To be fair, when Laura had woken up that morning, she had expected it to be a normal day. As normal as her life could get, sure, but normal. Therefore, it was a fair assumption that she hadn't really been expecting to meet the Arrow of all people later that day, or any other day of her life. Of course, like any other citizen who was lucky enough to not live in Starling City, she'd read the articles about the vigilante in the papers, albeit with far less interest than most, and the stories they'd told had been horrifying enough for her to postpone any trip to Starling indefinitely. She had been positive that if she just stayed away from the city no matter what, that would be enough to avoid meeting a grisly fate at the Arrow's hands. So, if it looked like she was about to fall apart at any moment, she was pretty sure that her explanation wouldn't seem too farfetched.

The police had finally found the metahuman of the week, who had apparently induced every person present at the bank he'd robbed to try and kill each other. Luckily, with the help of a bug slipped in between the stacks of bills he'd taken with him, they were able to track him down to an old storage warehouse in the industrial district. When the call came on over the police scanners, both Barry and Laura were ready to go. Oddly enough, however, the metahuman had been lying in wait, completely at ease even surrounded by a half-dozen armed officers. It had all become quite clear when the cop confronting him had pulled his weapon on Joe and the other officers. They'd gotten there just in time to get everyone out of the way, but mere seconds after the first shot, the officer had been ready to take another.

Needless to say, Laura had been very surprised when a man wielding a bow and arrow dropped down from the ceiling in the warehouse that night, wearing a green hood and talking a bit like Judge Dredd, taking out the cop before he could shoot again and unfortunately allowing the mysterious metahuman to get away. She was even more surprised when he made a crack about Barry's mask, before climbing up and out of the warehouse with more agility that she would ever have in her life. When they finally made it outside, hidden from the view of the officers, Laura was practically vibrating with nervousness and what she hoped look nothing like excitement.

"Why didn't you tell me we know the Arrow?"

"It's not that big of a deal, Laura."

"Not that big of a de-it's the goddamn Arrow, Barry! How did you guys even meet?"

"I went to Starling City once before the incident, I ended up helping him out with a case, I came back. Besides, it's not like he comes here that often. And if you want to meet him…here he is."

Laura whirled around as Barry spoke, her eyes widening behind her goggles as the fucking Arrow dropped from the roof of the warehouse right in front of her, landing on the pavement in a crouch before straightening up. He was even more intimidating up close, most of his face obscured by the green hood that had given him his first title.

"Hey."

"New friend, I see."

"Oh, right. Frostbite, this is the Arrow. Arrow, this is Frostbite. Frostbite's actually my partner." The vigilante sent her a curt nod, and Laura didn't know whether to say something or run away or hide behind Barry, all three of which were looking very tempting considering the barely concealed annoyance lurking in the Arrow's eyes.

"Are you busy?"

"No, not really. Why?"

"We've got a case. Felicity said you might be able to help."

"Wait, Felicity's here? Sweet!"

The next thing Laura knew, Barry disappeared in a burst of lightning, leaving Laura alone with, well, a former murderer and current vigilante. And to date, one of the most violent people Laura had ever read about, and that was saying something. "You're...you're not going to kill me, are you?"

"No."

Okay, cool. She would work with that.

Despite his curt assurances that he wouldn't kill her, Laura did not close her eyes once as the Arrow drove them both on his motorcycle towards the outskirts of the city, holding on for dear life the entire way. It started to rain en route, but Laura could just make out the general structure of an old warehouse in the distance, her goggles making it just a smidge easier to see in the downpour. There was a dark van parked out front, and if she squinted hard enough, she could see Barry, mask pulled back, talking to a pair of strangers under a dim light. She was starting to wonder if her partner had any sense of self-preservation at all, but she was slightly assured since it looked like he knew them. When the bike finally came to a halt, Barry dashed to her side, wearing a wide grin and apparently completely unaware of how terrified she'd been. And still was.

Laura looked over to the tall, dark man, who was just staring at Barry in silent awe, and the bubbly blonde with the glasses who didn't seem to notice her at all. However, when she turned back to face him, he was talking with the Arrow, with enough to ease to make it obvious that he wasn't too bothered by the man's past – at least what he knew of it. For a second, Laura didn't recognize the voice of the person Barry was talking to, now that he'd dropped the Judge Dredd act. But as she turned around, the Arrow's face, now out in the open with his hood drawn back, clicked in her mind, which went blank a second later. Her mouth fell open, but she quickly worked to get it moving again before she spoke.

