Here's chapter 4. Enjoy!
"You're not coming," He states again, "end of story."
Olivia opens her mouth and just as she's about to respond, Diggle steps in front of her and says, "We can worry about that when the time comes. How are we going to go about getting her back?"
Oliver stares at him for a second before replying, "You are going to take her" he points at Olivia, "home and then you both are going to forget you ever saw me."
"Are you serious?" Olivia interrupts, "She got taken because of you. You do not get to put me on the sidelines."
"No," Oliver adds walking towards her, "She got taken because of you. If you wouldn't have started this charade, Sarab and I never would have come to town. She would be safe instead of whatever danger she's in right now."
"Oliver," Diggle says while shaking his head. Oliver looks over at his friend in confusion until it hits him. He just blamed Olivia for Felicity's kidnapping.
"I didn't mean that."
Olivia shakes her head, "No, we both know that you did. Besides your right, this never would have happened if I didn't need some way to feel connected to my dead dad. If I would have just left things the way they were, then none of this would have happened." Tears start falling down her cheeks and Diggle turns towards her extending his arms for a hug. Olivia puts her hand up to stop him, "No. I…I need some air."
John nods and watches as the young girl leaves the room. Once she is out of hearing range he asks, "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"I'm sorry," is all Oliver can manage to reply.
"I'm not the one you need to apologize to Oliver."
Felicity wakes up after somehow falling asleep in her uncomfortable position. She glances around and realizes that she is completely alone. Not even a guard is in the area with her. She tries her best to loosen the knots around her wrists, but she has no luck. She tries to rock the chair back and forth and loosen the ropes that way but that only causes her to fall over sideways.
She takes a deep breath and then tries to get back upright. When that doesn't work, she sighs. She was never one to give up, but even if she could get herself untied, leaving this tunnel without anyone noticing would very difficult. She just had to hope that Laurel, Dig, or maybe even Oliver of all people would find her and return her to Olivia before Maseo could make good on his word.
Laurel stands there stunned. She was sure Nyssa was a goner when she failed to protect her from Oliver all those years ago. She had no idea that letting her return to Nanda Parbat would mean she would be forced into a marriage with the man who took her reign away from her. She picked up the letter once more, reading through it again. She knew that Nyssa only sent her the letter in case The League caused too much trouble in the city but she had to know more.
She quickly changed into her Black Canary outfit and made her way out of her apartment. She runs her usual patrol route, stopping common thieves, would be rapists and muggers and then delivers them the police station with enough evidence for her to prosecute them. Once she is happy with the work she has done, she can't help but start traveling towards a part of town she hasn't been in for the past twenty years.
She knows she shouldn't, but she feels like she needs to investigate the address Nyssa sent her. If not for her, then for Felicity and Olivia. If Oliver was still anything like he was after he first joined The League then she needed to know in order to keep them safe. There was no way she was going to let Felicity go through all the pain of losing him again.
"Don't you dare touch me," Olivia states as she walks past a few guards, "I came here on my own and I don't plan on leaving so keep your hands away from me."
The guards ignore her and lunge for her. They take hold of her and start leading her towards the room she just exited. "Let her go," she hears her father command. The guards do as he says, "Let her be. I trust that she will not run off and so will you. Let word get out that the copycat is no longer a problem and everyone should be focused on finding where Sarab and the others are hiding."
The guards quickly leave them and she can't help but ask, "Copycat really? Out of all the things you and your gang of assassins could choose, you go with copycat?"
"I'm not a big fan of nicknames," he replies as he steps closer to her, "I'm sorry for what I said earlier."
Olivia takes a deep breath before saying, "You don't have to apologize. I know you only are because Uncle Digg asked you too."
She goes to walk away from him but she stops when she hears him ask, "How is she? Your mother?"
"I don't know. Thanks to me she could be in any kind of condition. Who knows what your friend is doing to her right now."
"I mean how has she been. What is her life like?" he clarifies.
She rolls her eyes before answering, "Ask Uncle Digg. Because I'm not sure if you remember, but I told you I need some air and that usually means that I'm not in the mood to talk." She quickly turns around and runs down the stairs before he has a chance to ask anything else.
