Impulse {The Flash/Arrow}

Nine

My feet padded against the shockingly unfamiliar floor as I looked around The Bunker. It looked much different than The Cortex did, but it didn't exactly feel as homey as it did. Felicity was sitting behind the computer like she normally did, and I was shocked to see that she was in a wheelchair. The last time I had seen her, she had been walking around like normal, and Oliver hadn't told me anything otherwise since then. She gave me a small smile as I walked further into the room, seeing Laurel, Diggle, and Thea congregating near display cases where their suits were kept. Thea caught sight of me first, and she came running over to me. She embraced me tightly, and I hugged her with a small chuckle. It had been so long since I had seen her outside fighting crime, and I was glad to finally be able to show some kind of affection towards her instead of pretending like I didn't know who she was behind the mask.

"It's so good to see you again, Ash." She sighed happily as we pulled away. "You look so much different after all these years."

"Well, a few years abroad and a lot of fighting will do that to you." I chuckled. "I really wish that I were here on better circumstances, though."

She nodded in agreement. "Ollie and Samantha are in the back talking. They'll fill you in on everything going on."

I nodded, patting her arm before making my way back to where they were. I smiled at Laurel and John as I passed them, silently promising that I would come back to embrace them as well. Oliver was standing with a brunette girl that I vaguely recognized as one of his past girlfriends. I wasn't 100% if I had ever met her because of how many girls he had gone through in his past, but I bit my tongue on the subject as I approached them. I greeted Oliver with a warm hug, feeling the anxiety and upset radiating off of him and the woman. When I let go of him, I turned towards her. I gave her a sympathetic smile as I shook her hand.

"I'm Ashton." I introduced myself. "I work with the Central City Police Department in the CSI division."

She looked at Oliver. "How is someone from Central City going to help us get William back?"

I was shocked to say the least. I figured that she would be a little more welcoming of outside, but Oliver stepped in to defend me. "Ashton is a former member of Star City's CSU, so she knows the city better than anyone. Plus, she also has an active life outside of forensics..." He trailed off.

I rolled my eyes slightly before looking back at Samantha. "I'm Zodiac." I explained bluntly, thoroughly shocking her. "You don't have to question my ability to help."

"You're the girl that's been working with The Flash?" She questioned.

I nodded. "Yup. Now," I turned to Oliver and smacked his arm, "When were you going to tell me that you had a son?"

"I wasn't?" His statement sounded more like a question as he shied away from my punch. "Did you get stronger in the past few months?"

"Why weren't you going to tell me?" I inquired, crossing my arms over my chest. "We're family, Oliver. I think that I had a right to know if there was a mini-Queen running around."

"That's actually my fault." Samantha said, taking my attention off of Oliver. "I asked Oliver not to tell anyone that William was his son in exchange for him being able to get to know him."

I furrowed my brow slightly. "Don't you think that that's a little unfair? I mean, he has a right to get to know who his son is."

"In my defense, I assumed that Oliver was the same boy that had gotten me pregnant." She defended, getting a bit snippy.

"Well, you know what happens when you assume." I said more to myself than to her.

She looked less-than pleased at my statement, and she looked pointedly at Oliver. "What exactly is the benefit of having her here?"