When: March 20.
Where: Burgers on 22nd.
Status: Complete.
Rating: PG. Nothing too serious here. References to character death and mental health.
Laurel already felt more settled in Vallo than she had expected to be. Though, she supposed, that was hardly surprising. Getting to see Sara had really helped. She'd missed her sister more than she had cared to admit in the months that Sara had been gone on the Waverider and, having died and ended up here only to find out that years had passed, she was concerned about Sara. Her sister had never had the healthiest relationship with her emotions - none of their family had if she was being honest - and she hated to think of Sara dealing with her grief alone. It had eased something inside of her to see that her sister was okay. Seeing Felicity and Mia had also helped things. She couldn't believe that Felicity and Oliver had a daughter. And Mia was absolutely perfect. She could already tell she would be wrapped around that little girl's finger before too long. Getting some changes of clothes had also been a godsend. You could only spend so much time in black leather.
Of course, it wasn't all so simple as that. No matter how happy she was to see her sister or reunite with her friends, she was still dealing with the fact that she had died. That she had been killed. It had been violent or bloody and she still felt an ache between her ribs where Darhk had stabbed her. She hadn't slept well the night before, dreaming about the fight and Darhk's words. She'd woken in a sweat and, for the first time in too long, she'd considered pouring herself a drink. She'd finally fallen asleep with her two year chip clutched in her fist and an uneasiness heavy in her gut.
But she was meeting Cisco today and she hoped that would chase away some of her demons. She'd always liked the scientist, even though they hadn't been able to see each other as much as she might have liked back home. They'd each had their own responsibilities. But Cisco had been one of the first people who had actually seemed to have faith in her as the Black Canary, who had helped her to be a better hero, and she would always be grateful to him for that. She could admit she had a soft spot for him. So it made sense to meet up for burgers and to catch up. She could only imagine how much crazier things had gotten for him in the last few years.
She reached Burgers on 22nd St., easy enough to find given the name, and smiled brightly as she spotted Cisco. "Cisco Ramon!" she greeted him. "How is my favorite scientist?" She didn't feel bad saying that because Felicity wasn't technically a scientist. She was a computer specialist. It was different.
Cisco hadn't slept much either, but for other reasons. He'd been trying to figure out how Barry's ring suit worked. He'd never really gotten a chance to inspect it before Crisis happened, so he was annoyed. Barry had been protective of it which was a bit irritating-but Cisco could figure it out whether or not Barry allowed him to. He was an engineer, it was his job to figure stuff out. Dissect things and put them back together. For Laurel, he was trying to figure out a stronger material than her last suit. Something that could regenerate perhaps.
He'd arrived on time, but still had a pencil behind his ear that he'd forgotten about in his hurry to get ready. His long hair was tied back into a slick ponytail, it bothered him while he sketched away designs. He'd had enough of it so back it went. He was still in thought while he leaned up against a guard rail. His brain moved faster than his physical body so it really was no surprise he was still stuck on different suit material. He probably should have asked for her suit, but nope. He was going to make her something brand new. Something from scratch without all the bad memories attached to it. He'd made that decision as soon as she said that suit was trashed.
When she approached he almost hadn't heard her, gears in his head still shifting away. Her call of his name shook him out of his thoughts and he instantly brightened up. "Laurel, I can't believe it's really you." And without hesitation, hug one of ten thousand was given. He rarely initiated touch these days, but she was a special case.
Laurel was receptive to the hug. She'd promised Cisco he was allowed to hug her ten thousand times after all, and she'd meant it. She'd been a little ill at ease with the crowds of the city, but it was better with someone familiar around. She knew it was going to take a while to get past what had happened to her, and she was going to need her friends to help her through it. Sure, she didn't actually plan on asking for help, but just having them around would do a lot.
"It's really me," she said, once they had both decided the hug had lasted long enough. Cisco gave good hugs. "Alive and kicking." She knew that had to be a surprise to people. There had been another Laurel, apparently, who had been evil and then not. And a lot of people who had been dead were back. Just not her. She tried not to feel too hurt by that. She knew if there was any way to get her back, Sara would have done it. She just hated thinking her death was some kind of tentpole of the timeline.
