Chapter 141: Brunch
"Seriously? Why didn't you call ahead?" Tommy asked with a laugh as Sara and he exchanged hugs. "I would've reserved a table for a much nicer place than this."
Sara glanced around the chosen restaurant: a nice, trendy place located in downtown. "I don't mind. This place looks pretty good."
"It is," Laurel agreed, having eaten here before during one of her dates with Oliver.
Oliver nodded, smiling, as he went over to give Sara an embrace as well. "It's good to see you, Sara. How was Africa?"
The sister of his girlfriend turned a bit contemplative. Her answer was briefly delayed as the hostess arrived to direct them to their table, seating them in one of the booths so they could have some privacy. She passed around the menus and took their drink orders, and only after that was Sara given everyone's undivided attention.
"Good," she finally said, absentmindedly opening the menu and smoothing it out under her. "Fun, too. We've been traveling around several countries, visiting a lot of villages. I even picked up a language or two. Here, I've got some pictures on my phone I can show you." Sara took out her bag and fished out her mobile, quickly navigating through the interface until she found what she was looking for. She put the phone on the center of a table, with a single finger to flick through the photos, allowing everyone else to lean over and look at them themselves.
Laurel gasped. "Are those the Pyramids of Giza? Oh, Sara, why didn't you tell us?"
Her little sister flushed. "I didn't want you or anyone else to get jealous. That trip to Egypt was a bit unexpected — the agency sprung it on us after a difficult visit to one of the villages in Sudan. Things there… well, I'll just say they were a bit worse than usual, and they wanted us to have some time to unwind before returning to our missions."
"Did it help?" Oliver asked, peering at one photo of Sara standing in front of the Great Sphinx.
For whatever reason, Sara's blush deepened. "Yeah," she admitted quietly, "it did."
Laurel glanced up, observing her sister a little closer, before letting out another gasp. "You met someone," she claimed.
Both Oliver and Tommy's heads snapped up towards Sara at that. When Sara blushed even harder instead of denying it, they both had sharp intakes of breath. "Oh, Sara…" Laurel clasped her hands together, absolutely over the moon.
"What's their name?" Tommy probed immediately.
"Tommy!"
"Oh, come off it Ollie! You're curious too!"
"Yes," Oliver admitted, still admonishing. "But still."
"Her name is Ava," Sara said, cutting into the brewing argument. "Ava Sharpe. She's a federal agent who works in D.C. — one of the smaller agencies that people typically don't hear about. We met while I was visiting Alexandria with the others, in one of the markets. We hit it off, exchanged numbers, and well…" She flushed again.
"Do you like her?" Laurel immediately asked.
Sara nodded vigorously. "I do. She has this whole strict, no-nonsense front when she's on the job, but when you get her to loosen up she's a lot of fun. And she's really nice, much nicer than people give her credit for."
"Good," her big sister gave a single nod, expression firm. "Otherwise I would need to have a talk with her. My little sister only deserves the best."
"Laurel…" Sara sighed. Her older sister could be so protective sometimes. "Well, anyway, how about you two? How's the new apartment?"
Oliver and Laurel exchanged looks, while Tommy stiffened slightly, though no one noticed. "It's good," Oliver finally said. "In some ways, it's not really all the different from when I was sleeping over at Laurel's place. But at the same time it is, because it's ours, you know?"
"It's something we're building together," Laurel added. "And that means a lot to us."
"I get what you mean. Speaking of that, where's Kara? I thought you'd bring her along to this Ollie. And how's Barry doing?"
Her friend rubbed his shoulder. "Barry's doing fine, though he's mostly concerned with Iris and Eddie. Iris's partner Ralph got sacked a few months ago for falsifying evidence on one of his cases before their partnership, and I'm betting you've already heard about the Thawnes." Sara nodded to confirm that she did. "Yeah, so they've both got their problems and Barry's been trying to help them deal with them. You know, on top of his studies with CCU."
"Yeah, I get what you mean. I'm guessing Barry and Iris aren't dating yet either?" Sara had only met the two in-person a few times, but even she could see the sexual tension between them.
Oliver shook his head. "I'm sure Barry is going to ask her out soon though, especially since Eddie's had time to acclimate to the breakup."
"What about Kara? Why isn't she here?"
"Actually, I asked if she wanted to come but she told me she'd already promised Sam that Kal and her would go with Sam and Ruby to the local fair today."
Sara tilted her head. "Has she been spending a lot of time with Sam lately?" Though she had only met the other woman once or twice, she knew Kara and her were practically inseparable at times.
"Yeah. Why?"
Now everyone was staring at Oliver in disbelief. He quickly noticed their expressions and groaned. "This is one of those things that is obvious to everyone except me, isn't it?"
"Ollie," Laurel said delicately, "Have you considered the possibility that Kara might have more feelings for Sam beyond friendship?"
Oliver blinked. His opened his mouth to immediately deny it, but stopped. Could it be true…?
