Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.
Star City Pier, four months from now
Barry and Oliver were watching at the horizon as they both stood on the edge of the docks.
"There was a time I would have thought it was my fault. That I brought this darkness upon us… but now I know that it's not my fault. It's my responsibility." Oliver said.
"Responsibility to do what?" Barry asked.
"To end it. I'm gonna kill them both." Oliver vowed while staring at a ferry sailing away from the city.
Present
The Green Arrow was beating up and interrogating one of the Ghosts as a mental image of bloodied Laurel on a gurney flashed through his mind.
"Tell me where's Damien Darhk!" The archer snarled but the Ghost jumped down the rooftop onto power line, committing suicide.
Later, the Lair
"Any luck?" Diggle asked.
"Just more Ghosts who would rather die than talk!" Oliver said, visibly frustrated. "Nobody is gonna give up Darhk. John, we gotta talk to Andy again."
Diggle disapproved. "I don't think Andy is in a cooperative…"
"Darhk has gone to ground, right now unless things change, Andy is our best chance of finding him." Oliver told him, then he turned to Thea who just entered. "How is she?"
"Still in surgery." She told them. "If we hurry, we might…"
"No." Oliver cut her off. "Darhk's in the wind, the longer he's out there, the harder it's gonna be to catch him."
"Ollie, you're gonna exert yourself at this pace, besides, it's not like we've had any luck to catch up with Darhk so far." Henry reasoned.
"Henry's right. It's not like Darhk's going anywhere, right now, Laurel needs you." Thea nodded.
SCPD
"How is she?" Quentin asked Oliver, worried as he hung up his phone.
"Still in surgery." Oliver replied.
"Then what are you doing here?" Quentin asked.
"Looking for Damien Darhk." Oliver explained. "There is one card that we haven't turned over because once we do, he'll know that you've been working with us."
"You wanna know where I've been meeting with Darhk." Quentin realized as Oliver nodded.
"Yeah. You won't be able to go home, luckily we have space in the bunker, there are living quarters."
"What about Laurel?" Quentin asked, worry flooding through him.
"I think it's unlikely Darhk will go after her again…"
"But what about this 'Prometheus'?" Quentin added.
"If he was gonna kill her, he would have done it when he attacked us in the limo." Oliver noted. "He said he wanted to make me suffer. I think he's taking his time."
Quentin blinked. "I thought that this Talia had killed him…"
"That doesn't mean that there's only one guy wearing his suit. And when I find him, he's a dead man. I know you're worried about Laurel but me and my friends will do all we can to protect her." Oliver vowed as Quentin nodded.
"Alright, you've always been a man of your word. Office building 832, 6th Street, thirtieth floor." Quentin said. "But listen, with Laurel and Felicity off the board and the rest of you watching your back, your team is getting smaller." He pointed out.
"None of that matters once Darhk and Prometheus are off the board." Oliver promised as he stood up.
"So, you're back to dropping bodies?" Quentin asked.
"Just these two." Oliver said.
H.I.V.E. HQ
Green Arrow, with his bow ready, searched the building and was shocked to find dead Ghosts around and on the wall of Darhk's empty office was painted a 'A' letter with a circle around it with blood.
Later, the Lair
"Looks like Lonnie Machin's back." Henry said as he put up the picture of two elderly men on the monitor. "The symbol that you found in Darhk's office matches with the one Machin left when he escaped the ambulance few months ago. The blood matches to Crystal and Michael Olguin, they had Machin in foster care, disappeared three days ago." He summed up.
"He's settling old scores." Tatsu realized.
"He planted their blood at H.I.V.E., which means that clearly Darhk's next on his list." Oliver agreed.
"Machin's gotta be laying low, right?" Thea deduced. "What about his old house?"
"On it." Henry nodded as he hacked the security system and they saw a man with a plastic mask on the feed walking down the lawn with a crowbar. "Is that him?"
"Yeah." Diggle said.
"Suit up." Oliver ordered.
Later
The team searched the place as they found an 'A' letter with a circle around it painted on the walls.
"That's not at all creepy." Speedy noted as she saw the old photos on the wall.
"Front's clear." Green Arrow said.
"Same here." Katana agreed as she searched the back with Spartan. "It's a mess but nothing useful here."
