Chapter 59: Spiraling Away

Oliver handed his keys off to the valet along with a preliminary tip, then walked towards the entrance. Through the glass, he could see that Laurel had arrived before him.

"Laurel!"

Laurel turned around and smiled. "Ollie!" The two embraced.

"You look great." Oliver complimented her when they separated, taking in her appearance: A wine red dress that hugged her body well, a long-sleeved black cardigan and a pair of black heels. She had even put her hair up in a tight bun, with some of her bangs framing her face.

"Thank you. So do you." Laurel replied, gesturing to his black jacket, shirt, and shoes. At least he wasn't wearing khakis.

They quickly walked over to the hostess to confirm their reservation, and then waited in the lobby for Tommy and Isabel to arrive. The hostess would not take them to their table until all of their party was here.

"Tell me, why The Palm again? Not that I'm complaining, but we've been here a lot, Ollie."

Oliver flinched. She was right, but… "You're right. I would've preferred we go to a new place, but, well… The Palm doesn't discriminate."

Laurel paused to take in his words, then winced. He was right. The Palm didn't discriminate, as Frank Bertinelli's years of patronage proved. Tommy may be the son of the most hated man in the city, but compared to Bertinelli he was small potatoes. At least Tommy himself had never committed any crimes.

"But just in case, I got us a private booth." Oliver continued, oblivious to her thoughts.

"Smart." Laurel noted.

"Yeah. I told Tommy that in order for most of the glares to go away he has to be seen, but just because he has to be seen does not mean he has to be glared at while we eat." Oliver explained, crossing his arms. "That being said, I doubt most of the people here actually care about the Glades, unfortunately."

Laurel put a comforting hand on his arm. "Speaking from experience?"

Oliver nodded. "And God, do I wish that wasn't the case."

The two waited together in comfortable silence until finally, Tommy arrived, with Isabel in tow. Both Oliver and Laurel noticed that their friend had elected to wear muted colors; no doubt to avoid notice. It seemed Isabel had followed the suit, if only for his sake. She was wearing a dark navy-blue dress that fell to her knees and matching heels, with her black hair let loose. Even her makeup was light - you would have to look hard to see it.

"Laurel. Ollie." Tommy greeted, keeping his voice low. He gave them both short hugs, lingering a little bit with the one he had with Laurel. "You remember Isabel, yes?" He gestured to his companion.

"Indeed. Hello again, Isabel." Oliver shook her hand politely.

"Yes. It's nice to see you again, Isabel." Laurel put on a polite smile and followed Oliver's example.

"It's nice to see you both, too." Isabel said, though there was a strange glint to her eye.

Now that they were all here, Oliver went to the hostess to tell her they were ready. Not long afterwards, they were being guided through the throng of patrons towards the back of the restaurant, where the private booths were. These booths had high walls that were curved in, except for a small opening in the front, for the waiter to stand and take orders and set down food. The high walls limited visibility to such an extent that the opening was the only place you'd be able to look inside and see who was actually dining there. Perfect for allowing the son of a disgraced businessman/terrorist to dine with friends in peace.

The four filed into the booth one-by-one, careful with their steps. Tommy frowned when he noticed that Laurel had decided to go inside first, seating her next Oliver and not him. He knew better than to make a complaint, however, and sat next to his best friend with Isabel sitting on the other side. The hostess handed them their menus and then left.

"What do you think? Should I get the usual or something new?" Oliver asked, looking at Laurel, though his question had been for everyone.

Laurel patted him on the thigh. "Something new, Ollie. Steak is nice and all but you're going to regret eating so much of it when you're older."

Oliver sighed. "You're right." He turned the page, letting his finger linger on each dish and their description. He blinked at one in particular, and grinned. "They have chili!"

"No." Laurel and Tommy said in unison, not even bothering to look up from their menus. Isabel watched all three and resisted the urge to laugh.

"But-"

"No." The two said again.

Oliver pouted.

"-and then the speakers blared out that whistle for what seemed like hours. In reality, it was probably only just a few minutes, but the ringing stayed for a good while." Oliver said, finishing off a story about his high school days with Laurel and Tommy with a flourish smile.

"They never caught us." Tommy bragged, smirking.

"But I did." Laurel idly commented, twisting her knife in her pasta. "And the only reason I didn't rat you two out is because you promised to show me how you did it."

"And were you impressed?" Oliver asked.

Laurel shrugged. "A little. So, which member of the AV Club did you guys bribe for this, again?"

"Gordon Godfrey." Tommy admitted. "He wanted tickets to a rock concert downtown. It was pocket change to get."

"Spoken like a true trust-fund baby." Laurel noted good-naturedly.

"But would you have us any other way?" Oliver shot back, now smiling directly at her.

Shaking her head, Laurel grinned back, not noticing how the humor had now drained from Tommy's face. "No. I don't know where I'd be without you."

Oliver's smile softened, turning a little more genuine. He radiated fondness. "You'd be fine, Laurel. You're one of the strongest and smartest people I know."

