Disclaimer:
I do not own DC Comics. I do not own The CW. I do not own anything related to DC Comics in general, or Arrow specifically. Except maybe a few DVDs of old DC movies that I haven't given away yet.
What?
Chapter Two:
Brotherhood
By The Shroud
A/N:
The second chapter! Please review on whatever you can, suggestions, ideas, disagreements, changes, questions, etc. So it begins below.
2017
Bunker
John Diggle, Curtis Holt, and Felicity Smoak were arguing, tired from searching for Oliver all night. But then Felicity looked over behind Diggle, to see their friend Oliver Queen, bloodied and tortured, asking herself as much as she was asking Oliver, "Oliver? Oh my god." Diggle echoed her, only to see Adrian Chase and Evelyn Sharp behind him, causing him to swiftly grab a gun from his hip.
Oliver dropped his bow and arrows, and raised his hands, speaking in a haunted tone, "Guys, guys! Calm down. It's a long story, but... they're on our side."
She, Felicity, immediately protested, "On our side? What are you talking about? Evelyn lied to us, Adrian killed Billy."
Adrian moved his head to the side, furrowing his brow and frowning, asking, "Who-"
Oliver interrupted to explain, "That's what Talia wanted us to think. She set that up, she set up everything."
Adrian continued, "This whole time, I thought I was ten steps ahead. But I was being manipulated just as badly as you and Evelyn."
She was about to retort, before Curtis interrupted, trying to prevent an argument, "Let's not get too hasty, alright? Maybe Oliver's right, let him explain what he means."
Later
Diggle was nodding doubtfully, "Okay, let's assume this is the truth. If so, what are you going to do next?"
He, easing into a seat wearily, decided, "It's over. John, it's over for me. I don't want to do this, anymore. I'm shutting everything down."
Curtis asked, bewildered, "Why?"
Oliver replied guiltily, "When Chase had me, even if he had been lied to by Talia, it helped me realize something Anatoly told me, that I can't live by two names, that I have to recognize my darkness. I understand now, that I wanted to kill. I even liked it!"
Adrian attempted to apologize, "Oliv-"
He cut Adrian off, "No. It's true. I need time, to- to think, to change, to become a better person. And while I do that, I won't be able to protect any of you, so I need you to lay down and away from Talia."
Evelyn inquired, "So we're just gonna let her go away?"
Oliver elaborated, "No, she won't stop now. I'm going to call in the Bratva. She doesn't know yet that Adrian knows the truth, and I'm willing to bet you know where her place of residence is," looking at Adrian.
Diggle challenged him, "Oliver, sending in the Bratva isn't the right choice. What if she takes someone hostage?"
Adrian agreed, perturbing Diggle, "Diggle's right. She'd slaughter them, she has a small army of acolytes."
Oliver insisted, "I trust they'll complete the job," before turning to Adrian, about to ask him where Talia was located.
Adrian negotiated, "In the meantime, what if I or Diggle take control of the team in your place?"
Oliver shook his head, "No, I still don't trust you enough, Adrian. Even if the team stays safe somehow, I don't want Talia to think anything suspicious is going on. Her place of residence?"
Adrian gave up, writing her location on a nearby scrap of paper and giving it to him wordlessly.
Oliver thanked him, before walking off.
Felicity spoke up, irritated, "So we're just letting it go down like that?"
Adrian smirked, "No. I'll be there too."
Diggle considered, stating, "We'll go too. To provide backup against Talia."
Adrian joked, "Thanks, John, I never knew you cared that much about me," prompting a glare from Diggle and Felicity.
Oliver's Home
The man who had been his brother on Lian Yu started speaking, "Thank you for being here on such short notice. I understand that after last time, I have run out of favors. But this is an impossible situation, and you're my only option," and turned around.
He, Anatoly Knyazev, extended his hands forward and then out as if to shrug, before retracting them and stating, "Obviously. Last time you made very clear you did not want Bratva in city."
Oliver explained, "Circumstances have changed. I need you to kill Talia, who is now at this address. She is very skilled, and has various somewhat skilled acolytes," handing him a piece of paper.
Later
He spoke, relaxed on a chair next to his friend, "Interesting. I never thought you would give up the hood."
Oliver replied, "Well, you were the one who told me it was silly to think that a, a piece of cloth could contain the, monster inside of me forever. You were right."
Anatoly understood, "Such a burden, always being right. Life has no secrets."
Oliver, barely amused, continued, "I should have listened to you back then."
Anatoly, slightly troubled, chuckled, "Least now you see self clearly. Man must know who he is to be happy."
Oliver challenged, "You think I deserve to be happy?"
He attempted to comfort his friend, "Why not? I am happy. My old friend has finally remembered his oath, and is about to make his brothers very rich! You should be happy too."
Oliver sunk back into his chair slightly, and also into his depression, confirming his fears that he had lost the determination of the Hood for the laziness of Oliver Queen and the connections of Oliver Queen for the isolation of the Hood, saying, "I just want Talia in the ground."
Anatoly assured Oliver, "You'll be please to know, I've got only the best men with me. Otlichno [1]. There is only small matter of... my downpayment," attempting to divert Oliver's mind from whatever matter he was becoming obsessed with.