"So," she said, "want to go check out this burger monstrosity and you can catch me up on all the chaos I've missed? Not to mention whatever ideas you've already come up with for me. I know you, Cisco. You already have ideas."
It was very weird but he was glad, he had no complaints that she was there whatsoever. He lingered a bit with that hug. She was still one of the coolest people he knew, and that original suit was iconic and going to be a lot to contest with but he'd try his best to come up with something new. Something only she'd have as far as original designs went.
"How are you settling in?" Cisco had grown up a bit since she'd last seen him, but underneath it all he was still the same fanboy engineer she'd met at CCPD. He looked her over and then thumbe over at the place "C'mon then." It was an interesting burger shop with all sorts of different kinds of burgers. "They have a killer mac and cheese one too. The Ramen one is weird. I may have tried out a few." He trailed off with a sheepish smile.
"I may have a few ideas already. Yeah. I'm gonna make you a new suit, if you want me to retire the old one entirely I can. Or you can, however you'd like to handle that." He led her toward a more secluded booth away from masses of people. Cisco also wasn't a fan of crowds, likely due to spending most of his life in a secluded lab. But still he understood crowd anxiety all too well. He gave her a card he'd taken from the condiments tray that allowed her to fill out whatever she'd want on a burger or their signature ones.
"It's definitely an adjustment," Laurel admitted. That was the closest she could come to acknowledging she wasn't as at peace with her death as she was trying to portray. "But Sara has been great about helping me get settled. Felicity too. She was nice enough to loan me some clothes until I can build up my own wardrobe. I still can't believe Felicity is a mom. It's a lot to take in. But Mia is such a sweetheart. What about you? How are you finding it here?"
She grinned at Cisco's admission that he'd tried several of the burgers. "I'm sure I'll have tried most of them by next month," she assured him. "But today is all about the peanut butter and the bacon. You got me curious about that one and now I have to try it." She took the card to fill out for the burger she wanted, selecting the burger in question and making sure it had pickles on it and fries on the side, before turning her attention to milkshakes. Because that was the real point of this. "Oh good, they have a chocolate peanut butter milkshake so this is going to be a very good combo." Plus she could dip her fries in her milkshake, which was the only correct way to do things, no matter what some people might think.
"I knew you'd have ideas," she said brightly. "You're a genius." After all, he'd reworked her entire Canary Cry in about a day the first time they'd met. "And I think it's probably best to scrap the old suit entirely." It hurt to say it but she just couldn't see herself wearing it again. It had too many negative associations now. It had always been her suit, but it was time for a change. She needed to be a new Canary to get through this. A better Canary. And with Cisco's help, she was pretty sure she could do that.
He glanced over at her with a hint of concern as they slid into the booths. "You know, it's okay not to be okay" In case she needed to hear it, not that he expected she'd have some kind of breakdown in the burger joint but maybe it would help to talk about stuff. "If you need to talk, I'm always around." And he didn't mean just about all the things everyone else was doing. If she needed to talk about dying, or rant or whatever he could be a sounding board, it was what friends did. "Adjustment is the best way to describe it, yes." He shrugged when she asked how he was settling in. "Nobody from my team is here, so that's kinda weird." It'd been so long since he'd been without team flash that being on his own was a bit hard.
Then she brought the subject to a happier note and he nodded. "I'm not gonna show you the new sketches yet, but soon." He reached for the pencil behind his ear automatically and blinked at it. Giving a slightly amused eye roll he put the pencil to the paper and got the mac and cheese burger. "I might need to find a gym because of this place." He smirked, but thanks to his own powers he was not really gaining any pounds. Yay meta metabolism side effects. But he also didn't lose any on the flip side. He liked that Laurel didn't just see him for his powers, calling him a genius caused a smile to remain on his face. He thought to tell her he had some now too, but he hesitated. She just knew him as Cisco Ramon, the scientist and he liked that.