"Wait, I think we might have something." Spartan said as he heard the TV on. They followed the sound as they found Machin in the living room, watching TV as he stood up calmly with his hands up.
"I was expecting Mr. Darhk's friends but… you guys are a pleasant surprise." Machin then focused his look on Speedy. "Especially you, dear."
The archer in crimson leather was about to notch an arrow but Green Arrow ordered her to stand down. "Wait. Don't move." He growled at Machin.
"Funny." Machin joked. "I was gonna say the same thing." He ran as the wall behind him opened to reveal turrets while he left and the vigilantes took cover to dodge the gunfire.
Speedy rushed to follow Machin but an explosion in the next room knocked her down on the floor.
"It's a motion sensor." Spartan noticed something above the turrets, the Green Arrow fired, disabling them.
Katana rushed to step up in front of Speedy as Machin approached her, lying on the floor.
"Stay away from her!" She yelled.
"Oh, I would never hurt her." Machin taunted. "But you on the other hand…" Before he could attack, a flying arrow robbed him of his weapon and Spartan knocked him out.
"Are you alright, Speedy?" Katana asked as Speedy nodded.
"Now what?" Spartan asked.
"Find out what he knows." Green Arrow said.
The team had Machin restrained to a pillar as they vainly tried to interrogate him.
"He is out of his mind, you can't believe anything he says." Katana tried to reason with the Green Arrow.
"It's the only choice left and I am done talking about this! Now give me the room!" Green Arrow snapped. He approached Machin as he turned on his voice changer.
"Where is Damien Darhk?"
"He went home." Machin said sarcastically. "I was planning a party for him but you interrupted my..."
The Green Arrow whacked him in the face with his bow. "Tell me where he is!" He snarled.
"Or what?" Machin retorted, smiling. "Look at me, what could you possibly do that I haven't already enjoyed?"
The Green Arrow reached out for his quiver when Speedy showed up. "Hey!"
"Get out!" Green Arrow growled at her.
"You need to hear this." Speedy insisted as he approached her.
"What?"
"Laurel's out of surgery, she doesn't have any permanent damage, according to the doctors but… it's gonna take a while for her to fully recover, she's got a lot of broken ribs." Speedy explained. "She needs you."
The Lair
Diggle was entering the lair with Tatsu as they noticed Henry pummeling the training dummy with relentless rage, roaring as he punched the head off.
"Are you OK?" Tatsu asked, concerned.
"Yeah." Henry nodded. "I… just had to blow off some steam."
Diggle narrowed his eyes at the monitor, seeing a photo of younger Henry, in his arms a little girl, who must have been four years old, in a small garden, with the timestamp from 2008. And seeing the family resemblance…
Suddenly, Henry pressed a key and turned off the monitor as Diggle focused his attention to him. "Who's that?"
"No one." Henry said simply, his tone clearly hinting that he does not want to talk about it. But Diggle knows his about people struggling with their past and the way Henry was trying to blow off some steam and the way he was trying to steady his breath and the face full of pain meant only one thing… there was something traumatic in his past that's apparently been dredging up.
"I know you're hiding something." Diggle said as Henry paused.
"I… I really don't want to talk about it." Henry said as he let the pain to show on his face… and in his eyes were suddenly sadness and loss and Diggle nodded.
"I understand. I just want you to know that you shouldn't bottle this inside yourself. It never helps, trust me. If you need to get something off your chest, we're all here for you."
Henry again stopped and nodded. "Thanks, John."
Elsewhere in Star City
"Speedy…" Machin mocked. "That is what that pretty samurai chick and that big guy called you, right?" He asked, excited. "I have to thank you, you burned away my weakness, like when a Phoenix rises from the ashes."
"If you thought burning off your face was fun, keep talking!" Speedy snarled, trying to control herself as she turned her back to him. "I'll put an arrow through your eye."
"So why hold back? I know you wanna kill me."
Speedy turned to face him. "Because I can control myself."
"No, you can't." Machin retorted. "You think you can, you say you can but I can see it in your eyes, the hunger to deliver death. How delicious…" Speedy hissed as she pulled out an arrow, nearing it to Machin's throat. "Told you…"
The blaring sirens forced her to flee as the SCPD arrived.
