Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow or Naruto's
Chapter 2: Honor thy Father
"So this is your lair, looks quite cool." Laurel remarked as she walked around the clock tower.
"Well you seem impressed. This was mine and Sara's special place before Gambit." Naruto replied smiling at fond memories popping in his head.
"So this is where you used to hangout with her?" She asked.
"Yup," Naruto replied "Listen Laurel I kinda overheard your earlier conversation with Tommy.."
"I know. I noticed you sitting on the fire exit." Laurel said "Don't worry I am not going to drag Tommy in my mess."
"You shouldn't be doing this anyway." Naruto muttered.
"And you should be?" Laurel said sharply.
"I am just doing it to honor my father." Naruto replied and looking at her "Just like you are doing to honor your mother."
"How did you-"
"I investigated but I am serious Laurel-"
"And so am I, Nate." Laurel replied "After the Gambit went down...I was filled with hate, pain and anger. Lady Shiva found me at my lowest point and showed me a way to channel my grief was to train but my training is useless if I can't help this city."
"I suppose it is to be expected of you." Naruto said before smiling "After all you are Dinah Laurel Lance; always rushing to save the world." Naruto said teasingly casuing Laurel to smile.
"Hey someone has to." Laurel replied before she asked "Now tell me what do you meant by honoring your father?"
Naruto stayed silent for a moment, sighing he took out his dad's list from his pocket and gave it to Laurel.
"What is this Nate?"
"My Dad died after Gambit went down but I never did tell you how. Did I?" Naruto asked
"No."
"Well, after the Gambit went down, I somehow managed to get away in a life raft alongside my father and another crew member. For days we were adrift and dad keep on apologizing for something. He kept on muttering how he failed this city and well the rations obviously decreased to the point that they can only help in one guy to survive rather than three. So while I was asleep he took out a gun and shot the crewmen. He looked at me and told me to survive before shooting himself." Naruto said as Laurel just listened in horror.
"This list belonged to my Dad and well it contains the name of the people who are corrupting our city." Naruto finished as his voice became heavy with emotion.
Laurel stood there silent with tears coming down from her eyes. Robert Queen had always treated her like his own daughter and well to hear how he actually died was quite shocking to her.
Taking the list from Naruto's hands, Laurel went to each name on the list and was surprised to find out names of various powerful people of the city.
"Nate… it's quite a lot to take in."
"Yup it is."
"So who are we going after next?"
"Marcus Redman."
[Few Days Later]
"You know, your girl is quiet good at what she is doing." Kurama said as he and Naruto watched Laurel easily taking on Redman's men like they were nothing. By Naruto's count it took her just five minutes to deal with every of his men in his office complex.
"And if I am write then that pathetic mortal is about to reach the rooftop...now" Kurama said as Marcus Redman and his body guards rushed on the rooftop to his helipad.
Not wasting any time Naruto engaged in combat with six armed guards. In under a minute he had taken them all out, beating them down one at a time with sharp, effective punches and kicks. His Bo-staff also came in use knocking down all the guards to unconscious easily.
"Whoa, whoa! Easy, wait, wait! No, please-" the man's pleas were cut off as Naruto grabbed the man by his collar and threw him off the helicopter platform, onto an air conditioning unit. Naruto then jumped down to join him, smashing his boot into the grate covering the fan. Giving the man the evillest grin he had ever seen, Naruto forced his face over the hole, mere inches away from the spinning fan blades.
"Marcus Redman," he growled, voice modulator disguising his voice, "you have failed this city."
"Please, don't! Please! Don't!" Redman cried out in terror as leaned in closer.
"Cell phone, inside pocket; call your partner." He growled. "Tell him to give those pensioners back their money. Do it now."
"Okay." The man said weakly. Naruto watched as the man called his partner going by the name Reggie and forced him to give the pensioners their money. As soon as the call was over Naruto chopped the guy on his neck effectively knocking him out cold. Happy with his work, Naruto made his way to the rendevous point and fount that Laurel was already waiting for him there.
"So you got everything you required from his office?" Naruto asked.
"Yup, guy is going in for a long time or he has to give a hefty fine but whatever the case is done now." Laurel said.
"So what are your plans for tomorrow?" Laurel asked.
"Apparently I am getting declared alive tomorrow…. Wanna celebrate tomorrow night?" Naruto asked
"Hmm…. Sure why not?"
"Cool, grab all the movies you could. We would have a movie marathon."
"With Rocky Road Ice Cream?"
"Yeah sure." Naruto replied laughing at the puppy eyes trick Laurel was doing causing Laurel to laugh as well.
[Next Morning, Queen Manor]
Naruto walked into the sitting room, where Moira, Walter and Thea were watching a news report.
"Over the past 15 years, Mr. Redman has withdrawn more than $30 million from the plan's account. Mr. Redman claims refunding the Halcyon pension plan has always been his intent. But sources say Redman was coerced by the vigilante." On the screen, the familiar sketch of the vigilante came up.
"So what is the name the press has given him?" Naruto asked gesturing the screen.
"Well they are calling him Kitsune at the moment," Thea responded "Kind of weird but it was written on the paper stuck upon the pile of body which were deposited at the SCPD."
"You could have written something better than Courtsey of your local vigilante Kitsune." Kurama asked causing Naruto to smile which Thea saw.
"Hey idiot, what are you smiling at?" she asked
"Nothing, it just that this guy is supposedly getting more air-time than the Kardashians." Naruto said jovially.
Thea shot him a look. "Five years on an island and you still know who they are." She said. Naruto smiled.
"I've been catching up." He said. "It's nice to see how much our culture has improved while I was away."
"But the city used to be different." Moira interjected. "People used to feel safe."
