Disclaimer: CW/DC own these characters. I'm only borrowing them for a while. I own the original ideas found in this. Some dialogue is taken from the episode 1 x 23 "Sacrifice" written by Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg.
AN: Thank you for returning. It took longer for me to wrangle this chapter under control, but I think I got a good ending planned for this story. It's fun to change canon sometimes even if there's nothing wrong with it. Just to change things up. Thank you for all the reviews and follows, especially the guest reviews.
Happy New Year! I hope you enjoy this new chapter!
Previously:
Lance agreed to meet her in a half-hour at the coffeehouse near the Bunker. Felicity disconnected the call and breathed a sigh of relief. After sitting for a moment she collected the papers she needed as well as Mr. Queen's journal and hurried out the door. There was no time to waste.
As she walked into the coffeehouse, Felicity was happy to see a fair number of customers. Not too many to make it difficult for her to have a decent discussion with Detective Lance, nor too few to not provide enough cover for their conversation. She stood in the doorway, her eyes roaming over the room until she saw Detective Lance, his back towards the wall, watching her. He nodded his head and rose as she made her way over to him.
"Thank you for joining me, Detective." They both sat down.
"If it were your friend asking, I wouldn't have agreed to meet at all. But since it's you, I know you wouldn't steer me wrong."
Felicity bit her tongue before she could defend the Hood. Now was not the time to try convincing the police detective to change his opinion about the vigilante.
"So your friend is…unavailable."
"Yes."
"Because of the Dark Archer."
"Yes."
"Do me a favor, Ms. Smoak. Can you elaborate beyond one-word answers? I don't have the luxury to be here all day."
Felicity cleared her throat. She might as well just spit it all out. Trying to go slow, but her talking sped up the more she talked. "The Dark Arrow is planning on leveling the Glades. We don't know what the time frame is, but we know how he's going to do it. The reason for the massacre at Unidac Industries was because they'd finished building…."
"A time machine?"
She prevented an eye roll. "Detective, I know this sounds fanciful. It'll only get worse. However, all of it is true."
Lance rolled his eyes but nodded for her to continue.
"They were actually working on a machine which can trigger a manmade earthquake."
Lance cocked an eyebrow at her. "Why would anyone want to do that?"
"For revenge against a part of the city which he feels took his wife away. The earthquake would destroy the Glades, which he could then rebuild into something better. At least in his eyes."
Lance nodded his head. Felicity didn't know whether to indicate he was understanding her or if it was only for her to continue. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat. "This person…the man who's the Dark Archer…is Malcolm Merlyn."
"Merlyn? As in the second richest man in town? A respected businessman?"
"Who has been hiding a dark side for years behind the cover of respectability. You must know that, Detective. Or else suspect it, anyway."
"No, I'd rather suspect the Queens for any and all criminal activity instead."
Felicity closed her eyes, head down for a moment, gathering her thoughts. She pulled back her anger as she looked Lance in the eye. "Please, Detective."
Lance looked apologetic. "So do you guys have any proof?"
"Probably nothing which is admissible in court."
"What do you have?"
"Detective, you must trust and believe me. We don't have a lot of time. Actually we don't know the time frame unfortunately for an earthquake to occur."
"Okay." He rubbed at his chin in thought. "What do you want to do then?"
"First I thought perhaps we can narrow down where Merlyn will put the machine. Then…then we can stop it."
"Why can't we just…I don't know, arrest him?"
"Like I said, we don't have any concrete proof."
"ls there anyone we can possibly shake for information?"
Felicity chewed on her lower lip. "Well, there's one person who might be persuaded to tell us what she knows."
"She? Who?"
"Mrs. Queen."
The detective had taken a sip of coffee, which he spit back into the cup. "What? I was just kidding before about the Queens."
"Merlyn and many of his business associates, including Mr. Queen, began planning this five years ago. When Merlyn brought up wanting to actually destroy the Glades, Mr. Queen wanted out. And…"
"Five years ago, huh? Mr. Queen?" The detective's face paled. Felicity knew he was trying to control his emotions. "So supposedly the yacht explosion wasn't an accident?" Felicity watched as his face then turned red. "Are you telling me...my daughter was murdered?"
"I'm sorry, Detective..." Felicity didn't know what to say, partially because she didn't really know the Detective. But also because she felt so bad for him for him to realize something this life changing in such a manner.
They fell into silence, which he broke by asking, "Why don't you call me Lance? I'll call you Felicity, since we're working together on this. I think we're good enough to be on a first-name basis."
Felicity nodded her head furiously. She knew he was trying to change the subject, and she'll let him. They didn't have the time for sympathy right now. They had an earthquake to evade and Oliver, Thea and Diggle to find. "Sounds good, Det – I mean Lance." She cleared her throat. Taking out the small bound notebook, she showed him the design on the inside cover. "Do you know what this is?"
Lance looked at the design, then he looked through the papers Felicity had brought. He held up the subway map. "I think it looks remarkably like this." Picking up a map showing the fault lines in Starling City, Lance covered the subway map with the thinner fault line map. "Look at this, Felicity."
Felicity quickly saw what Lance was referring to. The design in the book, seemingly random, was apparently not. It was a combination of the subway map with the fault lines drawn over it.
"Is there someone we could ask, I don't know, an earthquake specialist in the area? Some professor?" Lance asked. "For advice, or to confirm what we're thinking?"
"I don't know of any, and I don't think we have enough time, Lance. I think we should visit Mrs. Queen quick and see what she can tell us. If she knows more than we do. If not, I think we need to explore this area and see if we can find the machine. And then try to dismantle it."
