You remember how I left off with a cliffhanger for Artemis with Slade? Yeah haha. Yeah...
Have fun with this chapter. Oh, and after this week's episode, I think that this story will branch off (depending on how things play out with Slade). I've got plans that include Slade, and his business with Oliver in the show could throw it off in this fanfic, so it's looking like this continuity will stop at 2x13, but even that might be a bit hazy because I have more plans for stuff that happened in that episode... yeah, I'm not going to explain more.
So yeah, have fun reading!
As Oliver stepped out of his car, he was swarmed by reporters trying to get the latest scoop. Throwing on a smile and putting on the demeanor he normally used around the public, it was easy to evade the pervasive questions with a simple answer.
Quickly, he worked his way into the actual benefit gala. Seeing familiar faces was nice, especially when he made eye contact with his sister. Smiling, she walked over to him, her boyfriend Roy on her tail.
"Hey Ollie!" she said, giving him a hug. Roy nodded hello. Oliver studied Roy, trying to see if the past events had any effect on him. Although the Arrow had shot Roy in the leg and later saved his life after being injected by Mirakuru, Oliver still looked after the wellbeing of Roy. He had come from a hard life, and if Thea was this enamored with Roy, then Oliver had to look after the boy for her sake at least.
Though of course, that had changed after the Mirakuru. Somehow, the boy had survived the injection, unlike the majority who died. Remembering what had happened on the island with Slade, he had to make sure Roy stayed sane.
"Hello Thea," Oliver said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Roy," he greeted too. They all turned to study the people gathered for the event. For the Glades. For Tommy.
"This is really great," Thea said, turning to her brother. "What you're doing? This is great."
"Thanks Speedy," he said. It was good to have that kind of affirmation. "How's Mom doing?"
"She, uh, she wanted to stay home. Didn't want to rain on your parade," Thea replied. Oliver nodded, understanding. It was amazing the façade he put on even in front of his own sister. It wasn't that he didn't care about her, but if she knew the true him… well, that wouldn't be a good thing.
"Oh! Roy I love this song. Come on," she said, grabbing Roy's hand and dragging him onto the dance floor. Bye she mouthed to Oliver, who chuckled at her antics.
"Mr. Queen," greeted the familiar voice almost the instant his sister had disappeared. He turned to see Diggle standing there, fulfilling the role of the 'driver' well. "Perimeter is secure so far. Looks like this might be a quiet night."
"Thanks for jinxing it," Oliver said. Diggle chuckled.
"Just doing my job, sir." Oliver rolled his eyes and turned away from Diggle. It was almost time for him to kick off the event and to give a speech.
"Oliver," Diggle said, drawing his attention again. Oliver turned back to him, staring at him to ask what he wanted. Inclining his head to the people gathered, Diggle said, "Tommy would've been proud. Of this and of you." Looking down, Oliver nodded a thanks. It was amazing the things these two could communicate without words.
Again, he plastered a smile to his face as he left his friend and went to the front, ready to begin the event.
It felt good to be back in her old uniform. After a few months of not wearing it, the familiar fabric still fit perfectly and gave her a small sense of nostalgia. Small. She didn't miss her days in the Triad, and probably never would. But the uniform brought back a few of the good memories; Training with Jade before she left, taking on Cameron and proving that being a girl didn't make her weak. Those were some of the moments she missed.
Snapping out of it, Artemis looked at her tools. A gun was tucked into the back of her waistband (as per usual), but a sniper rifle was planted firmly on the ground of the roof she had taken up and a quiver was strapped to her back with her trusty bow on the ground next to the rifle.
Her goal was still to take on the Chinese Triad, though now plans were amped up a bit. Slade visiting her apartment was unsettling to say the least. She had been ready for anything to happen… or well, almost anything. She never expected what actually did happen. Who would've thought that Slade would want to–
There. Artemis a man who belonged to the Chinese Triad going in through the back entrance, dressed as a waiter. They couldn't come up with a more original disguise? She though, though she knew that their methods were some of the best. The wait staff was probably loaded with members of the Triad, if not almost full of them.
Now that she knew for sure the gang was making their move tonight, she felt surer of herself. She doubted her father would be there. The disgrace he would have suffered after losing both the Arrow and his daughter would put him down on their list for at least a year. And, she hoped, he was smart enough to lay low while he recovered his reputation. Avoiding him for months wasn't as easy as it looked, but she had done it well enough.
Lying flat on her stomach to get a better shot, Artemis readied her sniper rifle. She wouldn't be the one to shoot first, but she also wouldn't be the one to miss out on anything.
"I would like to thank you all for coming to this benefit gala," Oliver spoke to the crowd gathered in front of him. "As I'm sure you know, this was thrown in order to benefit the Glades, but it is also in the honor of a dear friend to me: Tommy Merlyn. Tommy was one of the many lost the night that the earthquake hit at the hands of his father, Malcolm Merlyn." Oliver noticed some uncomfortable shifting in the audience as he brought up the man responsible for the deaths of hundreds. "But we aren't here to talk about the mistakes of Malcolm Merlyn, or just the death of Tommy. Hundreds of people died in the earthquake, but hundreds more lost their homes, their friends their family, their things, and most importantly, the feeling of being safe and secure. If one man can take away all of that, how can they be safe?"
Many nodded at his question. Thea gave him an encouraging smile, telling him to go on. Taking a breath, he
continued.
"There's no exact way for anyone who lost anything in the earthquake to ever feel safe again. And can we blame them? The so-called 'upper class' has been tearing down the 'lower class' for too long. I, for one, intend on changing that." At the back of the audience, he saw Diggle smirk at him. Unable to roll his eyes at his friend, he went on. "This event was organized as a fundraiser, a benefit. We need to help those in need. We need to-"
"He's got a gun!" a voice shouted. Not a second later, a gunshot went off and everyone except the man with the gun ducked to the ground. Before he could even aim at someone, another gunshot went off and the man fell to the ground, a bullet hole in his head.
Then, chaos erupted.
Yayyyyyy! Update! Kind of cliff-hanger resolve but not really! Yay super happy fun time! Alright, stay in tune for next chapter because some serious shit is going to go down and it's fun~
