"Barry, how can you have Super speed and still not be on time?"

Barry let out a slow breath as Oliver's words rang in his mind. A headache was starting to develop behind his eyes, throbbing in tune with his still rushing heartbeat. He ignored the pain though. It was not the first time he had had to ignore it, and goodness knew it would not be the last. Probably. If they managed to defeat the Dominators.

"Sorry," Barry whispered under his breath to the empty display case before him, sadly. He remembered the display case in Arrow cave one. No more than a cold, dank basement, Oliver's old hideout was a cave compared to the high-tech training facility they had now. Team Arrow had grown- built itself up from the ground a hundred plus times. Oliver had built himself up.

While Barry had only torn the entire timeline down out of his own selfishness.

"I guess the super tardiness kinda neutralizes it," he can still see Oliver rolling his eyes at him at that first training. They had both been different men then, Barry a naïve and enthusiastic boy trying to play a hero while Oliver was still a battered and distrustful man attempting to be a teacher. It was sort of funny, when he thought back on it now. His arrogance and Oliver's detachment.

But it was the kind of funny that squeezed the breath from Barry's lungs because… Oliver over the years had transformed into Ollie. And Ollie was gone, kidnapped by aliens from another galaxy or planet or whatever and having who knows what done to him… Cisco had promised that Oliver was alive- they all were. Just… Sleeping, it looked like. Which didn't assuage Barry in the least.

"I'm sorry," he whispered again, feeling a lump in his throat. He had been too slow. Why was he always too slow? He was the fastest man alive. He was the frickin Flash. Why was he always so slow?

"Barry, how can you have Super speed and still not be on time?"

The Green Arrow's display case was empty. Oliver had been wearing the suit when… It didn't matter. Barry had run, his legs aching in just the short sprint from how quickly he had spurred to action, begging himself not to be too late this time. He had seen the shock- and yes, even hints of fear- in Oliver's eyes right before he vanished. Right before Barry failed him. He would have done anything to be on time.

A clatter startled Barry out of his guilty contemplation. Inhaling sharply (Oliver would have cautioned him never to let his guard down. See? Failure) he swiveled around to see Kara standing awkwardly by the salmon ladder, a hand outstretched and the now dormant bar lying on the ground. She cringed when she noticed him staring. "Oops."

Her silliness made Barry smile a little. "We've all done it," he assured her, remembering the many times he had knocked over something in the Arrow cave. He walked over and, avoiding gazing at Oliver's favorite means of exercise, replaced the bar on the ladder once more. "Where are the others?" he wondered.

"Cisco and Felicity took the recruits out. Said they were gonna go borrow some supplies from a place called Palmer tech?" Barry nodded. Now he recalled. They had needed more supplies in order to hack the alien technology, hopefully to read more about their plans, and since Felicity did not own Palmer Technologies anymore, they needed to steal. He should have been out there with them but after tonight… He needed some time.

"What is this?" Kara asked then, turning to the display case. She looked around, eyes going wide with wonderment as her gaze raked over the other empty cases. And then Laurel's.

"This is where Team Arrow store their suits," Barry explained, his gaze lingering on the Black Canary's outfit a moment longer. Then he returned to home base. "This one is for the Green Arrow."

"Hence the green light, I'm guessing."

"He does like green."

Barry remembered asking why, once. When Oliver snapped at him significantly less but still in a time when Barry would never have believed he would become such good friends with the man. There was a time Barry wondered how anyone became friends with Oliver Queen. Now… He sighed. "It's for camouflage," he explained aloud, recalling the quipped answer Oliver gave.

Kara's eyes strayed to his face, curiously. "The green?"

"Yeah. Oliver spent five years on a deserted island in the North China Sea…"

"I don't get cold, Barry."

"That's where he learned to fight and survive. He's been through things I… I couldn't even imagine in my worst nightmares…"

"My father shot the crewmember, told me to survive, and then turned the gun on himself. He shot himself in the head."

"And on the island, he found a way to dye his clothes green so that he could blend in with his surroundings. It stuck, I guess. I mean, I assume it did because he told me that…"

"But you aren't on the island anymore Oliver. Why not change the color?"

He stopped, hearing Oliver's voice in his head so clearly that his entire being vibrated with the pain of it. Barry closed his eyes against the emptiness of the space before him. No green, no black, no arrow, no Oliver. He had been too damn slow.

Kara put a hand on his shoulder, somehow sensing his agony. "Barry?"

"He told me that the he still wore green as a reminder than even though he left the island… The lessons he learned on the island will never leave him," Barry inhaled shakily and crossed his arms. He was cold all of a sudden, and he felt very, very alone. It had been bad enough when he admitted his transgressions to a host of people that he cared for and admired, but then Oliver had stood up for him, had stood by him even when Diggle and Thea ditched. Oliver had not abandoned him and in truth, though Barry was the stated leader of the group everyone knew that Oliver called the shots.

Barry smiled. "We'll talk about that."

"I'm sure we will," a rare and dimpled grin. "And then I'll call the shots."

They were co-leaders. Equals. Oliver didn't have fancy powers or a mind equipped for science. But he always managed to be more than enough. Barry was the fastest man alive and he couldn't even find it within himself to be fast enough. No wonder Rene had not trusted him at first sight. He could see past the red lightning façade and cool super speed to his core… And at his core, Barry would never be the Green Arrow.

"We're going to get them back, Barry," Kara's reassuring timber brought him back to reality. It was not much better than his thoughts. He considered nodding. A leader should not show any weakness after all. Barry looked down, about to agree shakily when he saw Kara's deep blue eyes staring up at him, brow slightly crinkled, concern shining in depths that also swirled with strength and courage. Oliver's eyes.

