Greyback's Mission
What defines a monster? Typically you know a monster by its ugly and frightening appearance. Monster is used in a lot of different ways, when it comes to the man named Fenrir Greyback… it's every definition in the book except for the version that's to criticize.
A man devoid of his humanity after becoming a werewolf, killing anyone and anything that gets in his way; to put it simply, Fenrir Greyback wasn't always a monster. In fact, believe it or not he used to be a lot like Remus Lupin. Fenrir used to be a happy child with the adoration of his parents. He had friends, went to school, and actively tried to help others. However, like most people would probably guess, trying to help others, doesn't always work out in the end. Helping others could very well come back to bite you, and in this case for poor Fenrir, he was a prime example of how the term worked both figuratively and literally.
The name Greyback wasn't associated with him originally. It was a name he was given after he began his path down the road towards his infamous stature that the world knows today. In fact, Fenrir's last name has been lost to time itself, for even the werewolf himself doesn't recall his own last name anymore.
Fenrir had a happy childhood, he wouldn't lie. He had started school at Hogwarts when he was eleven, and was inquisitive. Fenrir's life at Hogwarts showed promise, falling in love with his best friend Cirilla Deveraux. The pair were inseparable, although they never confessed their feelings for the other. When Fenrir was fourteen, he witnessed a man being beaten in Diagon Alley and tried to help him. However, the man was a werewolf, and the beating had caused his wolf side to surface., lashing out at Fenrir.
The wizard became a werewolf and that was where everything fell apart. Not many would know this but Fenrir's family were purebloods, a minor family, but purebloods nevertheless. They loathed what had become of their son and treated him poorly after the accident. The students and faculty learned of Fenrir's condition and avoided him like the plague, except for Cirilla. She was with him every day, although it didn't help much. The pain of his blacklisting in his own family and the place he considered a second home drove Fenrir mad. He pushed Cirillla away knowing that as long as he wasn't in control of the wolf within she would be in grave danger. Months would go by after Fenrir dropped out from Hogwarts because of the bullying. and abuse, as he tried to learn to control the wolf within. Each month he swore it was getting easier but he wasn't. It was starting to take him over, and he hated the pain he felt with each transformation. Most werewolves who weren't in tune with their wolf side wouldn't remember the transformation afterwards, but not Fenrir. Fenrir remembered every grueling moment of the transformation and everything that followed. He knew why there would be the taste of blood in his mouth when he woke up in the morning and why he was so tired, or why he was so far out. He would know exactly where to go to get back to where he needed to.
Cirilla tried to reach out to him, but Fenrir kept his distance. If he had known that she could have been the very thing that saved him from his inner darkness, Fenrir would have never tried what he did. His heightened emotions couldn't be controlled, and finally after years of desperation building, Fenrir turned to the dark arts for a solution. It was here that he found about the Animagus ritual being used to help control a shapeshifter's inner beast. However, when he tried it, oh, it went so, so terribly wrong. This ritual wasn't meant for a teenager to use, especially one who hadn't mastered his own abilities as a wizard, as he had dropped out from Hogwarts in his fourth year.
What should have made him be able to control the wolf within, reversed the process. The wolf within him took over. It made him physically and magically stronger. His thoughts became rabid, although he fought against it as best he could. Fenrir no longer thought like a human but like a wolf on the hunt.
His hair which was usually well kempt was now longer, greasier. His face had clear distinctive wolf-like features, sharpened canines and his nails were now claws. Fenrir had become even more of a freak if it had been possible.
His seclusion from the world after the failed ritual came to an end though when he was forced to return home after a family death. Upon seeing him, his parents were even more revolted by the sight of him. Fenrir had kept to his room, and thought he would have been able to stay locked in his room the night of the full moon. He transformed that evening into a monstrous wolfman, and would have been just fine staying in his room all night without any distractions, until the door opened.
The wolf caught the scent and attacked, and before Fenrir could realize what had happened, he was shifting back to human form, holding the lifeless body of his beloved Cirilla. As if fate was not done dealing him a heavy-hearted blow that night, his parents walked in and saw the scene.
