The top of the mountain had felt more in reach than it ever had before.
He had cut through stone with a stake sharp enough to pierce a diamond. After so much time that he had spent pulling his body weight through the treacherous conditions, feeling his muscles burn and tear the further up he went, there was a relief on its way. He could feel it in his bones. The sun was peaking over the rocky cliff. It was so bright that it was blinding— in fact, it was so blinding that he allowed himself to get lost in it's illuminance.
He had forgotten about the darkness below. He had forgotten that this journey had not only tarnished pieces of his soul, but it had taken parts of it as well. He wasn't the man that he was during his time on the ground because of how much he had allowed the murk to become apart of him.
The light was an illusion. An illusion of everything that he wished he could be but couldn't. He pulled his stake from the side of the mountain as he allowed the light to guide him. And as he tried to once again drive it to a higher point, he couldn't see a thing. He began to slip. When he tried to hold on to the stake placed in the other hand, he heard a voice telling him to let go. He fought it, denied it, told it was crazy for so long.
And as the light ahead of him slowly faded from his line of sight, he realized that was a peak he was never meant to reach. So he gave in to the voice in his head and allowed his grasp to be no more.
He was still free falling—- and the voice he had heard in his head was once again standing right in front of him.
Oliver's jaw clenches along with the fist along the outer seam of his pants. His glare, full of fire and fury despite his otherwise calm demeanor, spoke everything that he wanted to say but couldn't as there were unknowing staff members in the room. Kara, being the kind and courteous person that she was, led them out of the room and cited a personal matter being the reason why it was better for less people to be present.
"What?" Tommy questions, reading the tension in the room and the corner of his lip finding contentment in it. "No excitement for the return of the prodigal son?"
A hollow laughter escapes Adrian's throat as he begins to close to the space between himself and Tommy. He shakes his head, placing his hands on his hips as he says, "Prodigalisn't exactly what I'd call you."
"And what would you call me then, Mr. Chase?" Tommy asks, smug reeking from the crease in his brow. He shrugs his shoulders with draw as he adds, "Because I already know that the Inquirer is going to run with my publicist's suggestion. I'm open to anything different."
Kara scoffs as she makes her way back to the side of the room in which Tommy was facing. "You really think that the Inquirer cares about the son of a sociopathic murderer who destroyed an entire part of this city?"
"They'll care when they find out about the generous donation that Merlyn Global will be making towards the Mayor's project to rebuild the Glades," Tommy replies, bringing his attention from Kara to Oliver as his stare fired a knowingness that set off a rage in Oliver's chest. "Everyone loves a good redemption story, right?"
Even after being let out of captivity, he had a feeling that he would find himself face to face with Tommy yet again but he hoped that it wouldn't be with Kara and Adrian also present. The more jaded parts of him wished it to be through a damn body bag. There was no doubt in his mind that every thought that was coursing through his mind was rising to the surface of his had yet to take his eyes off of Tommy. He felt frozen in his icy lour, stuck as if he was back in the shackles that bounded him to finding what he believed was his true self.
"What are you doing here?" Oliver asks through a firm jaw, ignoring his placative babble that's sole purpose was to rile everyone in the room up.
Tommy forces a smile, laughing with arrogance. as his stare narrowed. "Didn't I just tell you? I'm here to give back to my city. Redeem my family's name. Thought the best place to start would be to give a courtesy visit to my best friend, who just so happens to be the Mayor."
"Pretty hard to redeem your family's name when you're a fucking murderer yourself," Adrian replies, folding his arms across his chest as he was now only a few feet from where Tommy stood. "Cut the bullshit, Merlyn. No one in this room is buying your poor attempt at charity."
Tommy, not threatened by the almost non-existent space between he and Adrian, continues to try and direct his words at Oliver as the blusterous grin across his lips had only grown as the moments went by. "I was also thinking about giving to the Anti-Crime Unit. I know they've had a rough go at it lately."
Oliver can't help but close his eyes and sigh as he knew the exact reaction that crack would get out of Adrian. He could hear the harsh stomp of Adrian's shoe before the sound of bone connecting to bone as his knuckles crashed into Tommy's cheek. When he opened his eyes, the smirk had let to leave the corner of Tommy's lips as his fingertips were over a red and inflamed spot under his eye socket. Kara was pulling Adrian away while his glare was laser focused on Tommy's side profile.
