Crimson

hearts were made to be broken

"Did you find anything?" Barry asked as soon as he sat down in one of the kitchen chairs.

"Docks are empty. Train stations are the same. All I find is old warehouses and I doubt he'd take her to any of them." Oliver responded, shutting his laptop roughly. He buried his face in his hands, tugging his fingers through his hair.
"I can't help thinking that I'm only finding what that prick wants me to find."

Barry couldn't help but notice how tired and weary he looked. Oliver hadn't really slept in a week, looking for anything that would point then to were Pippin was.

Joe sighed, attracting the attention of the men to himself. "Did she ever talk about any plans this Chekov had? Places he might take her if he was ever in Central City."

"Only places back in New York,"
Oliver answered, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Pippin never liked to talk about him. Not only because of the witness protection program but because of the trauma."

Oliver's words felt like a knife plunging deeper and deeper into Barry's heart, twisting and tearing as it did.
"From what she told me, that man was a monster." The kitchen had fallen into a silence while Oliver spoke. "He killed her best friend in front of her."

Barry abruptly stood up from the table, his chair screeching against the floor.
"I need air." He was already out the door before the two could say anything.
The crisp morning air burned in his lungs as he took a long, deep breath. He heard the door open behind him but he didn't look back to see who it was.

"Let's walk."
Hearing Oliver surprised him but he didn't show it. Instead he followed Oliver down the street. The weather had been cold and gray, with scattered showers of freezing rain.
It mirrored what the whole group was feeling.
Misery.

"When I first met Pippin,"
Barry looked up at Oliver who was staring straight ahead.

"She would sneak out of Felicity's apartment every night. I found her on the streets one night, fighting a group of men that were robbing an old lady." He shook his head, a sad smile curving on his face.
"She was vastly outnumbered and was getting beat up pretty bad but the thing that really caught my attention was that as soon as one knocked her down, she'd get back up again." Oliver paused, thoughtfully, his eyes glazing over in memory.
"There was a fire in her eyes as she fought. It wasn't anger, it was more like determination."

"When I helped her out and we got rid of the thugs, she gave me that lame excuse she always gives me when she's down."

Barry stared at the cement of the road, kicking at a pebble.

"I had it under control, Tight Pants."

They both shared a short laugh. A silence fell between them as they both drowned in their thoughts.

"I guess what I'm trying to say, Barry, is that Pippin has been a fighter for longer than you or I have been."
The two locked gazes.

"She'll make it through this."
Barry could've smiled as Oliver awkwardly gave him a hug.
"I'm glad she has someone like you in her life." He added, obviously uneasy saying those words.

Barry raised his eyebrows at him while Oliver simply cleared his throat.

"If you ever tell anyone I said that, I will shoved an arrow so far up your-"
"Boys!"

Barry laughed while Oliver simply shot him a glare.

"I think we found her."
As soon as the words tumbled from Felicity's tear-stained face, Barry was already there, dragging Oliver with him. He left the slightly out of breath man with Felicity, rushing to where Joe was on the phone.