Post by adrini on Oct 26, 2014 22:46:04 GMT -5
"In the back." Robert said, nodding down the hallway. "To the left."
Moira nodded, tightly gripping her daughter's hand. Walking slowly they made their way to the room where that was packed. A sea of SCPD blue filled much of the room. There was a second group, all wearing civilian clothing but moving in trained ways, that were filling much of the rest of it. The casket was in view in the front of the room, and there were a number of people crying. Mrs. Lance had been well loved, but Moira still couldn't find the person she knew was hurting most.
"Mo, in the corner, with the veil." Adrien pointed to one of the emptiest areas, almost in the hallway. Robert knew to offer support as they saw her. The young Miss Lance, unlike the majority of the others in the room, was still. Almost serene she was sitting on a bench next to the tissue boxes and blankly stared at her hands. If they hadn't known better they would have thought she was a distant niece or one time friend instead of surviving daughter.
A back haired girl was with her, trying to draw her out. It was a kind thing to try, and Moira knew her friend was only trying to be helpful, but she also knew there wasn't a point. Grief was a gate, and time was the only key to get passed it. After a few more seconds the friend gently gave up and joined others, all of whom were concerned.
"She's lovely." Adrien said sadly. She was. Tall and quite thin, with long blond hair and a face Moira could easily see lit up with laughter or mirth. At present her face was blank, expressionless under it's thin net veil. As thin as she was, likely from the stress of watching her mother fade, she was almost a specter of death herself.
"That's her?" Thea asked, looking from behind her mother. Her father nodded.
"That's her. Flesh and bone. We're going to give her some time to catch her breath, then tell your brother. But we found her." He grabbed his daughters remaining hand. "She's real."
"I want to tell him now, look at her." Thea seemed to feel strongly. Miss Lance had been approached by a few of the officers, offering condolences. Even from where they stood her social form was perfect, polite but not affected. "She can't go back to this."
"She'll have friends to look after her, sweetie." Moira said, proud of Thea's protective nature.
"Thank you for coming." They looked up to see the veiled woman had walked up to them. "The viewing is open until seven, the burial is tomorrow at eleven, and the gathering is from noon to three after. If there's anything I can help you with feel free to ask."
The service had been basic, Star City was a practical place. It seemed like every member of her mother old teams had found a way to show up. The officers' stories were dated, they hadn't been back since her fathers death, but still very caring. Dinah had had no idea that they were still remembered here. Among the best was Commissioner Anderson, once her father's partner, who mentioned things she hadn't even thought about in years.
After the service the burial was painful, but mercifully brief. It was a weak comfort, but a comfort still, to see her fathers casket in the space next to where her mother would now rest in peace. Though she had never spoken of it to the others, Dinah knew her mother never really got over the loss, and would be ecstatic to be with him again wherever they were. But now the building was dark, the event was over, and everyone had given the final offers of sympathies before going back to the lives they came from.
"It's over, Dinah." Wilcat sat next to her in the dark restaurant. "Time to go."
"I know." She looked down at the ground, twisting the tissues in her hands. "I just can't stand to leave her here and go back to that house again."
Ted, normally stoic, grabbed her hand. He knew the feeling all to well from years of having to clean out lockers of fallen students and comrades. The young woman next to him was struggling, trying to stay afloat, and wanting something that made sense. Things that would only be addressed in time.
"Rent a room for a few nights, take it out of the gym." He said and she smiled, well aware that her looking after the books was a large part of the reason the gym was still working. "Nothing wrong with catching your breath."
"I keep being told that, the Queen daughter, Thea told me the same thing." She sighed. "I just can't win. If I stay here Dad haunts me, if I go home Mom does. Where does this lead, Ted? What did I do?"
"It's not your fault." Ted gripped the hand tighter. "This is what life is like for extraordinary people like you and your Mom. You effect people, change things, and we're better for it, but it can get bumpy."
"I know." She had seen the pattern long enough. "I'll need to focus on cleaning things up for a while. Don't look for me too much."
