Never Be Silent
by Ray_Writes is an Arrowverse Fanfic that takes place in late Season Four of Arrow and late Season Two of The Flash (2014). It is a Deconstruction Fic that discusses, examines, and deconstructs the treatment of metahumans in the early seasons of The Flash.
Official Summary: When Curtis messes with Laurel's Canary Cry choker to save Oliver from Larvan’s bees, a secret Team Arrow never realized existed is revealed, prompting them to take a harder look at their counterparts in Central City and the way metahumans are treated.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Superpower Change: In this story, in turns out that Laurel's choker isn't what really gives her the Canary Cry. The Cry actually comes from Laurel herself, as she's really a metahuman with a Super-Scream power.
- Armor-Piercing Response: When the heroes go public about the need to be more considerate of metahumans rather than judge them all as potential criminals, radio announcer Gordon Godfrey issues his own statement about how metahumans have hardly been 'mistreated' given their impressive powers. While there is no sign that Godfrey himself was bothered by the response, Griffin Grey's broadcast about how his own powers give him heightened strength at the cost of accelerated aging confirm that metahumans need help like everyone else and put a face on the issue.
- Boomerang Bigot: Team Flash is an interesting variation. Because of Thawne's manipulations and their malicious encounters with just about every metahuman they met in Season One, they unconsciously operated under the assumption that all metahumans except Barry and a select few others were inherently antagonistic. That continues even after Cisco learns he's a metahuman, and isn't evil, proving that premise is wrong. It isn't until they learn Laurel is a metahuman and meet other normal people who became metahumans do they realize their folly.
- Deconstruction Fic:
- The story deconstructs the ways metahumans were treated in Season One and Season Two. While it acknowledges that circumstances Barry and co. were under forced them to make hard choices, in addition to being unknowingly manipulated by Eobard Thawne/"Harrison Wells" and later Hunter Zolomon/"Jay Garrick", that doesn't change the fact that Team Flash illegally held multiple metahumans in subpar conditions for several months and outright killed those they couldn't contain. Those conditions did severe psychological damage to the prisoners (some of whom, such as Peekaboo/Shawna Baez, weren't hardened criminals before their imprisonment but certainly were after), in addition to leaving their various families, friends, and acquaintances in the dark over their fates. That in turn led to several metahumans coming to fear the Flash, since they associate him with all these mysterious disappearances.
- It also deconstructs the Masquerade. Team Flash's desire to uphold the secrecy about metahumans is what caused them to make the decision to use the Pipeline as a secret prison in the first place, along with withholding information about those metahumans who ended up dying from the public. Even with metahumans now out in the open, they find themselves upholding a new masquerade of keeping the multiverse a secret — which is why they haven't sent Harry to jail yet, even though he outright murdered someone (admittedly for sympathetic reasons). This leaves them with the dilemma of wondering whether or not upholding the masquerade is worth compromising their morals for, the answer of which is beginning to lean towards "no".
- The treatment of metahumans on Earth-2 is also deconstructed. Laurel points out that the metahuman detection watch that Harry created is basically Profiling, which is suspected by Team Arrow to have increased the Fantastic Racism metahumans face. It's also suspected to be how Zoom was able to find so many metahumans for his forces, with those he couldn't convince to join him willingly because of the persecution they were faced with being threatened into doing so anyway. A later chapter confirms this to be correct, after the Metapocalypse is foiled and several metahumans immediately show themselves willing to turn on Zoom now that he's no longer a threat to them.
- On a more minor note, this fic also deconstructs Oliver and Felicity's relationship, particularly the latter continuously insulting the former behind his back. When Caitlin shares with Oliver that Felicity had commented that she only liked him for his body, this helps Oliver realize how shallow their relationship is.
- Demoted to Extra:
- Felicity. Since Laurel never gets stabbed by Darhk, Felicity has no reason to reconcile with Oliver or rejoin Team Arrow. Other than two short scenes and a cameo as one of Star's illusions, she has no presence in the story, and the ending doesn't touch on what happened to her after Darhk's defeatnote .
- Gordon Godfrey. He's still a public figure broadcasting against superhumans, but there's nothing to indicate he has any affiliation with the likes of Darkseid and is apparently just a normal reporter.
- Didn't Think This Through: Thea is forced to acknowledge that Team Arrow didn't seriously think through all the details of Oliver's decision to run for mayor after a comment from Alex points out that, had Oliver been elected, he would've likely had to grant a tax break to Palmer Tech in exchange for Felicity's campaign contributions. The fact that she can't even remember whether the funds came from Palmer Tech or Felicity's own personal account only serves as a further indictment against them.
