Alliance {The Flash/Arrow}

Seventeen

Bright lights illuminated the city that lay beyond the rooftop. They clouded the night sky that I was deeply infatuated with, but the lights still managed to make up for the allure of the stars being absent. Lights from every building that inhabited this city was lit up, giving different life to different people. From my vantage point, I could see dozens of people making their way in and out of grocery stores and liquor stores. Some were dressed up in their best nighttime outfits while others were bundled up in their winter clothes to escape the bitter cold of the night. It was amazing that so many different types of people could all be on one solitary street, but it was one of the reasons that I loved this part of town. It brought in people from all walks of life to live among each other and live in harmony. There were musicians living alongside doctors and lawyers and CEOs and fast food workers. A gourmet chef lived in the apartment below mine, and he always had the actress and author that lived across the hall from her over to try her food. It was beautiful to see so many people socializing and being friends with one another, and it was an interesting dynamic change from Star City.

Where I lived in Star City wasn't the best of places. Many immigrant families lived in my building despite the appalling crime rate in the area. I often took care of some of the children when their parents were working late, and it was more often than not that we would be looked down upon by the businessmen and women that were at any of the stores and restaurants that we would go to to pass time. It was always something that annoyed me--people thinking that I couldn't be friends with children of different ethnicities just because of who I was--but I was adamant about making sure that all of the children knew that I loved them no matter where they came from. They were like family to me, and I couldn't care less what anyone else thought of it. But it was always something that pushed my buttons. I could never understand why people of a higher social status would let that separate them from people who were worse off, but I was glad that I didn't have to deal with that any longer now that I was in Central City. I made friends left and right here. I felt safe and like I belonged here. It was more of a home to me than my birth city.

As I stared at the impending sunset that was making the city come alive, I thought about the night that lay ahead of me. We'd spent the last week planning everything that was going to go down with Zoom, and it was daunting to know that it could happen tonight. Stella was coming over before the event itself to go over the plan and to help me get ready. The only dress that I was able to find showed the top part of my back, and, to keep media suspicion at bay, Stella was going to help me conceal some of the scars on my back. It wasn't my favorite thing to do, but it was nearly impossible to find a dress that had a full back at this time of year. In exchange for her help, I'd pulled some strings with my numerous connections in the fashion world and gotten her a couture dress. It was a dark teal, strapless dress that had black velvet patterns tastefully spread out amongst the color. When I told her about it, she nearly fainted from excitement, and I was excited to see her in it. I knew that she would turn everyone's heads as soon as she walked in the door, and I was eager to see just how nervous Cisco would get when he saw her. Stella was very excited to know that he was going to be at the ball, and it warmed my heart to know that they both liked each other so much but were too afraid or busy to admit it to each other.

Anxiety ran through me at the thought of Zoom terrorizing this evening. It was honestly one of my favorite events because it benefited the city so much and gave back to the people who protect their home, and to know of someone who would want to destroy that happiness disturbed me. I had no idea why Zoom was the way he was or who he was, for that matter, but it always puzzled me at what had caused him to be this way. There must have been something terrible that happened to him in his past that made him want to murder everyone and everything that he saw and take something valuable from someone who was just trying to keep the innocent safe. I wasn't entirely sure that I wanted to know what made him this way, though. I had been through and seen some dark things in my past, but nothing that could have ever turned someone to this. There were things that I experienced that would most definitely turn people to a life of petty crime, but definitely not something as serious and hard core as murdering thousands of innocent people who were just trying to live their life.