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Barry wasn’t even going to consider the job offer from the precinct in Starling City. He really wasn’t. He had always planned to stay in Central, to work with Joe, to be near Iris. He’d never even thought about going somewhere else, this was his home.
But then he’d overheard Iris telling her latest boyfriend, Jason, that she loved him. He’d left quickly before he started hearing…other things. He’d taken a walk around Central and it made him realize what a cycle his life really was, and it wasn’t just his feelings for Iris. It was everything. He was still stuck in that living room where his mother was murdered by the impossible. Stuck watching his father being taken away. Stuck practically begging for someone, anyone, to believe him. He wasn’t going anywhere, he was running in circles.
It was at that realization that he decided to look at his other job offers. He’d gotten a few, but in the end he decided on Starling because it was far enough to get away from the endless cycle but close enough that he could get back to Central with a day’s notice due to the fact that there was a train from Central to Starling almost every day year-round.
Iris and Joe aren’t particularly happy about his decision, and they aren’t shy about making it known. They try to bribe, beg, and guilt him into staying but his mind is made up, and they know better than anyone when his mind is made up there’s no changing it. In sharp contrast, his father is ecstatic, he’d been trying to get Barry to find a way to move forward for years.
Luck seems to be on Barry’s side for once when he finds a decent apartment close to the station at a good price. Although, he wondered if the former tenant moved because of the Hood. There had been rumors online about the supposed vigilante, but he hadn’t known if he should believe them or not. Since his first day at the station though, he couldn’t go a day without hearing about the man.
He was intriguing to Barry on so many levels. A man trying to do what he thought was right. To stop the wrongs that others can’t, don’t, or won’t. It’s incredibly fascinating and he can’t deny that he looks forward to any new information on the man every morning when he walks into work.
Then Oliver Queen is brought as suspected of being the Vigilante and Barry’s mind immediately sets to work.
It makes sense. Being stranded on an island for five years had to change a person, there was no way the Oliver Queen in Iris’ old magazines would have survived that long, and when he hears about Oliver being tortured (because the cops here are big gossips and rarely pay attention to the young, new lab rat, which works to Barry’s advantage) he realizes it may have been even more changing than he thought.
The timing of the Vigilantes appearance and Oliver’s return is impeccable, plus he was the first one to ever ‘see’ the Hood, allowing him to control how his presence was established for the first time (and Barry had a feeling Oliver Queen liked to be in control). It actually adds up in his mind so perfectly, he can’t believe he didn’t see it before. It’s not like he hadn’t known about the Queen heir’s return, it was almost as talked about as his alter ego.
Then of course, Oliver Queen is acquitted.
But Barry had a gut instinct that they'd been right about Oliver Queen, and over the years he'd learned to trust his instincts.
Still, he was a man of science, he needed evidence to back his theory up.
He started with photographs, full body photographs of Oliver Queen since his return and the few shots people around the city had gotten of the Vigilante. He studied them carefully. The build was the same, the height was the same, even their stance was similar.
He then moved on to videos. Again there were very few of the masked mystery but he'd managed to find a couple posted on YouTube and he may not be a tech expert, but he knows how to tap into basic security cameras and manages to get a few more videos off off traffic cameras and ATM cameras. He compares them to videos of Oliver and finds that their body language is a match, the way they move, with a careful grace never straying too far from an exit, their movements fluid in a way that allows them the ability to attack or defend with a moment's notice. He also notices how Mr.Queen's eyes subtly scan a room checking all exits and examining all threats, not an attribute he'd apply to an average party boy.
Finally, he listens to the man's voice. And walking around his apartment for several days when he's getting ready for bed at night and getting ready for work in the morning with earbuds in listening to Oliver Queen's voice of all things is certainly not something he'd ever envisioned himself doing. Not that it's a bad voice to listen to, it's actually a really nice voice. Confident, and strong and powered yet soothing and why the hell was he thinking about the sound of Oliver Queen's voice? This is just for science. In any case, he compares Oliver Queen's syntax to the few lines of recording the police had of the Hood in evidence and they seem to match. The Hood's voice was lower and had reverb, but that was obviously a voice modulator, so he puts the voice into a program, cancels out the reverb, hiked the pitch up a few decibels and sure enough it was almost identical to Oliver Queen's.
He then makes a list of the vigilantes main targets. Adam Hunt, Martin Somers, Jason Brodeur, Leo Mueller, the Reston Family. All of the cases were high class scumbags except for the Reston Family and Leo Mueller. But a little digging and had revealed that Derek Reston used to work for Robert Queen before being laid off and left with nothing. It would make sense for Oliver to feel duty bound to fix a problem his father likely started. As for Leo Mueller, he was attacked when Oliver Queen was under house arrest, but Barry theorized that he had to have at least one partner, and considering he was attacked that night and his bodyguard was nowhere to be found Barry had a good idea who one of his partners might be.
