Love Thy Brother's Enemy

Ch. 7

"There's not much to tell," Ayana admitted.

"Do you honestly expect me to accept that as an answer? There has to be more to the story," Evelyn shot back.

"You're right," Ayana conceded. She opened her mouth to begin telling her friend the truth, but hesitated. Maybe there was no need to explain everything. Maybe she should just let the past stay in the past.

It was better this way. "Look Evie, you already know why I left. I have a lot of things I need to figure out about myself before I tell you the whole story. Maybe someday I will, but not today."

A small smile appeared on Evelyn's lips, "Fine, whatever you say. Just promise me you won't run away again."

"You couldn't get rid of me if you wanted to," Ayana replied with a sly grin.

They both laughed, but then Ayana grew serious. "I missed this. So many good memories," she reminisced.

"Yeah," Evelyn smiled fondly, touching Ayana's arm lightly. "Me too."

The two girls were so caught up in their conversation, neither noticed the pair that walked into the bar.

Leonard entered the bar, his partner in crime Mick Rory at his side. Their entrance was met with muted whispers, which gradually increased to murmurs as more and more patrons spotted them.

As he looked up, he couldn't help but smirk. Sat at the bar was the familair brunette, just as he went to approach her, a familiar face sat at the stool beside her. Evelyn Rory. She began to talk animatedly to the female beside her.

The two appeared like any other ordinary pair at a bar, chatting and laughing. From his position, Leonard couldn't see what they were saying. All he saw was the unmistakable glint in Evelyn's green eyes as she spoke, the familiar smirk on her lips.

But these weren't ordinary women; One was the sister of Barry Allen, and the other was the sister of Mick Rory. A hero and a criminal.

Eve," He purred sliding onto the barstool beside his partner's sister, "you failed to mention you knew Miss Allen here."

His question was met with silence. Ayana just continued to stare blankly ahead. It had only been a week since her visit to Earth-2, and she still wasn't sure how to process the events that happened there.

"I wasn't aware you and Ayana were acquainted, Lenny," Evelyn answered evenly, eyeing her best friend curiously.

'So that's her name,' Leonard thought . 'Ayana.'  He liked the way the two syllables rolled off his tongue. "Ayana, huh?" He said, his attention now directed towards the blue eyed brunette.

For a brief moment, Ayana returned her gaze to Leonard, then turned back to her friend,  a fake smile plastered on her face.

"It was a brief meeting, irrelevant really," Ayana answered, refusing to look directly at Leonard.

"You wound me, Princess," Leonard said, hand to his heart in mock hurt.

When Ayana didn't reply, he turned his attention back to Evelyn. "Is she always this cold?"

"You're one to talk snowflake," Ayana quipped.

Leonard scowled, "You've got quite the mouth on you."

Evelyn laughed, looking between to two of them, clearly amused.

"How did you two even meet?" She asked, through her amusement .

"I hacked into a vault for him and then his dad shot me," Ayana casually responded.

Evelyn gasped, "Oh my God! Are you okay?"

"I've taken worse," Ayana reassured, waving her off.

Leonard glanced at his partner who was uncharacteristically quiet, "Something on your mind Mick?"

He gave his partner a  knowing glance, and the duo shared a laugh. When they were finished, Leonard turned back to Ayana. "Why did you let me do it?" HHe queried, "Why did you stand to the side and let me kill my old man? That's not very Allen-like."

Ayana shrugged, "Broken people understand broken people."

Leonard snorted, "Broken is putting it mildly."

Ayana snickered, unable to resist the opportunity to tease him. "Maybe. But it works for us."

Leonard's eyes softened as he gazed at her, lost in thought. For a second, he allowed himself to forget. To imagine the possibilities.  He allowed himself to dream.

Suddenly, reality came crashing down. He was never going to have those dreams, and the longer he dwelt on them, the more painful the loss would be. So instead of dreaming, he  pushed those thoughts away, making himself focus on the here and now.

"I think it's time Mick and I call it a night," he said rising from his seat. "See you later Evie," He glanced at Ayana, "Allen."

With that, he turned and headed for the exit.

Evelyn was quick to turn to her friend, a grin on her face, "You like him!"

Ayana stared blankly at her best friend,  unsure how to respond. The last thing she wanted was to encourage Evelyn.

"You can admit it! Come on!" Evelyn cried impatiently.

"You don't know anything," Ayana denied.

Evelyn laughed, "You can deny it all you want, I saw how you looked at him."

"Oh, please," Ayana scoffed.

"Suit yourself," Evelyn said turning back to Ayana. "Just keep in mind, if it's meant to be, it'll happen."