Isabel watched the moment with a neutral expression on her face. She had stayed silent throughout the story for the most part, besides an occasional comment or two. As Oliver and Laurel continued to gaze into each other's eyes, her own eyes shifted to Tommy, whom they remained completely oblivious to. Like her, he was also watching, and no one could deny the look of jealousy on his face.

His business partner saw this, and allowed her the smallest, most imperceptible smirk grace her lips.

"That was nice, huh." Laurel commented as they exited The Palm. She and Oliver were walking together, so closely that they were almost hand-in-hand. "We should do this again, some time."

"I agree." Oliver concurred, then turned to his best friend. "What about you, Tommy?"

"No."

Oliver and Laurel blinked in confusion. "What?" Oliver asked.

Tommy turned to them while Isabel was talking to the valet, waiting for their car and trying to ignore the brewing confrontation. Thankfully, there were no other patrons outside except for them. He had an extremely upset and angry expression on his face. "I said no. We aren't doing this again. Or at least, I'm not doing this again."

"What?" Oliver asked, now upset himself, and just a bit angry. "Why?"

"Tommy, is everything okay?" Laurel followed, concerned.

"No! Everything is not okay!" Tommy replied, the volume of his voice increasing. He wasn't quite shouting, but it was a near thing. Both Oliver and Laurel stepped back, startled.

"The two of you can go out whenever and wherever and as many times as you want, and dance around each other until you're so fucking dizzy you can't see straight, but don't drag me into it. You don't need to rub into my face that I'm your goddamn third wheel." Tommy ranted, seething. Oliver and Laurel didn't bother to respond, too shocked by his words to say anything.

Just then, the valet arrived with his car. Without bothering to wait for Oliver and Laurel to regain their bearings, Tommy took his keys from the valet and handed him a tip before barking at Isabel to get in. Isabel shot both of them a somewhat apologetic look before entering the car.

Oliver and Laurel remained silent, watching sadly as their friend drove away.

"I don't get it, Isabel! What does she see in him? Is it because he was stupid enough to get stuck on an island for ten years?" Tommy blurted out in rage, still steaming over the dinner earlier. They were at Isabel's apartment right now; Tommy had driven her home, and she had invited him in for a drink so he could cool down. The last thing she needed was for him to drive home angry and accidentally hit someone.

"I've got money, my own company, everything he has and more! Sure, there's my dad, but she wanted him even before my dad was an issue." Tommy continued his tirade, before downing another shot of his drink.

"Tommy…" Isabel said cautiously, reaching out to try and calm him down. She laid a hand on his arm, and she could feel him relax under her touch.

Tommy set down his drink a palmed his forehead, looking tired now. "Why doesn't she want me, Isabel? Why? Am I just not good enough?"

"No, Tommy." Isabel shook her head. "She's just blind. And if she can't see how great a guy you are, then she doesn't deserve you. Just wait and see - you'll find a woman who'll appreciate and love you, and one day she's going to see that and regret not choosing you."

Tommy let his hand fall to his side. He looked at Isabel, and gave her a small. It was small, and tired, but it was genuine in all the ways that mattered.

"Thank you, Isabel." He said gratefully, taking her hand in his.

Isabel shrugged. "It's only the truth, Tommy."

Tommy gave a little nod at that, but didn't let go of Isabel's hand. The two continued to gaze at each other, every second growing heavier as they passed. Before either of them knew it, they were almost face-to-face. Fleetingly, he thought that he should stop this. That he was just vulnerable, confused, and there was still so much more to be resolved. There was still Laurel in his mind.

But he'd be lying if he said that Isabel wasn't in there, too.

Both of them closed their eyes as their lips met.

"Tommy hates me." Oliver announced as he entered the Foundry, throwing his jacket across one chair before throwing himself on it as well. He began to rub circles into his temples to ward off the growing migraine he was beginning to have.

Barry and Kara, who had been looking over some intel on the computers, turned around at the sound of his entrance and looked at him quizzically.

"And why does Tommy hate you?" Barry asked, deciding he had to be the one to bite the bullet.

Oliver sighed, slouching further into his chair. "We, along with Laurel and Isabel Rochev went out to dinner tonight. I thought it went fine, but when I suggested to him and Laurel that we should do this again, for some reason he said no and started ranting about me and Laurel 'dancing around each other' and rubbing in that he was a third wheel, whatever that meant. Then he left before Laurel or I could say anything." He threw his hands into the air. "I just don't get it. What did I do wrong?"

Kara and Barry exchanged exasperated looks. "Oliver," Kara said carefully, waiting for her older brother to turn his attention to her, "Do you remember when you told me that you might have feelings for Laurel?"

Oliver nodded, a little confused. "Yes?"

"And do you remember when you told me that you wouldn't mind starting a relationship with her?"

"Yes." Now he was really confused.

Kara drew in a deep breath. God, oldest sibling or no, Oliver could be such an idiot sometimes. "Did it ever occur to you that in order to have this relationship, Laurel would have to have feelings for you?"

Oliver opened his mouth, then closed it, realization finally dawning on him.

