Unhidden (Barry Allen Is Sebastian Smythe), The Sequel to Hidden Away Until Now

Published: august 2, 2021

*
Once Barry had found Cisco, he let Sebastian take over, for this would most likely not be pretty.

"So..." Cisco said, staring at the board. "From what I got from Felicity, Oliver would be meeting with Nyssa and Talia, daughters of Ra. And from that comment that you heard the other day from Oliver, I'm guessing what Oliver has been doing is trying to protect you and Barry from something."

Sebastian nodded, his fingers twitching as he stood up. "That makes sense. I think he's trying to protect us from Merlyn, and how would he do that?"

Cisco stretched out his arms, his breathing a bit uneven. "Felicity also made that a point. She said that because Merlyn hates Oliver so much, he'd try to take away the people Oliver loves the most, and that, my friend," he said, grasping Sebastian's shoulder, "is you."

"So Merlyn is trying to kill us?" Sebastian asked, his eyebrows scrunching.

"Um, not exactly. See, I also brought this up to Felicity, who asked Sara, and apparently, if you're espoused to the person you love, then no member of the league, even if they're a former member, can't hurt them or kill them," Cisco explained, his face paling as he spoke.

Sebastian went over the words. "But we haven't gotten married yet, and Merlyn still managed to hurt me and Barry the other day," he said. "How does that work?"

"According to Sara, being engaged to someone provides enough protection to not kill said person, but marriage brings full protection."

Sebastian could feel himself paling as he came to a realization. "That would explain how Oliver started to plan the proposal, and that means..."

He didn't need to finish that thought, for Cisco nodded his head in agreement. "I'm sorry, Sebastian."

Sebastian pursed his lips tightly. "I...I need to go," he said suddenly.

His feet carried him out of the room, and he ended up in the Speed Lab. He hung up a punching bag and began to hit it. All of his thoughts floated into his head, practically torturing him, and he just wanted it to stop.

Oliver hadn't proposed because he wanted to, he did it because he had to. It had been a sped up and hasty choice. Oliver had lied to him, on multiple occasions. Did Oliver feel like he couldn't trust him?

Eventually, he fell on the floor, grasping his head. He could feel Barry losing it, and in all honestly, so was he. The pain he was feeling, he hadn't felt this way in a long time. Betrayal echoed throughout his mind, destroying him. He couldn't believe this!

He gulped down some water before standing up, his hands shaking. He could feel his lightning curling in around him, giving him warmth and a sense of strength as his feet launched out of Star Labs. This was more painful than any injury, or even when he'd broken up with Hunter. This was much worse.

His mind just needed a sense of calm right now, so he ran to the Waterfront. He could feel himself being pulled back down into the dark pit of his thoughts. He was fighting so hard to try and see the light of this situation, and Barry took over to try and do the same.

Barry had trouble as well. Being lied to, for weeks. He'd had so many problems with that from Zoom and Thawne. And the one person he'd thought would never even consider lying to him, had lied to him, straight to his own face.

For now, he was just going to need some space from Oliver, and that meant avoiding.

*

Three days had passed since Barry had found out the truth, and he was avoiding Oliver like crazy, staying in Central City. He was submerging himself in his work, and Joe and Eddie noticed this.