The visitors meet the Freedom Fighters, Sara makes a realization, and Oliver gets to be his threatening, overprotective self.

Enjoy!

***

Oliver stepped out of the elevator, followed by the rest of the heroes, Leo, and the prisoner introduced to them as Ray Terrill, looking around at the familiar room. "I guess we're in Earth-X's Star City," he remarked.

"I have to say, that's one hell of a story," Ray eyed them as they walked into the room. "You're a speedster," he pointed at Barry.

"Yeah," Barry nodded, looking around.

"OK," Ray looked between Stein and Jax. "You two turn into the burning man."

"Yup," Jax confirmed.

"You are the evil turned good doppelgänger of the New Reich's most well-known traitor," Ray turned to Laurel.

"I'm still processing that," Laurel muttered, Alex patting her shoulder.

"And you three," Ray turned to Oliver, Slade, and Malcolm, "are the good doppelgängers of the Führer and his top assassins and Reichsmen."

"Of course we would be," Slade snorted.

"I'm still processing the fact you're the Führer," Malcolm grinned at Oliver.

"I'm still processing the fact this Earth even exists," Oliver rolled his eyes. "Back on topic, please?"

"Seconded," Thea raised her hand.

"All right, then," Leo leaned against the table, looking at them. "You still haven't told us which Earth you're from. Clearly, it's not this one."

"Uh, I'm from Earth-38," Alex held up her hand.

"Earth-2," Laurel waved hers.

"And the rest of us are from Earth-1," Barry finished.

Leo's eyebrows shot up. "Earth-1?" he repeated, then looked at Ray. "Well . . . golly."

Jax frowned. "Am I missing something here?"

"I'm from Earth-1, too," Ray explained.

"If you're from our Earth, then you know how we got here, don't you?" Barry asked.

"Yeah, I have a pretty good idea," Ray nodded, reaching behind him for a tablet. "I think you guys . . . " He pulled something up and held the tablet up for them to see. "Came through this."

Slade frowned. "A temporal gateway?"

"It's like a breach, just more stable and larger," Laurel nodded.

"Much larger," Malcolm whistled, impressed.

"So we have a way to get back," Alex smiled.

Oliver nodded. "So where is this thing?"

"It's actually not too far from here," Leo answered.

"22.3 kilometers, to be exact," Ray pitched in.

"Well, we'd drive there," Leo shrugged.

"Good," Oliver looked between them. "So take us to it."

Ray winced, then shook his head. "Can't do that."

Oliver narrowed his eyes, followed by Alex, and Sara looked over when she saw Slade and Malcolm stiffen. "Why?" she asked before any of them could say something they might regret.

"Because the gateway's in a facility guarded by a not-so-small army of Nazis," Ray answered.

"Yeah, well, we've faced worse, so . . . " Jax shrugged.

"Look, it's our only way home," Barry told them. "We're going through it."

"Nobody's going through anything!" a familiar voice behind them stated, except in a much colder and sterner voice. Oliver and Alex whipped around at once, followed by Slade, Malcolm, Laurel, and Thea, and all of them watched as a more rugged version of Winn Schott walked up, his eyes narrowed. "Because we're blowing it the hell up."

"Winn?" Alex and Oliver asked at the same time, Alex's jaw falling open, Oliver blinking in confusion.

"Please," Leo walked past them. "Freedom Fighter General Schott."

"General Schott?" Alex repeated faintly.

"Yeah," Schott narrowed his eyes at her. "And who are you?"

"God, this Earth just keeps screwing with my head," Thea rubbed her forehead.

"Preaching to the choir," Malcolm exchanged glances with Slade.

"They're new friends, from Earth-1," Leo explained.

"They're on our side," Ray assured him.

"Except for the part where you want to blow up our only way home," Thea scowled.

"We don't exactly want to," Leo amended.

"Everyone we care about is on the other side of that gateway, imprisoned by Nazis," Barry told them.

"The Nazis that want to cut open my sister," Alex nodded. "Our sister," she amended, gesturing to Slade, Malcolm, and Laurel, all three of whom nodded in agreement, making Sara do a double take and look at Alex in shock. She had never heard that little detail before. Although, when she thought about the way they had reacted when Black Arrow had revealed what they wanted Kara for . . . she could see the key characteristic of sibling overprotectiveness. She frowned, considering Slade and Malcolm again. Siblings, huh? Well, they certainly had the bickering down. "We have to get back," Alex finished.

"Eliminate that facility, and you eliminate our only chance of saving our friends from your enemies," Stein nodded.