"Left! Left!" Ted said as Kate went through warm up rounds of kicks and punches. She forgot the left hook and when she leapt to finish the set found herself on the floor as a result. "Left, right foot turn, then leap. Or the floor."
"No kidding," Kate said dryly, wincing. She had hit her tail bone. "Help me up?"
Ted pulled her to her feet and she took a deep breath, regaining her focus. She moved to start the set again and, running the memory of her now busy friend, managed to get the rhythm right and finished it. She just didn't notice she had also borrowed Dinah's signature finishing pose.
"Whatever gets you through." Ted said, sighing sadly. "But ya, that's the set."
Kate got out of the ring and walked over to the wall at the back. Plastered in framed news articles and photographs there was barely any room left. The gym was fairly new, only founded about eight years ago, but Ted packed and took more and more pictures with him as he moved on and his collection had gotten sizable over his career of fighting and teaching. He wasn't sentimental in the obvious sense, but if you made it to the wall you were in. The earliest were of Ted and Mrs. Lance, who in her youth had looked spookily like her daughter, in their old groups that tried to clean up the cities before she or her current allies were even talked about. She knew most of the faces, could name several of them, but knew there were many she didn't and likely never would. Loosing people was hard for the veteran instructor and he didn't tend to talk about them. She knew more faces as the years marched on, her mother even making a few appearances, including the one pictures she had always treasured of her very young mother beaming as she held the almost newborn bundle of joy to show off to her friends. Kate's mother had died young, but there was never any question that she loved her little girl. The final shot made even her well controlled emotions catch. With Mrs. Lance's passing the era had ended. The beaming group of the three of them under the protective attention of the late Canary was never going to happen again.
"It was good while it lasted." She heard Ted say behind her. "Just put it back together someday."
"Not really my call." She turned to see Ted standing there with a glass of something brownish for her. "Maybe once the dust settles."
"I don't think so. Jade moved in with Tom, I messed up." With Sandra gone he had hoped for a window to fix things with his daughter but that hadn't happened. "And Di is still dealing with suits. You'll get the chance someday, know it in my bones. Don't pass it up."
Kate looked at the man for a moment before downing the glass and asking for another. She could only hope she got the chance.
-BOP-
"You sure about this, Babe?" Thomas asked for the tenth time. "You still have a room."
"She has to sell the house, the grant was in Mrs. Lance's name." Jade explained again as she carried the last of the boxes inside the small apartment. "Don't you want me?"
"Sure but I meant with your Dad. I mean, your Mom is gone so-" He almost dropped the box as she turned to look at him.
"I will NEVER live with that man." She said sharply. "All that time he spent watching-"
"Okay, okay. Here it is." The apartment would be a little full but that was better then a little sparce. He still thought they were rushing things. "You going to keep to rounds?
"Of course. No point in getting all that training if I wasn't. You have training anyway." She was taking over the kitchen, putting it together in some very clear pattern that she seemed to have fixed in her head from a previous model. "We need to go shopping."
"We don't have to worry about your Mom do we?" He knew who he was dealing with, he was dating the daughter of Lady Shiva. Even he knew it was a possibly very bad plan.
"She knows she isn't welcome." Jade said simply. "I was clear."
Having finished the kitchen he watched her look at the boxes before walking over and sitting on his lap.
"How about a welcome home." She said, her internal heat suddenly on. "Whole place is ours, we can go all kinds of crazy."
"Keep running Little Bird." She heard the whispers in the office halls. Di was trying to work out a number of legal kinks that had propped up after the sale of the house. She knew her already grief affected mind was a mess, but the Talons and White Canary following her everywhere wasn't helping. They weren't evening fighting her half the time, just trying to drive her insane. It was working.
"Miss Lance?" She looked up to see the arbiter and nodded. "You said you had a copy of the deed."
Once the meeting was over she shook the frustration from her head and walked back to her bike, running through her head to remember where else she had to hit before wrapping up for the day. Starting down the street to the spine she caught the familiar white leather behind her and cursed.
"Seriously? Everyday?" She amped the juice and got some distance. "I do not have the time."
