Earth 1, Star City

Everyone took the rest of the day off, with the serious planning due to start tomorrow.

X

Jax slipped away from Grey to talk to Evelyn. It was a bit hard to draw the girl out, but after a while she did agree to go for coffee. They swopped back stories, finding out that they had both lost parents - his father, right after he was born; both of hers when she was in her teenage years.

''I've been living with my cousin since then'' Evelyn told him, before confiding ''She means well, but she sometimes forgets that she's not my mother.''

Jax liked her, they were probably going to become friends - but he was a bit disappointed to find out that, as they got to know more about each other, the romantic spark wasn't there. When he had driven her back to the Arrow bunker, she seemed to be feeling the same way about him - her tone was friendly but there was no sign that she wanted things to go further. He went home to his mother.

X

Evelyn waved him goodbye and went inside. She was resigned but not too happy about having to tuck herself away here. Give me some of the electricity-generating arrows, she told the absent Oliver, and we'll see what I can do. Then she sighed, there was no way he was going to hand that job over to her.

There was one thing that she had to do. Once she was inside, she called Ava. Being told her cousin was in a meeting, she left a message - she was going to be staying with friends for a few days.

X

When Ava got the message sometime later, she was annoyed. She'd already felt that way, after another interrogation session that had gone nowhere. Savage's recruits were proving to be tough nuts. Evelyn's life sometimes seemed chaotic - what friends, where and for how long exactly? She tried to call Evelyn back but got no answer.

''I don't have time to chase after you like this'' she told the absent girl. She had a whole A.R.G.U.S. unit to run, rounding up people bent on creating social unrest, trying to dismantle the network they were part of.

X

Martin went home to a happy family reunion with Clarissa and Lily.

X.

Rip and Nate went back to Rip's apartment, where Rip had to face a stream of increasingly angry messages from his publisher. By the end a lawsuit seemed to be on the horizon.

''Looks like I'm going to have to kiss my writing career goodbye'' Rip said, wondering why that didn't upset him as much as he thought it should.

When he mentioned that to Nate, his friend thought for a moment. ''But now you know the real Tara, Jay and so on'' he pointed out. ''Doesn't that beat living through the pages of a book?''

''Miranda's going to kill me'' was Rip's next thought.

''Fact of life, buddy. Your ex-wife makes as much money as you, if not more. '' Nate thought for a moment, then made a decision that went against his ambitious instincts. ''Why don't you co-write the Legends saga with me? People's curiosity is going to go through the roof when they realise how much like your book characters some of them are.''

Rip looked at his friend for a moment, realising how much he liked the idea.

''Let's go for it'' he said.

X

''What's wrong?'' Joanne asked for the third time.

Mick finally came out with it, more or less. ''Drake.''

She looked at him. ''You don't like working alongside a police captain? I get that but -''

''It's not that. Snart and her -'' he made a crude gesture.

Her eyes widened. ''Really?''

He rushed on ''It was years ago, way before Sara. It was stupid - I was glad when it fizzled out.'' He went and got a couple of beers from the fridge.

''Are you worried that it's going to start up again?''

''No'' he said flatly. He was lying and she knew it.

X

Carter and Kendra decided to stay on the Acheron and had a relatively happy evening, watching a middling-good movie and eating popcorn.

X

''There's something I need to tell you'' he said as he pulled up outside Laurel's apartment.

She looked at him.

''It was a long time ago. Dinah Drake and I were together - we were not much more than kids. She was a rookie cop and I guess you could say I was a rookie crook. We both wanted the other to change, but were both too stubborn for that. So we split.''

''Old history. I have some of my own'' she said lightly and managed to kiss him goodbye as if the revelation didn't bother her at all.

But as she walked towards Laurel's, she was chewing her bottom lip in a distracted manner.

X

''You love him'' Laurel said ''and you don't feel entirely sure of him. Natural, given his background.'' She'd been concealing the fact that she felt uneasy about her sister's relationship.

Adrian had been horrified. One of the reasons why he had gone to his mothers for the night.

She half-turned and looked at Sara. ''But is it really any different from Oliver being back in your life?''

''I guess not'' Sara admitted. Leonard had actually said a couple of complimentary things about Oliver/Green Arrow. He didn't seem to have any worries.

'Nuf said'' Laurel said. ''You'll never guess what Dad's being doing.'' The conversation shifted to their father's latest hobby.

X

For a long time, she sat outie the bar, knowing that he would have gone there. Her head was filled with memories she couldn't banish - tangled sheets, after another wild, crazy, night. She was taking a risk and she knew it - this could have ruined her career. In the end they'd walked away from each other, both too strong-willed and stubborn to change lifepaths.

She'd thrown herself into her work, keeping her feelings locked away inside her. Vincent had arrived and helped her to heal. Then he had been killed in that stupid car crash. She'd moved to Star City, joined the police here, concentrated on her career.

If Vincent and Leonard were both here, who would she choose? That wasn't a question she was comfortable with.

She stared at the entrance to the bar for a couple of minutes, then started the car engine and drove away.