- Doppelgänger Gets Same Sentiment: Although Black Siren tries to dismiss her counterpart as weak and this Oliver as inferior to her own (the Oliver of Earth-2 apparently never cheated on Siren with Sara), when she actually sees him without the hood it distracts Siren long enough for Laurel to take her out.
- The Dreaded: Distressingly, The Flash has become this to metahumans, because, as far as anyone was aware in Season One, any metahuman who had a confrontation with him 'disappeared', with those that returned having changed thanks to the psychological trauma induced from their time in the Pipeline. Some, such as Tony Woodward and Farooq Gibran, are still considered publicly missing, as Team Flash didn't think to turn over their bodies and inform their respective families and loved ones what happened to them. When Team Flash themselves learn this, they're understandably horrified.
- Due to the Dead: At the end of the story, Oliver and Laurel decide to turn the former C.N.R.I. building into a shelter for metas. Barry suggests naming it after Bette Sans Souci as the first meta he failed to help, establishing it as a place for metas to come for help or even somewhere to stay.
- "Eureka!" Moment: A very strange variation. After Caitlin makes a comment about Felicity only liking Oliver for his body (her assumption as to why the relationship between them ended), Oliver has a brief moment of realization of something and cuts off her apology, stating that it's something he needed to hear. It's implied that Cailtlin's comment helped him realize how shallow his relationship with Felicity was, as while they were attracted to each other, they had very little in common.
- Fantastic Racism: The crux of the conflicts in the story is the increasing amount of racism metahumans face, something Team Arrow is forced to contend with after it's revealed Laurel is a metahuman.
- Hidden Disdain Reveal: Caitlin's internal thoughts reveal that she always found Felicity's sex jokes to be in very poor taste. She even assumes that such comments towards Oliver were why he and Felicity broke up.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: In order to swing things back into the favor of H.I.V.E., Malcolm arranges for Star, a little girl with the metahuman ability to draw out people's fears, to attack Team Arrow with illusions of their own fears, such as Thea being confronted by Roy telling her she's a poor successor to him or Laurel hearing Diggle say she's useless without her powers. Once Oliver finds Star, he removes the headband Malcolm is using to protect him from Star's illusions and Star attacks Malcolm with an illusion of Rebecca's death, allowing Oliver and Thea to kill him.
- I Did What I Had to Do: How Oliver and Thea ultimately feel about killing Malcolm. Neither of them relish the idea of killing Malcolm (regardless of what a bastard he was) both because of Thou Shalt Not Kill and because he was Thea's father. But that doesn't change the fact that it needed to be done, so they can't find it in themselves to regret the act.
- It's All My Fault: Cisco in particular berates himself for causing Laurel and Oliver's injuries by not telling Laurel that she was at least potentially a meta.
- Mirror Match: During the Metapocalypse, Laurel ends up fighting Black Siren. Siren initially has the advantage due to having her powers longer and not being afraid to use them to their fullest extent, but the tides begin to turn after Oliver joins the fight. Then, when one of Siren's attacks accidentally injures Oliver, an enraged Laurel slams her with the full force of her scream, winning the battle.
- Motive Decay: Discussed between Oliver and John. Oliver points out that John is the one who told him that he needed to help the people of the city in a more direct way, and somewhere along the way they've lost sight of that because of all the constant attacks from various supervillains. As a result, despite those words, the city hasn't changed as much as they'd like, something that Oliver wants to correct.Oliver: You used to tell me I could be more than just the Hood and my father’s mission, that I had a responsibility to help those who were helpless in a more direct way. What happened to that, John? What happened to us?
John: I… I don’t know. Slade? The League? Darhk? They’ve been taking all our time.
Oliver: They’ve been nothing but a distraction, and the city hasn’t changed. Not enough. - Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: During the Final Battle, Darhk's intention is to show the power of metas to inspire fear against them as Malcolm forces Star, a little girl who can generate illusions, to create hallucinations during a riot. Instead, this riot gives Team Arrow and their allies a chance to show the positives of metas as the Flash comes to assist in stopping the prisoners along with a group of other metas from Central City.
