Diggle wrapped his arm around Felicity as she sobbed from watching the execution of Malcolm Merlyn firsthand. There was no doubt in his mind that none of them would mourn the man that had been infecting their city. He had been involved in The Turf Wars, aiding and facilitating Brickwell's initial rise to power. He orchestrated and was partially successful in The Undertaking, he forced Thea to kill Sara, forcing The League to come into conflict with him and his team.
No, he knew it was the shock of being forced to witness the barbaric act of so-called justice. He looked behind to see Ray gently rubbing small circles into Felicity's back, his eyes too were misty, and his skill was pale.
John could smell the pungent aroma of when one of his friends had emptied the contents of their stomachs on the floor beside them. He swallowed his own rising bile as he looked back up to see that Malcolm's remains had been removed, and watched in horror as Ra's handed Oliver, his saber, before nodding at the man with an orange mask, giving him a silent command.
Sarab bowed respectfully before hoisting Diggle to his feet. Diggle walked with the man without a word. His heart thumped as he kept walking. Every step he took towards the dais made his stomach twist and contort. He could barely hear Felicity, Roy, and Ray calling after him with heartfelt pleas.
All he could think about was Lyla and baby Sara. Was this how Laurel felt when she left the base after he and Felicity had severed ties with her?
"Kneel, Master Sergeant." The master assassin commanded.
Diggle glared at the man over his shoulder, and knelt, not before looking at the man that was once his brother. The man remained stoic, as if this was completely normal, that Oliver Queen had been completely torn from his body, leaving a shell for Al Sah-Him to inhabit.
Al Sah-Him rested the sword on John's shoulder, causing the veteran to shudder despite his best efforts. "Any last words, Sergeant Diggle?"
Did he have any last words?
He looked down to where the blood had congealed and started to be absorbed into the sandstone. It forced him to remember the people that he had watched die during his time at war. Friends, brothers, and sisters at arms, innocents, and the enemy. It had the same coppery smell that invaded his nostrils.
He looked up to Oliver, "Do what you have to do man, but if there is a sliver of the real you in there, I forgive you, man. And I'm sorry."
Sorry for not being able to save him from Ra's iron grasp. Sorry for betraying his memory, and neglecting and disavowing his wife. And allowing Laurel to put herself in harm's way to protect what was left of her family, without picking up his rifle and walking into the gates of hell with her. If there was one regret he had in his life, it was not having Laurel's back.
He was about to follow in the footsteps of Laurel and Oliver. His life was about to end and he was going to leave Sara without her Daddy. He bit his lip as he arched his back over the warm moist sticky block.
Diggle felt the cold steel lift from his shoulder. Diggle took one final look at his friends before closing his eyes. He had heard stories about people's dead eyes haunting onlookers, he never wanted that to happen to his friends and family.
After a few long seconds of waiting, he heard Ra's cool voice break the silence. "Halt." Diggle's body relaxed, and he exhaled a breath that he didn't know he was holding onto. "You have proved to me, son, that you are worthy of being my heir. That Oliver Queen has indeed been destroyed and you are ready to remove his remaining bastions. You will execute the last members of the Lance-Queen brood."
Diggle opened his eyes, feeling blinded by the light, and the fly buzzing around his face, he saw Roy, Felicity and Ray become ashen. Oliver's next mission was to kill his family before wiping out the city. The family that he and Felicity had abandoned.
What had he done? Malcolm was right, he unwittingly helped Ra's wipe what was left of Oliver.
:-:-:-:-:
Laurel stood up on one of the rooftops of the city. She looked around, feeling the cool breeze move through her hair. She looked over her shoulder at the man that she had captured a few blocks away.
It was a strange yet comfortable feeling being back in a protective suit. It felt like a second skin. And more importantly, she was not alone in the field, she had her sister beside her.
Josiah Beckett was now in her hands. Daniel Brickwell's fixer. The man that knew her enemy's dirty laundry. After Thea gave Laurel her new suit, the pair discussed everything they knew about Brickwell and his cabal, which led them to Mr. Josiah Beckett.