He also noticed that a majority of the cases somehow involved Laurel Lance, Oliver Queen's ex who sister he died when he took her on the boat with him. Again he couldn't help thinking it made sense, except in this case it was his sins Oliver was attesting to atone for, not his father's.
He'd poured over every news article about Oliver Queen since he got back, most of which gave him nothing, but he was intrigued by the fact that he was opening a nightclub in his father's old steel factory. It would be the perfect place for a headquarters. A factory like that in the Glades is bound to have an underground portion he could use as a base, and being a nightclub it gives the supposed party boy an alibi for his nighttime activities. No one would know for sure if they saw him or not in the chaos of a nightclub, and the party boy image would serve to distance people from thinking he's the Vigilante.
He was pretty much convinced, but what sealed the deal was Helena Bertinelli working with the Arrow at the same time she was rumored to be dating Oliver Queen. That was too big of a coincidence for Barry, and he'd never really believed in coincidences to begin with.
Barry had no doubt in his mind the Oliver Queen was the Vigilante. The only thing left to do was decide if he wanted to take the substantial evidence he'd collected to the police. He should, he worked for the police, but he also knew better than anyone that sometime the police aren't enough.
He has pretty much decided against it when he sees the copycat archer calling the Hood out on the news with several hostages including a couple of kids.
He listens to the police radio and checks social media intently and is very relieved when all the hostages make it out alive, however there’s no word on the Hood yet. Half an hour later the copycat archer is seen escaping but still no sign of the Hood and Barry is getting worried. Really worried.
He runs over to his neighbors’ house, Doug and Casey, to ask if he could borrow their car. They were a very nice married couple who had retired, and they insisted on Barry taking their car to work whenever there was bad weather even though it wasn’t that far away. He’d never actually asked to borrow it before, but they were more than agreeable and told him to have a fun night out.
Fun isn’t exactly how he would describe it as he drives to the warehouse after stopping at the local Walmart to pick up a t shirt and jeans in what he assumes is Oliver Queen’s sizes based on height and build and throws them in the back with the sheet he brought in case the man was still bleeding. He didn’t want to mess up Doug and Casey’s car after all.
He get to the warehouse and tries to park as silently as possible. He sneaks in with las much stealth as he can muster, luckily it’s not hard to find Oliver as he’s lying on the floor in a pool of blood trying to stop the bleeding with his bow and Arrows lying a few feet away from him.
Barry steps into the room and instantly Oliver’s eyes are on him. “Who’s there?” He queries alertly as he scoots back towards his bow. Barry walks towards him with his hands raised. “Just a concerned citizen who wants to help you.” He seems to relax just a little. “Thank you, but I don’t need your help.” He dismisses. “I think you do.” Barry states as he looks down at the bleeding man. “I really don’t, I’m fine.” Barry almost wants to laugh. Yeah, fine lying in a puddle of your own blood. He wants to say that aloud but opts for a safer choice. “Please let me help you Mr. Queen.” He pleads and he realizes what he’s said about the same time Oliver does. “What did you just call me?” The man breathes out dangerously. “I…I…look I…I really just want to help you…please I…” Oliver reaches weapon determinedly.
Barry isn’t sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing when the hooded vigilante passes out from blood loss.
Oliver Queen is not having a good night.
First he plans a Christmas party that no one but him seems enthusiastic about, then he catches his baby sister with some punk in her bedroom, then his sister get pissed at him when he sends said punk on his way, then some bastard calls him out after taking and threatening innocent hostages, then said bastard beats him in a fight and he's left injured on the floor, and to top it all off some kid he doesn't even know the name of knows his identity.
Tonight, for the first time in a long time, he'd lost a battle, and he couldn't help feeling like he failed his father. And if he couldn't insure that this kid won't blab about his secret, he might never get the chance to redeem himself and complete his mission.
He's shaken from his dark thoughts by an entrance into his hospital room. It was Dig, his family had already been in earlier.
"I got the evidence from the scene cleared up, no one should find anything that incriminates you." Dig informs. "Thank you." He replies gratefully. Although it doesn't matter much if that kid is out there telling everyone he knows that Oliver Queen is the Hood. He doesn't want to ask, even though he knows he must. "What about the kid that brought me in?" Digg nods his head toward the door. "He's in the waiting room." Oliver can't stop the surprise from showing on his face. "He stayed?" He wanted to clarify. "Yes, he said he was worried about you. Should I send him in?" Dig questioned. Oliver nodded, still shocked.