The pain he felt in that moment was excruciating, but when they started screaming at him calling him a murderer and every name they could think of, one emotion more so than anything took over… hatred. Fenrir felt a bubbling sensation in his chest as he laid Cirilla's maimed corpse down and looked at his parents, with the whites of his eyes turning charcoal black, with icy blue eyes glowing through the dark room. Fenrir for the first time transformed willingly, murdering the parents that should have supported him, instead of treating him like a monster.
When he transformed back the guilt overwhelmed him, as he hated what he had done, but it was far too late. Every part of his human life that he had were now dead because of him. Fenrir in his attempt to get rid of his pain and suffering, embraced the wolf completely.
It was only when the first Dark Lord, Grindelwald rose to power that his human side started to creep back in. It was at the height of his power that Grindelwald found the now infamous Fenrir Greyback, and Greyback pledged allegiance to him. Grindelwald took pity on him and truly saw Fenrir for what he had been rather than the monster he had decided to become. A promise was made, as Grindelwald sought power… that if Greyback helped him, the one thing Greyback regretted more than anything, the one thought that hung over his head each and every single day, would be reversed. Fenrir would get his chance to be with his beloved Cirilla again.
Granted, Grindelwald was defeated and Fenrir had to back off into hiding. His allegiance to Voldemort was nothing more than self-preservation. He knew Voldemort was prejudiced against werewolves, and for that Greyback never received the dark mark, nor did the werewolf even consider getting it. Then, Potter came along and defeated Voldemort.
Greyback never stopped looking for someone who could help him bring back Cirilla, until the arrival of the new Dark Lord. One who would be able to bring about Greyback's one and only wish.
As Hermione dug through the vast archives in the restricted section at Hogwarts, she was looking for anything regarding blood scrying, hoping it might give her a lead on what Greyback's next step would be. Dumbledore had given her full access, even though Madam Pince, the librarian wasn't very keen on the idea. She mused to herself that Madam Pince had more of a love for the books than anything else in her life.
Honestly the need to find the ritual had outweighed everything else that Hermione should have been doing, and while she knew there would be consequences, she had to find it. McGongagall might have not liked her teaching assistant to have skipped class, but Dumbledore had informed her that Hermione had important matters to take care of.
Her search would go on all night, and as she was preparing to fall asleep while reading one of the books at her disposal, Hermione came across it. "Dreyri-sýnum" (Bloodsight) she whispered. It was an ancient ritual in which by using the blood of a sacrifice, a magic user could use it to scry the location of a being. However, the scrying was only a broad search area, as the usage was for a more generalized search area. It wasn't built for the urban density of Starling City. Reading it, she found a line that caught her attention. "While one sacrifice could give the general location within a ten mile radius, a larger sacrifice could provide a more precise position."
The ritual wouldn't have worked then for Greyback. It would still only say this Dark Lord would be in Starling City, he wouldn't get a precise reading as to where they were. He's probably figured this out by now. He'd need to collect the blood all at once, as to make sure the blood was still viable. A large gathering would be ideal.
Hermione had to tell Oliver, but not before she put every book back in its place. Madam Pince would have her head if she didn't.
"Hey, buddy." Tommy beamed at Oliver as the vigilante walked up the stairs towards the office.
"Tommy, what are you doing here?" Oliver asked, grinning back at him. "I wasn't expecting to see you until I got off."
"Yeah, sorry about that man. I was hoping to ask you something, since it's kinda last minute." Tommy explained, walking up and patting him on the back. Oliver raised an eyebrow, adjusting his tie as they reached the top of the stairs to the entrance of the building.
"What's up?" Oliver stopped, turning to face his best friend. Tommy scratched the back of his head and just gave a sheepish smile.
"Alright, so here's the deal. I know you are probably busy with the prosthetic work and what not, but Laurel's attending a CNRI fundraiser later tonight, and I'm gonna be there. I was hoping maybe the news worthy Oliver Queen giving his support might help with the fundraiser."
"Ah, you want me there to help with publicity? Couldn't you have just gotten Walter or someone to go?" Oliver asked, suspicion heavy in his voice.
"I just figured that you had a press conference with hundreds of reporters and god knows how many people standing here just to see you. Seems like Oliver Queen is a trending name right now and having that name be a part of the CNRI image might give them a boost tonight."
Oliver sighed, shaking his head. Of course Tommy would be trying to win him over just to help Laurel. "I'm taking this has something to do with Laurel?"
"What? No."
