Chapter 10

Three days.

That was all it had been. Three days since Cadmus stole the National Alien Registry. Three days since the betrayal of Jeremiah Danvers. Three days in which near twenty aliens had been kidnapped. Three days since Oliver and Kara had let themselves connect to each other in their grief.

Three days and Oliver kept feeling his frustration grow.

He knew blaming himself for the theft of the registry was wrong. He had done everything in his power, but Jeremiah had been a tougher fight than he had expected. He had destroyed the D.E.O. computer in an attempt to prevent the theft of the files, but he wasn't quick enough. He had promised Kara that he would return her father to her, he had accomplished that mission, but he only brought more pain to her. That thought had rattled around in his mind non-stop for three days. It was irrational, Oliver could practically hear the scolding Digg would give him if he admitted to it, but it still played on him. Knowing that it was irrational frustrated him even more.

Plus, his bow had been destroyed in his fight with Jeremiah. That pissed him off too.

With all the abductions and the D.E.O. not making any progress tracking down Cadmus or any of their people, Oliver had volunteered to hit the streets to get information. With J'onn's grumbled assent, Oliver headed into the storage room he had claimed as his own to gear up for a night of interrogating low lives. He had a small arsenal in the bag he had brought with him, including a spare bow. It wasn't ideal, it wasn't alike to his old bow, which meant he had to adjust to the whole new weapon. His bow was an extension of himself, not just a weapon but an extra limb. Learning a new bow was always…a particular experience.

"Oliver." The archer stopped his actions and turned on the spot to see Kara bounding up to him, clad in her Supergirl suit and a grin on her face. "Before you head out, I need to show you something."

"Alright," Oliver smiled, noting the large case in her hand. "Let's see what you've got."

With a beaming smile on her lips, Kara stepped forward and placed the case on the table. Oliver watched silently as Kara popped the clasps on the body of the case and then stepped back, gesturing for Oliver to open it. Not questioning Kara's peculiar secrecy over the contents of the case, Oliver moved to the table and lifted the case open. Inside, was a fresh bow almost identical to his broken one. With a bewildered smile on his lips, Oliver reached out, taking the bow in his left hand and getting a feel for it.

"I kinda felt guilty about Jeremiah wrecking your bow, so I had Winn work this up for you," Kara beamed, looking on with glee as Oliver experimented with the new bow. "It's an Nth Metal/carbon fibre hybrid," At Oliver's slightly bemused looked at the mention of the metal Kara elaborated. "Nth metal comes from a planet called Thanagar, it's a few hundred times stronger than steel. The bow isn't pure Nth metal, so it's not indestructible, but it'll hold up a lot better than your old one."

Oliver stopped in his inspection of the bow and turned his attention to Kara, stunned by what she had done. Sure, Winn had put the bow together and Oliver would thank him profusely for it, but Kara had decided that she wanted to gift him something. She blamed herself for Jeremiah destroying his old bow and decided to have a new one made for him.

"How does it feel?"

Oliver held up the bow a little, testing the drawstring lightly before turning back to Kara, his grin as wide as her own.

"It's perfect."

Somehow, Kara lit up even more, grinning like a Cheshire cat. To Oliver, it seemed like her smile made the whole room glow a little brighter. Kara was infectious. All Oliver could hear as he looked at the beaming Kryptonian was Diggle's voice, encouraging him to take a leap, put his faith in Kara.

Damn you, Diggle.

"Really?" Kara took a step closer to him. "You're not just being nice?"

Oliver couldn't help but chuckle a little. "Me? Nice? I thought you knew me better than that, Kara."

Teasingly punching Oliver on the arm, Kara matched the sly grin that had slipped over his lips. "I know you well enough to know that you're not as broody as you'd like everyone to believe."

"Yeah well, even so…" Oliver held up the bow for a moment pridefully before letting it drop back to his side. "It really is perfect." Enjoying Kara's smile for one more moment Oliver continued. "Why don't we hit the streets and I'll give it a real test run?"

XXX

"That's the twentieth abduction since Cadmus got the alien registry." Kara huffed as she looked at the screens at D.E.O. mission control.

"Plus, they seem to be escalating, these abductions are getting more aggressive." Oliver noted as Kara paced back to stand beside him.

They still had nothing. Twenty abductions marked almost 40 aliens gone missing, and Cadmus seemed to show no discrimination. There was no preference in their targets; families, lone wolves, it didn't matter. Cadmus was just working their way down the list as quickly as they could. Oliver's frustrations were only growing.