On the other side of Beckett was Thea in her Speedy suit that looked like it had minor upgrades that made it look like her vital organs and chest were more protected, the black from her legs traveled up her body covering where her upper chest would be vulnerable
Black Canary nodded at her partner, who snatched the hessian bag off the man. Black Canary moved slowly towards him until she was standing over him, while Speedy stood in hiding in his blind spot.
Laurel lamented how good it felt to work as a team, and not solo. It felt safe. Normal.
"What is Brick planning?"
"You think you scare me more than Brick does?" He asked almost hysterically, "Your intimidation tactics mean very little in comparison to what Brickwell will do—" He was interrupted by a hard jab to his face.
Speedy chuckled. "She's pretty mad, you and your boss have been making our life a living hell, hers in particular. I think it's time we return the favor."
Beckett flinched as he felt the cold steel of Speedy's arrowhead against the back of his neck. "He is holding a lavish party for his son. To show the world that he is a loving father. Such acts of kindness will show the people of this city that he is a man to respect. He will be loved for showing his humanity."
Laurel crossed her arms as she glared at the man. "I need to know where everyone is so that I can stop him."
"Why would you want to know that?"
"I'm going to kill him." Black Canary said resolutely, as she grabbed the man by his collar and hoisted him up to his feet.
Beckett looked over his shoulder, his eyes wide in pleading as he looked at Speedy. "Please, Miss Queen…I helped Malcolm Merlyn set your mother free from her incarnation and escape the death penalty. "
Speedy shrugged, nonchalantly, "And the same man that you worked for had me murder a friend of mine while drugged and put under his influence. You better answer Canary's question. My loyalty is to my family and not my mother's sperm donor. So, are you going to answer my sister?"
Despite her words, Laurel could tell that Thea was conflicted about letting her kill Brick, she looked as if she was backing her play in front of this man. An act of solidarity.
"He controls the FBI that are guarding him."
"That sounds like a no, huh, Speedy." Black Canary asked as she looked up towards her sister.
Speedy pulled out her bow and shot an arrow that had rope at the end that was bound around Beckett's ankles, while Black Canary hoisted the man over the small wall of the rooftop, and tossed him over the side of the building.
The man howled in pain as his ankles were likely dislocated from the inertia. Both vigilantes watched from the rooftop as the man howled until he cried out to them that he could offer them something better.
"What is it?" Speedy asked as she leaned against the wall, watching as Laurel sat with her legs dangling off the edge of the building.
"Brick's boy ordered the hit on Agent Watson. He was trying to imitate his father, Smythe took his words as a command. Brickwell had ordered many hits during the tenure of his house arrest and that he is going to eliminate Siobhan Smythe, the woman you call The Banshee. I have Agent Watson's phone. Her final confession!"
Laurel stood up from her perch. After the hellish year she endured, she would be tempted to wait until either Brick killed Smythe, or the other way around, and take out the other afterwards. If it didn't mean the potential loss of innocent lives. "Where?"
"I have it on me!" He cried, his voice echoing off into the distance.
After the two vigilantes received the phone, Thea tossed the man back off of the building, hearing him howl in pain once again, while Laurel pressed play on the video.
"My name is Special Agent Samanda Watson. FBI. I swear under United States Federal Law that everything I reveal is the truth and nothing but the truth, so help me god. This message should be considered my dying declaration. I am guilty of criminal acts, and I was not the sole perpetrator…Daniel Brickwell is the mastermind. He coerced and blackmailed multiple FBI agents including myself into aiding and abetting his criminal organization…"
Watson then mentioned numerous names of her fellow dirty agents, including Agent Siobhan Smythe and Supervisory Special Agent Talos, among others. She then revealed that Agent Smythe was the woman who impersonated Black Canary in the massacre at Verdant. Watson also mentioned other members of Brickwell's cabal that were not part of the FBI.
