointed out.
Ross smirked before pulling out a folder, putting it on the table. Curiously, Thawne picked it up, opening it, surprised to find what was in it.
"Some of my men picked him up a few days ago, but as you can imagine, he's hard to contain. I need your help," Ross said and Thawne continued looking at what was inside the folder before closing it.
"And why should I care what you need?" Thawne demanded and Ross smirked.
"Because you don't want the whole world to know Harrison Wells has been faking being paralyzed. I had quite a bit of time to set up cameras while I was waiting for you," Ross said and Thawne stiffened, looking around and spotting the cameras he hadn't noticed before. "They've been live streaming this conversation to my men, who have been recording everything."
Thawne almost swore, realizing Ross had thought of everything. Even if he used super speed to remove every camera and kill Ross right that second, it wouldn't remove the copies of him using his legs. And exposing that to the world would interfere with his plans.
"So, do we have a deal?" Ross asked and Thawne was silent for a long moment.
"For now," Thawne conceded. "I'll need full access to him, of course."
"Done. Give whatever cover story you need to Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow. We'll be heading to the Raft tomorrow," Ross said with a smirk.
Starling City
Not long after
"'So it begins'? So what begins?" Quentin asked as he met The Arrow and Sara behind the back alley. "Seems like he already started, considering all the cops he killed just to get to Brickwell."
"Prometheus only killed Brickwell because Brickwell tried to kill The Arrow," Sara said, glancing over at Oliver.
"He wants to kill you that bad, huh? great," Quentin said with a scoff.
"I need you to put a BOLO out on Prometheus, Detective. But tell your men not to engage. Last thing we need is more dead cops," Oliver told Quentin, who nodded.
"Tell me something I don't know. But you better take him down. I'm not having another serial killer on the loose after Merlyn," Quentin said firmly.
"On that we agree," Oliver said before shooting off an arrow with a line and using it to glide away.
Four years earlier, Luthor Corp
Day
Lex Luthor was in the elevator when it suddenly gave a lurch, stopping as red lights flashing. Lex coughed, realizing a gas had begun filling the elevator. He pulled out a gun but it was too late, as he dropped to the floor, out cold.
Seconds later, the vent opened up and Richard Dragon, wearing a gas mask, dropped down, immediately checking Lex.
"Target acquired, I'll meet up with you at the rendezvous point," Dragon said over the Comms to Clint and Oliver before picking up Lex.
Verdant
Night
"So nothing on this Prometheus guy?" Thea asked as she and Roy packed up for the night.
"Nothing so far. He was just playing some game with Oliver tonight. Why, search me," Roy said with a shrug.
Thea opened her mouth to speak but, before she could get a word out, a shuriken flew through the air. It cut Thea along the neck and she felt it, shocked as Roy whirled around. Prometheus stood a few feet away, having thrown the shuriken.
"Thea, run," Roy said before he rushed Prometheus.
Roy tried sending a kick to Prometheus's legs but Prometheus dodged, jumping into the air before sending a kick to Roy's face. It made contact and the blow caused Roy to stumble back into a table, the taste of blood in his mouth. Prometheus then followed up with two powerful punches to Roy's abdomen and grabbing Roy by the head, slamming him down onto the table, which was knocked over.
Prometheus moved to turn back to Thea only to see Thea aiming a Taser at him. She fired, Prometheus jumped out of the way, drawing his sword and knocking the Taser out of her before sending a kick to her chest, knocking Thea on her back. Prometheus moved towards Thea before Roy jumped on his back, trying to grab Prometheus's sword only for Prometheus to elbow him in the face and throw him into another table. It went down and Roy gasped in pain, only able to watch as Prometheus pulled out a syringe and threw it. It hit Thea in the shoulder and she gasped as she was injected with whatever was inside.
"No!" Roy exclaimed as he got to his feet.
Prometheus paid him no mind, walking off and vanishing into the shadows. Roy barely noticed, rushing over to Thea and quickly checking her over. She was unconscious but alive, to his relief. He quickly pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911.
"Hello, I need an ambulance at Verdant. The mayor's daughter was just attacked."
And here is where the Prometheus arc really begins.
Thawne would definitely be working with Ross in the past, and Ross would definitely try to leverage Thawne into cooperating. Thank you to Aragorn II Elessar for his help with that plot.
Hope the interactions between Barry, Chloe and the X-Men were enjoyed.