"Aw, what's the matter, mom?" Thea said sarcastically, "Afraid we're gonna be next?"
"Do you have any questions about today, Nathan?" Walter asked. "It's a simple proof-of-life declaration. Just read out a brief, prepared statement to the judge, and then your death-in-absentia judgment will be voided."
"Maybe you don't know Walter but Ollie wasn't the only one who well went to court before." Naruto replied with amusement dancing in his eyes.
"Yeah but not as much as him." Tommy said as he entered the room. "By my estimate only two times and that only because well you paint bombed the city hall and pranked the hell out of teachers at school."
"Well what can I say, I've been a prankster at heart, Tommy or have you forgotten?" Naruto asked arching his eyebrow causing Tommy to go pale. He could still remember back in elementary school when Naruto had pranked him and well let's say that Tommy didn't want to face that again.
"So what are you doing here buddy?" Naruto asked
"My best friend is getting legally resurrected; I wouldn't miss this for the world."
"Right." Naruto sighed. He looked at Thea. "What about you?" he asked.
"Oh I am also going with you. Can't have Tommy to annoy you so much that you make a mess out there." She replied
"Fair enough." Naruto sighed ignoring Tommy's face making at Thea who was well responding in kind.
"Mrs. Queen?" Diggle announced as he came into the room. "Car's ready."
Moira nodded and, shooting Tommy a look and ignoring the arm he held out for her, took her husband's arm as well and walked out to the car. Tommy held out his arm jokingly to Naruto, who just smirked and walked out alongside a laughing Thea. Shrugging his shoulders, Tommy followed.
[Courtroom, Outside]
As soon as Naruto reached the courtroom the reporters swarmed him from all the sides. Needless to say Naruto was having a hard time trying to make his way through the sea of reporters who were screaming questions from all sides.
"Are you going to testify as to what happened when the yacht sank?"
"Are you going to talk about the boat crash?"
"Mr. Queen, did you see Sara Lance die?"
The last question really tempted Naruto to punch the guy. Controlling his temper, Naruto went inside but not before glaring the person who asked that question.
"My father didn't make it." He thought of the moment that Robert had put the gun to his temple and fired. Moira and Thea were crying softly, and even Tommy looked saddened as he finally started to grasp the suffering his friend had gone though. "I almost died, I… I thought that I had, because I spent so many days on that life raft before I saw land." He thought of his first sighting of Lian Yu, then of staggering to shore. "When I reached it, I knew I knew that I was gonna have to live for both of us. And in those five years, it was that one thought that kept me going." He finished shakily. Even giving that brief, prepared statement had been exceptionally hard on the man.
"Your honor," his lawyer started, "We move to vacate the death-in-absentia filed after Naruto's disappearance at sea aboard the Queen's Gambit five years ago. Unfortunately we will not be requesting that the declaration of death filed for the petitioner's father, Robert Queen, be rescinded. The Queen family is only entitled to one miracle, I'm afraid."
"Laying it on a little think isn't she?" Thea whispered as she glared at the lawyer.
"Lawyers." Tommy scoffed.
"Motion carried." The judge said before slamming down the hammer.
A short time later, the Queens, with Tommy, headed out of the courtroom and down the stairs to the main floor.
"Now, onto the offices." Moira said with forced levity. "Everyone is waiting to meet you there."
"Uh, mom," Naruto said wearily, stopping on the stairs. Moira and Walter turned to face him. "That was a little bit heavier than I was expecting it to be. Can we do that tomorrow? Please?"
Moira looked at Walter, who nodded slightly. She smiled at her son. "Of course."
"Thank you." Naruto said, and Moira and Walter headed away. Naruto took a moment, then started walking down the stairs, Tommy and Thea at his side.
"Last week, you couldn't wait to get to the company." His friend observed.
"Tommy, I'd just spent five years away from civilization." Naruto explained. "I wasn't exactly thinking straight. I- Hi." Naruto said as he rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs- and ran straight in to Laurel, who was walking with Joanna and another woman into the courthouse.
"Hey...so everything went okay in there?" Laurel asked
"Yup, I am now officially alive now although people in there brought some bad memories." Naruto said in a dryly causing Laurel to wince alongside Tommy and Thea.
"So what are you doing here Laur?" Thea asked
"My job speedy." Laurel replied playfully.
"More like the D.A.'S." Joanna put in helpfully causing Naruto to look at Laurel. Healso noticed the sad looking woman on Laurel's right and held out his hand.
"Hi, Nathan Queen." He said politely, shaking her hand.
"Emily Nocenti." She replied.
"Nate I would love to talk to you but alasI have work to do." Laurel said
"Yeah, I get it dettabayo…."
"…."
"…."
"…."
"…."
"I didn't said that." Naruto said in his most serious voice.
"Yes, Nate none of us hear your childhood verbal tick." Laurel said with amusement dancing in his eyes. "Now be at my home by 10:00 pm with the ice cream for the movie marathon."
"Sure." Naruto replied as he saw Laurel walked past him.
"It was nice to meet you guys." Emily said as Joanna led her away.
Tommy clapped him on the shoulder. "Come on, buddy, shake it off. Let's go." Asthe trio headed outside they saw that on the steps the press was gathered, this time around another man. Martin Somers looked confident, smiling at the cameras as the reports clambered for a sound bite, and the two men watched with interest.
"Mr. Somers! Mr. Somers!" The all screamed. Martin pointed at one of the reporters. "What do you have to say about the accusations made by Laurel Lance?" she called out.
"I don't know what I've done to earn this witch-hunt from Miss Lance and her bosses at the CNRI." He started, still smiling. "But I can tell you this. I am an honest businessman, and I will fight this slander to my last dime and breath. That's all I have to say, thank you." Martin walked away, with some of the press still trailing after him.
