An Unlikely Meeting Place
Parker was awakened by a thump on the edge of her bed. She lifted her pillow from over her head, sliding open a single eye.
Barry ripped the pillow from her grasp and tossed it over his shoulder. He pried back her blankets, despite her resistance, then patted the bed quickly, resembling a drum roll.
"I swear to God, Barry, if you don't tell me what in the hell you're doing here--"
"You're taking a surprise trip to see your best friend!"
"No," said Parker, and it wasn't at all meant in disbelief.
"Yes!" cheered Barry. "Caitlin, Cisco, and I are all going, too."
Then, he disappeared from the bed for a moment. He returned with a plate decorated with waffles, bacon, and eggs. He set it on her lap.
"Oh, bacon," mumbled Parker, pausing to take a bite. "I mean, I'll go, but you're not allowed to come until you complete my list of training activities for you."
Barry leaned in and bit a part of her bacon off for himself. After chewing, he groaned, "Park, why?"
Parker smacked his hands away when he reached for more bacon. "Should have made your own plate, thief," she teased.
The hero went from a sitting position to falling forward, his face stuffed in her fuzzy blankets. She barely heard his whine of, "Baby, it's the weekend!"
"Crime doesn't stop on the weekends," reminded Parker. It took all of her strength to not scream and shout after hearing what he called her. She saved it for later, for when the fan club heard about it.
"You see, I know you're right, but I don't want to agree."
"As always."
Barry rolled his eyes. He crawled from the end of her bed to sit beside her, fixing the mound of furry blankets over their legs.
Together, they watched Gilmore Girls reruns on the television in Parker's bedroom. Occasionally, his fingers sneaked onto her plate to steal small strips of bacon. She pretended not to notice.
xxxx
Barry left after an hour of soap operas had passed. Parker loosely tossed him a sheet of paper, filled with cursive writing of what he was meant to achieve that day.
"Hope you can read cursive," she sweetly wished, her eyes not leaving the screen.
Barry shoved the paper into one of the pockets of his suit and sped away to complete the tasks.
Parker shut off the television and leaped out of her bed, throwing open the curtains. After the comment of, "Oh, the light, it burns!" she squinted through the blinding sunlight and caught sight of a red blur flying down the block.
With him out of range, she called her main buddy in Starling City.
Surprises were sometimes fun, but if Parker hated surprises, she was sure Oliver would. Ollie didn't answer, leaving her to ring for his beautiful blonde assistant.
"You're on the line with Felicity Smoak!"
"You're a nerd. Look, Barry gave me a train ticket to come see you today."
"Cool! We'll spend the night at my place. No drinking. Hey, Oliver will be happy to see you. He talked about you this morning."
"And said what?" Parker asked, immediately wondering if she truly wanted to know.
"Uh, stuff."
Yeah, she didn't want to know. She had a strong feeling she already heard it in his, 'no dating' speech.
"Okay, so plot twist: Caitlin, Cisco and Barry are all coming too."
Silence filled the other end. Parker nodded to herself, understanding Felicity's pause.
"I don't think they're quite ready for the reality of Starling.. Here it's sunshine and rainbows and there is tough and cold," Parker said. She sighed, drumming her fingers over her forehead. "I don't think Oliver even enjoyed the team up. Watch him kick us out."
Felicity barked out a short laugh. "He won't do that. He'll just be mean."
"Keep him from killing us and I'll try to ease Barry's hurt when Oliver snaps at him," Parker decided.
"Beautiful!" Felicity sang. "I'll see you when you get here, Parker Sylas."
"See you soon, Felicity Smoak."
Exactly two hours later, at nine on the dot, Parker received a text from Cisco asking for her to meet them outside the apartment building.
She grabbed her bag and skipped down the stairs, waving to the man at the small reception desk on her way. She threw open the front door.
"Who's ready for a road trip?" Parker called, throwing her hand in the air.
"Train trip," Cisco corrected.
Parker rolled her eyes and stepped carefully down the stairs. After all, it had rained last night. How embarrassing would it be to wipe out in front of her friends?
