About Parents and Midnight-Coffee

Summary: Team Arrow has a talk about parents after a hard night. Some Coffee helps them to stay awake.

Sequel to "Alone"

When Sin hated one thing about working with team Arrow, then it was being the bait. And for some reason, that happened pretty often. To often. Now you may wonder, why Sin hated being the bait. I mean yes, no one really likes being something like a bait. The one who has to do the dirty work. Not exactly something to be proud of.

In fact, they were many reasons, why Sin hated being the one to do that duty. But the main reason was, that it always ended in a chase. Which wouldn't be a problem at all, but unfortunately Sin was usually the one who was being chased. Like right now.

Someone was killing girls for a few weeks now. The police had no luck finding that psycho, so team Arrow decided to help. After days of research, hacking and calling in so many favors, that Sin stopped counting, they finally found out the identity of the man, who started being called 'The Slicer'. Then it was easy to find him, with the help of Sin's contacts. His real name was Jonathan McLane. They also found out, where he was on the lookout for his next victim. He waited in an alley (it was always the same, which Sin found, was pretty stupid) and called for help when he saw a girl/young women walking by. And when they walked into the alley to do something good, he told them, that his brother was on the rooftop and that he twisted his ankle and wasn't able to walk. After he helped his victim totally gentleman like to climb up the fire escape, he put a cloth in their mouth, raped them and stapped them to death. After he finished his crime, he just threw them off the roof and escaped over the other rooftops in the dark night.

Oliver and co decided to lead him into a trap. It wasn't an option for Oliver to let Sin doing this job. He really cared for the young women and promised himself, that he would look after her, now that Sara was gone. Felicity also wasn't an option. They were planning to stick a tracker to Jonathan's jacket, so if he gets away, they can track him and bring him to justice. That just left Laurel. Of course, Oliver wasn't happy about that option either, but they all agreed, that they couldn't put Sin in this position.

So Laurel walked right in front of Jonathan's face, but he didn't make a move. Half an hour later, she walked the way she came before back. He still didn't seem to be interested. Sin was on the lookout so they have another pair of eyes on the situation. "What's going on?" Oliver asked over the radio. "I think, I'm not really his type," Laurel answered.

Sin knew, that if they don't stop him, more lives are going to be taken away. So she stepped into action and pushed herself off the wall, she was leaning against. She made her way towards the alley. Her actions were shortly followed by Oliver's voice in her ear. "Sin I know what you're going to do. Stop it!" "If we don't catch that bastard now, more girls are going to die!" Sin snarled and kept on walking. Before Oliver or any one of the others could say something, the murderer took the bait. "Hey, you! Please, I need help! My brother is injured! Please!" Sin put on a face of worry and pity. "Where is he?" She asked innocently. "On the rooftop." He said and pointed upwards. "Let's waist not any time then." Sin climbed up the ladder, Jonathan on her heels.

Oliver and Roy watched the whole scene from another rooftop. "I'm going to kill her." Oliver muttered. "And I'm going to help." Roy added. Suddenly McLane pulled out a cloth from his blue jacket. "Sin watch out!" The Arrow yelled in his com.

Sin whipped around and threw a swift punch at Jonathan's face. Blood splattered from his nose, over his face and her knuckles. Then Sin did the only thing, that made sense. She ran. McLane charged after her, the knife in his hand. It had a jagged blade and was more like a small combat knife.

The Arrow and Arsenal shot two zip line-arrows and slid down the zip lines to another rooftop. The heroes followed after Sin and Jonathan from the other side of the street. Sin was fast. Roy knew that pretty well. (She had to promise him, that she would never ever tell anyone, that she had been way faster than him, on the day he first met her. He was kind of embarrassed. Sin had only laughed, pattered his back and left. But since Oliver wasn't teasing him, it looked like she kept it to herself) But that Jonathan guy wasn't in bad shape himself. The gap between him and Sin slowly got smaller. Roy clenched his jaw and ran faster. Sin was in danger and he wasn't going to let his best friend die.

