A/N: Oh, wow. I am so sorry it's taken so long to get back to this. I hope this chapter at least begins to make up for it. Some of it was very therapeutic to write.
Earth-38
"Well, hey, sis," Lex Luthor said after a moment. "I have to say, I was surprised to hear you'd come to see little old me. I was sure that your testifying against me was your way of saying 'fuck you' to your only brother."
"Spare me the mortally offended act, Lex," Lena said briskly. "I'm not here to banter about old times. I'm here because someone I love is starting down the same path you did and I need to know that it's possible to reach them."
"And how does coming to talk to me help you with that? I'm assuming this person you're talking about is a certain blond billionaire who was rather brooding when we met him," Lex said, easily reading the situation. Lena had few people she cared about and her primary relationships were with Oliver Queen and Kara Danvers. According to Lex's source of information from outside the prison, Otis Graves, Supergirl hadn't been seen at all and he somehow doubted the Girl of Steel was contemplating a go as a vengeful angel. That left Oliver Queen, who had implied he had had a dark five years before returning to Starling Cit on his Earth. "What do you want to know? How it started? How I made the decisions that I did?"
"I want to know if there was anything anyone could've done to stop you, to make you see reason," Lena replied.
"That's the thing that you and everyone else just don't seem to get, sis," Lex replied, leaning forward. "As far as I'm concerned, it's completely reasonable to not allow someone as powerful as Superman, and now Supergirl, to go unchecked. Though I haven't heard much about the caped cheerleader. Did mommy dearest finally break the little bitch?" Lena said nothing, but her jaw clenched, and that was all Lex needed. "Oh, well done, Mom. Now all Cadmus needs to do is break the Man of Steel. To answer your question, no, there's nothing anyone could have done to stop me once I decided on my course of action. Just like there's nothing that you can do to stop Oliver from doing whatever it is that he's doing."
Lena turned and left the room, ignoring Lex's mocking call that he hoped to see her at Christmas.
*DC*
Oliver chuckled mirthlessly as he hung up from his conversation with Lyla Michaels, the new head of A.R.G.U.S. since the death of Amanda Waller almost two years ago. Lyla had learned, rather harshly, why Waller had had the view she did, and it had caused quite a bit of friction in the Diggle household. From what Oliver had surmised from his conversations with Lyla since returning to Earth-1, Diggle and Lyla were maintaining a relationship solely to keep their son (who had once been their daughter before Barry had changed the timeline and caused it to fracture) from growing up in a broken household. Oliver was wondering if Lyla would take his advice on that matter; after all, he and Thea had both been raised by parents who remained married despite distinct issues between them, namely Robert Queen's infidelity.
"Care to share the joke with the class?" Slade asked sardonically.
"John and his team haven't taken too kindly to our actions, as expected," Oliver replied. "They've already figured out who are next target is and plan to put themselves between us and Commissioner Pike and thus 'prove' they're heroes. Lyla's only asked that we don't permanently damage them."
"And? Are we going to go along with that request?" Helena asked.
"It depends on what kind of fight John's team puts up," Oliver said. "Evelyn, I want you to take Ray out of the fight right off the bat, then you and Helena will keep Laurel busy. That's assuming those two even decide to join John and Ramirez in this. I have my suspicions that Laurel is going to convince Ray this isn't the way to go about things. She told me herself that things between she and John are tense. I can see this being the thing that breaks up their team."
"And if Laurel and Ray do stay away?" Evelyn asked.
"Then you two keep the Commissioner company while Slade and I handle Dig and the puppy," Oliver replied. "Slade, I want you to handle Ramirez. I'll deal with Dig."
"Sounds fair to me, that puppy kept giving me an ugly look," Slade said with a shrug. "It'll be nice to teach him some manners."
"And this confrontation with Dig has been a long time in coming," Oliver mused, thinking over the constant bickering that Diggle and Felicity had perpetrated regarding his mission and his methods over the three years he had acted as the city's resident and only vigilante.
*DC*
Laurel Lance knew what she was going to say and do was going to cause further friction within the team of heroes guarding Star City, but in her mind enough was enough. "I'm not coming with you," she said when Diggle called for everyone to suit up. That caused everyone in the Bunker to look at her. Laurel's green eyes met Diggle's hard brown ones unflinchingly. "Ever since Oliver came back, John, this team hasn't been about helping the people of Star City."
"Oh?" Diggle asked, raising his eyebrows, his voice tense. "Then what has it been about, Laurel?"
