Hold Steady ⚡ The Flash

Tolerance

Rowan paces in her apartment, twirling two batons in her hands as she thinks. She was pissed, beyond it. She was so angry that she just wanted to go find some thugs and beat them senseless, but alas that was against her code. 

So instead she resorted to stewing in her own anger until she got a chance to deal with some bad guys. 

At the same time she knew that as soon as she hit the streets as the Phoenix, the Arrow was sure to show up at the same spot as her. 

Now knowing how things worked in the arrow cave she had the upper hand but honestly, she didn't have the same equipment. She didn't have Flick behind a keyboard watching out for her as Oliver does. 

She was just going to have to hope that she could handle herself like she used to- or else she was in some big trouble. 

ϟ

Barry paces in the arrow cave, his hands dug into the pockets of his jeans. He bites his lip, the words of Rowan replaying in his head. 

Thank you for saving my life- now stay out of it. 

It was harsh but he could understand why she said it. Her secret had just been revealed to a complete stranger without her consent. Of course, she would be angry. But he didn't want her to be angry at him. 

Barry wanted to be part of Rowan's life. 

If only she felt the same way. 

Shaking his head, Barry returns to the present, looking at the Arrow outfit in a glass case. "I knew the vigilante had other partners." 

"He likes to be called the Arrow now. And besides, he was working with the Phoenix anyways." 

"I meant other than the Phoenix." He sighs, trying not to think of the brunette girl, "You four have messed with some really nasty people. The Doll Maker, Count Vertigo, Dodger, the Huntress."

"We weren't keeping score." Diggle sighs, thinking about Rowan as well. Rowan was there for most of the missions. Sure she joined the team late, but she was still there as her own vigilante, they just weren't working together at the time. 

"I was." 

Storming into the room, Oliver calls out to the CSI, "Barry! The rat poison that you gave me... are there any side effects?" 

"Um- yeah- I think hallucinations, maybe? And excessive sweating. Are you sweating excessively?"

"You're hallucinating? What are you seeing? Maybe someone should check on Rowan?" 

Oliver tells everyone about Shadow, meanwhile, Barry is thinking about Rowan again. What if the poison he gave her was causing her hallucinations? What if she was suffering alone because of a split-second decision he made? Catching the end of the story, Barry perks up as yet another one of his hypothesis are proven correct. 

"You did train in a jungle or forest environment. Hence the green." His enthusiasm fades as Oliver just stares at him blankly. "Let me draw some blood. See what's up... Hey, can I ask you something? Why no mask? Not to tell you how to do your vigilante-ing- But the grease paint thing? It's a poor identity concealer."

"So find me a mask that conforms perfectly to my face and doesn't affect my ability to aim while I'm on the run."

"You should look into a compressible micro fabric. If Rowan-" He pauses, almost offering to make Rowan a mask as well. 

"She'll come around," Felicity speaks up, spinning around in her chair. "When we found out about her identity she didn't talk to us again until she had a sword sticking out of her side and needed someone to take it out for her."