Fanfic / Flip a Coin

Flip a Coin is a cross-over between The Flash (2014) and Supergirl (2015) written by Thephantomprince. It is a For Want Of A Nail fic with the change being the intervention of a higher being who gives Barry a little bit of information and a simple choice...

Can be found here on Archive of Our Own.

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Flip a Coin provides examples of:

• Adaptation Name Change: Ironically inverted. Mon-El, known as Lar in the comics, is called Mon-El in Supergirl (2015), but in this fic, he agrees to go by Larry when posing as a human, and asks for it to be shortened to Lar, unwittingly adopting his original name from the comics.
• Adaptational Sexuality: Given the ambiguous wording when he's talking about people he's slept with as well as his mentioned attraction to both Superman and Supergirl, Mon-El is apparently bisexual.
• Almost Kiss: Barry and Kara nearly have one near the end of chapter one.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Barry expounds on his past and reveals that he was never really able to outrun his father's crime until he was an adult, so he had few friends until then.
• Alternate Self: It turns out that Barry does have a doppelganger on Earth-38: Detective Barry West, whose father actually did kill his mother, and was subsequently adopted by Joe West.
• Always Someone Better: What happens when you, arguably the strongest being on your world, runs into someone who is just as strong as you are, with an even stronger Combo Platter Powers set? Feelings of inadequacy.
• Badass Normal: The fic makes it clear that even if Barry and Kara have powers, someone like Alex or Artemis can take them down.
• Batman Gambit: Artemis Crock's plan hinges on Kara making assumptions and not informing Alex about something important, as well as running off without consulting her team.
• Big Eater: National City's resident heroes probably eat enough for ten people in a day. Barry even asks about how Kara can afford her eating binges, which he requires help with back home.
• Birds of a Feather: One of the things that draws Barry and Kara closer together is their shared experience over the ups and downs of being a superhero. Alex also seems to feel this way about Artemis as a fellow ass-kicker. A nonromantic variety between Winn and Barry.
• Cover-Blowing Superpower: Barry can't use his superspeed at his day job anymore, much to his frustration.
• Chick Magnet: Barry Allen and Lar, ladies and gentlemen.
• Childhood Friends: Barry and Iris.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Kara gets shades of this when she sees women flirting with Barry.
• Deadpan Snarker: Most of the characters get these moments, most notably J'onn and Alex.
• Determinator: Barry, upon hearing Kara's speech and regaining his mind, activates his rapid-healing ability so quickly and forcefully that it pushes out machines that are described as embedded in his body.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Most of the characters who have clear cut Love Interests fall victim to this trope.
• Embarrassing Nickname: 'The Blur' for Barry.
• Freudian Slip: Barry and Kara have a couple in regards to how they feel about one another.
  Kara: (as Barry is staring at her, dumbstruck) Something wrong? You seem a bit distracted.
  Barry: Yes. You're fine. I mean, I am. Fine, that is. In good health.
• Heroic Build: Though he's not a hero yet, Mon-El counts. Barry qualifies as well, though he's constantly ribbed about not being very gifted in the arms.
• Hypocritical Humor: Kara is disparaging of humans for forming bonds with people too quickly just before she proposes to someone who she just met.
• Inconvenient Attraction: Barry and Kara come to regard their feelings for each other as this.
• Never Gets Drunk: Averted for both Kara and Barry, courtesy of Lar.
• Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Barry, as demonstrated in World's Finest, is able to whip up advanced algorithms and mechanical devices to help against Livewire. However, he does mention that he's not nearly as good as Winn and when his tachyon device breaks, he doesn't even entertain the idea that he can fix it.
• Point of View: Originally just Barry and Kara in the early chapters, but expands to Alex, Winn, Lar and J'onn later.
• Reed Richards Is Useless: Maxwell Lord manages to easily give rats Barry's Speed Force connections after only a few days, but he concludes trying to give it to a human would probably kill them.
• Running Gag: People bringing up the fact that Barry isn't very muscular.
• Screw Destiny: Apparently one of Barry's reasons for remaining on Earth 38.
• Shout-Out:
  • To the Bobiverse with the character of Robert Johanson although eventually it turns out to be Klarion the Witch-Boy possessing the body of a Bob.
  • Two chapters are named after Hamilton songs.
  • When telling Kara that she needs to be stealthier, Alex brings up how there are people who watch the skies for a living.
• Talking Is a Free Action: Subverted, particularly in Partners in Justice. Whenever the POV character starts reminiscing or thinking about other things, it's clear that it's just them being quiet and thinking, with other characters noting their silence and trying to get their attention.
• Workaholic: Barry attempts to be this in regards to improving his speed. It doesn't take.