Tommy's voice was hoarse from all the pleading and shouting he had been doing, and Laurel's choked sobs filled the air as Malcolm placed the final fingernail on the tray. Her fingers were swollen, bloody messes and Malcolm had had no expression the entire time he had been ripping the fingernails from her hands. That had been more terrifying than if he had been gaining pleasure from it because at least then it would've made a perverted sort of sense. But no, he had done this without emotion, without expression, as though he were doing some mundane chore rather than torturing an innocent young woman for the perceived sin of ensnaring his son and godson, the latter of whom was his enemy and had thwarted his (in his mind) righteous vengeance, with her wiles.

Malcolm placed the bloodied pliers on the tray and used the pocket handkerchief in his suit coat to wipe the blood from the hand that had held Laurel's fingers still, one by one, and been stained with her blood as a result. Even so, some of the blood had dried and appeared to be a fine red dusting on his hands. "I'll leave you to contemplate this sensation, Miss Lance," Malcolm said as he pulled a drawstring bag from his pocket and began to load her fingernails into it with the bloodied pliers. "In the meantime, I had best begin lighting a fire under the younger Miss Lance and young Mr. Queen."

"What do you want from them?" Laurel managed to rasp; her voice was hoarse from the screaming she had done during Malcolm's excising of her fingernails.

"Help with a little problem," Malcolm replied. "When I come back, we'll have to see about ensuring you can't ensnare anymore men with your looks, though you've certainly started to do that on your own with your substance abuse." Malcolm ran a finger along Laurel's sharp jawline, smirking as she flinched back from his touch. "Rest up while you can, Laurel." Malcolm walked away with the drawstring bag, his gait steady and strong.

Tommy watched his father go, then turned to look at Laurel, who was looking down at the ground with fresh tears streaming down her cheeks. "Laurel," he said, trying to get her attention. She didn't look up, just continued to stare down at the floor and sob softly, her chair squeaking slightly as her body shuddered in place. "Laurel, look at me," Tommy tried again. Slowly, Laurel raised her head to look at him. "We're gonna get outta this," he told her. "Ollie and Sara are a couple of bad-asses and they won't let my father do anything more to either of us."

"But they're under the eye of the press all the time right now," Laurel whispered, terror creeping into her voice. "Whatever your father wants will have to wait. I don't want to know what he'll do to me while he waits, Tommy. I'm not strong. I can't withstand this."

"Yes, you are strong," Tommy told her forcefully. "You made it through five years of thinking Oliver and Sara had died without letting yourself fall. You made it through months after you thought I died at C.N.R.I. You can make it through this, Laurel. You can make it through anything you put your mind to. That's who you are. All you gotta do is find a reason to make it out of this. My reason is so that you and I can try this again. Find a reason to keep fighting, Laurel."

*DC*

Oliver Queen had watched the trial silently as it progressed, making note of each person who testified against his mother so that Felicity could check into them later on. He wanted to know if the other members of Tempest were buying his mother's conviction, as if it needed to be bought. He had come here with no illusions of victory for his family. He and Thea would be saying goodbye to their mother at the end of this trial and she would be held in Slabside until her execution date. Regardless of her reasons for doing what she had done, regardless of Walter's survival where Oliver's own father had been slated for death, his mother had been party to a conspiracy to destroy thousands of lives and in the end, she was the only one left to shoulder the blame. But that did not mean Oliver would not search for any signs of tampering with the trial.

Adam Donner hadn't appeared to care that Jean Loring had cast doubt onto how Walter had survived long enough to testify against Moira in this trial. Indeed, he had moved on to the next witness easily enough, brushing aside anything Jean had brought up to try and cause the witnesses to choke, and even now he appeared ready to call his next witness. "Your Honor, the People call Amanda Chen to the stand," Adam said. The door opened, and a young woman of Chinese-American descent entered and took the stand, swearing herself in as directed. Adam stood and approached Amanda, giving her a soft, compassionate smile. "Miss Chen, thank you for coming today. What can you tell us about your father's involvement in Malcolm Merlyn's Undertaking and how he got involved in it?"