Cindy jumped over another gab and kept running. Where were Oliver and Roy?! Suddenly the murderer grabbed Sin's black leather jacket. He tried to bring her to the floor, but Sin pulled the jacket off and tried to make the run for it. But Jonathan thought that that could happen and slashed his knife at her. Then all Sin felt was a hot and sharp pain in her back. The girl yelled out in pain and stumbled to the floor. There she let out a groan as her body hit the ground.

She tried to get up, but McLane was there. The two wrestled on the ground, but the man got the upper hand. "You little bitch!" Sin spat in his face. "Asshole!" Jonathan sat on top of her and lifted his knife, ready to finish the job. The man stabbed downwards. The knife was only a few inches away from her chest when a green arrow went straight through his shoulder. He yelled out in pain and dropped the knife. Roy pulled him away from Sin and tied him up.

"You okay?" Oliver asked as he helped her up. Sin picked up her jacket and put it on. She winced as the leather fabric rubbed over the gash. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for saving my life, by the way." "I know that the blood on the floor is yours." Oliver said blankly. Sin shrugged, getting in defense mode. "It's nothing." "I'm still going to check, you know that." Cindy sighed. "When it makes you feel better." "The cops will be here shortly. We should leave. Laurel is already back at the Arrow Cave." Roy informed them.

A few minutes later they arrived at the hideout. Felicity sat at the computer desk and Diggle showed Laurel some self-defense skills. "And then you grab your attacker right here-" "We're back!" Roy yelled. "I think they noticed, Abercrombie." Sin pattered his back and walked over to the small fridge, where she grabbed a bottle of water. She opened it and took a long sip. In the meantime, Roy and Oliver left to get changed.

When they came back, the others were sitting around and chatting. Okay, Felicity, Diggle, and Laurel were talking. Sin was just... there? In English, she sat on a chair at the other side of the room, with a cup of coffee in one and her phone in the other hand. "You know, drinking coffee at midnight is not exactly healthy." Roy said as he took a seat beside her. "Just because you're older*, Abercrombie doesn't mean ya know what's good for me!" Sin bit back. Roy raised his hands in defense. "No reason to be so rude." Sin sighed and put her phone in her pocket. "Sorry. This whole chase-and-near-death-thing really freaked me out. I mean, yes I've been in really dangerous situations before, but it has never been that close, ya know. If you and Oliver had only shown up a second later, then you all would stand around my corpse now and I would talk to Sara." Roy nodded. "Maybe I could use some coffee too."

The two youngest members made their way over to the older ones. "Sin, let me take a look on your back." demanded Oliver. "It's nothing. I'm fine really." Sin tried to convince him. "Cindy." warned the Arrow. The girl winced at the use of her real name. "Please don't call me that." That came... unexpected.

"Why not?" Oliver asked irritated. Sin rubbed over her face. "It's... complicated. Just don't okay!" The girl ran a hand through her short hair. Oliver and Diggle exchanged a look. Felicity broke the silence. "Oliver, why do you want to check out her back?" "The Slicer hit her with his knife." The man explained. Laurel and Felicity went into 'mom-mode'. The first made Sin sit down, turned around, on a chair, while the second one got the first aid kit. "Take off your jacket and shirt." Laurel demanded. Sin wanted to say something, but one look from Laurel silenced her immediately. "Yes, ma'am." Man, no wonder, that women was such a good lawyer, Sin thought. The youngest took off her jacket and her black shirt, leaving her in her black sports bra.

The Glades showed their effect. Sin already looked skinny with her shirt on, but off you could really see, that food wasn't always available. Roy could also see some abs, the girl got from parkour, training with Sara and surviving. But what caught his attention most, weren't the abs, no. It was the scars and bruises covering her upper body. Some were new, like a bruise on her shoulder, probably from tonight. Some looked like they were a few months old, like a really big and bad looking scar under her bellybutton.

"Stop starring Abercrombie. I know I'm beautiful, but stop." Sin said as she sat down again. Roy felt his cheeks heating up and looked away. "I'll get

myself some coffee." "Oh, make some for me too." Oliver said. "Me three." Felicity said. "Do you also want coffee?" Roy asked Laurel and Dig. Both nodded their heads. "What am I?! The coffee-service?!" Roy threw his hands up in the air and walked to the small 'kitchen' Oliver had set up.

