Authors Notes: You have a three day weekend to thank for this, our answer to Charmed-Mille and Sigma's Super Shipping Challenge. It was supposed to be 5000 words tops. It got way out of hand.

Prompt: Crisis on Infinite Earths changed the worlds, but also changed the history and relationship between two characters. Write what you see fits.

Rules:

You can choose whatever couple you like that were not in a relationship before Crisis – that includes Karry, SnowAllen, Monara, Lauriver etc. It does NOT include WestAllen, Olicity, Kara/William etc…

The ship is Karry, and we're off to the races. Chapter One covers first meetings and origins, Chapter Two covers the first crossover (With the Hawks, which we completely rewrote and now introduces the Legion instead). That one will be posted next week. Now, without further a dew...

Ghost and Miracle.

CRISIS: THE BRAVE NEW WORLD

The Present Day: 2020

As she sat, arms folded on a table in Al's Alien Dive Bar, Kara tried to get over the old feeling that hung over not just the world, but her specifically. It was an odd feeling, something she wasn't sure she could describe. In part it was a heaviness in her body she'd never experienced before. Her movements felt just the slightest bit more sluggish, as if there was a tiredness about them her brain didn't share. Though when she'd checked, she'd found nothing amiss. But it was also a fogginess of the mind. Like there was something she should know, but didn't. And it was driving her mad trying to figure out what it was. She was honestly considering getting J'onn to peek into her brain and see if there was anything wrong. Perhaps it had to do with what Cisco had formally dubbed 'Earth-Prime' – the new world created when Oliver sacrificed himself to restart the Multiverse.

The bar wasn't particularly crowded today, but that didn't stop the few aliens present – as well as the bartenders – from gasping when Barry Allen – in civilian clothes – flashed through the door and slid into the seat beside her, yellow lightning flickering around his form for a few seconds.

"I can't find Iris," he said, staring at her with red-rimmed eyes. "Joe said she's been dead for years, but… I just… I just couldn't accept it."

"Oh Barry," she breathed, pulling the speedster into a hug as she let him cry into her shoulder. They stayed that way for several minutes, Kara rubbing circles into his back, until the door opened once more to reveal Sara and Ray. She waved them over, and they sat down on the opposite side of the booth, looking at her in question. Barry still hadn't stirred from her shoulder.

'Iris,' she mouthed to them, and they both nodded their heads in understanding.

The waitress walked over, and Kara gave a start when she realised the woman was M'gann M'orzz.

"M'gann!" She exclaimed, her jolt startling Barry back to himself. He whipped away his tears, composing himself at superspeed – forgetting in his haste that Kara could perceive every movement he made.

"Hi, Kara! Barry, Sara and… wait, is this a Justice League meeting? Should I clear the place out?" She gestured vaguely to the rest of the room, who now that she thought about it were staring at the four heroes in awe.

"Yes, that would be great," Sara said, covering for Kara's shock. M'gann nodded, then rushed away to speak to Al – the bar's owner.

"Old friend in the wrong place?" Sara asked with a quirked eyebrow as Barry scanned the room and Ray looked on in confusion.

"Yeah…" she whispered, blinking a few times to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. M'gann was here? Why wasn't she on Mars? What had changed so drastically to result in her not going back? She really hoped Cisco was finished with his map of the new timeline because she was really starting to lose it.

Cisco chose that moment to push through the door, a mail tube in hand, as the other patrons were filing out, though instead of grumbling like a normal person, he was geeking out as he tried to identify each person's species. Eventually, J'onn came up behind and pushed him forward.

"This is so fricken cool!" Cisco exclaimed as he hurried over to the booth – J'onn and John rolling their eyes behind him. "An alien dive bar! A literal bar for aliens, with alien booze and alien waitresses…" He eyed M'gann as she escorted the last patron – a Centauran – to the exit.

"Don't, man, just don't. You know hooking up with superpowered bartenders doesn't work out well for you," Barry said, a fake smile planted on his face.

Cisco hung his head in shame, and Kara, Sara and Ray all laughed.

Finally, John Diggle and Alex walked into the bar, both instantly scanning the room for threats. Kara resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Sara and Ray moved around the table, leaving room for Cisco, J'onn, Alex and John to sit down adjacent to Kara and Barry.

"So why did you call us?" Ray asked, a curious look on her face.

"I asked Cisco to compile a list of timeline changes. Thanks to his Vibe powers, he can remember both timelines. Also, he's a massive nerd. Barry, J'onn, Sara and I – the paragons – we have no memories of this new world. This way, we can see what's different from what we remember. I have this odd feeling that Oliver might have left some surprises for us," Kara explained.

"Hey!" Cisco exclaimed, affronted

"Ah," J'onn said, nodding his head a few times, "I have an idea, thanks to what I saw in people's minds when I went across the country restoring peoples memories, but having a comprehensive timeline is a good idea."

"Why are we here then?" Diggle asked, gesturing to him and Alex.

"To make sure Cisco hasn't missed anything. You guys lived this timeline and just got memory dumps of the Crisis from J'onn's telepathy. Dig, you can answer any Starling City questions, Alex can answer any 'Super' Family questions, and Ray any Legends stuff."

Diggle nodded his head, and Alex made an 'oh' expression.

"Legends? You mean Legion?" Ray asked, tilting his head in confusion.

Sara facepalmed. "Exactly."

M'gann reached the table, and they all ordered drinks – nothing alcoholic, yet. Kara had a feeling they'd need some before the end of this conversation.

Cisco withdrew his cardboard cylinder and pulled out an A2 sheet of paper, on which he'd drawn an enormous timeline.

"Where do you want to start?"

They all looked to one another.

"How about at the beginning?" J'onn suggested, and the others all agreed.

Cisco nodded, before pointing to the top left-hand corner of the page, where a thick dark blue line started.

"Superman – because, we have a Superman now, which is awesome – debuted the same year Barry's mother was killed – 2000."

Barry stiffened, and Kara wrapped an arm around his waist, out of view of the others. He smiled softly to her in appreciation, and she couldn't help smiling softly back.

"I'm pretty sure everything else from those early years is mostly the same. Kara crashed to Earth in 2004, J'onn takes Hank Henshaw's place as leader of the DEO the next year. This purple line represents Black Lightning, and he debuted in 2008, the same year the Queen's Gambit sinks to the bottom of the North China Sea, and Sara and Oliver are stranded on Lian Yu…"

"Hold up!" Kara exclaimed, waving her hands around, "I'm a year younger than I'm supposed to be?!"

Sara frowned. "Both of us were stranded on Lian Yu from the start?"

Cisco shrugged. "As far as I know. You two haven't exactly been very honest in divulging everything that happened to you," he pointed out, and Dig laughed.

"That's an understatement."

"A year younger?!" Kara repeated, leaning forward in shock.

"Ha!" Alex said, "Only you would be annoyed at that."