Lance ran his fingers through his hair. "Are we sure we have no one else to tell this to, who could help us?"
Felicity swallowed her frustration and was able to answer in a normal voice. "You tell me, Detective. Would any of your colleagues believe you with this story?"
Lance shrugged grudgingly. "Guess you're right. I'm still not sure I should believe you, but unlike your green friend, I'd believe anything you'd tell me."
"You know, Lance, he's really not that bad."
"I guess not. He has risked his life for this city more times than I would think if he were simply a nutjob."
Felicity rolled her eyes but remained silent. She'd consider it a win. They had more pressing matters to handle. Looking at the maps and the illustration, Felicity said, "It appears the corner of Wilson and Frank would be the place to put the machine for the greatest effect."
"Why does that address seem familiar to me?" Lance asked.
Felicity quickly plugged it into her phone. She looked up at Lance, her eyes wide with shock. She told him quietly, "That's where Mrs. Merlyn's clinic was located before Mr. Merlyn closed it." She cleared her throat. "And where his wife was killed."
"So that's why Mr. Philanthropist closed it. He didn't want to see it blown up." Lance threw a tip down on the table, rose and nodded towards the door. "Let's go. We'll check with Mrs. Queen and get going." As they walked towards the door, he asked, "I suppose we can't simply call her on the phone?"
Felicity looked above her glasses at him. "You're the expert for getting information from reluctant witnesses. Do you think Mrs. Queen will tell us the truth if we ask over the phone?"
Lance nodded and led the way to his car.
~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~
Despite Felicity's insistence, Lance refused to turn the sirens on. He drove to the Queen mansion as quickly as traffic allowed him. Felicity forced herself to sit silently and do some breathing exercises to control her anxiety. She was getting more and more nervous about them trying to disconnect the machine themselves, but she didn't know what else to do. Without knowing where the Queens and Dig were, she and Lance couldn't rescue them. This was their only option.
Lance knew there would be a place to park by the front door, in front of the mansion due to the circular driveway. Once parked, Felicity jumped out of the car. Lance had to rush to get to the door before she did.
Looking at her, Lance asked, "Are you sure you want to do this?"
Felicity pressed her lips firmly together and nodded silently. Lance rang the doorbell and was surprised when Mrs. Queen herself answered the door.
After he explained they were there to talk to her about an important issue, she stepped back and allowed them to enter the grand entryway.
"Mrs. Queen, thank you for seeing us," Felicity said. She was happy her voice didn't quiver.
"Felicity Smoak, correct? And Detective? What are you doing here?"
Lance nodded towards Felicity, who shuffled in place nervously. "May we sit?"
"Excuse me, yes." Moira led them into one of their sitting rooms. She motioned towards two red plush armchairs while she sat across from them on the matching red couch. "What can I help you with? I assume you're not here to arrest one of my children, Detective? My…my children aren't here. They left today on a trip to Europe. They'll be gone…for several weeks."
"Kind of sudden, isn't it, Mrs. Queen?" Lance looked at Felicity, one eyebrow raised in a question. Felicity squirmed in her seat while waiting for Mrs. Queen to answer.
Felicity cleared her throat. Looking around, she got up and shut the door. Rushing to sit back down, she explained. "I don't think you want your servants hearing this, Mrs. Queen." When the woman nodded slowly, Felicity continued. "I know your son and daughter have actually been kidnapped by Malcolm Merlyn. And that he's planning on using a seismic machine to cause an earthquake in the Glades." As Moira's complexion turned an unhealthy gray, Felicity added, "But what we don't know is when is he actually doing this. Has he told you?"
"How do you – ?" Her eyes widened as she was about to speak. "Oh...you work with my son…."
Felicity hurried to interrupt her. "Yes, I do. Occasionally. In the evenings. At his club." Felicity hoped Moira understood that Lance didn't know about Oliver being the Hood and unwittingly give something away. She also hoped Lance wasn't suspicious of her sudden nervousness in answering Mrs. Queen.
Moira gave out a loud sigh. "I'm not sure if Malcolm will tell me. I mean, he hasn't yet." Straightening her posture, she asked, "Why, do you know how we can stop him?
"Well, we don't know where the machines are, and we don't have enough evidence to arrest him. But what we do have is a good idea where he's going to place the machines. At least one machine."
Looking at the petite young woman in front of her, Moira asked, "You mean you're going to help the detective disarm the machines?" Her eyebrows rose. "How do you know there are more than one machine? Malcolm didn't tell me that."
"Yes, luckily I found the schematics on his – I mean, online. There were two listed there. And from what it looks like, if Merlyn wishes to take down the entire Glades, he'd have to have two machines."
Felicity found herself looking into Mrs. Queen's eyes and was taken aback by the look of respect she saw in the older woman's eyes. "You are certainly an impressive young woman, Ms. Smoak."
Felicity felt her face turn red as she began to stammer. She was interrupted however by Mrs. Queen's cell phone. Instead of walking away for privacy. Mrs. Queen stayed sitting. Her next words revealed why.
"Oh hello, Malcolm." Felicity noticed Mrs. Queen's face lose what color it had regained. "I understand." She disconnected the call and looked at her two guests. "He said it will be tonight." She cleared her throat. "I'd recommend calling anyone you care about to stay away from the Glades."
"I guess we're on, Felicity. I hope you know what we're doing," Lance said, looking at Felicity.
AN: Well, whatcha think? Does it hold together? Hopefully we'll see in the next chapter what the Queens and Diggle are doing wherever Malcolm has them at. I hope you let me know what you thought, what you're thinking, etc. Always appreciated.