Oliver insisted, "There's no downpayment, Anatoly. I want Talia dead immediately."
He continued despite this, both for Oliver and the Bratva, "After last time, I need small gesture of goodwill. So my men can see that you are serious. It's like you Americans say, 'let's make deal.'"
Oliver considered this, "You said that your fee has two parts. I will make sure that you acquire the first tonight. You get the second when you take Talia out."
He finalized the argument in a friendly manner, "See? I knew we could both be reasonable, hehah. Let's toast. Please tell me you did not put away the vodka."
Talia's Place of Residence
The eight Bratva they were working with, at the cost of diabetes medicine, had gotten to the front of the building. At a signal from Anatoly, they had all burst in.
The Bratva had began to move in up ahead, until encountering resistance. Over the comms, he heard gunfire, swords swinging, and bows firing. He signaled for his team to provide support as a second wave.
He grunted as he jumped down from the fence surrounding the previously supposed abandoned warehouse, to be followed by the rest of the team, Dinah, Curtis, Rene, Evelyn, and unfortunately, Chase. They were dressed in black, with hoods covering the top of their heads and cloth masks covering most of their face. He had a silenced pistol, Dinah had expandable batons, Rene had dual handguns and a knife, Evelyn had a bow and arrows, and Chase had a chokuto.
They charged in through the door, to find fifteen acolytes engaging five Bratva in a dojo with a variety of obstacles were strewn about, and three other Bratva were badly injured. Curtis started to help one of the uninjured Bratva pull the others out.
Within, as the Bratva, Rene, and Evelyn provided covering fire, he, Dinah, and Chase moved up to the center, left, and right, respectively. Chase stabbed one in the spine through an obstacle before swinging around to slit another's throat and use their bodies as a new source of cover. John followed suit, shooting three acolytes in rapid succession in the chest, trapping another acolyte in a choke-hold, driving them into unconsciousness while ducking to avoid an arrow and shooting where acolytes tried to move their heads out.
Dinah crept up to the left of a lone acolyte before using her left baton to choke them until they fell limp. Another acolyte popped out from around a corner to swing a sword down at her, which she blocked with her other baton, before swinging the left to the side of their head, knocking them out cold and moving behind the corner.
Seven acolytes left, John counted. He breathed in deeply, as the Bratva, Rene, and Evelyn moved up. An arrow managed to hit Rene in the shoulder, and Evelyn started carrying him out. Five acolytes jumped out, one each trying to occupy Dinah, himself, and Chase, as two others charged forward. Despite getting hit, they managed to surprise the Bratva long enough to inflict some severe stab wounds.
As Curtis and Evelyn continued bringing the Bratva out to prevent loss of life on their part, John managed to wrestle the sword out of the acolyte's arm, before grabbing their arm and twisting until it snapped, then putting his pistol to their chest and pulling the trigger. He glanced over to his sides to see Chase fighting his acolyte off and then Dinah getting pushed back by her acolyte. He aimed, and shot them in the back without hesitation.
The last two acolytes ran from behind their cover, buying time for their leader. Dinah yelled, "Go! Curtis, Evelyn, and I can hold them off!"
He and Chase rushed up ahead, to see Talia about to try and escape. He shot at her, but she jumped away from the window in time to avoid getting hit. She leaped at them, blocking Chase's chokuto with one blade of her own, and knocked the pistol out of his hands with another. As she kneed him down to the floor and moved to cut his head off, Chase jumped at her, leading to her dropping a sword.
As he got back up, picking the sword on the ground up, she had kicked Adrian off and was swinging at him, Adrian barely avoiding or blocking each strike. Right after she knocked the sword out of his hands and elbowed him to the ground, John swung his own blade to block hers, saving Adrian. She rolled back, considered her options, and jumped out through the window.
He ran to it, but she was nowhere to be seen. John walked back, extending a hand to Adrian, who said honestly, "Thanks."
City Hall
Diggle walked in through the door. "You called?"
He replied without looking up from his papers, "Anatoly just thanked me for supporting the Bratva and preventing deaths with my team. I said, that's impossible, the team doesn't currently exist." Getting up, he continued, "When I told you to stand down, I meant it." He walked out of the room without looking at Diggle again.
Days Later
A man was talking, "It's clear the attack occurred after details of the DA's schedule were compromised."
Deputy Mayor Lance understood, "A leak."
The man continued, "Until we can confirm the source, DA Chase will be transferred in to the Federal Witness Protection program. No Star City employee will have access to his file."
He joked, if honestly, "I'm not really sure all of this is necessary." He had tortured Oliver, and had listened to Talia's lies, simply accepting the idea of a quest of vengeance. Perhaps he deserved it, for Talia and her acolytes to kill him, like they tried yesterday.
Oliver didn't accept it. "Adrian, please. Your safety is of paramount importance to this office." Adrian nodded, understanding it to convey Oliver's own understanding and disagreement of that viewpoint. Oliver finished, "Do it," before walking next to him, and whispering, "I don't forgive you, but this isn't over. I'd rather have you working against Talia with us than not at all."
A/N:
This concludes the second chapter. I hope it's, at least, a good chapter. In the next few chapters, we'll see more canon divergence, and more of why this has its rating.
[1] Otlichno is Russian for 'Fine,' if the episode and I got it right.