Sara and J'onn shared a look, rolling their eyes in exasperation.

M'gann arrived at their table, delivering the drinks, and Kara couldn't help but notice that she and J'onn made conscious efforts not to look at one another. What had happened there? Did J'onn even know whathappened?

"Can I keep going?"

"Yes, Cisco, please keep going," Barry begged.

Kara tuned out then, focussing on Barry's face as Cisco went on about the disappearance of Black Lightning in 2012 and the first sighting of the vigilante known only as 'the Hood' in Starling City – marked by a green line on the timeline. He was trying very hard to hold himself together, but Kara knew him very well by now. The way his jaw clenched slightly, and how the line above his right eye would become more prominent when he was trying to keep his face steady. Barry Allen wore his heart on his sleeve, just as she did, and right now, he was a man seconds away from breaking down. So she kept her arm around his waist, holding him, comforting him, in any way she could.

"Barry, Sara, Kara and Oliver meet for the first time in December 2013…"

"What!?" The three heroes in question all exclaimed, blinking in shock as Cisco jumped back, raising a hand to his chest.

"JESUS! Don't do that!"

"We didn't meet until after we became heroes!" Kara exclaimed.

"And I definitely didn't know Barry before he was the Flash," Sara stated, shaking her head. They all turned to Dig, who was staring at them with an amused smirk.

"Guess this one's my story to tell then…"

ARROW: S2E08 – "THE SCIENTIST AND THE SUPER"

December 2013

Kara jolted slightly as someone tapped her on the shoulder, a soft 'eep' slipping from her lips as her brain disengaged from the book she'd been reading.

"I'm so sorry…" the offender said, and Kara blinked back to awareness. He was taller than her, thin of frame and young of face, with short but thick brown hair. And he was wearing a plaid shirt beneath his blue woollen jumper. Simply put, he was seriously cute.

"Oh, its… it's totally fine. I was just…" she stuttered, heat rising to her cheeks as she stared at him.

"Reading," he concluded, giving her a brilliant smile, "The easiest way to get lost is to open a good book."

"Well," she said, adjusting her glasses and closing the book, "You know what they say. A reader lives a thousand lives before they die…"

"the person who never reads lives only one," they finished together. Someone coughed, and this time both of them blinked in surprise. How long had they been staring at each other? She blushed again, hiding her face.

"Sorry," he said again, though this time it was to an elderly lady trying to move down the aisle behind them. Kara was on a train across the country, travelling from Metropolis all the way to National City for an interview, then, hopefully, a job. The man lifted his suitcase – straining with the effort – over his head and slid it onto the luggage rack, before sitting down in the seat beside her.

Kara took a deep breath, then pushed her pony-tail back and offered her hand to him.

"Kara Danvers," she said, grinning a bit stupidly.

"Barry Allen," he replied with a similar expression, "So, what were you reading Miss Danvers?"

"It's just Kara," she said, waving off the use of her full name. "And, um, you wouldn't know it."

Barry – who named a kid Barry? – raised an eyebrow at her.

"Try me."

"The Universal Journalist, by David Randall," she said slyly, holding up the book to display the cover. Barry laughed, and Kara's insides squirmed slightly. What?

"Yeah… don't know that one."

"Didn't think so," she said dryly, before putting the book in the pocket of the seat in front of her.

"Are you studying to be a journalist?" he asked.

"Media studies and marketing. So maybe one day. I'm actually on my way to National City for a job interview right now."

"That's very cool, and good luck, I'm sure you'll get it."

Kara scoffed. "I doubt it. Cat Grant's supposed to be a nightmare who fires assistants every week. But my mom convinced me to apply, and it's a great opportunity, so what's the harm. Other than to my pride, of course." Barry just shook his head.

"No way. I'll put good money on you getting that job Kara Danvers. Why? Because you have to be pretty dedicated to something to be studying on a train at six o'clock in the morning. Cat Grant would be a fool to throw you away." Kara blanched, then checked her watch. It was six o'clock already? That meant they'd already passed Central City… which was where Barry had probably gotten on. Wow, Kara. Nice awareness. Clark would be so proud.

Barry laughed at her shock, and Kara buried her face in her hands.

"I must look like a mess," she groaned, suddenly incredibly self-conscious. This new high-speed rail line was incredibly useful, cutting the travel time across the United States from three days by coach to about 21 hours from New York to Los Angeles, but not being able to take a shower for one day was just as bad as three in Kara's opinion. Thank Rao she didn't have super smell as well, or her own body odour probably would have killed her.

"No way, I think you look great…" he ground to a halt then, realising what he'd said. Kara's cheek inflamed again, and she decided changing the conversation was probably an excellent idea.

"So, um, what about you? Where are you headed?"

She had a decent idea. Well, there weren't very many places on the high-speed line yet. They'd only opened the first two branches – Cross-country from New York to LA via Chicago, Central City, Starling City and National City, and the East Coast from Boston to Atlanta – a year ago. The next one was supposed to be opened next year, running through the South if she remembered correctly.

"Starling City. I'm… working a case for the CCPD."

"You're a cop?" Barry scratched at the back of his head.

"Well, no, though not for lack of trying. I'm not very good at… punching and shooting and stuff. Science is more my thing. I'm a CSI."

"Oh! My sister is a bio-engineer for Palmer Technologies. But she works in National City. What case are you working on?" She gushed, intrigued.

"Wicked." He leaned towards her, lowering his voice as if telling her a secret, and she couldn't help but mirror his actions. "I'm searching for unexplainable cases. Things that break the laws of physics and reason. Things like Superman." Kara suppressed a shiver. "A case came over the wire this morning from Starling City that makes no sense. I opened it up and made a preliminary assessment, and I'm certain that the perp had superstrength. Can you imagine that? Having the strength of like, five men? Ten? Being able to lift a car? It's incredible!"

"Yeah," she said, heart quickening, "really incredible. And the 'perp', what did he do?"

"Broke into a Queen Consolidated laboratory, not sure why yet. I'll need to inventory the site to find out what was stolen."

Kara nodded, unable to hide her intrigue. Was this something Kal would want to know about? A supervillain? Surely the cops couldn't do anything to stop someone with superstrength? Was this mysterious criminal an alien?

All good questions. Which was why she let Barry show her the security camera video he had on his phone, and talk about the other things he'd noticed as a CSI, leaving him to assume her interest was for journalism. Eventually, the conversation veered away from the supernatural, and they talked about the differences between Central City and Metropolis until finally, they lapsed into a comfortable silence. Kara had taken the train five days early – to make sure she wasn't late to National City and to spend time with Alex. There was plenty of time to stop off in Starling and see whether Superman needed to know about this criminal. And if it meant she got to spend more time with Barry? Well, that was just a win-win.