He watches her walk away from him and it is almost as if he's traveled back in time to another conversation he had a long time ago. He collects himself and then returns to a man he once called his brother. "How did it go?" John asks.
"Not good," Oliver replies, "How could you allow her to run around the city like that?"
John shakes his head before he starts, "She likes to keep secrets, just like someone else we know. Now tell me why I should believe a single word that comes out of your mouth?"
"Because the drug Ra's gave me eventually wore off," Oliver starts, "He stopped giving it to me once he knew that there was absolutely nothing for me to come back to if I ever returned to Starling. So once I became more like myself, I had no reason to escape. Which, as Nyssa informed me after he died, that was his plan the whole time."
"You actually expect me to believe that crap?" Diggle wonders.
Oliver sighs, "I guess not. There's no excuses for how I acted the last time I was in town."
"You got that right," John adds, "Now, are you actually going to sit here and do nothing until one of your guys figure out where Maseo is?"
Oliver nods, "The guys out there are the best I have. They'll find him."
"Wow. Ra's really messed with your head."
"No. I just learned to trust them. That's what happens when everything you once cared about is ripped from you." He answers. "John, will you tell me something?"
"What?"
"Is Olivia mine?"
John's eyes grow huge, out of everything for Oliver to ask him, he was not expecting that! "Yes, she is the spitting image of you!"
"Really? I only see Felicity." He pauses for a moment and then asks the question he's been dreading for a while, "How did she cope? Did she move on?"
John shakes his head, "You don't want to know that man."
Oliver nods, he expected her to hold out hope that he would return for a few years but he expected her to move on and live her life eventually. "Is she happy?"
John nods, "As far as I know, she's never been happier."
"Good, that's all I ever wanted."
When Laurel arrives at the warehouse, she has to blink a few times to make sure what she is seeing is correct. She runs to the car and her eyes go wide when she recognizes who it belongs to. She remains on high alert as she enters the building just as someone is walking out.
The figure seems a little out of it but is prepared to fight. She quickly leans back as they jab their elbow towards her. She pulls out her police baton and prepares to fight back. The figures approaches her again and this time swings their bow. Laurel jumps out of the way just in time, but is not prepared for the kick to the stomach that she receives which forces her to the ground and knocks the breath out of her. She tries her best to catch her breath and stand up again. Whoever she's fighting is good but not good enough to be in The League.
She starts swinging her baton and every time it is blocked by her opponent's bow. Just as she's about to swing it again, someone grabs it from behind her. Shocked, she turns around to find Diggle staring at her like she's crazy. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same question," he replies while looking past her. Laurel turns back to face her opponent and gets a good look at the person the city is starting to call The New Arrow. The costume was an exact look alike to the one Oliver had all those years ago and their bow looked eerily familiar. "Are you out of your mind?"
"What do you mean?" Laurel asks feeling very confused.
"So it's true," the figure finally asks, "You are the Black Canary. I assumed you were but it's different actually seeing you in person."
Laurel turns around to face The New Arrow again and is shocked to see Olivia of all people standing there, "You're good," is all she is able to say, "How did you even find out?"
"Thanks, I guess all those boxing lessons and self-defense classes you got me every for Christmas paid off." Olivia replies while completely ignoring her other question. "What's going on Uncle Dig?"
"Not much," he replies while handing Laurel her baton back, "I came out to see how you were doing?"
Laurel looks between the two of them and asks, "What are you two even doing here anyway? This is headquarters for The League, they're in Starling City."
"We know," John starts, "We came here looking for answers."
"Answers? Why?"
Olivia takes a deep breath before she adds, "Because my mom's missing and it's all my fault." Just as Laurel starts to process what she has just been told, Olivia runs to her and envelopes her in a hug. Laurel immediately hugs her back and rubs her back in order to calm her down. She looks over at John and he nods as a way to tell her it's all true.
"We're trying to find her Laurel and right now the only way to do that is to team up with Oliver."
He watches the fight unfold from the only window in the room, he is surprised by how well his daughter can hold her own. His daughter. It still feels weird for him to think, let alone say but he is starting to see the resemblance John pointed out earlier. The way she immediately gets defensive when she feels unsure of her surroundings, the way she moved her bow to her dominate hand in order to fight better, and the most surprising aspect of all, she knocked Laurel to the ground like it was a piece of cake. He assumed Laurel had trained more since he left and even Nyssa told him of her training endeavors with the aspiring vigilante when she had temporarily left The League. Laurel was giving it everything she had and still she ended up being the one knocked to the ground with no air in her lungs.