"It's been about you proving you're better than Oliver, and I'm sick of it," Laurel replied and both Diggle and Felicity flinched back at her tone, as it reminded them all too much of Oliver's 'growly side'. "I've held my tongue for weeks now because you had the advantage of having been fighting for this city for longer since I've been away thanks to the Legends. But I remember a time when the people working outside of the law to find justice for the people did just that. You've been so consumed with H.I.V.E. and proving you're better than Oliver that you've forgotten about the people."
"I have not forgotten about the people, Laurel," Diggle snapped back. "But things are more complicated than you seem to realize."
"No, I realize things just fine," Laurel replied. "Oliver was many things when he served the city as the Hood and the Arrow. He was a killer, yes. He tortured people for information and other reasons, yes. But there was one thing he never lost sight of. The people. You're not better than Oliver was, John. You're the kind of person he would've taken down in his first year."
"So, leave, then, if I'm so terrible," Diggle replied frostily.
"Don't worry, I will," Laurel replied. "I'll get my things packed up while you're out protecting the man that betrayed my father's memory. I won't kill Pike, but that doesn't mean I have to save him, either. I'm going to get back to doing what we should have been doing: helping the people of Star City. Thea left me her fortune, John, and I intend to use it to get back to basics. I'm re-opening C.N.R.I. and I'm going to bring justice to those who use their wealth and power to choke the life out of the city. You can fight with Oliver all you want and try to erase all the good that he did while you're at it, John Diggle, but you'll never be half the man he was."
"I'm with Laurel on this one," Ray Palmer said after a moment, earning a shocked look from Felicity and angry glares from Diggle and Rene. "I still have my own fortune, despite Felicity running Palmer Technologies into the ground, and I can do things that Laurel won't be able to do. Our time on Earth-38 gave me an idea, inspired by one of Oliver's actions. Laurel's right. This isn't a team of heroes; it's a team led by a child throwing a temper tantrum because Daddy's back and hasn't given him a vote of approval."
"I do not need Oliver's approval!" Diggle shouted, hands tightening into fists. "Both of you better be gone by the time Rene and I are back."
"Don't worry, we will be," Laurel said. "The question is whether you'll be back." She headed for the supply station where she kept her duffel bag for her gear. She had brought it down a few days ago for once she built up towards confronting Diggle. Ray, meanwhile, headed to wear his suit was currently standing so that he could shrink it down, already thinking of places he and Laurel could operate from while they turned their attention back to what they should be doing.
Helping the people of Star City. *1*
*DC*
Commissioner Franklin Pike was in his well-secured office at One Police Plaza, sipping at a glass of scotch. He was on lockdown here until the threat of these new vigilantes, two of whom were recognizable as the Huntress and Deathstroke (the mercenary who had led a siege of the city a few years back with super-soldiers), was contained. What he was concerned with was the black-clad archer with a sword; he had an unsettling feeling about who was beneath that mask. As a willing servant of H.I.V.E., he had been given information on every vigilante that had risen up in this city and learned that Roy Harper had, in fact, been Arsenal, the Arrow's sidekick, while the Arrow was actually Oliver Queen.
Spartan was Queen's former bodyguard, John Diggle; Black Canary was Laurel Lance, daughter of one of Pike's former police captains, Quentin Lance; the Atom was Ray Palmer, former C.E.O. of Palmer Technologies; Wild Dog was a hot-headed boxing instructor from the Glades named Rene Ramirez; Red Arrow had been Thea Queen until her recent death; and their tech agent (whose skills were frankly inferior to those working for H.I.V.E., A.R.G.U.S., or any other alphabet-inspired organization) was Felicity Smoak, the woman who had run Palmer Technologies into the ground, forcing them to shutter several locations across the country to recoup their losses under Smoak's tenure, including the Star City location, which had formerly been Queen Consolidated before Palmer Tech bought them out.
Of course, Pike hadn't been able to act on this information since it came from the terrorist organization that secretly held control over Star City. He would be questioned where he got his information and if the vigilantes revealed he was working with H.I.V.E., well… so they had been in a state of cold war since Pike took office. Now, though, Deathstroke and the Huntress were on the prowl with another vigilante who Pike had a sneaking suspicion was Oliver Queen, intent on avenging his sister's death after her run-in with Damien Darhk, master of H.I.V.E., had left her on her deathbed.
Shouts filled the air outside the office and Pike froze before circling around the desk to retrieve his own pistol. He took cover behind the desk and aimed at the door, intending to shoot anyone that came through the door. Which was why he had no warning when the windows behind him exploded inward, having been struck with explosive arrowheads. At the same time, the door to his office smashed open as two officers guarding him were thrown through it, the armored figure of Deathstroke following them inside. Three thumps were barely heard over the ringing in Pike's ears, but he still heard them and when he turned to look, Huntress, Artemis, and the man calling himself Prometheus were standing behind the desk. Artemis fired an explosive arrow at his weapon, destroying it. Pike stood shakily on his feet.