"It seems that Laurel had ruffled some feathers." Thea commented as her phone buzzed. "Nate I will see you at home. Mom needs me for something." she said as she hugged her brother
Before Naruto could say anything he noticed that well some of the press had spotted him. Naruto walked down the stairs towards the car as the reporters shouted their questions.
"Oh, there's Mr. Queen."
"Mr. Queen, do you want to follow up?"
"What happened in there, sir?"
"Tell us what happened inside, Mr. Queen!"
"Step back everybody, please." Diggle called out, ushering Naruto through the crowd.
"Can you give us a couple comments about the island, Mr. Queen? Before you go, sir, please."
"Couple of comments about the island, sir."
"What happened in there?"
Diggle opened the rear door and Narutoo, still silent, climbed inside. Diggle shut the door and tried to push the reporters back. "Everybody, step back." One photographer got too close, and Diggle grasped the man's jacket and shoved him back hard. "Hey man, I'll make you swallow that Nikon. Back!"
Suddenly there was the sound of squealing tires, and the Bentley pulled away at a fast clip as Diggle and Tommy looked on.
Tommy looked back to the bodyguard. "This happens to you a lot, doesn't it?" he asked laughing causing Diggle to sigh.
[Back in the courthouse]
"How much is a life worth?" she asked. "A life of a man, a good man, a stevedore on the docks of the city in which we live. A father." She stopped and looked back at Emily. "A man with a daughter." She paused for effect before continuing. "The plaintiff will prove by a preponderance of evidence that Victor Nocenti learned that his boss, that man sitting right there," she pointed at the defendant, "Martin Somers, was taking bribes from the Chinese triads to smuggle drugs into our city. And when Victor Nocenti threatened to tell the police, Martin Somers had him killed. Mr. Somers is very well-connected, and has friends in the district attorney's office. Which is why, if Emily Nocenti is to get justice for her father's death, if Martin Somers is to get justice for his crimes, then someone is going to have to do it for them."
[Docks]
After the hearing Somers had went to his office at the docks and had asked for his lawyer. As soon as his lawyer had arrivedSomers started railing at his lawyer in his office.
"You, listen up." He growled. The calm, confident man who had spoken to the press earlier that day was gone and was replaced by the scared ad frustrated version of himself. "The longer this goes on, the more likely the media is gonna crucify me. You shut this trial down, do you understand me?" Suddenly the lights flickered off, when the lights came back up, Somers was met with a surprising sight of his lawyer and his two bodyguards down on the ground unconscious.
"What the hell?" was all he could said when suddenly he was grabbed from behind and his world went dark.
When he came to, the world seemed to be upside down. As the world came into focus and he saw Kitsune standing across from him, though, he realized that it was himself who was upside down, hanging from a crane and swinging like a pendulum.
"Martin Somers! Let's Talk." Kitsune intoned.
"Let me go you son of a bi aaaaaa-" Martin cried as he suddenly started to fall down. He surely felt that he was dead when he stopped just inches above the ground and was then pulled up.
"You're gonna testify in that trial. You're gonna confess to having Victor Nocenti killed. There won't be a second warning." Kitsune warned as he threw a shuriken at him which left a deep cut on his left cheek. Somers cried out in pain, pressing his hand to the cut. When he looked back at where The Kitsune had been, though, the vigilante was gone.
[Queen Manor]
When Naruto reached back home he found that there was an interrogation going on.
"I hired you to protect my son." Moira was saying as she paced in front of John Diggle. "Now, I'm not a professional bodyguard, but it seems to me that the first requirement would be managing to stay next to the man you're hired to protect." She pointed out.
"With all due respect, ma'am," Diggle tried, "I never had a client who didn't want my protection."
"I hired you." Moira pointed out, coming to stop in front of the bodyguard. "That makes me the client." She looked at the man sternly for a moment before resuming her pacing. "Now, where do you think my son is going on these chaperone-less excursions?"
"Ma'am, I truly do not know." Dig answered honestly.
"No, I'd rather you promise to take Mr. Diggle with you on your next rendezvous." Moira interrupted, walking up to her son. "It's not safe; you've already been abducted once. There is a maniac out there, hunting the wealthy."
"That maniac saved my life." Naruto pointed out.
"This isn't a game." Moira said. She paused and looked into his eyes. "I lost you once. And I am not going through that again." She stated plaintively. Naruto looked back with genuine remorse.
"Okay." He said finally. "Dig's my guy."
"Thank you." Moira said, and then walked out of the room. Naruto looked up at his bodyguard.
"Sorry to give you so much grief." He said. He almost meant it.
Dig buttoned up his suite jacket and walked around the couch. "I served three tours in Afghanistan, Mr. Queen. You don't even come close to my definition of grief." He paused in front of Naruto. "But I tell you what- you ditch me one more time, no one will have to fire me." With that he left the room, just as Thea walked past. The girl gave the bodyguard a cursory look before continuing on her way.
"Where you going?" Oliver called out. Thea paused, surprised. She hadn't seen him there.
"Well sleepover at Artemis house. Don't worry Nate I will be fine." Thea said as she went out. Sighing Naruto went to take his bath and then made his way to Laurel's home.
[Laurel's Apartment]
"I do hope that I am not extremely late." Naruto thought as he knocked Laurel's door.
Laurel opened the door and well Naruto felt that an angel had descended on Earth when he saw her in her pyjamas and top.
"You are late buster." Laurel pointed out
"Well I juts got lost on the road of life." Naruto replied causing Laurel to smile hearing that silly lie from him again. "And don't worry I have brought enough ice cream for the two of us." he said pointing at six large tubs of the said thing.