"Are we any closer to finding out where Cadmus is taking them?" J'onn questioned, his attention turned to Winn.

"Or what they want." Mon-El addressed that question to no one in particular. "Because that is the trillion dollar question."

"It's million dollar question, buddy." Winn corrected the Daxamite as Oliver rolled his eyes.

"Really? That low?" The Daxamite responded and Oliver had to fight the urge to roll his eyes again.

"Yes, and um, 'no' on all accounts." Winn continued. "I've monitored traffic cams, sat feeds, cell phone chatter, uh…maybe Jeremiah taught them how to avoid our radar?"

Oliver felt Kara tense beside him at that. Even if she had come to an... understanding of Jeremiah's betrayal every time it was brought up it was like having the wound opened again. She hadn't shown it, that much Oliver could give her credit for. Since that night in her apartment, Kara had seemingly refused to give in to the temptation to let her emotion consumer her. It had given her a clarity, a focus, a drive that Oliver hadn't seen her show before. Betrayal was a powerful motivator; Oliver knew that better than most.

"From now on, Jeremiah Danvers is an enemy combatant." J'onn announced to the room.

"What does that mean?" Mon-El spoke again, and Oliver huffed a little at the Daxamite's need to have everything explained to him.

"It means, if found, he's to be arrested on sight." J'onn answered, his eyes flicking across to Alex. "That's not a problem is it?"

Oliver couldn't help but empathise with the torment he saw behind Alex's eyes in that moment. He had yet to address the issue of Jeremiah's betrayal with her, unsure of his standing with the agent following her argument with Kara a few days prior. When he had aided in Jeremiah's rescue, the two had shared an...understanding, but nothing had come of it. They still hadn't spoken so much as a few words to each other without Kara heavily nudging them. Regrettably, Oliver knew he needed to talk to her; if anyone on Earth-38 understood what Alex was suffering through, it was him. He owed it to Alex, Oliver supposed, to help her see through the crucible she had found herself in. It wasn't just Oliver that could sense the tension emanating from Alex though, both J'onn and Kara were giving her looks of concern.

"Of course not." The words fell heavily from Alex.

"Good." J'onn replied.

"We have to let all these aliens know." Kara spoke up, shifting the focus from Jeremiah. "They need to be able to protect themselves."

"I volunteer to tell everyone at the alien dive bar." Mon-El practically jumped to his feet and Oliver felt his hand clench a little tighter around his new bow in frustration.

A threat levelled to every single alien in National City and beyond, and Mon-El's first thought was to go to the nearest bar. Oliver couldn't fight the tug of irritation he felt at the Daxamite's words. Somehow the goodwill Mon-El had earned himself with Oliver over his stay on Earth-38 had burned away during the course of the hunt for the alien registry. At every turn, Mon-El had said the wrong words, done the wrong thing, and his latest desire to run straight to a bar at the first opportunity was just icing on the cake. Honestly, it Oliver a little too much of his pre-island self.

"Just telling the aliens that frequent one bar in a backstreet of National City isn't going to do any good." Oliver cut over the room. "Is there any way to get this out nationwide? Could the D.E.O. issue some sort of statement? Get the president to make an announcement?"

"Even if we could convince President Marsdin to make the announcement there's no way to announce the theft of the registry without compromising the D.E.O. We're off the books for a reason." J'onn answered.

"And if we did it anonymously no one would take it seriously." Oliver noted, J'onn nodding in agreement.

"But they might listen to CatCo." Kara brightened up. "I'll write an article and get it on the front page."

"You think Snapper would run that?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, of course. Absolutely." Kara answered, clearly a little unsure.

With a swish of her cape, Kara bounded from the room. Hands still clasped pensively behind his back, Oliver watched Kara headed to the balcony and took off from the D.E.O., presumably heading straight for CatCo. Mon-El filtered out a moment later, Oliver not giving him a second thought as he turned to J'onn and Alex.

"We need to have a backup plan in case Kara's article doesn't get any traction." Oliver addressed them. "The D.E.O. might not be able to go public but is there any way of bringing the remaining aliens on the list into protective custody?"

J'onn considered that idea for a few moments, eyes drifting as he thought it over. "It's a possibility but moving that many aliens at once could draw attention, as well as creating a potential target for Cadmus. But as a last resort, it could work."

