Parker was appalled at how boring the car ride with Oliver and Diggle was. They tried to make small talk and it hadn't worked. Parker asked for the radio and Oliver denied it. In an awkward silence, they sat, and Parker was tired of it.
"Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of beer," she sang softly. "You take one down... Pass it around..."
"Parker," said Oliver. He was going to politely ask her to stop.
"Ninety-eight bottles of beer," continued Diggle. "You take one down, pass it around..."
"John," said Oliver, more vicious than he had been with Parker.
"Ninety-seven bottles of beer on the wall, ninety-seven bottles of beer! You take one down, pass it around, ninety-six bottles of beer on the wall!" sang Parker and Diggle together.
Every countdown, their voices raised and their bodies moved obnoxiously to the words. Both found joy in making the car ride annoying for their grumpy passenger.
By forty-three, the car came to a stop in front of S.T.A.R. Labs.
"Farewell, Ms. Sylas," said Oliver loudly.
"Nice singing with you, Dig. Thank you for the ride," said Parker.
"Anytime," assured Diggle.
Parker climbed from the SUV. She closed the door, then stepped to the passenger's window, knocking until Oliver was forced to roll it down. He made sure only his eyes were visible.
"I hope to perform for you again soon, Mr. Queen," teased Parker.
"One can hope," said Oliver through his teeth.
Laughing heartily, Parker waved her hand goodbye. She ducked underneath the barbed wire gates and into the facility. She walked through the lobby, up the elevator, then around the corner to where the Cortex was at the end of the hall.
Parker passed by the broken cage that belonged to Grodd. She eyed it suspiciously. No matter how many times she inquired of the cage, Dr. Wells always found a way to avoid it.
In front of the Cortex doors, Parker stopped. She inhaled a deep breath. She feared what would occur when she stepped through those doors and faced the people she abandoned. Parker took a step.
Chaos ensued when the doors opened. Repeatedly, multiple voices screamed, "Watch out!" when a flying silver streak bounced near one another.
Caitlin quickly earned the title for the loudest scream. The girl was running around the Cortex, hands wildly waving above her head.
Suddenly, Barry zipped to stand in front of her. "Hi," he breathed, then he wrapped her up in his arms and he rotated their bodies, facing his back towards the threat.
A final thud sounded; the attack from had come to an end.
"That's on me!" shouted Cisco, briefly sucking his lips shamefully into his mouth. He raised his hand into the air. "That's on me."
"Death by boomerang?" asked Parker. "I think I'd take electricity over that."
××××
For the ten minutes Parker had been in the Cortex, five of them were spent wrapped in Cisco's arms. The second he saw Parker, he body-checked Barry out of the way, and engulfed Parker into his embrace. He hadn't let go.
Felicity checked her watch. When six straight minutes passed, she called, "Cisco? Is she still breathing?"
"I'm good," sighed Parker contently. "I'm just busy enjoying the love I'm receiving from my favorite Ramon."
Cisco, although he didn't want to, took back his arms. "I missed you, Park."
"I missed you, too, Sweets," said Parker lovingly.
"Not that we're all happy to see you, but you should see Dr. Wells before you hang out around here," said Caitlin.
In one sentence, Parker's happiness was shattered.
"Breathe. You'll be fine," assured Barry.
Cisco gently nudged her forward. Nudging turned quickly into shoving, which brought Parker standing in front of a surprised Dr. Wells.
"Ms. Sylas," he said, smiling. "How good it is to finally see your face around here again."
"Listen, Doc, I am so sorry for skipping out the last couple days. I won't make an excuse. I'm just flat-out sorry. I understand if you want to punish me by deducting some of my pay, or fire me, or--"
"Parker, you aren't fired," chuckled Dr. Wells.
Parker stared at him. "Are you sure?"
"I am sure," he confirmed. "Caitlin and Cisco both had their near-death experiences on the night of the Particle Accelerator Explosion. I figured, with the work we do, yours would come soon enough. You survived it. You coped. You're let off the hook."
"But, Doc, I didn't even call," said Parker, utterly confused.
"You're a good worker, Ms. Sylas. I appreciate your worry, but it's unnecessary."
"Okay... Well, uh, thanks, Doc. I owe you one."
××××
Parker spent the night with her dear science nerds at S.T.A.R. Labs, where they did experiments on the boomerang and filled her in on the meta-human case. She didn't mind not entirely understanding what was going on. Being with her friends was enough.
The following morning, Parker walked to Jitters. She thought of calling Barry, but decided against it, based on the events of last night.