The night was then spend with the two old friends watching a lot of movies and talking about old things.
[Docks, next day]
Detective Lance was speaking with Martin Somers about what had happened the night before- or, as Somers put it, didn't happen.
"Well, I owe you an apology, Mr. Somers." Lance was saying, pacing lightly in front of Somers desk. He noted a hole in the top of the desk and fingered it idly as Somers sat, watching him. "We come all the way down to your docks, and it turns out, you don't need the police after all."
"Which is exactly what I've been saying." Somers said. The calm facade was back in place.
"Yeah." Lance agreed. "So I guess that 9-1-1 call we got last night from your stevedore, saying that you were getting attacked by someone… I guess well, was that a practical joke?" he threw out.
Somers smiled tightly. "These guys like to fool around."
"Yeah." Lance said again, walking away from the desk and over towards one of the patrol officers who held an evidence bag. "Well, you know, I'd be very much inclined to believe an honest, upstanding businessman like yourself, except, well, one of my men found this at your docks." He pulled out a shuriken and turned around, showing it to Somers. Somers held his gaze impassively. "You see, there's this vigilante running around." Lance continued, coming back to the desk. He perched on the edge, waving the shuriken around slightly. "He thinks he's some kind of guardian angel. He's robbing the rich, he's trying to teach them a lesson I guess. I don't know," he said, then looked back at the other officers. "I don't know." He repeated, and then looked back at Somers. "But the point is, the man's taking laws in his hands. And nothing, and no one, is going to stop me from bringing him down." Lance looked up at Somers with a tight smile. "But like you said, clearly, nothing happened here last night." He finished sarcastically.
Somers looked back at the cop. "Isn't this a conflict of interest, Detective?" he asked. "After all, your daughter is suing me."
"I'm pretty good at keeping my emotions in check." Lance said evenly.
"I'm not." Somers said, rage simmering just beneath the surface. He stood and got into Lance's face. "You and your daughter don't want to find out what I'm capable of when I get emotional." He threatened. Lance gave him a disgusted look. Finally, though, he turned and left.
[Queen Consolidated]
The scene changed as we flew over Starling City, right to the Queen Consolidated towers. There were three towers in total- the main tower, which held mostly executive offices, stood proudly in the front. Directly behind were two, slightly shorter towers, connected by a sky bridge, that held research labs, stock trading areas, and other departments that made up the Queen Consolidated business.
"As you can see, Nathan, we've modernized quite a bit." Walter was saying as the elevator opened on the executive level of the main tower. While the elevator banks were set into a rich, green marble, the rest of the floor was all glass and steel. Naruto whistled as Walter led him, Moira and Diggle towards his office.
Naruto smiled at a cute blonde as he walked past. "Hi." He said. His mother squeezed his arm gently and smiled at her son
"Are you enjoying yourself?" she asked. Naruto smiled in return.
"Yes, I am."
"I remember when your father used to bring you here when you were a boy." Walter said jovially as they all walked into his office. Diggle took up position by the door. "You always were so excited."
"Dad let me and Ollie drink soda in the office." Naruto revealed.
"Ah!" Moira exclaimed happily. "So that's why you both enjoyed coming."
"Queen Consolidated's success of late is a result of its targeted diversification." Walter began as Naruto walked around the office. "We have been making impressive inroads in cutting-edge fields like bio-tech and clean energy."
"That's neat." Naruto interrupted "Well no offence but weren't we quite bad in the field of clean energy."
Moira and Walter looked at each other and well Naruto being who he was was able to connect the dots easily.
"Mom, you went through my stuff….didn't you?"
"Yes" Moira revealed not bothering to lie to her son.
"Mom some of the projects-"
"Were dangerous. Trust me we found that hard way when two of our best people were almost killed. Nathan, to be frank you are scary smart and your projects... well…. prove your intelligence." Moira said as Walter nodded
"Dad used to tell me that if I wanted I could achieve anything." Naruto said
"Robert was very proud of you Nathan. I still remember how he used to brag about you and your intelligence." Walter added causing Naruto to blush which was noticed by Moira who smiled at that.
"Sweetheart," Moira said, gesturing at her son. "Nathan, Walter and I have something to discuss with you. Come, please sit." She motioned towards a chair. Naruto looked at her warily.
"Mom, it makes me nervous when you ask me to sit down."
The three stood awkwardly for a moment, before Walter pressed on.
"The company's about to break ground on a new site for the applied sciences division, and we would like to honor your father by dedicating the building in his name." he said. Naruto nodded.
"That's nice." He agreed.
"And we'd like to make an announcement at the dedication," Moira added, "that you will be taking a leadership position in the company."
"Sure," Naruto replied without a moment of hesitation causing Moira to beam in happiness "But do know that I won't play easy with the board."
"I don't expect you to." Moira said as Walter gave him an uneasy look.
"What's the matter Walter? You seem quite disturbed." Naruto asked causing Walter to sigh.
"The board after your father's death had become quite accustomed to being in control. I don't think they would like to part ways with it." Walter revealed
"Well they would have to….From what I guess the Queens hold 55% of board shares." Naruto said surprising the other two people in the room
"We hold around 45% Nate." Moira said causing Naruto to give her one of those smiles which easily said that 'I know something that you don't'.
"As I said 55%," Naruto continued "And it is about time they answer for the things they had done in these five years."
Naruto was about to say something more when he heard a knock at the door.
"Yeah, Come in." Naruto said after composing himself.
The person who entered the room was a red head and Naruto had to pinch himself to see if what he was seeing was true or not. Standing in front of him was Barbara Gordon in a good looking office dress.