"So you're not trying to get on her good side?" Oliver asked, crossing his arms. Tommy shook his head, which made Oliver roll his eyes in return. "Yeah, right."
"I swear dude. Laurel and I, we're not a thing. Honestly we haven't even really seen much of each other since we were at Fuller's club and Harry kicked those bodyguard's asses. Good times, really."
Oliver wasn't sure whether to believe Tommy or not but he wasn't going to argue on the matter. He didn't know if he would even be able to go to the fundraiser or not because of the issue regarding Greyback. With that werewolf and the Death Eaters still running around, Oliver shouldn't be spending much time playing the billionaire playboy persona.
"If I'm able to make it I'll stop by, but if not I'll be sure to leave a nice check for them." Oliver smiled. "Now, I got a couple minutes before I need to get into the office with Curtis, so… anything else you got on your mind before I go?"
"Uh, yeah… actually, I was just going to say thank you for being so open to having me take the manager position at the club."
"Don't worry about it. If anyone has the right to be the manager, it's you Tommy. Nobody knows more about the Starling City night scene than you, so it's perfect."
Tommy smiled, and gave Oliver a hug. "Look, I know it's been kind of chaotic the last couple weeks, but I'm proud of you, Ollie. Everyone is. With everything that's happened lately, seeing you step up like this and make the best of the situation, it's awesome."
"Thanks."
Part of me feels like he's wanting to talk about Harry, but I really just don't have the energy to bring him up today. Even if he's gone, doesn't mean he needs to be the topic of every conversation.
"Anyway, I'll let you get to work. I'll see you at the fundraiser, hopefully."
Tommy took his leave, and Oliver went into the office. He went about his shift and got a message from Hermione.
"Hey, sorry to bother you. Don't know if you're still at the office or not but I just got in. Saw your suit on the table. You making modifications to it?"
'Yeah. Had to add the exoskeleton arms to the suit. Figured I'd make some other upgrades as well.'
"Are you done with it?"
'No, I want to test something with it real quick when I get there. Might make things a little easier if it works the way I'm hoping.'
"Alright, I'll see you when you get here then. I need to show you something I found."
Oliver put his suit on, and saw how nicely it fit. He was pleased with how it turned out, and Hermione even admitted it looked far more appealing with the lighter color tone than the previous one. It wasn't until Oliver started putting on his regular clothes over the suit that Hermione realized what he was doing.
"That would make things so much quicker." Hermione admitted, gaining a smile from Oliver as he managed to slip everything on with ease. It was just lightweight enough that it fit underneath his clothes without looking out of place. "Now you're starting to be more like a superhero."
"I prefer the billionaire vigilante title. Superhero is just out of my league." Oliver chuckled, but couldn't lie that this was certainly becoming an entertaining job. Working on his suit, upgrading it and that, it was actually legitimately fun. "So, what were you wanting to talk about?"
When he looked back, Hermione was passed out in the chair, and he just sighed. Whatever she wanted to talk about would have to wait a couple hours.
The fundraiser was in full swing that evening, and while Laurel was half expecting Oliver to show up just to show support, she figured the billionaire wouldn't make an appearance due to their conversation last night. Tommy had tried to get him to show up, but so far he hadn't. It was rather disappointing, as Laurel had really wanted to clear the air.
Laurel didn't want things to become awkward between the two of them, especially after all the work they had put in to get where they were now. Tommy was among the crowd, clearly popular with the potential investors, and Laurel smiled at him as their eyes met. As much as she might have liked to see where things would have gone with Tommy, her heart simply wasn't in it, and at this point she had a suspicion that Tommy felt the same way.
She was surprised when a ruggedly handsome man stepped beside her. "I take it you're one of the people heading this event?" the man asked with a curious smile.
"Uh, yes… how'd you guess?"
"I'm good with people like that. Pleasure to meet you Ms…"
"Laurel Lance," she greeted, as the man took her hand, kissing it lightly.
"My name is Fenrir Deveraux. Lovely to make your acquaintance." Fenrir smiled. It was far too easy to get in here, but he had to admit his bloodlust was hard to control at the moment. If he was gonna get the blood he needed for the advanced Dreyri-sýnum ritual he had to do it at the right moment. He couldn't hesitate and he had to make sure nobody could get away.