"And did it ever occur to you that Tommy, who has been crushing on Laurel for years, wouldn't like to see that? Especially when she has been rejecting him almost continuously for the last year?"

Instead of answering, the archer simply groaned, burying his face into his hands.

"Yeah." Kara deadpanned, crossing her arms. "That's what I thought."

"Plus, there's also Nyssa to add to the equation." Barry cheekily pointed out.

"How did I get from having no love life to this?" Oliver asked the universe, hoping for some divine answer that would never come.

Barry smirked. "It's alright, Ollie. At least you're not the only one whose best friend hates them."

Oliver snapped out of his self-pity when he heard that. "What do you mean by that?"

"Iris knows." Barry said simply, waiting for the fireworks.

Now both Oliver and Kara were staring at him. "WHAT?" They both shouted in unison.

"How?" Kara continued, while Oliver started cursing.

Barry shrugged. "She was too curious for her own good and started connecting the dots. Plus, I may have accidentally let a few things slip while I was taking down Mardon. I wasn't really thinking straight at the time."

Oliver clicked his teeth, unamused. "So, I guess she knows who we are too, huh?"

"Yup." Barry confirmed, popping his lips.

"Wonderful, just wonderful." Oliver looked just about ready to give up.

"Oh, that's not it. I've also got something to add to the bad news train."

Oliver and Barry whipped their heads to Kara, who suddenly looked ten years older and a lot more bedraggled.

"Amanda called me and J'onn over to the local A.R.G.U.S. base." The Kryptonian continued. "The Dominators are coming."

Silence.

"When?" Oliver asked, deathly quiet.

"Within the year. That's all we have so far."

Barry abruptly stood up and looked about ready to start things around. His frustration couldn't be more obvious.

"So, on top of all our personal problems, we've got Talia mucking around with the League and an alien invasion that we have nowhere near enough manpower for. Great, just great."

"The militaries of the world-"

"-are outgunned, Ollie, all three of us know that." Barry cut him off, glowering. "Even with Task Force X - who can't be seen in public, mind you - we don't have enough people. Hell, we don't even have enough people to police our own cities. If you haven't noticed, we've still got three empty chairs to fill in the Hall of Justice or whatever we're calling it!"

"Then that's what we'll do." Kara advised, trying to calm Barry down. "We fill up the roster. J'onn has already offered to become a vigilante and station himself in Hub City. You know we've been meaning to station someone there."

"J'onn was a frontline soldier during his own planet's war with the Dominators, so he does have experience fighting, but…" Oliver trailed off.

"Social training, I know." Kara rubbed the back of her head. "We're going to fast track it as much as we can, and he'll keep ownership of his apartment as long as needed to facilitate that."

"And after he doesn't need it anymore?"

Kara shrugged. "Lodging? Nyssa isn't going to be the last person we're going have to host here, after all."

"Does he even have a codename yet?" Barry asked, not entirely convinced yet.

"Martian Manhunter."

Both men stared at her.

"He's planning on using a modified variation of his original form for his superhero identity." Kara clarified, in some vain hope of defending her friend. "It did well with testing!"

"Okay, okay, whatever." Barry took in a deep breath. "We have J'onn. We need at least one more right now, preferably not near the west coast. If the Justice League is going to be a thing, we need to show that we're not too exclusive."

"Kara?" Oliver ventured, knowing she had been the last one to visit Amanda.

Kara sighed. "There is one. He's good for diversity and he's experienced. We're just not sure he'll accept."

"Put him on the plasma."

She did, accessing his dossier via the computer. His picture, along with other pertinent information appeared for all three of them to see.

Oliver and Barry made impressed and appreciative noises.

"Yeah, I think he'll do."

Jefferson Pierce sighed as he dropped his keys onto the counter, before removing his jacket and loosening his tie. Annissa and Jennifer were out, Lynn was at her own house, and here he was, all on his lonesome. Hopefully, nothing else would come up toni-

Click!

He whirled around, readying himself for a fight, only to drop his stance in disbelief when he saw who, exactly, had broken into his home.

Green Arrow, flanked by Supergirl and the Flash, walked forward, arms crossed in an appraising fashion. Jefferson felt himself slightly unnerved by the hardness of his gaze.

"Black Lightning. We have an offer for you."

After this chapter, there will be a short time skip of about two months, to the beginning of the school year in September. That's where the final mini-arc will begin.

As for Tommy and Isabel, that mainly happened for plot purposes. I initially planned to have no Tommy ships, but then I realized I needed to figure out a way to have Tommy trust Isabel. Seduction was both the easiest and most in-character way to make that happen. Tommy is a former playboy after all, and Isabel isn't above using seduction to achieve her ends, as we've seen in canon.

For the record, all you people telling me to do Olyssa makes me less inclined to do it. As for you people telling me to do Merlance, Merlance was never happening. Ever. Let this be the final nail in the coffin for it.

Reviews, comments, and constructive criticism are all welcome. Flames will be deleted and ignored. Please update the TV Tropes page. And don't forget the contest!