by Martin Maenza
Earth-One, 1986:
Dinah Lance listed to Oliver Queen explain himself as they stood before each other in her flower shop. “The wife of an old friend contacted me recently. She suspected some foul play involved in the death of her husband, but didn’t know what to do about it. I promised her I’d look into it for her. So that’s why I’ll be out of town without knowing for how long. I’m going to have to do some undercover work on this one.” He raised his open right hand and gently placed it under Dinah Lance’s chin. “You trust me, right?”
Dinah opened her pouting lips. “Yeah, I trust you,” she said softly. She looked up at him, feeling kind of ashamed for her outburst. Ollie smiled at her, and then she smiled back. That single gesture was enough to reassure her that the man loved her with all his heart. Nothing would ever change that. She then gave him a great big hug. “Don’t get in over your head, OK?”
He squeezed her tight. “When do I ever do that?” And they both laughed.
As Dinah watched Ollie go, she shook her head in regret for not trusting him. She had long ago dealt with the idea that she was her own person and not her mother as she had thought for so many years. With the help of Doctor Fate a few years back, she was able to separate her mother’s memories from her own. Had she not, they may very well have driven her insane. Fate had told her that he could simply wipe the memories out completely, but Dinah told him not to do so. Even though they weren’t really hers, it would be as if her mother had completely died, and Dinah couldn’t bear that thought. It took three months of therapy and help from Fate, but in the end, it had been worth it. Dinah was her own person, and her mother’s memories were still there, but Dinah could now separate the two and not drive herself crazy.
Of course, there were still the times when her mother’s memories came unbidden, and in this case, Dinah certainly understood why.