His resolve broke. "Yeah," he choked out. "But how? What do you think the Dominators are doing to them on that ship, Kara? It's been nearly twenty-four hours since we last saw them. That's plenty of time to wipe their memory… remove an arm… Break a rib or someone's spirit." Kara gripped his arm in a firm hold, making him tense a tad as her strength bit into his flesh.

"You can't think like that, Barry," she scolded him firmly, turning him so that he had to stare directly at her face. It was a mask of anxiety and determination. "It'll only eat you up and believe me, that will not save the others. If Oliver is as strong as you say, then he can take being kidnapped by some stupid aliens, don't you think?"

Her logic was unwelcome in this moment. "How can I not, Kara?" he snapped, yanking his arm from her grip. His fear peaked so high it slithered up his throat as rage, making his head pound with vile anger. He hated it, he hated the world, he hated himself. "How can I not think of every terrible thing they could be going through? I brought them here. And what if this is all my fault?" He gasped, smacking a hand to his chest. "I changed the timeline! What if the Dominators would never have come if not for me? What if we get up there and my friends are…" He couldn't finish. He blinked past the tears blurring his vision and turned back to the empty case.

He struggled to regain composure. Kara stood by his side, helplessly. "Oh, Barry," she sighed.

"Oliver told me that I'm not a god. And he's right, but I am the fastest man alive. I am responsible for my family. I've already failed so many of them already," he hung his head. "If we get there and they are hurt or… Gone. Kara, I won't be able to live with myself."

They sat in silence a long moment, Barry barely hanging on to his sanity and pride while Kara bit her bottom lip worriedly. Finally, she hugged her elbows and snorted a little. "You know earlier when Rene said that if he had spoken to Oliver like he did us, Oliver would have kicked his ass?" Barry gave a start before allowing a small snicker to spring out of his mouth in amusement.

"Oliver would have flattened his ass," he agreed, remembering his own fair share of ass flattening's by the other man.

Kara chuckled. "I believe it. Well, if he could hear you now, Barry, I think he'd flatten your ass too. I think that no matter what happens today, tomorrow, next week or year; whether we win or lose the fight with the Dominators or you fix whatever's broken in the timeline…. I know Oliver would want you to go on with your life. To keep going, no matter how far or fast you have to run to do it."

"Run, Barry. Run."

He shivered. A tear dribbled down the side of his nose. "I don't think I can," he closed his eyes as a sob escaped. The sheer amount of times and things he had mortally jacked up began to weigh on his shoulders, dragging him down into waters of despair. Barry was not sure if he could survive another second of knowing how royally he had screwed up. "I don't know if I want too."

"Yeah? Well, that's tough. I'm pretty sure there's a point in everyone's life when they don't want to go on, Barry. When they want to give up. It's ok to feel that way and to fall down," she grabbed his arm again and shook it, eyes wide and earnest. "Barry, it's ok to be scared," she emphasized. "We're not heroes because we're perfect or noble or fearless. We're heroes because we never let that fear stop us from doing what is right," his knees buckled and Barry felt more droplets falling down his face, making trails of salt along his cheeks and nose.

His shoulders drooped beneath the weight of the world, and before the Arrow's empty shell, The Flash collapsed to his knees. Super Girl was right there alongside him, gently easing him to the floor and grounding him in the here and now.

And right here and now, it was ok to be scared.

Scared for his friends. Scared for this world. Scared Cisco would never forgive him and he would never forgive himself. That Wally would get hurt. That Caitlin would become something unrecognizable. That he would never be fast enough when it counted. Barry was terrified of all these things and more but as Kara wrapped her arms around him and let him sob into her shoulder, he allowed the fear to run through him.

Fast and far until it had run out.

When the fear ended, Barry looked up and sniffled. Kara smiled at him gently, rubbing his back. "You good?" Barry nodded and pulled away, mortified.

"Y-yeah. I'm good now," they stumbled to their feet together, awkward and bumbling and ungraceful and so unheroic that Barry couldn't help but smile. He looked down at Kara, wiping away his tears hurriedly. His heart swelled with gratitude and fondness. "Thank you, Kara," he whispered as they allowed their hands to fall to their sides. Then, impishly he added: "I think that worked even better than Oliver's ass flattening."

Kara grinned. "That's why they call me Super girl," she quipped.

"That was a really bad joke."

"Too soon?"

Before Barry could tell her that all bad jokes came too soon, he heard the sound of doors slamming open and looked up to see Felicity Smoak hurrying down the stairs, her hair disheveled and face a mask of relief and eyes sparkling with joy. "Barry!" She cried, flinging her arms around his neck as the rest of Team Arrow filed down the stairs, chattering excitedly. "We got em! Nate has them in the Wave Rider and they're coming home!" Barry blinked in shock.

"What?" he gasped aloud. "What? I mean, all of them? Are they alright?" Felicity released him and looked up, grinning from ear to ear.

"Yes, all of them! And as alright as being kidnapped by aliens leaves a person, I'm assuming. C'mon," she reached out and grabbed Kara's hand as well. "Nate is taking them to Star Labs. I have to be there to meet them." Barry blinked rapidly.

They're alright.

Felicity did not appreciate his slow uptake on the situation. She stomped a foot, glaring now. "Barry!" She exclaimed, snapping in his face impatiently. He gave a start.

"Oh, right, right!" Barry laughed a bit, astounded and relieved. They were alright. They were coming home and he wasn't alone and it was going to be alright. "Yeah. Let's do that. Catch you guys later," he said to the other members of Oliver's team, already wrapping an arm around Felicity's shoulders to pick her up.

"And stay out of trouble!" Felicity tossed over her shoulder as they raced away.