Emmeline rubbed her eyes as she stepped into the living room. "Well, this is a switch," she said to her father on the couch. "What are you doing up?"

"I wanted to see if Mateo and Elena got back together."

She made the two of them a cup of tea and sat down on the couch next to him. "You got up at 3:00 AM to watch a Spanish soap opera?"

"It was killing me not knowing what happened."

"Yeah, right." She crossed her legs and fully turned to look at him. "Come on, open up to your favorite daughter. What's going on?"

Her dad sighed and ran his hand over her head. "I guess I've just been missing your mom a lot lately."

Emmeline looked down at her mug sadly.

"Watching everything you've been going through lately…it just made me feel as powerless as I did…"

"…as you did when we lost Mom. Look, Dad, don't focus on the things you can't change, but spend all the time focusing on what you can. You couldn't take away Mom's cancer and neither could I, but at least we cherished every second we had with her. And I don't know about you, but I don't have any regrets about our final moments with her."

"She would've known exactly what to do to help you when you weren't sleeping."

"But maybe she wouldn't have. Maybe it was just something I needed to push through. But I'm fine now, I promise."

"Then why have you looked so sad these past few days?"

"…I had to part ways with someone, that's all."

"Why?"

"It's kind of complicated. I found out something not so great about our friendship and I felt that it was best to just…pull back."

"Did this friend agree with that decision?"

"Well, no, but it wasn't his decision to make."

"If he's losing a friend as a result, I would think he has a say in it. And you clearly miss him. You've been miserable lately."

"It has to be this way."

"Okay, if you think so, then I trust you."

Emmeline turned back to the TV. "So are Elena and Mateo back together?"

"Honestly? I have no idea."

"Is Elena's mom out of her coma?"

"She's either still in a coma or dead and I'm not sure which."

"Where's Ricardo?"

"Pretty sure he got back together with Isabel."

"Are you kidding me? He had so much more chemistry with Rosa. He should've gotten into a relationship with her instead of going back to Isabel."

"Isabel probably manipulated him into it."

"Isabel is the worst. I still think Ricardo deserves better."

The two of them stayed on the couch watching the telenovela for the next hour. When her father looked over, he smiled when he saw that Emmeline had fallen asleep against his shoulder. He slowly got up and carefully set her down on the couch, doing his best not to wake her up. It had been so long since she'd slept so easily like this. He then draped a blanket over her and kissed her forehead.

"Sweet dreams, honey."

When Chloe questioned a doctor connected to Belle Reve and possibly the mysterious 33.1, the doctor nearly shot her to keep her from asking anymore questions or discovering the truth. Fortunately, someone supersped past the guy and knocked the gun out of his hands and into Chloe's, but this time, it wasn't Clark who was the savior.

And perhaps not-so-coincidentally, it just so happened that Bart Allen was back in town again. Emmeline had shared two words with the guy when he'd first visited (as his arrival had coincided with Emmeline finding out her mom had a ticking timer), so she didn't really have any particular feelings, good or bad, about his reappearance.

Now, she and Chloe sat in Chloe's apartment while Lois packed for a little getaway trip with Oliver.

Lois sighed as she threw some clothes into her suitcase. "I know it's just a vacation, but—"

"What?" Chloe exclaimed. "Vacation? No, vacation is Palm Springs. Monte Carlo is a fairy tale."

At least someone's life is a fairy tale right now, Emmeline thought.

"Yeah, hopefully without Prince Charming having a disappearing act every five minutes."

Chloe pulled a green lacey piece of lingerie out of one of Lois's shopping bags and Emmeline quickly blushed. "Um, I think you'll be keeping his full attention, Lois."

"Yeah, you know, I'd better. It's not like I go Victoria's Secret for anybody." Lois held the lingerie up to her body. "What do you think though? Should I have gone with the black lace?"

"No. Something tells me green is definitely his color."

Emmeline smiled from the couch at the inside joke.

Suddenly, Clark burst into the apartment. "Hey, Chloe." He froze when he saw he lingerie Lois was holding up against her chest.

"Smallville," Lois reprimanded. "Learn how to knock. What if I'd been naked? Ew."

There had been a time when Clark had knocked and Lois had answered the door naked, so it didn't seem like it made a difference either way. Emmeline's face reddened and she smiled at the memory.

"Lois is jetting off to Monte Carlo with Oliver," Chloe explained.

"Oliver?" Clark asked.

"Yeah, I'll send you a postcard if I'm not too busy," Lois smiled.

"No, Lois, you should, um…"

"Get a couple new bikinis."

"Uh—"

"Good idea. Thanks, Smallville."

Lois snatched her purse and quickly exited the apartment.

Emmeline stood up from the couch and touched Chloe's arm. "I'm gonna get going too."

"Okay, bye, Em," Chloe said.

Clark tried to say something as the girl walked past him, but his brain went blank and he couldn't think of anything that might make her stay.