He knew that the satisfaction that was increasing in Tommy's demeanor wasn't a result of Adrian's lashing out. No. It was because he believed that action was a result of Oliver's influence. And as Oliver saw a similar vengeful sentiment reflecting in Kara's harsh stare, he realizes that Adrian wasn't the only one who had become infused with the darkness that association with Oliver brought.
"You've got a lot of nerve coming here," Kara begins, her words as firm as her demeanor. "We could have you in custody in no time."
Tommy forms a thin line with his lips, shaking his head with fervor as he chuckles. "And what kind of case could you form against someone who's been legally dead for almost three years now?"
Oliver's attention was drawn to Adrian, who's body was slightly turned to the side wall as he had his phone sticking slightly out of his pocket. He was typing away with his thumb. Oliver figured that he wasn't dumb enough to try to apprehend him with no kind of charges or tangible evidence to support Tommy being Prometheus, leaving him to resort to an attempt at getting Barry involved.
Tommy must have caught on too, because he noticed where Oliver's eyes had gone to and turned in the direction they were facing and said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Laurel has already neutralized his speed once and I wouldn't want to tempt her to do anything worse."
"You son of a bitch. . ." Adrian utters under his breath, motioning towards him and Kara has to stop him yet again.
They both look at Oliver, their questioning but patient states awaiting any kind of command or quick plan of action. The truth was that he didn't have one. He still wanted Tommy dead. He had only asked the one question, not indulging in any of the desires brewing within his rage in hopes to keep what his actual intentions were hidden. He also recognized that Tommy wanted an angered reaction out of him—- and he wanted no part in giving him the contentment he desperately craved.
So he subtly shakes his head in their direction as he once again looks at Tommy, a cold stare lining into his eyes as he tells him, "Thisis over, Tommy. Leave."
"That's the thing, Ollie," Tommy says as he walks up to his desk slowly. His demeanor became more reflective of what he had seen in the days before as he knew there was no need to keep up the cordial façade that he had been reeling since he walked in the building. His parting words came out as what could pass as a louder whisper as he leaned over the top of his desk, speaking through gritted teeth. "As long as I am breathing, as long as they and everyone else you care about are all breathing, this will never be over. I think you know that by now."
He pushes himself off the edge of the desk, flaring his look of contempt as he turns and walks towards the door. Almost as if on cue, the last person that Oliver wanted him to once again interact with was coming through the doors. He watched the fearful surprise fill Thea's eyes as she sees her half-brother for the first time since he had died.
"Speedy,"Tommy begins through a haughty chuckle. "I was wondering if I was going to get to see you today."
She walks up to him and looks at him with a strong conviction as she says, "go to hell."
He follows her with his not-so-offended eyes as she swiftly avoids physical contact, swerving around him with her tiny body as she walks towards where everyone else stood. He scoffs as he shakes his head, placing his hand on the door handle.
"I'll see you all soon," he says in an almost sinister manner before opening the door and leaving.
Oliver could feel all of the eyes in the room being drawn to him immediately. He rests his fist along the wood of his desktop, allowing his weight to fall into them as his chin fell to his chest. He takes a deep breath as he begins to try to process all that had just happened and what his next step forward should be. There was apart of his conscience that was screaming into the void to not act with haste. It had to scream, as the cognizance of the threats that Tommy had just made on the people he loved was building a wall of neglecting vengeance that acted as Kevlar, blocking any kind of ideas that mimicked patience from being formed like they were led bullets.
It wasn't just the threats. It was the look on Kara and Adrian's face that emulated everything that he was feeling inside that was driving his decisions. He didn't want them near Tommy. And he knew exactly how to avoid that. So he took his phone from his pocket, ignoring the verbal calls from his surroundings for his attention, as he pulled up the latest messaging conversation he had partaken in.
He began typing a short but informational command to Alex, saying with simplicity:
"He is leaving City Hall right now. Follow him and take the shot."
Kara knew that Oliver was spiraling.
It began with the wall that he had been building between himself and the people that he loved since they brought him back from captivity. He couldn't even look anyone in the eye.
It continued with the self-deprecating remarks as Kara practically begged him to let her back in. And now she had watched the cold stare that had been locked on to Tommy almost the entire time that he stood in his office become hollow while his head rolled towards his desk.
She had never seen him so defeated. Yeah, there were times in which he was deflated and dour. But at this moment, and since they had found him, there existed no trace of hope resting in his eyes. There was no urgency in the way that he held himself. But he wasn't giving up on stopping Tommy.