"It is my fault," Amanda said, lowering her head. "I was attacked while in the Glades, and the ones who did it were never caught and punished. My father was friends with Malcolm Merlyn and Robert Queen, and together they came up with a plan to clean up the Glades."

"How do you know this?" Adam asked.

"My father left journals, which I turned over to the investigators once Merlyn's Undertaking was revealed," Amanda replied. "My father went out one night shortly after Malcolm Merlyn was shot at a gala. He told me he was meeting Moira Queen. That was the last time that I ever saw him alive. Three days later his body was found floating in Orchid Bay." Whispers filled the courtroom and the judge called for order. "I asked Mrs. Queen more than once what happened that night, but she's refused to ever say."

"Thank you, Miss Chen," Adam said and took his seat.

Jean was whispering back and forth fiercely with Moira, and Oliver recognized the set of his mother's jaw as being when she was at her most stubborn. Finally, Jean stood and said tightly, "I have no questions for this witness."

Amanda was dismissed and the Judge banged his gavel. "Court will resume tomorrow morning at nine a.m.," he declared and dismissed the court. Oliver and Thea each gave Moira one last hug before she was once more cuffed and led from the courtroom. Oliver wrapped his arm around Sara's shoulders, Roy doing the same to Thea, and began the long trek from the courtroom to the front of the courthouse, where Dig would be waiting with the town car.

Stepping out of the courtroom they were hit with a barrage of questions, to most of which Oliver responded with, "No comment." But one question broke through the maelstrom.

"Mr. Queen, Kara Danvers with the Daily Planet. What is your opinion regarding Miss Chen's comments regarding her father's last hours?"

Oliver stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face the young blonde. "Miss Danvers, my heart goes out to Amanda and her mother. I will say I can imagine Malcolm Merlyn having Mr. Chen killed if he threatened the exposure of the Undertaking. I don't know if my mother played a role in what happened to him. I hope she didn't. But I'm prepared for the worst in this trial. No more questions, thank you." Oliver pushed through the crowd with Sara at his side, issuing a 'no comment' to each question aimed at him until they were back in the relative safety of the town car. "Drive, Dig," Oliver said tiredly. The car pulled away from the curb, leaving behind the shouting reporters.

*DC*

Felicity Smoak tilted her head from side to side, wincing as her neck bones cracked. She had spent all day looking over employment files, finding out who was who in Applied Sciences and figuring out if there were any who had more or less bought their way in and weren't pulling their weight, something Oliver had felt could be a concern considering what Applied Sciences had been doing with the Markov device. Felicity had been following the trial as best she could throughout the day, wishing she could be there for Oliver but knowing that wasn't her place, even as his friend. He was more like an older brother to her now, kind of like Dig, and it was nice to have people she could call family, something she hadn't really had the chance for thanks to her own home life in Las Vegas.

Don't think about that, Felicity thought sternly to herself as she approached her car in the underground parking structure of Queen Consolidated. She had every intention of driving out to the mansion to see Oliver and Sara, see how they were doing. Faintly, she heard footsteps approaching her.

"Hello, Miss Smoak," a man's voice said, and Felicity turned automatically even as her brain registered the voice of the man who spoke and recognized it. Terror filled her heart and froze her lungs in place as she met the cold blue eyes of Malcolm Merlyn, who approached her calmly. "It took me some time to figure out how Oliver got that trojan horse onto my system. You're quite the skilled hacker, but not quite the best. My people found it rather quickly."

"W-What do you want?" Felicity asked. Then, a little braver, she said, "Try anything, and I'll scream."

