The Black Arrow
Espionage and a Lone Gunman
10th October 2012
Dealing with a teenage daughter, if only adopted, was quite the challenge James had found. On the whole, Kara was a good girl who kept out of trouble and had an excellent work ethic. In fact she was doing better than he at the sciences and maths, unsurprising given Krypton was so advanced, but one other nugget of information was that apparently she'd been 'designed' that way, to end up in the Science Guild just like her father and uncle.
According to Kara, Krypton was quite big on the whole designer baby idea but on a societal, species wide basis to fulfil the needs of society while perfecting its people. Everyone was trained and designed to be the perfect scientist, soldier, artist, judicator (or judge) or other whatever field needed. Kal was the odd one out by being conceived naturally, like humans, and was the first such birth on Krypton for centuries. Not that one could tell, Kryptonian genes were already greatly refined by this point that there was no difference between Kal and Kara in terms of intelligence, strength, or any other special ability that he had so far come into.
The problems with Kara were in fact only really one; helping her keep control of her powers in order to blend in, which by this point was mostly complete thanks to the meditation and some light self defence training against himself and Emiko which Jor-El oversaw. They had placed some training mats on the ground in the basement where the AI core and Kryptonian pod was located to allow for some training and practise while under the watchful eye of the AI.
What also helped was the suggestion by said AI to create red light lamps that could replicate the correct light waves that a red dwarf like Rao, the Kryptonian star, gave off. This light then allowed them to reduce Kara to human strength and ability, making the practise fairer before then allowing for strength training under normal light. This meant she would have the appropriate skills before adding her super strength and reflexes into a fight. In all it was a neat room with some cool toys for Kara, and Kal too when he was older.
xxxxx
He was in his office one morning, pouring over various files he needed to sign and authorize when out the corner of his eye he saw a news report on the TV in his office. He un-muted it and watched as the new report came in.
"James Holder, CEO of Holder Group, was killed late last night by the vigilante known only as The Hood. Holder Group was recently under lawsuit for placing defective smoke detectors in low-income neighbourhood housing, particularly in the Glades. As a result of the faulty detectors, countless deaths occurred from fires, prompting the lawsuit against his company. However James Holder and his company were ultimately acquitted of all charges. Holder Group had no further comment beyond 'we are dealing with the loss of our CEO and wish for privacy at this time before we move on to choose our new direction.' This John McGlughlin for Starling City News Service."
He pondered the news as he lounged in his chair. So Oliver had taken out another corrupt billionaire. Who was next he wondered, the Queens? Oliver would need to be stopped, too many were being killed and despite his training with Talia telling him to kill them all he saw no need for most of them to die. Martin Somers and Adam Hunt were left alive so why kill this one? Oliver made no sense James decided, although thinking about it perhaps Laurel Lance was the one who caused him to leave that Somers alive. As for Hunt, he had no clue other than $40 million was stolen from him.
He would have to meet with The Hood and tell him to end the death sentences, it was not sustainable and it would only bring the heat of the cops down upon all of them if he continued. Granted, it seemed Oliver gave ultimatums to those he went after but it was still too much. James and Emiko had lasted only as long as they had by being very specific on who died and limiting that to only three so far. The Hood stood at a body count of well over 20 so far, most of them being the guards of those he went after.
His phone rang at that moment. He reached forward absently, still deep in thought over how to handle Oliver, grabbed his office phone and brought it to his ear. "Hello?" The was no response and the ring came again. It was then he realised in fact that it was his mobile that was ringing and not the office phone. He picked his phone from his pocket and saw it was Emiko. "Emiko? What's up?"
"Ah James good, sorry about not using my office phone but I felt this was more secure. It seems I was right about Doug Miller and Harry Faring. Doug Miller tried to upload some virus to allow outside access to our servers. Who for I'm not sure yet and the virus itself doesn't give any insight as it just operates as a backdoor but you can thank Jor-El for finding it. It's a good thing you let him observe your company and have access to its systems, I doubt we would have caught it as quickly otherwise even with me keeping tabs on them."
