Dan jumped up a little, surprised. After a moment, she got over the shock and ran over to Laurel, trying to comfort her.

"C...n you..." Laurel managed through the sobs, "s-si...?" and she couldn't finish, the confusion in her mind overwhelming her once more as she reached out and clung to Dan.

"Huh?" Dan asked her gently. "Can I - what?"

"S..." Laurel tried to get out, "Sin...g"

"Uh..." Dan muttered, suddenly very uncomfortable. "I..." she looked away for a moment before turning back. "I can't," she told Laurel as gently as she could. "But I'll call Wolfe up for you."

Laurel shook her head fervently as she continued to sob.

"Al-Alright..." Dan muttered, holding Laurel a little tighter. There was some pain in her voice. She wanted to sing for Laurel, but for some reason she felt like she couldn't.

Laurel continued to cry, her sobs lessoning over time as she wore herself out. Eventually she fell into a restless sleep in Dan's arms.

Dan didn't move, letting Laurel sleep. It was the least she could do.

Every once in a while Laurel muttered something in a language Dan didn't know. It was the language Wolfe had sung to her in. She slept for about an hour before suddenly jolting awake.

Dan frowned, petting Laurel's head, trying to get her to calm down and fall back asleep.

Laurel blinked up at Dan, eyes tired but more aware of her surroundings. "I'm sorry." she murmured after a moment, putting a hand to her aching head.

Dan shrugged. "That's alright," she replied quietly.

"No..." Laurel replied quietly with a frown, "It's not. I feel like... I'm just abusing your..." she searched for the word, "comfort."

Dan shook her head. "... It's alright," she told Laurel. "Sometimes, we just need someone else."

Laurel's eyes started to fill again but she rubbed them with her hand. "I..." she paused, "I realized tonight" she explained quietly, "that I'm in love with Nic." Laurel suddenly smirked lightly, "... ironic... isn't it?"

Dan blinked, clearly surprised. But after a moment she gave Laurel a small smile. Then she shrugged.

"Yeah..." Laurel sighed, eyes still overwhelmed, "I... I kissed him and then..." she paused, a shiver running down her spine as she thought about it, "... I got knocked over completely. And then when he returned my feelings back I... got knocked over again and now... now I still don't know which way is up. And I'm so happy but I'm... terrified because Dan... Dan... I really didn't want to love again." she admitted quietly, hugging her friend tightly again, "I don't think... I can go through the pain again. Of losing someone dear to me. I feel like... I'm drowning in too many... overwhelming emotions." she tried to explain quietly.

Dan started petting Laurel's head again. After a long moment she suggested, "Don't let your past haunt you and spoil what you've found now... Life's to short to worry about the pain you could be in when you're so sure of how happy you are now. Trust that you've learned from your past and think of the good things that could be..."

Laurel was silent for awhile, thinking deeply over Dan's words. Finally she pulled away from Dan with a small smile. "You're right..." she admitted quietly then suddenly she blushed. "I... think I finally found that true love everyone was talking about." she murmured before hiding her face in her hands.

Dan chuckled a little. "... Don't wait too long until you break the news to Raven," she suggested.

Laurel blinked, "Oh... right... I should go tell my fake boyfriend about my real boyfriend now." she blushed again as she called Nic her boyfriend. "I wonder if it would be two-timing if I kept them both..." she mused as she stood.

Dan thought about it a moment before shrugging. "Ask them about it," she suggested.

Laurel nodded, "Alright... I should let you sleep now." she sighed an apology before smiling at Dan and leaving.

A little bit later, Laurel re-entered Nic's room with a cup of coffee. She walked over and set it down beside Nic with a smile. It was obvious she had been crying but she didn't appear sad at the moment.

"... Thanks," Nic told her, clearly distracted by what he was doing. After another moment, he reached out to take the coffee without looking at it.

Laurel reached out and tenderly combed through his hair with her hand, "How late will you be up?" she asked quietly.

"Late?" Nic asked, still staring at the screen as he put the cup to his lips.

"Are you going to get some rest?" Laurel rephrased, leaning down and kissing the top of his head, "You can always get back to saving the world tomorrow." she chuckled, playing with some hair by his ear.

"I'm not saving the world," Nic clarified after he had taken a sip.

Laurel chuckled, "Still, you should take a break once in awhile." she replied as she wrapped her arms around his neck from behind and rested her chin on his shoulder. "Or I'm going to end up caring for a blind old, arthritis fingered hermit." she teased before kissing his cheek.

"This is what I do," Nic explained after taking another sip. He was still looking at the screen, but he was slowly stopping again. It was really difficult to tell what he was actually doing. Like usual, there were just a bunch of screens with random text and numbers flying by.

"I know." Laurel replied quietly, "But you still need breaks. I don't know how your legs don't cramp up all the time..." she mused.

"I'm used to it?" Nic suggested.

Laurel sighed but Nic could feel her nod. "Mkay..." she replied as she kissed his cheek again and stood, "Goodnight then." she told him as she rubbed his neck a little.

Nic put down his coffee and put his hand on hers for a little while. "Good night," he told her, finally tearing his face away from the screen to look at her face. He looked more or less the same as usual. But now it looked like a little of the burden he usually carried around with him had been lifted.

Laurel appeared to be much more relaxed than she had ever been before. She smiled down at Nic with no boundaries left in her heart and after a moment's hesitation, she used her spare hand to lift his chin up as she bent down and kissed him on the lips again. It was not as overly passionate as before... just a loving, sweet kiss. It appeared that Laurel just couldn't get enough of him tonight.

Frei went into the infirmary to check on Raven.

Nic returned her kiss. He seemed to really like this one, or maybe he was more focused on restraining himself earlier.

Surprisingly, Raven was sitting up, reading something on his tablet.

Laurel finally broke away slightly, chuckling as she caught her breath, "You have work to do..." she reminded him as she kissed his cheek.

Frei blinked at him, "The frog's okay?" she asked blandly though Raven had known her for long enough now to seem some worry in those large eyes.

Nic grunted a little in acknowledgement, slowly turning back to his work.

"No frogs here," Raven replied, not looking up.

"Do you need anything else before I turn in?" Laurel asked him, squeezing his hand.

Frei took a few steps close, calculating eyes scanning Raven completely.