"I'm sorry, but we've been waiting for an opportunity like this for years," Schott shook his head. "We cannot wait any longer. This is our only chance to separate the Führer from his army. We are trying to turn this war around."

"You are gonna leave our Earth at the mercy of the five psychopaths who have ravaged yours!" Oliver countered angrily, then turned to Slade and Malcolm. "No offense."

"You included yourself in that, kid," Slade reminded him.

"But none taken," Malcolm shook his head.

Schott scowled. "Wait, why do these men look exactly like the Führer and the Reichsmen I am trying to kill?"

"You wanna try?" Malcolm narrowed his eyes as Slade growled.

Oliver just sank his teeth into his lip and turned around, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Look, fingerless gloves," Sara stepped forward before any of them could blow up at the man. "All we are asking is for a little bit of time. Let us get into the facility and through that gateway."

"The gateway is guarded by fifty Panzer Xils, fifty Sturmtigers, and one hundred Schutzstaffel officers," Leo informed them. "Not the best odds, maybe."

"I'll take them," Oliver and Alex said at the same time.

"No!" Schott glared at them both. "You will not!" He turned to Leo and Ray angrily. "We are blowing up that gateway right now. Final order!"

He stormed off past them, Barry shaking his head in disbelief. This was far from the Winn that was currently back on Earth-1. "Sorry he's a little rough around the edges," Leo sighed apologetically, "but he is the general, and he's issued his commands."

Alex fumed, then turned to go after Schott. "Hey, hey, hey," Ray ran over, blocking her way. "You won't change his mind. No one does."

"Look," Alex narrowed her eyes. "On my Earth, he and I are like family, and he would do anything to help my sister."

Ray opened his mouth, but Leo stopped him. "Ray, let her try."

Ray sighed, then moved off to the side. Alex nodded curtly and walked past him. Barely a second later, Oliver went to follow her. "That might not be a good idea, Ollie," Thea warned.

"He definitely won't help someone who looks like the Führer," Ray agreed.

"It may be her sister on the line," Oliver narrowed his eyes to slits. "But it's the woman I love that's going to die if he doesn't. That will be on him if we don't make it back in time to safe her. So get out of my way, now."

Ray swallowed, then looked nervously at Leo. He just quirked an eyebrow in reply, not making a move to help him. When Oliver walked after Alex, Ray didn't try to stop him again. "I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that he's talking about his version of the Führer's wife?" Leo drawled.

"He really needs to put a ring on her already," Thea remarked.

"Yeah, that's if we get back," Barry couldn't help but throw a glare in the direction Schott had gone.

"If we don't, I know who's going to be bleeding from his ears," Laurel scowled.

"There's gonna be a line," Slade growled. "And it starts behind Oliver."

Sara folded her arms, leaning against another table and looking down at her boots. So far, this adventure was one surprise after another. First Slade and Malcolm fighting on Oliver's side at the church, then pitching in against the Nazis. Now here they were on overprotective mode about getting back to Kara, who was apparently their sister. And if Kara was anything to go by, she thought of them as her brothers. "You really have changed, haven't you?" she finally looked up at Slade.

He looked back at her. "I don't think I can ever make up for what I did while under the influence of the mirakuru," he told her. "That doesn't mean I can't try."

And for the first time in years, Sara managed to give him a small smile. "That sounds like the Slade Wilson I knew."

***

Alex looked behind her when she saw Oliver catch up to her. "You don't have to do this."

"I wouldn't be telling you that," Oliver pointed out.

Alex conceded the point with a nod, and together, they walked up to where Schott was reviewing blueprints of some kind. He heard them coming and scoffed. "You two don't seem to know how to take an order."

"That's because I'm used to giving them," Oliver deadpanned.

"Ditto," Alex nodded. "You can't do this, Winn."

"General Schott," he raised his voice, turning to them; neither backed down. "Look, I don't know who the hell you think you are, but this planet has been at war for generations. We are tired. These men are dying for the same causes their grandfathers did!"

"We are not asking you to surrender," Oliver watched him walk around the table. "Just let us get back home before you destroy that thing. We're just asking for a little time."

"Time is what I can't give you!" Schott snapped at him, and Oliver glared right back at him. Whether Schott looked at him like that because he looked like the Führer or he was just annoyed, he didn't know. Frankly, Oliver didn't care, either. Schott took a deep breath, then explained. "They have a weapon. A doomsday weapon, powerful enough to affect other worlds. It has to be eliminated."

