Dark Angels

Disclaimer: The universe of Arrow belongs to Berlanti Productions, Star Wars belongs to Lucasfilm, the Prophecy of Rao and the Four Orders are entirely my own.

Crossover between Arrow S1, pieces of the Prophecy of Rao, Star Wars AU and the Four Orders...

AU/Arrow/SML/SW-AU: Detective Lance investigates a series of unusual murders while the Hood crosses path with the town's newest mysteries that have an agenda of their own. And all have the same epicentre – pieces of junk or so it seems...

Chapter 1

Detective Lance stood rotted on the spot still staring at the place where Jonathan Hayes used to stand and mock him pointing with his heavy calibre shotgun. That was just a moment ago, not so long ago, a minute or was it a second. But now at the roof's edge there was no one.

Detective Lance snapped out of it and approached the edge. One small look and he would have his answer though his mind knew what it was going to see. And it was not wrong. Splattered several stories down was the body of the dreaded mercenary, a glinting arrow with green feathers protruding from his chest.

But Detective Lance was wrong. There was no arrow, not one that he could see anyway. The sight was not pretty. His heartbeat had managed to slow down its pace.

His heart had jumped to his throat that one moment ago when he was certain he would get shot and fall stone cold dead onto the ground unable to say all these things he ached to say to Laurel since their last and less than cordial meeting. But no, he was alive. Dreading he would have to say thanks to the city's vigilante. But no again, he was not going to. There was no arrow.

He pulled away from the edge and turned his back. He came face to face with his new boss Captain Kathryn Sagle. She was in full battle gear and did not resemble even in the slightest the respected police chief of Starling City. He never had problems with women serving in the force or even as superiors but this woman was testing his commitment. He had never seen or heard of a woman so involved in everyday matters or always on the battle lines. But she was and they have come to accept that though with difficulty and worry.

"Detective Lance," She said softly an expression of concern shadowing her beautiful face. "Are you alright?"

Lance did not respond at once. The image of almost dying was still present in his recent memory. Nah, he had faced this threat many times but none has affected him this way before now. The cold sweat and the fear, the dread of the last moment one could spend on this earth, all but gone now. His mind was clearing.

"Ah, yeah, I'm fine." He replied though his mouth was still dry. He needed a drink. And like reading his mind, Captain Sagle thrust in his hand something. Upon looking, he realized it was a flask. Without even bothering to think what might be inside he took a gulp. The drink was strong and it made him cough but he swallowed the rest. "Thank you, Captain,"

"Good," Captain Sagle said her smile returning. "Now, let's check the leftovers."

Detective Lance thrust head closing eyes for a moment. Only she could have this bleak humour after a stressful situation. That was one of the other little quirks they had to come to terms with. Opening eyes his legs dragged him away from this dreadful roof down to the street where the body of the mercenary still adorned the pavement.

It was indeed not a pretty sight. But as he noted from above there was no arrow big or small protruding from the body. Actually, there was nothing that indicated he was pushed over the edge of the roof forcibly, at least at first glance.

The medical examiner arrived shortly after and got to work. A sudden exclamation brought his attention back in that dreadful direction. The medical examiner had thrust his nose close to the chest of the mercenary. It was an odd sight. It was as though he was examining every inch of it with an invisible stethoscope. The examiner called for the medics to pick up the body and transport it away.

To his unasked question, the medical examiner Dr. Ranford politely asked him and the captain to be present at the autopsy then darted after the body. If Lance did not know any better he would say the good doctor looked like a child in a candy store. And bore the question why he was so excited.

A sudden squeal and a pair of arms found themselves around him. Lance recognized them as his daughter's – Laurel.

"Laurel," Detective Lance exclaimed aiming mostly for air.

"Dad,"

He felt always warm and fuzzy when he heard her say it, and felt better immediately. Their relationship has been quite rocky over the past year or so. With Oliver Queen's return and the appearance of the vigilante called by some the Hood, things were not exactly going smoothly and not to mention her going out with Malcolm Merlyn's heir Tommy. He was still not comfortable with him even though his dad had cut his funding off.