No, there was an intensity within the fury as his eyes revealed his desires and convictions. And when Oliver stood behind his desk in silence, he ignored Adrian and Thea's attempts to get his attention. All Kara could do is watch him remain motionless as he got lost in his own thoughts.
Eventually he pulled his phone from his pocket and sent a message without addressing anyone in the room. He simply sat back down in his seat, enveloping himself in whatever work he had been doing previously in an attempt to drown out the world around him. Thea and Adrian look at Kara knowingly, nudging her with their eyes to try to get any kind of response out of him.
She sighs as she walks up to his desk, keeping her demeanor as soft and calm as possible as she asks, "What do you want us to do about Tommy?"
"Nothing," Oliver responds firmly as he looks at Kara and then Adrian and Thea. "I told you all last night. I'm done. The team is done. So that means no one is going after Tommy. What just happened doesn't change that."
Kara cocks an eyebrow as she tilts her head, trying to read into any possible reason why he refuses to even make an attempt at stopping the man who had been terrorizing him and the city for months.
"So we're just going to let a serial killer walk freely on our streets?" Adrian asks, as Kara was still staring at him in silence.
She watches as the look in his eyes doesn't change and he presses his lips together while nodding. "I've got that taken care of. He's not going to be a problem anymore."
"What did you do, Ollie?" Thea asks, worry ringing strongly in her tone.
Kara remembers the conversation that she had walked into and the truth became less of a fog and more of a picture being gradually painted on a canvas. She looks at Oliver with realization as she asks with urgency, "Does it have anything to do with Alex being here this morning?"
"I can't answer that. . ." Oliver trails off, a hesitance in his stiff demeanor.
"Damn it, Oliver!" Kara shakes her head fervently as she walks away from his desk. She looks at him with plead from across the room as she once again presses, "What have you done?"
"You'll find out soon," Oliver tells her without even a hitch of change in his voice. She exhales sharply as she turns on her heel and walks with urgency to the door. She hears Oliver call out for her, but just as he had done to everyone else mere minutes ago, she ignored him.
She makes her way through the halls of city hall, trying to scurry through city hall and keep as low of a profile as she could manage. She tried to listen closely for Tommy's voice as she made her way to an alleyway outside of city hall. It was from there that she sped in and out of her suit and leaped into the sky, flying for the first time in the light of day.
She kept listening closely for any sign of Tommy's whereabouts. And after channeling through what felt like thousands of conversations, revving up of engines, she wound up picking up his voice a few blocks away, talking to whom she could only assume was his driver. It almost sounded as if he was trying to get him to detour and that only led Kara to quicken the pace of her bursts of speed until she was directly above the black sedan in which she was picking up the voice from. And upon using her X-Ray vision, she recognized the figure sitting in the back seat.
The surprise was the biker practicing a loose follow behind the car's rear. Under the helmet was a face that she recognized, and despite her fully expecting Alex to be involved somehow, the shock rested in what seemed to be her direct attempt at taking Tommy out.
And as she felt her heart begin to beat ferociously against her chest as blood pulses through her firming temple, she swoops in and takes the bike off the ground, carrying it with its rider securely to an abandoned parking lot. And when they're both on the ground, Alex quickly removes herself from her bike.
"What the hell was that, Kara?" Alex asks, forcefully ripping her helmet off her head. "You couldn't have just called me and said to back off?"
"I'm sorry if I didn't want to risk you saying no," Kara replies with a hint of sarcasm, folding her arms across her chest as she glared at her sister in disbelief. "What were you doing following Tommy Merlyn? And don't you dare try to lie to me because I probably already know the answer."
"I had my orders," Alex affirms, slamming her helmet on the seat of her bike. "And now a psychopath is still out in the streets. Likely getting more security around him as we speak."
"Since when did you take orders from Oliver?" Kara asks, narrowing her eyes to mimic her interrogatively harsh voice.
"Oliver asked if ARGUS could kill Prometheus, someone that we have been trying to track down for as long as you have," Alex tries to explain. "He gave me his name. When I relayed this information to the director, she told me to be the one to kill him. The order was from her. Not Oliver.
"But Oliver still asked you if ARGUS could kill Merlyn?" Kara continues, her voice calming slightly despite the feeling that her heart coming closer and closer to shattering.
"Yes." She sighs. "He was the one who told me that he was leaving City Hall. I figured that could have been my best chance."