Starling General
"She's lucky but I think right now, she's going to take at least weeks to fully recover. She was lucky." The doctor explained as Oliver nodded, sitting next to Laurel, who was sleeping on a stretcher before seeing on TV an arrest of Machin as he glared and seethed.
Later, elsewhere in Star City
An arrow caused for the police transport to stop as Green Arrow fired at the back door an explosive arrow, letting Machin out.
"Long time, no see." Machin said.
"We didn't finish our conversation." Green Arrow told him.
"And what, I'm supposed to be so grateful, I'm just gonna give up what I know about where Darhk is?" Machin asked. "Not likely." He raised his hands as Green Arrow fired, freeing Machin from his restraints, to his surprise.
"You make sure he's dead." Green Arrow demanded before walking away.
Later, the Lair
"Have you completely lost your mind?" Tatsu growled.
"I don't have time to debate. SCPD found Machin only because you two tipped them off!" Oliver snarled as he glared at Henry.
"I wasn't going to let you something you would regret, I didn't want this to end up like with Shrieve." Henry explained. "I didn't want you to lose yourself again over some personal vendetta."
"Do you have any idea how many people Damien Darhk and H.I.V.E. has killed?" Oliver shot back. "This might be a vendetta but it's not personal. And you two of all people should understand!" He raised his voice. "You would have done the same thing if it was Akio or Ashley!"
Next thing Oliver knew, he was leaning onto a desk as Henry delivered a hard blow to his face and started to attack him savagely and despite Oliver's superior hand-to-hand combat skills, Henry's relentless rage didn't give him an opening to fight back as Diggle and Thea restrained Henry while Tatsu stepped up in between.
"Hey, hey, hey, calm down!"
Henry roared, glaring at Oliver, leaving Thea and Diggle shocked to see a man who usually has an optimistic, laid-back attitude to turn so berserk before he took a breath and as Oliver took a look at Henry, shame filled him upon realizing what he had just pulled up into the argument.
Henry took a few long deep breaths to calm down. "If you ever bring her up again, I swear to God, I'm not going to hold myself responsible, Oliver." He seethed before Diggle let him go.
Oliver tried to undo the damage. "Henry, I'm sorry…"
But it was like Henry didn't even hear him as he left to the elevator.
"What was that?" Diggle asked.
"Who's Ashley?" Thea asked at the same time.
"Is that his daughter?" Diggle tried as Oliver and Tatsu raised their brows at him. "I saw a photo of Henry and a little girl from a couple of years back, I tried to ask him but he shut me out and he had the look in his eyes I've seen before. Of the ones who've lost someone very close."
Oliver and Tatsu nodded. "He really doesn't like to think about it and I really shouldn't have brought her up." He realized as he remembered the current circumstances, cursing himself for not putting them into consideration.
"What happened to her?" Thea asked.
"It's not my secret to tell." Oliver said honestly.
"We understand that but bottling up something so serious never helps." Diggle said reasonably.
"I… I'll tell you what I know later… short version, let's just say that Henry used to be an investigator, he had some enemies, they went after him, his daughter got caught in the crossfire, then Henry lost it and went off-the-grid, hunting those responsible down, most of them, he left them to the authorities, leaking their operations out, killed only those who gave him no other choice. It took a lot to track him down in the end, he was able to evade FBI, the police and A.R.G.U.S. for over a year."
"Then how did they catch him?" Thea asked.
"It wasn't them who caught him. The person who stopped him, all I know, she was a vigilante in Gotham, some girl dressed as a bat. She stopped him from doing something he would regret later." Oliver explained. "Then a police commissioner from Gotham arranged for him to get help at the asylum and I guess Henry started to hate himself for the things he has done and was willing to stay locked up for the rest of his life until Waller approached him and as you know, she does not take 'no' for an answer. Luckily, she got him the help he needed."
Thea and Diggle stared at Oliver, considering. "I think you need to talk to him, Ollie." Thea pointed out. "I mean…"
"I know." Oliver nodded.
Oliver entered Henry's room as he was wiping his face and staring at the wall blankly as he knocked at the doorframe and Henry turned to him.
"I… I wanted to apologize for earlier. That was a low blow from me and very unfair and… I'm sorry."
