Author's Note: Been working on this for a while now. Wanted to do a fem Barry for a while now. Been debating what to do about love interests for a while now. I mixed things up a bit from what they were in the show. I hope you enjoy. I own nothing.

A Flash In The Dark

1 Starling City

"Allen!" Bernice 'Barry' Allen jumped, almost dropping the vial in her hand. It wasn't often that Captain Singh came all the way up to her lab but it usually meant she was in trouble for something.

"Yes Captain?" Singh nodded at her and looked around the lab.

"Got something I need you to do. A friend of mine over in Starling, Detective Quinton Lance, needs a CSI for a week. You're the only one I can spare at the moment. Go home, pack a bag, get on the train." Barry rushed after him.

"Wait why does he need a CSI?" Singh shrugged.

"Said his is out sick, get going." With that he left her behind on the stairs. Barry sighed and ran back up the stairs almost tripping over her own feet. Snatching up her purse she raced out of the precinct and off to her small studio apartment. It took her twenty minutes to race home and stuff a few things in a bag. She thought about calling a taxi but the train station was only a twenty-minute walk, if she ran she could make it. Oh how wrong she was.

Quinton Lance was perplexed. When Captain Singh had told him he could spare a CSI he was not expecting a girl of about twenty-four to show up. Could you really blame him though? The name had sounded male, Barry Allen. He hadn't known what it was short for. But that wasn't the only thing that surprised him. She saw things no one else did, to the point where she made Oliver Queen nervous. Though maybe that was just because she was absolutely adorable. Queens assistant certainly seemed to think so.

"It's Friday night at seven and I need a plus one." Barry blushed to the roots of her shoulder length brown hair.

"I'm not very good on my feet. Besides I wouldn't have anything to wear, this was kind of a last minute trip." Felicity shook her head.

"Don't worry you're about my size, you should be able to borrow something of mine. Please these things get so boring and you're fun to talk to." Barry blushed again and finally nodded.

"Alight but I warn you I'll probably step on your feet."

Oliver Queen wasn't sure what to make of Barry Allen. She was intelligent, dangerously so, she looked at the world the way it was not the way others wanted her to look at it. And then there was the fact that her smile made his stomach do belly flops like it hadn't since Laurel. Well that had to stop. He couldn't let that happen again, he'd already had a near miss with Felicity. So he did what he used to do, he dug up some dirt. When he laid it all out for everyone to see he really wished he hadn't. The look on her face when she spoke about the night her mother died and the thing she'd seen do it, it broke his heart and he wasn't even sure why. There were tears in her eyes as she turned to Felicity.

"Better find another plus one." Then she ran, hair flying behind her. Felicity whirled on him tears in her eyes and murder on her face.

"Oliver Queen, you complete ass!" She grabbed her purse and proceeded to beat him around the head with it. To her surprise he did nothing to defend himself save instinctually raising his arms. Diggle frowned at them but Felicity wasn't done with him just yet.

"You find a way to apologize to that sweet amazing girl or you can forget about me helping you for a month!" The threat was empty Oliver knew, Felicity liked helping people too much but there was retribution in her eyes.

Barry was curled up on the motel sheets when someone knocked at the door. She scrubbed her hand across her face to try and rid it of the tears she hadn't been able to stop shedding as she answered the door. John Diggle stood there in a suit and tie holding up a dress bag. Barry stared.

"Oliver is extremely sorry for what he did. None of us care about what happened in the past and for the record we, we being myself and Felicity as Oliver is a hardheaded moron, believe you that your dad didn't kill your mom. As an apology Oliver has sent this very expensive dress and a personal invitation to the Gala tonight." There were fresh tears in Barry's eyes.

"You actually believe me?" Diggle nodded.

"I've seen some crazy things in my day. Who's to say the impossible isn't possible." Barry nearly bowled him over with the force of her hug. She let go of him rather quickly.

"I have to catch a train back to Central tomorrow but I guess one night of fun shouldn't hurt." Diggle smiled and held out the dress bag. Barry took it with a grin.

"Thank you, for believing in me." She slipped into the bathroom to change.

Oliver had to do a double take when she walked into the room. The dress was blood red and fit her like a glove. Her hair was up for the first time since he'd met her, a simple braid that lay over one of her shoulders. She wore almost no makeup but really she didn't need it. He felt his heart doing flip flops and almost jumped when Felicity snapped her fingers under his nose.

"Hello? Earth to Oliver!" Oliver tore his eyes away from the Central City CSI and looked down at Felicity who was grinning as she looked over at Barry who was looking very lost in the small crowd of people.

"Oh my God! Oliver did you buy her a couture dress?!" Oliver nodded attempting to keep his eyes away from the pretty CSI.

"Yes. It's an apology for the way I treated her." Felicity raised her eyebrows.

"Oh I get it! You like her." Oliver spluttered into his drink.

"What?! No. It's just a dress, a completely platonic apology dress." Felicity shook her head.

"There is nothing platonic about couture." Felicity waved at Barry who smiled looking relieved. Felicity hugged her

"You look amazing Barry. Red's a good color on you." Barry smiled down at her feet which were clad in sensible black ballet flats.

"Thanks. Though honestly I should be thanking you Oliver, this dress is amazing." Oliver allowed himself a small smile.

"I'm glad it fits, I had to guess your size. About earlier, I'm sorry." Barry shook her head.

"It's ok. I'm sorry I didn't tell you everything. I honestly just don't like talking about it." Oliver nodded.

"I understand. Talking about lost family is hard." The implication of Oliver's father hung in the air. There was an awkward silence until someone behind the CSI called out.

"Barry?" Barry whirled her braid flying behind her. A tall dark haired blue eyed man that Oliver didn't recognize stood there smiling in a slightly shabby suit and green tie.

"Hal?" The man grinned wide and opened his arms a little wider. Barry accepted the invitation hugging the taller man. Oliver's eyes narrowed.

"Oh my gosh I haven't seen you since college Hal! What are you doing here?" Oliver stepped forward.

"I don't believe we've met Mr.?" The man didn't release Barry, instead slinging an arm around her shoulder.

"Jordan, Hal Jordan. I'm here on behalf of Ferris Air. My boss couldn't make it and I was in town so he sent me. What I'm wondering is what little Blue Barry is doing here." Barry blushed the same shade as her dress as she tried to hide her face in her hands. Felicity's eyes widened, Oliver's narrowed further. Felicity mouthed the nickname at Barry who blushed a deeper red.

"I invited her. She's been helping with an investigation at Queen Consolidated." Hal grinned down at her.

"That's right. You're some big CSI over in Central City now. How come you're in Starling though?" Barry brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Captain Singh sent me to help out a friend of his, Detective Lance." Hal nodded.

"Tell you what. How about I buy you a drink and you can tell me all about it. We have quite a lot to catch up on." Barry nodded after glancing at Oliver whose eyes were still narrowed. The two of them walked away and Felicity hit Oliver in the back of the head.

"Really! You are so hopeless!"