Kara stood outside the cordoned off Police perimeter surrounding the applied sciences division of Queen Consolidated, leaning against a streetlamp, notepad and pen in hand, as she used her super-hearing to eavesdrop on the voices inside. She had bid farewell to Barry at the Starling City station and traded numbers with him, promising to call and tell him how her interview went if he told her all about his search for the impossible. Then, once he'd been out of sight, she'd slipped off the train and followed at a safe distance as he tried, and failed, to catch a cab. He really was adorable. And cute. Really cute.

"He's the only guy we got on video," a man, presumably Starling City Police's own CSI, said, "the rest of the crew must have come in after."

"Actually, it was only one guy," Barry said, finally making his way into the building, completely drenched in rain. Kara at least had an umbrella.

"Sorry, I'm late… I got stuck in traffic, which is my cab driver's fault because I have this great traffic app and… and I'm here now so…"

"Great. Who the hell are you?" This was the voice of the police officer. Lance, according to her x-ray vision of his name badge.

"And do your parents know you're here?" Oliver Queen asked. Him she recognised from all those photos on the news after he'd been found stranded on an island for five years. That had to be some story.

"I'm Barry Allen. I'm a CSI with the Central City Police Department. We're dealing with a similar case in Central City, so when my captain heard this come over the wire, he sent me down here to assist." Well, that was a bald-faced lie. But it was well-spoken and sincere. He was good. It was kind of ruined by his heartbeat, which Kara could hear skyrocketing in panic. She suppressed a giggle at the absurdity of that.

Barry went on to explain the same theories he'd already told her, which made perfect sense to Kara. Kryptonian schooling plus living with Alex taught you science, even if Kara wasn't particularly good at it. However, none of the people with him – Queen, Lance, the Starling CSI, Queen's blonde-haired secretary (who looked freakishly like Kara herself) and Queen's head of security – seemed to believe what he said. Had they not seen Superman fighting off Brainiac a few years back?

The only things she learned that she didn't already know were that the object stolen was a Centrifuge, and one interesting tidbit from Lance and the Secretary.

"You might want to fill our mutual friend in on this."

"Don't worry, I'm sure he's already on it."

Done, she fled the scene, walking until she found a park bench where she could sit down. Then, she called Clark.

He answered on the second ring.

"Hello?" It wasn't Clark.

"I'm looking for Clark Kent, this is his phone," Kara said warily, not recognising the woman on the other end.

"I'm Clark's girlfriend, Lois Lane. Who are you supposed to be?"

Clark had a girlfriend? Clark?

"His cousin. Can you, um, put him on the phone please?" The voice on the other end paused, before finally speaking again.

"I didn't know Smallville had a cousin." Kara closed her eyes and counted to five.

"Can you put him on please?"

The voice huffed. "I wish I could, but he's vanished. Poof. Into thin air. I have absolutely no idea where the hell he is. No one does. No one except Perry at least, who won't tell me anything except that it has to do with a story he's chasing."

Great. That meant Clark was probably off-world Supermaning or something. She was on her own.

"Thanks. Can you tell him to call me when he gets back?"

"Sure, what's your name?" Kara hung up. Well, one superpowered psycho running around Starling City, surely, she could take out one guy by herself? She was super strong and super fast and could fly and shoot heat vision and…

…

Maybe she should call Alex.

…

Actually, calling Alex was definitely the worst possible idea she could come up with. No, she could do this. One punch and this guy would be out cold, then the SCPD could handle him. No need for Alex. No need at all.

After buying some black clothes and a beanie from a store, Kara made her way towards Queen Consolidated several hours later. She totally did not get lost. It was a giant skyscraper with the letter Q on it. How could someone get lost trying to find it? Yep, totally not lost.

She also definitely didn't crash headfirst into a brick wall the first time she tried to fly into the air in the alley behind Queen Consolidated. Clark would have been so embarrassed.

Eventually, she made it to the roof of the building, where she changed clothes, tied her hair back, and hid behind an air-conditioning unit. Fortunately for her, wind chill did absolutely nothing to her invulnerable skin.

However, it seemed her tardiness had cost her, as, by the time she was in position, Barry's cover had been blown by what appeared to be an angry Oliver.

"You'd know all about misleading, wouldn't you Barry?"

"What are you talking about?" The secretary, Felicity – who'd been helping Barry with the forensics – asked.

"He's not a full CSI, he's an assistant, whose bosses don't know he's in Starling. I just had a lovely chat with one Captain Singh, and he said there was no similar case in Central City, and that you should get your ass back there before he fires you. So, tell me, Barry, what are you really doing here?"

Barry froze, and on the roof, Kara mimicked him. An assistant? She supposed that made sense, he was about the same age as her.

Barry sighed, then looked at Felicity.

"I'm sorry." Then he turned back to Oliver, and there was a hardness to his gaze that Kara hadn't seen before. "When I was ten, my mother was murdered."

Kara gasped, and then everything made perfect sense. Clark had always taught her that a person's primary motivation for anything they do was love. Why did Barry look into unexplainable cases? She could tell what he was going to say next before it even left his lips.

"By your father," Oliver noted, reading off his phone.

"He didn't do it. He's serving a life sentence for something he didn't do. I was there. I saw it all. A thing like a tornado charged into our house, and inside that lightning, I saw a man. He killed my mum. No one believed me, and my dad has been sitting in prison, for a crime he didn't commit, ever since. Then you know what happens? Superman fights off an invasion of space aliens that shrink Metropolis. If that can happen, why can't some superpowered person kill my mother?" Barry's hands were balled into fists now, and he stepped up to Oliver, eyes locked. Kara's heart thumped in her chest, and she blinked away the tears that welled up in her eyes.

"That's why I look into cases like this. The cases nobody else believes are possible. Because if I can just solve one. Maybe I can finally find something, be good enough, to free my dad."

He took a breath, deflating, then stepped back to his workspace and began closing his computer and packing away his equipment.

"I'm sorry I lied to you. All of you." Barry said, sliding his laptop back into his bag. But all Kara could focus on was his heartbeat, and how erratic it sounded. How each breath he took was shallower than the last.

"Tell the SCPD that the sedative in the blood the Arrow recovered is Ketamine. It's a class three restricted substance, shouldn't be hard to track. Good luck." He closed the lid on his suitcase and wheeled it out of the room without turning back.

As soon as Barry was gone, Felicity rounded on Oliver.

"That was out of line."

"He did lie about who he really was," Oliver retorted. Kara was about to abandon her watch and go after Barry when Felicity spoke again.

"And what do we do every day?"

That was interesting. Oliver waved off her protest, then turned to his security man, Diggle.

"Moving on. You were right in saying I knew more than I was letting on. I've seen men with abilities like this before." Kara snapped back towards Oliver's office three stories below her, focussing her x-ray vision. As much as she wanted to help Barry, finding this person was more important, and if Oliver knew about it…

"Where?"

