Title: Silver ARROW
Rated for: T though ratings will change depending on the chapter content. I will label each accordingly.
Genre: Adventure/ Suspense/ Family/ Dram and Revenge so expect some pain and lots of fun fights.
Fandom/Universe: Arrow
Characters: Oliver Queen. Thea Queen. Laurel Lance. Tommy Merlyn. Malcolm Merlyn. (OC) Balere Merlyn.
Pairings: Oliver /Balere. Tommy / Laurel.
Spoilers/Warning: None.
Disclaimer: Arrow and all related characters are NOT MINE. No infringement intended.
Summary: Not every Merlyn is dead and this one is going to make them pay.
Status: In-Progress
Chapter: Blood In The Ashes
AN: It's taking me longer than I had planned. Here's another chapter with some more twisty bits and AU events.
At first, everything looks the same; the sterile room she was dragged to and strapped down. She wiggles her hands and they come up easily, no leather straps keeping her from yanking at the wires or claw at the masked faces. Her sight is fuzzy but the more she blinks, the easier it becomes to focus.
Laurel frowns; its not the same room. The walls are a soft gray and her bed is swathed in blue and white. She pushes up on her elbows, feeling the room spin slowly. Her mouth is dry and there's a silence that's missing something. Once she realizes there's no beeping machine, no heart monitor, her eyes snap open and she slaps an open hand on her stomach.
"No!" her gasp is hollow, followed by the frantic scramble to yank away the blankets, to show her what she already knows but can't accept. "NO!"
-»
Balere wakes to the sound of singing birds and the warm glow of sunlight. The soft breeze flutters through the open window where her Father sits. His voice is a soft murmur and Balere listens a moment longer just thinking of the past few months. She's done as he's asked of her, she had thought her Father and brother dead… struggled to resign herself to being alone, no family, no ties, no one…
He is happy. Malcolm has his second chance at getting it right. Making different choices this time around. His daughter and his son have made it possible. "Good morning."
Balere sits up, swipes the dark strands out of her face and smiles a greeting. "God morning, Father. Have they woken you?" she sits up carefully, her hand smoothing over the lump at her side.
"We woke each other." Malcolm smiles as he stands and crosses the room towards his daughter. He places a kiss to the top of her head as she takes his grandson. "I'll send the nanny."
"I wont need her." Balere settles back into the pillows, her attention taken by the boy in her arms. "The boys and I have come to an understanding." She glances over to her right and the sleeping infant before looking up at her Father. "We'll be fine."
"Of course you will." Malcolm agrees. "This is a paradise. Our safe haven, Bale." He leaves them and the smile fades. The last 3 months have only brought to light the fact Starling City is under attack, while Moira focuses her attention on becoming Mayor. If only his Undertaking had worked… he could have been rebuilding the Glades, made it better … Instead, all Starling City did was allow the sickness to fester. "And its name is Slade Wilson."
-»
Detective Lance, now demoted to officer for working with the vigilante know as the Arrow, formerly The Hood - 'Damn names.' - has a short, frantic message from his daughter on his cell phone.
"Dad! Daddy! You have to h-!"
After months of not hearing from her, months with only the occasional postcard to let him know she's still alive… and now this message? He should be pissed and he is, but he's more worried. Because that doesn't sound like his little girl is off having fun. And he's right to be worried. He may not have his detectives badge but he can still pull some favors. It's the waiting for the answers that puts him in a fowl humor for the next four days.
-»
Oliver has been cut at the knees each time he's gone up against Slade. No matter how he's tried to get ahead of the game Wilson is playing, it doesn't work. But its in this moment, when Thea is crying beside him and Moira… she's known. About Oliver's night life, who he's been since he arrived in Starling City. She's kept that a secret as well, so many secrets between them and it doesn't change their love for one another.
Moira loves her children, all she's ever wanted was their happiness and maybe she didn't go about helping them achieve it the "right way"… but she's done her best, she's done it the way she knows how. She hopes they'll see it that way, that both of them will understand she never meant them any harm. Not ever, not for a moment…
"Mom!"
Oliver doesn't know how to stop this. He can't seem to breathe anymore. The ground, the air, the night… his Mother is dead.
-»
Balere has waited patiently for her Father to tell her the next part of the plan. Their island has been isolated, no news of any kind and she's been curious about people she shouldn't be giving second thoughts to. There's a city … the home of her enemy… a man she's struggling to keep her distance from, reminding herself its his fault her brother is dead… he tried to kill her Father…
Balere stares at the ocean, the breeze carrying the salty scent and cooling her skin. She's been thinking too much. Everything had been so clear before. She had always known her place in the world. She was a member of The League, an assassin and her purpose had always been the same; to kill. Now its all confused and Balere has found herself wishing never having left Nanda Parbat.
The soft cry at her back reminds her there's a reason she's stayed. Two reasons. She moves into the open room and draws aside the sheer mesh curtain protecting the boys. Its Thomas who's called to her and she smiles at the waving fists.
"Hungry again, I see." She gently picks him up and takes her seat in the hammock strung near another open window. His dark hair is silky and she starts to hum a lullaby. She wont feel badly for the woman who couldn't put him before her own selfish needs. That woman had been weak.
"You wont be alone." She can promise him that. She can say it to both of them. "I wont leave either of you."