"So long as we have options." Oliver nodded.

With that, J'onn headed off to do whatever it was the day to day running of the D.E.O. entailed. All the time he had been in National City Oliver had always had something pointed to do, a directive to follow, a threat to fight, or a lead to chase. The trail for Cadmus had run cold, there was nothing for him to do until the sun set and he could hit the streets once again. Oliver had to fight down a huff of irritation at that thought. Ever since Jeremiah Danvers had escaped the D.E.O. the low lives that sympathised with Cadmus had become a lot more tight-lipped. During the search for Jeremiah, Oliver had been able to at least shake a few things loose from the xenophobic scum that slinked around National City's dark alleys. Since the abductions had started though, he had managed nothing, no matter how pointed his threats or how painful his attacks, no one was talking.

"Queen." A voice snapped Oliver from his thoughts, and he looked up to see Alex hovering a few steps away from him. "A few of us are hitting up the alien bar tonight, let loose a little, if you wanted to join us for a drink?"

Oliver shrugged of his immediate response to want to smile a little at the awkward way Alex was holding herself. He didn't need to know Alex well to know that the woman wasn't one to easily admit she was wrong, he saw too much of himself in Alex for that. Clearly though, after everything with Jeremiah she was offering him an olive branch, and Oliver regretted that he knew he had to turn it down.

"I appreciate the offer, Alex, but I should be out there tonight on patrol," Oliver answered sincerely. "Besides, I'm not really one to…let loose anyway."

Alex chuckled a little at that. "You and me both." The agent lingered for a moment before continuing. "I'll get Winn to give you the address, in case you change your mind."

With that, Alex turned on her heel and headed from the room before Oliver had a chance to respond.

XXX

He'd been on his way to the bar when he heard the explosions, he actually had.

Still clad in his Green Arrow suit, a duffle bag filled with civilian clothes slung over the back of his D.E.O. issued motorcycle, Oliver Queen had truly, genuinely decided to get a drink and relax for a night. With no luck interrogating Cadmus sympathisers, Oliver had been torn. Part of him wanted to switch on a part of his brain that he hadn't used for a little while, the side that had no problems using torture to get information, the part that Barry had helped him accept that he didn't always need to use. The other part of him knew that torturing people in Kara's city wouldn't end well for him, and that part of him for some reason was telling him to take up Alex on her offer.

Oliver had been no more than a street away when he heard the tell-tale and all too familiar sound of an explosion, and a second later smoke was rising above the buildings and the scent of gunpowder and ash reached his nose. Kicking the bike into a higher gear, Oliver sped around the final corner and leapt from his bike bow in hand. As Oliver hugged the shadows, climbing onto a fire exit that sat above the alley where the bar was located, raised voices cut into the night.

"Roll out boys!" The voice called. "Lady here, she's about to drop her gun. Isn't she, huh?"

Looking down into the alley, Oliver saw Alex, a gun jammed into her back wielded by a man Oliver could only assume was Cadmus. A few feet away from them was a van and a gaggle of black-clad Cadmus agents roughly stowing someone away in the back. Gritting his teeth, Oliver turned his attention back to Alex. He had every faith that the elder Danvers was more than capable of taking care of herself, but the selfish part of him knew that protecting Alex had to be the higher priority.

"Let her go!" Oliver recognised Maggie's voice as she exited the bar, gun pointed at the man who held Alex hostage.

As the Cadmus agent wheeled around to face Maggie, Oliver was given his window. He didn't hesitate to leap from the fire escape, drawing back his bow as he sailed through the air. By the time Oliver's feet touched the ground, two arrows were already flying. The first buried itself in the back of the Cadmus agent's calf, and as he had recoiled in pain, the other arrow skewered his gun, sending it flying into the shadows. The scream of pain the Cadmus agent let out rang loudly in the night, and before Oliver could take a step towards him, Alex spun on her heel and drove a clenched fist into his head. As the agent thudded unconscious to the floor, Oliver walked over to Alex.

"Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, thank you." Alex answered quickly.

Before another word could be spoken, Winn came barrelling through the door, eyes fixed on something behind Oliver. The revving of an engine made Oliver whirl around to see the van speeding off down the alley, a woman visible in the rear windows calling out for help. As quickly as he could, Oliver fired a volley of arrows, aiming for the tires of the van, but each of them bounced harmlessly away.