Emmeline was just about to head out of the Talon when Lois came up to her.

"Okay, what's going on?" the young woman asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You've been super quiet lately, even for you, and every time Clark walks into the room, you immediately either put distance between you guys or leave the room entirely. I mean, I get the guy is super annoying, believe me, I understand that better than anyone, but I've known you guys for over two years now and you've always been inseparable. What happened?"

"Lois, I appreciate the concern, but there's nothing you need to worry about. What happened between me and Clark is between the two of us. I gotta go."

Lois sighed and crossed her arms as she watched the brunette leave. Clark may get on her nerves and she had never really spoken with Emmeline much, but that didn't mean she wanted to the two of them to be on bad terms.

"Oh, man, Em, you should've been there!" Chloe gushed as she walked around her work desk. "It was amazing! I mean, working as part of a team and giving off instructions left and right and then having the guys actually listen to me was just…so cool."

"So let me get this straight," Emmeline said as she held her hands up. "Bart Allen can superspeed, Arthur Curry is basically part-fish, Victor Stone got some mega-upgrades since we last saw him, and they're all working with the Green Arrow who is Oliver Queen. Which I'd like to point out that I figured that part out back in November. And this team, which Clark joined last night for one big hurrah, has been raiding LuthorCorp plants to stop whatever's happening with 33.1 which actually does exist."

"And don't forget Watchtower."

"Right, and of course, their hacker which every superhero team needs."

Chloe smiled and looked at her. "I wish you'd been there."

"What for? What would I have done to help?"

"It's just…a lot more fun to share in those moments with my best friend. I've missed you."

"It does sound like it was pretty awesome, and I kind of wish I'd been there to see it. But I probably would've just gotten in the way."

"Come on, don't sell yourself short."

"I'm not, I just don't have any skills that are going to be particularly helpful in this instance."

Chloe smirked. "Then maybe you should consider finding one."

The doorbell rang at Emmeline's house and she got up from the couch to answer it. To her shock, there stood Oliver Queen, Victor Stone, Arthur Curry, and Bart Allen. For a moment, Emmeline briefly wondered how many women would've loved to be in her shoes and have four very attractive young men standing on their doorstep.

"Hey, you guys!" she greeted happily as she stepped onto the porch and hugged Arthur and Victor. "I can't believe you're back! I wasn't sure I'd ever see you again!"

"Hey, Emmeline," Arthur smiled. "You look good."

"Thanks. Come on inside."

She stepped back to let the four men walk through the door and then led them inside the living room.

"Nice place you've got here," Victor remarked. He glanced at the TV. "Are you watching a Spanish soap opera?"

Emmeline awkwardly cleared her throat and quickly changed the channel. "Uh, my dad and I watch it sometimes when we can't sleep."

"It's 2:00 in the afternoon."

"I wanted to know what happened. Um, can I get you guys anything to drink?"

"Water," Arthur said before she'd even finished the question.

"I should've guessed. What about you guys?"

"I'll never say no to a soda," Bart answered. "Any kind."

Emmeline went into the kitchen and got three cans of Dr. Pepper and one bottle of water for her guests. Then she popped herself down on the couch while the others sat down on the chairs and tables inside the living room. "So is there a reason you guys are all at my house at the same time?"

"I'm assuming Chloe filled you in on what happened last night," Oliver said.

"Well, yeah, but I figured out your alter ego around Thanksgiving."

"Wait, what?"

"It was a matter of being in the right place at the right time, that's all. You remember, the time I tried to help you after you got shot and then you broke my cell phone?"

Oliver awkwardly cleared his throat.

"And you know, now that I have a name and a face to the hood, I'd really like to ask why you nearly killed me a few months ago with that little gassed arrow of yours."

The other three guys turned to look at Oliver.

"Okay, wait," Oliver said quickly. "There's a bit more to it than that. You were supposed to just pass out, not have that kind of weird reaction to it. And come on, I did have the cure all ready to give you."

"Then you knew it was a possibility."

"It happened once before and I thought it was a fluke, but I started bringing that syringe with me just in case."

"It wasn't a fluke."

"Well, I'm sorry."

"Apology hesitantly accepted. So, I hear you guys were pretty busy last night."

"Kinda surprised you weren't there," Bart told her. "You and Chloe are practically attached at the hip."

"Yeah, well…let's be honest, what would I even have done? I probably would've just stood there and watched. Which would've been kind of boring, no offense."

Arthur sighed as he finished his water bottle. "Chloe told us about what's going on with you too."

Emmeline paused and bit her bottom lip. "Exactly how much did she tell you?"

"The details are a little murky, but what we got is that you were in a car accident last year and Clark somehow turned back time to save you," Victor told her. "But then his father ended up dying instead. And now you and Clark aren't talking anymore because you think that he's going to end up resenting you."

"Yeah, that's pretty much it. And I'm guessing you're all here to try to change my mind? You realize this is the third time this week someone's had this conversation with me?"