"Nathan this is the head of our IT department-"
"Barbara Gordon." Naruto said with a smile startling
"Hey Nate," Barbara said looking at him with a smile. "Mr. Steele here are the files you asked for." She said as she passed the file to Walter.
"Thanks, Miss Gordon." Walter said as he looked at the watch "I would have loved to talk with you guysbut I have some urgent work so well excuse me."
"Yeah okay," Naruto said as Walter and Moira went out of the room.
Naruto took a look at his old friend. The years have been quite well at Barbara from what he was seeing but what confused him was her presence at Starling City.
"Never thought I would see the day when you would leave Gotham, Babs" Naruto commented
"Well, Gotham was becoming quite suffocating for my tastes and well working for Queen Consolidated gave me a chance to be away from that place." Barbara said
"You know I would really like to get back in touch with you again, Babs"
"Me too," Barbara replied "Find some time from your duties and bring Laurel with you, we can have a reunion of sorts; me, you, Laurel and Tommy just like old days."
"Yeah sure," Naruto said as he walked with her to the exit with Diggle walking behind him.
As the two made their way outside, they fought through a sea of reporters to the Bentley. Dig got Naruto in, then walked around and got in on the other side.
"The driver will be here in a minute." He said as they settled into their seats, the reports still shouting questions outside the car.
"You know for the guy who is going to be the head of his Dad's company you don't seem to be quite happy." Dig commented as Naruto looked at him in shock. "What your mom and step dad may not notice but I do."
"Hmm..quite a detective aren't you Dig," Naruto said "but yes what you say is quite right. I am not really in mood to deal with this considering how much the company has deviated from what it used to be. I mean QC donot do charity now and..."
"Yeah I know," Diggle said "But you can change that. You will just have to remove that mask you wear."
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked feigning confusion but inwardly he was quite impressed that Diggle was able to see
"You know, I spent the first 27 years of my life in Starling City, and the next five in Afghanistan." He started. "You want to know what I learned?"
"There's no place like home?" Naruto replied dryly. Dig smiled and shook his head.
"No, just the opposite. Home is a battlefield." He explained. "Back home, they're all trying to get you. Get you to open up, be somebody you're not sure you are anymore." He paused and looked at the young man. "Or I could be wrong. Maybe after five years alone, you're not as messed up in the head as you have every right to be." He observed.
"Ain't that the truth" Naruto thought as his thoughts drifted back to the island
[Flash Back Start]
It has been a few days since Naruto had been stranded on the island. The first thing he had done on reaching the island was finding a shelter for himself and keeping his father's body safe.
Regaining some of the energy he had lost while drifting on the sea he created a burial spot for his father. It took him some time but he was finally able to properly bury his father.
"I promise Dad, I'll be the guy you always thought I could be." Naruto said as he stood infront of his father's grave. He was going to say something more but wasn't able to as two arrows stuck into his shoulder. Fatigue of previous days and the pain which Naruto felt due to arrows ultimately caused Naruto to pass out.
The last thing he saw before loosing consciousness was a girl in green hoodie coming towards him
[Flash Back End]
[CNRI]
Laurel had quite a shitty morning. Martin Somers was attacked by Naruto last night something which the dumb blonde had forgotten to mention about. Knowing Somers he would be pissed and with the case hanging on his head, Laurel knew that Somers would try to silence anyone related to the case.
Currently Laurel and Joanna were briefing Emily Nocenti on what to expect with the coming trial.
"Well, we anticipate that Somers' attorney will try and paint you as blinded by grief or looking to make a buck." Joanna was saying. Emily looked back at the two lawyers in angry disbelief.
"This isn't about the money." She argued. "I just want justice for my father."
"Emily," Laurel started gently, "there are a lot of people who don't want this trial to proceed. Dangerous people." She explained. Emily just shook her head.
"My mother died when I was a baby, and my father has been the only family I've ever known and they slit his throat. They are going to have to kill me if they want me to give this up." She said determinedly. Laurel gave her a small smile.
"Well let's hope it doesn't come to that." She said.
"And it won't." the three turned to see Quentin Lance walk in with three patrol officers behind him.
"What's going on?" Laurel asked but deep down she knew what the fuss was all about.
"What's going on is that the three of you are getting around-the-clock police protection. Okay? Get used to their faces, because they're going with you everywhere you go, no arguments." The last part was directed at his daughter, who looked back at him unimpressed.
"I'm a lawyer. I live to argue." She stated.
"I'm your father. I live to keep you safe." He replied bluntly.
Joanna, sensing the building argument between father and daughter, gently took Emily's arm. "Um, Emily, let's go grab a cup of coffee, okay?" she asked rhetorically.
"Yes, why not do that? Thank you." Quentin said, and then gestured to the three cops. "Please, go with them." he said to the first two, who followed the two ladies out of the office. He held back the third.
"Stay there." He ordered.
"Protective custody?" Laurel began, crossing her arms. "I seem to recall you trying that once I discovered boys. It didn't work then, either."
"This isn't a joke, Laurel." Quentin said, ignoring his daughters' argument. "Martin Somers got attacked last night."
"What? By who?" Laurel asked acting the role of her being clueless perfectly.
"It doesn't matter." He said, somewhat relieved to see the seriousness of the situation was finally getting through to her. "Point is, you have whipped up a storm with these guys, and until the dust settles you'll be protected, okay? End of discussion." Quentin turned to leave.
"That might have worked when I was eight," Laurel argued, some of her defiance finding its' way back, Quentin turned back to his daughter. "But it's not gonna work anymore."