"He did what?! Bloody hell, that is serious. And yes it was for exactly this reason like protecting the reactor and monitoring for any word of something like Kara that I gave Jor-El access to the company network. He's sort of acting a bit like JARVIS from the Iron Man films. Very well then, have Doug Miller seized and expelled from the site, revoke all access as well. I'll let Walter deal with it. And Mr Faring?"
"He tried to copy a load of proprietary data on the reactor to a removable drive, stuff that was based on information provided by Jor-El. Luckily the AI found that too and blocked access."
"Kick him out too then. I won't have people like that in my employ or loaned to us. Announce it loudly and have them thrown out publicly as a warning of what occurs when meddling in affairs that do not concern them" James responded sternly.
"Understood, I'll get security to grab them now."
"Good, now I need to sign off and few things and let Walter know. And that's on top of getting ready for the Unidac Industries sale in a few days."
"Ok, good luck with it."
To say Walter Steele was happy was an understatement typical of the British. He had been furious when James had let him know that afternoon about the two men who had been kicked out from the Nuclear project. In turn both of them had been then fired from Queen Consolidated without severance pay due to the severity of the crime. It was quite fitting he felt, especially when Walter said he was blacklisting them as further punishment.
Malcolm
"But Mr Merlyn-"
"Quiet you fool! You worked at Queen Consolidated for many years without too much hassle and were kept there partly by my design but now, instead of playing the long game and ingratiating yourself, you get caught planting a virus and bungle one of the only orders I have ever given you and then you get yourself not only kicked off from that nuclear fusion project I wanted eyes on but also out of QC itself!" Malcolm yelled angrily at the frightened man before him in his office. He took a few calming breaths that he'd learnt to do from the League before continuing "So no I will not hire you Mr Miller, you are a disgrace and you have also been blacklisted by Walter Steele. You can't work for any high profile company, ever."
"That do-gooder British fool has done what?!" Doug exclaimed in surprise.
"You heard me Miller. Now what am I going to do with you?"
"Well I know too much Mr Merlyn. You know, that list of yours and your Undertaking, and that you want Unidac Industries. I'd make a good partner or assistant for you in your business or in Unidac" Doug Miller pointed out confidently.
"Indeed you do know too much. Fine, go home and I will sort something out tonight. Good day Mr Miller." He watched the former QC employee leave before glancing over to his panic room where he kept his league inform. Yes I just might know how to deal with you.
James
It was two days later the news reported yet more death.
"Carl Rasmussen was found shot to death in his home early this morning. The police will not comment if there's a connection between Mr. Rasmussen's death and the murder of James Holder a few nights ago. Mr. Rasmussen leaves behind a wife and three children. And in other news, the body of Doug Miller, a former employee of Queen Consolidated who was fired over a breach of contract, was found in his apartment late yesterday afternoon. The cause of death has not been released but rumours suggest it was a drug overdose and a possible suicide. He had been fired and blacklisted due to the severity of the breach. He has no next of kin."
"Did you know Carl Rasmussen well Mister Evans" Detective Quentin Lance asked. The detectives had turned up around 11am asking to see him about the recent death of the businessman Carl Rasmussen.
"Not really, to be honest I hadn't even met the guy although I had vaguely heard of him. My company doesn't do any business with his nor have I had to interact with him in the five years that I've lived here. I know he was a big name and wealthy but other than that…" he shrugged rather unhelpfully.
"A wealthy guy who just so happened to be looking to buy out a company called Unidac Industries?" Lucas Hilton asked curiously.
"He was? Huh, to be honest I don't really have a clue who's trying to buy it except for QC. As for Unidac? Well, industries is something of a misnomer. UI's recent activity was actually looking into alternative energy, which given my partnership with QC over a fusion reactor, makes it an ideal target for acquisition. It's a similar reason for why QC wants it though their clean energy initiatives are bigger than mine but this will even the playing field a bit" James explained with a smirk.