"On the island." Diggle and Felicity both sighed, and Oliver rolled his eyes. Some story indeed.

"My second year there, Sara and I came across the remains of a Japanese World War II-era submarine carrying an experimental drug designed to increase a person's strength, speed and durability. A doctor, Ivo, came to the island looking for the serum."

"You think this Ivo is in Starling City?" Diggle asked, folding his arms in concern.

"He's dead, and so is everyone he injected with the drug, the last of which, I burned."

"Wait, it actually worked?" Felicity asked.

"Yes. But the side-effects… I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

"Well clearly someone found the recipe."

"Agreed. They already have a centrifuge and a large supply of blood. The last component is a strong sedative…"

"Which Barry found on the arrow," Felicity finished. She moved over to her own computer and began typing away.

"For the record, I'm still mad at you, and the only reason I'm helping is because catching this guy is way more important than grudges."

Oliver nodded, then turned to look out the window. Diggle stepped up beside him.

"You think they want to make more of these soldiers?" he whispered.

"I'm certain of it." Then he pulled out his phone, dialled, and raised it to his ear.

"Sara. It's me. You need to get back to Starling. I think Mirakuru might be in play."

"I'm on my way."

Oliver Queen was the Arrow. Oh yeah. That was some story. The dude had gone through some stuff on that Island of his. And now he prowled his city in the dead of night in a robin hood costume going after a supervillain with nothing but a bow and arrow. This guy was nuts.

She would admit the costume was pretty badass though.

Kara flew after Oliver's motorcycle as he drove to a secret government facility in Starling City, hiding in the darkness of the night. The man wasn't exactly subtle in his infiltration of the compound, blowing up the entrance with an exploding arrow then stalking inside. Kara, not willing to risk exposing herself if Felicity was wrong, stayed outside, scanning the storage room with her x-ray vision and super hearing. It didn't take long for their criminal to show up, face obscured by a black mask, on a railing above Oliver's position.

Oliver fired an arrow at the man, but it bounced off the armoured vest he wore, and he jumped down to the ground. The duo began chasing one another through the warehouse, using the shelves to distract and obscure each other's line of sight. Kara landed on the roof and began using her heat vision to cut a hole in the tile and brick. Oliver rounded a shelf full of syringes and vials, then ducked a punch from his superpowered assailant as the man lunged for him. He stepped back and shot another arrow, which split in half and pinned the man to one of the shelves by the neck. Clever.

"Who are you!" Oliver demanded, his voice augmented by some technology, "Who gave you the Mirakuru!?"

"My brother saved me with it!" the man snarled, at the same moment the piece of tile Kara was boring fell through, crashing to the ground a few metres down the corridor from them. Oliver jerked towards the sound, and the man used his distraction to break free of the bindings and punch Oliver right in the chest. He flew back into the shelf of drugs, which collapsed under his weight.

Oops.

Kara dropped through the hole, cracking the concrete beneath her shoes. The man, who'd been going to attack Oliver again, stopped, turning slowly towards Kara herself. She took a deep breath and balled her fists.

"Let's dance," she whispered, hoping that was something cool she should say. Then she ran at the man. He didn't move to intercept her or stop her. His mistake. She punched him in the stomach, and a sickening crunch echoed from his ribs. He shot back through several shelves until finally, he crashed through the wall of the building.

Double oops.

Kara, satisfied that her villain was incapacitated, turned back towards Oliver. He lay, unmoving, amongst the rubble of the shelf, face heavily bruised and three syringes sticking out of his leg.

Triple oops.

"See, this is why I don't do superheroing," she muttered to herself as she pulled Oliver out of the debris. She bit her lip and started to pad him down, looking for a phone she could use to call his friends, when a voice interrupted her from behind.

"Step away from him." Kara spun around, berating herself once again for not paying attention, and found herself face to face with a woman in black leather, with long blonde hair, face obscured by a domino mask. A long steel bo-staff was held loosely in her right hand. She x-rayed the woman quickly but didn't recognise her.

"He's hurt, I was just trying to help." She said, raising her hands and backing away. This was obviously one of Oliver's friends – the outfit was a dead give-away. The woman eyed her suspiciously, before kneeling at Oliver's side and prodding him.

"Damn it, Olly. Heart rate sluggish, pupils dilated…" she pulled the syringes out of his leg and looked them over.

"Coded not labelled, no, no, no…" the woman stood up sharply, scanning the room before her gaze landed on a computer lying in the rubble of one of the shelves Kara had punched the guy through.

Quadruple oops.

"Damn it… I don't know what he was injected with…"

"Should we call a hospital?" Kara asked, stepping closer again.

"No! I have a place, but I don't know any doctors…" Kara's eyes lit up.

"I might."

Barry groaned as the world slowly fazed back into existence. What had… he'd been tranquilised! Who the hell had… He jerked upright, trying to blink away the fog that still clung to his brain. And then his mouth fell open. He was sitting on a metal table in some sort of underground room. A room lined with glass cases filled with arrows. On one side was a display case with an empty mannequin… and on another table, identical to the one he had been lying on, was Oliver Queen – dressed in green leather and combat boots, with arrowheads strapped to his wrists, and green face paint around his eyes. The Arrow. And he was unconscious.

Barry blinked, fixating on the people standing behind the table: John Diggle and a woman with long blonde hair and a black leather outfit. And standing beside them, also dressed in black, was Kara Danvers. The gorgeous girl he'd met and sat next to on the train.

Was he hallucinating?

Then Felicity stepped up to him and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Please save my friend."

The Present...

"Wow," Kara said, nodding in pride at her past self. Was that egotistical? She wasn't sure. "I was awesome."

Sara huffed. "You're lucky you didn't knock the building down," she pointed out. Kara dismissed the criticism with a wave of the hand.

"Details, details…"

"So Kara and I met before she became Supergirl?" Barry asked, Kara's arm still wrapped around his waist.

"That's what you told Caitlin and I," Cisco said.

"Trust me, man," Diggle said, "That's definitely how it happened. It still flaws me that two complete strangers were some of the first people to ever know Oliver was the Arrow."

Sara leaned forward over the table, eyes twinkling with curiosity.

"Well, what happened next?"

"What do you think happened?" Diggle said, laughing to himself. Barry and Sara shared a glance.

"Oliver was a dick," they said in unison, and the entire table broke out laughing.

"Seriously though," Kara said, the atmosphere finally lightening some, "what happened?"

"Oh, I can guess," Sara said through her laughter. "It would have been something along the lines of, 'Nobody can know my secret.'" As she spoke those last words, she deepened her voice to a vague approximation of Oliver's. It wasn't very good, and the laughter only renewed.

"Oh yeah," Barry said, body shaking with amusement, "He threw a massive tantrum when it was just me, me and Kara? He would have gone berserk."

Dig pointed a thumb at Sara, "She punched him. In the face." Kara chocked on her laughter, hands flying to her face.