"'Who's ready for a train trip?' just sounded off," Parker defended. She threw her bag in the back of the trunk. "Cisco, can you carry my bag for me when we get there? My shoulder is hurting this morning."
"Sure thing. No Barry?" Cisco asked, glancing at the doorway to make sure he wasn't a few steps behind her.
Parker shook her head. "I sent him on a training mission before he's allowed to come. A thorough search of a few warehouses, checking out a couple criminal-friendly spots.. Just some practice."
"Good idea," Caitlin chimed.
Parker paused, her eyes darting to Cisco. He gave an unnoticeable nod, confirming Parker's thoughts. Caitlin was trying to be civil.
Parker let a small smile fall onto her lips. She remained a little worried to be in a dangerous scenario with Caitlin, part of her still feeling like the girl would leave her behind. But Caitlin had reached out half-way, which left the other half up to Parker.
"Thanks," Parker finally said. She held a hand out on the car to steady herself, watching Cisco and Caitlin over the roof. "Now, who's ready for a train trip?"
>>>>>
The train trip wasn't that exciting. The three claimed seats near one another.
Parker got a few 'I'm still alive' texts from Barry each time she checked in. She even spent ten minutes talking to her mother, who proceeded to scream at her for not calling in (what she claimed was) a year. (It was probably around six months.. Which is still kind of bad.)
All Parker had to say was, "Mom, you could have called me," and that ended the argument.
Parker told briefly about her jobs and how well they were going. Just to please her mother, she added, "I should come home soon."
Her mother ate that suggestion up. "Come for Christmas! Or New Years!"
"I'm an adult. I don't spend New Years with my mother," Parker said.
"You spent your twenty-first birthday with your little brother and I," Mrs.Sylas recalled.
"Because I had one friend at the time, and that friend was busy," Parker whined. "Mother, let it go."
"I'm cool and you know it. Derek and Dylan are home now. I'll tell them you said hello?"
"My little loser," Parker cooed, suddenly yearning to see her little brother. "Tell them to behave. Don't let them stress you out."
"I'll try. Be safe."
"Back at you."
Parker let her phone drop into the seat beside her when the line had dropped.
"And how many kids are in your family?" Caitlin asked. She had finished her stack of magazines and was searching for something to entertain her.
"Including me, four," Parker answered, "From oldest to youngest: Peter, Derek, Me, Dylan."
"Peter and Parker?" Cisco wondered.
Parker hadn't needed to see his face to know he would make the joke she had heard thousands of times before. "Yes, yes, we're 'Peter Parker.' I know."
Cisco pouted. "Well, you could have humored me a little."
>>>>>>
Parker decided to grab a bite of food before going to the Arrow Cave. She knew that Felicity could be a muncher, so they were bound to have some food, but Parker was down for an actual meal. She hiked her backpack over her uninjured shoulder and pulled her friends to the side once they hopped off the train.
"I'm going to find something to eat. You guys wanna just text me the address?" Parker suggested.
Cisco seemed to want to object, but Parker's stomach roared, loud enough for him to hear. She raised her eyebrow, daring them to disagree. He obviously didn't want her alone in Starling, especially not with the setting sun.
"And if it's underground or not accessible through GPS?" Cisco cautioned.
"I'll hack your phone and trace it," Parker countered.
Cisco and Caitlin both shockingly looked at her, to which she flipped her hair off her shoulder, that feeling of worth returning. Just one more thing she could use at S.T.A.R. Labs.
"Where-"
"Felicity showed me. Not that hard, actually. Can I go eat?" Parker asked, already taking small steps backwards.
"Be safe!" Cisco called after her.
Parker spun on her heel and lazily waved her hand in the air. "You too!"
>>>>>>
Parker dove into the Starbucks. She wasn't exactly excited to be eating at the place, but she had become too cold to stay out and wander the streets for another restaurant. She would've stayed and then ducked out when she warmed up, but she always had a bit of guilt for doing so. She felt bad not buying a little something if she walked into a store.
She ordered a small hot chocolate and a bagel.
Ah, adult life. Breakfast for dinner. Mother can't stop me now..
"Parker?"