As Dig went to go get the kid Oliver thought hard. Why would the kid stay here knowing Oliver might kill him? Maybe he was really stupid, but Oliver didn't think so. He'd worked out Oliver's secret, which he hoped no really stupid person could do. Maybe he wanted something. After all, Oliver was a Queen. He could make the kid a multi-millionaire overnight without even putting a dent in his family's fortune. Perhaps the kid wanted money in exchange for his silence.
Oliver could work with that, he really didn't want to kill the kid. Of course there was always the risk of the kid getting greedy and blackmailing him again. Or just telling people anyway. What did he know about this kid? Nothing. And Oliver hated that.
He was once again shaken from his thoughts by the door opening, except this time it was the kid entering the room.
"You wanted to see me?" The kid seemed nervous. Good. "Yes, have a seat." He commanded and the kid say immediately to his satisfaction. "How are you?" The kid asked, and Oliver couldn't help feeling more and more surprised. That was certainly not the first thing he'd expected the kid to ask. "Better. Thank you for helping me get here." He figured he should show some gratitude, the kid had tried to help him. "Of course." The kid replied and they lapsed into silence for a moment.
"Are you going to kill me?" The kid blurted, straight to the point then, Oliver was agreeable to that. "I don't have my bow right now." He points out, hoping that a negotiation would go better if the kid was more at ease. However instead of the relief he expected, the kid simply gave him an unimpressed look. "I've seen the way you fight, you don't need a bow to kill me. Also I heard how you pinned Detective Lance's gun to a storage crate with a dart from twenty feet away, I'm guessing you could do the same to my jugular with that scalpel the doctor has on his desk. You wouldn't even have to get out of bed. I'm sure your bodyguard could dispose of the body. I'm not that popular, it would probably be a week before anyone noticed I was missing and I'm not sure why I'm giving you that information ." The kid points out. Okay, so he was definitely smart, even if he apparently lacked self preservation. Then the reality of two of those sentences hit him. One, he seemed to know Dig was in on the operation. And two, he seemed to know Lance.
"You work for the police?" He asked to a nod from the kid, and this was seriously not good. Wasn't the kid too young to work for the police? He looked like he was eighteen or nineteen. Twenty max. "I'm a forensic scientist." The kid elaborated. "Aren't you a little young to be working for the police?" He couldn't resist asking the question that plagued his mind. "I'm twenty-three!" The kid seemed a little miffed, but used to it. Oliver had a feeling he got that pretty often. But really? Twenty-three? He never would have guessed. The kid looks like he could still be in high school.
"Does anyone else know about me?" Oliver asked cautiously and was relieved when the kid shook. "No, I was very careful when I was doing my research. Well, there was one time when Detective Lance saw me looking at a picture of you, as Oliver Queen not the Vigilante, but he just earned me that I shouldn't get 'involved' with you because you'd only hurt me." The kid informed him with a slight blush at the end, and yeah, Oliver could imagine what Lance would have to say about the kid's interest.
"I don't plan on telling anyone." The kid tries to assure him. "And why is that?" He inquires, ready to hear what this was going to cost him. "I think you're doing good, I think you're a good person. Maybe you're a bit extreme, but I think you're this city is better off with you than without you. And I know personally that sometimes the police just aren't enough." The last sentence is wistful and sad. Oliver really wants to ask, but he supposes it's none of his business.
The kid gets up and scribbles something on a note pad the doctor has on his desk. He tears the piece off and hands it to Oliver. "I'd like to go home and get some rest if you don't mind. That's my cell number and address, in case you want to contact me for threatening or whatever." He states and Oliver raises an eyebrow. "What? Like you weren't going to look it up the second I leave? I have no doubt that by this time tomorrow you will have done a full background check on me." The kid wasn't wrong. "I don't even know your name." Oliver points out, not that the kid's name would be hard to find out. "Oh, it's Barry Allen, well technically Bartholomew Allen, but I prefer Barry." The kid, Barry, acknowledges with a grin.
Barry hands him a large gift bag and he finds himself raising an eyebrow again. Why would he have gotten Oliver a gift? "It's your suit. I put it in the gift bag to make it less conspicuous. I'm ninety-nine percent sure your bodyguard is in on this, but for the one percent's sake I figured it was safer to give it to you." Barry explained.
