"Nice outfit," Sara says conversationally.
This is the waiting part. Nyssa and Thea (who is an impressive actor) made the ransom call, and now they, with a dozen League members, Roy hidden among them, wait in an old, abandoned textile factory.
The rest of them are hidden throughout the building, including Sara, Laurel, and the ten assassins hanging in the rafters.
"Thanks," Laurel smiles. "I made some changes."
"Looks good. That's a lot of buckles, though."
"Says the girl who fought regularly in a corset."
"Jeez, everybody has so many strong feelings about the corset," Sara complains.
"You rocked it," Laurel promises.
Sara smirks.
"I think I'm starting to like your girlfriend. Me poisoning and mom kidnapping aside."
"Thanks?" Sara laughs.
"She pretty much looks at you like you are the greatest thing that's ever existed. And she kept you alive. So she's okay in my book."
"Thanks," Sara says again, more genuinely, eyes drifting down to Nyssa. She has Thea tied up, but they seem to be making casual conversation.
"You're probably never going to live in Starling again, are you?" Laurel asks, a tinge of sadness in her voice.
"No," Sara apologizes, "But we'll visit a lot. I promise."
Laurel nods. "Hey, what's with the braid-cord thingies on the shoulder? I've never seen these guys wear it before."
"Oh, well, Merlyn's got defectors with him. We didn't want any friendly fire or confusion."
"Huh. Red and gold." Laurel's gaze finds the gold scarf as Sara's waist. "You're kind of a big deal now, aren't you?"
"Psh," Sara scoffs. "I've always been a big deal. Since birth."
"We've got movement on the southeast corner. Everyone hold position and get ready."
Felicity's voice cuts through any small talk.
"And it's not raccoons this time, is it?"
"No, Sara."
"Just checking," Laurel adds.
"I'm so glad we have two snarky Canaries now," Felicity shoots back.
Sara hears Nyssa's chuckle over the line.
"Hey, Sara," Laurel asks. "How are we getting down from here?"
Sara nods to the assassin to Laurel's right as she unties her own scarf and readies for the descent.
"Hold on tight to him."
"Oh great."
"You are your own person," Nyssa says to the young Thea Queen. "Your blood does not determine your destiny unless you embrace it."
Thea's expressive eyes cross to her.
"That's kinda weird to hear from you."
Nyssa shrugs.
"I am my father's daughter by blood, yes, but he also raised me. And I chose to embrace his teachings. I am his Heir by force of my own will. I merely seek to tell you that Merlyn's role in your conception has only the weight you give it."
"Okay," Thea says. "Thanks."
"You are welcome. You are very impressive, you know."
"So are you," Thea says.
"Thank you. Al Sa-Her trained you well enough. Should you ever wish to complete that training and serve a higher purpose, you are welcome in the League. Sara and I would train you ourselves."
"Wow. Okay. I think I'm liking the idea of no purpose for a little bit."
"Of course. The invitation is open should you ever wish to use it."
"Okay."
"We've got movement on the southeast corner. Everyone hold position and get ready."
Felicity's voice rings in their ears.
"And it's not raccoons this time, is it?"
"No, Sara."
"Just checking."
"I'm so glad we have two snarky Canaries now."
Nyssa chuckles lightly. She reaches into a pouch at her belt and removes a few small bits of cotton.
"This will not help much in the ear with the audio piece, but some protection is better than none," she says, gently tucking the bits into Thea's ears. "You will thank me later."
"Uh, what?" Thea asks as Nyssa slips her own cotton in and readies her knife.
"I believe both Canaries cry now," she says with no further explanation. "I will cut your bindings as soon as possible. There is a sword a meter behind you, and I believe your boyfriend has an extra for you aswell. I will not allow any harm to come to you, but keep your wits about you all the same."
"Alright."
"Ready?"
"As I'll ever be."
There's a slim hope Merlyn will simply trade himself for Thea, but Al Sa-Her has never been very self-sacrificing. Those who believe the world revolves around them rarely lay down themselves for others. And Sara will kill him all the same. Nyssa recognized the look in her eyes as they left the Foundry; she will not be stopped until the Traitor's life is ended.
Nyssa stands tall, hand firmly on Thea's shoulder, as the door opens and Merlyn and his followers (close to full force, but not quite) enter, bows drawn.
"Stand down, Al Sa-Her," Nyssa orders, even as the assassins around her all level their own weapons on the advancing numbers. Nyssa herself has only her knife, held casually at Thea's throat. "This can end without further bloodshed."
"Except my own," Al Sa-Her says.
Nyssa shrugs. "You must have known my father would neither forgive or forget. You must have known this would end in your death eventually, or you would not have moved against us. Lower your weapon. Turn yourself over. We have your daughter."
"Why should I turn myself over to you when you'll just kill her anyway?" Merlyn asks, close enough now that she can see his shifty eyes.
"I will not," Nyssa says evenly.
"And why not? Have you suddenly learned mercy? She killed your Beloved!"
Nyssa feels the smirk come, unbidden.
"She did not."
Sara seems to know her cue when she hears it.