"Good." Malcolm sees the startled eyes of his daughter narrow slightly, upset she was caught unaware. He wont reprimand her for being so engrossed in the child that she didn't hear him approach. She's earned a reprieve from the constant need to look over her shoulder. He wants her to feel at ease, to feel safe and know that he can protect them.
"Father, I-."
"Don't apologize, Balere." He smiles and looks in on his sleeping grandson. "There's no reason." He draws back and looks at her, his expression turning serious. "I'm going to Starling City."
She doesn't understand why. He can see it, the slight furrowing of her brow, that reminds him of her Mother.
"I'm going to get your sister."
"Why?" Balere bites her tongue as soon as she speaks. There's no way Malcolm didn't hear the tone of her voice.
"I want both of my daughters safe." He leaves without saying another word.
-»
"I'm not crazy!" she kicks at the padded walls unable to gets her arms free. The more she screams and kicks, the more she feels like the crazy person they say she is. "I'm not. .. I'm not crazy… I'm not…"
Laurel has no idea how long its been. Days or weeks, they wont tell her anything, they wont even speak to her. It's the quiet she hates, more than she'd hated the incessant beeping. She misses it now, misses what she never got a chance to have. Not really. And who can she blame? Malcolm Merlyn?
Oh, he's got plenty of that blame but Laurel knows she's got her own share. If she hadn't been so willing to lose herself in guilt and grief for what happened to Tommy…
Anger got her out of the locked room. Being a cops daughter sometimes has its advantages and her own need to feel in control, even though the world is simply a chaotic mess no one seems to really see. Laurel didn't get far but she knows her Dad, and he wont be kicking back, relaxing once he listens to that message.
They drugged her. Laurel's 'slap in the hands' for daring to break out. She can't make out what day it is. Can't get more than a couple of hours of clarity before one of them comes in shoots her with more drugs-
"NO." she scrambles away from the door. "No, please!" she kicks when he grabs her leg and forces her face down. He yanks her lank hair out of the way and the sting of the needle makes her gasp.
"That should keep you quiet." He carelessly rolls her onto her side and stands.
She watches them leave, the orderly blurring into three and then one. The door shuts again, a clang in her head before her eyes close and she's in that numb darkness.
"…mmm … not… I'm not… not crazy…"
Maybe if she says it enough they'll believe it. Let her go…
-»
Oliver doesn't know what else to do with Thea. They've had to bury their Mother, he's continued to lie to her. And Thea knows it. She can tell there's something he's hiding and angry because he wont come clean.
Oliver just … can't. There's been too many mistakes. Too many people Oliver had thought he could trust, call friend… And he's been proven wrong.
'How? How didn't I see it?'
"Sebatian Blood has been working with Slade all along." Felicity gets in his way and makes him look at her. "Oliver, there's no way you could have known."
Diggle chimes in. "She's right."
None of it makes him feel … better. He's been made a fool of and the city is paying for it.
"This city is falling apart." He can't help but feel responsible. He's sworn to protect it, the people and he's failing-.
"Then we stop it." Felicity assures. "We always stop it. We can fix this." She looks to Diggle for back up and he nods agreement.
"We'll figure this out." He doesn't doubt they'll save the city and get the bad guy.
"And, uh," Felicity hedges, looking uncomfortable. "So, Officer Lance has requested some help from, uh…he's… found Laurel. Sort of." She tacks on quickly seeing the look on Oliver's face. "He received a message from her a few weeks ago-."
"Weeks?" Oliver snaps.
"Yes, hey, I didn't know about it until-." She thinks twice about admitting she's know about it since yesterday. "You know, that's not important."
"Where, Felicity."
"She's been a patient of Angeles Institucíon, yes, I know I've mangled it." Felicity brushes off his impatient huffs and brings up the images of the island, along with everything else she's dug up on the place. "Its located off the coast of Australia in the Coral Sea. It wasn't easy to find and how Laurel even got the call to connect-."
"Felicity!" Oliver snaps and it gets her back on track.
"Right, so, its an island." She looks at him, all nervous energy and curiosity, which is plenty annoying, which she knows but just can't help. "Why wouldn't it be another island, right? Anyway, uhm. So, not much to tell. The place is low tech and I mean they don't even have wifi let alone-."
"What is Laurel doing there?" Oliver is wondering if Balere has anything to do with this? Laurel's been gone for months and now, her Father gets a location that just… how does it make any sense?
"Oliver, this place…" Felicity's eyes skip from Diggle to Oliver's and she looks so apologetic. "It's a rehab facility." She glances at Diggle again and draws a steadying breath because she knows what's coming once she tells him. "For the… uhm, the mentally ins-. Ill."
Oliver just stares. He can't get his brain to wrap around what Felicity is saying or how that's even possible!
"Insane." Is all Oliver can get past his numb lips. "She's-. Laurel… has been there? All this time, she's…"
"Its owned by Isa Angeles. She's a psych-." Felicity manages to curb her tongue, for once. "Look, Oliver-."
"No." he shakes off whatever it was that held him semi-catatonic. He can't help Laurel when Starling City is being overrun by Slade's army of mirakuru men. "First we deal with Slade."
"But-."
"Laurel can wait another day." Oliver snaps. "The city can't."
It's a cruel truth.
Oliver still feels like he's betraying a friend. There's that question, no matter how you answer, you lose.
How do you justify saving one life, at the cost of many others?
-»