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“Oliver!” Barry wasn’t sure why the vigilante had brought him to the Queen Mansion, but the solemn expression was making him nervous. “Oliver, why are we here?”
Oliver stopped in the center of the foyer, the tension in his body evaporating. Barry stepped around him, the defeated look on Oliver’s face hurting him. “I need you to stay here, Barry. Where it’s safe.”
Anger replaced the hurt. “What do you mean stay here? You’re all out there in the danger. What makes me better than any of you?”
“Barry!” Oliver growled. “You are not a cop; you are not a vigilante! You are a CSI! You don’t even have weapon!”
“Neither does Felicity!” Barry shouted back. “What makes you think I can’t handle it? During the Undertaking, I was beside Lance, in the field, helping in with the machines. What makes this any different?”
“BECAUSE IT IS DIFFERENT!” Barry jumped back slightly at the roar of the vigilante’s voice. Noticing this, Oliver sighed and stepped back. “Barry, things are different than they were a year ago. We’re different.” He squeezed his eyes closed and took a deep breath. “Slade took Laurel because he wants to kill the one I love.”
Barry nodded. “I know, Oliver, but—”
“Except he took the wrong person.”
His heart stopped. It felt like everything in the world had slowed down. Oliver couldn’t possibly mean what Barry thought he meant. But that intense look in his eyes that was saved for people like McKenna, or Helena, or Laurel, was now focused on him. A hand reached up to brush against his cheek, and a shiver went through his spine.
“I love you, Barry.” Oliver whispered, taking a step closer. Barry nearly stopped breathing when the vigilante closed the distance between them, bringing them lips together in the kiss Barry had been dreaming of for over a year. An arm snaked around his waist and he was dragged forward so that their bodies were flush against each other, and Barry tilted his head to deepen the kiss, his fingers digging into Oliver’s biceps and his toes curling.
When Oliver finally pulled away, Barry felt his hand slip into his jacket pocket. He glanced down with a frown, and saw that he was slipping something into his pocket. The cure, he realized, eyes raising back to meet Oliver’s.
The vigilante’s eyes shifted sharply to the right. “Do you understand?”
Resisting the urge to follow his eye line, Barry took a deep breath and nodded. They were being watched by Slade. Oliver needed Slade to take him so that he could inject him with the cure. “I understand, Oliver. Just…just please be careful out there.”
The vigilante turned away and left the house without another word, and Barry collapsed onto the bottom stair of the grand staircase, wondering how he got in this position.
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He could say that it all started with his crush on Iris, and his decision to move to Starling after college in an attempt to move on. Of course, he could also say it started with his first meeting with Oliver at his ‘Welcome Home’ party that Tommy Merlyn (who was working hard to be friends with Barry because he and Laurel were friends, due to her time hanging around the SCPD, and Tommy wanted to stay on her good side. Smart move, Tommy Merlyn) threw for him and Laurel dragged him to. But really, it started with the investigation of Adam Hunt.
Really, he hadn’t had to think on it too hard. A vigilante shows up around the same time that Oliver Queen returns home from being stranded on an island for five years. Then, his first act is to save both Oliver and Tommy from kidnappers, though Oliver is conveniently the only one that saw him; not to mention that the vigilante wears green instead of black, which is a better urban camouflage, indicating that the vigilante trained in a jungle environment, such as, say, an island in the middle of the North China Sea. Finally, the vigilante threatens and steals from corrupt businessman Adam Hunt, whose building is right across from place where Tommy Merlyn threw, you guessed it, Oliver Queen’s Welcome Back party.
Of course, he didn’t approach anyone with his theory, not even Oliver. Instead, Barry hung around the sidelines of the Hood cases, losing evidence here and there, and, more often than not, debating the necessity of the Hood, despite his methods. And so, through Deadshot (he still kicked himself over missing that tape), the Huntress, the Copycat and more, Barry covered for the Hood, all the while having to see Oliver Queen whenever he was around Laurel or Tommy and not let on that he knew the truth.
Then, it happened. He was staying late in his lab one night, finishing up the last few reports of the day, when the lights cut out. The precinct was silent, save for the sound of Barry’s heavy breathing. “Hello?” He called out, pulling his phone out to use as a flashlight.
“Bartholomew Allen.”
He could feel his heart in his throat as he turned slowly towards the doorway. A shadowy figure lingered in the doorway, his memorable silhouette giving away his identity. Barry took a nervous step back as the Hood strode into the room.
“I heard that you’ve been arguing on my behalf to Detective Lance. And that all of the evidence towards me that has come to your hands has disappeared.”
Barry’s eyes had already started to adjust to the dark, and he could see some of the details of the Hood’s face. He resisted the urge to smirk at the all-too-recognizable face of Oliver Queen.
“I just think that what you do is good. Except the killing part.” He added nervously. “So, if sometimes I get evidence that could lead to your identity, I might…misplace it?”