White Canary quickly made up the area and Di could see the wide smile under the helmet, smirking. It would be old by now if not for the fact that White Canary was a very skilled driver.
"Need some help there?" A black bike drove next to her, she could feel herself relax at Kate's custom marked helmet. "Does your phone work, by the way?"
"Not when I'm talking to the zoning officer and there's a lawyer about to be hired if I don't convince him I'm a very good girl." Di responded, her companion also noticed the white one had gone. "Huh, it's just me. Great."
"Hotel." Kate said and Di nodded, and they took the next exit and when they got to the casino a team of staff took care of the bikes and gear.
"I can't tell my father I employ you if you're never here, Di." Kate said as they walked to the back entrance. "I at least need to know where you are."
"Pick a public building, any public building. And if I don't show up, yes, an officer will be sent to find me." Di said dryly.
"What?" Kate stopped and looked at her, shocked. "What the hell?"
"They keep loosing, sorry, misplacing key paperwork and I have to explain what happened and accept responsibility." They were at the elevator. "And that's the abridged version. Very abridged."
"You know, only haven could pull that off for two months straight. Okay, you're off the hook." Kate cursed. "I'll have my lawyers tweak it, this is a mess."
"Much obliged, what have I missed?" The apartment was largely unchanged.
"It's been quiet, too quiet on the crime scene. I haven't seen a talon fang in ages, they still bothering you?" She grabbed a pile of papers from the desk and gave them to her friend.
"Every damn day. Why do I have to be prom queen?" Di started looking through them, quickly organizing them. "The curse of popularity. Speaking of your father, anything getting better?"
"Sure, Renee has to keep her distance if she wants to stay out of the storage locker, and he had another 'friend' over for dinner last night." Kate sat nearby to watch her work, Di had far more patience for paperwork. "He's 'working with me'."
"Might be time to separate from the flock." Di was marking on the corners of the pages. "That sounds worse."
"We still clear to use your place to meet up?" Kate took the pile of contracts and began signing where Di had marked.
"Just keep letting me know and bringing your own sheets and we're good. Sorry it's not nicer." Di finished the last of the folders.
"It's nice enough, and Talons don't know it yet." Kate said as Di took the folders and put them in the out pile. "Nor does my father. What else do you have today?"
"Dropping off a house warming gift for Jade, see how she is." Kate nodded. "Then I guess I go home and take a break."
"Streaming reruns and eating twinkies, date already. This is pathetic." Kate threw a pillow at her friend.
"Who?" Di said before laughing. "I'm in semi-hiding and if Mr. Green eyes even exits he's miles away."
There wasn't much to do before the major paperwork of the merger and the winter's cold chill made staying home more attractive anyway. She was settled into her favorite chair and looked over a few personal investments. This sentiment wasn't shared, if the firm knock on the door was any indication.
"Adrien." Oliver was standing there, Diggle sternly standing behind him. "Got a minute?"
She looked at Diggle behind him and the man shook his head before nodding, he had permission.
"For you, always." She grinned. "What can I do?"
"I'll make some coffee." Digs said and left the two as Oliver looked at him anxiously. "Go ahead and talk without me."
"Okay, I got some things to help you." Oliver pulled a file out of his jacket and eagerly showed it to her. "I had a few contacts from 'haven send me info lately. Really good stuff all of a sudden. I thought your PI guy might be able to use it."
"Lets have a look then." Adrien looked over the folder and hid a smile. It was very good intel, he was only a step away. "Okay, that looks great. I'll send this out tonight, should be enough."
"Good. And thanks. No one else seems to believe me." He sat down as Diggle called that the coffee was ready." I mean it."
"No worries Kiddo. We got this." He smiled and hurried to get his drink as Diggle came back and handed her a mug.
"Anything I should know?" The man said kindly. "He's happy."
"Not to be morbid but I was wondering something." Adrien said, looking at him. Diggle nodded. "After your father died how long did it take you to start coming back?"
"You owe me an explanation later, you know that right?" Diggle sighed. "I was semi-normal after a couple months. It was still rough but functioning wasn't so hard anymore."
