A/N: Thanks so much for you all who continue to follow, favorite and review. :) You all make me so happy when I see that.
Oliver stared at his father's desk, drawers all opened from his attempt to find new information about what his mother was really involved with. There was little relief when he found Walter Steele, only a few hours prior. He couldn't believe that his own mother had her husband abducted. What else did she do? Was she behind the sabotage to the Queen's Gambit which ended in the death of everyone but Oliver and Sarah? Not that anyone knew Sarah had survived. It pained him not telling them what had happened. But it would do them no good knowing the truth. That he had failed Sarah twice. No, he couldn't believe that his mother knowingly sent both her husband and son to a possible death.
The earlier morning sun reminded Oliver that he had to put everything back in its original position. His mother would be returning with Walter shortly. They'd been at the hospital the whole night, doctors insisting Walter stay for observation.
Flitting through some papers, Oliver let out a sigh of frustration. He'd found nothing of use, then again he wasn't sure why he thought he would. His mother was a smart woman. She wouldn't leave anything out in the open. And he'd already searched the house, top to bottom, long ago.
Slowly, he closed the drawers one by one. Reaching the last large drawer, he started to close it then frowned. It was heavy for the small amount of items that were in it. He looked at the drawer, measuring the outside with his eyes, then placed his hand in. The inside should have been bigger than what it appeared. Taking all the items out, he pulled out a pocket knife and ran the blade along the edge till it slipped in the side. Carefully, he moved it till the false bottom popped out. Inside was a little black box. Taking it out, Oliver felt nervous. A secret. There was no complexity to the box, a simple lock. Hell, even smashing it against the ground would probably open it up.
Putting everything back the way it was, Oliver made sure that the desk appeared undisturbed, before stepping out of the study and handing it over to John.
"Put it in the car," he commanded.
John nodded, not questioning him.
The box appeared as if it hadn't been touched in a while. Whatever was inside may no longer be of relevance, but he didn't want to take the chance of his mother seeing him with it. He had a feeling that with Walter back, his mother was going to focus all of her attention on her husband. Yes, she knew he had been abducted and even knew who held the man, but Oliver could see that she deeply cared for her husband, despite her actions. The excuse that she was doing what she thought was best came to mind. But that's all it was, an excuse. He would have to find out what exactly was going on. And as much as it hurt him he would have to interrogate his mother. The question was, how?
He heard the car pull up and went to the front room, spotting Thea who excitedly waited for her stepfather. All he wanted to do was take off and go back to his base to open the box there in privacy. It wasn't as if he was going to stay long anyway. Walter looked much better than he had the night before, but there was still a haunt in his eyes. Oliver's heart felt heavy when he saw Walter politely reject his mother. But then a coldness washed through him. She had brought this on herself.
Leaving the house, Oliver waited till they were well past the Queen mansion before picking up the little black box. But for the fact that he didn't want his mother to know he had tampered with it, he would have just smashed the damn thing. The drive to Verdant was surprisingly quick and before he knew it, the box was resting on a table, John and Oliver both gazing at it as if it were a foreign object.
"Not exactly a kind of box that you would think she'd hide important documents in," Diggle commented.
Rubbing his chin, Oliver sighed. He agreed with John, but at the same time it had been hidden. He didn't know why he was delaying the inevitable. It wasn't like him. He went to a drawer, taking out a set of lockpicks. The door opened, causing him to glanced up as Felicity walked down the stairs. She smiled, waving at him.
"Morning, Oliver. What's going on?" she asked.
"Good morning, Felicity," he said, returning back to the table.
"What's this?" she motioned toward the box as Oliver fiddled with the lock.
"We're about to find out," John said.
"Oh," Felicity said, shifting her weight as she waited impatiently.
There was a satisfying clicking sound as he unlocked it and opened the lid. Taking the items out, he placed them on the table.
"Wow," Felicity said, picking up an external hard drive. "This is old. I don't think I've seen an external hard drive this chunky in a long while." A large smile crossed her face as she went to the computer.
John's eyes were wide as he picked up one of the pictures. "Is that-"
"Tiberia," Oliver said for John as he picked up another old photo. Only, it wasn't her. The woman in the picture looked an awful lot like her, but it wasn't her. She wore a long red dress and stood next to Malcolm, gazing up at him, with a glass of wine in her hand. They were at some sort of party.
"Her mother," Oliver breathed when he saw a photo of a young Ria next to her mother. There were other photos, including some with him when he was younger and the Merlyns. He closed his eyes, trying to remember the two. The pictures must have been taken after Rebecca Merlyn's death and before Malcolm disappeared. He did remember there being a lot of people around, and his mother telling him to be nice to Tommy. But he couldn't remember much else.
The fact that the pictures were hidden in a box meant that his mother knew Tiberia. She had recognized his girlfriend and not said a word. Why? Was Tiberia planted for him to meet and date? She never once mentioned having known any of them at any point of her life. Did she really not remember? Her hints that she didn't remember much of her childhood came to mind. An excuse for her just in case he ever found out she had known him?
