The Line Between Living and Dying

Hero Training

"Hey." Barry climbed the stairs of a worn-down abandoned building to meet Oliver.

"You're late," Oliver said. "Barry, how can you have super-speed and still not be on time?"

"Sorry, I guess the super-tardiness kinda neutralizes it." Barry apologized. "And it's not like I'm the only one who's late."

Oliver furrowed his eyebrows. He opened his mouth to question Barry's comment when a different voice piped up.

"All right, Barry, why'd you want me to come here?"

Barry and Oliver turned to see Dani climb the same steps as Barry.

"Why is your friend here?" Oliver turned to Barry.

"Ouch." Dani feigned hurt. "But, yeah, same question." She crossed her arms, staring at Barry expectantly.

"He's gonna help us catch Bivolo. The meta." Barry stuttered out. "Uh, Oliver, Dani is actually my partner: Vortex."

"Barry!" Dani's eyes widened.

"No, it's okay cause Oliver's the Arrow!" Barry quickly said.

Oliver glared at Barry. He didn't care that Dani led the same double life as him and Barry. He didn't want more people knowing his identity.

Barry awkwardly cleared his throat. "So how do we catch Bivolo here?" He turned to his mentor.

"Oh, no, we don't here. We're here to train." Oliver said.

"What? Like Rocky?" Barry asked. Dani snorted at the speedster's question, earning a side glare from Oliver.

"I read your friend Iris' blog post on The Flash, and I visited all the crime scenes you fought at."

"Don't you sleep?" Dani questioned.

"Last month you took on a man named Leonard Snart." Oliver ignored Dani's question. 

"We call him Captain Cold," Barry informed.

"We can talk about you giving your enemies silly code names later." Oliver held back an eye roll.

"You mean like over coffee with Deathstroke and the Huntress?" Barry retorted. Dani chuckled, which put a smile on Barry's face as always. A smile that doesn't go unnoticed by Oliver.

"The point is that you engaged Snart on a commuter train, which he derailed."

"Okay, there may have been some damage, but I got the job done. With Dani's help. We were the heroes."

"Barry, when you approach a new environment, do you case every inch of it?" Oliver questioned. "You could. You have the time. But you don't." He started walking past Barry and Dani to his bike. "You just run in blind. There's a difference between having powers and having precision."

"When I came to you thinking about going out and helping people, you said I could be an inspiration," Barry argued.

Oliver grabbed his bow, knocking an arrow. "Living this life... well, it takes more than a mask. It takes discipline. And since you are probably as stubborn as I am--"

"What is that for?" Barry asked, a slight nervous tremor in his voice as he pointed to the bow.

Oliver nodded to a hill behind him. "You're going to run over there, you're going to come back at me, and you're going to get hit with an arrow."

Dani's eyes widened slightly. While he and Barry talked, she had the chance to silently observe Oliver. She could tell that he was smarter than he looked and an odd aura of confidence around him.