I escorted Special Agent Siobhan Smythe to the Queen Manor, she was dressed in the fake Black Canary suit. By this point, I was fully aware that Smythe was the killer that framed Black Canary in the night club, Verdant. I am guilty of aiding and abetting the murder of Theodore Grant…"
After watching the complete video, Thea turned to Laurel. "We have the smoking gun. A dying declaration... "
Laurel closed her eyes and forced away her rogue tears forming in her eyes, at the mention of Ted. She still couldn't believe that she would never see or hear him again. "It is exempt by hearsay." It was the smoking gun they needed and yet Brick had a habit of eluding or manipulating the system. "If the law worked properly, Speedy, he wouldn't have left his prison cell. I have been running around in circles trying to do the right thing. And every time I did, I got burned. I'm not getting burned again."
"We have to try, Laurel. Remember, it's not about how many times you fall to the mat, it's about whether you get back up. Are you gonna get back up, Laurel?"
:-:-:-:-:
Roy was linked between Ray and Felicity in the chain gang. His wrists chaffed as they were marched into the lion's den. Behind him, he could hear Felicity sobbing after she was shoved forwards after stumbling down the stairs and down into the dungeons.
Perhaps it would have been wiser to leave back at home? She could have helped Thea save Laurel and bring the city back into line. Stop Daniel Brickwell. She wouldn't have to view the execution of the man that had brought nothing but death towards The Glades. To Starling. In hindsight, he wasn't particularly sure why she came; Felicity didn't exactly offer any assistance in the field. She wasn't a fighter. Her expertise was behind a computer monitor. Roy assumed it was her sowing solidarity, despite her and Diggle kicking Laurel to the curb.
He heard her sob louder as they were halted by one of the cloaked assassins, before they were to enter their cell. The assassin pointed up at the head that was impaled on a spike, next to many older, more shriveled heads. His stomach churned. Malcolm's head was covered in a thick tar, to preserve his head, it was almost unrecognizable beyond the familiar shape of his face and head, his mouth slightly opened ajar.
Roy hoped that Thea would be okay about hearing about her father's execution, despite her hatred of the man. And he hopes that if Oliver ever came back from where he was, he could live with the inevitable guilt that he would shoulder, whether it would be justified or not.
:-:-:-:-:
Josiah Beckett laid in the hospital bed cuffed to the railing. He suffered a broken nose, a fractured eye socket, and two dislocated ankles. All because The Birds of Prey had taken him by surprise, and had interrogated him with some harsh methods that he never thought that they would possess.
The window opened slightly and Smythe, dressed as Black Canary, climbed through. Her ominous voice said. "You failed him again."
Beckett smirked. "If you wish to kill me, allow me one final moment to tell you something, and if you think it is actionable, you will allow me to continue breathing."
The woman in black nodded slightly, "I'm listening."
Beckett smirked, Brick didn't protect him from his nemesis, so he would aim the loose cannon he created at Brickwell himself. "Brick has been worried about your mental capacities, that is why he sent me to clean up your mess. You think you are his right hand; but you are a simple-minded tool that he will toss aside. You are nothing to him beyond being a pawn."
Smythe didn't say anything, she just pulled out a knife and slit the man's throat. Smythe clenched her jaw as she climbed back out the window. She was done serving Brickwell. He thought that he could just use her as a human weapon to take aim at; he was wrong. She would show him what the consequences were for turning his back on her.
It would be the last mistake he ever made!
:-:-:-:-:
Black Canary and Speedy stood on a rooftop opposite the Hochman building. There were a legion of SCPD officers outside the perimeter of the hotel and likely FBI agents within.
Speedy looked over at her sister, "What's the plan?"
Laurel bit her lip. "You go loud in the event room where the party is, make enough noise to get Brick to flee to his rooms. I can ambush him there. Just…"
Thea gave Laurel a knowing smile, "Keep the little ones safe, on it, Sis." She said as she started to watch as Laurel inched towards the fire escape. "Be safe."
Laurel looked back over her shoulder, "You too, Speedy." Before she climbed down the steps and disappeared into the darkness.
Speedy turned towards the hotel with a relieved smile as she and Laurel were back to fighting alongside each other. She pulled out a grapple arrow and shot it towards the building before anchoring the line and zip-lining across the road watching the SCPD and the onlookers below.
:-:-:-:-:
Daniel Brickwell was standing proudly watching on as dignitaries, philanthropists and others watched on in the hotel's finest function hall, as the children including his handsome son were standing around a piñata, with his son taking a giant arcing swing of the piñata stick, while others further down the hall were playing other games.