The newspaper clippings mostly dealt with an apartment fire in The Glades, giving Oliver a timeline. It was after Rebecca's death. The article mentioned the deaths of a specific gang who were caught and unable to escape, meanwhile the rest of the residents made it out of the building alive. Were they responsible? He wasn't sure.
Oliver frowned as he pulled another article out. There was a picture of Malcolm Merlyn shaking the hand of a younger Dr. Hedler. He couldn't believe it. Skimming the article, it read that Merlyn Global was stepping into the medical field, financing the doctor's research. It criticised the company, citing rumors the doctor was involved in some unethical testing.
"That was easy," Felicity said, interrupting his thoughts.
The two men turned to turned their gaze toward her as she spun around to face them on the chair. Her smile wide. "Just a simple encryption looks like . Want to see what's inside?"
Instead of answering questions, the items just brought more on for him. He knew Tiberia was hiding something from him, but he couldn't imagine that she was spying on him. Why didn't she mention having met him before? Did she just not remember? Merlyn, Hedler, Tiberia, River, they were all connected.
Setting the article down, Oliver walked over to Felicity. He wished he could talk to Ria and have her explain things. But could he believe her explanation? "What do we have?" he asked.
"A lot of video files," she said, entering several folders. "Looks like some documents."
"That one!" Oliver commanded, pointing to a folder named Personal Logs.
There were several video files, spanning over many years. Felicity clicked on the first one, but it quickly bored them. Dr. Hedler's younger face showed on the screen and he talked about his first test of the drug Zeraxics. It was all medical jargon.
Felicity scrolled down the long list.
"Play the last one," Oliver said. Maybe the last file could explain the doctor's disappearance.
Felicity nodded, finding the last log and clicking it open.
Hedler sat at his desk, shaking his head as he focused on the camera. "The human spirit is simply amazing," he said. "I thought I'd broken her. But all these years she's just been playing me. She's been the one who has been helping other test subjects escape, always coming back so that I wouldn't suspect. Remarkable. I'm not even sure how she did it. But, of course, soon I will find out. As her punishment, I've had to inject her with a heavy dose of the latest version of Zeraxics." The older man shook his head, despite appearing quite pleased with himself. "I-"
In the background, the sound of a door being pushed open caused the doctor to stand up. "What is it, Joseph?" Hedler demanded.
"My brother," a male's voice answer. "He's here with Tiberia's father. They're here to take her away." He sounded almost desperate and scared.
Hedler looked in the direction of the camera for a moment then back at the man who had barged in. "That's perfect," he said, laughing like a mad man. "Let them take her then kill him. Kill him in front of her. Kill all of them. That will break her. "
The video cut after that. John peered at Oliver who didn't know how to react. Now he wanted more than anything to talk to Ria. Some pieces of the puzzle fell into place. She'd been abducted at some point, which was where she met River. Her father eventually came to save her and that's where he died. That's why she couldn't tell him. Would there ever be a time to tell him that she was a test subject to a mad man? That's probably where she got shot.
"Uh, Oliver?" Felicity asked, pointing at one of their security cameras.
A woman stood in the middle of the empty dance floor. She glanced around and it appeared that she was saying something. Oliver sighed. He rushed out of his little base, hoping to get her to leave as quickly as possible, John following close behind him. He wanted to go through more of the video files.
"Can I help you," he said forcefully, frightening the woman who had her back to him and was clearly snooping around.
"Mr. Queen," she said. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying, and her voice hoarse. She gulped. "Have you seen Tiberia?"
He crossed his arms. From what he had just seen he wasn't prepared to trust anyone looking for his ex-girlfriend. "No," he said.
"It's- I know we haven't met. I'm Amanda. Ria and I are friends."
Oliver's body relaxed. He recognized her name. "You're Juls' mother," he said, remembering the stories Tiberia said about the little girl.
Her chin trembled as she nodded. "I-" she paused, tears streaming down her face, catching Oliver by surprise. She was in distress.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" he asked, lowering his voice and sounding calmer.
"Yes. I mean, no. I-" she stammered then let out a deep breath. "She told me I could trust you. If I couldn't get a hold of her that I was to come to you," she said softly. "Mr. Queen. Can I trust you?"
Oliver hid his surprise by her words. Why did Tiberia tell her friend that he could be trusted? Did she know? "Yes," he said, firmly. "You can trust me."
"Please help me save my baby!" she cried out. He caught her body as she slumped to the ground. "They took her. They took my baby."
"Ma'am, we need you to calm down," John said, holding out a glass of water for the woman. He must have read the woman better than Oliver did, since he was prepared to deal with her.
She nodded her head, wiping her eyes and letting Oliver go. Her body trembled, but she held onto the glass as if it was the only thing that could keep her calm. "They came late last night. They were dressed in riot gear, had a judgement of emergency custody. Took my daughter right from the house. We went to the police station almost immediately to find out what was going on. Only, we were met by an officer before we could talk to the detective. He told us that the police couldn't help us and that we knew who to contact. He said that there was only one person we could talk to. That she would know what to do. But- but I can't get a hold of Ria." She talked quickly, barely giving herself time to breath. Clearly afraid that if she stopped she wouldn't be able to continue.