"Let me take it." He had a better idea than to just scrap it. These suits were part of the people who wore them, they deserved to have a better purpose than the scrap heap. "I'm thinking black dwarf star. And tachyons. I might be able to manipulate them to create a regenerating material. If it gets struck it'll regenerate before it can be penetrated. And dwarf star is what Barry's suit is made of, it can withstand a lot." He was already thinking. He couldn't help it. "Not to mention we'll give that look a little twenty-twenty upgrade too." Cisco circled a cookies and cream shake to go along with his already high calorie lunch. Probably was more calories than he needed an entire day.
Laurel managed to keep her composure at his words, but it was a near thing. She didn't need anyone telling her that it was okay to not be okay. She knew that. She wasn't fragile and she didn't need people holding her hand. She could get through this. She was strong enough to deal with what had happened. "I'm fine," she insisted, a bit harsher than she intended, immediately regretting it once she'd spoken. This wasn't Cisco's fault. He was a friend and he cared and he didn't deserve her anger. She took a deep breath, considering things. "I'm sorry. It's just...I died. And I didn't die because I was a hero. Or because I was saving the day. Or because I was a competent ADA who put a man in prison. I died because a man decided that the way to hurt my father was to kill me. Because a man decided that my only value was as an object lesson. And it is...bullshit. But I'm dealing with it. And I do appreciate you being here for me."
"I'm looking forward to seeing your sketches," she said after a moment, because that was an easier topic to deal with. She didn't want to talk about what had happened to her or think about it more than necessary. She just wanted to move on with her life. And the first step was rebuilding the Black Canary. "I know they're going to be amazing." When he brought up needing to go to the gym, she nodded. "If you ever need a workout buddy let me know. Your team might not be here, but you have friends." She wasn't going to let Cisco feel alone here. He was a friend and she wanted to be there for him.
"Do whatever you want with it," she said with a shrug. She couldn't articulate how she felt about her costume. There were too many complicated associations. "I just think it's time to move on. Do something new." Something she hadn't died in. She smiled as he slipped in to geek speak, not exactly sure what some of the things he said meant but very much on board. "But your ideas...they sound really awesome. I have complete faith in whatever you decide to do."
Cisco tilted his head slightly at the snap, he should have expected that but he was awkward at best with these things. He could only look on with concern. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything, but he did want her to know he was there for her if she needed to rant. Her anger was justified. "I'm sorry. Just...if you want to talk more some time I'm around. Or you know, could just provide burgers." He tried to lighten the mood a little, he didn't mind just being the burger friend either no matter what she did he'd make himself available if she needed him. Be it during the day or three A.M., whatever. He was a night person anyway.
"I already have a few, but they aren't ready yet." Cisco didn't like showing off unrefined ideas. He was no slouch. She would see them when they were presentable which would be soon. His fingertips had black marker on them already from sketching.
He knew there were complicated feelings involved in every suit. He would find a way to take care of it. He did with every suit incarnation he was able to keep of Barry's. They were all his baby, every one of them was special. "And that's why you're my favorite." He grinned at her before a plate full of cheesy fries appeared before them. Apparently his theme of the day was cheese.
"You don't have to apologize, Cisco," Laurel assured him, still feeling bad about snapping the way she had. She needed to get her emotions under control, because she had no intention of falling back down the hole of darkness and anger she'd ended up in too many times already. When Tommy had died. When Sara had. She wasn't going to do that to herself again. And she wasn't going to hurt her friends just because she was hurting. "I don't want to talk about it right now, but maybe...eventually. Just not yet." It was still too raw and she worried she would end up saying something she would regret if she tried to deal with her feelings right now. "I appreciate it though. You're a good friend, Cisco."
Laurel knew Cisco could be kind of a perfectionist, so she wasn't surprised that he wasn't going to show off something unfinished. "Well, whenever they're ready," she told him, "I look forward to seeing them. Your work is always great."