"That's an interesting name you got there, Mr. Deveraux. Haven't heard the name Fenrir be used except for that one in Norse mythology."
"Ah, yes… the giant wolf, the son of Loki." Fenrir nodded. (How ironic was it that both Fenrir's were wolves?)
"I'm taking a guess here and saying you're not a local?" Laurel asked, as the hairs on her arms stood on end. Something about this guy just didn't sit right with her.
"You'd be correct. I'm here in town on behalf of a friend. He's been staying here for a while, and we need to have a talk." Fenrir explained.
"Sounds serious."
"It is. He's helping me find my girl," he nodded, as Laurel raised an eyebrow. "She's been missing for a year. Well, I shouldn't say she's missing; nobody will tell me where she is because we had a falling out before she left."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's quite alright. It was my fault. We were going through a rough patch, and I was so afraid of hurting her that was exactly what I did."
Laurel felt a strange sense of sympathy for the man, as her talk with Oliver flashed through her mind and how their relationship had fallen apart. "Do you think you could repair your relationship with her, if you got the chance to speak with her?"
"I quite frankly don't know. Ciri, she's… especially bullheaded and doesn't change her mind easily; really, I'm just looking for a chance to apologize and say my goodbyes if there is no fixing things. I'd rather have the chance to do that than leave it the way we did."
Laurel nodded, understanding where Fenrir was coming from. "Yeah, my ex and I had something like that happen, thought he was dead for five years and all I could do was hate him for how things ended. It wasn't until he came home that I realized that I can't hate him. No matter what he did, I couldn't hate him, not entirely. I'm grateful he came home, because we're on better terms now, so hopefully if you get to see Ciri again, you can at least make it better than what you left things on. If you can't talk to her, don't focus on the negative, focus on what made you happy when you were with her."
Her mind trailed off to the last Halloween party she and Oliver had gone to, particularly right before they had left to go to Tommy's bash.
Seven Years Ago
Laurel watched as Oliver turned around as she walked into the room with her Halloween costume on, and chuckled as she saw the playboy's jaw drop to the floor. "Might wanna close your mouth, babe… you might swallow a fly." she playfully called to him, as Oliver just gulped. She wasn't even wearing that great of an outfit. It was supposed to be a sexy biker outfit, with the hat, leather jacket and fishnets to boot. The fishnets were a horrible idea, but from the look on her boyfriend's face it looked like they were an excellent decision.
"Wow…" was the only thing Oliver could get out as he glanced over his beautiful girlfriend. "I'm so lucky…"
"Yeah, you are." Laurel smiled, walking up to him and giving him a kiss. She hadn't even noticed that Oliver had something in his hand until he held it up to show her. "What is this?"
"A present… turn around."
When she did, Oliver put a necklace around her neck. Looking at the pendant as he locked it into place, she saw it was a canary. "Ollie, you shouldn't have."
"I had to get you something, and what better than a pretty bird for my Pretty Bird." Oliver grinned.
"Thank you, Oliver. I love it, and you."
"I love you too, Laurel…"
She had to get her mind out of the past as she turned back to look at the gentleman beside her. He looked so much more content than just a moment ago, as his shoulders seemed more relaxed.
Fenrir couldn't help but feel like things were so much simpler in his head now. The part of him that still had a piece of humanity, the one longing to see Ciri again, it felt terrible that this woman who was offering him her sympathies was gonna end up dying tonight just to be able to have that moment with Cirilla.
He couldn't speak about this with Scabior or the others, the wolf in him simply wouldn't allow it. If they sensed weakness he would be taken down, and he would not allow himself to be stopped when he was this close to the finish line.
In his peripheral he could see his fellow Death Eaters stepping in front of all the exits as to corral the partygoers. Fenrir sighed, nodding at Scabior as he got into position. "Ms. Lance, I want to thank you for giving me the chance to speak about this. I don't normally get to talk about my feelings. Where I come from, it's viewed as a weakness. So, believe me when I say that this means the world to me."
"Of course, nobody should bottle their emotions up. It never ends well." Laurel smiled, as Fenrir turned to face her.
"Thank you.. I mean it, and for what's it worth… I'm sorry for what's about to happen." Fenrir said as his eyes turned an icy blue, making Laurel gasp at the sight. Before she could even move, Fenrir smacked her, sending her crashing to the ground.
