Author's Note: This is an AU of sorts where Laurel never dies and she actually gets the opportunity to meet Black Siren! I was so disappointed by the lack of E-1 Laurel and E-2 Laurel fics that I decided to write this half-baked-supposed-to-be-a-one-shot-but-is-now-a-multi-chapter-thing-after-some-serious-considerion fic. The first chapter is a little shorter than I would've liked, but that's because beginnings are Difficult.
Enjoy!
It was early morning.
The sun was almost up, the pearly white sphere of the moon somehow still visible in the sky's scattered mess of black, purple, and gold. The metropolis below, Star City, stood hardly awake, with pedestrians lazily roaming the sidewalks and hasty cars speeding through the streets.
Up in a towering apartment, a phone flickered awake, the faint light of the screen dancing across the ceiling and a chirpy little chime rebounding gleefully off the walls of the bedroom. Laurel immediately stirred, her mind engulfed in a hazy fog of exhaustion and confusion, as she reached for the blaring device. Squinting against its brightness, she internally moaned at the time and the caller ID before answering.
"Felicity, babe," Laurel hissed slowly, her tone laced with venom and irritation. "It's 5 AM! What the hell do you want?!"
"Have you checked the news?" Felicity asked, barreling past the livid greeting. She sounded almost panicked, if the high speed racing of her words was of any indication alone. "No? Do it now."
With a begrudging sigh, Laurel complied and, ignoring Felicity's continuous blabbering, searched blindly for the remote through the darkness of her room. When she finally managed to find it, she clicked on her TV and surfed to the nearest news channel.
What she was greeted with was appalling.
"Assistant District Attorney Laurel Lance of Star City is suspected of several severe cases of property damage after being spotted on the grounds of Mercury Labs moments before it was sent crumbling down. Officials are currently looking into-"
"Do you see it?" Felicity all but screeched into her ear. "This is bad!"
"Yeah, I see it," Laurel replied with a nod she knew the other couldn't see. "Is it-"
"An Earth-2 doppelganger?" her girlfriend cut in. There was a sudden scuffle of noise on her end. "Yeah, which the media doesn't know, unfortunately. She goes by 'Black Siren'. Notorious criminal on her Earth- murderer, thief. Ooo, even the lieutenant of Zoom's psychotic metahuman army. The whole package deal."
"Perfect," was Laurel's dry response. She clicked off the TV and stared blankly at the ceiling. Absolutely perfect. All she ever wanted was an evil twin bent on the takeover of an entire planet while unintentionally pushing her to be the prime suspect of her crimes. "We're going to Central City, right?"
"Absolutely. I already contacted Oliver. He insists that Flash and his team will be able to handle it and we'll only stir up more bad press, but Barry's already gotten his butt handed to him by her and she's actively ruining your reputation. I will not tolerate such disrespect being put on your name. Besides, when do we ever listen to him? Since he can't stop us from going, he wants some of the team to stay behind to watch over Star City. So it's just gonna be you, me, and Thea. A girls' night out!"
Laurel snorted. "I didn't know those involved tracking highly dangerous criminals."
"Well ours do. We're meeting at the Arrowcave in an hour. Be there or be square. Love ya."
With those words of farewell, Felicity hung up, leaving Laurel to dwell in an atmosphere of silence and thoughtful inquiries. While she wanted to approach this situation with caution, she was surprisingly interested in meeting a version of herself from a different Earth and discovering what could have possibly turned her to the side of evil. She was vaguely familiar with the concept of multiple Earths, but had never seriously contemplated the idea until only a few weeks ago when the siege of Central City had first begun…
Upon the decision to cease lazing around, Laurel, rather reluctantly, dragged herself out of bed and made course for the bathroom.
An hour later, a droopy-eyed Laurel stood alone amongst the various computers of the Arrowcave. She attempted to pass the time by scrolling through the several articles detailing her doppelganger's crimes on this Earth, and was relieved to find there wasn't enough evidence to warrant an arrest.
During the drive to the lair, her father had called, demanding that she remain in Star City until the media's suspicions were withdrawn. It was a long and tiring argument, but eventually, he surrendered and promised to inform that she was on a temporary leave of absence for the next few weeks.
Suddenly, the elevator chimed and its doors opened to reveal Thea. The younger Queen gave Laurel a half-hearted wave before all but collapsing onto one of the office chairs.
"Couldn't this have waited until the afternoon or something?" Thea groaned, her voice muffled by her face resting on her arm.
"You don't have to come," Laurel told her sympathetically. "I'm sure Felicity and I can handle it."
She gave a haughty laugh. "That's rich." At this, Laurel shot her a wounded glare. "Not to discredit your fighting skills or anything! You're an excellent fighter. Felicity on the other hand… not so much."
"I am trying my best," responded a third voice, as Felicity made her entrance to the Arrowcave with energy and spirit neither Laurel or Thea currently possessed. Shutting down the tablet she'd been so fiercely eyeing, she planted a gentle kiss on the former's cheek in greeting. "On my way here, I got an idea of how to track our Lieutenant Trouble. This version of Laurel- this Black Siren- has an actual sonic cry, which is how she's so easily able to knock down all those buildings. I figure we can find a way to track it, but I'll need to run it by Cisco first."
"Until then we can just wait for more buildings to drop," Thea hummed, confound disappointment evident.
"Let's hope that won't be the case," Laurel countered. With a nod directed at Thea, she turned to gaze at their respective suits displayed behind glass cases. "Come on, time to suit up."