Henry sighed. "It's OK. Really, I understand… it's just… all that mess is dredging it all up, you know." His voice cracked as his eyes were getting wet. "I just miss her so much…"
"I get that." Oliver nodded. "Not a day goes by when I don't miss my parents or Tommy… and sometimes I wonder what if I had killed Slade or Merlyn… sometimes, there's only one way to stop the likes of them."
"But at what cost?" Henry asked while still staring at the wall. "I… I was going to kill Reed, I wanted to… but she made me realize that I was turning into something I don't want to be and… even if I had killed him, the pain and the anger never really goes away. He'd be dead but I'd be looking for another enemy, then another and another, until one day, I'd realize that my life was all about revenge and I didn't know even know why." Then he turned to Oliver with pain in his eyes.
"I'm not saying you should not kill Darhk but if you do… what is that going to turn you into in the end? What if you again become something you're not or don't want to be? I think that some monsters need to be put down but I'm not sure if that means that you become a monster too. I mean, letting Machin loose? You just let loose a bloodthirsty dog who'll shred to pieces the first thing that gets in its way." Oliver nodded, seeing his point. "Look, when I was doing my time in the asylum, my friends and my family visited me a lot, trying to make me feel better and forget about… what was I slowly turning into. They kept my head above water. I think the best way to remind yourself who you really are is to be there for those who love you."
Starling General
Oliver entered Laurel's room as she read her book and upon noticing him, she turned to him, trying to smile but grinned as she held her hip.
"Damn it, I can't even get up without it hurting like hell."
"Are you OK?"
"I should be asking you that." Laurel chuckled weakly. "Henry and Thea told me what you did."
Oliver sighed. "I… I can't help but think that the reason Darhk is winning is because I haven't been able to go far enough. I don't know what is the point of what I'm doing as the Green Arrow if I can't even protect the people closest to me."
"I keep telling you, Ollie, you can't blame yourself." Laurel said as she held his hand. "Not everything bad that happens to us is on you, so stop telling yourself it is. And maybe you should take care not to turn into something you don't want to be anymore. But, I also think that Darhk and Prometheus have hurt far too many people to stay around."
Oliver nodded as Diggle entered. "I think Andy gave us something."
Later
"Who owns the house?" Green Arrow asked.
"A dummy corporation." Seeker replied. "Will let you know once I've got something more useful."
"Are you sure that Machin's inside?" Katana asked before they saw an 'A' letter and around it circle, all painted in red. "Well, I think that answers the question."
Green Arrow and Speedy entered the living room as Machin was about to use a flamethrower on a woman who was around forty years old and a little girl and Green Arrow fired to disarm him.
"Get on the ground!"
"First you catch me, then you let me go, now you wanna catch me again." Machin said, annoyed as he turned to face the archers with his stick weapon. "Make up your mind."
"Sick 'em." Green Arrow told Speedy before both of them engaged Machin in close combat while Katana and Spartan took care of the hostages. "Get them out of here!"
Machin was able to overpower both Speedy and Green Arrow before fleeing and both of them followed him outside. "Split up." Green Arrow ordered to Speedy and he was about to circle the perimeter before he realized he was facing Damien Darhk. He rushed at him and engaged him in close combat but Darhk pulled out an arrow of Green Arrow's quiver telekinetically and drove it through his shoulder as he screamed in pain and knelt down.
"Where's my family?!" Darhk yelled, outraged.
"I saved them." Green Arrow said as he stood up, pulling the arrow out of his shoulder and Darhk gapped, surprised.
"I want to be clear about something. I have shown you repeatedly that you cannot beat me. You saved my family, so I'll give you a few weeks to spend them with yours. Enjoy your time. What's left of it." Darhk said gratefully as he walked away.
Later, the Lair
"Are Darhk's wife and daughter in police custody?" Oliver asked.
"They told the police they weren't his wife and daughter, had a fake ID and everything." Diggle said, to Oliver's disappointment.
"Speedy, are you OK?" Oliver asked Thea who was staring on the table.
"Yeah, I'm just sorry I let Machin go."
"I'm just glad that you're alright."
Henry then cleared his throat. "You should know, Laurel just called, said she asked for leave from hospital, she's in the loft right now."
"I'll go see her." Oliver nodded and as he neared Henry, he lowered his voice. "Are you OK?"