He couldn't help but smile at the simplicity of his daughter's movements and the accuracy she had when her foot slammed into Laurel's gut. Olivia's ability to fight was decent but it was nowhere good enough to go up against Sarab and the other members who had betrayed him. He knew she was running on adrenaline and nothing else. Even as she stood there and waited for Laurel to stand up again, he could see that she didn't have long until she broke. It is then that Diggle steps in and stops the two from doing something that one or both of them would come to regret.
It is a quiet night in The Glades and their voices easily drift up the third story window. He hears their conversation in full, including the part where Olivia once again blames herself for her mother's kidnapping. He takes a deep breath while silently shaming himself, he never should have let those words slip out of his mouth. Part of it was true, but he knew better than to put blame on someone who didn't realize that the situation they found themselves in would be a consequence of starting their charade. When they only started to, how did she put it? Find a way to feel connected to their dead dad.
As his daughter sobbed into Laurel's chest and her cries echoed up to where he stood, he could a feel a piece of his heart break. He had hurt a lot of people when he left to become heir to the demon but her never imagined that he would one day cause so much hurt to someone who was starting to become very important to him.
It seems like hours before someone comes to talk to her again. They immediately set her chair upright and then Maseo enters once again. "So I've started thinking as to why Al Sah-Him would sacrifice so much just to speak to you. You don't have to talk, as you have informed me many times, you don't want to. That's fine, just listen."
She glances up at him and the hatred inside her starts to boil. How he could be so smug and put her through the never ending torture of needing to know why Oliver contacted her, she still couldn't come up with a logical answer for that.
After waiting a few moments for a reply, he continues, "We came her to put a stop to the vigilante that decided to run around in a costume that looks exactly like the Arrow's and even uses the same weapon. We found who we believed to be that impostor and Al Sah-Him let them get away. Then the next thing he does is leave to go see you. While I have kept you here, we have been searching for this impostor and there hasn't been any sign of them around the city tonight. Now why is that?"
She wants to answer him, to make him shut up and leave her alone but he continues before she has that chance, "I think the impostor is somehow connected to you. Now am I right?"
She shakes her head, "No. You could not be more wrong. I have no idea who the copycat Arrow is. You want to know the real reason Oliver contacted me?" She waits for him to do something that allows her the satisfaction of catching him off guard but he does nothing so she continues, "He finally got off of whatever mind bending drug you had him on and he remembered what you are, a coward. So he decided that he wants nothing to do with you or your insane League of Assassins."
She expects a slap but instead she gets a guard joining them while saying, "We think Al Sah-Him is looking for us. Shall we return to him?"
"No," Maseo replies, "Tell whoever is spying on us about where our location is and then wait for Al Sah-Him to arrive."
Shock splashes across Felicity's face, as the gears in her mind click, "This has been your plan all along. Kidnap me and pretend to look for answers to questions that you don't really care about. You're testing his allegiance with The League."
Maseo looks directly at her and adds, "I see why he cared for you and why he was hesitant to join us. Just like how I knew that no matter how much time had passed, returning to Starling City would be hard for him. I'm just making sure he remembers that there is nothing here for him."
"I lied," Felicity says, "You're not a coward. You're just pathetic."
Maseo shakes his head as he says, "It will soon all be over, don't you worry."
He continues to watch the scene in the street and breathes a sigh of relief, something he didn't even realize he was holding in, when Olivia finally calms down. He hears footsteps behind him and quickly asks, "What is it?"
"We have a location for where Sarab and his team are hiding."
He turns towards the League member and says, "Where?"
"Across town, under another abandoned warehouse in the old Subway tunnel."
"Get everyone that you can and wait for my orders." The League member nods and then leaves to fulfill his master's commands.
Taking a deep breath, Oliver makes his way down to the street and says, "We have a location. The League is ready to leave."
Olivia steps out of Laurel's embrace, tightens her grip around her bow and says, "Where."
Oliver addresses Laurel for the first time in over twenty years with an order, "Take her home and stay with her."
