Chapter Text
It was over. It was finally over.
Barry's quest for vengeance began as a quest to free his father. He knew his father never would've even attempted to harm his mother. He was innocent, Barry didn't believe this, he knew it. Then fast forward over a decade and here he is. The hero of Central City, The Flash. He learned that the 'Man in Yellow' as he dubbed him, was real, he was still around. Then Barry's quest took a turn. He needed to bring him to justice. He had a team now. Joe, Cisco, Caitlin, and even Wells were there for him.
That is, until Wells outed himself as the 'Man in Yellow'. The Reverse Flash. Eobard Thawne. It took absolutely everything to take him down. He even called in Oliver from Starling to help. He'd nearly had Eobard where he wanted him, he was going to be able to not only save his father, but he was going to save his mother too. Instead of stopping Eobard from killing her, he hid. Why did he not take the chance? Why did he hide away as he listened and watched his mother die a second time...? He couldn't understand for days after everything happened. But he understood now. The death of his mother was definitely the most impactful event to ever happen in his life. It shaped him into the man and the hero he is today. Without her death... would he even be the Flash? Would he even have the same relationship he currently has with Iris? Joe? Would he ever become friends with Cisco? Caitlin? Oliver? Felicity?
He didn't save her out of fear or cowardice. He didn't save her because she wouldn't want him to. She wouldn't have her son forfeit so much just to have them all together again. She was selfless like that, which is a characteristic he picked up on. He could've been selfish and saved her to have the live he'd always dreamed of, but sometimes when you love someone with all your heart, you have to let them go... right?
He began to understand when he saw Iris clutching Eddie's bloodied and lifeless body in her arms. He began to understand as she began to shake and cry the hardest she ever had in her life. Losing a loved one is the most painful feeling a person can experience in their life.
He began to understand when Caitlin received new that her husband who she just got back from the dead was dead yet again. She had to let him go not once, but twice. Despite this, she still pushed through each day and tried to help others as much as possible. Whether it be to help Barry and Cisco take down another metahuman, or remind Barry to eat enough to stay energized. She didn't let Ronnie's death destroy her.
When he fully understood? When he recalled that Oliver had not only lost his father, but also his mother and his best friend. Despite them being gone, Oliver continued his life. As much as he wished they were still alive, Oliver continued on. He had Thea, Diggle, Felicity, and Laurel to care for now. He wasn't alone, and that's when Barry realized it.
He's not alone. He has so many people that care about him. His mother may be gone, and that's someone that is entirely irreplaceable, but she wasn't his sole reason to continue on.
Now that it was all over, what was he going to do?
He continued working at CCPD, but he felt something was still missing. He was sitting on the couch at Joe's watching some show he really wasn't paying attention to, when it hit him.
After around months of being the Flash, stopping meta humans, dealing with Thawne, working with Cisco, Caitling, Joe, and even Team Arrow, there was no action. Hell, even crime was almost non-existent. No criminal in their right mind would attempt anything in the city that the Flash operated in. That meant work as the Flash and as a detective at the CCPD was agonizingly slow.
About a week after this realization, he'd decided to move to Starling City. The place is just crawling with bad guys and crime, it's perfect. He'd get a job at the SCPD, there'd be no slow days there, he'd be sure of that. As for the Flash? He could ask Oliver if he could help out with their operations in the 'Arrow Cave' as Felicity dubbed it. He's still not sure what to think of him, he was sure that the two of them were friends, but Oliver was so secretive, yet blunt at the same time. He was an enigma. At the very least Felicity and Laurel would be ecstatic to have him there. Especially after, well... Roy and Sara's deaths. According to Felicity, Team Arrow was completely torn up about it, she said Oliver was going out on his own far more often, communicated less, and was more distant. Thea had been taking it the worst. Both of them died because she trusted Merlyn, and he abused that trust to try and manipulate Oliver to take Ra's Al Ghul down. Felicity had said that's all she knew about Thea, the last she'd heard from her was shortly after Roy's death.
Letting Cisco and Caitlin know was easy, they'd understood. They only had one thing to ask of Barry, that whenever they needed help, he'd be there. He agreed. Telling Joe and Iris? Difficult. There was a lot of tears, eventually they come to understand Barry's reasons. Iris was probably the most hurt by Barry's decision, and he could see why. She just lost Eddie, and now her best friend was leaving her too. He didn't ask for forgiveness, just acceptance, and Iris eventually came around. She couldn't be selfish and realized it was Barry's choice after all, and he should be allowed to do what he feels he needs to.
He'd applied and been accepted for a job as a detective at the Starling City Police Department. He... really didn't have a place to live, so he'd called Felicity and let her know everything. She offered to let him stay at her apartment until he could find a place.
For the first time in a while, Barry felt like he was doing the right thing.
---
A dark figure crept around a corner in the dark of night. He stopped in front of a tombstone.
"Roy Harper. Such a shame, you had so much potential."
He paused and then let out an eerie chuckle as he leaned down and held out a hand.
"I like that. You see, I like it better when potential is missing. Completely gone. It makes my job easier. Less resistance when they're dead."
An ethereal glow began to pool up in his hand and crawl to his fingertips.
"Because when there's still pieces there, it's harder to fill in the rest of the picture with what you want. Less room."
Tiny golden strands began to fall from his fingertips ever so slowly until they hit the ground.
"The more space there is, the more influence I have. Therefore when the easel bears an empty canvas, I have complete freedom. I have all the control."
He closed his eyes and began to mutter words in a lost and ancient language. The golden strands darkened to a pitch black before bright glowing red. Suddenly all of the light had fell from his fingertips to the ground below him. The man stood up and took a couple steps backwards as the light then took a form.
"Now Roy, tell me, where lies Sara Lance?"
The light dissipated and there stood what appeared to be Roy. Then his eyes opened.
All that was there was red and black as he smirked at the man in front of him.