"Don't worry about me." Henry replied.
The Loft
"Are you OK?" Laurel asked as she sat at the couch, with a blanket on her.
"Yeah. I'm just wondering…" He looked at the bruises on her face. "This all could have been avoided if I had just killed Darhk back there."
"I thought you wanted to be better than that." Laurel noted.
"But what's the point of it if I can't protect those I care about?" Oliver pointed out and Laurel could not find an answer to it. All she did was getting her legs off the couch, giving Oliver space as he sat down next to her and she hugged him before staring into his eyes and the feelings were quickly burning up inside both of them as they started to kiss as Oliver slowly took off Laurel's shirt as she grinned, revealing black-laced bra and bandages around her body as she unbuttoned Oliver's shirt and they laid on the couch as Laurel let out slight gasps of pain, while both of them continued to give into each other as Laurel ran her fingers down Oliver's back, while he unstrapped her bra and dropped it on the floor…
Henry's House
Henry was in front of his house as he checked his cellphone and the security system but scowled upon noticing that it was offline and he slowly pulled out his gun and cautiously entered, searching each room and from the shadow he heard a female voice he hoped he would never hear again.
"Hello, Fyff."
Henry hissed as he turned around, aiming his gun at a young woman with long red hair. "Mercy."
"Long time, no see."
"What the hell do you want?" Henry snarled.
"To offer you a job."
"Not interested." Henry said quickly and with a hostile tone. "Get out, right now. Last time I said 'yes' to one of your offers, my daughter died because of it. Find someone else, I don't do that anymore."
"If I were you, I'd reconsider, for the sake of your… other friends." Henry blinked as Mercy smirked. "You think I haven't been keeping tabs on you? I know all about how you and Oliver and Thea Queen, John Diggle, Laurel Lance and Tatsu Yamashiro spend your nights. And unless you want for H.I.V.E. to find out who they really are, you will accept what I have to offer."
"My friends can take care of themselves." Henry said confidently.
"And what about a name of the man who drove the car which killed Ashley? Or the name of Prometheus?" Henry lowered his gun, considering. "Now I've got your interest."
"No. I'm not that person anymore. Never again." Henry declined as Mercy sighed.
"Why do you always have to make things difficult for me?"
The next thing Henry knew was feeling some sting in his neck and everything went black.
Laurel's Apartment, four months from now
Laurel and Thea were sitting at the couch, frantically before Oliver entered and Laurel ran to him, hugging him and sighing in relief.
"Thank God, Dig and Henry and Tatsu were looking for you."
"Ollie…" Thea asked slowly as Oliver kept a sad expression on his face. "Are you gonna be OK?"
"Yeah, I will be." Oliver nodded. "Really."
"And… are you sure about… letting her go?" Laurel asked, uncertain. "I mean…"
"I know what you're thinking but in hindsight, it's better this way. She deserves a better life than this and this is her chance to start over, this way, at least we won't have to remind her of the hell she's already been through with us."
Thea cleared her throat. "And do you think she'll ever…"
"I don't know and honestly, I'm not sure I want to know." Oliver admitted. "But there's still Darhk and Prometheus out there."
"Henry and Diggle are on it. They're using all available resources to track both of those sons of bitches down. Just promise me one thing, Ollie." Oliver turned to her. "Kill them both, I don't care who is Prometheus, they've slaughtered far too many people to be allowed to live, they need to be stopped no matter what."
Oliver nodded. "Attacking our families was their last mistake. When I find Prometheus, I'm gonna take off his mask, to look into his eyes and show him who was he messing with before I'll end him. Then, Darhk's next."
"But what about what Rip said? He said that if you kill Prometheus, it will be the biggest mistake of your life, one that's gonna haunt you forever." Thea pointed out.
"I don't care. I'm not gonna let either of them hurt anyone else ever again." Oliver vowed.
So, what do you guys think about it?
Please review and let me know if you are enjoying this so far.
The next chapter will diverge slightly and as you have surmised, Henry's gonna get himself into a lot of trouble and to get him out of it, the team's gonna have to ask for help from a well-known comic book character, if you've been paying attention.
Otherwise, the story will folow the S4 season's plot with addition of Prometheus and Talia.
With regards
Bl4ckHunter