Kara shakes her head as her hands go to her hips. She takes a deep breath in an attempt to soothe the anger intertwined with fear burning in her chest. It was then that she realized none of it was aimed at Alex. No. It was clearly directed at the person who instigated the mission. And that only broke her heart even further.
"I need you to see if you can get ARGUS to back off," Kara pleads, not looking at her sister as she feels like her anger could turn to outrage at any moment. She creates some distance between them as if she's in preparation to take off back into the sky. "Nobody else is fucking dying."
"I can try my best but I can't make any promises." Alex replies, closing the space as if she's trying to make sure that Kara doesn't leave before she gets her words in. "I don't think that Oliver is thinking clearly on this one. But the director is. Merlyn has been a problem that she sees can only be eliminated with a bullet. I don't think it's up to anyone else."
"Help me and the team apprehend him then," Kara begins, stepping back once again. "That way no one has the opportunity to make the wrong choice."
Kara then leaped into the sky once again, not giving her the chance to tell her no or deflect any more. She hopes that she got the message that her abrupt exit was trying to send. She realizes that Alex was in no means perpetrating or orchestrating Tommy's assassination but it still rubbed her in all the wrong places that she so willingly agreed to be the one to pull the trigger.
She knew that Alex was conditioned differently as an ARGUS agent. She knew that she couldn't just say no. But it was the all encompassing idea of ARGUS being trigger happy, Alex being caught in the middle of Oliver taking advantage of his connections that left her stirring with a silent rage as she flew atop the buildings and back towards her work place.
She sent a quick but comprehensive text to Felicity and Barry after grounding herself in the same alley way she had left from earlier. She knew that Felicity had already been hard at work trying to locate some kind of evidence that pointed towards Tommy being the one behind the mask and Barry had been at her aid this morning.
They had talked it through last night. But the message that she sent urged them to meet Adrian, Thea, and her in her office so they could all be in one place and formulate some kind of plan to move forward. Kara hoped that being within city hall may give Felicity some kind of technological advantage since she didn't have access to the bunker, with Oliver having locked them out.
She also knew that the situation had become dire very quickly, therefore calling for swift action in the middle of a workday. It helped that Adrian, Thea, and her were already in one place, leaving only Barry and Felicity to have to make a trip.
But Kara recognized that she had a brief lapse of time in which she could release her anger that had been building inside of her for the last twenty minutes. And quite frankly, she didn't believe that she could move forward until she was relieved of this ailing sentiment.
"I cannot believe you."
Despite the lower volume of her voice, it still felt as if she was yelling as she stormed into his office in her bout of rage. His reaction wasn't surprised or shocked— no, he had the same look of frustration in his furrowed stare as he stood up to greet her. She puts her palms on his desk and leans into them as she nearly whispers through a clenched jaw, "You didn't tell me your plan to stop Tommy because you knewthat I wouldn't approve of it."
"And do you blame me?" Oliver asks, his voice less caring of any outside ears that could have been listening. "You did exactly what I was afraid you were going to do. Alex could have taken the shot had you not interfered. And now not is Tommy only alive, people are going to be wondering why a fucking motorcycle was picked up out of the sky."
"That is what you're worried about right now?" Kara asks, gawking in her disbelief. "You nearly had a man killed and you're worried about a damn motorcycle?"
Oliver chuckles dryly as he comes around the edge of his desk. He finally lowers the volume of his voice as he continues, "You made a rash decision. And now there's going to be consequences that Iam going to have to deal with."
"Imade a rash decision?" Kara asks, her eyes widening as she points her index finger into her chest. "You just asked Alex to get ARGUS involved in your plan to kill Tommy and not even an hour later, she's already out trying to take the shot. There would have been consequences to that too— more damaging ones than people asking about a bike."
"Tell me, Kara," Oliver begins with demand. "Tell me exactly what kind of damaging consequences would come from killing the man who just threatened everyone that I care about? The kind of threats that can be acted upon when his life is spared."
"How about the damage it would do to your psyche?" Kara replies, watching his demeanor fall as he processes what she said. There was a harrowing realization that rested in his stare that he clearly was trying to fight away. "You would be doing exactly what he wants. And knowing you, you would realize that it was a mistake pretty quickly."
"Knowing me?" Oliver asks in confusion.
"I know that you know that killing him isn't the right thing to do," Kara begins, her tone reflecting a more caring sentiment as she closes the space between them. "You may not see it right now but you will. So if you're going to be upset with me for doing something that you'll one day realize was the right move, I'll take that over you living with a mistake for the rest of your life."