"I've no doubt you're on your way to speak to Oliver, perhaps even try to comfort him after the grueling day in court," Malcolm said, a light sneer marring his features as he eyed her and disregarded her as any sort of threat. "I want you to take a message to Oliver and Sara. They're going to do me a favor. In return, I'll return some people that are very important to them." Malcolm held up a drawstring bag and took Felicity's hand before placing the bag in her hand and folding her fingers over it. "This bag contains proof of my conviction. Oliver will understand that." Malcolm turned and walked away, and Felicity stood there for nearly two minutes, staring off into space and trying not to picture what might be in the bag. Finally, she shook herself and got into her car, where she had to sit and wait for the shock of what happened to pass through. She sent a quick text to Oliver warning him she was on her way (he would need to let the front gate know she was allowed through since the mansion was on high alert while the trial was ongoing) and started her car.

*DC*

Oliver looked up from nursing a glass of scotch as Felicity entered the room. Thea and Roy were sitting on the sofa and Sara was reading a book on the couch, her legs curled up beneath her. Diggle was following Felicity in, having gone out to meet her and escort her inside. "Felicity, how are things at Queen Consolidated?" Oliver asked, looking for a way to distract himself, however briefly from the trial.

"Huh? Oh, uh, I've been making sure everyone in Applied Sciences belongs there, have a few names for you to dismiss, but that's really not what's important right now," Felicity said, babbling slightly, and Diggle looked at her in concern, as did Oliver and Sara. Something had the tech expert of Team Arrow spooked. "Um, this is sort of a private thing," Felicity added, flicking her eyes to Roy and Thea (the former of which still didn't know the truth about Oliver being the Arrow). Thea caught on and stood.

"Come on, Roy, let's leave them to their talk," Thea said.

"Keep it PG, Speedy," Oliver warned.

"Oh, it's so cute you think you can dictate what I do with my sex life, Ollie," Thea teased, while Roy flushed and shot a nervous glance at Oliver.

Oliver closed his eyes and shook his head. "Just… be careful," he pleaded. Thea snickered and pulled Roy out of the room with her. Once the two were upstairs, Oliver looked at Felicity, Sara putting the book down and joining them. "Felicity, what's going on? Did someone come after you, try to get information from you?"

"No," Felicity said, shaking her head. "Well, I guess kind of. But he already knew about you and Sara. Oliver, i-it was Merlyn. Malcolm Merlyn. He's alive."

"I won't insult you by asking if you're sure," Oliver said. "I know you wouldn't lie to me. What did he want?"

"He wanted to send a message to you," Felicity replied. "You and Sara. He says you're going to do him a favor, and he'll return some people that are important to you." She raised the drawstring bag with a trembling hand. "He said what's inside here will show you his level of conviction." Oliver took the bag from Felicity and opened it, pouring the contents out on the coffee table. He stared, transfixed, at the sight of the torn and bloody fingernails resting there. They were clearly those of a woman, and he raised his head to look at Sara, who was already selecting Laurel's icon on her cell phone and hitting the green 'call' button. For a few moments, there was nothing but the sound of the phone ringing on speakerphone, and then the other end picked up.

"Hello, Miss Lance," Malcolm Merlyn said on the other end of the line. "I trust you and Oliver received my message. I have both Laurel and Tommy securely tucked away. While the trial is going on, I'll be making sure no one will ever again answer Laurel's siren call, but I promise you she'll still be alive. Once the trial is over, the two of you are going to do something for me."

"What is that, Malcolm?" Oliver asked tightly.

"You are going to kill Commissioner Franklin Pike." The call ended, and everyone present knew that the phone would be tossed to avoid being detected. The next time they heard from Merlyn, it would be through a burner phone.

"What did he mean when he said he was going to make sure no one will answer Laurel's siren call?" Sara asked into the silence.

"I don't know, but Merlyn is the kind of person who finds alive to be a very broad term," Oliver said grimly. "And we need to know why he wants Pike dead. Felicity, see what you can dig up."

A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter.