Partners from the Start

                                An Alternate Arrow Flash first meeting

Oliver Queen stared at the young man, a look of utter confusion on his face. It seemed like a better option than absolute incredulity. He'd seen this man before...in the bunker. Officer Lance and John Diggle stared mildly as this kid who looked like he should have been in high school walked up to them, apologizing for being late to a crime scene.

“Great, who the hell are you?” Officer Lance asked the kid.

“And do your parents know you're out here?” Oliver said with a sarcastic edge.

“I'm Barry Allen I'm from the Central City Police Department I'm from the Crime Scene Investigation Unit. We're working on a case over there with a few similar qualities to this...rather unusual robbery. So my captain sent me down here to see if they might be connected. And you're wrong by the way, this wasn't a team, it was one guy.”

“You mean one man tore through the door, ripped this outta the ground like tin foil?”

“There's only one set of prints in the floor, other than the victims and the bruising on the guards neck is consistent with manual strangulation. It's like he held the guy's neck with one hand and snapped it. Which is a lot harder to do than a lot of people realize...medically speaking I mean.” Barry said in a rush.

'Who is this guy. He's not wrong; whoever did this is juicing steroids on crack. But...”

“What do you think Oliver?” John Diggle said suddenly. “Oliver?” He repeated.

“I think things are getting interesting. I'd like to hear more about what is going on here.”

“Oliver I'm pretty sure we all would.” Felicity said casually.

“Ms. Smoak, a word?” Quentin Lance said in his quiet but urgent tone. She walked a few steps away with him. “Listen I don't really know what's going on here but I think this is something our mutual friend would be interested in hearing about.” Felicity was forced to smile. It hadn't been so long ago Detective Lance had been pursuing the vigilante as a threat the city needed to be rid of and had had no clue who she was. And now Officer Lance was helping the Arrow catch the bad guys. Moreover, unknown to Lance, the Arrow was already aware of the crime, and solving it on scene with them.

Meanwhile Oliver was having almost as interesting a conversation with Barry Allen. “Is this why you're here?” He urged. “More importantly what the hell is going on?”

“I don't know what the hell is going on. And figuring that out is why I'm here, yes.”

“We have a very pointed conversation in our very near future.”

“The kind at the end of an arrow or the more colloquial kind.” Oliver started to glare at him. “I didn't mean that as a threat. I'm just a little nervous, sorry.”

“Well that's fair enough. And no, I'm not threatening you. But I am curious.”

“Understandably. I just don't thing this is a particularly good time to have this talk.”

Oliver looked around and his collaborators, each of whom saw Barry as a complete stranger. And realized in an instant that the guy had a point. “Alright, fair enough. But soon, like tonight maybe? Verdant, 9 pm?”

“Yeah I'll...I'll be there.

“You're going off to have a drink with that guy?” Officer Lance said casually.

“Just maybe he won't be so weird in a non-crime-lab setting.” Oliver explained.

“That guy oozes weird Oliver.” Quentin Lance said with a shake of his head.

“...Don't disagree.” Oliver replied as he walked away.

John walked a couple of steps behind Oliver as they left the building. “You know that kid?”

“We've Met. Something tells me I'm going to be seeing a lot more of him lately.”

“Someone we need to keep our guard up around?”

“At least until we can figure him out.”

Barry Allen had been in town for 2 days. In that time he had managed to save the Arrow's life, show up at Queen Industries with a lot of really good answers for everything and fanboy over all the cool gear at the bunker. He had also managed to introduce himself to John, Felicity, Quentin and Laurel Lance and give very different impressions to each of them. Oliver had to admit, that last one was probably just because each of his friends would look at a person differently, and be looking at different markers. Now Officer Quentin Lance hadn't noticed anything particularly wrong with the guy, except that he was one weird kid. John had kept his opinions mostly to himself but agreed they needed to keep their guard up around him for now. Laurel had laughed at his cuteness and Felicity was glad to finally have someone to speak geek with. After calling Captain David Singh of the CCPD and confirming Barry Allen does in fact work for him as a part of the Crime Scene Investigation Unit, Oliver was willing to give Barry the benefit of the doubt. Especially after Barry had given him leads on where to find 3 of the criminals involved in various heists around town and an analysis of the DNA of the man who had left him flat on his back and hallucinating. But Oliver had a feeling that Barry showing up at the bunker, learning who was under the hood and then a crime scene where something impossible had just happened was simply too coincidental to be a coincidence.

And the only question was whether he was trying to be an actual cop and solve these crimes, or was involved. “Barry is not good at answering questions, fortunately I am good at finding answers.” So he left to keep a particular eye on the kid. Except the kid wasn't anywhere around. The Flash was. Taking down the Dragons of the South Side with some of the most efficient non-lethal force he had ever seen. Oliver couldn't hear a word come out of the young man's mouth as he literally sped around bashing guys on the top of the head or nailing them square in the back. Then Oliver drew his bow. “Slowly turn.” Was all he said.

The Flash turned slowly around, hands up and apart. “You are unmistakably the one they call The Arrow.” The Flash said in a disguised voice. “Starling City's silent Guardian.”

“You are the hero of Central City. The speedster they call The Flash. And now that we've gotten introductions out of the way, tell me what you're doing here in my city?”

“I'm helping out a friend and he's helping me.”

Oliver relaxed his grip on his bow. “Barry Allen. That's why he's here...for you?”

