⚖ laurel lance | arrow

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	✔ Cʀᴏssᴏᴠᴇʀs/AU ✔ Aᴄᴛɪᴏɴsᴘᴀᴍ ✔ Pʀᴏsᴇ	✔ Pɪᴄᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴘʀᴏᴍᴘᴛs ✔ Oᴛʜᴇʀᴡᴏʀᴅʟʏ ✔ Sᴛᴀʀᴛᴇʀs	♥ F/M, F/F ⏰ Uᴘ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴀᴛᴇ, ᴏᴘᴇɴ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴏsᴛ-s4 AUs

Comments

[valuedstrength]

[Steve lets out a dry chuckle.] He could have just taken you to the gym. I've been busting bags trying to work some stuff out myself.

[Steve pauses a beat as he remembers that actually is kind of impossible for most people.] They're a little on the cheap side. I fix them later too.

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[She laughs a bit at that.]

Well, I don't hit as hard as you do, apparently.

[She pauses for a moment.]

Does it help, though? Hitting something to get it out?

[valuedstrength]

[Steve nods without any hesitation.] A lot. You have to do something with all that energy or else you'll go nuts.

[A beat.] Not that you're crazy, ma'am. Just generalizing.

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[She shakes her head before nodding.]

No, I get that. It's like ...

[She pauses as she tries to put it into words.]

You get sick with it, sometimes. If you try to bury it you'll just wind up carrying it with you for too long.

[valuedstrength]

[Steve's widen a little. He doesn't expect that, but it's a pleasant blast from the past unlike everything else these days.] That's probably one of the wisest things I've ever heard. And right.

[He does feels sick in the heart and mind. Moving ahead is the only thing that centers him.]

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[She nods with a small smile.]

I've never really been a fighter, at least not physically. I'm trying to be the lawyer, though. Different kind of fighting.

[valuedstrength]

[Steve immediately looks impressed.] It's a lot harder than hitting a bag. Who are you planning on fighting for?

[prosecutorial]

I'm glad you asked.

[Because talking about the law is much more fun.]

There's a local group called CNRI. They basically fight for the little guys. I've always kind of had a thing for the underdog.

[valuedstrength]

[His heart swells because it's so nice to hear those words in a place where everything is familiar yet completely foreign. He smiles genuinely.] That's amazing. I think I would have saved my mom a lot of headaches if I went that route.

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Oh yeah? What route did you wind up going?

[Just out of curiosity.]

[valuedstrength]

At first I picked fights with guys who were picking on little guys like me. Didn't go so well. [His mouth twists. He can practically feel men punching him in the face to this day.] Then I joined the Army. That went much better.

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[She smiles a bit at that, because she always appreciated someone who stood up for the little guy, but as she does, she leans back to look him over curiously.]

I take it you bulked up a bit as a result?

[a beat.]

You just don't strike me as a "little guy" - at least not on first glance.

[valuedstrength]

Yeah my time in the Army helped out with that. [He smiles. It is the truth even if it's playing off false assumptions.] I wanted to stop bad people from hurting the little guys. Being a soldier gave me the opportunity. It changed my whole life.

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For better or worse?

[She doesn't miss the fact that an attractive guy like him is having a regular conversation with an out of town girl in a quiet bar on a Saturday night, rather than doing what most would do and probably be doing way more flirting. Either he's spoken for, or he's doing some deep thinking of his own.]

[valuedstrength]

[A flash of pain crosses his face because he knows she must be onto him. Steve looks away and smiles sadly.] Both. [He takes a sip of his beer despite knowing it won't cloud the hurt.] Everything I gained over there... I ended up losing it. I'm alone now.

[He quietly sighs.] But, you know? I don't regret any of it. It really is better to lose what you love than to have never loved anything at all.

[prosecutorial]

[That seems to strike a chord with her, more than anything else, because as angry as she is at Oliver right now, she isn't sure what good loving him did her. She's probably going to need time and space to figure it all out.

Luckily, with him being dead, she certainly has plenty of that.]

I guess I'm still trying to figure out the positives on this one. I haven't really had a lot of time to think about it.

[valuedstrength]

[His lips turn. Despite himself, Steve sounds a little bitter.] I have nothing, but time.

[Steve quickly frowns because it isn't about him. He quickly scrambles for something better to say.] I won't pretend I know how much work goes into being a lawyer, but I'm guessing it's a lot. That's important. It sounds like you're really gonna change the world, ma'am. Just remember to take the time for you. It'd be a shame if you saved everyone, but yourself.

[Now he smiles.] And that's coming from a fella you just met. Imagine what your friend would think.

[prosecutorial]

[She smiles softly in return, before nodding.]

I will definitely keep that in mind.

[Then she pauses and extends a hand to him.]

I'm Laurel.

[valuedstrength]

[He only glances at her hand for a moment before taking it and shaking firmly. It's the first bit of human connection he's had in a while. He's trying to ignore how big of a deal this is.] Steve. It's nice to meet you, Laurel.

[prosecutorial]

[She smiles in return.]

Nice to meet you too. Thanks for listening.

[valuedstrength]

Any time. [Steve pauses for a moment as he realizes he actually has no way to enforce what he's saying.] I don't suppose they still do pen pals?

[prosecutorial]

[She pauses for a moment, before shaking her head.]

Not really. But I will say that texting is pretty huge.

[valuedstrength]

[Steve thinks about it for a moment before snapping his fingers.] I have a phone for that.

[He pulls it out of his jacket pocket with a smile.] Still working on mastering it. The buttons are very small.

[prosecutorial]

[She nods with a laugh.]

They are. But you get used to them after a while.

[She holds out her hand to take it from him.]

Here, let me do it.

[valuedstrength]

[He looks visibly relieved and hands it over.] Thank you. I especially appreciate that you aren't laughing.