The Canary cries pierce the air, and a few of Merlyn's traitors drop their bows to guard their ears. Each cry has a slightly different frequency, which only adds to their potency. Even Nyssa, most used to these measures, winces. Nyssa quickly pulls her knife down to cut Thea's bindings as the air fills with scarfs and descending assassins. Bo in hand, Sara lands within a few meters of Merlyn and charges him, even as arrows fly and a battle breaks out around them.
He ducks her first blow, but just barely. The surprise is evident on his face.
"How- " he asks, grunting as her next blow hits his gut.
"You're not the only one who's hard to kill," Sara grits, dodging the return slash from his bow, and feeling the glance of the end of it on her elbow. She catches the next on her bo and sends both weapons crashing down into his shin, hard. He staggers, but recovers enough to bring a kick into her thigh, sending her back. With a few feet between them, the Magician pulls another of his tricks, exploding into a smoke bomb and escaping out of her reach.
One of his soldiers is on her then, before she can run after him, and she sweeps out the back of his legs only for him to fall with an arrow in the chest. She looks back and knows it is Nyssa before she even sees her. She heads toward her with a grin, knocking out a charging traitor on her way.
"Thanks, babe, but I had him," she says, gesturing for Nyssa to duck so she can shove the butt of her bo into the assassin behind her. Nyssa spins out of the duck and plants her sword in the man's gut.
"I am sure you did, habibti."
The rest of Merlyn's lackeys are retreating after their cowardly leader.
"Guys?" Felicity says over the line. "Some ninja looking people are making trouble at a movie theater at the edge of the Glades. Civilian threatening trouble."
"I thought his numbers seemed a little short," Nyssa says. "We are not ninjas, Felicity."
"Sorry."
"He's trying to distract us," Sara says. "We've gotta sends ours after them. The rest of us will track that rat down.
Nyssa nods.
"They do not know the terrain."
"Roy will take them," Sara says. "They should protect the civilians and capture as many traitors as possible. Thea, Laurel, it's your choice."
The women in question find them in the quieting factory. Both of Thea's swords are stained with blood, and Laurel still holds the bo firmly, if a little awkwardly.
"I'm with you," Laurel says.
"Me too," Thea nods.
"I want to go with you," Roy says, shedding his League hood.
"Sorry," Sara shakes her head. "I need you to go with the League and take care of this diversion. Please."
"Go on, Roy," Thea encourages. "The city needs Arsenal. I'll be fine."
Roy accepts this with a nod.
Nyssa orders the gathered League members to form up and follow "the small one". Sara snorts.
"What?" Roy asks. "What did she say?"
"Nothing," Sara laughs. "They'll follow you. Kick some ass. You don't have to kill anyone you don't want to."
Roy nods again.
"Sarab," Sara calls to Nyssa's right-hand man. "You're with us. Let's go."
"He's taking the long way, but I think he's headed back to the warehouse," Felicity tells them.
"Perhaps he does not know we are aware of it," Nyssa posits. They're on foot. The warehouse is close enough not to warrant the noise that an arrival via motorcycle would have brought, though Nyssa had to convince Sara of that earlier when they were making the plan.
"Or he's not worried about us following him there. Everyone stay on alert," Sara says. She hears familiar barking over the line. "Felicity, tell Ollie to stop annoying Rocket."
"I would," Felicity laughs lightly. "But then he'd have to leave altogether. Which he wants to do anyway, but I won't let him, because he let Merlyn into our secret lair in the first place and it is not safe toleave us alone here. Basically, Rocket hates him. Right now? I'm kinda Team Rocket."
"Isn't that a Pokemon thing?" Thea asks.
"I think it is!" Sara agrees. "Even better visual."
"You guys talk a lot more than Oliver does on these type of things," Felicity comments. "Three blocks up and to the left."
"Well, Merlyn knows I'm coming for him. Stealth's not exactly necessary. Plus, in case anyone forgot, I've had no one to talk to besides Rocket for six months."
"We've heard," Laurel deadpans, earning a small laugh from Nyssa. Sara makes a note to herself about how dangerous, for her, that alliance would be.
"Don't make me regret bringing you along, Dinah Laurel Lance."
Nyssa holds up a hand from her place at the front with Sarab. They all pause instantly and duck into an alley, proving that for all their chattiness, everyone of them is on high alert. An SCPD patrol car rolls by. Once it is out of sight, they head off again.
The warehouse is eerily quiet when they arrive. Sara stops them at the door.
"Merlyn is known for his tricks. Don't trust anything." She looks especially to Laurel and Thea. Sarab and Nyssa can handle themselves.
Nyssa goes first, eyes scanning every inch of the poorly lit expanse. Lightning quick, she nocks an arrow and fires it into a stack of boxes twenty yards to their left. It explodes. She fires three more, and Sarab joins her to take out another two. Half of them explode, the others trigger hidden arrows, which criss-cross the room.
"That's all I can see for now," Nyssa turns to Sara. Sarab nods his confirmation. "But that is unlikely to be the last of them."
