Dinah Laurel Lance, Sara Lance, and Jean Loring were still in Laurel's office at C.N.R.I., each simply watching and waiting, when a group of men in suits entered, one of them coming through the door. He was tall with black hair graying at the temples. "Miss Lance?" he asked.
"Yes?" Laurel asked.
"I'm Agent Aaron Hotchner with the F.B.I.," the man said. "I'm afraid you need to come with me." He shot a glance at Sara as she stood to face him. "Both of you are, unfortunately, under arrest." More men entered the room. Sara tensed slightly before taking a breath.
"Can I ask the charges?" Laurel asked.
"Aiding and abetting a wanted criminal, specifically the vigilante known as Green Arrow," Hotchner replied. "Morgan, Rossi." A bald African American man moved to Sara, pulling her hands behind her back and cuffing her while a man who had the look of an Italian to him moved to cuff Laurel, who had stood up. Laurel felt a sense of loss wash over her as her hands were cuffed behind her back, like she had seen done to dozens of criminals over the years. She had known this was coming, but it was still a shock to be arrested so openly. The F.B.I. clearly weren't pulling any punches. "Your friend, Thomas Merlyn, was quite forthcoming with information about Oliver Queen and his base of operations, including the others who knew about it." *1*
"Don't say a word, ladies," Jean said, standing to her full (and rather inconsiderable) height. "Agent Hotchner, such a… pleasure to meet you again."
"Ms. Loring," Hotchner greeted neutrally. "I was not aware you were counsel for the Lance family."
"It's a recent contract," Jean said, smiling sweetly. "Now, are the cuffs really necessary? My clients are obviously not resisting arrest."
"I have my orders, Miss Loring," Hotchner replied.
"Planning a perp walk through the front doors of the field office, are we?" Jean asked archly. "Quite the statement the F.B.I. is trying to make. Perhaps overcompensating for the fact that your own Special Agent in Charge worked with the vigilante you say my clients know the identity of?" She smiled thinly. "I do hope the F.B.I. will leave my clients be until I can arrive to advise them."
"Of course," Hotchner said neutrally. "We would never refuse anyone their right to counsel."
"Good," Jean said softly. She turned to Laurel and Sara. "Go with them for now, girls, but don't say a word that they can use against you. Don't even smirk at them, because they'll try and use that against you."
"Yes, Ms. Loring," Laurel said evenly, Sara echoing her a moment later. The two women were silent as they were led out of the office, Laurel noting that other agents were looking through the files while her employees looked on, aghast. "I don't see what our files have to do with this, Agents," Laurel said.
"We have to make sure there were no other cases where Green Arrow aided you, as he did with Martin Somers and Jason Brodeur," said Rossi as he led Laurel outside. "We have a search warrant, Miss Lance. It's all quite aboveboard, which is more than can be said for what you and your boyfriend have been up to." Laurel really wanted to throw a bitter diatribe at Rossi for his condescending tone, but she remembered Jean's words and said nothing, knowing the F.B.I. would find nothing in their client files. But Laurel couldn't help but wonder if she would ever see C.N.R.I. again, or if this was her last day as a free woman, despite Ollie's assurances that he had contingencies he had put in place to aid her should she be charged with a crime stemming from their relationship.
Laurel and Sara were led to a F.B.I. sedan and put in the back. Hotchner and Rossi got in the front, Morgan returning back inside, presumably to join in on or supervise the search through C.N.R.I.'s client files. "So, was it worth it?" Hotchner asked the sisters. They said nothing, didn't even give him matching glares. They just stared straight ahead, stone-faced, though Laurel was trembling slightly as she imagined what was coming. She had a feeling that Jean was right and the F.B.I. were going to do a perp walk. Not so much to put pressure on she and Sara as to put pressure on Ollie, let him see people he cared about were in danger of being sent to prison. This was a honeypot trap for Ollie, and knowing her boyfriend, he would walk right into it because of how much he loved her. Stay away, Ollie, Laurel thought. Don't give yourself up on my account. You're too important for this city. All they've got on me is aiding and abetting. That's five to ten years, max. I can do it. I can be the sacrifice that keeps you out of prison.