 “Barry Allen, he wants to do good and I trust him. So when I work with the cops it's through him and Detective West. When I need a cops help, I go to him specifically.”

“You don't do a very good job of protecting your friends.”

“He's proud of it. Of being able to help more than just official cases that come across his lab desk. And considering how he never shuts up about you. I doubt he'd mind.”

“How well does he know me? And how far.”

“He wouldn't even tell me your name. And hes' pretty good at investigating and solving any problems that are as impossible as I am. Can I put my hands down now?” Oliver lowered his bow and pointed it to the ground. “Look, I realize he can be pretty fanboy. But he's a good kid. Don't shred him okay?”

“A man in a mask and voice changer asking me to give someone else the benefit of the doubt is kind of a stretch.”

Flash's face hardened, and if possible his eyes narrowed.. “Then how bout figuring him out first, passing judgment on him later.”

“...That I can do.”

“Listen whoever you are...Barry Allen, is a science genius and a loyal friend. He can help. If you're worried he told me who you were...he didn't. He's as honest as they come. Otherwise I wouldn't keep him around.”

“That doesn't exactly inspire my confidence.” Oliver replied. “But I take your point.”

“Why no mask?” Barry said offhand. “Not to tell you how to do the vigilante thing, but the grease paint you use is a poor identity concealer.”

“So find me a mask which conforms perfectly to my face and doesn't effect my ability to aim while I'm on the run.”

“You should look into a compressible micro-fabric. It could be great.” Barry said with his charming yet infuriating grin.

“Flash was right, you do know your stuff.”

“You're not the only one who thinks of me as a baby-face. Almost everyone at CCPD thinks I'm too young for the job. If I wasn't so good at it I wouldn't have it.”

“Who is Detective Joe West?”

Barry let his jaw go slack. “How do you even know that name?”

“The Flash said when he needs a cop's help he goes to Detective Joe West. Which usually means enlisting your help. So who is he?”

“He's the man who raised me. We are Deep in 'too personal for comfort' territory.”

“I don't disagree.” Oliver said quickly. Then he gave a small chuckle. “Someone telling me I'm getting too personal for them. That's a switch.”

Oliver looked at Barry from across the bunker. There was something about him Oliver just didn't like. The Flash had vouched for him which had been more than enough to throw any 'he might be a bad guy' thoughts a million miles from his mind. Something was still off about the guy.

“Barry, can I take to you for a second?”

“Yeah sure.” The two of them walked off about 12 paces. “What's up man?”

“I'm not the most trusting person in the universe as you might have noticed.”

“Yeah, I noticed.”

“I have a hard time trusting anyone who keeps themselves so closed off. Who shs so little of themselves. I need to know...Why are you doing this?” Strangely Barry Allen showed no signs of offense or injury. He merely slumped his shoulders a little bit and said. “Wait 3/10's of a second.” And ran away. And in one-third of a second the Flash was standing in front of him. The man didn't say a word. Instead he pulled his cowl back revealing...Barry Allen. “Everything I told you before was true. Both as the Flash and as myself. Well, obviously Captain Singh did not send me here on official business that was made up. But you already knew that.”

“You saw something 'meta' happening outside your town, decided to investigate?”

“Well...yeah pretty much.”

“I don't understand, why reveal yourself?”

“You mean other than you of all people understood what it meant to live a double life?” You were right. I can't ask you to trust me if I don't trust you. And one thing you'll probably learn about me pretty fast is that I'm as trusting as you are cynical.”

“Yeah that part I already knew. But it honestly still doesn't answer my question..”

“Yes it does. There's a kind of weirdness happening here that I thought only happened in Central City. I was thinking some meta creeped there way over here. But whoever is responsible for this isn't altered in that way more - whacked out.”

“The world is a much more complicated place than people are comfortable believing.” Oliver said agreeably. “So what do you say the two of us figure out the story of this whacked out nut-job...together.”

“I'm agreeable. In fact I have a science friend who could probably help with that.”

“Another adorable nerd like yourself?” Felicity Smoak said from Barry's left. The both turned to look at her. “I'm sorry you guys 'covert argue' very noticeably.”

“This has been an interesting day.” Oliver said under his breath.

“Harrison Wells.” Barry said comfortably.

Felicity smiled. “What, The Harrison Wells? I mean THE Doctor Harrison Wells?”

“He's the reason I'm any hero at all. He gave me my powers. Yes Dr. Harrison Wells.”

“He gave you your powers, how the hell did he do that?”

“Not on purpose. Remember the Particle Accelerator that went nowhere?” Felicity and Oliver both nodded. “Well apparently it actually did do something. It broke a barrier in reality and let exotic particles into our world. Including dark matter. People who get infected by that stuff, become meta-humans. Like me. I have another question to answer...who Detective West is.”

“You already answered that one Barry.”

“But I think you should hear the whole story.” Oliver gave a respectful nod. And put his hands at his sides. “My parents were murdered when I was 11. Joe adopted me. I was a kid who loved math and chemistry growing up and not very physically strong. So when I went to join him at work, it was as a CSI not a proper cop. I have a nine month gap in my head from when I was in a coma and when I woke up I had speedster powers. Dr. Wells has been looking out for me, training me ever since. Coming here to fight crime, is something I'm doing for myself. Can you understand that?”

Oliver walked up to Barry and pulled the cowl back down over his head, symbolically making him the Flash again. “I can understand that very well. Now let's get this guy.”