»three«

                                    

                                          
"Oh god I'm so sorry." The man said offering me a hand up. Not knowing him I helped myself up. He dropped his hand back to his side and frowned. Felicity opened the car door almost knocking the man over. 
                          
"Barry!" She said hugging him. He smiled before hugging her back. Okay, he's good. I thought, you just can't be too careful.
                          
"It's been too long, Felicity." He replied.
                          
"Speaking of that." She paused allowing herself time to slap his shoulder. "Where the h*ll have you been?"
                          
"I'll explain later, but who's this?" Barry asked smiling.
                          
"Hey Barry" Oliver said as they did that man hug chest bump thing "This is Melissa, our foster daughter."
                          
I waved. Felicity nodded towards the building wanting for me to walk up ahead with her and leave Oliver and Barry among themselves. I did and just as I untied my flannel from my waist to put it on over my tank top Barry stopped me.
                          
"Wait." He said running up next to me. "The marks on your back-" he paused. And this is why I don't wear tank tops, I sighed. 
                          
"They're birthmarks, look like scars but I was born with them."
                          
"That's weird, I mean I have them too. Except mine aren't birthmarks, that just doesn't make sense. Mine's fractal scarring, from when I was struck by lightning." I responded with a questioning look. 
                          
"What's wrong?" Barry asked. These people were really good at reading facial expressions.
                          
"It's just, my mom, she died in a lightning caused fire." 
                          
"About five months ago? In Central City? I feel like I remember that"
                          
"Yeah, it was a big story when it hit the news, with the Flash not showing up."
                          
"Two more questions, then I'll leave you alone, what's your last name? And do you blame the flash for not saving those people the night of the fire."
                          
"Marks, Melissa Marks. And I mean I do sometimes, since I'm somewhat bipolar, but most of the time it's just that we were unlucky that day, and we can't depend on vigilantes to keep us safe from everything. After a while we become too dependent and expect everything from them, but they're not superheroes, or at least the ones from movies, they just want to help, and I respect that." I sighed. "Sorry, about the rambling." I turned back around and walked up to the entrance by Felicity.
                          
"I've spent my fair share of time in Central." She said. "Where'd your mom work?"
                          
"I honestly have no idea." I replied. "She owned a company that made a lot of money, I guess I own it now but." I shruged.
                          
"You know what, I'll look it up for you when we get our food and everything." She paused opening the door. 
                          
"So why are you two fostering?" I asked.
                          
"It's complicated, and I really don't like talking about it." Felicity replied "I'll tell you another time, just not yet." I nodded. I could respect that, I have stuff I'm not always comfortable sharing. "On the topic of uncomfortable questions, what about your dad? You said your mom died, but what about him?"
                          
"He's in prison." I replied. "Scince I was four until the day he dies."
                          
"Oh god, I'm so sorry. My dad's in prison too, but I never really knew him. Oliver's family is really messed up too. Not that your family's messed up." She sighed. "Words aren't my strongsuit. But Oliver was kind of a spoiled rich brat when he was younger, and I was a secluded hacker. So what is young Melissa like?"
                          
"I'm just a stressed, slightly unstable, girl looking for someone to help me out."
                          
"Which is why we're here." Oliver said stepping into line with us, Barry nowhere to be seen. "Anything you need just let us know, undrstand?"
                          
"Yessir." I replied stepping up to order my food. Behind me Oliver and Felicity were discussing Barry and where he went. 
                          
"Don't worry, he's covering us tonight." Was the last thing I heard from Oliver before the cashier asked what he could get for me. 
                          
"Just a regular cheeseburger with fries and a medium soft drink, please." I requested. He proceeded to take Oliver and Felicity's orders. Felicity led me to a small booth in the corner.
                          
She smiled, "We always sit here." I scooted across the seat of the booth Felicity on the opposite side of me. "Now, let's see where your mom worked." 
                          
She pulled one of those Windows tablet computer things out of her handbag set it up on the table and went off typing. 
                          
"Here we go." She paused. "The Knight Research Institution." Her eyes widened. "No way." she mumbled. "She didn't just work there, she freaking founded and owned the entire institution." Felicity looked up at me. "You're the owner of a multi-million dollar company. That's insane!" she said.
                          
Oliver turned up with our food. "Mel just so you know, this is way too light to be a burger." He said handing me my food. 
                          
"Picky eater." I said trying to excuse my wimpy little burger with nothing but cheese.
                          
Felicity laughed "That'll be your new challenge. Cooking for a picky eater."
                          
"I can do that." Oliver said accepting the challenge.
                          
"Anyways, Melissa here is the owner of K.R.I." Felicity pronounced it like cry, I guess it was the acronym.
                          
"Really? Why aren't they falling apart?" Oliver asked. "You were just there last week for a conference."
                          
"Yeah." She said "maybe there's a co-owner or a board or something." Felicity looked over at me "I own and work publicity for Palmer Tech."
                          
"That's pretty cool." I replied taking a bite of my wimpy burger. 
                          
"You don't have to pretend." Oliver said "She's a total nerd." Felicity slapped Oliver, it was becoming evident to me that she was one of those kind of people, who slapped her loved ones when they wronged her.
                          
"The only reason you're alive is because I'm a 'nerd'." She then continued after pausing. "Anyways, Mel was your mom's maiden name Knight?" I nodded then spoke up after swallowing.
                          
"She never changed it, but I got my dad's last name." I sighed "I would've preferred to be linked to her but Melissa Marks just sounds better than Melissa Knight." The couple nodded in agreement.
                          
"I'm going to go use the bathroom." I said setting down my food and carefully standing up considering my vertigo episode earlier. 
                          
I didn't have to use the bathroom but Oliver and Felicity obviously needed some time to talk about whatever happened earlier with Barry and the call from John Diggle, I figured I'd give them a bit of time to resume their normal lives before dropping everything to get to know me.
                          
»» a.n.
Hey, so, so far I've managed to publish on time for two weeks! Yay! I finished my finals on Thursday and had a really chill day today at school, even though the staff cheated in the students vs staff basketball game. I'm officially on winter break, so happy holidays everyone! I just started listening to the Hamilton soundtrack it came out a couple weeks ago and I really like it so far. Don't forget to vote and comment to show support!
» holly