Barry didn't ask if she wanted him to spend the night, or offer to give her a ride back to the apartment. Well, at least, not verbally. His eyes as he watched her leave said everything: he definitely wanted to be with her. He was too scared to ask.
Parker began to wonder where their relationship stood. Friends slept in other beds during sleepovers, not together. Friends didn't touch one another with lingering touches. She did know one thing, and that was that 'friends' as a defining term for their relationship was out of the question.
"What are you doing?"
Parker raised her in alarm when the sudden voice hit her ears. She relaxed when she saw it was only Iris.
"Were you in deep thought about Barry Allen?"
"No," lied Parker. "Have you seen Felicity Smoak?"
"Back corner, with a gorgeous specimen," purred Iris.
"Right... Goodbye."
Oliver, who had been facing the door, caught the incoming woman. His eyes widened. To Felicity, he whispered, "You invited her?"
"Awe, does the former rich boy have a problem with that?" teased Parker, faking a pout.
"Absolutely not," assured Oliver. "I thought after the fun we had yesterday you would disappear for a while. You know, before I shot you with an arrow."
"'Fun?'" inquired Felicity.
"You wouldn't kill me with one of your arrows, Ollie," teased Parker. "Admit it, you'd miss me too much."
They scowled at one another.
Felicity stared between the two, wondering if their exchange was a joke or not.
Then, as though an invisible finger had snapped its fingers and told them to behave, Parker and Oliver smiled at each other.
Felicity shrugged off their antics. "Barry didn't follow you here?" she asked Parker.
"I'm not talking about Barry with you two. However, if we want to talk about any couple, we could talk about--"
"Barry!" shouted Oliver. He was overjoyed to find a distraction from the conversation was set to go. "Barry, get over here, bud!"
"The Game of Uncomfortable is on," challenged Parker quietly.
Oliver glared. With a slight nod, accepting the challenge.
"Good morning, guys," greeted Barry. He kissed the top of Parker's head. "Hi, Park."
"Morning, Barr," smiled Parker.
Felicity stared at the two in admiration. She was seconds away from a verbal, "Aw," but, because that would have scored Team Olicity a point in The Game, Parker interjected, reminding Oliver of what he was going to tell Barry.
"The bad guy you're after, the one who robbed the bank, his name is Roy G. Bivolo," stated Oliver.
"How did you find that out?" asked Barry. His face went from a thankful smile to a frown to a mortified look rather quick. "Wait, the guy is still alive, right?"
Oliver ignored the question.
"One non-fat latte, extra sugar for Felicity. A hot chocolate for Parker. One coffee, black, for Oliver," introduced Iris. She set the refilled mugs on the table. "I brewed you a fresh pot."
When nobody answered, Oliver lowered the mug from his lips. He realized Iris was speaking to him. "Oh, thank you."
Iris didn't physically lose it, but by the way she giggled, Parker knew her friend was dying on the inside. Oliver was a celebrity crush for Iris. Meeting him and being able to serve him was an honor for her.
"I'm gonna go calm her down," sighed Barry, setting his mug on the table and walking away after Iris.
Meanwhile, Oliver was desperately trying to not to notice Felicity's clear staring.
"You know, I would have thought that being a celebrity would have made you used to being stared at," said Parker.
Oliver's jaw clenched. He knew then he couldn't ignore it anymore. "Felicity. This is me noticing you staring."
"We need to help Barry with this case," she pleaded. "Why don't you want to help?"
"Because Barry doesn't want my help. He only thinks he does."
"Harrison Wells and Barry's cop foster dad both said you were dangerous and a bad influence. Barry defended you."
Oliver and Felicity glared at one another for a few seconds.
Parker sighed, in complete bliss watching the two of them. She wanted to tell them to just get married, but she had a feeling that would earn a death threat from Oliver.
"You're going to hawk me about this until I say yes, aren't you?" claimed Oliver.
"I'm a hawker," said Felicity with pride.
Oliver let out a short, annoyed breath. His eyes flickered to Felicity's smug face before he got up from the table in very stiff almost robotic moves and made his way over to Barry.
Parker and Felicity's gazes had been on the interaction between the two heroes until a chuckle came from Felicity.
"What?" Parker asked.
Felicity shook her head, making Parker punch her shoulder. "You can't laugh and not tell me why, bozo."
"Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars, B.A."
Parker halted her cup at her lips. She repeated the words in her mind, then pulled the mug away, clearing her throat. "Excuse me?"
"That was your tattoo idea," Felicity casually said. "There was that, a cursive lettering of his name, a random cat tattoo that you loved. Basically, you're lucky I was a little sober."