"Who was the officer?" John asked.
"Um," she frowned thinking. "Green, was on his nametag," she said. "I think I heard someone call him Jackson?"
Oliver felt a chill in the air. He knew that name. That was the officer who had been with Tiberia before she broke up with him. A warning prickled through his skin. He knew there was something wrong with that man. But, wouldn't River have warned him that Tiberia was in trouble when he met her a few nights ago? She didn't appear to be in distress and if the two knew each other-
"Please, I don't have much to offer. My daughter's been sick ever since she was a child. All our money goes to her medical bills. But I will give you whatever I can."
"Amanda," Oliver said firmly, holding her hand. "I know a friend who can help. I need you to tell me everything to the best of your memory."
Taking in a deep breath, she nodded. "Thank you so much."
John drove the woman back home, after she told them the story again, adding as much detail as possible. There wasn't much to go on, and John offered to inspect the scene. It also allowed the stressed woman to not have to worry about driving. Meanwhile, Oliver went downstairs to have Felicity see what she could find.
It felt like a trap, but not for Oliver. Jackson Green must have gone after Tiberia and she had escaped, that he was almost sure of. Which would explain why her uncle Kevin had taken care of her affairs. This was a trap for her. Why else would Jackson tell Amanda that she knew who to call, and Amanda's first thoughts were Tiberia?
"I think I found her," Felicity said, sounding surprised.
Oliver walked over to the computer. It was too easy, but maybe the kidnappers knew that. Ria didn't have the resources he did.
"Matthew Sinclair has started construction on a psychiatric hospital outside of Starling City. The van is registered under that. I have the address."
"It's a start," Oliver said. Maybe they expected Ria to just turn herself in, but he wasn't about to allow her to do that. They had no idea that he was coming after them. And he was going to destroy them. Whoever had control of this operation it wasn't Matthew. He was still in the hospital, recovering from the severe burns he'd received more than a month ago from Hedler's suicide. Which only meant one thing in Oliver's mind. This was a partner, or maybe the real brains behind the operation. Whoever it was, he was a danger to Ria and River, and clearly had no trouble kidnapping little girls. Oliver had a problem with that. And he was going to show this man that trying to hurt people in his city brought more trouble than it was worth.
Tiberia stared at a the opposite wall, willing her body to move there. After returning from her little mission and helping Oliver take out Count Vertigo once again, she hadn't been asked to leave the little cottage. She tried to get more information out of Kevin about what was going on, but he had disappeared and Malcolm wasn't much of a talker when it came to his plans. Making her think that there was way more going on than just her past coming back to haunt her.
Gritting her teeth, Tiberia focused on the wall again. The more she thought about it, the more she knew she had flown. There was just no other explanation. And she was going to do that again. She shifted her emotions back to that night, trying to remember exactly how she felt and what was happening.
The sound of clothes being thrown on the floor caught her attention. Glancing toward the door, she spotted Malcolm who had tossed her vigilante clothes down. So, he did know after all.
"Get dress. We have some business to take care of," he said. Not waiting for her response, he left the room.
"You found them?" Ria shouted, running out of the room, grabbing her clothes on the way.
"Yes," Malcolm told her, not looking back at her. "Come to the garage when you're ready."
Excitement flowed through her. This was it. This was the end of things. She would finally find out who was after her and best of all, she would stop them.
Running into the first room she saw, she changed quickly, thoughts running wild in her mind. Relief filled her. She was about to be free. She could finally talk to Oliver and tell him everything. Malcolm had made her promise to wait till they found the people. Whether Oliver would accept her or not was a different story. However, she had to try. He was the vigilante and she was River.
Once dressed, she ran to the garage. Kevin placed a bag in the trunk of the car, before he glanced at her. His face void of emotions. She frowned.
"Matthew thought it would be best to open a psychiatric hospital outside of the city limits. It's a nice secluded area, just within view of the city. The idiot," Malcolm said, stepping out from a corner.
She'd never seen the clothes he wore, but the back of her mind tickled with knowledge. He had a quiver of arrows on his back and a bow in one hand. "You're the archer who saved me," she said.
Malcolm nodded.
There was something about another archer, but she couldn't put her finger on what that knowledge was. "So, what are we going to do?" she asked, giving up on her mind. She was too excited.
Glancing around the room, she realized that there was only the three of them.
"We're going to blow the place up, and kill everyone who tries to escape," Kevin replied, slamming the trunk shut.
Tiberia's body went cold at the words. Kill? Folding her hands together, she rubbed her fingers.
"It's the only way, Tiberia," Malcolm said. "Chasing them away will only make them start their operation somewhere else. And others will be in danger as well as yourself. You want to be free of having to worry about them. This is the price you must pay."
She gulped. "Alright," she said.