He felt a hand on his arm as Agent Talos whispered into his ear, "Sir, we have agents down."
Brick took a step closer to his son. If they were under attack, they needed to head back to his quarters. It was safer there. They would fend off the attacker in the presidential suite while he and Samuel could escape through the lower room, where his computer stations were.
Before he could manage another step, a high-pitched noise rang out of the speaker instead of the music. He spun his head in the direction of the stage. He gritted his teeth at the sight, Smythe was dressed in Black Canary's suit.
He should have had her killed after she was no longer useful. Now she was just another thorn in his side.
He rushed over to his son and wrapped his arm protectively around his boy before he heard Smythe's voice. "I would just like to make a toast for the man of the hour, and his father." Around them, all around them, glass could be heard shattering of glass, as well as the murmurings of the Black Canary going rogue. It was never supposed to be like this. He had everything planned!
He wanted his son to be far away from his criminal enterprises, especially after the other night where he unknowingly or not implied that Samanda Watson should be assassinated. His son was supposed to profit from the organization, not be involved in it.
He was now going to ring the necks of Smythe and whoever sent her here, be it Laurel Lance, Thea Queen, or a turncoat in his ranks.
"I wish you the absolute best, Samuel." Smythe said before raising her gun and took aim at his son.
Before he could jump into the path of the bullet, before the gun was fired, a red arrow knocked the gun out of Smythe's hands, pinning the firearm to the wall.
He grabbed his son's hand and fled towards his suite with a small group of his FBI agents. He could hear the incoherent screams and cries of parents and children alike. Over his shoulder, he watched as Speedy, Black Canary's partner, shoot a smoke arrow to allow the civilians, children, and himself flee. Brick quickly took in the scene, witnessing FBI agents and others clutching their tearing eyes as he assumed that Canary's sister-in-arms must have either mixed the smoke grenades with tear gas or used two separate arrows.
He supposed that with the Queen's money they could afford many new weapons and suits. A far cry from where Ms. Lance had come from, with just a ski mask and black leather jacket.
Speedy dived behind the speakers to take cover from the spray of bullets from the dirty FBI Agents. She hissed as she noticed that her arm had been grazed by a bullet. Ignoring the pain, every so often she poked out to take several shots before she saw Smythe ready to use her cry on the FBI agents who were attacking her in an attempt to protect Brickwell.
Smythe got close to one of the agents; she held her mouth towards his ear, Thea shot an arrow at Smythe, sending a bola arrow that pinned the woman to the wall, before Speedy looked over at the remaining few agents.
"Go! Leave! Head outside! Go to Captain Pike, he will protect you after you confess to being dirty. The real Black Canary and I have the video evidence, it will only get worse for you if you don't confess. Don't make us all hunt you down!" After saying her piece, she ran in the direction that Brick had fled towards, only to be hit by The Banshee's Wail, and being thrown into the wall.
:-:-:-:-:
Black Canary walked slowly through the narrow corridors of the hotel, walking past wounded FBI agents who had taken bribes and the like in service to Brick. She ignored their pleas for help, and at one point used her boot to sweep their hands away from grasping her leg in an attempt to plead for help. Laurel then heard someone over one of the agent's radios say Smythe was headed towards the function room.
Black Canary bolted up the flight of emergency stairs before she ended up in the hotel room that was directly beneath Brick's suite. She took a deep breath, and used her cry sending the door backwards, and immediately jumped in, twisting a gun out of an agent's hand and flipping him over her shoulder and onto of the heavy door that was covering another agent.
She turned to see a startled Curtis Holt, "I never thought you would come back, after saving Thea Queen and her nephew. You are a real hero!" He then hesitated."Are you coming to free me now?"
Laurel panted, looking around the dimly lit room. "Lockdown the elevators. The police are coming, and I need enough time to do what I need to do." As she turned her back, and started heading towards Brick's secret stairs that lead to his rooms, she could hear rapid typing.
