Aflame: The Flash (1)

9.1

9.1 the dark archer

—REWRITTEN—

Me and Barry teleported to my house to talk. We walk in and Barry looks around. "I've never been here," He says. "You house is nice."

I nod and smile, "Thanks." He goes to sit down on the couch as I get us both a drink, even though he can't get drunk. I hand him his and sit down next to him. I sigh. "Ok, let's get started to reason why we're here."

"You don't have to," He says again, giving me complete control of the situation.

"No," I say shaking my head. "I want to. I trust you. You should be able to trust me. You can't do that unless you know."

I take a sip of my drink and turn to him. "Have you heard of the name Steve Parker?" I ask Barry.

Barry's face is full of confusion, till it finally changes to recognition. He nods. "Yeah, Yeah I have. He was one of the victims of the Dark Archer. The guy Oliver fought as The Hood."

I nod. "The Dark Archer's name is Malcolm Merlyn. The one behind the Undertaking," I clarify. I see Barry's eyes widen. "And Yes, Steve was a victim. But that's not all he was. And that's not how he died."

I watch as Barry's brows knit together in confusion. "I met Steve, while my time in the League. I was in Starling City, for an assassination," I say and let out a humorless chuckle at how normal that sounds. "He was a former member himself. His whole family was born into the League and he was the first to leave. He reached out to me, to ask about his sister. I helped him. I wasn't completely heartless at the time." I lift my eyes from my glass and look at Barry to see him watching me intently. I move my gaze back to the glass and continue.

"Then we started to hang out. I would sneak out to Starling to meet him and we became friends. And then...we became something more." I notice Barry shift, getting comfortable in his place as I keep going. "He was one of the reasons I left the League. I mean, I leave because I just couldn't handle the killing anymore- keeping that on my conscious- I also because I wanted to stop sneaking around, and just have a normal relationship. Be normal for once.

"And so I left. We became a normal couple. And then Oliver reached out to me. And he convinced me to become Nightingale. Steve knew I could handle myself, but he also hated the idea of me working with a killer. But I convinced him and he eventually agreed with my decision. I wish I hadn't convinced him," I sighed.

"We still worried. We were in love. You can't stop worrying about the people you love," I say. Barry moves closer to me and wipes tears off my cheeks. I finish my whole drink and then turn to completely face him, my legs crossed on the couch.

"One day, Malcolm contacted the team. He had Steve. So.. we went to go stop him. And before I knew it, he had us all cornered. He got to us. Oliver and Steve were both on their knees in front of me. And I had an arrow put to my head. Malcolm handed me a bow and arrow and he told me to shoot," I say.

"Wait what?" Barry asks, leaning forwards. "He just told you to....?"

"Kill them," I completed slowly for him. "Yeah. He told me to kill one of them, or he kills all of us. And judging by the fact that me and Oliver are alive and healthy... I think you know what I did. He died on his birthday."

"Liv. It wasn't your fault," Barry says pulling me in for a hug. "It was the Dark Archer. He made you do it."

"It still doesn't help," I say. "I was the one who shot the arrow. That was my choice, and I have to live with it. It still hurts so much."

"I know," He says stroking my hair. "I know. But you can't beat yourself up over this." He pulls away and holds my face in his hands while I my hands clutch at his biceps. "When we were in Starling City, you said you weren't a killer. And you're not. You were put in an impossible situation and you had to make a decision. Hey, listen to me, There was no other way."

I nod as he wipes my tears with his thumb. And suddenly his phone dings. He opens it up to a text from Joe. He keeps his phone so I can see it. I see that Joe needs him on a case. He looks at me with a frown. "I-I'll tell him that I can't-"

"Go," I say cutting him off. "It's your job. You can't skip this."

"A-A-Are you sure? Because I'll stay," He says. "This is much more important to me."

"No. Barry.. Go," I say.

He nods and gets up, hesitantly. "Please don't beat yourself up about this. It wasn't your fault," He says. I nod. He kisses my head and then runs off. My hand subconsciously goes to my necklace for comfort.