Fenrir's hair grew out and with gasps and screams, the Death Eaters took over the room.
Hermione had just woken up a few minutes earlier, and almost started panicking as she realized she had dozed off without telling Oliver what she had found about the ritual.
"Where's Dig?" Hermione asked, noticing the bodyguard was gone.
"He's on his way to the CNRI fundraiser to deliver a check for me. I was gonna make an appearance tonight but I had to finish the silver arrows, and make an addition to the kunai attachment for my gauntlet." Oliver explained.
"I was going to tell you earlier, but I found the ritual Greyback's using. It's an old blood scrying ritual."
"Okay."
She explained how it worked, that it wasn't built to hone in on a specific area within an urban location, but rather a large space, since it was used as such hundreds of years ago. "For it to work the way Greyback would want, he'd need a lot of blood."
"How much blood?"
"Hundreds of sacrifices, Ollie." Hermione explained, and the color in Oliver's face drained as he seemed to realize.
"Shit, he's going to the CNRI fundraiser. It's a perfect target," Oliver growled as he got into his costume quickly. "Call Dig, see if anything's wrong at the fundraiser!"
Hermione did as she was told, and when Diggle answered, their worst fears were given life. "They're already there."
"Shit." Oliver panicked, getting his gear. "Can you apparate me there?!"
"Of course."
He cursed himself for not testing his exoskeleton arms beforehand, but at the same time, what was a better place to test it than the field?
It had happened so quickly, nobody really knew what was going on. In one moment, the fundraiser was going so well, full of chatter and laughter, and the next… well, a horror movie. There he was, the man who introduced himself as Fenrir Deveraux standing over the cowering guests, bearing his fangs at them. Laurel, she had seen his nails sharpen into claws, and realized the danger all of them were in. The men that were with him seemed to be different though, as they all seemed to be carrying sticks as their weapons. If Fenrir, if that was his name, was any indication of the danger they posed, Laurel dreaded to find out what those sticks were for.
Greyback, however on the other hand, even though he was fully prepared to perform the ritual, couldn't help but feel a flicker of guilt for the action he was taking. He could see the fear in Laurel's eyes, and part of him considered stopping what he was doing, but then the image of Cirilla dying in his arms went through his mind, renewing his vow to do whatever it took to see her again.
Scabior looked rather unsure of what they were doing, but Greyback couldn't do anything about it right now. He was always the runt of the group, never going so far to actually take a life. He hadn't tried to go against Greyback before, so as long as he stayed in line, the little rat would stay alive, seeing as he was the closest thing Greyback had to a friend nowadays. With his fangs bared, Greyback took the first step towards Laurel, only to watch a dark haired man move in front of her.
How touching… I'm sorry, truly… I am. Greyback thought to himself. "Move, or I'll make your end slow."
The man didn't move, as Laurel protested to him. "Tommy, please… just do it."
"Laurel, I… No, I can't let that happen. I'm not letting anything happen to you." the man, Tommy, swore to her. Greyback felt his humanity itching at him, but pushed it down as his claws tore at his pant leg.
"Tommy, don't be a hero," Laurel asked, practically begging as Tommy stood up and pulled away from her.
"You're not touching her," Tommy growled, trying to put a strong front up, but Greyback could smell the fear radiating from him. The werewolf chuckled lowly, before bringing his hand up to Tommy's face, trailing the man's jawline with one of his claws.
"There's no need to act strong, boy. What's about to happen, has to. Your deaths will not be for nothing, I assure you. If it's any consolation, I would have made sure hers was as painless as possible."
Tommy was visibly shaking, not only from fear, but anger now. In one fell swoop, Tommy blasted the werewolf in the face, barely making him flinch. "If only I was still capable of turning you… you'd make a hell of an addition to my Pack." Greyback solemnly sighed, before grabbing Tommy by the throat and lifted him off of the ground.
As Greyback brought his free hand back, a strange pain suddenly coursed through his palm. His ears twitched as a 'whoosh' echoed at the same time, and Greyback slowly turned to look at his hand to see an arrow sticking through his palm. His eyes grew wide to see the arrowhead was silver with a green accent. The color was enough for him to know that the Hood, the Arrow, whatever he was called was here.
