Felicity and Laurel 36
The team was scattered round the lair, they were planning on heading out to later take a look at a couple of properties that Detective Lance had suggested might be being used for drug sales. They were deep in the worst part of the Glades, a place the SCPD didn't go into very often, not on regular patrols anyway.
With several hours to go, they were burning off some steam; Roy was practicing with his recurve bow, arrows thunking into the target's nine and ten rings with monotonous regularity, almost as monotonous as the thudding beat of the hardcore dance DJ playing a set upstairs in Verdant and reverberating through the lair.
John and Oliver had finished setting up and were doing some sparring while Felicity was setting up some new bugs inside the A.R.G.U.S. computer systems. None of them particularly trusted Amanda Waller, John and Oliver from hard experience, the rest of them on general principles.
Laurel meanwhile was getting antsy, the team was heading out and she'd be sitting back here with Felicity, safely out of harms way and she hated it. Deciding to do something rather than brood, she scooped up a handful of her standard shuriken and wandered down to where Roy was retrieving his arrows. He looked up as she walked up next to him, the question in his voice
"Hi?" She smiled.
"Hi, I was wondering if I could interest you in a competition" His head turned, Roy was very competitive, they all were, it wasn't a bad attitude for anyone who put their life on the line regularly.
"Yeah?" Laurel nodded.
"Arrows versus shuriken, six arrows, six shuriken, who can get them into the target fastest and most accurately"
"You're on" Five minutes later and the odds after four rounds were pretty close to even. They were about to start again when John and Oliver wandered over to hear Roy's comment.
"You're always going to win the speed thing; you just throw the damned things, no pulling them out of a quiver, knocking and drawing. But your accuracy just sucks"
"I suck do I?" Roy smirked.
"You're accuracy does anyway" The look he got could have blistered paint, but he was unfazed, after all he'd been copping the death glare from Oliver long enough to make hers look mild.
"OK then Mister Harper…" He could tell she was annoyed; she only called him that when she was pissed at him. "Let's try this then" Laurel crossed her arms and stared at him. "One shot only, take all the time you need, then lets see who's accuracy sucks" Roy nodded, a smile breaking out.
"You're on" Oliver and John exchanged a glance, unseen by Roy or Laurel but Felicity hadn't missed it, rolling her eyes a bit at her boys, and girl, then narrowed her eyes as Oliver walked over to retrieve his bow and a single arrow from their case.
Laurel meanwhile had stepped forward, a wheel shuriken held lightly in her fingers as she stared at the target. Her arm suddenly snapped up, straightening out as a silver blur left her fingers and embedded itself in the target, well within the ten ring, maybe an inch from the + that marked the centre of the target's ten ring. Laurel grimaced for a second and then stepped back, she'd hoped for better but that was damned close, 'let's see Roy do better than that' she thought to herself.
Roy frowned, seeing how close the shuriken was, before taking his stance, knocking the shaft and bringing the bow up to line on the target, drawing the string in one smooth motion. He paused for a few seconds, minutely altering his aim on the target and drawing a barb from Laurel.
"Anytime in the next five minutes would be fine" She grinned. "Unless you're waiting for the target to die of old age" Ignoring Laurel's comment he stilled his breathing, centered himself and released, the arrow leaping across the distance and embedding itself just across the centre from Laurel's, from this distance he couldn't be absolutely sure but he thought he was marginally closer. Turning, he smiled.
"And that's how it's done" Laurel went to open her mouth when Oliver's voice cut in.
"Not really" An arrow passed them and embedded itself right in the centre of the +. "That's how it's done" Roy and Oliver shared a look and a single thought, 'show off'. Oliver walked up next to them. "And that is why we practice" Roy sighed and Laurel shook her head, mock bowing to Oliver.
"Yes sensei" Oliver was about to say something in return when John voice came through to them.
"If you amateurs would mind stepping to one side, why don't I show you how the professionals do it" They all turned to see John was down on one knee, his sniper's rifle on its bipod resting on a work bench. He'd mounted a sound suppressor to the end of the barrel and a laser sight on top of the weapon, adding to the menace of the M2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle. It was long, ugly and looked exactly what it was, a deadly weapon in the hands of a master. Oliver lifted one eyebrow in surprise, before ushering the other two aside. Felicity meanwhile carefully hid a smirk; it looked like all the one-upmanship had got to John, who'd decided to remind them of what he was really capable of.
With everyone safely off to one side, John carefully adjusted the laser scope and then peered through the telescopic sight at the target some 40 feet away, making several tiny adjustments, drawing a comment from Roy.
"Sometime today, maybe…" Dig didn't even bother looking up, his voice disinterested, detached almost.
"Good things come to those who wait" He settled himself carefully and took a breath, then stilled. For several seconds he was still as a statue, then the rifle fired, even with the suppressor the noise was surprisingly loud, making most of them jump slightly. As one they turned to look at the target, only to realise Oliver's arrow wasn't there anymore.
"What the hell?" It was Laurel. John carefully set the weapon down and stood up, walking across the room to the target. The others joined him as he pulled a folding knife out and started digging, several seconds work locating the .300 slug. He wiggled it out and dropped it into Roy's hand, then started digging again, finally, with some effort, digging the misshapen broad head of Oliver's arrow out, dropping the twisted metal mass into Oliver's hand. He smiled, nodded and turned round, leaving the other three to stare after him. Laurel was the first to react.
"Wow" Roy just stared down at the slug in his hand then looked up, his voice low and wondering.
"He did the whole Robin Hood thing, holy shit" They turned to see John was already breaking his rifle down, probably to clean the barrel out before returning it to its case. Feeling their looks John looked up and smiled gently, the smile of a man who'd proved his point beyond argument.
"There's a reason rifles replaced bows" They looked at the target and one another, before Laurel retrieved her shuriken and Roy his arrow while Oliver walked off to replace his bow in its case. Felicity meanwhile had carefully wandered over to John, toying with an apple as he looked up at her approach.
"How much of that was skill…" She smiled. "…and how much was luck" He smiled down at her fondly.
"Between you and me, a little bit of both" She smiled, taking a quick bite out of the apple, before giving him a quick wink.
"Your secret's safe with me"