The speedster emerged from a blue light back into the sweet, familiar streets. They smelled of concession stand food and swarmed with noises of cars speeding by. Barry skidded to a stop and immediately put a hand to the earpiece lightning bolt.

"How long was I gone?" Barry spat out.

"What?" A confused voice asked with a yawn.

"You won't believe what just happened to me!" Barry said to his friend Cisco.

"Tell me about it in the morning, man. It's 2AM." Cisco said.

Cisco must have fallen asleep at STAR Labs again. Typical. Barry shook his head. "Alright." He finally said, and took his finger off the earpiece.

Barry gazed down at the led-lined band on his wrist, remembering what he did. There was a small crack that Barry figured had opened up during the jump. He peeled off the front metal plate.

His face illuminated with a green light. In very thin lines, Barry could see the dangerous space rock Kara had briefly mentioned: Kryptonite.

Barry smiled. "You owe me one, Kara Danvers." Even though he could run, he decided there had been enough running for one day. Right now, he just wanted to take it slow.

As he walked into the night, Barry whistled the last few notes of the familiar song Kara had interrupted before. With a spring in his step, he vanished into his familiar world.

Blaring music was heard far beneath the Verdant nightclub. A man walked down the metal stairs into what looked like a foundry. The man, the former soldier, straightened his black tie when he saw who he was looking for.

"Mr. Queen." He cleared his throat.

Oliver Queen turned around to look at him. He set down an arrowhead he was carving. "John Diggle." Oliver turned around to greet him. "It's been awhile." He started.

"Why did you want to see me?" Diggle asked. "And why are you down here? What is this place?" John looked up and around the small room.

"Do you trust me, John?" The rich man asked.

Diggle turned his focus back to Oliver and nodded.

"This-. Is something I've been working on." He gestured to the room, rising an arm high and letting his eyes follow along the borders of the ceiling and back down a pillar. He paused for a moment when his eyes met a funeral home pamphlet that had fallen on the ground.

"I didn't tell you everything that happened to me in National City." Oliver said as he picked up the pamphlet from the floor. He studied it and proceeded to drop it into a paper waste basket.

Deciding this might be a long story, John Diggle sat down on one of the metal tables set up in the foundry.

Oliver paced around the room and started to share his experience. "I had an encounter with an old friend. A dead one. He encouraged me to come out of the shadows, become someone better… But I've finally figured out I don't need to do that as Oliver Queen."

"What do you mean?" Diggle said in a confused tone. He crossed his arms.

Oliver pulled a bow out of a cabinet and examined it. "I want to make a difference. Be like them..." He pointed to the newspaper clippings sitting on his desk. One of which read: 'SUPERGIRL MAKES SUPERFRIEND.' Oliver continued, "But I want to be better. More... -efficient. I want to take justice into my own hands… or our own hands."

"What are you saying..?" Diggle questioned. He sat forward on the desk.

Oliver paced around the room again. "I want you to join me in my crusade. We can find justice and take down those who threaten the innocent... For your brother, -John."

"-I don't understand. How could you possibly take down aliens or metahumans, -Oliver, what about regular people?" The soldier was trying to understand.

"With knowledge. And training." Oliver emphasized. "Starting tonight I'm going to step out of the shadows and fight, but as someone else."

They both paused for a long time.

"For Andy?" Oliver asked as he held out his hand.

"For Andy." Diggle replied and shook it.

Overhead by a nearby cemetery, the rain plummeted down on the ground of the lost ones. Thunder roared and lightning crashed down beside a headstone with the engraving: Loving son. Even though the one buried there had died with a different name, the original was inscribed.

As the lighting turned red and black, a molten black claw rose from the ground in a flash of light. The dead creature screeched into the night. Its voice echoed from a tombstone with the name, "Barry Allen."

And somewhere in the black of night, a street corner in the midst of the city, a blue light glows. It forms out of the nothingness of the breeze and opens with each passing second. The portal, hidden, stable. Ready for awakenings, ready for crossing worlds.

Thank you so much for making this journey with me! I hope you all enjoyed the story! I would really appreciate it if you give me some feedback. Tell me what your favourite part of the story/favourite scene was, what was good, and what I could improve on (besides obvious things). Thanks! -REDtorical