"Honestly, I don't know," he finally admitted. "Kara… on the island, Kara's first priority was always us, and above all else, Kal. He was always her first concern. Raising him came before everything else in her life."
"But Kal's growing up now," Tommy said knowingly. "He's in high school. He needs her, but not as much as he used to."
"Yeah, and that's something Kara is struggling with. As far as romance goes, I don't think Kara would really recognize her feelings for what they are if she has them at all. Romance has never really entered her mind." Well, that wasn't entirely true — Kara had enough training to recognize romantic love when it came to other people. She was, after all, the one who helped him acknowledge his growing feelings for Laurel and Nyssa. But when it came to herself, that was something else entirely.
Sara nodded slowly. "So if she does have feelings for Sam…"
"…she probably hasn't realized it yet. She'll either need to figure it out herself, or someone needs to prompt the realization." Oliver shrugged. "Whichever comes first. But even she does realize it soon, it's doubtful she'll start pursuing Sam right away."
"Why?"
Laurel rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "Sam's mom died about a month back. According to Kara, she's been coping since then, though obviously still grieving."
"Yeah, that makes sense." Absentmindedly, Sara turned her attention to Tommy. "What about you, Tommy? How's your love life been going?"
Tommy stiffened up, this time far more noticeably. Then he looked down, not answering. Almost immediately, the atmosphere turned solemn, with Sara adopting a regretful expression.
"Tommy, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"
"It's fine, Sara," Tommy said with a sigh, glancing up. "I know it's been a while, and it's a valid question to ask, but…" He shrugged. "It still hurts."
Oliver reached over and gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze. "It's always going to hurt, Tommy. Don't apologize for that."
"She'd want me to move on."
"She would," Laurel agreed, sympathy and compassion evident. "But you'll move on when you're ready. No more, no less."
Tommy swallowed. "Right, right—You're right."
Anything else that could be said was lost when their waitress returned, this time with their food. Even so, Tommy couldn't help but wring his hands together, lost in memories. He was happy for his friends, truly. But it didn't make it hurt any less.
Okay, so Lebanese or…? Barry frowned as he scrolled down the list of restaurants his Yelp app had given him. He was craving some Middle Eastern food right now, something he usually avoided due to how it sometimes reminded him of Nanda Parbat. But cravings were cravings and besides — shawarma. You could never do wrong with shawarma.
"Barry."
Barry looked up, and stared. "Ralph," he briefly acknowledged the other man, before angling himself to walk around him. Ralph Dibny was the last person he wanted to talk to today.
Unfortunately, Ralph didn't get the memo. He quickly used his powers to grab Barry by one of his arms, forcing him to stay still. With a sigh, Barry turned around, and gave a weak glare. "What do you want, Ralph?"
"I need your help," Ralph told him, deadly serious.
The speedster raised an eyebrow. "If this is about Iris—"
"No," Ralph quickly cut him off, shaking his head. He glanced around for a bit, before gesturing to the other man to follow him. Suspicious and intrigued, Barry acquiesced, letting the older man lead him to an out-of-the way spot of the campus.
Once he was certain they wouldn't be overheard, Ralph began to speak again. "You know I'm a PI now, right?"
Slowly, Barry nodded.
"Well, I just landed this really big case. Super secret. And I can't give you any of the details, but I kinda need your help with some science-y stuff, and I obviously can't go to Julian anymore for it."
Barry frowned, eying Ralph with even more suspicion than before. "What kind of help?"
Ralph sighed. "I have evidence I need you to process. I'd send it to a private crime lab, but I don't have the money, and it's really sensitive and important. So I was hopping you'd take a look at it."
"I'm not a CSI," Barry immediately pointed out. At least, not publicly. He had received training in forensic science from his time in the League (mostly because it was good for covering up assassinations), but obviously he wasn't going to tell Ralph Dibny of all people that.
"Yeah, but you're, like, a super genius," Ralph waved his concerns off. "It shouldn't be hard for you at all. All I need you to do is just check out some chemicals I found at the crime scene, and tell me what they are. You can do that, right?"
The speedster continued to eye him closely, before sighing. "I'll check with Iris to make sure it's legal," he told the other man. "And if it is, I'll help you. But only if you stay from Iris and me for a while. We really don't want to see you right now, Ralph."
"Right, right, I'll do that. I'll visit you at S.T.A.R. Labs tomorrow and give it to you then?" The other metahuman suggested. He sounded nervous.
Barry frowned, then shrugged. "Yeah, sure. But only if Iris says yes, okay?"
"Yeah, that's fine." Ralph tried to clasp a hand on Barry's shoulder, something the other man quickly moved away from. The taller man didn't seem to mind. "Just text me her answer. Now, I gotta go. Later!"
He rushed off. Barry watched him go, then shook his head. Same old Ralph.
"You know, you can't keep this up forever."
The face of Julia Freeman smirked, and not for the first time, Astra wished she was dealing with the actual Julia Freeman instead of whatever entity that had possessed her all those months ago. Freeman would've broken on the first night, told them everything she knew (if she knew anything at all).