Her head snapped in the direction of her name. She didn't know anybody in Starling City. Well, she did, but she had a strong feeling the four people she knew of wouldn't be found at a Starbucks.
She was wrong. Beside her stood Diggle, two cups in his hands. He grinned upon seeing her face.
"What brings you around here?" he asked.
Parker shrugged. "Surprise visit. Not so sure Oliver's going to be happy. The whole crew kind of joined too.."
"Ooh," Diggle winced.
Parker knowingly nodded. "I know, man. I'm praying he doesn't kill us."
"Do you know where the uh.." Diggle stepped closer to Parker, bending down a little bit. "HQ is?"
"Actually, no. You mind giving me directions?"
With directions written on a Starbucks napkin, a small side hug and a 'see you later,' Diggle had left Starbucks, in search of his wife. Or girlfriend. His child's mother, whatever.
>>>>>
"What are you doing here?" Oliver seethed. His eyes were livid.
Parker wouldn't have been surprised if he started to rip out his hair in a second.
"What are they doing here?"
Parker swallowed a mouthful of hot chocolate. She had sat on the stairs to the Arrow Cave, stretched out on the last step like it was a couch.
"Well, I have to be honest, I thought you'd be a little happier to see me."
Oliver clenched his teeth. His tone flat, he greeted her. "Park, it's good to see you."
"You as well," she replied with a cheesy smile.
"What are you doing here?"
Parker pointed at Cisco first. "Loser #1 wanted to see the Arrow Cave."
"Don't call it that," Oliver snapped.
"Touchy," Parker noted. Her finger moved to Caitlin. "She wanted the sample from Sara's murder. Very sorry about that by the way. "
Oliver ignored her condolences. His attention had been moved to Cisco, who stood in awe at the setting of the cave for a good five minutes, leaving Oliver to question Parker. Over the initial shock, Cisco dove for the toys. His hand reached out to poke a bomb.
"Don't touch that," Oliver warned.
His eyes weren't on Cisco though, instead he started glaring at Felicity for allowing the three into the Arrow HQ in the first place.
Cisco reached for another toy.
"Don't touch that," Oliver repeated.
Cisco looked at Parker, mouthing an astonished, 'How did he know?'
Roy Harper, a part of Team Arrow that Parker hadn't met before that day, watched the interaction, highly amused.
"When did we start selling admission to the Arrow Cave?" Roy asked.
"Do you see what you've done?" Oliver fumed, glaring at Felicity.
Felicity's pearly white teeth were clenched and visible for Oliver to see, sheepish and guilty at the same time.
"What's your deal, hot-stuff?"
Parker glanced from her food. Roy was staring at her, his eyebrow raised.
"Mind the cat-calls, kid," she warned. "I didn't like people--" she stuck her finger at Felicity. "--entering Team Flash's HQ without permission from everyone. Hey, I like the red suit. Nice color."
"I like her," Roy decided, telling his team.
"I liked her first," Felicity challenged. "And you're definitely allowed in Arrow HQ anytime."
"Ladies, ladies. No fighting over me," Parker reprimanded.
Oliver, confused at Roy's intentions to her, interrupted whatever could potentially happen. And to make fun of her liking of red.
"Parker, when's your red-suited boyfriend coming?"
"Not really my boyfriend," Parker began. "I sent him on a wild goose chase before he was allowed to come down here. And, no. Barry has crimson colored fabric, 'kay? I like red way better than crimson."
"Don't tell Barry that.." Felicity teased.
Roy's arms were crossed again. He stared at Oliver with something of a pout.
Oliver only smugly smirked. The smirk was wiped from his face when a cell phone rang. He set the phone on the table soon after he answered, heading straight towards the Arrow suit.
"Diggle needs us at A.R.G.U.S," Oliver spoke to Roy.
"Bad ass," Cisco breathed, his eyes glazed with amazement as he watched Roy and Oliver suit up. He was in fanboy heaven.
"By the time they make it there, it'll be too late," Caitlin quietly said, frowning.
"Be positive," Parker nagged, mocking Caitlin. When the redhead looked at her, Parker playfully winked.
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