"This is going to sting a little." Felicity said to Sin, as Laurel handed her a cloth and a bottle of alcohol, so she could disinfect the wound. "Don't worry I will able to stand a little p- HOLY MOTHERFUCKING SHIT!" "Language!" Laurel scold her. Sin took her hand and shook it. "Welcome to the Glades, Ma'am." Laurel rolled her eyes at the younger girl.

Felicity finished cleaning the wound and bandaged it when suddenly Laurel's phone rang. "My dad." she said as Oliver shot her a questioning look. In the meantime, Roy had come back with coffee for everyone. Laurel answered the call. "Hey, dad." She waited. "I'm with the Arrow." Pause. "I'm fine. You know I'm a grown-up, right?" While Laurel slowly started to walk away, to talk in privacy, Roy handed out the coffee.

"And finished. But you really shouldn't sleep on your back for a while. Do you even sleep? I mean every human has to sleep, but sometimes you look really tired, which means you don't sleep-" "Zip it hacker-bride." Sin said as she put on her shirt and jacket. "Sorry. Sometimes I just get-" "What did I just say?" Felicity winced, took her coffee and sat down in front of her computer.

Laurel came back a few minutes later. "Just for the record. I love my dad, but sometimes he's too overprotective." "He cares for you." The woman looked at the Arrow. "I know." "I don't really remember mine." The hacker said. "Why's that?" Dig asked. "He left when I was little. But I still had my mom, so... Things still worked out."

It was silent for a few minutes before Oliver started talking. "You all know what happened to my parents. I still miss them, to be honest." Laurel patted his shoulder. "They would be proud of you. Did I tell, that mom and I are having more contact again." "That's great news!" Oliver smiled. He was happy for his friend. "I could visit my parents again. I haven't seen them for some time now." Diggle thought loud. Just the two youngest members stayed silent. And Oliver understood. Roy had told them, that his father was dead and that his mother was addicted to Vertigo. But he actually had no idea what had happened to Sin's. She had only mentioned her father once.

"I don't really know what happened to my mother. My father is dead and she is maybe too. Vertigo is strong stuff." Everyone grew silent. They all had their experience with the drug. After some time Sin spoke up. "What is it like?" The others looked at her confused. "To have a mother I mean." She clarified as she hugged her knees to her chest. "That's actually hard to describe. I guess it's a feeling of safety and love." Laurel tried. "What happened to yours?" Felicity asked before she could stop herself. "She-she had cancer. I was still in diapers when it happened." "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked that." "It's okay. I mean, I can barely remember her. Mainly because of pictures." "And your father?" Oliver pressed. That surprised Sin. "Wait. Sara didn't tell you?" "Told me what?" "About my father." "Sara never mentioned him. Why?" "Because you knew him, short-boxed beard." Oliver scratched the back of his head. "I don't wanna be rude, but I don't think so...?" "Okay knew was probably too strong. Remember when you were on Lian Yu, a small plane had crashed there." The man nodded and waited for her to continue when he realized what she just said. "The pilot... he was your father?"

Sin saying nothing, was all he needed to pull her into a tight hug. "I'm so so sorry, Sin. If I had just been faster-" "No. Sara said he never had a chance. He died only a few minutes after you left." Sin made a pause. "He gave Sara a picture of me. Told her to take care of me. That's the reason I trusted her so much. I mean she could have just ignored that. Burn the foto or whatever, but she didn't." Laurel pulled her in a side-hug. "Sara always had a huge heart." "So now that we'll probably awake for at least two hours because we had way too much coffee. Burger or pizza?" Felicity asked.

Aaaaand everything was back to normal...

* That's how I came to the conclusion, that Roy is older than Sin:
Since there is an official birthdate for Roy, we know, that he is born on the 13th July 1991, which means he should be 21-22 is season 2 since Oliver came back from Lian Yu in the year 2012.

How I found out Sin's possible age is way more complicated. We know, that the picture of Sin, which her father kept in his wallet and then gave to Sara, was taken on the 10th May 2008. We also know, that her father crashed on Lian Yu one year later, which happens to be 2009. He also told Sara that Sin was 12 years old at this point. That means that Sin had to be born in 1997. So in Season 2 Sin was 15-16 years old.