He almost thought that he saw the Hood smile. “That’s dangerous. Lance could fire you if he found out.”
Barry shrugged. “Lance thinks I’m some naïve, absent-minded kid. He’d never think that I was helping you on purpose.”
The Hood hung his head in what looked a lot like shame. “That’s actually why I’m here.” He pulled a small baggie out of one of his pockets and held it out. “This is a sample of Vertigo. I need it examined to know what’s in it. I’ve heard you’re one of the best.”
He was glad it was dark, so Oliver wouldn’t see the way he blushed at the compliment. Barry accepted the baggie with a nod and turned to walk over to his equipment. “Sure, I can get a complete work-up of this by the end of tomorrow. When do you need—?”
But when Barry turned back, the Hood was gone. If Barry had to put a marker on when he started developing feelings for Oliver Queen/The Hood, he would say it was then.
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So started Barry’s team-up with the Hood, eventually joining the team on a near full-time basis once Oliver found out that he knew his identity. Then, Felicity joined the team. Then, Lance did find out that he was working for the Hood, but the Undertaking happened, and then Oliver left and Barry, Dig, and Felicity had to go to Lian Yu after him. And then Sara Lance came back, and Roy Harper joined the team. Barry’s feelings grew deeper with every mission and every save, like when Huntress beat him to find her father’s safehouse, or when Dodger put the bomb around his neck, or when he saved him from the landmine on Lian Yu. By the time Barry realized he was in love with Oliver, it was too late to save his heart. Oliver Queen already had it in his hands.
A slamming sound jarred Barry from his thoughts, and he was back in the Queen Mansion. He rose to his feet slowly, eyes scanning the halls as he walked cautiously into the parlor. “Oliver? Are you still here?”
Really? Barry groaned internally. Stop being such a horror movie stereotype.
That’s when he felt a sword press against his back. “Hello, Barry Allen.” A thick, Australian accent drawled behind his. Two more Mirakuru soldiers appeared in front of him, and he resisted the urge to sigh.
Showtime.
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“It's over, Slade! Your army is broken.”
“And I pity them. But once again, you miss the point. I have the one you love. You're going to meet me where I say. Otherwise, your love will die.”
“No, you do what you have to. I'm done playing your games!”
“You're done when I say you're done! I was surprised. I never thought of you as the both sides type, but now that I’ve met him, I see why you chose him. He nearly took down one of my soldiers on his own trying to get away, your precious Barry. You trained him well. But not well enough.”
Barry glared at Deathstroke as walked over and pulled his head back by his hair. He wasn’t able to hold in a cry of pain.
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Once Oliver arrived to ‘save’ him, everything went a bit fuzzy for Barry. He remembered getting pulled to his feet by Slade with a sword to his throat. He remembered Slade taunting Oliver, talking about the island, and Shado, and something about revenge. He was vaguely aware of Laurel being dragged out. All he could really focus on, though, was the syringe in his pocket, and waiting for the opportune moment.
“I already know how you feel!” Oliver was shouting. “I know what it's like to hate. To want revenge.” Barry felt eyes on him, and he knew it was time. “And now I know how it feels to see my enemy so distracted, he doesn't see the real danger is right in front of him.”
He was running on pure adrenaline as he drew the syringe and jabbed it into Slade Wilson’s neck.
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Later, when they were standing on Lian Yu after locking Slade away, Oliver told him how well he’d done, how good he did pretending to be in love with Oliver. Barry just smiled and nodded.
“Talk about unthinkable.” He laughed tightly, shifting his eyes so he was looking out at the sunset instead of at oblivious Oliver Queen. “Imagine you and me together.” He cleared his throat in an attempt to keep his voice from breaking. “You know, I thought you were serious at first. I thought you really…you were very convincing.”
He glanced back at Oliver, who was giving him a curious look, and shrugged. Oliver opened his mouth to say something, but Felicity interrupted. “Hey, you both ready to go home?”
She threw her arms over their shoulders in a hug that Barry couldn’t help but return. When his eyes flashed back to Oliver, he felt his heart sink.
“Actually, there’s something I need to tell you guys.” Dig approached behind them, and Barry thought it was time they know. “I’m moving back home. To Central.”
The other three members of Team Arrow froze, each giving him a different expression: Felicity’s full of shock and sadness, like he’d just told her he ran over her dog; Diggle’s slight surprise, but more acceptance, like he knew it was coming, making Barry wonder how much he suspected about Barry’s feelings; and lastly, Oliver’s expression was broken-hearted, like he was blaming himself for Barry leaving, just like he blamed himself for everything.
“Well, there are more members to the team now, and my foster dad, Joe, told me that there’s an opening at the CCPD. He’s kind of insisting I move back after two terrorist attacks on Starling. Plus, they’re turning on the particle accelerator, which is like my dream, so I think it’s time to go.”
After all, Barry had come to Starling to get away from someone he loved that didn’t love him back. He didn’t need to stay for the same thing.