Chapter Text
“I’ve already told Felicity this” Oliver begins, hands held behind his back as he stood facing a clueless Barry Allen “My time on the island changed me. I lost the ability to see people as people. I saw them as threats, as targets, as potential…”
The younger man in front of him was raising an inquisitive eyebrow, trying to work out where Oliver was going with this.
“Felicity was the only person I could trust…there was just something about her” He confesses and Barry smiles with understanding.
“Yeah, she’s great!” He agrees readily before quickly adding “You’re both pretty great together”
“She steadies me, balances out my world” Oliver nods, not at all ashamed to admit the changes his girlfriend induced in him. On the contrary, he was quite proud.
Barry’s smile softens further, his happiness for them showing clearly in his eyes.
“It’s what all of us need” He says “Someone that can right out wrongs. And that, Barry, is why I’ve started to understand the difference between us”
Now the speedster is back to being perplexed, his brows pulling together in a slight frown that pushes Oliver to further elaborate.
“You don’t need a Felicity to make you see the good in people. You do that on your own. But you need a Leonard Snart to keep you on the side of caution”
The reaction is immediate. Barry's body locks down as he stares at Oliver with shock and…dread? Did the kid actually fear him? They were friends after all, and arrows in the back or not, Oliver would never hurt him in any way.
Honestly, he is a little tempted to roll his eyes. The fact that he’s aware of Barry’s relationship with Captain Cold should really not come as a surprise. The first thing Oliver did when Felicity mentioned Barry’s secret boyfriend, was break a few codes of privacy.
In his defense, he had expected to find a meta-human to have conned his way into Barry's innocent little heart - though a highly efficient criminal wasn’t that far off the mark. It was just…a little bit too normal considering this was central city.
And everything after he had disregarded the plan to kidnap Snart (Mostly because of Lyla who threatened to go to Diggle, who would threaten to go to Felicity, who would chew him out for not finding a civil solution), had just been pieces falling into place on their own.
“You – uh, you already know” Barry’s nervous voice yanks him back out of his thoughts.
“I took the liberty of finding out” Oliver confirmed entirely unapologetic, even as Barry began to gnaw at his lips in clear worry.
“Look, Oliver, I know what you’re thinking, but Len is –“ The rushed explanation halts when Oliver interrupts.
“A criminal, his crimes are not just against central city, but against you Barry. He is a man that has kidnapped your friends, tried to kill you on a few occasions and betrayed your trust” He says, this time managing to spark Barry’s anger.
“You don’t know him Oliver, and judging a man by his past actions are as much as an injustice as anything else” He snaps.
And Oliver can point out that Captain Cold has hardly given up his lifestyle, for his crimes to be counted as a thing of past; but he is not here to argue against his friend’s relationship.
“I do know him. I’ve bugged his safe houses and pulled in a favour or two for the exact purpose of knowing him.” Oliver admits frankly, stalling Barry’s indignation with his next statement. “Captain Cold is a criminal as much as the Flash is a hero. But Leonard Snart - Len, is a man clearly in love with you”
Oliver watches as Barry’s mouth snaps shut, disbelief etched on his features as he finally catches on to the fact that Oliver was not exactly being disapproving. Of course, if he was, Leonard Snart would already be locked up in a nearly inhospitable island in the north China sea – but he wasn’t heading there anytime soon unless he hurt Barry.
“You don’t think he’s playing me? Or – or trying to manipulate me, or whatever?” Barry checks carefully.
“He is, at the very least, a man of honour” Oliver shrugs, because, no, he no longer thinks Snart is using Barry. That thought died after the first two weeks of study.
“He’s more than that Oliver. There’s a lot of good in him” Barry informs softly, eyes flicking away to study the ground between them.
“Trust you to find the good in a criminal” Oliver sighs, before stepping forward and placing a hand on Barry’s shoulder.
“You might have affected his moral standing enough to change the man, but I believe he has always had his own principles; That he’s also a man of precision, discipline and like I mentioned before, caution. All things you could do with in your life” He says, still not certain how he came to the point, where in his right conscience, he was supporting his friend dating a former inmate of Iron heights.
Barry seemed to be thinking along the same lines though, because he asks in a significantly lighter tone “Is Oliver Queen, the Arrow, telling me this isn’t all a monumentally stupid idea?”
“I’m not one to tell you anything about your personal life” Oliver begins, this time actually rolling his eyes at Barry’s look of incredulity.
“Not anymore at least.” He corrects, seeing his friend's lips twist into a small smile. “I trust your judgement”
“But only after you had my boyfriend stalked for god knows how many days” The brunette interrupts, but Oliver elects to ignore him.
“I only ask two things. One, you do not tell Len of my identity, until I’ve met him in person”
Barry is nodding in agreement even as he asks “And you meeting him, is that going to be so you can put the fear of god in him?”
“Barry, leader of the rogues or not, if he’s dating you, I’m putting the fear of god in the man” Oliver answers, entirely straight faced.
Barry's lips twitch in amusement and he points out “Right, but he doesn’t have super healing, so maybe no arrows”
“I make no promises” Oliver deadpans and in front of him, Barry blinks, clearly unsure about whether or not he was joking.
“Seriously Oliver, no arrows” The words are said with a hint of worry.
“The second thing I ask” Oliver continues without making promises “is that you and Len consider the open invitation to still have that double date Felicity was talking about, though it would probably be a better idea if you two visit Starling.”
Objectively, the idea of the double date would mean he no longer needs to keep this secret from Felicity, and her acceptance could be the first thing that spurs Barry to admit the truth to his own team. Or so he hopes.
The thousand watts smile that threatens to break Barry’s face, however, is the real confirmation Oliver has, to know he’s made the right call.
“Deal”