Oliver glances down, and realizes the clothes he's wearing aren't his. "They're clean, I bought them at the store on my way to the warehouse. Sorry if they don't fit right, I had to guess your size." He looked at Barry with an amused smirk. "You changed me?" Barry blushed instantly. "It's not like I could bring the Hood into a hospital. Plus, I had to try to stop the bleeding. I didn't take your boxers off so it's not like it was any worse that a swimsuit, and I did it as fast as I could, and I wasn't looking!" Oliver has to fight the urge to laugh at the flustered man. "How much were they? I'll reimburse you." He offered. Barry dismissed the idea of. "They weren't that much, I'm fine." Oliver wanted to argue, but decided it wasn't worth it.
"Is your car messed up?" He questioned. "Actually, I don't have a car, I borrowed it from my neighbors. And I put a sheet down so the seats wouldn't get messed up." Oliver nods. "Make sure you wipe the car of any evidence before you give it back." Barry gives him an odd look. "I highly doubt my neighbors are going to look for evidence in their car just because I borrowed it. Even if they did, all your DNA would prove is that Oliver Queen, world renown playboy, was in the back of that car. There are plenty of explanations for that, though they'd probably never let me use their car again."
"You can go Barry. And thank you for keeping my secret." Barry smiles at him. "You're welcome." He turns to leave, but stops at the door and turns back around. "By the way, the greasepaint thing, it's a poor identity concealer. You should really get a mask." Barry advises. "So find me one that conforms perfectly to my face and doesn't affect my ability to aim." Maybe Oliver shouldn't have said that. He could practically see the words 'Challenge Accepted' written in Barry's eyes.
"Goodbye Mr. Queen." He grimaces at Barry's words. "Just Oliver please." Barry nods with that beautiful smile still on his face. "Goodbye Oliver." Barry opened the door. "Goodbye Barry." He called as the door was shutting behind Barry. He thought about what just happened.
He had a feeling that was far from the last time he'd see Barry Allen, and for some reason he was kind of glad about that.
After his chat with Oliver, the Hood had disappeared for a little while which had worried Barry. He had begun to wonder if Oliver's injuries were worse than he thought. Then suddenly, the Hood was back and better than ever and Barry tried not to show how relieved he was to his less than enthusiastic colleagues.
Barry tried not to think about it too much. He went about his business normally, and tried to resist the urge to find a way to contact Oliver every time he heard something at the precinct that could help the man. Knowing was one thing, but getting involved with the Hood was another. Joe certainly wouldn't approve, not to mention the trouble he could get into at work. Yet he couldn't stop his burning desire to help.
It was a couple weeks later that he got a call from an unknown number.
"Hey Barry." A familiar voice started. "Oliver! Hey, what's up?" He tried (and utterly failed) to play it cool. "Just calling to make sure you still aren't telling anyone about me." Barry couldn't help the curl of disappointment in his chest. "Of course not, you can trust me." He implored the man. There was a pause. "Right, well that's all I nee-" Oliver was cut off by the sharp voice of his bodyguard. "Oliver!" Oliver sighed. "Also, we have a case we could really use your help on. Are you in?" Oliver asked and excitement bubbles up inside of him.
He shouldn't. He really shouldn't. Think of Joe, and your career, and your safety, he tries to tell himself.
But all it took was that voice asking for his help and he was all in.
"Absolutely, should I meet you at your club?" He asked. "How did you-" He cuts the vigilante off with a grin the other man can't see. "An old factory in the Glades that certain to have a basement covered up with the chaos of a nightclub that simultaneously provides the perfect alibi for where Oliver Queen is at night." Barry spells it out for the other who mutters something that sounds suspiciously like 'too damn smart for his own damn good' under his breath. "Yeah, just come to the club." Oliver agrees reluctantly before hanging up without saying goodbye. Barry is too giddy to care about that though. He gets to help the vigilante! Even though he really shouldn't have, he gave in to his desire to help.
Though as he glances at the mask he's been secretly working on he wonders if there was ever any doubt.
A year later Barry and Oliver were together.
Barry had kept falling deeper and deeper in love with Oliver as he worked with the masked man. He had finally started believing that maybe Oliver was into him too when Malcolm Merlyn caused the Earthquake that had killed just over five hundred people, and Oliver had failed the mission his father gave him, or at least he felt he did, no matter how many time he, Dig, and Felicity had pointed out how many lives he had saved. Then he had left, disappeared for months.
When they had finally gotten Oliver back from Lian Yu (and looking back Barry was surprised he hadn't realized that's where Oliver went sooner) Oliver no longer seemed even remotely interested in him.
And so Barry tried to move on by going on a blind date Iris had set up for him, though how exactly she'd done that from Central City would forever be a mystery to Barry. The date was a guy, as Iris had insisted he needed to explore his newfound bisexuality, he was about Barry's age and tall with reddish hair and hazel eyes. He was attractive, friendly, funny, and smart but Barry just wasn't into him. He was great, but he wasn't Oliver.