- Not Your Problem: Subverted. John tries to convince Oliver to stay out of the metahuman issue to prevent a possible fight between Team Arrow and Team Flash, after Felicity suggests to him that the only reason he's getting involved is because Laurel is a metahuman. However, while Oliver acknowledges that Laurel's situation is what alerted him to the issue, he also points out that even if that weren't the case, they'd still be involved because metahumans are not isolated to Central City. They're everywhere now, and they aren't going away. Upon hearing that, John can only concede that he's right.
- Point of Divergence: The Super-Scream that Laurel unleashes at the beginning of the story ends up changing a lot of events for both teams:
- The Khushu Idol is obliterated into dust by Laurel's attack, making Genesis Day impossible to execute as Darhk no longer has any magic and can no longer draw any power from the numerous deaths that Genesis Day would cause.
- With no idol, Laurel's canonical death is completely averted, both because the prison riot is delayed and because Darhk can't use his powers to stab her with one of Oliver's arrows.
- Andy Diggle's position is far more precarious with Darhk's victory no longer assured, so he decides to cut his losses. He gets a quick payday from Ruve Darhk for spying on Team Arrow and smuggling in Star to Malcolm and then makes plan to skip town entirely.
- Laurel's scream also accidentally temporarily deafens Oliver, forcing both of them to stay in Central for several weeks to both get treatment for Oliver's hearing and so Laurel can have help mastering her Cry. The two teams grow closer as a result, and without Genesis Day as a distraction Barry feels comfortable asking both of them for help in dealing with the Metapocalypse.
- Jesse's speed activates early, allowing her to save Henry from being captured and killed by Zoom and thus preventing Barry from creating Flashpoint.
- Pompous Political Pundit: Gordon Godfrey as always, though this time with elements of Shock Jock thrown in since he's a radio show host instead of a talk show host like usual.
- Profiling: The metahuman-detection watches Harry created essentially functions as this, as it makes it impossible for metahumans to hide and therefore makes it easier for them to be discriminated against out of the assumption that all metahumans are inherently malevolent. Harry doesn't really acknowledge the implications of his creation until Jesse is turned into a metahuman, whereupon he realizes he set up his daughter's life to be ruined.
- Spanner in the Works: Jesse Quick, despite being completely unaware of her new speed, manages to protect Henry Allen from Zoom long enough for Barry to take him down.
- Spared by the Adaptation:
- Laurel unknowingly averts her canonical death by destroying the Khushu idol beyond repair.
- Laurel is able to talk Griffin Grey down from his vendetta and convince him to come to S.T.A.R. Labs for help.
- Later, Jesse's superspeed kicks in in time for her to save Henry from Zoom.
- Take a Third Option: At the conclusion of the story, Darhk attacks Laurel during the prison breakout, intending to put her in a position where Laurel can kill him with her abilities and condemn metahumans in the public eye or be forced to let Darhk kill her to avoid tarring others in that manner. Instead, Laurel forces them both off the catwalk where they were fighting, saving herself with her Canary Cry while Darhk is caught and handcuffed by the Flash before he lands, as Laurel had just seen Barry approaching.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Oliver fears that his cavalier way of treating his enemies and their rights is what convinced Barry that using the Pipeline as a long-term prison was okay. It's for that reason is that he resolves hold himself to a higher standard, so that way Team Flash is better inspired by his example.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: Oliver and Laurel. Laurel knows she's still in love with Oliver but is convinced he no longer loves her, while Oliver himself feels he's unworthy of her in general and counts himself lucky she's still willing to be a part of his life at all. Their time together in S.T.A.R. Labs only exacerbates the problem, as while it gives them time to further repair their fractured friendship, it also reminds them they're still romantically compatible. Ultimately, it takes Oliver learning that Laurel still loves him for him to finally overcome his fears and insecurities and get back together with her.
- What the Hell, Hero?: A key element of the story is Team Arrow confronting Team Flash about the methods they used to contain metahumans, as the Pipeline cells amount to psychological torture given the minimal facilities. While Oliver and his allies concede that Barry, Caitlin and Cisco were basically manipulated into taking such extreme measures by Thawne-as-Wells and conventional prisons had no means of containing such prisoners when Barry started out anyway, Barry and his allies are still ashamed to realise they went so far that, among other things, they haven't even told a woman that her son's been dead for over a year.
- Would Hurt a Child: Andy, Malcolm and Ruve have no problem treating Star as a weapon rather than a terrified girl.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: When Barry expresses disappointment in himself for the way he's treated other metas over the last couple of years, his father points out that Barry at least always made sure that the people he captured had actually committed crimes, rather than locking people up who might have been innocent.