"That I would have paid good money to see," J'onn said.

"I have it saved," Dig said cheerfully, pulling out his phone. "I watch it from time to time." He opened the video and placed his phone on the table so everyone could see.

"Oliver, for once in your life, stop being an ass!" Video Sara exclaimed, raging at Oliver from across the lair. Kara and Barry stood side by side – closer than was strictly necessary – Felicity in front of them protectively. Dig was obviously holding the phone.

"We don't even know these people! How did she even know we were there?!"

"Super hearing, duh," Kara said, rolling her eyes.

"Super hearing?" Barry whispered, barely loud enough to be heard on the phone.

"Benefits of being a solar-powered alien," Kara muttered back.

"That is so cool."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah!"

The camera pivoted back to Sara, who was advancing on Oliver.

"I get you like to do everything on your own. But just once Oliver Queen, learn how to say thank you. If it wasn't for them, you would be dead right now!"

"If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be in this situation…"

SMACK!

Oliver stumbled backwards from the punch, collapsing onto one of the tables.

"Come on Kara, Barry. Big Belly Burger is on me. I'm not above saying thank you."

Barry's head hit the table he was laughing so hard. Sara was leaning back against the chair, body wracked with sobs. Ray picked up the phone, held it in front of him and Cisco, and clicked repeat, watching the video over and over and over. Alex and Kara were just staring at the place the phone had been, grinning enormously. Even J'onn, who hadn't known Oliver that well, was chuckling softly to himself.

"That," Kara said, "Was perhaps one of the best things I have ever seen."

Ray and Cisco finally put down the phone, and Barry gestured for Diggle to continue.

"Well, after Oliver got his head out of his ass, Kara, Sara and Oliver took down Cyrus Gold, and rescued Roy, but not before the kid got injected with the Mirakuru Serum."

"I take it after that, I went home?" Barry asked, "Just in time for the Particle Accelerator Explosion."

"And I was on a train to National City… and missed the whole thing," Kara realised, shaking her head.

THE FLASH: S1EP01 – "PILOT"

December 2013

"Did you make it?" Felicity asked as Barry walked through the darkened corridors of CCPD, holding a tissue to stem the blood dripping from his nose.

"No. I made it back to Central City on time, but I missed the cut off in line at STAR Labs. It seems I'm just doomed to be late to everything."

He slid the door to his lab open and stepped inside, frowning. Water was dripping from a leak in the skylight as the storm raged outside. Again. This was the third time he'd tried to get the thing fixed. A large puddle had already formed on the floor in the middle of the room.

"Well, if you decide to make an effort not to be late anymore, do you want some advice?"

"Sure," he said as he made his way over to his computer, making sure to avoid the puddle.

"Ask Kara out on a date." Barry froze, hand inches from the computer screen.

"What are you… I mean, why would you…"

"Oh, please. It was so obvious you two liked each other it wasn't funny. Even Oliver noticed. I'm serious. Ask that girl out, before it's too late."

Barry shook himself out of his reverie and deliberately ignored the fluttering of butterflies that erupted in his stomach at the thought of Kara. Kara. Gorgeous, funny, badass, fearless Kara. An alien from another planet. Superman's cousin. She was just… perfect. He'd been enraptured with her the second he saw her on the train… and talking to her had been so easy. It wasn't like that with Iris. With Iris, he had to think through everything he wanted to say before it left his mouth. Every move was so calculated and terrifying. But with Kara… the ease at which they'd fit together, both on the train and in the Arrow Cave. It had scared him just a bit, how lovely being with her felt.

"She's a superpowered alien from another planet with the body of a supermodel. I've got no chance. But thanks for trying to boost my confidence."

"You've got a lot to offer to Barry. We wouldn't have been able to find Gold if it wasn't for you, and I have to admit, it was nice to have someone with me on my side of the computer for once. Leave the punching for the people who are good at it. And I'm not just trying to boost your confidence. She was giving you cute puppy dog pinning eyes the whole time. Ask her out. You won't regret it."

Barry wasn't so sure. Instead of answering, he sat back and finally turning the computer on.

"Oh hey, I left something for Oliver. I hope he likes it."

"I'll make sure he gets it. Bye, Barry."

"Bye, Felicity."

She hung up the phone, and Barry clicked onto the Central City Citizen's YouTube live stream.

"Wait a second… we're now being told to evacuate the facility," the reporter said, "The storm may have caused a malfunction to the primary cooling system. The technicians inside are trying to shut down the Particle Accelerator, but the system has so far been unresponssssss….."

All power in the room shut off at once, and a shocking 'BOOM!' tore through the city. Barry kicked back from the chair, rushing towards the window just in time to see STAR Labs, far in the distance, explode, throwing golden energy up into the storm above.

"Holy…" he pulled out his phone and dialled Kara's number immediately. Lightning flared around STAR, and the sky began to turn a solid golden colour.

"Hello?"

"Kara! Get Superman to Central City! Now! The Particle Accelerator…" A shockwave blasted out of the facility, washing over the entire city, and Barry's phone cut out.

He looked down at it and stared at the blank screen for a brief moment as his heart began to jump into his throat.

And then, all the liquids in the lab began to float out of their containers. Barry stepped back from the window, his head swivelling as he took in the dozens of vials of chemicals suddenly ignoring the laws of physics. His foot squelched in the puddle on the floor, and he looked up at the skylight, just in time for a bolt of lightning to form in the golden storm cloud above him.

The lightning bolt shattered the window, striking him in the chest and blasting him back into the shelves, dousing him in chemicals. For Barry, all the moment brought was pain. A terrifying, horrible, obliterating pain. And then nothing.

If anyone had been there to see it, yellow lightning flickered around Barry's body as he lay there in a puddle of water, blood, and toxic materials. Forgotten and alone for hours.

Clark slipped into his apartment; his mind focussed only on finally getting some sleep. He loved working with Hal. He really did. But boy was it tiring out in space.

He was just about to collapse in his bed when his phone rang.

"ugh… not now Perry…" he moaned, reaching for it. The caller ID was Kara, not his boss, so he answered it.

"Hey Kara, now really isn't a great time…"

"GET TO CENTRAL CITY! NOW!"

Clark jolted upright, his fatigue fleeing him in seconds.

"Kara! What's wrong?!" He asked in a rush as he bolted for the closet to get his back-up Superman suit. His usual one was with Hal on Oa, the guardians having promised to repair the damage done by Sinestro.

"Explosion… Particle Accelerator… Barry…" Kara broke down into incoherency, and Clark began to panic. Kara never let herself break down to him. He'd tried to get her to open up to him, but, well, his reputation had kind of ruined that. It was hard to make yourself vulnerable in front of 'Superman'. Even if he was your cousin. He thanked Eliza and Alex every day for giving her what he couldn't. Kara was the little sister he'd always wished he could have. And he'd always jump to her aid when she called. Regardless of how tired he might be.