"Where is Felicity?" is all she responds.
He looks at John for help and all he says is: "Where is she?"
Soon other members of The League appear behind him and the need to see Felicity safe overpowers his want to tell the others to leave. He turns towards the League members behind him and says, "Those three are coming with us, respect them like you would a fellow member. Sarab and his team are not members tonight, tonight they are traitors and they will pay for defying The League." With that, the entire group starts on their journey across town.
Commotion is heard all around them. Once again Sarab leaves her to see what is happening. She hopes with all her might that whoever has come will get her out of here and it will happen soon. All she wants at this moment is to return home to Olivia and forget that the League of Assassins even exists. She hears the sound of arrows being released and swords clanging. She almost cries out for help but decides against it, there's a good chance that they wouldn't hear her anyway.
She works on trying to loosen the knots once again, knowing that as soon as the fighting is over that she will probably not return home for a few more hours. If she can get away while the members fight each other then maybe, just maybe, she'll have a chance of never getting put in this situation ever again.
Her plan fails as the fighting moves closer towards her and she gets a front row seat to everything that is happening. She sees black hooded figures going against each other and she also sees something that shocks her. The Black Canary, John, and the copycat vigilante are all fighting as well. A black hooded figure places their hand on the copycat's shoulder and motions for them to step aside. The copycat sighs and ducks out of the way as the League member steps in and continues the fight.
In a matter of seconds the shared opponent falls to the ground with a black arrow in their shoulder and the victor moves on to fight Maseo. John pulls out his pistol and wounds a few of Maseo's men and Laurel knocks a few out as well. Soon, the only one left standing is Maseo. "Take of your hood Sarab," she hears the commanding voice of the man she once knew. Maseo takes of his hood and so does Oliver, "Why are you doing this?"
"I could ask you the same question," Maseo says and Felicity sees the copycat nock an arrow.
"Answer him," they state, clearly using a voice distorter.
Maseo looks at the copycat and then back at Oliver, "I see you found the copycat."
"No thanks to you," Oliver replies, "Now let Felicity go." If Felicity could move, this would be the moment where she would stand frozen in her spot. Her name falls off his lips so easily and freely, just like it did before he was turned into the man standing in front of her.
"She's just a citizen Al Sah-Him. Why do you care what happens to her?"
Oliver motions for The League members who are still standing to take the injured ones back to the surface as he replies, "Since when do you defy my orders? I said let her go, so let her go. She has nothing to do with why we came here."
"Then why did you seek her out?"
She watches as Oliver keeps all emotion off his face, but his eyes drift to hers and then nods his head. The copycat puts the arrow back in their quiver and then runs towards her. As soon as they arrive, they start working on the knots tied around her wrists as John and Laurel seem to stand protectively around them.
"That is none of your business. Now you can return with us to Nanda Parbat or you can continue to defy me and question my decisions." Oliver says sternly.
Maseo takes out his sword and prepares to fight just as she starts to feel the knots around her wrists disappear. The copycat moves to the ones on her ankles as Oliver and Maseo start to fight each other. "John, Laurel get them out of here," she hears Oliver say.
The two do as there told as soon as the ropes around her legs come loose. John grabs her and carries her out of the subway tunnel. They don't stop until they reach John's car. "Are you alright?" he wonders while putting her down.
She nods as all she can say is "Olivia?" and she barely is able to choke it out because of how dry her throat is.
"Olivia's fine." Laurel states as she hands Felicity a water bottle, "She can handle herself."
Felicity chugs the whole bottle and takes a second before asking, "How did you two find me."
"We didn't," Laurel states while looking towards the building they just came out of, "He did."
Felicity turns around to find Oliver walking towards them. "Where's Maseo?" John wonders.
"He's dead," is all Oliver replies while looking at her, "How are you?"
She takes a second before answering, "I'm fine. I just want to get home, there's someone waiting for me there." He nods as he looks at John and Laurel and she can't help but wonder what the three of them aren't telling her.
"Actually, she's not at home," the copycat says while walking into her line of sight. The copycat lowers her hood and says, "I'm so sorry mom." Before Felicity has time to register what was just presented to her, her daughter hugs her and all she can do is stare at Oliver with shock in her eyes.
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