Adrien nodded, Moira had said much the same. Maybe it was time to see if the timeline was the same in 'haven.
"One moment!" Jade said as the knock on the door repeated. She was working on the final pictures for the living room and the now large portrait of her and Thomas had just been framed. It was going over the sofa. "Be right there!"
She made it to the door soon after and when opened she saw Di standing just out of the rain that was falling outside, she was soaked. In the cold rain with the light cloth jacket she was shivering.
"Happy home!" Di said with forced cheer, wanting to be welcomed to the dry interior. She had brought a large bag from the local housewares store. "Kate said you might need a few things. Can I come in yet?"
"Yes, please." Jade moved out of the way. "You're soaked."
"Weather was perfect when I picked up the gifts." She said and took off the near dripping fabric. Wrapping herself in one of the blankets she had given Jade from her house after her mother passed. "Beautiful even, then this rolled in. Nothing in the bag is water sensitive, it should be fine."
"You didn't have to get us anything." Jade said and looked through the bag. Di had already given her much of their old household items, claiming there was way too much for one person to use them and Jade could use it as she was actually building something. "But thanks."
"You should have some new things. This place is looking so great, Jade." She was looking around the room and sighed at the new portrait. "I'm super jealous."
"I haven't heard from you." Jade said and the blonde nodded. She hadn't been around very much. "You kinda fell off the map."
"You're right." Di agreed. "It's been rough. I mean, dealing with the house, the will, loads of paperwork. But mostly I don't want to rain on your parade. My life sucks but yours is being awesome. You deserve to enjoy that. Plus I didn't want to risk anyone getting hurt."
"Hurt?" The word got her attention. "Who's getting hurt?"
"No one, thank goodness." Jade turned the tea kettle on. "I've been getting alot of unwanted attention as of late."
"Wondered where it all went." Jade saw that her friend's hair was dropping and panicked slightly. "Hey, new and very expensive sofa. Use a towel."
"Right, of course." Di hurried to get one from the hall. "Sorry about that."
Bringing over the mugs Jade noted that Di was careful to use a coaster. They sat down and shared silence for a time.
"Hows the other side?" Di asked after a few minutes. "Looks awesome."
"It's great, alot of work to set up, though. Tom doesn't help as much as he should but that's not uncommon I'm told." She ran over lists in her mind of thing that Tom was 'going to get to'. "Still frustrating."
"I'm sure." Di said and looked into her mug. "I'm sure it'll be worth it."
If there was a que Jade missed it entirely. Instead her mind raced with all the to-dos and shopping that were still needed for the abode. When Di stood to leave she almost missed it.
"Thanks for the tea, it was great after the rain." Her jacket still soaked she picked it up instead of trying to wear it again. "I should come by when you're more settled."
"Sure, anytime." Jade said and followed her friend to the door. "Rain is over."
"Now for it to stay that way till I get back. I'm happy for you, Jade. You've earned this." Di said as she smiled weakly and went back into the world.
"Hello? Anyone there?" Renee whispered into the unfinished parking garage at the appointed time. "Kate?"
She heard a slight knock just ahead and carefully made her way in that direction. There were no lights in this area, thought the open wiring for them was in place, and you just had to trust yourself to make it through.
"Right here!" She heard Kate softly say just a couple feet away. "Anyone follow you?"
"Not at all." Renee said and beamed at the sight of her better half. "Missed you."
"Di is home, saw her bike, but she'll understand why we're kicking her out. I'll just send her on an errand or something." Kate beamed. "I brought take out and everything. We don't have to leave till tomorrow if we like."
Relieved to have gotten away she followed Kate to the ladder where you entered the room above, and they started climbing, but when they got to the top the latch was already open. Looking down at her partner Kate was terrified and Renee was much the same. They scurried into the simple concrete room as quickly as they could.
The room was a mess. Cotten tapestries had been torn off the walls, several of the think panes of concrete were cracked from canary cries, and the furniture was strewn around the room, there had been a struggle here. Di was no where to be seen, but there was a good amount of blood on the floor.
The only clue was a message spray painted onto the wall.