Laurel laughed at the idea that she was his favorite. It was so bizarre to her, because she was pretty sure she wasn't anyone's favorite. Or maybe Starling had given her a skewed perspective on her own value. "You'd be the only one," she said, reaching over and stealing a cheese fry. Because cheese fries were always fair game. "But I appreciate the sentiment."
"That's fair, just don't forget you aren't alone." Cisco worried, that much was obvious but he was trying not to smother her with it. She needed time, so he'd respect that and nodded. "Whenever you're ready, even if it's the middle of the night. I don't sleep much." Unless Dan stepped in, or he used a sleep potion. Otherwise since arriving it was like the frequencies were bouncing around so much they were literally pinging his brain nonstop. He was glad to have this new project, it gave him something to hyper focus on and attempt to block out the frequency freak out.
He shook his head with a smile at her comment. "Food is on me." Apparently he was a sucker for a kind word or two, whatever. He knew people arrived with very little to their name. Cisco could be kind to a fault.
"Don't sell yourself short. You're a badass. Anyone who doesn't think so isn't worth worrying about." He gave her a raised eyebrow as she stole a fry, but smirked a minute later. "I don't share fries with just anyone you know, so feel special."
"I know I'm not alone," Laurel assured Cisco, even though sometimes it was hard to remember that. Still, she hoped that with Cisco and Sara and Felicity here it might be easier. She hated that Oliver was dead but part of her was relieved that he wouldn't be judging her every decision. That was unfair and selfish, but she was honestly tired of trying to prove herself. "I'll probably take you up on that." She didn't sleep much herself, so she knew where he was coming from. "But that goes both ways. You can talk to me too. If you need it." She had a feeling he did, but she wasn't going to push it.
"Thanks." She hadn't planned on him buying her lunch, but she appreciated it all the same. She was still getting her feet under her and the little bit of kindness helped more than she wanted to admit. She hoped that if Cisco's team showed up, they appreciated him. Otherwise, she was stealing him from them.
"I am a badass," she agreed, feeling a swell of confidence. Maybe this place could be good for her. "But so are you. Not everyone has to punch bad guys in the face to be awesome." Cisco had his brain and that was a pretty great weapon. She grinned and stuck her tongue out at him. "Everyone knows cheese fries are fair game. But I do feel special. So, how long have you been here? I know you said Star Labs was here so I'm guessing a little while?"
He wasn't there to talk about all his current issues, he was there to hang out with her. He wanted to be with her. They both needed the company, so he decided keeping things as light as they could all things considered was key. A shake arrived for each a moment later and he pulled off the lid to dip a relatively cheese free fry into the mixture of ice cream goodness. What, it was a sweet and salty thing. "I know, I'm okay though. One Crisis to another." He waved a hand with a smirk. Team Flash was always like that. It seemed like it was constantly one awful crazy meta after another. They barely had time to think about it at times. Cisco was learning recently, that wasn't a bad thing.
Cisco wanted to help his friends as much as he possibly could. "Anything else you need I can help out with a bit. A thousand bucks really isn't a lot." And he had the key to Star Labs and it's funding.
He smiled at that sentiment. "Hey I can throw a pretty mean sucker punch, but thanks." He laughed at that, he wasn't a terrible fighter but it wasn't his strength. He preferred to be the guy in the chair. He went to argue with her then rolled his eyes. "Yeah okay point. Actually not all that long, barely a month maybe? I lost track of time." He shrugged as he stuck nother few plain fries into the shake.
Laurel sighed, reaching over and squeezing Cisco's hand briefly. "You're allowed to take a second to breathe, Cisco," she said gently. It was so much easier to focus on him than herself. "I know it's hard because you're so used to life being a never ending string of crises, but you have to look after yourself too. I know it's hard. I've never been all that good at it either. But you can't always focus on helping other people and forget about yourself." She took a sip of her milkshake, then took off the lid to dip her own share of fries in. It was the objectively correct way of doing it. "Look. I was talking to someone here, Nyx, and I'm going to set up a support group for people who have been through trauma. I'd like it if you came once we get things going."