"End of discussion, Laurel!" he insisted sternly. "You're insistent on doing your job, that's great. But this is me doing mine, okay? And not just as a father, but as a cop. These people, they are more dangerous than you are willing to admit. And you've made them angry." He finished, turning and walking out.
"Thanks Nate...for the extra burden you have put up on my shoulder."Laurel thought sarcastically as she saw her father leaving. In a way Laurel appreciated her father's worry over her health. At least Emily would have a decent security now but the downside was she wouldn't be able to do her thing at the glades which kind of sucked. Sighing she made her way back to her office, she had a lot of work to do.
[Docks]
Later that evening on the docks, a stunning Asian woman in a red dress and stark white hair walked into Somer's office.
"Thank you for coming." He said. The woman walked up to the desk and gave a cold smile.
"Anything for a friend." China White said amicably.
"We're not friends." Somers countered. "You smuggle drugs, I let you use my port."
"For which you're paid a lot of money." She responded.
"I don't get paid enough to have knives and those weird star things shot at me." He shot back. "You need to take this guy seriously. He is a bigger threat to your operation than Nocenti ever was."
"Except now it's Nocenti's daughter who's the problem." China White stated. "Unlike your friend with the hood, we know where to find her."
"Don't be an idiot." Somers snarled at the woman. "You take out Emily Nocenti, and Laurel Lance will never let this go. She won't stop until she burns you, me, and then the entire Triad to the ground."
China White smiled coldly. "Then we kill Miss Lance."
[Queen Manor, Next Morning]
Naruto was getting dressed in his room when he paused as a news report regarding Martin Somers came out.
'Attorney for shipping magnate, Martin Somers, has confirmed his client has no intention of testifying, maintaining his innocence in the wrongful death of Victor Nocenti. Nocenti's body was found four weeks ago. We'll keep you updated as more information becomes available.' He glowered at the screen; obviously Somers hadn't quite got his message. He started to put his shirt on when a voice from his open door startled him.
Thea had come to talk to her brother, not bothering to knock as the door had been open. Before she could speak, she saw the scars the marred his back. "Wait, how did you get those?" she asked, coming into the room.
Naruto not wanting to show anymore of his scars hurriedly wore his shirt.
"Don't you knock?" he asked
"No." Thea declared, stalking into the room and forcing her brother to turn around. "Wait, Mom said that there were scars, but…" she gently pried the edges of his shirt from his hands and pulled it open to reveal even more scars on his chest. She stared in horror, a dawning realization of what he must have gone through finally coming upon her. "I'm-" she started, took a breath, and then started over. "Nathan, what happened to you out there?"
"Thea….I am not ready to talk about it, give me some time okay?" Naruto said.
Thea stared at her brother for a long moment. "Do you have a second?" she asked finally.
"Yeah."
"Good. I wanna show you something out back." She turned and walked out of the room; Naruto grabbed his jacket and followed.
Soon they were walking out onto the back yard of the manor. Thea led him to a clearing where three headstones had been erected. One read:
Robert Queen
1958-2007
A leader, a husband
The second read:
Oliver Queen
1985-2007
A loving son and brother, whose light was diminished far too soon
and The Third one read:
Nathan Queen
1986-2007
A loving son, brother, and friend whose light was diminished far too soon
"Sometimes, when I felt… whatever, I'd come here." She said, coming to a stop in front of the headstones. She knelt down in front of Robert's stone and brushed away some stray leaves. "About a month after the funerals, mom stopped going out. Pretty soon, she stopped talking altogether. The house got so quiet, so I'd come here." She stood and walked over to Oliver's and Nathan's stone. She pointed at it. "To talk to you both." She was trying her best not to cry, but it was hard. "I mean, stupid stuff. Like what I was doing that day, what boy I had a crush on. And then sometimes, I'd ask no beg you both, to find your way home to me." She looked back to her brother. "Now, here you are. And the truth is, I feel as if I am talking to a stranger. Sure there were a few times that I see the glimpse of old orange loving prankster but they are far too less. Look, I know it was hell where you were. But it was hell here too. You gotta let me in, Nate." She implored. "You gotta let someone in." she turned and walked away, leaving Naruto standing there at the markers. He stared down at his own, taking in everything she had said.
"Have I changed that much Kurama?"
"….."
"I guess so."
[Laurel's apartment, 30 minutes later]
Laurel was looking over her notes for the Nocenti case on her laptop as she finished off a TV dinner when a knock at her door startled her. She paused, thinking she had miss heard, and then heard the knocking again. Noticing that it was too late at night to have visitors, she approached the door cautiously. Sending a little sound wave she waited for the feed back(1). Getting the feedbackshe opened the door a moment later to see Naruto standing there, brown paper bag in hand.
"Hey. Nice sound trick you have. I would guess that it basically acts like a sonar allowing you to distinguish people." He said cheerfully before getting serious "Are you okay? There are two cop cars outside." he asked
"No thanks to you," Laurel replied in hushed tone so that only both of them can listen. "Come in." She said as she gestured him to get inside.
"So what brought you here?"she asked as they both sat down on the couch.
"Have I changed that much?" Naruto asked
"Yup," Laurel replied bluntly causing Naruto to sigh. Five years may have changed many things but one thing which remained same was Laurel blunt nature.
"What's in the bag?" she asked
"Peace offering" He replied pulling out a tub of ice cream and various other snacks from the bag.
[30 minutes later]
Naruto sat on the couch alongside Laurel, both eating ice-cream as Naruto told her the events which transpired with Thea and how everyone wanted him to be the same person he was five years ago.
"I mean I get that I have changed but shouldn't my family members realize that as well?" Naruto asked taking a spoon of the ice cream.