*DC*
Oliver Queen was in the Bunker with John Diggle and Naomi Singh, watching the ongoing coverage on Oliver's exposure, including a feed from outside of the F.B.I. field office where reporters were camped out, waiting for the F.B.I. to make an arrest. "It's a damn circus," Diggle said, watching the news feeds. "I mean, I knew it was going to be big, but this is bigger than I expected."
"Why wouldn't it be?" Oliver asked dryly. "I'm the richest man in Starling City, the C.E.O. of the city's largest employer, and I've just been revealed to be what the pundits insist on calling a modern-day Robin Hood. Why wouldn't it be big news?"
"Well, when you put it like that…" Naomi said. "And what you do mean, the pundits 'insist'? You are Robin Hood, Mr. Queen."
"I am not," Oliver muttered, mulish and annoyed. Diggle and Naomi ignored the man who was in constant denial of the truth, in part because an F.B.I. sedan was pulling up in front of the crowd of milling reporters. Two agents got out, and then Oliver's attention was riveted on the screen as first Laurel, then Sara were pulled from the car, handcuffed and being led through the crowd. "No," he murmured. "No, no, no…"
"Damn," Diggle breathed. Naomi was just staring at the screen in surprise. Oliver turned away from the monitor and moved to stand in front of the mannequins holding the Spartan and Green Arrow uniforms and the exosuit. Diggle joined him a moment later. "What's going through your head?"
"I didn't expect Laurel and Sara to get caught up in this," Oliver said. "I would've thought Tommy would want to protect them. I guess I was wrong. He told the F.B.I. enough to get them to charge Laurel and Sara." Oliver sighed, hanging his head. "There's only one way to do this, John. It was a way I hoped wouldn't happen, because it means I have to break my promise to Laurel. I told her I would find a way for us to be together. But now she's been charged, there's only one way to free her and Sara and make sure they can't be charged again by someone like Nudocerdo, no matter what happens."
"What is this 'way'?" Diggle asked.
Oliver turned to look at Naomi. "Initiate the Clean Slate Protocol, Naomi."
"Are you sure, Mr. Queen?" Naomi asked cautiously.
"I am," Oliver said. "I trust you will serve Sara as well as you have served me."
"If Waller will let me," Naomi said. "I'm sorry, Mr. Queen. It's been an honor."
"Oliver, what is this? What is Clean Slate Protocol?" Diggle demanded to know, an unpleasant feeling churning in his gut. Oliver turned to face him, his expression bleak, and that sensation worsened. Dig just knew whatever Oliver was about to say, he wasn't going to like one bit.
*DC*
Laurel sat in the interview room with her hands cuffed to the table in front of her. The F.B.I. were trying to throw her off-balance, intimidate her by pulling out all of the stops. Privately, she wondered if her father had seen her and Sara's perp walk on the news. If he had, he would probably be here soon to try and speak to them, if only to yell at them for getting involved with a goddamned vigilante, especially if that vigilante was Oliver Queen. The door to the room opened and Jean walked in. She took one look at the cuffs around Laurel's slender wrists, binding her to the table, and clucked her tongue. "Unnecessary use of restraints on two occasions," she muttered to herself as she took a seat beside Laurel. "Now, we only have a few minutes, Laurel, before they come in, and they will be throwing the book at you. I strongly urge you to cooperate with any deal they offer you immunity with."
"I won't betray Ollie, not like Tommy did," Laurel said firmly.
"Laurel, the moment that Oliver decided to run and not stand and fight these charges, he gave up any chance of life as a free man, any chance of seeing his sentence commuted to being served at a psychiatric hospital to treat his obvious break from reality," Jean said. "I will be lucky if I can get away with an insanity defense with him. But he wouldn't want you joining him in prison, would he? He would want you safe, outside of prison, living your life."
"My life is nothing without him in it," Laurel said. "I've already lived five years like that. I can't do it again, Jean."
Jean's expression was soft as she said, "Laurel, you are young. You can always find love again. It is possible. I know you and Oliver have had many years together. But as I said, the moment he chose to run, he gave up any chance at freedom. With the charges he's facing, he'll be lucky to face a parole review board in ten, fifteen years, if not longer. He won't be a free man until he's close to fifty, perhaps over fifty. You can't give up your whole life for him, and he wouldn't want you to."
"I won't betray him," Laurel said resolutely.
Anything else that could be said between lawyer and client ended when the door opened and Agents Trimble and Danvers entered, taking a seat across from Laurel and Jean. "Hello, Miss Lance, Ms. Loring," Trimble said. "We'll get right to the point. We don't want you, Miss Lance. We want him. We want Oliver Queen, we want his base, we want his closest allies, John Diggle and the woman called Naomi. You have the knowledge that we need, and you can walk out of here, today, with your sister at your side, if you just give us what we want and convince your sister to do the same."
"I'm afraid I'm confused as to why I'm here, Agent Trimble," Laurel said, smiling sweetly. "I don't know where Oliver is, if he is what the news says. Which I don't believe for a minute. Oliver Queen is a respectable businessman who is just trying to do right by his family's company. He certainly isn't some vigilante." Which was true, from Laurel's point of view. To her, Oliver Queen was not a vigilante, he was a hero.
"Miss Lance, please do not test our patience," Trimble said. "Thomas Merlyn has already sworn out an affidavit confirming that both you and your sister know where the Green Arrow's base is and have been inside of it without being taken there blindfolded or anything like that. You know where the Bunker is. You know what's inside of it. You know how to find it. If you give us the Bunker, we can make a deal. If you don't, you will be charged for aiding and abetting a wanted criminal and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. You may thing you can take the five to ten years you might be sentenced to, no problem, but believe me, Miss Lance, prison isn't as easy to adjust to as you think. Especially when you have so many enemies in both Iron Heights and Slabside."
"Are you threatening my client, Agent Trimble?" Jean asked archly.
"No, Ms. Loring, I am trying to help your client," Trimble replied. "Because of the federal nature of the crimes Mr. Queen stands accused of, Miss Lance and her sister face equally federal charges of aiding and abetting, which will qualify them for Slabside Penitentiary, which currently houses around one hundred members of the Russian Bratva, including the Pakhan, Anatoli Knyasev. He sent men to get your client, Ms. Loring, and if she and her sister are sent to Slabside, it is conceivable that they will be targets for retribution against Oliver Queen. The Bratva are brutal to women, and they will find a way to have their revenge. But Miss Lance and her sister can avoid all of that, if they just tell us what we want to know. We can offer them immunity from prosecution, let them go back to their ordinary lives."
"Again, Agent Trimble, I am completely lost as to what you're talking about," Laurel said. "Ollie doesn't have anything to do with the Russian mob! He was on an island for five years!"
Trimble and Danvers looked at Laurel. "I see you're well and truly indoctrinated, Miss Lance," he said. "A pity. You had best hope that your sister is more cooperative, or you'll both be in a federal holding facility wearing drab prison uniforms by nightfall." Trimble stood. "Ms. Loring, we're about to speak to the other Miss Lance. If you're going to be advising her, now is the time to go speak with her."
"We will leave the room together, Agent Trimble, so you're not tempted to try and intimidate my client while she's alone," Jean said. She gestured towards the door. "You first. And you're to give me at least two minutes alone with the younger Miss Lance."
"Of course," Trimble said, unruffled, as he exited the room, followed by Danvers and finally Jean.
Laurel let out a shaky breath, clenching her trembling hands tightly to try and control the tremors. While she was putting up a brave front and she would never betray Oliver, the picture Agent Trimble had painted was pretty grim. She shuddered as she imagined being alone in a cell in Slabside when it opened, and Anatoli Knyasev entered with three hulking figures to rape and mutilate her. That wouldn't be a very pleasant way to go. She knew it would hurt. But she wouldn't betray Ollie. Not like Tommy had. *2*
*DC*
Sara Lance, her hands cuffed to the table, leaned back in her chair as much as she could without stretching her arms out. She would give the Feds this much, they knew how to make someone uncomfortable, and if Sara had been anyone else, it might've even worked. But when you've been hung from your wrists and beaten with sticks to learn to control your pain, a little discomfort from stretching the arms was a walk in the park. Sara was more concerned with what kind of effect this tactic was having on her sister. Laurel had never even been given a parking ticket in her life, and now she was facing federal charges of aiding and abetting. Sara knew the sentence for it was considerably lower than what Oliver would face, but still, being faced with possible prison time had to be doing a number on her sister's mental state. Sara just hoped that if they were sent somewhere, they were sent there together, so she could be there to protect Laurel. Especially if it was Slabside; Anatoli was vindictive enough he would go after Laurel to get to Ollie. Sara had seen Anatoli's depth of vindictiveness on the island, when Anthony had been with them in the fuselage.
The door to the interview room opened and Jean Loring entered, glancing at Sara's wrists briefly before sitting down in the chair beside her. "We have two minutes," she said quickly. "Your sister has already refused to answer any of their questions, unwilling to, as she puts it, betray Oliver like Tommy Merlyn did. Sara, they are going to offer blanket immunity for you and Laurel. All you have to do is give them Oliver, his base, and his allies. As your attorney, I have to urge you to take this deal before they decide to just charge the both of you and ship you off to Slabside. We both know who's waiting there."
"Sorry, Jean, but I don't know anything that could help," Sara said.
"Tommy Merlyn has sworn out an affidavit that says both you and Laurel know where the Bunker is and have been inside of it," Jean said quietly.
"Well, he's lying, cuz neither Laurel and I know where any vigilante's secret hideout is, and Ollie sure isn't some vigilante," Sara said, the lies slipping easily from her lips. "I mean, it's Ollie!"
Before Jean could say anything else, the door to the interview room opened again, and Agents Trimble and Danvers entered. Sara took special note that Agent Danvers had a certain vibe to her, but immediately dismissed the thought as the two F.B.I. agents took their seats. "Good morning, Miss Lance," Trimble said. "Let's start from the beginning, shall we? We have a statement on file that you were in the Green Arrow's base of operations almost two weeks before you were officially brought back from the dead, as was your sister. That same statement references Mr. Queen telling you he wasn't going to take you with him to rescue your sister, which leads to some very interesting thoughts, Miss Lance."
Agent Danvers opened the file she had carried in with her and set down photos of the hallway outside of Laurel's apartment and her front hall, where a bunch of men lay unconscious and bloodied. "You and your sister were attacked by several Bratva thugs wielding guns, yet not only did they not get a single shot off during the entire fight, but they were all taken down with the kind of skill that we've come to expect from Green Arrow. You led police to believe that it was he who intervened. Yet we know that's not possible, because at the time you were being attacked, Green Arrow was in his base of operations with us, avoiding Miss Lane's probing questions by working on his trick arrows." Agent Danvers then took out a series of photos, showing various mugshots of beat-up men. "There's been a rumor going around town of a Woman in Black, a woman who beats up any rapist she comes across and leaves them broken and bloody, just like the men who came to your sister's apartment to abduct her. See, the theory is that this woman suffered rape repeatedly sometime in her life, and she got strong and made a vow to stop that kind of suffering."
"Sounds like a fun rumor," Sara said after a moment. "But I don't get what that has to do with me."
Agent Danvers set another photo down. This was a still from a dash-cam showing the three-way duel between the Dark Archer, the Green Arrow, and the Woman in Black. "It's a little more than a rumor," Agent Danvers said. "Green Arrow has another female partner, this one capable of combat equal to his own. And the question is, who would Oliver Queen trust to have his back more than one of his own childhood friends, one who, like him, has five years unaccounted for in which she could have learned how to fight and leave men beaten and broken for the sin of thinking of raping a woman?"
"You see, Miss Lance, you have more to lose than your sister does," Agent Trimble said. "While she will be charged solely with aiding and abetting, you will be charged as a full accomplice and join Mr. Queen in facing up to twenty years in prison for your actions as a vigilante. You will further be charged with aiding and abetting for the time you weren't active, which will add another five to ten years onto your sentence. But you can avoid all of that, Miss Lance, for both you and your sister, if you just give us the Bunker's location and commit to testifying against Mr. Queen. You can win immunity for both you and your sister, or you can be in a federal holding facility by tonight. It's your choice."
"You make both options sound so tempting," Sara said with a cheesy smile. "But I'm afraid I don't know anything, agents," she continued, affecting the air of a vapid, dumb blonde like she used to act like before the Gambit. "Ollie isn't some vigilante, and I've certainly never been in Green Arrow's base. But it'd be cool, wouldn't it? I mean, you were there. You must think it's pretty awesome if you want to go back."