"Ours now."
Moira nodded, tightly gripping her daughter's hand. Walking slowly they made their way to the room where that was packed. A sea of SCPD blue filled much of the room. There was a second group, all wearing civilian clothing but moving in trained ways, that were filling much of the rest of it. The casket was in view in the front of the room, and there were a number of people crying. Mrs. Lance had been well loved, but Moira still couldn't find the person she knew was hurting most.
"Mo, in the corner, with the veil." Adrien pointed to one of the emptiest areas, almost in the hallway. Robert knew to offer support as they saw her. The young Miss Lance, unlike the majority of the others in the room, was still. Almost serene she was sitting on a bench next to the tissue boxes and blankly stared at her hands. If they hadn't known better they would have thought she was a distant niece or one time friend instead of surviving daughter.
A back haired girl was with her, trying to draw her out. It was a kind thing to try, and Moira knew her friend was only trying to be helpful, but she also knew there wasn't a point. Grief was a gate, and time was the only key to get passed it. After a few more seconds the friend gently gave up and joined others, all of whom were concerned.
"She's lovely." Adrien said sadly. She was. Tall and quite thin, with long blond hair and a face Moira could easily see lit up with laughter or mirth. At present her face was blank, expressionless under it's thin net veil. As thin as she was, likely from the stress of watching her mother fade, she was almost a specter of death herself.
"That's her?" Thea asked, looking from behind her mother. Her father nodded.
"That's her. Flesh and bone. We're going to give her some time to catch her breath, then tell your brother. But we found her." He grabbed his daughters remaining hand. "She's real."
"I want to tell him now, look at her." Thea seemed to feel strongly. Miss Lance had been approached by a few of the officers, offering condolences. Even from where they stood her social form was perfect, polite but not affected. "She can't go back to this."
"She'll have friends to look after her, sweetie." Moira said, proud of Thea's protective nature.
"Thank you for coming." They looked up to see the veiled woman had walked up to them. "The viewing is open until seven, the burial is tomorrow at eleven, and the gathering is from noon to three after. If there's anything I can help you with feel free to ask."
-BOP-
The service had been basic, Star City was a practical place. It seemed like every member of her mother old teams had found a way to show up. The officers' stories were dated, they hadn't been back since her fathers death, but still very caring. Dinah had had no idea that they were still remembered here. Among the best was Commissioner Anderson, once her father's partner, who mentioned things she hadn't even thought about in years.
After the service the burial was painful, but mercifully brief. It was a weak comfort, but a comfort still, to see her fathers casket in the space next to where her mother would now rest in peace. Though she had never spoken of it to the others, Dinah knew her mother never really got over the loss, and would be ecstatic to be with him again wherever they were. But now the building was dark, the event was over, and everyone had given the final offers of sympathies before going back to the lives they came from.
"It's over, Dinah." Wilcat sat next to her in the dark restaurant. "Time to go."
"I know." She looked down at the ground, twisting the tissues in her hands. "I just can't stand to leave her here and go back to that house again."
Ted, normally stoic, grabbed her hand. He knew the feeling all to well from years of having to clean out lockers of fallen students and comrades. The young woman next to him was struggling, trying to stay afloat, and wanting something that made sense. Things that would only be addressed in time.
"Rent a room for a few nights, take it out of the gym." He said and she smiled, well aware that her looking after the books was a large part of the reason the gym was still working. "Nothing wrong with catching your breath."
"I keep being told that, the Queen daughter, Thea told me the same thing." She sighed. "I just can't win. If I stay here Dad haunts me, if I go home Mom does. Where does this lead, Ted? What did I do?"
"It's not your fault." Ted gripped the hand tighter. "This is what life is like for extraordinary people like you and your Mom. You effect people, change things, and we're better for it, but it can get bumpy."
"I know." She had seen the pattern long enough. "I'll need to focus on cleaning things up for a while. Don't look for me too much."
-BOP-
"Left! Left!" Ted said as Kate went through warm up rounds of kicks and punches. She forgot the left hook and when she leapt to finish the set found herself on the floor as a result. "Left, right foot turn, then leap. Or the floor."
