The Promised Phone Call

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It has been a long day. He's been on and off the phone for most of it, and he thinks he's probably heard every variation of "You just missed her, Ollie" and "She's not here right now" that exist. Not to mention her machine. Twice

Comments

[_black_canary_]

She shrugs. "J'onn checked out my head to make sure Light didn't have anyone wipe my memory, or plant a suggestion that I open all the Watchtower airlocks at the same time, or whatever. The rest of it ... I've been working out a lot." Her expression softens. "And Pieter's been helping."

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Ollie tries to grin. It's like Batman posing for pictures -- it just doesn't look right.

I think you can spare me the details of how he's helping you work out.

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"I wasn't going to share." She picks up her napkin and unfolds it. "Can we stay friends, Ollie?"

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I hope so. I want t...

His face drops, he stares at table.

I never wanted things to get this far, to get this...messed up.

I miss you too much already to lose you as a friend, but...

...all I can promise is that I'll do my best.

[_black_canary_]

She takes another drink of water. "Okay. Cards on the table ... yeah, I still love you. Not like I used to, but--I'm not going to pretend we never had what we did. You ever need me to help haul your ass out of trouble, or Roy's, or Connor's, or Mia's, give a shout. Hail the scary green face if you have to.

"But I can't ... we tried. We kept trying. I can't keep on trying like that when we don't seem to get any better."

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It's your call, Dinah. I thought we were getting better. I know I put my foot in it. I shouldn't have pushed, you obviously had stuff on your plate. But I meant it when I asked you to be with me, and I meant it when I said you were the only one for me.

[_black_canary_]

She opens her mouth, obviously preparing to argue, then shakes her head. "Let's just say that that was a bad night. Period. Except for the food." She doesn't have to force her smile too much. "That was delicious."

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His jaw sets.

Fine. One of these days I'd really like to find out exactly what went wrong, but I can understand if you don't want to drag that up again...

He catches himself, listening to his words, his tone.

...in the middle of a public restaurant. I'm doing it again.

But I've done that before, and it's never been a deal-breaker. Please, Dinah, someday can I hear your reasons. All the reasons, not just that I was pushy and insensitive and stepping on my own toes?

[_black_canary_]

"Someday," she says. "Not today. I don't want to--if I start talking about it now, I'll end up shouting at you, and I'm tired of doing that, too. All right?"

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Absolutely. It's the wrong place for it, anyway.

You should drop by Star City sometime, come talk to Connor, Mia. And Tara, who I suspect will be a lot more at ease if she knows that her landlord and her boss' girlfriend are on friendly terms.

[_black_canary_]

Dinah nods. "Yeah, if I can. Or maybe they'd like to come out here. I know Mia's got school for a few more months yet, but Connor could visit. Hey--any word yet on when Roy and Donna are getting married?"

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No. After Costa Linda, I'm not even sure that Roy doesn't have me sitting next to Cheshire.

[_black_canary_]

"Don't be silly." She drops one eyelid in a wink. "He wouldn't do that to Cheshire." More seriously, she asks, "How's Lian doing with everything?"

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Haven't seen her. Roy got wind that I had something in the works, and packed her off with Donna to a place far, far away, where she'd be safe.

[_black_canary_]

"Good." She looks up as the waiter approaches. "I'll have the soba noodles with pickled red cabbage, and a mixed sprout salad."

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And, he shoots a glance at Dinah, at the risk of being predictable, I'll go with the mushroom and bean chili, and a double order of the sourdough bread.