She smiled. Cisco was such a generous person and she hoped that everyone appreciated him. He deserved it. "If I need anything, you'll be the first one to know," she promised. "And if you need anything, you just have to call."
She laughed, though not mean spiritedly. "You'll have to show me that sucker punch sometime," she said. "Maybe I can show you a few more moves." She liked the idea of Cisco being able to defend himself. "Now, you were going to tell me how Star Labs showed up here? I get people being pulled from one reality to another, but places...that seems a little more complicated." She probably would have said more, but their burgers arrived along with more fries and that definitely took priority. "Oh, this looks good."
Cisco was happier focusing on other people too, almost to a fault. He needed desperately to get Vallo up to par with Central City, perhaps not just for them but for a distraction for himself too. He had people counting on him, especially with his lab there now. He couldn't just let them down. "Heh, somebody else said that recently too." Maybe he was deflecting a little. "There's a lot I haven't told them. Any of these people." He wasn't sure how he'd go to some kind of support group and not be able to talk. "They know I'm good with tools and tech but not exactly that I worked with a superhero." He was paranoid, and he wasn't sure if it was because of the frequencies or because of the government registration process. Or both.
"Good. I wouldn't expect anything less." Cisco wasn't the best at his own feelings, or figuring out how to fit into places, but having friends around was going to help. He could already tell.
"Hey, I grew up in the barrio esse." He put on a terrible spanish accent even though he was technically Latino-but it was more common in the barrio. "I'm a dirty fighter, for the record." Simply because he didn't know many moves. He just made it up as he went along, but he was a pretty formidable hand to hand fighter. His burger showed up with mac and cheese spilling out the side. "It's complicated, but not impossible...though I've never been able to move objects.." He accidently mumbled as he took a fork to some of the stray mac and cheese first.
"Well," Laurel said, "if more than one person is telling you that, then maybe you should listen. It's great how much you want to help other people, and it's one of the things I really admire about you, but you have to take care of yourself too." She always worried about the genius types in her life. They never seemed all that great at taking care of themselves. Granted, neither were the vigilantes. Okay, so none of them were good at this. But that just meant that they needed to support each other. "And hey...even without the superhero part of things, I'm glad that people here are appreciating your genius." She worried sometimes that people took Cisco for granted and didn't realize how great he was. She noticed that he didn't respond to her comments about the support group, but she let it go for now. She didn't want to push.
She took a moment to pick up her burger, looking at it for a moment before taking a bite. She wasn't sure what she had expected, but somehow it all worked. The Bacon was crispy and salty and the peanut butter was sweet and the acid of the pickles cut through the other flavors in a way that was really awesome. She was definitely getting this again. "Okay, this," she said, gesturing to the burger, "is really good. Better than I was expecting."
She laughed at his exaggerated accent, shaking her head. "Hey, I believe you," she said. She wasn't stupid. When you worked with superheroes, you had to know how to take care of yourself. Even Felicity had picked up some fighting over the years, and she wasn't someone who liked getting in the thick of things. Laurel made a mental note to see if she wanted to get some sparring in. It would be good to keep their skills up. "If you ever want to brush up on your moves, I'm around." It was still weird to her that Star Labs was here, but she had decided to just roll with it. "I'm pretty sure anyone would have trouble moving buildings between universes."
He frowned a little at her comment and gave a roll of his eyes. "I know. I just worry." If he dropped the ball on his people, they could get hurt or worse. He needed to look after their schedules and them first before he could worry about himself. He'd gone right from one stressful situation and launched into another without taking a break. "I'll think about it, this group of yours." He offered. "It wouldn't be the first time I was in one actually, might not be a terrible idea." He had a tendency to fall into depressive states. Especially after Flash Point and the loss of his brother. He couldn't help but smile at her comment. "Just for that, all the extra fries for you." He'd share without complaint.