"Mhmm," Sara says thoughtfully, reaching to slip a knife from Nyssa's belt and whipping it through what appears to be just the air, ten yards in front of them. The knife slices a line and six knives shoot across to clatter harmlessly against a tarp-covered forklift. She smiles sweetly. "You missed one."
"Has she always been this insufferable?" Nyssa asks Laurel, and Sara continues to grin, delighted.
"Always."
The next arrow is actually fired by a person, and it comes whizzing straight for Laurel. Thea cuts it out of the air before it hits her as Nyssa and Sarab return fire.
"This really shows me that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself," Merlyn calls down from the catwalks above, seven traitors spread around all of it.
Sara and the rest duck behind the forklift for cover.
"I don't always love getting my hands dirty, though. You live, you learn."
"Enjoy that living for a couple more minutes, Merlyn," Sara yells up to him. "That's all you got. I swore to the Demon that I would bring him your corpse."
"I'm not sure I should my shaking in my boots just 'cause Ra's sent his daughter's pet canary after me. But, little yellow bird, catch me if you can."
Sara growls and slides out from behind the forklift, Nyssa instinctively providing cover fire. Merlyn is running again, and Sara is getting pretty damn sick of it. She assumes the rest will follow her when they can, but she's got her eyes on the prize. She reaches the stairs and climbs them two at a time, but Merlyn's already gone and his goons are on her.
They're good, of course. They're League-trained. But she's reached another level of focus, not reached since Slade and mirakuru thugs, and these guys are just road blocks. With two hands on the railing, she swings around and lands her feet in the first attacker's chest, throwing him over.
"Sara, down," Nyssa calls from behind her, and Sara throws herself into a slide down the grates of the catwalk as Nyssa puts two arrows in the chest of the second attacker. Behind her, Thea, Laurel, and Sarab duel with three others. The bo is a little unwieldy in the small space, so she breaks it down into the two batons.
She flips the third attacker over her shoulder. It won't disable the woman, but it lets her vault over her and leave her for Nyssa to deal with. The fourth and final of Merlyn's goons gives her a longer battle, of the circling variety, but Sara relishes the challenge.
Her vantage point allows her to watch the others defeat their marks and Nyssa go rounds with her, while Sara staves off sword blows with her batons. Nyssa's mark is impressive. Their sword battle takes them down an offshoot of the catwalk, generally in the direction Merlyn disappeared, before Nyssa finally gets her sword in the woman's gut. Sara ducks one of her attacker's slashes and hits him hard in the knee. He stumbles, and Sara looks up in time to watch Nyssa pull her sword out of the traitor and back up. Into a trip wire.
"Nyssa!" Sara cries as the booby-trap puts two arrows in Nyssa's knee and shoulder and she crumples. Sara swings one of her batons into the final assailant's head and he falls. Then she sprints to her, batons clattering to the ground as she drops beside her, taking her in her arms.
"I will live, habibti," Nyssa assures, though she is bleeding more than Sara would like.
"Well you can't walk these off."
"No," Nyssa chuckles weakly. "Take your sister and kill the Magician."
Thea, Laurel, and Sarab have caught up with them now, and Sara looks up to Thea.
"Get her to Felicity." She turns to Sarab. "Go with them."
"We are to hunt-"
"Sarab! That's an order!"
It comes out of her so quickly and forcefully that she surprises even herself.
Sarab nods, declining his head deferentially.
"As you wish, Ta-er al-Sahfer."
"Good. Thea can't haul Nyssa and defend them, too. Nyssa's too heavy."
"You will pay for that later," Nyssa groans.
"I'm so scared," Sara grins, kissing Nyssa briefly. "Let Sarab carry you. It'll be fastest."
She nods to Sarab, who leans down to take Nyssa from her arms.
"She's very bossy," Nyssa notes to Sarab as he picks her up, and that's when Sara knows the blood loss is getting to her a little. As much as they like Sarab, that isn't usually the way she speaks to subordinates.
Sara stands and turns to Thea. "Watch your back and go fast."
Thea nods, swords held with lethal ease and eyes scanning the surrounding area.
"Just don't let him get away."
"I promise."
They take off towards the Foundry, and she feels Laurel's gaze on her while she watches her heart go and tells herself that Nyssa has had much worse.
"What?" she finally turns back to Laurel.
"Nothing, General Canary," Laurel grins.
"Shut up," Sara rolls her eyes. "Let's go. Felicity? Tell me there wasn't a helicopter on the roof."
"No, no helicopter. Is Nyssa okay?"
"She will be. Get her stitched up for me, will you?"
"You've got it. From what my cameras tell me, Merlyn is still in the building somewhere."
"We'll find him."
Sara reaches into the back of her tunic and pulls out the handgun that had been her main protection in the days when she'd been too injured to protect herself. She hands it to Laurel, grip first.
"Just in case," she says. "If something happens to me, put a bullet between his eyes, okay?"
"I'm not going to need-"
"Just in case, Laurel," Sara says, eyes earnest. "Please."
"Fine." Laurel takes the gun easily, checks the safety, then tucks it in the small of her back.
"Thank you."
"Okay, enough mushy stuff," Laurel huffs. "Let's go kick his ass."
tbc