"I'm alright, sweetheart." He said and pulled away from her.

"I came here as soon as I heard." She said looking lovingly at him though with a great deal of concern and relief as well. "The vigilante?"

"We don't know yet." He replied cautiously. He was never ready to dismiss him off the case. It still could be him.

"Oh,"

"I'm fine, Laurel." He repeated emphasizing on fine. His daughter's posture relaxed allowing him to relax as well.

"Detective," It was his boss.

"I'm coming, Captain." He replied. "I'll see you tonight at home."

"Yes," Laurel smiled at him.

Starling City Police Department and the precinct he was working at were still rebuilding after the recent attacks on them. A few months ago, a new crime wave hit the city with terrible force and its protectors faltered under the pressure.

That was the time, Detective Lance had to swallow his pride and actually ask, no beg the city's vigilante for help only to be answered with silence. Though, on the count of bodies, the Hood did not disappoint. But it seemed he had continued his fight with whomever he was fighting. But the pleas for help remained unanswered.

Lance was not exactly disappointed with this. He did not expect the city's vigilante whom he continued to pursue was more than the ordinary killer. But no answer at all was indeed a bit disappointing. Over the time, the Hood had shown some initiative in helping them with some sensitive cases. But whatever the case, it was clear the Hood was ignoring them, was ignoring the plea for help.

Lance thrust head. They did not need this menace to deal with the current crisis. They were doing well on their own even before he arrived. But that was not entirely true. During this past year, many corrupt elements of the city had fallen prey to the Hood and his unorthodox manner of fighting – bows and arrows. Of course, from time to time, there was still the other archer that showed up but he was way was more merciless than the Hood's. Identifying him however had proven just as impossible.

"Ah, Detective, Captain, thank you for coming,"

Detective Lance snapped out of his thoughts having realized he had made it to coroner's office. The body of Jonathan Hayes lay on the table stripped of all clothes but still covered by a sheet.

"So what killed him, Doctor?" Captain Sagle asked.

"Ah, this is most fascinating question with an even more fascinating answer." Dr. Ranford exclaimed excitedly. He moved the computer and called in the images of the body when it was clothed. "When I first examined the body, I did not find any entry wounds. But a small burn mark picked my curiosity."

"Burn mark?"

"Oh, yes," Ranford smiled wide. "This one,"

Kathryn Sagle and Lance stared at the shown point but saw nothing of even remote interest.

"You can't spot it easily." Dr. Ranford continued having noted their confused expressions. "You need a close look but there is no need for that now."

"There isn't?"

"Oh, no," Dr. Ranford exclaimed and removed the sheet over the dead body.

Lance and Kathryn this time spotted it at once. On the chest there was a small hole, a perfect hole though burnt on the edges.

"Doctor, what is that?"

"That is the burnt mark. On the clothes it is rather small almost invisible but on the chest perfectly so." Dr. Ranford replied his eyes lit up like small suns. "The interesting part is when one does an MRI. Take a look." He showed the MRI and immediately the captain and the detective noticed something unusual.

"What's that?" Detective Lance asked.

"Well this is a rather interesting question. Mr. Hayes here died instantly. I can tell you this much now the how is a bit more complicated. If I did not know any better, I would say he died from a laser probe with precision I have never seen before. But the shocking part is that the probe or whatever was fired from a distance..."

"Like an arrow?"

"Yes, much like an arrow the sad problem is such a device does not exist in the modern world." Dr. Ranford confirmed.

"Doctor, you are not making any sense." Kathryn said.

"I know. It is confusing." Dr. Ranford agreed displaying it with a nod of his head. "But you must understand. The weapon used pierced his skin burning the clothes at the edges forming a perfect hole, which then travelled through his body and exited on the back leaving the same burn mark as the one on front.