Oliver shakes his head, sighing as he does so. "And I'll take living with that for the rest of my life if it means that Tommy can't hurt you, Thea, or Barry, or Adrian. Because I definitely wouldn't be able to live with myself if he did."
"But what could he possibly do to me, Oliver? To Barry? Adrian and Thea are more than capable of protecting themselves," Kara responds as he had turned and walked towards the door, clearly trying to end the conversation on his terms. She follows him as he puts his hand on the door handle. "It's not your job to protect us."
"It's not just about what he could do physically," Oliver tells her as he keeps his hand where it was, turning to her while he continues. "He's already got Adrian suffering in his thoughts— I can tell. And besides, he put Thea in the hospital. He's already proven he can handle Barry's speed. I don't even want to tempt what he may try to do to you."
She grabs on to his arm as he once again attempts to leave. He looks down at the grip that she had on his wrist before looking back up at her and pleading, "Let this go."
"No," Kara responds with a fervent shake of her head. "I'm not going to let you take the fall for us."
"I created him, Kara," Oliver replies with a simplicity that haunts her. "All of you are in this because of me. Let me be the one to do what's difficult."
Kara watches as he opens the door and walks out of his office with a solemn pace. Her impulsive instincts tell her to follow and keep pressing in hopes that maybe, just maybe she'd somehow crack the stone exterior that he'd built even slightly. But her ability to break through the strongest of elements was only of physical nature. Even she wasn't strong enough to soften him.
So she let him walk away. Time can be the greatest healer, so that's what she was allowing him to have.
But she also knew that they had an opportunity to save his soul before he threw a fatal dagger in it. Not only that— she wanted Tommy to be put in prison. She wanted to see justice brought to the adversary who had brought nothing but pain, suffering, and death to people and a city that she cared deeply about. How impeccable that justice and saving Oliver could all take place in one fell swoop.
She happened to see Barry walking towards her office, mirroring the warm greeting smile and subtle wave he gave as their eyes met. He was following Adrian, who she could only assume let him in the building. He stopped in his tracks as he noticed her bliss was short-lived.
"What's wrong?" Barry asks as she nears him, concern driving his furrowed eyebrows.
She nonchalantly shrugs her shoulders as she chuckles with brevity. She shakes her head as she replies, "I'm just ready for all of this to be over."
"I know," Barry begins as she starts walking beside him. "But we're close. I can feel it. Don't lose hope."
"I feel it too," Kara says with sincere optimism that's followed by a sharp exhale. "It's not stopping Tommy that I'm the most worried about."
"It's Ollie, isn't it?" He asks knowingly. Kara can only nod as she knows that there's no reason to deny. He sighs. "I'm worried about him too. I'm not sure I've ever seen him so broken and detached."
"Did Adrian catch you up on what's going on?"
"About Ollie wanting to kill Tommy? Yeah." He whispers, stopping as he looks forward at Adrian and waits for him to gain some ground away from them before speaking. "I'm getting worried about Adrian too."
Kara cocks an eyebrow. "Oliver told me that he saw Adrian 'suffering in his own thoughts.' Is that what you're worried about too?"
"Yeah," Barry replies, looking in Adrian's direction. "He's just seemed so out of it since last night. Even when he called me, it felt like he was being weighed down by something."
"I know what you mean," Kara replies through a defeated breath. "This morning I tried to talk to him and I felt like I was pulling teeth just to get any kind of response out of him."
"Tommy's got his nails dug into all of us it seems."
She nods with a slow hesitance, realizing that the grasp Tommy has on the team extends past just Oliver and Adrian. Here Kara and Barry were reeling over the lowness that their friends were exuding and how concerning it was that they seemed so burdened. It was clear to Kara how much it was affecting Barry's conscience and she knew how it was tugging at her heart. All of that went back to Tommy and all of the damage and suffering that he's caused.
And that. . . that angered her more than she wanted to let on. The thought that Tommy was able to so effortlessly take her friends, her team, her,into his suffocating clutches. She watched some of the strongest people that she knew fall for his sick mind games and she saw how that affected everyone they had touched. How it affected her. And she couldn't stomach it. It turned her insides so far out of place that she could feel them knocking at her abdominal walls.
But she was choosing to use that to drive her. It drove her to bring everyone together to end it once and for all. And even though Oliver was choosing to be reclusive and stubborn, it wasn't going to stop her from relentlessly trying to break down his wall that she had already spent so much time tearing down.