"Not gonna talk?" Astra asked again, and again Purity kept her mouth shut. "Fine." The older woman turned to the agents at the door. "Lock her up."
As the agents roughly grabbed Purity by her arms and escorted her out of the interrogation room, Astra dropped the papers she was holding onto the table and sighed, rubbing her temples to soothe her growing migraine. They had tried everything short of torture to get her to talk, and yet Purity remained as tight-lipped as ever. Her intransigence was getting to be rather infuriating for everyone — Astra wondered how much longer it would take for Waller to go behind the JL's backs and implement those enhanced interrogation techniques.
They had at least been able to confirm that she was related to Pestilence somehow. Confronting Purity with Pestilence's death had gotten a reaction from her, restrained anger, but not much else. For the most part she remained as she always was — either silent or reciting weirdly lyrical threats and prophecies. Enough to make Astra wonder if the woman was somehow clairvoyant.
"Hey."
Astra blinked and glanced up to see Hal Jordan, dressed up as the Green Lantern, leaning against the doorway. "Hal. How was Oa?"
Hal shrugged. "Same old, same old. There's a rumor going around that the Corps is considering forging more rings and recruiting another Lantern for each sector, but other than that, not much news."
"If that comes to pass, do you think whoever the ring chooses will be willing to join the Justice League?"
"Hopefully. One of the reasons why they're considering this is because handling one sector is beginning to prove to be too much for one Lantern. It certainly is for me, considering how often stuff happens hear on Earth."
Astra nodded in understanding. "Speaking of that, did you find anything in the Corps' archive?"
The Green Lanter of Sector 2814 shook his head. "It's been millenia since a Kryptonian was a member of the Green Lantern Corps. Your planet was very reclusive in its last centuries and if anyone had been offered a ring, they likely refused it. Whatever information we have on Krypton is dated. I tried looking at the stuff we have from early Krypton, see if there was anything there, but no dice."
A sigh. "Well, thank you for trying any—"
WEE-OH!
Both superheroes were startled as a strange sound began blaring out from the speakers and the lights began to dim red. "What the hell?" Hal demanded, his ring flaring to life. "What is that?"
"It's a base alarm!" Astra exclaimed. "I think someone is escaping from the cells!"
The two heroes rushed out of the room and ran towards the direction of the holding block, unable to fly due to the rush of agents go scrambling throughout the building. The traffic only began to decrease when they got closer to their destination, and already they could see the carnage of the escapee, bodies strewn about, either groaning or disturbingly limp. Hal immediately formed a small shield at the sight of that, prepared for whatever was about to come their way.
Finally, the escapee came into view. Astra cursed when she saw who it was: Purity. The other woman had broken threw her bonds, and was dragging the body of one of the agents that had been escorting her back to her cell. She threw it at the two heroes, smirking as Astra caught the body and gently set it down. Other than that, however, she didn't do anything else, allowing a crowd of agents to gather around her and her opponents, each and every single one of their weapons settled and aimed at Purity.
"Don't even think about using your sonic abilities, Purity," Astra warmed as she stood back up, taking a stance. "Everyone here is equipped with disruptors and blockers. With myself and Green Lantern here as well, you don't stand a chance."
Purity raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"
And then suddenly, her nails elongated into claws, and she began scratching and slashing two nearby agents. Astra and Hal and everyone else watched in horror as the two agents collapsed in agony, in a very familiar way.
"The plague…" Astra breathed out, terrified. "How?"
"You and your spawn might have killed my sister, Astra In-Ze," Purity rumbled, "but you did not destroy her power. It now resides in me."
Everyone paled at those words, almost frozen at the revelation. Purity took advantage of the momentary distraction to blast everyone with sonic waves, trying to induce vertigo. The sound caused them all to wince, but not fall, much to the alien's frustration, and she 'turned up the volume', so to speak. That was enough to break through their precautions, and everyone present except for her fell to their knees, hands on their ears, trying to drown out the sounds.
Hal had enough wherewithal to try and form a barrier around Purity, to prevent her from escaping, but he was too slow. Purity crouched and then jumped, using the momentum to launch her into the air, breaking through the roof. She flew off immediately, and the loss of her finally allowed the sound to end. Astra gave herself a moment to shake off the vertigo, before trying to follow.
She sailed through the hole Purity made and looked around, using her supervision to see if she could find the other woman faster. But Purity was gone. There was not so much as a whiff of her to be seen. Astra cursed.
Dammit.
Not really happy with that last scene, but it served its purpose.
Fine with the other two though — writing Sara is so much fun. And as for Ava, well, you're probably wondering what's up with her, but I think I'll keep that one to my chest for now. Just know that Ava won't appear in person this arc, so don't expect any answers on that front any time soon.
And as for Ralph? You'll see.
As always, feel free to make comments, flames will be ignored and deleted, and don't forget to update the TV Tropes page!
