The Storm After

Chapter 1: Prologue

The burial of Martin Stein had just finished and everyone had begun to part ways. The heroes and legends had successfully combated the Earth-X invaders thus saving Earth-1. Barry and Iris had decided to go say goodbye to Kara and Sara, who were returning to their respective world and time. Barry turns to Oliver as they were about to leave.

"Hey Oliver, we're going to say goodbye to Kara and Sara, would you like to come?" Barry asked. He was hoping he would say yes.

"Oh, they're leaving already?" Oliver replied, having just realised everyone except for him, Barry and Iris were left. "Yeah of course, we should see them off".

"Great!" Barry said with a big grin, he was happy that Oliver wanted to come. They started to walk off when Barry realised something and asked "Oh... but where's Felicity?"

Oliver didn't respond to Barry's question and continued to walk ahead. Barry remembered that things had gotten awkward between the two of them when Felicity rejected his proposal. He had seen them interact during the midst of the invasion and thought they had maybe patched things up. Oliver then came to a stop.

"We uh... wanted different things, Barry..." Oliver said without turning to face him. Barry could tell how much Oliver was hurting despite Oliver not showing his face, he could tell how his best friend felt. "Let's just leave it at that, alright...?"

"Yeah... of course." Barry responded, respecting his friend's wish.

[X]

The three of them had finally caught up to others and saw Alex with them as well. Oliver noticed Mick in the background, he assumed he was waiting for Sara. Alex and Sara had exchanged a few words before committing to an awkward but friendly hug. As Sara walked off to board the Waverider with Mick, Alex turned around to see the others approaching. Kara went to stand by her sister, with her hands deep in her pockets as they were about to say their goodbyes.

"Thanks for inviting us to the wedding, and sorry that it didn't turn out the way you wanted to." Kara started with a chuckle, trying to ease the mood.

"At least it'll be memorable." Iris responded, appreciating Kara's concern.

"We'll probably just do it more low-key this time around, so it'll be more simple and fewer Nazis that way." Barry added on top. It got everyone to laugh.

"Well, take care guys." Kara said after the laughter settled down.

Both Kara and Alex began to hug Barry and Iris. Alex then proceeded to hug Oliver who was trying to refrain from being hugged but ignored it and hugged him anyways. Barry remembered that Oliver hated giving hugs and it gave him a little chuckle. Kara remembered what happened last year too, and followed suit to give him a hug as well. They exchanged a look before Kara came in with the hug. As soon as they embraced, Kara suddenly felt a rush in her head and she flashbacked to when she was in Star Labs. She remembered the image of their Earth-X counterparts consoling each other when they were preparing to cut out Kara's heart. She remembered the kiss Oliver-X gave to Kara-X on the forehead and the exchange of 'I love you' to one another. She was then brought back and realised they were still hugging. Kara let out a scream and pulled away from Oliver, feeling really flustered and embarrassed at how long they were hugging.

"Oh no, take your time guys." Alex joked, surprised at what she just saw.

"You can always come visit!" Barry chimed in, displaying the same faces as everyone else.

"Yeah... um.... I-I know..." Kara stuttered as she was struggling to get words out, but quickly pulled herself together. "We'll see you later! Let's go Alex!" she grabbed her sister's arm and opened a portal. Before anyone can utter anything else, they were gone.

[X]

Kara and Alex arrived back at Kara's apartment. Kara began to walk quickly as she could before Alex could say anything. She opened the door to her bedroom and laid on top of her bed. What was that back there?, Kara thought as she began to gather her thoughts. Why did I even think about that? I mean that was Oliver! Why would I even think that!. Kara was screaming in her mind. She didn't know how to take in what had happened a few minutes ago. Why did the hug between the two of them induce these feelings. She just laid there for awhile, basking and contemplating these new emotions. She finally shook her head to bring herself back to reality. She got up from her bed and decided the best thing to do right now, was for her to keep herself busy. She went back out and noticed Alex was gone.

"She went to the D.E.O already?" Kara asked herself aloud, knowing no one would respond. "She really is a workaholic." Kara smiled at the thought of her sister being so dutiful. "Well, I probably overreacted, I mean it was just a hug..." Kara told herself, trying to convince herself it was nothing. "Yep, it totally meant nothing!"

That's all that happened between Oliver and Kara. That's what Kara had believed to have happened. However, little did she know that Oliver Queen was experiencing the same thing as she was.