"No kidding," Kate said dryly, wincing. She had hit her tail bone. "Help me up?"
Ted pulled her to her feet and she took a deep breath, regaining her focus. She moved to start the set again and, running the memory of her now busy friend, managed to get the rhythm right and finished it. She just didn't notice she had also borrowed Dinah's signature finishing pose.
"Whatever gets you through." Ted said, sighing sadly. "But ya, that's the set."
Kate got out of the ring and walked over to the wall at the back. Plastered in framed news articles and photographs there was barely any room left. The gym was fairly new, only founded about eight years ago, but Ted packed and took more and more pictures with him as he moved on and his collection had gotten sizable over his career of fighting and teaching. He wasn't sentimental in the obvious sense, but if you made it to the wall you were in. The earliest were of Ted and Mrs. Lance, who in her youth had looked spookily like her daughter, in their old groups that tried to clean up the cities before she or her current allies were even talked about. She knew most of the faces, could name several of them, but knew there were many she didn't and likely never would. Loosing people was hard for the veteran instructor and he didn't tend to talk about them. She knew more faces as the years marched on, her mother even making a few appearances, including the one pictures she had always treasured of her very young mother beaming as she held the almost newborn bundle of joy to show off to her friends. Kate's mother had died young, but there was never any question that she loved her little girl. The final shot made even her well controlled emotions catch. With Mrs. Lance's passing the era had ended. The beaming group of the three of them under the protective attention of the late Canary was never going to happen again.
"It was good while it lasted." She heard Ted say behind her. "Just put it back together someday."
"Not really my call." She turned to see Ted standing there with a glass of something brownish for her. "Maybe once the dust settles."
"I don't think so. Jade moved in with Tom, I messed up." With Sandra gone he had hoped for a window to fix things with his daughter but that hadn't happened. "And Di is still dealing with suits. You'll get the chance someday, know it in my bones. Don't pass it up."
Kate looked at the man for a moment before downing the glass and asking for another. She could only hope she got the chance.
-BOP-
"You sure about this, Babe?" Thomas asked for the tenth time. "You still have a room."
"She has to sell the house, the grant was in Mrs. Lance's name." Jade explained again as she carried the last of the boxes inside the small apartment. "Don't you want me?"
"Sure but I meant with your Dad. I mean, your Mom is gone so-" He almost dropped the box as she turned to look at him.
"I will NEVER live with that man." She said sharply. "All that time he spent watching-"
"Okay, okay. Here it is." The apartment would be a little full but that was better then a little sparce. He still thought they were rushing things. "You going to keep to rounds?
"Of course. No point in getting all that training if I wasn't. You have training anyway." She was taking over the kitchen, putting it together in some very clear pattern that she seemed to have fixed in her head from a previous model. "We need to go shopping."
"We don't have to worry about your Mom do we?" He knew who he was dealing with, he was dating the daughter of Lady Shiva. Even he knew it was a possibly very bad plan.
"She knows she isn't welcome." Jade said simply. "I was clear."
Having finished the kitchen he watched her look at the boxes before walking over and sitting on his lap.
"How about a welcome home." She said, her internal heat suddenly on. "Whole place is ours, we can go all kinds of crazy."
-BOP-
"Keep running Little Bird." She heard the whispers in the office halls. Di was trying to work out a number of legal kinks that had propped up after the sale of the house. She knew her already grief affected mind was a mess, but the Talons and White Canary following her everywhere wasn't helping. They weren't evening fighting her half the time, just trying to drive her insane. It was working.
"Miss Lance?" She looked up to see the arbiter and nodded. "You said you had a copy of the deed."
Once the meeting was over she shook the frustration from her head and walked back to her bike, running through her head to remember where else she had to hit before wrapping up for the day. Starting down the street to the spine she caught the familiar white leather behind her and cursed.
"Seriously? Everyday?" She amped the juice and got some distance. "I do not have the time."
White Canary quickly made up the area and Di could see the wide smile under the helmet, smirking. It would be old by now if not for the fact that White Canary was a very skilled driver.