"You're Oliver Queen."

"Laura…"

"Oliver Queen's the Arrow."

"Laura –"

"Oh, shush, you. You never tell me anything." The Arrow – or was it Oliver, she wasn't sure what he preferred – rolled his eyes and glared at Barry as he tried to interrupt on Laura's epiphany. Slowly, she peeled off her goggles and stuck her hand out, trying not to let the frantic beating of her heart somehow show on her face as she did.

"Laura Sanders. Nice to meet you."

To her surprise, he took her outstretched hand, and Laura had to fight down her nervousness as she felt her hands start to grow cold. When Oliver, she decided, finally let go and strode over to his partners, Laura took the chance to punch Barry lightly in the shoulder, making him yelp a bit. He looked ready to say something, most likely not an apology, but he bit it back as they approached the trio. Just like the five of them at S.T.A.R. Labs, Laura had an inkling that whoever these three people were, they were a team.

"So, what are you guys doing here?"

"Glad you asked. There was a suspicious homicide in Starling where the murder weapon was, wait for it: a boomerang." Laura's eyes widened as the blonde, whose chipper attitude reminded her just a bit too much of Cisco on one of his patented caffeine highs, removed a police evidence bag from her purse. The boomerang inside looked sharp enough to break skin, and Laura joined Barry as he took it out to look at it. The weapon's design was clearly not amateur work and had most definitely been made for combat, although it was hard to tell who would have made it.

"Cool." Barry murmured, but a quick and exasperated glare from Oliver silenced him. Oddly enough, the formerly murderous vigilante wasn't the type of person who liked people getting excited over murder weapons.

"The tests I ran on it found trace amounts of iron oxide. It's not much of a lead, but Central City does have the highest concentration of iron oxide in the country."

"Good thinking. Although Coast City does come close second." Laura murmured, tracing her fingers over the grooves in the weapon, before she realized that the other two members of the Arrow's team were staring at her in confusion. For a moment, the man's eyes flicked over her, and she wondered if she'd simply imagined the way his hands shifted closer towards his belt. For a brief second, she wondered if taking off her goggles if front of two complete strangers and one of the most terrifying persons alive had been the best idea.

"I'm sorry, who are you again?"

"Uh – Laura. I work with Barry."

"At S.T.A.R. Labs?" Laura shot Barry a look at the same time the blonde did, though hers seemed to be more questioning, and he quickly took action.

"Laura Sanders, meet John Diggle and Felicity Smoak. Diggle, Felicity, Laura goes by Frostbite. She also just started working at the crime lab."

Felicity seemed to have a stroke of realization in between one second and the next as recognition spread across her face, and it took even longer before she was able to at least move her mouth somewhat to speak. "Oh my God. You're her."

"Felicity…"

"Right. Sorry. I read about you online – I didn't realize you had a name chosen for yourself."

"…don't worry about it?"

"Yeah, actually, we've been trying to track down a nasty metahuman who makes people angry. Really angry."

"Awesome."

Okay, she could see how Felicity and Barry had become friends, as Oliver sent another glare her way to curb her enthusiasm. As Barry continued to converse with the rest of the Arrow's team, Laura could not stop staring at Oliver. She had heard plenty of horror stories about his time as the murderous Hood, and even more as the Arrow, and had spent a handful of moments over the past few years considering about what such a person would be like. Not once had she expected the Arrow to be Oliver Queen, the heir to a failing company who had been stranded on a tropical island for five years, and then returned the same year that the Ho–actually, never mind, it was starting to make sense now.

However, just as Laura was about to rejoin the conversation, Barry disappeared in a flash of red and yellow, taking Felicity away to a place she could only assumed was S.T.A.R. Labs. Oliver's other teammate – John – seemed to be in a state of eternal shock, which was only reasonable, and any other time, it would have been funny. Would have being the operative phrase, had Barry not left her in the middle of nowhere with a known killer and a complete stranger, both of whom now knew her identity.

God, she was going to make him regret that.

"Any chance you guys could give me a lift?"

The ride back to her apartment was awkward, which, in hindsight, she should have expected. Initially, she'd wondered if it was possible for her to walk all the way back home, but now that the Arrow knew who she was, it probably wasn't as bad as knowing where she lived. She sat in the backseat of the van that Oliver and his team had driven to Central, while he and John sat up front. For the longest time, neither of them spoke to each other, letting the sound of the rain outside and the engine's rumbling fill the silence, but as the grass on the sides of the road started to change into pavement, Laura forced herself to lean forward and speak first.

"I have to admit, I'm curious – how does Oliver Queen become the Hood become the Arrow?"

"How does a microbiologist become a metahuman vigilante?"

Damn. He was almost as good as deflecting as she was. And it was a bit intimidating that he knew what she'd been doing before the accident, especially since they'd just met; she'd have to ask Barry about that later. And stay off the Internet for the next twenty years. And maybe move.

"Well, you put that microbiologist in a lab that explodes, you splice her DNA, you give her a codename, you send her out into the world, and hope she doesn't develop anxiety or die along the way."

"Wait, wait, hold up a second. Your DNA's spliced?" Looking back at John Diggle's reaction to Barry's speed, Laura could safely say that learning that she was a metahuman hybrid was probably a big shock for him. It was clear that Starling City didn't have to deal with the unusual as much Central City did.

"It's a bit of a long story." John nodded slowly, his eyes trained on her with such intensity that she almost had to look away, and Laura sighed before holding out her hand for him. After a moment's hesitation, he took it, and Laura focused just enough cold for him to notice, holding back a full flow to stop herself from crippling him. When he finally registered just how cold his hand felt, John wrenched it out of Laura's grip, and she sat back in her seat with a small smile, feeling just the tiniest bit smug as he stared at his hand in what looked like awe, mixed with just a hint of fear.

"What the hell?"

"It's weird, I know. I'll send you the CliffsNotes."

"No, it's not weird…it's…it's interesting." Laura was completely sure that it was safe to say that John Diggle was not going to fare well if he found out about the other metahumans Barry had already encountered, especially not John Dawson. However, before either of them could say anything else, Oliver spoke up from the driver's seat, his voice clipped and short.

"Impressive. But you and Barry both need to be more careful, even with your abilities. You went into that warehouse tonight without knowing what that metahuman could do. You need to be more prepared."

"Does that include having to sign up for a gym?"

"Preferably not."

"Oh, good. I was worried there for a second."

The rest of the ride passed in silence, and when Oliver finally pulled up in front of her building, Laura climbed out of the van, folding up her jacket and pocketing her goggles to prevent anyone from recognizing her, despite the fact that it was still raining and hardly anybody was walking outside at so late an hour. Still, one could never be too careful. However, just a few feet away from the door, Laura turned around and knocked a few times on the window, waiting for John to roll down his window.

"Yeah?"

"It's been nice meeting you. Both of you. And," she hesitated, meeting Oliver's gaze steadily, "thanks for dropping in when you did."

"Likewise." And with that, Laura was left standing alone in the rain, watching as the black van pulled away into the night, disappearing off to God knows where, carrying the Arrow with it.

The Arrow, who was also Oliver Queen.

Oliver Queen was the Arrow.

Oh God, was she going to need a drink.


The next morning, with the clouds from the night before still hanging ominously over the city, Laura walked into the control room S.T.A.R. Labs with a breakfast sandwich from Jitters, only to stop short at the sight of a sizeable gouge in the wall near Cisco's workspace, a few shattered partitions and a busted wall light. Whatever had happened, it must have taken place the night before, because no one was currently screaming at the top of their lungs. Speaking of Cisco – he waved at her meekly from behind the consoles, a sheepish look on his face, and Laura slowly approached him, taking care to not trigger whatever had almost destroyed their headquarters.

"Cisco, what's that on the wall?"

"Funny story. Turns out the boomerang that Felicity brought us last night moves on its own."

"Ah."

"Uh-huh."

"Caitlin nearly gouged out your eyes last night, didn't she?"

"You betcha. But, hey, I heard you met the Arrow last night." It wasn't too hard to tell that Cisco was a fan of Oliver's, if the excitement that lit up his face was anything to go by. Laura really shouldn't have been surprised at that point, but she simply nodded and sat down in the seat next to him. When she looked up, he was still staring at her, his eyes meeting hers with unnerving intensity.