"I think the point my partner is trying to make is that Carl Rasmussen was the second bidder this week to lose his life" Detective Hilton pointed out.
"He was as well? I didn't know that, are you implying something Detective?" James retorted defensively with an arched brow.
"Well, only that you're looking to buy Unidac Industries and the competition seems to be dropping like flies" Lance explained. James scoffed.
"I'm a last minute potential buyer detective, the company has been in ownership for a couple of months and the liquidation auction is tomorrow. I only applied to buy it a couple of days ago so if it was me I'd have an awful lot of killing to do, including a fellow Brit leading an American company. I'd rather avoid that thanks."
"Except you aren't British, you're American, despite the accent" Lance pointed out snarkily.
"I was raised in the UK after my parents died but yes you are right. I also remember a young beat cop and a detective coming to my house and telling us the news." Lance nodded slowly, remembering it himself. "As for being British or not, I have duel nationality in fact, due to living there for well over a decade."
"Well we're just making the rounds with the interested buyers. Letting them know to be careful."
"Indeed and I thank you for informing me. I'll have the company increase our security presence throughout the building and have some more guards on alert over at the mansion" James responded warmly. The detectives nodded and were about to leave when Lance turned back to him.
"You know anything about Doug Miller?" Lance asked curiously.
"Sure, he's the guy who tried to load some virus into my computer systems over at my fusion reactor. Had him and another guy kicked out for espionage and endangering the public. He's lucky our cybersecurity is top notch and caught it, if we hadn't who knows what could have occurred."
"Would you off him for it?" Lance asked.
"I'd already had him kicked off the project and reported him to Walter Steele detective. He was then fired from QC and also blacklisted. Trust me, for a guy like Miller, that was punishment enough." The detectives nodded and thanked him for his time before leaving the office. James slumped back into his office chair pondering the news that Miller was dead along with Rasmussen. Miller he could explain away as a suicide like the news speculated it to be but also it could perhaps be the tidying up of loose ends given what Miller had tried to load onto his computer systems. As for the businessman Rasmussen, that was likely someone trying to off the competition before the auction as the police suspect. Yes security would need to be upped for the next couple of days. Just in case someone did get ideas. Luckily the glass around his office had been replaced a few years back with some bullet proof window panes, thus reducing the chance of being targeted here.
xxxxx
The next evening he was in his black tuxedo standing next to Emiko who wore a red cocktail dress that fit her curves snugly. "You ready for tonight? You look as beautiful as ever" he asked as they stood off to onside away from the windows.
"Such a charmer" she replied with a grin. "And do you mean a possible assassination attempt, yeah really ready for that" Emiko then snarked back.
"Indeed." The pair wandered around the room, greeting a few people here and there as music played gently in the background, until James heard a call from behind them. Turning around he found himself face to face with Walter Steele along with Moira and Thea Queen.
"Walter, it's nice to see you again, and under better circumstances too" James said holding out his hand. The pair shook warmly.
"Indeed it's good to see you as well. I am truly sorry what the two men did. I had no idea they would do such a thing and risk so much" Walter apologised again. James shook his head, there was no way Walter could have truly known they'd do something. "Allow me to introduce my wife Moira and my step daughter Thea."
"Mrs Steele, or Mrs Queen? Or did you hyphenate" James asked curiously and with good humour.
"Moira will do for you James" she replied warmly. "Like I told you before I remember your parents well and they were good friends of mine and Robert's, we were both saddened by their deaths and sorry to see you go." James smiled sadly and nodded appreciatively.
"Yes I couldn't stand being in the city after that, plus my guardian Jack felt that some distance would help. It did and I'd like to think I became a better man because of it. Even have some international experience under my belt with work in both London and Moscow."
"You see Thea, James is working hard and running his own family's company, he started just a few years older than you" Walter pointed out to the teenage girl. She smiled weakly but looked as if she'd rather be anywhere else but at this auction.
"I did have help and it's only in the last couple of years that I've been running it on my own" James defended modestly.
"Nonsense, you've done really well over the past five years, your reactor will be a great boon to both our companies" Walter replied.
"Well thank you regardless, and don't take it too hard when I beat your arse in the auction" James said with a smirk.
"It'll be a cold day in hell when I let you win" Walter joked back. Thea just stared at the two in surprise and even Moira seemed to smile slightly at the competition.
"Thea, lovely to meet you at last, Walter had nothing but good things to say about you" James said turning to the girl.
"Well he probably forgot something then" Thea replied with a grin.
"I'm sure. Anyway, allow me to introduce Emiko Adachi, she's the head of Evans Tech, my science and technology division, and also my girlfriend of three years." Moira's eyes narrowed sharply at the name for a brief second before taking a more pleasant look once more but something cold still remained in her eyes. Walter on the other hand just smiled and shook hands with her.
"It's good to see you again Miss Adachi, you have risen up quite quickly through the ranks at EI. I'm sure your parents would be proud."
"Thank you Mister Steel and my mother has been proud of me for doing what I could with what little we had." At this Emiko glanced slightly bitterly towards Moira who caught the look and returned it with a cold one of her own, but both Walter and Thea remained oblivious.
Just then Oliver turned up seemingly equally oblivious to the tension between Moira and Emiko, greeting his sister with a kiss to her head and shaking Walter's hand.
"Oliver always good to see you, what have you been busy doing? Not QC given that press conference I hear" James asked curiously. The Queens seemed to grimace at the mention of the press conference that Oliver had bungled when they opened the new Applied Sciences building.
"Oh you know, this and that, coming back from the dead and trying to find some hot model to date" Oliver replied flippantly. "Actually I'm looking to open a nightclub over at the old steel factory, so me and Tommy have been looking at other clubs to see what works."
"Sounds fun, I'm sure given your history with the clubbing scene you'll find that niche for your own. Good luck" James encouraged.
"Thank you, it was good seeing you both, I'm just gonna talk to John, excuse me" He walked off to a black man in a suit who stood stiffly and alert a short distance away.
"John?" Emiko asked.
"John Diggle, he's Oliver's bodyguard and our security consultant" Walter explained. "With all the murders associated with tonight's auction he has been working quite hard. Done a good job too."
"Indeed, some nasty business all that" James commented with a shudder.
"Look mom the police are here, I wonder if Lance is gonna arrest Ollie again" Thea commented sarcastically. The group turned to see a man of possibly Indian heritage be arrested on the stairs to the upper floor and be taken out of the room.
"Who was that?" James asked with a frown. He was sure he knew that guy from somewhere.
"Warren Patel, he was bidding on Unidac tonight, although given his arrest he might have been the one behind the shootings" Walter explained with Moira nodding after a brief look of concern. A young woman then stepped up to the party, "Mr Steele, Mr Evans, the auction will begin in five minutes. Please make sure your bids are ready."
"Of course, thank you Gina."
"Indeed, thank you miss" James added. "Well we best be off, may the best man win." Walter chuckled slightly and the Queens bid him farewell before moving off to the main room for the auction.
xxxxx
After they had moved into the auction room itself James headed over to the bar to get some light refreshment after placing his own bid with the auctioneer in an envelope, nodding to Walter who had just placed his own. Meanwhile Emiko took a spot near the one of the white support columns, surveying the room for any trouble. She spotted her brother standing by Mr Steele near the windows, they seemed to be talking quietly. James then came over with a flute of champagne and then Oliver made a sudden beeline for his sister Thea and mother over by the doorway. Barely seconds later Detective Lance was diving on top of Walter, pushing him to one side as a waiter in a pressed white uniform suddenly cried out and collapsed to the ground, blood beginning to slowly stain his jacket.
Chaos erupted as people began running away from the room in a panic, Emiko and James tried to gather some of them and guide them out. "This way!" he yelled out to the scared bidders as he spotted Detective Lance guiding Walter and a few others out of the room. Moira and her daughter Thea were escorted away and down the stairs by their bodyguard John Diggle while Oliver seemed to dash off somewhere else entirely and disappeared from sight. A few more shots rang out as two more people were hit; an elderly man and a middle-aged woman by the bar. With the aid of the few remaining cops on the floor they managed to get most of the remaining guest out of the room, panicked cries and screams still filled the air causing plenty of chaos and distraction.
xxxxx
On one of the lower levels, ten minutes later, people were slowly organised and given blankets and tea, or a stiffer drink if asked for, to help calm nerves and deal with the panicking civilians. Police and an armed SWAT team quickly swarmed to the building and medical examiners arrived not long after to deal with the three dead bodies. During that time ambulances arrived with medics to aid those with injuries from the stampede or broken glass.
"James have you seen Oliver?" Moira asked worriedly, panic clearly written across her face and a blanket wrapped around her, while Walter stood a few paces away holding Thea who was crying slightly into his side. He looked around, surveying the room and frowned slightly, not recalling seeing Oliver beyond his disappearance. He glanced and Emiko who shook her head sadly.
"I'm sorry Moira, we haven't seen him, perhaps it would be best to head back to your manor now with the situation over and Thea upset. Maybe he'll be waiting for you there? After all this may have given him a panic attack so he ran. No one bar him knows what went on on that island. The Japanese ruled the seas around there during the Second World War, maybe it was littered with land mines or something and so the exploding glass and bullets gave him flashbacks" James suggested with a casual shrug. Moira nodded uncertainly but walked back over to Walter and Thea. A couple of minutes later they left to head back to their manor.
"Where do you think he went?"
"If I had to guess, I'd say he went after the gunman. Come on, lets skedaddle. Our bid is placed and given this shooting we'll likely hear about the result in the morning." After giving Detective Lance and his partner a brief statement about what they saw they quickly left and made it back to the Evans family manor outside the city.
Upon arrival he got a tearful hug from Kara, who was home once again from uni, and some hot chocolate courtesy of Jack. "Hush Kara, we are fine, we were nowhere near close to being shot, we were far away from the windows" James comforted the young blonde.
"Don't wanna loose you too, not after I just barely got over Krypton" she sniffled.
"Never gonna happen" he said, rubbing her back and tilting her head up to face him and giving a soft comforting smile. "Now get to bed, it's been a long day." She hummed before giving him another hug and then leaving the room slowly.
"How was it really?" Jack asked with a knowing look.
"Not too bad actually. Sure the screaming and the cries were there, people panicked of course and three were killed if I recalled correctly but we all got out with nary a scratch."
"You got lucky" Jack harrumphed. James chuckled dryly.
"Aye that is probably true. Kal do ok?"
"He was fine sir, he was in bed long before any news broke about the auction."
"Good, that's good, we won't bring it up then. If he asks just say some stuff occurred and we were totally fine, no need to worry him. Well night Jack, like I said to Kara, it's been a long day."
xxxxx
The following morning he got a call confirming his successful bid on the company. "We will transfer the deeds to Unidac this afternoon Mr Evans. Please alert your legal team to await our papers."
"Of course thank you for letting me know." He put down the phone and smirked as he leaned back in his office chair. "Time to put their knowledge to good use. Emiko, get the lawyers to bring Unidac under Evans Tech, part of the Evans group. Evans Industries has a new acquisition and we have much to do. Our reactor is closer than ever and some of the knowledge and proprietary technologies and knowledge might be useful" he said to his girlfriend who sat opposite him on the other side of his desk. "Find everything they have and speak with the staff about their projects. Lets go save the world."
Moira
"I understand, yes it is a shame but you can't win everything. Ok, thank you for letting me know. Good bye." He ended the call and sighed.
"So? How'd it go? Did we get the company?" Moira asked her husband hopefully. Tempest really needed it under control of QC.
"I didn't win. Unfortunate but not unexpected. Evans Industries won, seems James beat us this time" Walter replied with a disappointed smile. "Doesn't matter, there'll be others in the future. Is Oliver back home?"
"That's… a shame. Er yes Oliver came back during the night, he's just gone out into the city" Moira answered slightly perturbed. Oh Malcolm wouldn't be happy at all.
"I see. Just give him time, love" Walter suggested, mistaking her hesitance for concern for Oliver. "Oliver is still adjusting to civilisation, he'll come around. Now I best get to the office, I'll need to let them know we lost the bid."
"Of course, have a good day" Moira said distractedly. She watched Walter leave before sighing softly. Steeling herself for a bad conversation she went for her phone. She dialled a number and spoke. "Malcolm. We have a problem."
"No good morning? Really Moira, how impolite. So, what is it? Did you not get the company as we require?" he said pleasantly but with a cold edge.
"Unfortunately not. Evans Industries bought it."
"WHAT?!" Malcolm responded sharply before taking a breath. "You not only failed to get the company but you let Evans buy it? Just what do you plan to do to rectify this? You know we have few contacts if any inside that company." She sighed before quickly thinking of something to save her family and get rid of a problem.
"I have an idea about that" she answered slowly. Hmm yes that could work she supposed with a small grin. "Emiko Adachi runs Evans Tech, the most likely arm of Evans Industries that Unidac will be brought under. She also happens to be James' girlfriend and is unfortunately...Robert's bastard" she finished bitterly. "Kill her as an example and use it as a threat to hold over Evans for his adopted children. That it cleans that stain from my family is a bonus. Your associate can do that can he not?" she could almost hear Malcolm smirk at the viciousness of the plan.
"Very well Moira. It is a half way decent plan and it can work to our advantage, I approve. I will arrange for my associate to pay Miss Adachi a visit followed by Mr Evans. He will convince the boy to play ball and serve our cause. If he refuses, then miss Adachi will not be the last family member he will lose."
James
That evening he was standing to one side in the basement watching Kara and Emiko practise with their Escrima sticks. "That's it Kara. Remember variable velocity, change it up constantly to throw your opponent" James explained. Kara and Emiko exchanged strikes, catching them all on their sticks. Both moved about quickly, dodging or catching their opponents' attacks, red light filled the room dulling her powers and making her human.
"Remind me again why I'm learning this?" Kara asked for the third time, only a bit out of breath as she sped up briefly before slowing as instructed.
"You are learning it to practise your control and skill without powers but also to improve your precision and your hand/eye co-ordination. If you are ever attacked publicly or rendered without your abilities knowing hand to hand combat, or improvising some staff, stick or baton, could save your life. But mostly it for our enjoyment at seeing you suffer" he said with a grin.
"Seeing me-" Kara started and turned towards him only to get a whack to the back of her head.
"Kara, don't get so easily distracted" Emiko said pointedly.
"But he said-" she started before hearing James chuckle at her. "You said that on purpose" she accused stroppily.
"Maybe" he replied, dragging it out and smirking at her still. She huffed and James laughed again.
"Control your emotions in the fight Kara, observe your surroundings and most importantly don't get distracted while attacking or defending, wait until you have defeated your opponent first before dealing with whatever comes next."
"He is quite right young one, you show great potential and you should always mind your surroundings" came a calm but pleased female voice from the shadows. James and Emiko quickly took defensive stances while Kara rushed over to the controls and flipped a switch, the lighting of the basement promptly changing from the red light to a yellowish hue. Stepping out of the shadows was a middle aged, but still attractive, woman of Middle Eastern decent with dark hair. She wore tight fitting black leather trousers and a form fitting black leather jacket. James blinked in surprise before relaxing slightly.
"Talia?"
AN: So a cliff hanger for you all on the appearance of Oliver's and James' teacher while Malcolm and Moira are angry for two slightly different reasons. I didn't want to redo Lone Gunman since I'm sure people know it well so I thought I'd take a slightly different angle and focus on inside the building instead of Oliver fighting Deadshot. Kara is getting some training and the Jor-El AI has free run of the internet and EI computer systems.