The Speed to Rob a Queen's Heart - Olivarry

Us, The Balance of the Universe

"Where's Kara?" Oliver repeats with higher demand, refusing to set his eyes on the man he doesn't know. He tries to break free from the wires, causing Barry to reach over to confine his arms. "Don't touch me!" Oliver flinches, pushing Barry's hands away from him. The act causes Barry's heart to break — more so than it already has.

All Barry's ever wanted since he left that train station is to be back in Oliver's arms. Never did he possibly fathom that eight months later, Oliver's arms would be rejecting his.

"I can't let you do this, Ollie." Barry retorts with a much calmer voice compared to Oliver's. He starts to slowly secure the wires Oliver had loosened to prove to him that he isn't there to harm him.

"Ollie?" The nickname stops Oliver from fidgeting in fear as if it reigns the embodiment of an anchor.

Oliver slowly draws his eyes upward to land on the stranger sitting beside him only to find tears at the banks of his. For some reason, the man is crying, and for some other reason, Oliver's heart sinks, wondering why. He doesn't know a single thing about this man and all he longs for is to be in Kara's arms once more, but even he can't help but notice the exterior beauty that carves the man's face whole. Through his tears, somehow light is the epitome of his irises, proving to be unlike any other pair of eyes he's ever had the privilege to lay his own eyes on — eyes filled with darkness, that is.

For just a moment, Barry believes that the usage of the nickname somehow rescued Oliver from this confused state of amnesia he's currently experiencing. The belief substitutes as a latch onto the hope that Oliver now remembers him and the way they fell in love, or that just a few weeks ago, Oliver expressed to him that the reason he came to Central City was for him. But that moment immediately flees.

"Why are you calling me that?" Oliver questions him with a torn voice. "You don't even know me."

"Oliver, I do know you. I lo-"

"Has it really been seven years?"

"What?" Barry turns his head towards the direction Oliver is looking at, spotting an updating news report left on the television screen. It is about the aftermath of the particle accelerator explosion, including the current date displaying at the end of the headline.

"And it's Christmas?" Oliver's tone only weakens due to sorrow. With urgency, he continues, "I-I have to get home. I have to get to Thea, to my mom... I have to get to Kara." He attempts to break free once again, pulling on the many wires connected to him. This leads to Barry chasing after his chaotic movements, essentially catching him by taking Oliver's hands into his. Barry confines them in a tight hold as Oliver begs for an answer. "Where am I?"

"You're home, Ollie." Barry answers sincerely in a way that hides his pain due to the knowledge that he isn't Oliver's home anymore; not because of what he's done, but because Oliver doesn't even remember him doing it.

"Lightning brought me home?" Oliver questions with a reek of innocence entangled in his tone and planted on the look of his face.

Barry smiles at the passive joke — happy the the lightning bolt didn't strike away his humor too — and remains silent until he feels Oliver's tremors on his fingers grow. "Hey, hey," he whispers. He gently treats it with consistent strokes to relieve some of his tension. But with Oliver remaining speechless, his tremors allow for chills to claim all throughout his body.

Oliver starts to shiver greatly — something Barry believed to be impossible many months ago; the concept of Oliver Queen getting cold — leaving Barry to act upon his greatest hope yet: to embrace Oliver into his arms.

Despite his state of vulnerability, Oliver refuses to wrap his own arms around the stranger comforting him. However, the warmth radiating off the man that's securing him counteracts his habit of fighting off anyone who dares to touch him.