"Cisco? Why are you staring at me?"

"How was it? Do you know who he really is?"

"Listen, Cisco, if the Arrow wants to add you to the list of people who know his real identity, I'm pretty sure he'd give you a call to let you know. But for your information, it was absolutely terrifying."

"Aww. Anything else?"

"…is it possible that you might be able to get me some transportation?"

"For what?"

"For missions. I had to hitch a ride with the Arrow last night after Barry left me behind, and it was not a fun time. Trust me on that, Cisco. Never ask that man for a ride."

"Okay, okay. You know, if you did have your own vehicle, it would come in handy on solo missions. What were you thinking?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure my ride last night would suggest a motorcycle. Do you think you can do it?"

"Definitely." The spark of excitement and anticipation returned to Cisco's eyes as soon as she finished speaking, and as he rushed away to start his latest project, he was almost immediately replaced by Dr. Wells. The former head of S.T.A.R. Labs looked exhausted and irritated, to put it mildly, as he entered the room, and she wondered if she should say anything to let him know he wasn't alone before he turned to face them, his voice quiet and flat. "Dr. Sanders, may I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"What is your opinion of the Starling City vigilante?"

"The Arrow?"

"Yes, yes, him. From my understanding of last night's events, you spent a great deal of time with him, did you not?"

Dr. Well's tone of voice brooked no argument, although Laura wasn't certain if she could call an awkward and slightly terrifying motorcycle and car ride qualified as 'spending a great deal of time' with someone.

"You don't trust him."

"I never said anything of the sort."

"Dr. Wells, I get it. He is - was a murderer, and he might still be murdering people and that is honestly terrifying. But he saved Joe's life last night, and those other officers', and ours. At the very least, I respect him."

"I respect him too. But I'm also afraid of him. I can't tell which."

"Good to know, Cisco."

"No problem."

Dr. Wells did not respond for several tense seconds, and Laura and Cisco didn't dare take their eyes off of him, awaiting his reaction. His opinion. On the man who had killed so much in the past and who had also done so much to rectify that. Laura had meant what she'd said. Of course, Oliver's past as a vigilante killing criminals was both terrifying and disturbing. It was something she wasn't going to be able to put aside anytime soon, no matter how much time she might spend with the man, but if she were being truthful, he didn't seem like a bad person. It was something that she'd developed over the years, the ability to quickly gauge a person. No matter what past he had behind him, he seemed to be trying to achieve peace through his actions. She could only hope that Dr. Wells understood that.

"Thank you for your input, Dr. Sanders, but I am capable of formulating my own impression of a man like that. When the time comes, I will judge the Arrow as I see fit. As will Detective West." And all Cisco and Laura could do after that was watch Dr. Wells disappear into the maze of hallways. As she watched him go, Laura had a funny feeling in her gut, something akin to suspicion and trepidation, but she shrugged it off in favour of watching Cisco work, his tablet laid out before him in his workspace.

"I take it Barry telling you guys the Arrow's in town didn't go over well with Joe or Dr. Wells."

"That's an understatement. I'm pretty sure Joe just wants to get the Arrow out of town before anyone gets hurt. Or dies."

"That's reasonable."

"I'm pretty sure he was thinking more along the lines of chasing him down the freeway with a shotgun. That reminds me, how do you feel about more black and blue?"

As it turned out, the more Laura and Cisco bounced ideas off of each other for the bike, the more she found herself warming up to the idea. Of course, she had never even been on a motorcycle before her ride with the Arrow the night before, much less ridden one, so lessons were definitely in her foreseeable future, but she wasn't going to give up that easily. Finally, after what must have been hours, Laura's phone lit up with a text. Cisco didn't even look up, so entirely wrapped up in his work that he didn't even notice as she rummaged around in her bag to find her phone. She smiled as she opened the message; it was always nice to see him so excited about his work.

"Who is it?"

"Barry. He wants me to meet him somewhere."

"Is it with the Arrow? Can I come?"

"A – Maybe. B – No. C – Can I borrow your car?"

Thanks for reading, everybody! Have a great New Year!