Black Canary rounded the corner of his closet to see Brick with a hand around his son's shoulder guiding him towards her direction. He stopped frozen for a brief second, a look of fear and dread could be seen in his demeanor. It was how she had felt when she first heard his name after him being released. How she felt when she heard that her own son and Thea, were about to be killed by this man's puppet.
This man was the cause of so many problems in her life recently, and now it was going to end one way or another.
"It's over Brick." She said quietly, as she unclipped her baton from her waist.
Brick clutched his son to his chest, before giving his head a soft kiss, "Go, run!" He sent the boy in the opposite direction.
Laurel charged towards Brickwell and managed to send him backwards, and over his king-sized bed, the large man was sent rolling over the bed, leaving a large dent in the wall. He stood up, charging at her, picking her up by her jacket, and throwing her through the wall.
She was quickly grabbed by The Englishman and thumped into the ground numerous times before she managed to wrap her legs around his neck, and force him over her.
Black Canary rolled backwards, and on to her feet, unleashing a cry that sent him over the glass railing and down to the floor below with a loud thud.
SCREEEEE
The doors opened, and Laurel watched in horror as Smythe walked in with Laurel's old suit, coattails billowing behind her. Did that mean that Thea… She swallowed down the fear, letting the familiar anger take hold. All she could hear was her heart thumping at a rapid pace.
She was going to kill both of them.
Laurel jumped down from the balcony, ignoring Brick, as she dived towards Brick's son, who was in Smythe's cross-hairs. Only for the window to be shattered, and a red arrow knocked Smythe back long enough for Speedy to land and send a dropkick at the woman.
Laurel felt her shoulders sag in relief at seeing her somewhat bruised sister. She was still alive and still fighting.
Laurel shoved the boy beneath the large dining room table as Speedy managed to roll out of the way of Smythe's Banshee Wail, which sent broken glass down to the street below. Without warning, Brick was on his feet gracefully, and with such speed that she hadn't expected him to use, picked up Smythe from behind and launched her towards the stairs, and picked her up again and tossed her like a rag-doll through to the kitchen.
Speedy shot an arrow into Brick's shoulder as Black Canary moved in, sending several strikes with her baton. The large man took a massive swing, hitting Black Canary in the abdomen before he turned, picking up Speedy and slamming her onto the dinner table before rushing over to his son and wrapping his midnight black blazer around his small shoulders in a comforting manner.
"Go, Sammy! I will meet you downstairs, and then after this has been solved, we can be a family again."
He turned to watch Speedy thrown through the remnants of the outside window by The Banshee. Speedy landed in the sea of shattered glass on the balcony.
Before he could move, he was hit by a high-pitched sonic wail that sent him backwards, and looked down to his stomach to see some silverware poking out of his shirt, ignoring the pain, he reefed out the knives, and breathed out the pain, as he watched Speedy slowly getting to her feet, and Black Canary was sending multiple hard strikes towards their common foe.
Smythe stumbled backwards from several hard jabs and landed on her back on the carpeted floor, to see Samuel standing over them, tears rolling down his eyes at the sight of the fight.
Smythe picked up a stray knife and threw the blade towards the boy, only for the knife at the last minute to be deflected by Speedy's flechette, Speedy then quickly threw another flechette, this time laced with an anesthetic at Smythe's throat.
Brick in a furry, shoved aside an expensive sofa, picking the stunned Smythe up and by holding her sideways over his chest, he ran towards the mantelpiece, slamming the woman against the granite surface and hearing multiple cracks of her spine breaking.
He dropped the woman that he had used, that had betrayed him, he noticed that she didn't move.
She couldn't. She couldn't feel anything.
Brick watched as Black Canary dived for him, sending a heavy punch to his jaw followed by another, not allowing him to take a swing. He did, however, manage to send a heavy headbutt to her face, sending her back, only to watch as Speedy helped her to her feet.
He watched the familial display of love and loyalty, before looking up to see his beautiful son watching him with teary eyes. He couldn't move. If he killed one of these women, the other would harm his son. They would kill him, knowing he would do the same if it were young Connor.
It was what family does, protects and avenges each other. He lost. The Black Canary won. He lost. He could still get the final laugh. The final victory. All he had to do was goad her into killing him. The guilt would be enough to torture Dinah Laurel Lance for the rest of her days.