"Need some help there?" A black bike drove next to her, she could feel herself relax at Kate's custom marked helmet. "Does your phone work, by the way?"
"Not when I'm talking to the zoning officer and there's a lawyer about to be hired if I don't convince him I'm a very good girl." Di responded, her companion also noticed the white one had gone. "Huh, it's just me. Great."
"Hotel." Kate said and Di nodded, and they took the next exit and when they got to the casino a team of staff took care of the bikes and gear.
"I can't tell my father I employ you if you're never here, Di." Kate said as they walked to the back entrance. "I at least need to know where you are."
"Pick a public building, any public building. And if I don't show up, yes, an officer will be sent to find me." Di said dryly.
"What?" Kate stopped and looked at her, shocked. "What the hell?"
"They keep loosing, sorry, misplacing key paperwork and I have to explain what happened and accept responsibility." They were at the elevator. "And that's the abridged version. Very abridged."
"You know, only haven could pull that off for two months straight. Okay, you're off the hook." Kate cursed. "I'll have my lawyers tweak it, this is a mess."
"Much obliged, what have I missed?" The apartment was largely unchanged.
"It's been quiet, too quiet on the crime scene. I haven't seen a talon fang in ages, they still bothering you?" She grabbed a pile of papers from the desk and gave them to her friend.
"Every damn day. Why do I have to be prom queen?" Di started looking through them, quickly organizing them. "The curse of popularity. Speaking of your father, anything getting better?"
"Sure, Renee has to keep her distance if she wants to stay out of the storage locker, and he had another 'friend' over for dinner last night." Kate sat nearby to watch her work, Di had far more patience for paperwork. "He's 'working with me'."
"Might be time to separate from the flock." Di was marking on the corners of the pages. "That sounds worse."
"We still clear to use your place to meet up?" Kate took the pile of contracts and began signing where Di had marked.
"Just keep letting me know and bringing your own sheets and we're good. Sorry it's not nicer." Di finished the last of the folders.
"It's nice enough, and Talons don't know it yet." Kate said as Di took the folders and put them in the out pile. "Nor does my father. What else do you have today?"
"Dropping off a house warming gift for Jade, see how she is." Kate nodded. "Then I guess I go home and take a break."
"Streaming reruns and eating twinkies, date already. This is pathetic." Kate threw a pillow at her friend.
"Who?" Di said before laughing. "I'm in semi-hiding and if Mr. Green eyes even exits he's miles away."
-BOP-
There wasn't much to do before the major paperwork of the merger and the winter's cold chill made staying home more attractive anyway. She was settled into her favorite chair and looked over a few personal investments. This sentiment wasn't shared, if the firm knock on the door was any indication.
"Adrien." Oliver was standing there, Diggle sternly standing behind him. "Got a minute?"
She looked at Diggle behind him and the man shook his head before nodding, he had permission.
"For you, always." She grinned. "What can I do?"
"I'll make some coffee." Digs said and left the two as Oliver looked at him anxiously. "Go ahead and talk without me."
"Okay, I got some things to help you." Oliver pulled a file out of his jacket and eagerly showed it to her. "I had a few contacts from 'haven send me info lately. Really good stuff all of a sudden. I thought your PI guy might be able to use it."
"Lets have a look then." Adrien looked over the folder and hid a smile. It was very good intel, he was only a step away. "Okay, that looks great. I'll send this out tonight, should be enough."
"Good. And thanks. No one else seems to believe me." He sat down as Diggle called that the coffee was ready." I mean it."
"No worries Kiddo. We got this." He smiled and hurried to get his drink as Diggle came back and handed her a mug.
"Anything I should know?" The man said kindly. "He's happy."
"Not to be morbid but I was wondering something." Adrien said, looking at him. Diggle nodded. "After your father died how long did it take you to start coming back?"
"You owe me an explanation later, you know that right?" Diggle sighed. "I was semi-normal after a couple months. It was still rough but functioning wasn't so hard anymore."
Adrien nodded, Moira had said much the same. Maybe it was time to see if the timeline was the same in 'haven.
