Soothsayer ⚡ Barry Allen

Home Again, Home Again...

Barry set me on my feet outside the old Wayne Manor, rebuilt after being burned down years before my birth. "It's been a while since I've been here," I sighed, taking in the refurbished look it held.

"You've been here before?" he asked as he led me inside.

"Yup," I breathed, looking over the clean foyer. "Got drunk in that corner" -- I pointed to what was now a lounge -- "and blacked out somewhere upstairs." I grinned as Barry looked at me for a moment in wonder before pecking my lips. "Good times," I chuckled, reminicing the old memories and the fresh ones in my mind. I let him take the lead as he walked into a big hall, one that once only held a fireplace and might've hosted the large companies of the Wayne's.

"Hey, guys," Barry started as I hung back, rubbing the back of his head but completely missing the dishelved, sexed look as he smoothed his hand over it. "Sorry I'm late, I was doing...stuff." Feeling my grin tug wider, I walked out from behind him and introcuded myself.

"Hiya, I'm stuff." My grin faultered when I instantly met Selina's eyes, but I knew Bats had recruited her, not all that surprised when I saw Bruce Wayne beside her at the top of a large, round table. He must've been the 'Br' she briefly mentioned, though it was hard to believe that playboy was one of the oldest vigilantes this city has known. Other than the faces of Superman and Wonderwoman, what with her recent popularity, the other two faces were foriegn to me. Just by the way Wayne stared me down, I knew he was the Bat. I'd recognize those baby blues anywhere.

Selina's wide eyes didn't leave me or Barry, the pieces falling into place from her perspective. Good to know that she hadn't met Barry outside of her contact with me before now. "Since when did we bring girlfriends to the table?" the stranger with the lighter skin remarked with a smirk, his light eyes and dark skin reminding me of Iris. My eyes drifted to Cat and Bats for a moment, wondering just what they had.

"I didn't know you were bringing company, Barry," Bats sighed, sizing me up for maybe the millionth time since we've known each other.

"What we're doing concerns Andy, at least this time." I slowly trailed behind Barry, sitting beside him and the cyborg he had mentioned months ago with a cautious expression.

"Would someone like to inform Andy on what this is?" I asked, my unease growing as Barry took my hand under the table.

"The Joker has taken on A.R.G.U.S. with full force. Five months ago, he broke Harley Quinn out of their custody," Bruce sighed, causing my hand to twitch around Barry's. I'm glad he agreed to disgracing the equipment this team used regularly before bringing me to meet them; we'd both need that beforehand high to deal with this. "I think he plans to move on Central City."

"Let's hit him before that happens, then," I decided in a hard tone.

"I like the way this girl thinks," the same stranger from earlier commented, most of his smile hiding behind his goatee, taking in the blonde half of his hair. By process of elimination, I deduced this was the Atlantian.

"There's a whole lot more to like," I chuckled, turning back to Bruce. "Look, I really appreciate you not beating the crap outta me despite all the chances you got, but he's already taken one person from me. I won't let him take that city or anyone else from me." There was a small, proud curl to Barry's lips as he watched me, running his thumb over my hand in an attempt to soothe me. Central City had become ours, no matter how much work I did behind the scenes or in them.

"Andy, you know better than anyone how unpredictable he can be. You're on his turf again," Selina pointed out, speaking her first words to me in months.

"No, I'm back on my own turf," I reminded, squeezing Barry's hand three times. I was ready to go, at least from this haunted building, and Barry's returned one squeeze let me know he couldn't do much. From working survileance with me sometimes, we developed the sort of code. One squeeze for a gridlocked situation, two for an ASAP. It really only worked for close instances such as these. I took a deep breath and shifted in my chair before adding, "It's about time he knew it, too."