Green & Black: The Prisoner
Chapter Two: Burn

CONTENT:
Rating: Mature
Flavor: Drama
Language: a bit
Violence: just yelling
Nudity: none
Sex: none
Other: torture referenced

Author's Note:

I told you there was more! Your patience has been rewarded! ...if you even remember this thing. The dramatic scenes have come tumbling out of my Brain. Why now? I don't know. Why not G&B? I don't know. Even neuroscientists can't explain the working of the brain, whaddoyou want from me?

BTW, the title of this chapter doesn't have anything to do with what happens to Felicity.


Burn

===#===

Verdant Basement

A courier delivered to the USB drive in a small, unmarked envelope. Oliver didn't know what it was, but he had a bad feeling about it. He plugged it into the port, and it automatically displayed its contents on the screen.

The digital photograph of Felicity, bloody and crying, numbed him with shock. Cold spread through his limbs as he just stared, trying to comprehend what his eyes were telling him. Felicity. Hurt.

After a minute, a video clip replaced the still image. It was grainy, poorly-lit, but he could recognize Merlyn's hooded garb. And he could hear Felicity screaming.

That unfroze him; that sent a raging wildfire through his body. In another moment, he was heading straight to Merlyn Global, murder in his heart.

Having to wait for the business mogul to have a free minute to be murdered only banked the flames, until Oliver could stop shaking with rage. He was even able to contain himself until the conference room cleared and the doors were securely closed before he exploded.

"What the hell is the meaning of this?" he roared, slamming the USB stick down on the table, hopefully damaging the expensive surface.

Merlyn only quirked one brow, then replied, low and cold, "I thought I made myself perfectly clear when we entered into this deal. If you made any move against me-"

"I did nothing!"

"Didn't you?" Both Merlyn's brows went up. "Am I supposed to believe it was a coincidence that one of my warehouses was broken into? The shipping manifests rifled? As if searching for one crate in particular?"

Oliver blinked. It sounded like a bid to find the Markov Device, but- "I had nothing to do with that"

"And your associate?"

Diggle. Thoughts flashed through his mind. Then, Shit. Because it sounded exactly like something the ex-soldier would do. He tried to neutralize his expression, but clearly, Malcolm caught sight of something on his face. "He was not acting under my orders," Oliver growled. "I had no idea-!"

Merlyn rounded the table and stalked towards him like a lion. "Do you think I enjoy terrorizing young women? If you can't handle your man, then perhaps I ought to step in and handle him for you."

Oliver bristled at the veiled threat. "You let Felicity go, and I will guarantee my team will work with you."

"You can't even control John Diggle while I do have her held captive," Merlyn scoffed.

"If you would just stop threatening my people!"

"Get your man under control, Oliver! Then we can talk about the release of Ms. Smoak. Not before." His eyes went hard. "Do not," he hissed, "make me hurt her again."

Merlyn brushed past Oliver, clearly dismissing him. Oliver seethed, but he had no footing to counterattack. Confronting the man hadn't doused the flames of his anger, either. He headed back to the club.

===#===

He called Diggle in, then broke three sets of his escrima sticks waiting for the soldier to arrive. The look on his face must have been clear enough, for Diggle only took one look at him and said, "Oliver! What's wrong?"

"Did you break into Merlyn's warehouse looking for the Markov Device?"

Diggle blinked. "There was no evidence tying that to us."

"So you did!" Oliver bared his teeth in unleashed anger. "Dammit, Diggle! He doesn't need proof" He gestured to the computer, and replayed the images.

The soldier's face went slack, drained of blood. He looked ready to throw up. As Felicity's screams replayed, glass shards over frayed nerves, horror was replaced by fury. "Oliver, Merlyn needs to be put down!"

"He has Felicity," Oliver grated.

"And look what he's done to her!"

"No! You! You did this to her!"

Diggle flinched and stepped back. "Me? But-"

"You! You went behind my back; you tried to find the Markov Device, while Merlyn had Felicity!"

"Oliver, we need to get her out of his clutches!"

"I know that!" Oliver paced like a caged tiger. "But now he's even less willing to release her, since you pulled this stunt."

"Waiting for Malcolm Merlyn to decide he's going to release Felicity on his own is not what I meant. We need a real rescue plan."

"He will kill her!" Oliver screamed. One wrong move, one misstep, and Merlyn wouldn't hesitate. "Don't you see that? So yes, John, that is the only plan that will work. You've seen what he's capable of." He gestured at the screen. "You do not fuck with Malcolm Merlyn! Because he does not make idle threats! And he told me if I don't keep you under control, he will." He took a breath, trying to quell these flames inside. "Believe me, you don't want him to do that."

"How are we supposed to work with this bastard?" Diggle demanded.

"We grit our teeth and do it, because for right now, that is the only option where we all survive."

Diggle lowered his head, his hands clasped behind him, the posture of a soldier's submission.

Oliver let out a breath. "Once Felicity is safe, then we can reassess our options. Until then, we keep our heads down. Clear?"

Diggle's eyes sought the dark screen where Felicity's horror had played out. "Yeah. We're clear."

===X===