Or at least he seemed great until it became clear that he wanted more out of the night than Barry did and he did not want to take no for an answer. He had literally pressed Barry into an alley wall and kissed him hard on the lips, and it felt so cold and scary and wrong.
Luckily, Barry had accidentally told Oliver about the date (or maybe he had subconsciously done it on purpose in the hopes that the other man would get jealous), and his favorite vigilante had taken it upon himself to...let's call it 'supervise without permission'.
Three seconds after his blind date had him against the wall he was forcefully pulled from Barry and knocked out in one punch by a very angry billionaire.
Of course Barry was pretty angry too.
"I cannot believe you were spying on me!" He was yelling at the top of his lungs as he descended the stairs of the Arrow Cave.
"It's a good thing I did! He was forcing himself on you Barry!" Oliver was screaming just as loud. "I have enough training from Dig and you, I may not be able to take on Starling's biggest criminals but I can handle an overzealous blind date!" He reasoned furiously. "Or do you honestly think I'm that weak?" He inquired scathingly.
"I don't think you're weak Barry! And it's not like I was having fun, it was torture to watch you like that!" Barry spun around to face him full on. "Like what? Attempting to be happy?" Oliver's deflated immediately.
"No, of course I want you to be happy. But watching you smile for someone else, laugh for someone else, touch someone, kiss someone else, be with someone else that...that is torture to me. I want to be the only one who makes you smile, the only one who makes you laugh, the only one you touch, the only one you kiss, the only one you're with." As he said each word he took a step closer and by the end he had Barry pressed against a wall and his lips were only half an inch away.
Then suddenly that half an inch was gone and Oliver's lips were pressed soundly to his. It was the second time he'd been unexpectedly kissed that night, but unlike his failed blind date Oliver's kiss was warm and full of electricity, but even more than that it made him feel safe. So safe that he almost wanted to cry. He pushed Oliver back slightly.
"Stop. Please don't do this to me." Barry begged, doing all he could to hold back the tears that threatened to escape. Oliver raised a hand to gently cup his face. "Do what? What am I doing wrong?" Barry was almost sobbing as he spoke. "I can't...you can't say things like that to me, and kiss me, and make me feel...and then act like you don't have any interest in me tomorrow. I can't hope like that again, only for it to be ripped away. I can't..." Barry trailed off, unable to finish.
Oliver sighed, and he was still close enough that Barry could feel Oliver's warm breath ghost across his face. "Barry, god Barry, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done that to you. I should've told you how I really feel. I shouldn't have let this," He paused for moment as he gestured around the Cave. "stop me from being with you. But I did. And that hurt you, and I could not be more sorry about that. But tonight I realized that as much as the thought of being with you scares me, the thought of not being with you, of someone else being with you, scares me even more.” Oliver tilted his face to look directly into his eyes. "I want to be yours, and I want you to be mine."
This time it was Barry that closed the distance between their lips.
Maybe it wasn't the most romantic story of all time, but Barry ended up with Oliver, so he couldn't care less.
"Do you have to go? I'm going to miss you so much. I'll be so lonely." Oliver practically whined. "It's only a few days, you're acting like I'm going to be gone for months." Barry commented half exasperated and half amused. "It'll feel like months. It'll be hell." Oliver grumbled. "I'll make it up to you." Barry promised with a seductive smirk. "Oh really? How so?" Oliver effortlessly matched his smirk.
He leaned forward to whisper into Oliver's ear before pulling back with an imperceptible kiss to his lover's neck.
"Are you sure you can't stay?" Oliver complained. "I'll get you anything you want. You name it, it's yours just stay. Please." He pleaded. Barry shook his head at the man with a fond smile. "I'll be back soon, I promise." Oliver pouted slightly but nodded.
He pressed a kiss to those pouting lips which Oliver was quick to respond to. They stood there locked in that kiss for several minutes before they heard the train whistle blow indicating that Barry had to get on or it would leave without him. "You know you could have taken my jet?" Barry rolled his eyes at his partner and pressed another quick peck to his lips.
"I love you Barry." Oliver murmured, and Barry would never get tired of hearing that. "I love you too Oliver."
With one last kiss that was too short for Barry's liking he headed into the train to Central City. Her found a seat and looked out the window, waving to Oliver as the man turned to leave. Barry felt a growing sense of foreboding as the train pulled out of the station and he tried to shake it off.
This would be good. Joe and Iris had been begging him to visit, and he missed them, and it would be fun. "It's only A few days." He reminded himself as he took the science journal out of his bag.
Besides, how many times in his life would he get to see a Particle Accelerator turn on?