What is fascinating is the whole itself. Now, most such wounds are made by bullets or other things like arrows if you want. But understand this: a bullet or an arrow cannot create such a perfect hole, a hole with clean sides. The flesh itself is um...cauterized.

Look other than laser instruments nothing else can make such a perfect incision."

"Hum," Kathryn was thoughtful.

"What?" Lance looked at her.

"This appears familiar."

"It does?" He studied her expression carefully.

"Yes, a few years back at my old precinct we had a similar case. We never discovered what kind of weapon was used but it had the same signature or close to it."

"I'd love to compare them." Dr. Ranford offered.

"Of course," Kathryn said. "I shall have the files transferred to you, Doctor."

"So to sum it up," Detective Lance said clearing his throat. "An arrow or laser arrow pierced this sob from one side exiting from the other and ending where exactly?"

"That is a curious question, Detective." Dr. Ranford exclaimed. "If you could find this arrow, I might be to tell you more that could be of use to the investigation that is."

"Of course," Lance noted sarcastically and left the office. So now, he had his usual archery vigilante and one with laser arrows. Right, could it get any less ridiculous.

But of course his curiosity was aroused. He returned to the crime scene for indeed they have not recovered the weapon. But if the good doctor was right there would be no weapon despite the doctor's believes it might be a laser arrow whatever he meant by that.

Being back on the roof was not a pleasant thought for Lance but he had a job to do and that was to find the weapon if any indeed. The entry would suggested that the arrow or whatever was fired from slightly above his height level which in turn meant that the archer or whoever was either taller than him or slightly above his position.

Lance looked for plausible shooting positions but sadly found nothing encouraging. Whoever fired the 'whatever' was nowhere near him. Supposing the archer was not anywhere near him he took a look at the neighbouring roofs. Examining all of them took some time but in the end he was left with several possibilities all of which depended onto the height of the archer and the position.

It was getting dark when he returned back to the roof. And it was then when he noticed something glinting opposite of him. It was on the wall directly in front of his position but across the street.

"What is that?" He exclaimed silently and how to reach it was his other question. It was pretty damn high for him to reach on his own.

The light of the world faded quickly and evening came. The glinting was more pronounced now. Actually it was shining like a small star in the night sky. He focused his stare changing his observation position. It looked like the crazed doctor might be right after all, well to a point anyway. It was an arrow. But why didn't he see it in the daylight? His first thought was of a silvery material but if it was silver it would have glinted on the sunlight.

As the darkness around him grew, the glint turned to strange reddish sparkles. Well, it was not red exactly but it was kind of there, in that general direction.

Suddenly, the whole thing eased up from its stuck position in the wall. Lance's eyes grew wider with surprise when he finally saw what it was. He was right it was an arrow but not of any metal. It was crystal – sanguine or maybe dark red. The arrow reared a bit more and left the wall then levitate upwards and then sped up away into the night where at some point he lost sight of the red glint.

His mind was still processing what had just transpired. Was the damn thing some technological gadget he was not familiar with? Or was it something else? But he clearly saw what it was a crystal arrow. Crystal things however do not fly on their own. They can't. They are not even remotely magnetic so what made it fly.

This bore more investigation. Sadly no one was going to believe him. No one could. But he was going to get at the bottom of this mystery. To whom this arrow belonged and why was it crystal? Who saved his life and why? Or did it? Maybe the new vigilante was there for a different reason and saving Lance's life was just a side effect. Many questions and no answers...

Not far from Lance's position, on a roof top, a figure in brown robes and hood stood, its black gloved hand stretched forward until it closed its fingers around the crystal arrow. The hand then opened and the arrow levitated up and sheathed itself into a quiver full of other crystal arrows at the figure's back.

The figure continued to observe the police detective till he left his rooftop. The figure smiled. This was definitely going to be an interesting challenge and then jumped off its rooftop and disappeared into the depths of the night...

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Lordheaven