"Shouldn't that tell you something?"

"Look, I really appreciate all of you coming here and it's great to see you again, but…what's happening between Clark and me is different. I can't expect anyone to understand how I'm feeling."

"Maybe not," Oliver put in. "But you shouldn't underestimate someone who is willing to turn back time for you."

"…I do miss him," she said softly. "He's my best friend."

Arthur moved closer to her. "Maybe…he's more than that."

And in that moment, Emmeline realized that Arthur and probably all of them knew the truth. Which probably meant that Chloe did too. Chloe was a journalist who loved to discover the truth, not to mention that they'd been best friends for six years and it was rare that either of them could hide anything.

Emmeline could feel her eyes misting with tears, and she really hated that she was about to cry in front of four young men, but she was unable to stop them. It felt as if all of the events of the last two months had finally caught up to her. "I like him," she admitted for the first time out loud.

The four men shared glances with one another sympathetically.

Emmeline let out a small laugh. "I can't believe you guys are the first ones to hear that. I haven't even told Chloe. I mean…admitting to even myself that I like him changes everything. Before Chloe started dating Jimmy, she used to have feelings for him, and it felt wrong of me to have feelings for him too when I believed that she deserved him more than I did. And even now, he's still in love with Lana, and…it just feels really crappy to hear him tell me that all the time which makes me feel guilty because he has the right to love whoever he wants. I made the decision to distance myself because if he truly does end up resenting me someday for his dad dying, it will hurt that much more because of my feelings for him. Maybe by spending some time away from him, those feelings will go away and it won't hurt so much."

"I don't think you're giving Clark enough credit," Oliver said. "If he's willing to turn back time to save your life, then you must have a pretty special relationship. Completely cutting him out of your life is just going to deprive you of all the special moments you could still have."

"I did something like this before I knew his secret. It was shortly after my mom had died so I already wasn't in a good place, but I couldn't understand why I always seemed to find myself in trouble when he was around, and I got scared and cut things off. But then Clark almost died and it made me realize how important he is to me. And…that's the whole reason I cut things off this time. He's so important to me that I could never bear to see him hate me."

"I've seen firsthand the bond you two share, and I don't think any force on heaven or earth is capable of breaking it," Victor told her. "Maybe he'll be angry sometimes, but I doubt you could ever do anything to make him hate you. At the very least, you guys should just talk about this. Even if you still decide you want to keep your distance, you shouldn't do it without having a conversation about it."

Emmeline sighed and wiped her eyes. "You guys give a pretty good pep talk."

"Does that mean you'll go talk to him?"

"Yeah. I'm not telling him that I like him though."

"That's fine, but I don't want to come back and hear about you backing out."

Emmeline laughed. "I won't, I promise. So I guess you're leaving again?"

Oliver stood up. "We've got a mission, and that means we're going to have to travel around to accomplish it."

"Wait, all of you?" She looked at Oliver. "What about Lois?"

Oliver's eyes darkened. "I had to end things."

"That seems to be a common occurrence," Emmeline said as she eyed Arthur who looked away from her guiltily.

"If I had known this was where things were headed, I never would've gotten involved, and to be honest, I'm pretty sure I'm going to regret ending things for the rest of my life, but…I had to. For her own safety."

"Maybe someday she'll come to understand."

"I certainly hope so."

"So am I ever going to see you guys again?"

Oliver tossed her a burner phone. "If there's an emergency, there's a number loaded up in here that you can dial."

"What constitutes an emergency?"

"You decide."

The door opened and Emmeline's father stepped inside. "Hey, hon, I thought we'd order pizza for dinner. Sound good?" He froze when he saw the four young men gathered in his living room. "Um, hello, gentlemen."

"Dad, this is Arthur Curry, Victor Stone, Bart Allen, and Oliver Queen," Emmeline introduced.

Emmeline's father nearly dropped his keys. "You're the Oliver Queen?"

"One and the same," Oliver replied, immediately putting on the charming billionaire persona. "Good to meet you."

"Um…how did you all meet?"

Emmeline's eyes glimmered. "We were all just in the right place at the right time."

"I see. Well, um, would any of you gentlemen like to stay for dinner?"

Bart stood up. "You said you're ordering pizza?"

Arthur put his hand on Bart's shoulder. "I wish we could, sir, but unfortunately, we already have other plans."

"Right, we have to be heading out now," Oliver smiled. "But thank you for the offer." He turned back to Emmeline. "We'll see you around. Don't forget what we talked about."

"I won't," Emmeline smiled back. "I'll see you guys later. Be careful."

"Always am."

"I know for a fact you are not."

Arthur and Victor hugged her once more, and then the four young men went out the front door to continue to put a stop to all of the facilities that made up 33.1.

Emmeline's father turned to her in disbelief. "When were you going to tell me you're friends with Oliver Queen?"