Trimble and Danvers exchanged an exasperated look, and Sara inwardly smirked. Finally, Danvers and Trimble stood, leaving the photos on the desk. "We'll leave you to think on things for a while, Miss Lance," Trimble said. "Ask yourself if Oliver Queen is really worth giving up your future for before you and your sister no longer have one." Trimble and Danvers exited the interview room.
"I don't know what you and your sister are thinking, but those are good deals being offered," Jean said. "You should take them while you have the chance."
"Not happening," Sara said firmly. *3*
*DC*
Oliver sat in the back of the Bentley as it cruised through traffic towards the F.B.I. field office, thinking of what was coming. He wished he could say he wasn't afraid, but he was. He still didn't know if he had done something to earn a different reward or if he would once more be trapped in the ethereal Lian Yu as some kind of roving, mindless animal the way he had after the Shadow Demons had torn him apart on Earth-38. He didn't know when it would happen, but it would; a shiv in the dark, executed in an alley while trying to escape… Tempest had many ways they could take care of the loose end. But he knew that he was doing what had to be done to safeguard the woman he loved as well as free all of his friends from being sent along with him.
Diggle was silent as he drove. He had taken Oliver's only plan fairly well; he had only vomited the one time at the realization of what Oliver was planning and what Clean Slate Protocol meant. But before they got to the field office, Oliver had something he had to ask of Diggle, and he hoped the man would agree. Once he was free and clear, he would have no need to stay loyal to Oliver or the things he had done. "John," Oliver said quietly. Diggle shifted in his seat slightly, showing he was listening. "I know I have no right to ask this of you, but I hope you'll consider it, if only as a last request of sorts."
"What is it, man?" Diggle asked quietly.
"After it happens, after you are all free and clear, I was hoping you could do me a favor," Oliver said. "Malcolm won't rest until he has the Queen fortune and controlling interest in Queen Consolidated, and to get that, for Thea to inherit it by default, Laurel has to die. She'll be a target for Malcolm and Tempest after all is said and done. I was hoping you would keep an eye on her. Sara will do her best, but Sara has her own duties after-after it happens. Someone needs to protect Laurel full-time. Would you do this for me? Look after Laurel?"
"I'll keep her safe, Oliver," Diggle promised as he slowed the car, pulling to a stop in front of the F.B.I. field office. "You ready for this?"
"I am," Oliver said quietly. "Remember, don't say a word to them, and I'll handle everything. I'm the one they want, and they'll do anything to have me dead to rights. Just keep calm and let me do the talking." Diggle nodded and got out of the car. There was no fervor as he walked around the car, so clearly the press didn't recognize him as Oliver Queen's driver and bodyguard. He opened the door for Oliver who stepped out. Instantly, the expected fervor rose up.
"Mr. Queen! Mr. Queen!" the shouts of his name as he moved towards the front doors of the field office were deafening, and the flashes of cameras going off were blinding. But eventually he and Dig made it to the front doors, and they entered.
Inside, all motion stopped as the F.B.I. registered who had just entered the building. "Hello, there," Oliver said pleasantly. "I understand you've been looking for me. Well, here I am." *4*
A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter.
Chapter Notes:
*1* Aaron Hotchner, Morgan, and Rossi are all members of the BAU in the series "Criminal Minds".
*2* In my opinion, Laurel would completely play the sacrificial lamb if it meant Oliver remained free. Her loyalty and love for Ollie is shown again and again throughout the series, right up until her death in 4x18. Even when she's angry at Oliver in S3, when she says she can't remember a time that she actually loved him, she doesn't want him *dead* or in prison.
*3* Sara's not so much a sacrificial lamb type as she wants to be wherever her sister is to keep her safe, and she knows Laurel would never turn on Ollie. So, she's doing the same, knowing that they could both be sent to prison for aiding and abetting (and committing vigilantism in her case). But she's also loyal to Oliver because she knows what he's trying to stop, and she supports him in that. She partly wants him to remain free because she doesn't *want* to take over for him because she knows what happens if that's what is put into play.
*4* Now, I'm sure people have probably guessed what Clean Slate Protocol is and what it means for Oliver (or what they all think it will mean), but I'll leave it hanging a bit longer before a full explanation is given. And now, Oliver has turned himself over to the F.B.I.