"He's here… find him!" Greyback ordered, throwing Tommy to the ground as his hand burned from the silver. The Death Eaters started to move, only to be stopped by Greyback flicking his wrist, igniting the side of the room the arrow came from into flames. Laurel, holding Tommy close as the playboy gasped for air, stared in horror at the sight of the magical act. In the moment that followed, Greyback wasn't sure to be amused or annoyed, as the Death Eaters were all struck with arrows that came out of the smoke, sending them all crashing to the ground, unconscious. Greyback sniffed the air… tranquilizers. The Hood was playing this one smart, Greyback smiled believing there might actually be a decent fight out of this, especially if the Red Arrow was here. Deep down, he really hoped the Red Arrow wasn't with him, because then it meant that Greyback was likely to still succeed in his plan.
Scabior was still awake, having managed to dodge the arrow intended for him, and proceeded to hide around the corner. Smoke started to fill the plaza now as Greyback pulled the silver arrow out of his hand, growling. He wasn't going to heal from that one for a little bit. Stepping out of the source of the smoke came the Arrow, sporting an upgraded suit. Greyback raised an eyebrow to this. He had seen the Arrow before in action, having watched him to gauge how much of a threat he was, and merely smiled.
"So… you got a new suit?" Greyback asked, amused by the sight of the brighter suit, and couldn't help but notice the white fiber trailing down the Arrow's arms like a bone. "It won't do you any good… you can't stop me."
"What makes you think that?" the Arrow replied, as Greyback chuckled.
"You're just a Muggle… you're out of your league."
"Hmm, we'll see about that." Arrow hissed, sending a kunai towards the werewolf as a metallic whir followed it. Greyback stood there unwavering in his convictions as the kunai pierced his shoulder, going through his back. The smile on his face wavered as he realized this, and noticed a chain hit the ground. First thing that he didn't like was that the Arrow had managed to send the kunai all the way through his body. The strength needed for that wasn't one of the vigilante's capabilities. Only the Red Arrow was capable of that. The other thing was, if there was a chain, it meant one thing... looking down, he saw a long silver chain was attached to the kunai, which just so happened to be connected to the Arrow's suit as well.
With a pull, Greyback was thrown off the ground, flying towards the Arrow to be met with a face full of silver knuckles, breaking his jaw instantly. The werewolf hit the ground and touched his face, growling over the injury.
"Yo-you… you ad-adapted," he growled.
The Arrow shrugged, cracking his knuckles. "When you have a friend who deals with trouble like you on the regular, you tend to pick up a few things along the way."
Greyback growled, standing up to loom over the Arrow with such malice that the vigilante should have been quaking in his boots, but he merely smiled. "Speaking of your friend, where is he?"
"Don't worry about him." The Arrow uppercut Greyback, sending the werewolf crashing back ten feet, much to the shock of the guests. Laurel was watching intently, noticing that the Arrow's voice was a lot softer than usual. Something was different about him. As if he had read her mind, he turned to her, flashing her a smile. She couldn't see his eyes, but somehow Laurel just knew he was looking at her.
Scabior couldn't believe Greyback was actually getting damaged by someone as mundane as the Arrow, and was about to move when he saw the vigilante grab his bow and take aim straight for him without even turning his head. "Where do you think you're going?" the vigilante's voice called out to him, as he shot the arrows. Scabior tried to dodge, but there were too many arrows and panic had set in. Scabior wasn't thinking right and was struck by the arrows, and a few seconds later the tranquilizers set in.
As Greyback stumbled to his feet, gaining his senses back the Arrow whistled to him. "Alright boy, time to go to obedience school."
"Wait, did he just make a joke?" Hermione chuckled over the comms. Tommy looked at Laurel.
"Did he…"
"I think he did."
"Are we sure that's Oliver?" Diggle replied to Hermione, trying to contain his laughter as the Arrow just shook his head.
The werewolf growled, and without any warning, Greyback was suddenly charging at the vigilante with superhuman speed.
JESUS, I was not expecting to come out of hiatus so soon, actually been writing a bit and had a few chapters being worked on. I was gonna wait, but the sudden attention coming through dictated we update, so here we are! We're back guys, and I hope you're freaking ready for what's coming...
ALSO, 50 chapters, WOOOOOO!
See you guys in the next update, which is gonna be soon...