XXX

"I should have gotten there sooner," Winn stumbled over himself, staring at the screens at D.E.O mission control. "I mean, if these guys hadn't come in then I would've…" Winn trailed off with a groan, hands covering his face for a moment in frustration.

After rescuing Alex and subduing the Cadmus agent, Oliver had been caught up on a few details. Firstly; Winn was dating an alien. Oliver felt like he shouldn't have been as surprised as he was about that detail, but even so, it had taken a moment for him to process. Also, said alien girlfriend had been the one kidnapped by Cadmus outside the alien bar. With the Cadmus agent who assaulted Alex unconscious and no way of knowing where the remaining agents had gone, Alex had called in the attack to J'onn, and she, Oliver, and Winn had returned to the D.E.O. with the man in custody.

Oliver couldn't help but feel guilty for Winn's girlfriend being taken. He had made the call between Alex and the civilian. He had known an innocent was in danger, but he had allowed his emotional attachment to Kara and Alex to come first. If he had made a different call maybe Lyra wouldn't have been captured.

"We'll get her back, Winn." Oliver took a step towards the other man, swapping his bow from his dominant hand so he could rest a reassuring hand on Winn's shoulder.

"You don't know that!" Winn wheeled around to face Oliver. "We don't know anything, alright?"

Sensing Winn's growing frustration Oliver turned his attentions away. "J'onn, are you sure you can't get anything from this guy?" He asked, gesturing towards the live feed from the cell of the captured Cadmus agent displayed on the screens.

"Cadmus must have found a way to shield his thoughts from me," J'onn shook his head. "But we will find something, Winn. We always do."

"Everything I've tried, everyone Oliver went after, it's all lead to nothing. And if they hurt her…" Winn all-but shouted, turning to Alex sharply. "Your father. I'm sorry, but this is his fault."

"Agent Schott." J'onn's stern voice cut over Winn's frustrated outburst.

"Hey, uh…" Mon-El finally spoke up, taking a few steps towards them. "Winn, do you know what you need right now?"

"If you say "a drink" I swear…" Winn answered.

"Oh, I was gonna say a deep breath but that is a much better idea." Mon-El smiled. "Cause Zakarian Ale always takes the edge off. I'm gonna go get a bottle."

Without so much as another word, Mon-El hurried from the room and Oliver fought the urge to follow the Daxamite and scold his frankly juvenile behaviour. As he considered that option though, Oliver noticed out of the corner of his eye the way Alex glared up at the feed of the Cadmus agent. There was something about that look, something it took Oliver a moment to place, something Oliver had never seen in anyone but himself. A rage, but more than that, a desire to direct the rage. The moment Alex turned and headed for the elevator bank Oliver knew what she was going to do. Quickly following her, Oliver slipped into the lift just as the doors slid closed, turning to face Alex as she glared at him.

"What?" She snapped.

"Don't do this, Alex." Oliver warned.

"Do what? You've got no idea what I'm thinking."

Oliver scoffed before he could stop himself. "I know that look, Alex. I know it all too well. That anger, the rage, the need to make someone hurt. I've been there." Alex stayed silent as Oliver spoke, so the archer pressed on. "But I can see something else. You've never tortured a man before, you don't have it in you to do what's necessary."

"You don't know a damn thing about what I'm capable of." As Alex finished, the elevator doors pinged open and the agent marched out into the corridor.

"Alex," Oliver hissed, matching her stride and grabbing her upper arm to stop her walking away. "I'm not saying you're weak, after what I've seen since I've been on your Earth I know that much, but you don't know what it takes to do the things you're about to do. The toll that it takes on your soul, the price you have to pay to let the darkness in. I've already paid it, Alex, so let me help you."

There was a silence then. A silence that seemed to stretch out for far longer than it did, the air thick with tension and anticipation. Oliver held Alex's gaze, her hard eyes glaring into him. They seemed to be searching for something in the other, a recognition that they both knew was there. Oliver knew why he and Alex clashed the way they did, in looking into her steely eyes Oliver felt as though he was looking into a mirror.

"What are you?" Alex asked, a look of genuine curiosity and concern crossing her face for a moment before she masked it. "I mean, something must've happened to turn you into…this?"

"Purgatory." Oliver dropped his hand from Alex's arm and offered her a half-smile. "Come on, by my guess we've only got a few more minutes before J'onn realises we've gone AWOL."