"Well they don't know what you had went through in these past five years and don't forget that well you were quite closed to your family and they want that guy back." Laurel replied
"Yeah well that's not it, mom wants me to be the head of company, fine sounds awesome but then why does she want to control how I run the company?"
"Did she did something to indicate that?"
"No,but I can read in between the lines." Naruto replied not wanting to tell Laurel how he spied on her mother and Walter's conversation back at QC. A part of him felt that her mother did say what she said just to alleviate Walter's fear but the paranoid part of him felt that there was something more going on.
"Then tell her something about those years back at island. It will give you some time you know.." Laurel proposed
"I can't trust her with that. They will see me differently." Naruto replied
"You trust me enough. Why?" Laurel asked
"Because…. there is someone is at the roof and is directing a lot of negative intentions against you" Naruto said calmly
"What….the hell, WHY are you so calm about it."Laurel demanded
"My clone is handling them, relax" Naruto said and true to his word soon the sounds of firing started coming from the roof. The commotion lasted for about five minutes after which silence followed. The policemen incharge of watching Laurel and Diggle came running.
"The altercation happened at rooftop gentlemen," Naruto said looking at the two policemen "not here. If I were you I would hurry so at two find out what happened."
The policemen left as Diggle stayed behind.
"Mr. Queen, I think we should move to a safe location. If those people outside have backup they would be coming here any moment."
"Oh they don't." Naruto said offhandedly causing Diggle to raise his brow.
"And how do you know that?" He asked
"Oh I just know. Take it as a gut feeling." Naruto replied as the officers came down.
"It was the Kitsune. He caught up two guys of triad and left them for us but it isn't of any use because as soon as they saw us they chew the cyanide pill." one of them informed
Naruto meanwhile was sitting quite. His mind processing on the memories transferred by the clone, China White was in his city and more especially she was hired to take care of Laurel. It seems that Martin Somers has achieved in doing which he would regret for the rest of his life time.
He had made Naruto pissed.
It took around fifteen minutes for the policemen to remove the two dead bodies from the roof. Dinah as expected was very much annoyed by their tardiness. It was only due to Naruto's presence that she wasn't blowing up a gasket and that also barely. Thankfully before mount Laurel could erupt, Quentin ran in. He looked around for a moment, out of breath, before he spotted his daughter. He ran to her and pulled her into a hug.
"Daddy!" Laurel exclaimed trying to get him off.
"Oh, thank God." Quentin said, relieved. "Thank God. Are you all right?"
"I'm okay." She assured him, then asked the question she really shouldn't have to. "There were only two cops out of the four you put on me, the other two are they…" she trailed off.
"Yes…" he said, hesitantly causing Laurel to think of many various ways to make Somers life a hell. She was brought out of her thought when Naruto basically told her to spend a night with Quentin.
"You can't be serious." She deadpanned but the look Naruto was giving her told her otherwise.
Before she could say anything Quentin piped in "What the hell are you doing here by the way?"
"Oh! You know just the usual." Naruto said sarcastically, getting fed up with Quentin's behavior. Not bothering to give the guy the attention he desereved he said to Laurel to take care and then departed with Dig by his side.
[Clocktower]
It has been an hour since Naruto had left Laurel. After reaching back home Naruto was able to successfully create a clone to take his place as he snuck out of the manor and made his way to the Clocktower.
Getting in his gear he mentally prepared himself for the war he was going to fight out there. Initially Naruto had wanted to give Somers a chance to do the right thing but after the stunt he had pulled, Naruto was tempted to go full berserk on that guy.
Somers was going to face justice but npt the one he was familiar with.
It would be Shinobi justice.
[Docks]
Back at the docks Martin Somers was hurriedly stuffing bundles of cash into a case.
"Triad bitch screwed up the hit on Lance." He growled to his bodyguard. "Now, the Triad is gonna erase every ounce of evidence of their smuggling operation, including me. Except that's not gonna happen." He closed up the case and looked back to his man. "Tell Wallace to get the boat ready." He ordered. "I'm leaving tonight."
"Wallace? Wallace, you copy?" the man asked into his radio. There was no response. "Wallace?"
"Wallace isn't here." A familiar voice sounded on the radio, and Somer's face filed with dread as he recognized that the voice belonged to Kitsune. "But I am."
"We need to move, now." He ordered. "Move!"
"Sir, we've got six men out there." The man argued, but Somers pulled him along.
"It's not enough. Move it!" he ordered as they ran out of the building.
[Laurel's Apartment]
Back at Laurel's apartment, Laurel was having her own personal war with her father. The topic initially was Naruto as Quentin didn't want her around Laurel and tried to prevent her from seeing him. The key word is 'tried' as Laurel easily countered all of his reasons. Quentin soon realising that his daughter won't budge on the subject started talking about the case and how it was Martin Somers who had hired the guy to kill Laurel.
"You're gonna go back into that courtroom tomorrow and you're gonna recuse yourself from this case, all right?" he demanded. "Or drop it. Either way, you're done."
"If you think I'm gonna abandon Emily Nocenti, then you don't know me all that well." Laurel shot back.
"You don't know me well, young lady." Quentin countered. "I will lock you in a cell if that's what it takes."
Laurel rose from the couch and shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I guess that's what it's gonna take then." She said walking away.
"Damn it, Laurel!" Quentin shouted, his voice cracking from fear. "I thought after what happened with Sara, you'd stop being just so reckless!"
"It's not about being reckless!" she shouted back heatedly. "It's just the opposite. I'm trying to make this city safer, just like you."
"Sweetie." He tried, coming up to her. "You're my only daughter, Laurel. You're all I have left to live for."
"But what you want from me isn't living." She countered again, near tears. "Having cops around, not being able to do my job…"
"Your job is not going after people like the Triad! Or Somers…"
"My job is to use the law to fight for what is right. Just like you taught me."
