Red Arrows, Gold Lightning

Chapter Five: Thea Queen

Author's Note: Hey! This chapter has some blood in it too, but no torture. I'm really sorry if this chapter sounds forced because I'm not the best at writing reunion scenes. :P Writing protective Oliver is interesting! This one chapter is longer than the other ones, so yay! :D Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Flash or the Arrow, as well as any of the characters from them.

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Thea knew she had a knack for coming up with terrible ideas. She had orchestrated many with her friends. But this had to be the worst idea ever.

She went down to the meta holding cells and stopped in front of Barry's. He was leaning against the wall, the mask hiding his emotions. His black eyes were trained on her. "What do you want." he rasped from beneath the mask. Thea took a deep breath and unlocked the cell.

It whirred open. Barry sped out of it and grabbed her by the neck, pinning her against the wall. Thea clutched at her throat, gasping for air. Barry's grip loosened.

Thea heaved in a breath. "The day of the Starling City science expo, six years ago- You were there, weren't you? I ran away into the woods. You were there- Sitting on the giant rock by the lake- I crashed into you and we both fell in-"

"Shut up!" Barry snarled, tightening and loosening his grip on her. She took in another choked breath.

"We talked- Come on Barry, you remember- You were one of the nicest people I ever met-"

"ARGH!" Barry yelled, dropping her and clutching his head. "Stop it!"

Thea scrambled to get up from the ground, her legs shaking as she heaved in air. Barry's iris' flickered between black and blue. Then they turned blue.

Thea sucked in a breath as Barry stared at her.

"T-Thea?" Barry whispered, staggering forward. "Did I-" Thea shook her head, tears in her eyes. "No. Never." Thea whispered back. Barry collapsed onto her shoulder, hugging her tightly.

Thea felt something wet run down her face. Tears. She let out a choked laugh. "Long time no see, huh?" she whispered. Barry just hugged her tighter. She accepted the hug gratefully.

Then an arrow whizzed past Thea's ear, hitting the wall with a thud. Barry snapped upright as another arrow was fired at his hand. Barry caught it, flicking it effortlessly to the ground.

Thea scrambled to hold her hands up. "Ollie! Stop!!" Thea yelled frantically. "It's really him!" Oliver stopped shooting, but held his bow by his waist, ready to fire again. "Step away from her. Now." Oliver growled. Barry stiffened but complied.

"Thea, get away from him." Oliver snarled. "What the hell were you thinking!? You're lucky I came back, because God knows what could have happened if I hadn't." Thea glared at Oliver. "Quit treating me like I'm a kid! I can make my own choices!" she yelled back.

Oliver exhaled deeply. "We'll discuss this later. Handcuff him." Thea snorted. "What, you want me to handcuff my friend?!" "This isn't up for debate Thea," Oliver replied through gritted teeth.

"It won't work," Barry rasped. "Mirakuru." Oliver sighed again. "Just get back in the cell." He muttered.

"Wait!" Thea yelled. "We can at least get the mask off him. Please, Ollie." "Fine." Oliver ground out. "You can come up." With that said, he stormed back up the steps, leaving them behind. Thea gave Barry a small smile before following him.

They all made it to the main room, where Oliver was waiting impatiently for them. Barry shifted nervously, occasionally reaching up a hand to tug at the mask, failing to get it off.

Oliver stepped forward in front of Barry to look at the mask. It was wrapped around the back of his neck and locked tightly around his ears. In fact, it was more of a muzzle. Barry tensed as Oliver reached forward to take off the mask. Oliver frowned though, realizing that he couldn't take it off. He tugged harder, but it wouldn't come off.

Thea stepped up curiously. "Do you know what it's made out of?" she asked. Barry shrugged. "Osmium maybe," he replied. "But I really don't know. Not that they would let me know."

"It's not coming off," Oliver grunted as he pulled as hard as he could. He stepped back. "No matter how hard I pull." "It's designed that way," Barry rasped.

Thea frowned. "Wait, Ollie, stop. Let me try." Oliver looked at her skeptically but took a step back to glare at Barry. Thea looked at their mask carefully. She noticed a small gap barely big enough for her hand. "Sorry if this hurts," Thea muttered. She shoved her hand into the mask only to let out a hiss and draw it back.

Her hand was coated in blood. "What. Is. In. That. Mask." Oliver growled. Barry shrugged again. "Not supposed to talk. There are blades in there as a precaution." he rasped.

Thea cursed in her head. She saw another small slot by the back of his neck and slipped her hand into the gap. Thankfully, there weren't any blades in there. She felt a small latch in the back and reached her hand forward to touch it.

"Ollie, there's a latch back here," she mumbled. Oliver nodded, his eyes on locked Barry. He was completely still. Thea reached her hand forward again to touch the lock, this time putting her finger inside the lock. Barry flinched as the lock opened, hands clutching at the mask. Thea swallowed.

She then took her hand out, and moved to the front of the mask, and stuck her hand in. Very carefully. She felt the first blade and wiggled her hand to maneuver around it. She felt another after another, and she kept going, occasionally grazing her hand on a blade and holding in a wince.

She finally reached the other side of the mask and undid the latch there. Thea quickly extracted her hand, hitting some blades on the way. When she finally got her hand out, it didn't look good. Blood dripped from several cuts on her hand.

But the mask was still on Barry. Barry reached a hand up to the mask and pulled. Hard.

Blood spurted out onto the tiled floor as the mask was ripped off. Once Barry finally got it off, he just held it in his hands. Drops of crimson blood fell onto the mask, sliding off it and eventually joining the larger puddle of blood on the floor.

Barry noticed that there was a large metal rod stuck inside his mouth. He pulled it out with a grunt. It looked awful. Barry glanced around and then chucked it into a trash can. There were also a few smaller blades embedded in his jaw. He hissed as he plucked each of them out. Thea flinched as they were pried out, blood dribbling down his chin in wobbly red lines.

Oliver coughed. "Now get back in the cell," he growled. Barry nodded and moved to go back downstairs. Thea caught him by the elbow. He stiffened but turned to look at her quizzically.

"So he's just supposed to sleep in there?! In a freaking cell?! What the heck!!" Thea spat at Oliver, her green eyes blazing. Barry shook her off. "I've had worse," Barry said softly. "It'll be fine."

Thea scoffs, but let go of his elbow. He gives her a small smile, before heading down. Oliver follows him. Thea can hear the whir of the cell closing from upstairs.

Oliver turned to face her warily. "Thea..." he starts. Thea glares at him. "What do you want me to do, justify why you put him in a damn cell? Can you hear how broken he is?!" she snarled. 

"I did what I had to! What happens if he slips back into Storm-Runner again Thea? I did what was best." Oliver countered back.

Thea cut him off. "No. You did what you thought was best." She walked past him and headed out of the Arrowcave, tears running down her face.