Moving into a quick stride beside Alex, Oliver pulling on his hood and mask and following the agent as she pushed through the door into the holding cell. It was the first time Oliver had seen the D.E.O.'s prison facilities and the room seemed to be oddly bright; natural light seeping in through thin windows, light grey steel adoring the walls, and the in lieu of bars the front wall of the cell was an almost solid glass wall.

"Like I said to the other guy that came in to talk to me," The prisoner began without looking up. "I got nothing to say to you people."

The two came to a stop a few paces from the cell door and Oliver looked across to Alex in silent permission. The agent nodded and stepped forward, moving to the digital access panel set into the wall beside the cell. Alex stepped back as the door swung open, and Oliver marched into the cell, bow clenched tightly in hand.

When the prisoner finally looked up, Oliver remained silent, instead swinging a clenched fist into the side of the other man's temple. The force and surprise of the blow sent him careening from his chair, momentum carrying him into the wall before he collapsed to the floor. Oliver stepped forward gripping the prisoner by the collar and hauling him back up into the chair.

"You might not wanna talk to these people," Oliver growled. "but I'm betting you'll talk to me."

Tightening his grip on the prisoner's collar Oliver pulled him up to his feet, pressing hard and slamming him back against the far wall. Holding him in place, Oliver drew back his other arm and struck three consecutive blows into the prisoner's gut with his bow. The man tried to double over in pain, probably winded by the force of the strikes, but Oliver forced him back up.

"Cadmus! Tell me where they are!" Oliver bellowed.

"I can't," The man rushed, a drop of blood dripping from his mouth. "They put stuff in my head. They'll know! They'll kill me!"

Growling in frustration, Oliver quickly spun around and threw the prisoner to the ground. The man slid across the floor for a moment until he collided with the far wall.

"They aren't here, I am." Oliver drew back an arrow and took aim at the prisoner. "Who are you more afraid of?"

Oliver counted silently to three, and the prisoner said nothing but pleas for mercy and consistent muttering about how Cadmus could get to him wherever he was. Hesitating for one final moment, Oliver glanced over to Alex, who nodded her assent to his plan. Oliver had hardly begun to loosen his grip on his bowstring when…

"NO!"

Before his arrow could hit its target, a blur zipped in front of him accompanied by a gust of air. In front of Oliver stood Supergirl, the arrow caught in her hand and mere inches away from the prisoner's shoulder. The Girl of Steel turned on him in an instant, red in the face and breathing heavily.

"Outside. Now."

Gritting his teeth, Oliver silently complied, turning on his heel and marching from the room. Without needing to turn to check, Oliver knew Alex was following him, a second step of footfalls sounding out beside his own. The two walked out into the corridor and continued on a few feet on until they heard hurried footsteps behind them and came to a stop, turning to face Kara.

"What in the name of Rao is wrong with you?! Torturing a prisoner for information?!" She shouted at Oliver before rounding on Alex. "And you signed off on this? What the hell were you thinking?!"

"Kara, we…" Alex attempted but Kara immediately cut her off.

"No, I'm not listening to this, J'onn can deal with you. Just….go." Kara glared at her sister.

Alex threw Oliver a concerned glance but the archer simply nodded ins response, letting her know that he'd be fine. Still looking a little worried for Oliver's safety, Alex headed back towards the elevator bank, knowing that she could do nothing to soothe Kara's mood. Once the elevator doors slid shut, Oliver spoke again.

"Why did you stop us?" Oliver spoke before Kara had a chance to. "He was about to talk! If you hadn't pulled me out of there…"

"He wasn't going to say anything, and you know it!" Kara shouted back. "I couldn't let you torture a man."

"I had to!" Oliver yelled. Catching himself, he sighed heavily, meeting Kara's eyes and softening his voice. "I had to, Kara, because Alex was going to torture him. That kind of thing, Kara, it eats away at you. Every time I or anyone else does this, there's a piece of you that you lose doing it, a piece of yourself that you have to sacrifice to the darkness. And I don't want Alex to have to go through that."

"Oliver, don't you get it? I know that! That's why I'm stopping you! Because I don't want the man I lo…" Kara froze, before quickly continuing. "Because I don't want to see someone I care about hurting themselves."

The silence was deafening.

What Kara had almost said. That word. The word that Oliver shied away from at every available opportunity. A word that held so many terrifying potentials. A word that that meant so much good and so much bad all at the same time.

A word that Oliver had reluctantly begun to associate with his emotional connection to Kara.

Yup. Love really was a terrifying word.