"Well, that's dirty." Quentin said brokenly. "Using me against me. You can't do that." He argued.
"Well maybe I picked that up along the way, too." Laurel joked softly. Lance let out a soft laugh. Suddenly his phone went off.
"Lance." He said answering it. He listened for a moment. "I'll be right there." He said, hanging up. He looked at his daughter. "I gotta go." He said. "Something's going on at the docks."
[Docks]
Back at the docks it was pandemonium. Naruto staying one step ahead of his enemies had taken out all of Somers men. He hadn't killed them but had beaten them badly that they would get a long stay at the hospital.
Taking out the last guard, Naruto noticed Somers running into a building.
"SOMERS"Naruto shouted as he ran after him into that building.
In the building, Somers was running as fast as he could, trying to get away. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't fast enough. A shuriken pinned him to a crate at the far end of the room. "Oh, God, no, no, no…" he cried out as Naruto walked towards him with kunai twirling on his fingers.
"He can't help you."Naruto growled. "I want the truth about Victor Nocenti."Naruto said as he rammed his kunai on Martin's shoulders.
"I can't! The Triad will kill me." Martin cried
"The Triad's not your concern right now!" Naruto snarled. At Somers reluctance, Naruto threw a kunai right below the man's crotch.
"All right, all right, all right!" Somers cried out. "It wasn't me that killed him. It was the Triad." He sobbed.
"Acting on whose instructions? Whose?" he shouted, throwing another kunai right above the man's head.
"All right, all right! It was mine." He confessed. "It was mine, all right? Nocenti said he was gonna testify against me."he said as he paled after seeing someone seeing behind Naruto.
Naruto who had already noticed the person behind him sighed as he directed killing intent on Martin rendering him unconscious.
"I believe I asked you to leave my city...China" Naruto said as he looked at the so called Queen of the Pacific
If China heard that statement she ignored it as she took out her combat knives and took her stance. "Get away from him, Kitsune." she said in Mandarin looking straight at Naruto.
Naruto on the other hand just sighed and gave the come on signal to China in response. China immediately rushed at Naruto, knives flashing. If it had been someone else maybe China would have been able to defeat him but against Naruto she stood no chance.
"You have gain some weight," Naruto commented as he dodged her strikes. China tried to round house kick him but Naruto ducked under her kick, swept her leg and before she knew he was on top of her with his kunai on her jugular.
"You have improved," Naruto commented
"Thanks," she replied "You know the position in which we are we can do something fun." she said teasingly
"Just like two years ago, You do remember the trouble we got into don't you?" Naruto said as he removed the kunai and helped her to his feet. China not wasting any time hugged her brother in all but blood tightly which Naruto happily returned. He reluctantly pulled away as he heard police sirens.
"Leave, we'll continue later." Naruto ordered. Although China wanted to protest she knew it would be a bad choice. Even though Kitsune wasn't part of triad anymore, he was her senior in status. Not to mention the whole triad was deeply scared of him.
Well anyone would be scared of him after seeing the massacre at the 'Main Headquarters'.
Her brother Jin had thought it would be funny to hold her capture and use her as a leverage against Nathan. Needless to say that his plan failed as Nathan stormed to the base to save her leaving behind a pile pf dead bodies including her brother.
Zhishan had thanked Nathan for saving her but since he had killed Triad members he was sadly casted off from the organization. That day China had declared her loyalty to him. Sure she was still loyal to Triad but her loyalty to Nathan Queen was more.
"Fine, but take care brother." China said as she ran just as police entered the building. By the time police had got hold of unconscious Martin, Naruto had made his way to exit.
He was about to get away when Quentin appeared out of no where and pointed his gun at Naruto.
"Well, well look who I caught. Don't move, if you so much as twitch, and your dead." Quentin said "I finally got you."
"You sure about that?" Naruto asked smiling as he threw something at Quentin causing him to dodge. He turned around to fire at Naruto but the distraction had given him a chance to vanish in the night.
Looking back at the thing which was thrown, Lance found out it was some kind of recorder. Lance cautiously hit the play button
'All right, all right! It was mine!" Martin Somers voice cried out. 'It was mine, all right? Nocenti said he was gonna testify against me…'
Lance looked at the recording device in disbelief, Kitsune had somehow managed to tape Somer's confession. 'You son of a bitch.' He said as his fellow officer finally made it to the scene.
[Clocktower]
When Naruto reached back to the clocktower he noticed that someone had easily infiltrated it. Guessing who the person might be he went inside and found that his guess was right. Sitting at the main console was Barbara Gordon in her jeans and tops.
"You know your system is very much out of date." Barbara said without turning back.
"Well if you compare my system to that of yours...well," Naruto replied dryly
"Yea, that's why my systems will be here in a fortnight." Barbara replied
Naruto just looked at the redhead. She had changed a lot in the past five years. Gone the cheerful bubbly girl he had met at the convention and in her place was a hardened warrior.
"Why are you doing this Babs?" Naruto asked "I mean after the deal with Joker you would...you know."
"You know." she said not asked
"Yeah." Naruto replied
"I didn't stopped helping Batman, I became Oracle...I presume you know about that?" Barbara asked to which Naruto just nodded.
"Nate I regained my ability to walk last year and to be frank I am still picking up the pieces of my life. I am not hoping that you would understand but I need to do something I am comfortable with." Barbara replied
"Fine," Naruto said "But on my terms. I don't want an angry bat on my tail if something happens to you."
Barbara just smiled at that, maybe just maybe her life was finally getting back on track.
Yeah, well sorry for the delay but my mid sems just got over.
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Vigilante14