"I told you! It's weird, but it completely works." He grinned as he took a bite of his own messy burger. "This place is pretty popular with the new arrivals. Bonnie found it." Cisco was making friends, he was pretty good at it even if he doubted his own ability and thought he was awkward as hell.
His burger was practically constructed of mac and cheese. If it was how he died, it would be a good death. "I've never really..sparred before? You'll have to go easy on me." He grinned as he picked up another fry to dip into the shake.
"I get it," Laurel said. She certainly did her fair share of worrying. But she privately thought that Cisco focused too much on other people and not enough on himself. She'd seen it enough times to recognize it. And she needed him to understand that it wasn't solely his responsibility. He didn't need to put that on his shoulders. "You are such a good friend and you are so good about being there for everyone else. Just be sure you're letting people be there for you." She knew that she could be bad about that too, but she was trying. "Just think about it. No obligation or anything, but it's good to have a support system." She grinned, taking some more fries, dipping them into her milkshake. "Thanks."
The burger might just be her new favorite thing. "It really does work," she agreed. "Don't know that I'd ever go for yours. I love mac and cheese, but that looks like a mess." There was no easy way to eat a burger that was more mac and cheese than anything else. Not that she was judging anyone else, but she wasn't big on incredibly messy burgers. To each their own. "It looks good though."
She smiled when Cisco said that he had never really sparred, taking a sip of her shake as she remembered it was good for more than just dipping fries. "Everyone has to start somewhere," she assured him. "I'll help you with the basics, and we'll have you battle ready in no time."
It wouldn't be the first time Cisco neglected his own needs, being in charge of Team Flash had given him a little too much hyper focus. He worried about them, about filling Barry's shoes which was basically impossible. He was not the Flash. He didn't really want to get into his brother's death and the spiral of depression he'd faced then, so he was glad when she didn't push for more information and just understood. "I'll try." Asking for help wasn't something he was great at, hell he'd created an AI version of Barry when he was told he'd be put in charge of the team. It wouldn't ask questions, it would just operate the way Barry might. Of course it'd been a total disaster, but he'd done it all the same. "Always knew you were my favorite." He said as she dipped those fries and ate them the proper way.
"You're missing out. It's got those little bread crumbs in it that are frigging amazing." They were what made mac and cheese worth eating in his opinion. "If anything you have to try the pizza one." Yes there was a pepperoni and sausage burger too. He had been there one too many times.
"I think I'll be leaving the front lining to you guys, but a few moves wouldn't hurt." He smirked and put down the burger to pick at it with a fork, it was a fork and knife burger for sure with all that topping. "I'm glad you're here, I missed you."
"That's all I can ask," Laurel assured him. She of all people knew how hard it could be to ask for help when you needed it. She'd struggled for the longest time, both with her addiction and after Sara's death, and it had been incredibly hard for her to ask anyone to help. But she knew she wouldn't have been able to get through it by herself. She had needed help and while everything hadn't been magically solved by asking for help, she'd had an easier time dealing with her anger and grief when she'd let herself lean on people. She hoped that Cisco could let himself do the same. He did so much for other people, and he deserved support. If nothing else, she would be there for what he needed. She smiled as he called her his favorite, surprised but touched by the sentiment. A part of her that still never felt as though she'd ever had Oliver's approval didn't know how anyone would ever think of her as their favorite. "That's sweet, Cisco," she said. "You're definitely my favorite member of Team Flash."
He was making the burger sound really good. "Maybe I'll have to give it a shot," she acknowledged. "It does sound pretty good. Next time...probably." She did love a good mac and cheese. "Or maybe I'll do the pizza burger first. That one sounds amazing."
She smiled at Cisco. "You don't have to be on the front lines," she said, "but I want you to be able to defend yourself if you need to." That was an important thing in her mind, being able to keep yourself safe. "But we can worry about that later." She took a sip of her milkshake, then gave Cisco another fond smile. "I missed you too, Cisco."