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Laurel didn’t know Cisco very well, but she knew lost love and heartache. And she knew that he was the very first person to actually show faith in her abilities as Black Canary. She’d been there as the team tried to help Kendra remember her previous lives, which included thousands of years of being in love with that Carter guy. Laurel wasn’t so sure that she liked the guy, and she really didn’t know if she bought into the whole reincarnated soulmates thing, but it wasn’t her circus or her monkeys.
What she did know was that somebody needed to try to cheer Cisco up. And whether she was the right person or not, she couldn’t say. So she’d shown up to STAR labs the day after the rest of her team went back to Star City and she’d offered to take him to lunch. And while Cisco looked a little bit surprised, he agreed awfully quickly.
They'd settled into lunch and were about to start eating when Cisco finally addressed the elephant in the room.
"I have to say, I didn't think we were lunch buddies. Not that I'm complaining, but... you're..." he gestured and seemed at a loss for words. "You, and I'm, well," he gestured to himself.
Laurel smiled softly.
"You're a nice guy who is responsible for the toughest weapon in my arsenal. Plus, I figured you could use a friend right now."
Cisco's shoulders slumped a bit. "Yeah. That."
"That," Laurel agreed. "I have to say that I know how it feels to not be someone's first choice. And it's just one of those things that you get through by leaning on your friends."
"Who in their right mind would choose someone else over-" Cisco started, then stopped and stared at her, as if he'd just remembered the media circus in the wake of the Queen's Gambit going down. "Oh."
Laurel waved a hand as if to dismiss any apology he could offer.
"It's fine. It hurts a little less over time. And then one day, you'll realize that you're just genuinely happy to see your ex finding happiness with someone else."
"Really?" Cisco asked hopefully.
"Usually," Laurel said with a laugh.
"Wait-go back a bit. Did you say we're friends?" he asked.
Laurel felt her cheeks flush ever so slightly. "Yeah. I mean, if you want, that is."
"Oh, I want, "Cisco said, and then gave her a sheepish smile. "I mean, who wouldn't want to be friends with the Black Canary?" he leaned in to whisper her codename, and then straightened back up. "Laurel Lance isn't so bad either," he said.
Laurel's smile widened. She didn't have many friends these days, and she'd learned to appreciate the ones that she had. And Cisco... well, Cisco seemed like the type of guy that she really wanted to get to know better.
She held up her soda in a toast.
"Friends, then."
"Well, Laurel, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," Cisco said in his best Bogart impression. And for just a moment, that grin that he gave her made Laurel feel more at ease than she had in a very long time.