"Winn," Alex swallowed, walking over to him. "Please." She put her hand on his arm, and he tensed, but she didn't let go. "The Führer on your Earth, the people that you hate, they're going to kill my sister if you don't let us get back to save her." He seethed, but let Alex continue. "On my Earth, my sister is your closest friend. She's saved you countless times. You would do anything to help her. You would do anything to help each other, no matter the risk, without question. That's probably what he's doing back there, trying to save her, right now. So all I'm asking for is a chance, please!"

"Would this sister of yours happen to look exactly like the Führer's wife?" Schott asked icily. Oliver growled angrily, making Alex cringe, and Schott sighed. "Look, I am sorry about your sister, and about your Earth, I truly am . . . but today, I have the chance to protect my people, my Earth. My decision stands!"

"Winn!" Alex cried as he walked off.

Oliver took in her devastated face, then narrowed his eyes and walked after Schott. "Is it because she's the look-alike of the Führer's wife?" he demanded, stopping the man dead. "Or are you really not going to give us a chance?"

"Excuse me if I don't want to go on the word of the man who looks exactly like the man who's the reason my world is hell!" Schott snapped.

"I don't care if I do!" Oliver snarled. "The only thing I have in common with that monster is that I would do anything to save the woman I love! And that woman is the exact opposite of my doppelgänger's wife! Do you know why?" He plowed through Schott before he could even open his mouth. "My brother in all but blood was injected that sent him on a mad rampage on my home city. He killed my mother in front of me and my sister. I didn't know if I could get the man I used to know back. My sister's father was responsible for me losing my father, for me being lost at sea. He was responsible for the death of my best friend, my former love, and I could even trace my sister's near death back to him! I never wanted to trust him ever again! And a woman who's from another Earth, who looks like a woman I used to love, manipulated me into thinking I was the original her. She teamed up with an enemy of mine to take away everything I loved. I nearly gave up on her." He walked closer, narrowing his eyes. "Kara didn't," he hissed. "She didn't know any of them, but she gave them a chance. It didn't matter if people thought they had the blackest of hearts. Kara saw something in them that none of them did. Now I trust them above anyone else, except me and her sister, to protect her. That's the kind of people they've become because of her." He folded his arms, seething. "That's the woman you're refusing to help us get back to. And if you're the reason she dies . . . I'll be back with an army of people who would gladly avenge her death. You'll be the first on our list."

Schott swallowed, and feeling his point was made, Oliver spun on his heel and stormed back towards the others.

***

Thea sighed as Alex walked back, wiping at her eyes. "I'm guessing General Schott didn't give?"

"No," Alex sighed. "At least, not to me."

"Twenty bucks says Oliver's threatening the hell out of him right now," Malcolm remarked.

Slade rolled his eyes. "None of us are going to take that bet."

"Why not?"

"Because you'd win, wizard."

"Even on this Earth, it's magician."

"Can the two of you ever stop bickering like children?" Sara couldn't help but ask.

"No," Alex, Thea, and Laurel snorted at the same time.

"Hey!" both men protested.

"See?" Alex gestured to them. "Point made."

"I like our Winn much better," Oliver announced as he walked back over, a scowl on his face.

"I've only known him for a few days, and I agree," Stein frowned.

"So we're stuck here?" Jax groaned.

"I'm up for just storming the bloody gateway," Slade looked around.

"That makes two of us," Oliver nodded.

"Three," Alex held up her hand.

"Four," Malcolm pitched in.

"Five," Laurel held up her hand.

"No offense, but it's really weird to hear you talk about her like that," Ray looked at Laurel.

"Why's that so surprising?" Laurel frowned.

"Does this have to do with her doppelgänger being a traitor?" Barry asked.

"You don't know?" Leo raised an eyebrow. "Golly. I'm actually surprised she's even here."

"Why?" Thea frowned.

"I would have thought Overgirl would have crushed her skull with her bare hands."

"OK, I do not need that image," Sara grimaced, putting her hand over her eyes.

"What did I even do?" Laurel asked, looking between them. "Apparently I'm a traitor, but . . . what did I do?"

Leo and Ray exchanged uneasy glances. "That bad, huh?" Jax asked.

"It's bad," Leo admitted.

"Then tell us," Barry looked around. "Better to know the entire story than be left in the dark."

Leo sighed, looking Laurel in the eye. "Because if there's one thing the Reich hates more than traitors . . . it's someone who stabs them in the back."

A pin dropped could have been heard, there was utter silence among the visitors. "Explain," Oliver said quietly, his eyes narrowed. "Now."

***

The moment I saw that scene with Alex and Earth-X Winn, I knew Oliver was going to be right there with her trying to argue their case.

And next chapter, we finally learn the back story of the Earth-Xers.