-BOP-
"One moment!" Jade said as the knock on the door repeated. She was working on the final pictures for the living room and the now large portrait of her and Thomas had just been framed. It was going over the sofa. "Be right there!"
She made it to the door soon after and when opened she saw Di standing just out of the rain that was falling outside, she was soaked. In the cold rain with the light cloth jacket she was shivering.
"Happy home!" Di said with forced cheer, wanting to be welcomed to the dry interior. She had brought a large bag from the local housewares store. "Kate said you might need a few things. Can I come in yet?"
"Yes, please." Jade moved out of the way. "You're soaked."
"Weather was perfect when I picked up the gifts." She said and took off the near dripping fabric. Wrapping herself in one of the blankets she had given Jade from her house after her mother passed. "Beautiful even, then this rolled in. Nothing in the bag is water sensitive, it should be fine."
"You didn't have to get us anything." Jade said and looked through the bag. Di had already given her much of their old household items, claiming there was way too much for one person to use them and Jade could use it as she was actually building something. "But thanks."
"You should have some new things. This place is looking so great, Jade." She was looking around the room and sighed at the new portrait. "I'm super jealous."
"I haven't heard from you." Jade said and the blonde nodded. She hadn't been around very much. "You kinda fell off the map."
"You're right." Di agreed. "It's been rough. I mean, dealing with the house, the will, loads of paperwork. But mostly I don't want to rain on your parade. My life sucks but yours is being awesome. You deserve to enjoy that. Plus I didn't want to risk anyone getting hurt."
"Hurt?" The word got her attention. "Who's getting hurt?"
"No one, thank goodness." Jade turned the tea kettle on. "I've been getting alot of unwanted attention as of late."
"Wondered where it all went." Jade saw that her friend's hair was dropping and panicked slightly. "Hey, new and very expensive sofa. Use a towel."
"Right, of course." Di hurried to get one from the hall. "Sorry about that."
Bringing over the mugs Jade noted that Di was careful to use a coaster. They sat down and shared silence for a time.
"Hows the other side?" Di asked after a few minutes. "Looks awesome."
"It's great, alot of work to set up, though. Tom doesn't help as much as he should but that's not uncommon I'm told." She ran over lists in her mind of thing that Tom was 'going to get to'. "Still frustrating."
"I'm sure." Di said and looked into her mug. "I'm sure it'll be worth it."
If there was a que Jade missed it entirely. Instead her mind raced with all the to-dos and shopping that were still needed for the abode. When Di stood to leave she almost missed it.
"Thanks for the tea, it was great after the rain." Her jacket still soaked she picked it up instead of trying to wear it again. "I should come by when you're more settled."
"Sure, anytime." Jade said and followed her friend to the door. "Rain is over."
"Now for it to stay that way till I get back. I'm happy for you, Jade. You've earned this." Di said as she smiled weakly and went back into the world.
-BOP-
"Hello? Anyone there?" Renee whispered into the unfinished parking garage at the appointed time. "Kate?"
She heard a slight knock just ahead and carefully made her way in that direction. There were no lights in this area, thought the open wiring for them was in place, and you just had to trust yourself to make it through.
"Right here!" She heard Kate softly say just a couple feet away. "Anyone follow you?"
"Not at all." Renee said and beamed at the sight of her better half. "Missed you."
"Di is home, saw her bike, but she'll understand why we're kicking her out. I'll just send her on an errand or something." Kate beamed. "I brought take out and everything. We don't have to leave till tomorrow if we like."
Relieved to have gotten away she followed Kate to the ladder where you entered the room above, and they started climbing, but when they got to the top the latch was already open. Looking down at her partner Kate was terrified and Renee was much the same. They scurried into the simple concrete room as quickly as they could.
The room was a mess. Cotten tapestries had been torn off the walls, several of the think panes of concrete were cracked from canary cries, and the furniture was strewn around the room, there had been a struggle here. Di was no where to be seen, but there was a good amount of blood on the floor.
The only clue was a message spray painted onto the wall.
"Ours now."