"Franklin Pike, you have been judged and found wanting," Prometheus said.
"Is he going to say that to everyone?" Artemis asked in a loud whisper to Huntress, who smirked appreciatively and earned a rumbling, if dark, chuckle from Deathstroke. Prometheus seemed to ignore the snide remark from his youngest operative.
"You have conspired with H.I.V.E. to subjugate this city, and tonight you will answer for your crimes, Commissioner," Prometheus continued to address Pike, drawing out the final word slowly.
"That's enough, Oliver!" a voice shouted from the doorway. Prometheus looked past Pike and Deathstroke to see Wild Dog and Spartan enter. Pike's brow furrowed in consternation as he realized the two groups were opposed. This was information that could serve H.I.V.E. well, if he could find some way to escape.
Prometheus turned to the female operatives. "You ladies know what to do," he said before circling around the desk and standing next to Deathstroke. "You seem to be under the mistaken impression that I will simply acquiesce to your request, John. That is never going to happen." Prometheus placed his bow down on the desk. "Let us settle this matter once and for all. Deathstroke, handle the little puppy. I'll remind the good little soldier why he's best-suited to following orders rather than giving them."
"I'll show you little puppy," Wild Dog muttered, squaring off against Deathstroke and raising his weapons. He fired, and the bullets quite literally bounced off of the armor Deathstroke was wearing.
"Rubber bullets?" Deathstroke asked in disbelief. "You seriously thought that would work?" He moved forward, using his martial skills to disarm Wild Dog quickly, leaving it down to a 'street brawl'. Prometheus had similarly disarmed Spartan.
Prometheus dodged a straight punch from Spartan and grabbed the man's arm, using his momentum to throw Spartan over his shoulder and onto the ground, stunning the man for a critical moment. Prometheus pinned him to the floor by sitting on him and pulled his helmet off. "Helmets are a tactical disadvantage if not properly secured," Prometheus lectured his former ally before bringing the helmet smashing down on Diggle's face repeatedly. The first blow stunned the man further, and the remaining blows took him out of the fight. Prometheus stood and turned to observe Deathstroke, shaking his head slightly.
Deathstroke was playing with Wild Dog. There was no other word for it. He was dodging each strike of Wild Dog's with an agility that one might not expect from a heavily-armored figure, and then slapping Wild Dog with his own strikes. It was clear he was doing his best to undermine Wild Dog's self-confidence before he finally crushed him, and it was providing free entertainment. Unfortunately, they had limited time before reinforcements arrived. "Deathstroke, enough playing around. Finish him," Prometheus said.
In an instant, the battle between the two changed and was most definitely one-sided. Deathstroke grabbed Wild Dog's punch with the next strike and jerked him forward, slamming his fist into Wild Dog's unprotected gut (honestly, what was he thinking going out without any sort of body armor underneath that jersey of his?), doubling the hot-headed Hispanic over. Deathstroke brought his hands together, clasping them tight, and then brought them down on Wild Dog's back, driving the man to the ground. From there, Deathstroke proceeded to rain a series of quick, crippling kicks to the enemy and taking Wild Dog out of the fight for good as well.
Deathstroke and Prometheus turned back to Pike. "Now, where were we?" Prometheus asked as he picked up his bow and unsheathed his own sword. "Ah, yes, sentencing. You have betrayed the people of Star City, betrayed the code by which you swore to serve them, and betrayed a man who called you friend. The lowest circles of hell are reserved for traitors, Franklin Pike. Give the Devil our regards." Prometheus struck out with his sword, beheading the man before he could object. "We're finished here," he said, and the team he had assembled exited through the blown-out windows. *2*
A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter.
Chapter Notes:
*1* Writing this scene was very therapeutic, because I still get irritated when I think of 6x17 and Diggle's badmouthing Oliver's decisions. Felicity shouldn't have interrupted that fight. Oliver deserved to give Diggle a good pounding. I also think the only one who could have done this is Laurel because of her connection to Oliver and what he had done in those three years. Ray is used to following Laurel's lead and grew to respect Oliver, so I see him going with her rather than Diggle.
*2* In case anyone's wondering, currently I'm planning on both Dig and Rene being found at the scene and being arrested. I'd rather leave Star City in Ray and Laurel's hands that Diggle's once Oliver returns to Earth-38.