"I'm on my way!" He said, shooting out of the window and breaking the sound barrier as he flew across country, "Where are you now?"

"Flying over Nevada. I was in National City for a job interview… I'll see you there." She hung up, and Clark pushed his speed to the max.

Kara reached Central City before Clark did. She'd never broken the sound barrier before, but today she'd done it as she crossed the Rockies. It was exhilarating, and it was terrifying on so many levels. All she could think about was Barry. What had happened to him? What was going on? She'd reached Clark, but it would take them both at least an hour at top speed to reach Central City.

Finally, she shot down from the sky, breaking through the cloud layer and slamming to a stop above the devastation.

Central City was on fire. Everywhere. She counted at least three dozen buildings aflame at first glance. Fire trucks raced along the streets, and smoke curled from several places where fires had already been put out.

And that wasn't even mentioning the screams. Oh, Rao how they screamed.

Kara focussed her telescopic vision below, scanning for the Central police precinct where Barry had said he worked. Eventually, she found it and breathed a sigh of relief that no fires were nearby.

Only when she reached the roof did she see the shattered skylight. She dropped inside and resisted the urge to throw up at the sight she found. This was a lab. Barry's lab. And everything appeared to have been destroyed. Shelves lay all over the place, chemicals and rainwater flooded the floor, and…

"BARRY!" She raced to the back corner of the room and used her strength to throw a metal shelving unit across the room, revealing Barry – covered in chemical burns, lying in a puddle of water and blood. She bent down beside him and trained every iota of her hearing on his heart.

'Thudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthud.'

She jumped back slightly in shock at the sheer speed of the pulse. That was bad. Very bad. Unnatural.

"Oh, Barry…"

She lifted him up carefully, then braced her legs and shot back through the skylight, aiming straight for the nearest hospital.

She dropped from the sky in the parking lot and pulled him inside, screaming for help. Everyone was so absorbed in themselves that no one even noticed her. Doctors appeared with a stretcher, and she placed him down on it, tears streaming down her face. A nurse led her to a seat and sat her down.

She had thought her life was finally going well! She'd saved the Arrow, taken down a supervillain, met a great guy, even gotten the job she wanted! She should have known better. The second the universe started giving her a break, it snatched everything away again.

Twelve hours later, Clark, in his civilian disguise, finally found his cousin, sitting alone on a plastic chair in Central City General Hospital.

"Kara." The second he said her name, she was on her feet, launching into his arms.

"He won't wake up," she whispered softly, "I thought… maybe I found someone who…" She trailed off, silently crying into his chest, and Clark had to admit he was slightly confused by her reaction to all this. Kara had never been to Central City before, how could she even know anyone who lived here?

Clark was literally dead on his feet by this point. Twelve hours of helping the city recover from whatever had happened at STAR Labs. Thankfully, most of the damage was electrical, not structural. The electromagnetic shockwave had wreaked havoc on any electrical device in the city, causing several fires that hadn't been too hard for Superman and various fire departments to put out. Most of the damage had been from lightning strikes. Clark had finally made it to STAR Labs itself two hours ago to examine the damage done. Seven techs were dead, the rest all injured in some way or another. Harrison Wells himself would be a paraplegic for the rest of his life. Clark had gone down into the accelerator himself to look for the cause, but hadn't been able to find anything. But whatever the origin of this disaster, Central City would be living with the repercussions for a while.

"Kara?" A voice asked from behind them.

Kara pulled away from Clark and followed the voice, and Clark did too, bringing him face to face with Oliver Queen.

"Oliver," Kara whispered, "Felicity, Sara, Dig…"

"Is he going to be okay?" a blonde woman behind Oliver, presumably Felicity, asked.

"He's in a coma, they don't know why." Kara and Felicity hugged, and Oliver stepped past Clark, another blonde at his side, to walk down the hospital corridor to stop outside a room. Clark, curious, followed them to the window. Inside, lying prone on a bed, hooked up to a dozen monitors, was a boy in his early twenties. Two people sat in seats beside him, an African American man in a police uniform and a young woman.

"Who is he?" Clark asked.

"Barry Allen. He… helped us out a few days ago."

"How does my cousin know him?"

"Cousin?" The woman asked, "You're… Him."

"She told you?"

"She saved my life," Oliver said, "They both did." Clark couldn't help but smile at that.

"That welcomes you into a rather exclusive club then," Clark said, offering his hand to the man. He took it, nodding.

"Oliver Queen, and this is Sara Lance," he said, gesturing to himself and the blonde beside him.

"Clark Kent. Nice to meet you, Arrow, Black Canary."

"Likewise, Superman."

Clark turned back to Kara, watching as she sobbed.

"Tell me everything…"

The Present...

"For the one of us who knows next to nothing about this," J'onn said, staring at Barry now, "The Particle Accelerator created a bunch of people with superpowers in Central City. Why? What did it actually do?"

Cisco explained it for her. "The Reverse-Flash, the man who killed Barry's mother, he rigged the Accelerator to explode, dispersing dark matter across the city, where it bonded to a couple of hundred people depending on what they were doing at the time the energy hit them. For example, Barry was struck by lightning and doused in chemicals used in forensic science. When he woke up, his body had developed the ability to generate a type of electrical energy known as the Speed Force, then expend that power to move at superspeed. But, Tarpit, who was a villain we faced, was dropped in a pit of molten tar when the dark matter hit, and he got turned into a walking blob of magma. Make sense?"

"That's quite fascinating," J'onn said, pointing a finger at Cisco, "It implies that the dark matter released by the detonation perhaps had a cognitive aspect. Have you researched this in any depth?"

"We did, but we could never come up with anything conclusive. The SpeedForce has a sort of… consciousness… but it's very limited in what it can do. I'd be amazed if it had anything to do with it," Barry said. J'onn didn't reply, merely staring at the timeline page in thought.

"What happened with Slade's army then?" Sara asked, following the green and blue lines on the page to a large circle marked 'Deathstroke Attacks Starling.'

"Mostly the same I think," Ray said, his usual humorous demeanour vanishing. "Deathstroke attacks the city with his Mirakuru soldiers; 23 people, including my fiancé, Anna, die; Superman aids the Arrow and Black Canary in saving the city, and Oliver cures Deathstroke and imprisons him on the island."

"So, Superman helped us?" Sara said.

"Yep," Cisco confirmed, "after that, the Arrow is hailed as a hero, and all charges dropped."

"Then I wake up nine-months later," Barry whispered, tapping the beginning of the red line on the graph.

"Precisely. Flash sightings begin appearing shortly after, you start giving secret interviews to Iris, we meet the Man in Yellow for the first time at Christmas, then in January Snart and Rory call you out, and the Flash is revealed to the world."

"Meanwhile, in our neck of the woods," Dig continued, "Laurel is killed by Thea under Merlyn's mind control, Oliver and Sara work together to fight against Ra's Al Ghul, and…"

"I build the ATOM suit," Ray finished.

"Laurel dies? Not me?" Sara interjected.

"Yeah," Dig said, "Before she ever gets to become a Canary in her own right."

"Does she… no. I would never use the Lazarus Pit." She trailed off, following the green line marking the Arrow's timeline further down the line.

"What happens to me?"

"You leave Starling City after we stop the Alpha-Omega Virus from being released," Ray said, "You didn't tell anyone. You just left."

Sara sighed, leaning back against the seat. "Because Oliver joined the League to fight Ra's from the inside right?"

"Yeah. You… didn't take it well."

"No," She said, voice low, "I don't imagine I did."

They continued talking about Laurel, but Kara didn't know much about her, so she stared at the timeline, noticing something off. Her timeline was represented by a pink line (which she planned to have words with Cisco about later, as she hated pink). But after the Accelerator explosion, she just… vanished. Nothing about her in 2014 or 2015, until October, where, "Supergirl Debuts catching Flight 237," was written. Clark's blue timeline was marked with a black dot labelled, "General Zod attacks Metropolis. Superman's origin as Alien revealed to the world," at the same time a marking on the green timeline said, "Oliver's identity exposed, Arrow 'dies' in prison."

"Where am I?" She asked. Everyone looked to her as Cisco trailed off.

"What do you mean?" J'onn asked, frowning.

"Why don't I show up until the same time as normal? Surely the Particle Accelerator Explosion would have made me become a hero sooner right?"

Alex's head dropped in shame, eyes fixed on the table.

"That's my fault," she whispered, not looking up.

"Time for that first round of drinks then?" Sara suggested. They all agreed.

SUPERGIRL: S1E17 – MANHUNTER (FLASHBACK)

February 2014

"I know it didn't do as much as we hoped, but it helped me at least, so thanks again for coming Eliza," Kara said, phone squeezed between her shoulder and ear as she fiddled with the door to her and Alex's apartment, groceries in her free hand.

"It's not a problem sweetie. I just wish I could have done more."

"So do I," She muttered. The key finally clicked into the lock, and she pushed the door open. Sitting at the counter, three beers sitting empty beside her, was Alex. Her eyes were bloodshot, body twitchy, long black hair matted from not washing, skin pale. Fantastic.

"I have to go." She dropped the bag and hung up.

"Well if it isn't Kara Zor El," Alex slurred, "The Last Daughter of Krypton. My loving sister, who cared for me so much she dobbed me into my mother." She turned to Kara, staring with such venom and loathing that she stepped back slightly. Then reasserting herself, Kara grabbed the grocery bag and stormed towards the fridge, ignoring her sister as she removed the cap of another bottle.

"I don't have time to deal with your… whatever today Alex. You aren't paying rent anymore, so I've started helping the editorial team with proof-readings to earn a little more money. It's not much, and to be honest, I'm already over my head with Miss Grant, but it allows me to keep food on our table." She placed the bag on the bench and pulled open the fridge door, proceeding to stack the milk and vegetables she'd purchased around the bottles of Alex's alcohol. At least she only bought the cheap stuff. For now.

"Next time you have a problem with me," Alex continued, not hearing her, "Talk to me, not my mother."

"She's my mother too, Alex. Remember that," Kara said coldly, pushing beer bottles out of the way. She closed the door and stacked the two cereal boxes she'd been able to afford in the cupboard.

While Alex had been paying rent, they'd been living quite comfortably. The lab had paid well, and between the two of them, they'd been able to quite comfortably afford a place on the northside of the city. However, Kara hadn't known the depth of Alex's drinking habits when she moved in. Since Alex had been fired from her job before Christmas, Kara had been handling the rent alone, and it didn't look like Alex had any intention of getting another job. Between that, the stress of working for Cat, Clark pestering her to become a hero in the wake of the Particle Accelerator disaster, and Barry – the first guy since Kenny she'd actually liked – still being in a coma… it was a miracle she was still standing. It wasn't that she didn't want to become a hero either. She dreamt about it. Constantly, in fact. Her brief exposure to superheroics with Barry and the Arrow had opened her eyes to how much she could do to help people. To give back. But… right now? It just wasn't possible. She couldn't even go back to college and finish her degree, how the hell was she supposed to devote time to being a superhero as well?

Clark had offered to send her some money, though he didn't know the full extent of her situation. Kara had refused. She knew full well that Clark only made a reporter's salary, and though he was good, outstanding, at his job, it didn't mean he didn't have his own problems to deal with. No. This was her problem to deal with. She… she just really didn't want to resort to the one option she had left.

"No," Alex snarled, "She isn't. You're just some alien bitch who got dumped on us because your only real relative wanted nothing to do with you." Kara flinched as if struck, and closed the cupboard door with trembling hands. Finally, after taking several breaths and blinking several times to hide the tears welling up within her eyes, she turned around to face her sister.

"Alex," Kara said, voice bereft of any emotion, "You're drunk. Either go out or go to bed. I don't care." Kara left, making her way to the bathroom so she could take a shower. This was… how many now? Probably the seventh time they'd had this conversation. "One, two," She whispered to herself, counting under her breath. Sure enough, the second she hit the number five, a bottle smashed into the back of her head, shattering on her skin and raining glass and alcohol all over her blouse and hair.

"Thanks, Alex," she whispered, before continuing on her way.

"Don't you walk away from me, Kara! This is my house! You do as I say!" Kara froze. That was a new one. Usually, Alex stormed out at this point.

Kara slowly spun back around to face Alex. Her sister's face was flushed red, fists clenched. Great.

"You haven't paid rent for months Alex. I've been covering for us both. You don't have a job, and you reject every attempt I've made to help you. What am I supposed to do!?" She begged.

"Leave! Leave me alone! Take all that sunny Danvers crap and give it to someone who cares!" Alex shouted, standing up on unsteady legs and waving her fist. This time, she couldn't help the tears that slid down her cheeks.

"I love you, Alex," she said, voice cracking, "But if you're going to do this to yourself, I won't be a part of it anymore. I choose to remember you as dedicated, selfless and noble. Not as this wretch you've become. I'll leave. Good luck surviving without me." Kara finally made it to her bedroom and began shoving all her clothes into her suitcase. There wasn't much, thankfully. She'd left most of her belongings with Eliza in Midvale, intending to come and collect them when she was settled in. She zipped up the bag and, wincing as she heard the front door slam shut, she opened the window, and flew out into the night, feeling more crushed than even when she saw Barry lying there forgotten. Who was the forgotten one now?

The Present…

Everyone was staring at Alex in shock now, and it was Barry's turn to comfort Kara. She didn't even realise he'd done it until her head was buried in his chest, the scent of his aftershave flooding her nose. Beyond her closed eyes, Alex reached into her pocket and began fiddling with her keys. She pulled them out and threw them on the table.

"Three years," she whispered, a dull mortified tone clinging to her voice.

"It never got that bad in the original world," J'onn said at length, a slight tremble to his voice. "I found you one night, in prison after crashing your car. Hired you to the DEO and forced you to bring your life around."

"You did the same thing here," Alex said softly. "Only you must have gotten to me later. Because by the time I got sent to prison, I had already lost the apartment and my car. After I… After I kicked Kara out, I started gambling too. I didn't see her again for over a year. Not until I got sober."

"Where did I go?" Kara asked, lifting her head from Barry's comforting embrace and staring at Alex with tears in her eyes.

"Winn's. As far as I know, you crashed on his couch until you could get a place of your own," Alex said dejectedly.

M'gann returned with a tray of drinks, and Kara grabbed J'onn's Tokarian Ale and took a swig. The stuff burned, but right now, she didn't care. After taking two more gulps, she handed the drink to J'onn and took the glass she'd actually ordered – one with much less alcohol in it. M'gann passed the drinks around then left, leaving only Barry with nothing. She sat up and look at him with a raised eyebrow, trying to ignore what had been said moments before, and the fact that Barry's shirt was now covered in tear stains.

"It does nothing to me," he said.

"Trust me, this will." She slid the spirit over to him, and he picked up the crystal glass sceptically. Shrugging, he downed the shot in one, then chocked dramatically.

The entire table broke into laughter and applause as Barry sputtered, and Kara patted him on the back.

"My God," he exclaimed, eyes wide, "That's the first time I've felt alcohol in…" Then he deflated. "And it's gone. Great." They all laughed again as Barry stared at each person's drink in longing. In a blur of lightning even Kara had trouble keeping up with, he raced around the table trying every drink there, before slumping back in his seat even more depressed than before.

"Even Alien booze does nothing. Fantastic," he muttered, then turned towards Cisco and Ray.

"What's next?"

THE FLASH: S1E02 - THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE (COLD OPEN)

September 2014

Barry stood outside an apartment door in National City, really hoping that he was in the right place this time. Once he'd screwed his head back on from the whole nine-month coma, the superpowers, and fighting metahumans stuff, Iris had begun quizzing him about the young woman who kept visiting him while he was in a coma. One Kara Danvers. Iris, Kara and Felicity had apparently spent a great deal of time together while he was unconscious, and, although Iris knew nothing about Felicity's work with the Arrow and Kara's alien origins, they had become friends. Who knew, friendships born of mourning for a comatose friend. He supposed that wasn't as bizarre as a friendship formed by saving a vigilante superhero with rat poison, but still; weird.

So now, a few days after he'd woken up, he'd asked Iris where Kara was currently living. She'd told him – after a long conversation where she told him directly to ask her out about five times and indirectly another ten – and now Barry stood outside that very door. He wasn't sure whether the bouquet of flowers he'd brought was too much though. It was meant as a thank you for coming to visit him. Only that. Right? It had been nine months for crying out loud. She probably had a boyfriend anyway.

He looked down at his clothes. A loose button shirt, jeans, converse shoes. Should he change? Wear a suit or something more formal? No. No. He was just seeing her again after nine-months. Formalities would be very stupid. He looked at the flowers again.

Oh, bloody…

Steeling his nerves, he knocked on the door.

"One second!" Came Kara's voice from somewhere inside, followed by hurried footsteps. The door swung open, revealing Kara, hair fanning out around her shoulders, glasses on her nose, dressed in puppy-dog pyjamas. The second he saw her, a giant grin pasted itself on his face. Kara, on the other hand, stood in the doorway in complete and total shock, jaw hanging open and eyes blown wide.

"Barry?" She whispered.

"I brought flowers?" He said stupidly. She looked to the flowers, then reached out a finger and poked him in the chest. Then, seemingly satisfied that he was not a hallucination, she launched herself at him, wrapping her arms and legs around him and squeezing for all she was worth. His back and ribs cracked, but Kara didn't release him. Instead, she started laughing uncontrollably.

"My Rao!" She exclaimed.

"Kara… can't… breath…" he chocked. Finally, she released him, and he took a deep harrowing breath. Then she jumped on him again.

"Oof," he breathed as all the air rushed from his lungs once more. She let go of him, then pulled him inside.

"You're awake!" She beamed, bouncing up and down in her puppy slippers. He offered her the flowers again, and she took them hesitantly, eyes sparkling.

"They're a thank you. For sitting beside me for nine-months. Caitlin and Iris told me you came by every few weeks, you and Felicity. She doesn't know yet… I wanted to tell you first." A massive smile on her face, Kara skipped over to the kitchen and pulled out a vase to fill with water. Barry finally took in the loft. It was nice. Really nice actually. Gorgeous city views, open spaces. A nice leather couch and a flat-screen TV.

"Wow…" He whispered.

"Yeah," Kara said, placing the flowers in the bowl and staring at him in a way that made his stomach flip, "It's pretty nice, isn't it?"

"How can you afford something like this?" He asked, "I got evicted while I was in my coma."

"I know. Iris, Joe and I helped move your stuff. By the way, that Superman statuette was adorable."

Barry's face flushed red as his flipping stomach ground to a halt. She'd seen that?

Kara laughed at him.

"I'm not judging. I have one too," she admitted. Barry coughed, regaining his breath again, "So the place…"

"Oh! Right. Well, I got a raise actually."

"You got the job?!"

Kara beamed, rounding the counter to place the vase of flowers on the dinner table and begin arranging them.

"Yep. Executive Assistant to Cat Grant. I tell you, those first few months were hell. But I got through it, and it's much easier now. And get this, I now hold the record for the longest-lasting assistant. How cool is that!"

Barry kind of wanted to ask what happened to the other assistants but decided that probably wasn't a good idea.

Kara spun around and sat on the table, swinging her legs.

"Enough about me, Mister! You're awake! What happened?! Why didn't Iris call me?!"

"I asked her not to. I wanted to tell you in person," he told her honestly, and Kara's cheeks reddened just slightly.

"As for what happened to me, well…" He grinned, then used his speed to flash out of the room and down to an ice-cream shop he'd noticed on his run here. He raced back into her apartment in record time and placed one of the two cones in her hand, then returned to normal speed.

"YES!" Kara screamed, jumping off the table and whipping her head between Barry and the ice-cream.

"How did you! The Lightning? It was the lightning?!"

"Yeah. I woke up three days ago, and the world just kept on slowing down around me. I thought I was going mad… Then I started running, and I ran face-first into a laundry truck."

"Ha! Not so easy is it!"

"Nope," he admitted, before smirking, "I did unravel a tornado, though."

Kara beamed, then took a bite out of her ice-cream. "Awesome."

Yes. Yes, she was.