He was sucker-punched by Black Canary before she sent a sidekick, forcing his knees to give out. Every punch she delivered to his bruised and swelling face sent the same message.
This is for making me abandon my son!
For putting my family in harm's way!
For trying to kill my sister!
For trying to kill my son!
For killing my mentor!
For Killing my friend!
Every punch he took, he looked over Black Canary's small shoulders and looked at his son, taking what very well could be his final moments, looking at his son. He looked so much like his mother.
"Please! Stop, he's my Daddy!" Brick's son screamed bravely at the two vigilantes.
Laurel halted, before wrapping her hands around his neck. He may be the boy's dad, but would Brick have given her mercy if Connor had been the one to beg for mercy?
No, was the answer. He would have relished in it. He would have enjoyed watching Connor pleading for her life. Nd would have basked in the sight of Connor watching her die at his hands helplessly.
"Canary…" Speedy said softly, with a hand on her shoulder.
Laurel rested her hands on the man that had made her life a living hell. As she growled at the air. She wasn't a murderer. She couldn't kill the man in cold blood. There were lines that you couldn't come back from. She was there to supplement justice, not become the judge, jury, and executioner. That wasn't her. It wasn't the daughter her father raised, the student that Ted mentored, the surrogate sister that Thea admired, or the woman that Oliver fell in love with.
She couldn't have Connor growing up knowing that she was a killer. She couldn't let him carry that burden.
"Just… be careful, Dinah, that you don't become the monster you are fighting." Ted's voice echoed in the back of her mind. She couldn't betray his trust in her not now. He gave his life to save Speedy and her son. She owed Ted everything.
She took a step back as she felt her sister rest a comforting hand on her back. She was doing the right thing. She couldn't let her emotions get the best of her. If she killed Brick now, Speedy would be forced to take her into the cops. That would break her.
Brick spat out several broken teeth, his nose was now lopsided and bleeding and one of his eyes was almost completely swollen shut. He rasped out, she could hear him whistle from his nose. "Kill me now, Or I will never stop hunting down you, Connor, and the others. I will be the scourge that will wipe out everyone you ever cared for!" He looked on the verge of passing out, "I will tell the world who you all really are!"
"Daddy?" A small voice said that sounded much younger than Samuel.
"Leave, Samuel! It's not safe!"
"You want me to kill you, to lose myself, to become you!" Laurel panted out as she took a step from Thea and towards Brick.
"I have already proved that no prison can keep me. I may not have the skills of Mr. Wilson, or Merlyn, or the other man, this Ra's... But I make up for it with my cunning, and that is not something that you can take away from me, not without snapping my neck." He widened his arms, "I gave you a chance years ago, here's another. Kill me! End this!"
"No!" Laurel said, standing to her full height, shoving her finger at his face. "I won't let you destroy the person I am! You will go back to prison, and live the remainder of your worthless life in a cage. Like the animal you are. You will sulk in there for the rest of your life knowing that you will never have Samuel! That Starling City rejected you and tossed you to the wayside. That I defeated you!" She bellowed at him.
She would convince Lyla to throw him in a cell on Lian Yu. He couldn't get influence in absolute isolation. He would never hurt another soul while he was there in solitary confinement. He couldn't corrupt anyone there.
Laurel panted. She would do anything to protect Connor, perhaps Brick would be willing to do the same for his son?
Laurel lowered her mask to hang from her neck so that she would see eye to eye with him, lowering her voice to a low growl, "And you will keep my secret and those of my loved ones. You will also never harm those that I love, nor anyone else." She lowered her voice to that just above a whisper, "If not, I know what your son did. I can and will prove that he ordered the murder of Agent Watson, against your orders. I will prove that you indoctrinated him, that he is and will always be a threat to society, and he, like his degenerate father, will spend his young life in a prison cell."
It wasn't too late for the boy to reform into a productive member of society. Especially if limited to no contact with his father.
She then pulled back her mask and stood back, Thea returning to her side. If there was one redeeming quality of Daniel Brickwell, it was that he loved his son completely and unconditionally. He, like her, would do anything to keep their child safe. Even if it meant that they had to endure the pain and torment.
Brick apologized to his son for failing to provide for him, before he looked over at the two female vigilantes, wincing as he moved his neck. "If I decide to agree to capitulate to your demands, do you swear that you will leave my son alone?"
The look he gave her was not a look of contempt, nor a man looking to weasel out of his oath on a technicality. No. Daniel Brickwell was now just a vulnerable man, a father trying to do his utmost to protect his son. A father who was willing to put aside his vendetta with his enemy to ensure his son was safe and healthy.
Speedy nodded, as did Laurel slowly. "As long as you keep your word." Laurel didn't like that Samuel would get away with murder, but he would likely be placed with a loving family and could grow up to be a completely different man to his father. An honorable and ethical man. Laurel held out her hand to shake to seal the deal.
The Englishman stared at her hand for a while, before glaring at her and shaking her hand, "Then it is a deal." He rasped.
Black Canary and Speedy walked out to the outside balcony as they clipped their zip liners to the cable that Speedy had released, Laurel and Thea watched as the SCPD and Captain Pike walked in with their guns.
Pike stared at The Birds of Prey, before looking down to the floor to see an unmoving woman in the Black Canary suit, then to the bloody and bruised Daniel Brickwell, who was being hugged by his son. "Daniel Brickwell, you are under arrest."
"Sir, we have her, The Black Canary." One of the officers removed the mask of the fake Black Canary, the woman with a sob, explained that she couldn't move.
Pike scoffed dismissively, looking at the unmoving form of Agent Smythe. "That isn't the real Black Canary." He pointed at the broken woman. "She is The Silver Banshee."
"How do you know, Sir?"
Franklin Pike pointed to Black Canary in her new suit, zip-lining away to an adjacent building, "Because she is, and she is working alongside, Speedy." He said with a proud smile. Lance's girls did a hell of a job of ridding the scum from the city. And he would keep their secret, along with their partners. They are heroes and sometimes heroes need someone in their corner even if they are unaware of it. "They are heroes."
:-:-:-:-:
Laurel and Thea sipped on a glass of change as they had a quiet celebration in The Bunker after they had finally taken down Daniel Brickwell for good. She had a lot to get through before things became normal again, getting Ollie back, saving the others, helping clean up the mansion, and Verdant, planning Ted's funeral. But tonight, she could take a breath. In the background, Laurel could just make out Pike's press statement absolving the Black Canary, along with the other vigilantes of Starling City.
It wasn't long before Lyla walked in with two children on either arm.
"Connie, baby!" Laurel cooed as she found herself racing towards her son, and picking him up, and started kissing him, and apologizing for being away for a long time. Her baby boy had already started to grow up. She watched as Thea handed Lyla a glass of bubbly.
"Mommy!"Connor said ecstatically before he started to babble unintelligibly, as Laurel nodded seriously before she heard Lyla's voice a few minutes later.
"I just wanted you to know that Daniel Brickwell is headed to Lian Yu, and those that he has bought in the FBI and other places are currently being arrested by the SCPD and the Marshalls. His son will be placed in foster care with someone connected to ARGUS, and will be seeing an ARGUS certified counselor to help him." She then wrung her hands together nervously. "Johnny and the others haven't been heard from in almost a week. Waller is hesitant to send in the troops. I know that you have just returned home, Laurel… And that John and Felicity may not be your favorite people right now..."
Thea patted both women on the arm reassuringly, "We may not be able to infiltrate Nanda Par Bat, but we know someone who can. The Flash."
Laurel handed over her son to Thea after kissing him, whispering that she would be back, and left to make the call, and after a few rings, she heard Barry's voice. "Hello?"
"Barry, I am going to need a favor. How quickly can you get to Nanda Parbat to rescue our team?"
"Laurel! I'm glad that you are safe, and we just heard about Brick, congratulations. I can head off now?"
"I appreciate it, and I will owe you one, Barry." She then hung up on their friend, and sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "Sorry, Ted. I'm going to have to push your funeral back a bit." She would have to leave her son under ARGUS protection. Laurel really hated that she had to leave her son once again, hopefully, when she returns this time, it will be with his father beside her.