And as she walked into her office with Barry, she saw Felicity already hard at work on her tablet. Barry had already made his way towards where Adrian had established himself in a corner, where she could only assume that he was making an attempt at lightening the weight on his shoulders. And as a smile was forming across her lips while observing the sight with a sense of pride, she felt a kind hand on her shoulder. She turned her head and it was Thea, acknowledging her with affirmation as she walked by and made her way towards Felicity.
Something about the scene alleviated the beginnings of what felt like a hopeless void in her chest. Everything was going to be okay. And she believed that with everything in her.
"Have you had any luck finding anything?" Kara asks, walking towards where Felicity had set up some equipment on her desk.
She turns her tablet to where Kara has a clear view of what's being displayed on it. "Scrappy footage of Prometheus dragging Oliver unconscious through City Hall. Nothing that could prove Tommy is behind the mask though."
"Has he not taken his mask off anywhere at any point?" Kara asks as she takes the tablet from her hands. "I mean surely some security camera has picked that up somewhere."
"I've been putting various cameras through an algorithm for weeks now. Even when we were still trying to figure out who he was. . ." Felicity trails off as she sighs. "I'm not sure that's a lead we can count on."
"What if we use the footage as proof that Prometheus kidnapped Oliver?" Thea begins, looking at Kara briefly before bringing her attention to Adrian who had just become aware of the conversation. "If Oliver could go public about Prometheus kidnapping him and say that it was Tommy— wouldn't that be enough?"
Adrian nods. "It would be enough to press charges. But I'm not sure how well it would hold up in court."
"But he won't be tried immediately," Kara adds, turning as she goes along with Thea's line of thinking. "They're not just going to let him walk with unresolved murder and kidnapping charges. If Oliver testifies and we can muster somekind of physical evidence between now and his trial, that should be enough to bury him, right?"
"We're talking about Tommy Merlyn here," Adrian responds firmly, impatience beginning to fill his demeanor. "Bail is like a parking ticket for someone with his kind of money. Iron Heights is full enough as it is. They're only going to send him there before trial if there is solid, concrete evidence that he's Prometheus. And Oliver's word won't be enough."
"What if he's not sent to Iron Heights?" Felicity suggests.
"Where else could he go?"
When Felicity's immediate reaction was to look at Kara, Kara knew that she wasn't going to like her response. There was a cautious hesitance in her gaze as she watched Kara begin to ponder where exactly she was referring to. It became a process of elimination that was a fairly simple marking off tactic in her mind. There was only one other place that everyone in the room was cognizant of that could hold criminals. And they had already made an attempt at taking Tommy off of the board.
"ARGUS?" Kara asks, narrowing her stare in disbelief. "After they just tried to kill him off of Oliver's tip today? No fucking way."
"We could just throw him in the pipeline at STAR Labs," Barry pipes in with a nonchalant shrug. Kara flashes a look of confusion, not understanding what he was referring to. He catches on, going onto explain, "We have our own underground prison. We keep the more dangerous meta humans down there when we need to question them or hold them until Iron Heights—"
"God, Allen," Adrian scoffs. "For a cop, you sure do have a poor concept of due process."
"I'm not a cop. I investigate crime scenes—" Barry begins, stopping as he sees the unmoving expression on Adrian's face. He waves him off. "Whatever. My point is, we could always hold Tommy down there until we can have a solid legal case on him."
Kara's face scrunches in her deflection as she shakes her head. "Absolutely not."
"Couldn't you call Alex, Kara?" Thea interjects with calm question. "See if they have a cell at ARGUS for him to rot in?"
"I have no desire to involve ARGUS in this," Kara begins in frustration. "For all we know, they'd just put a bullet in his head."
"And would that be a bad thing?"
Kara had to look twice to clarify that she heard those words from the lips that she internally matched the voice with. She didn't even have to ask him to repeat the words. His eyes did that for him.
"And you want to preach to me about due process. . ." Barry retorts in a tone that Kara couldn't decipher whether or not it was banter or actual criticism. "Like handing Tommy over to ARGUS as a gifted murder is a fair trial."
"And is that not exactly what I stopped ARGUS from doing hardly an hour ago?" Kara asks, her jaw dropping in her shocked disappointment. "No one is going to kill Tommy, Adrian. Not us. Not Oliver. Not ARGUS. He's going to face justice—"
"He has killed somany people," Adrian responds, emotion finally vitalizing his expressions and tone. "He tortured Oliver for five days. How can you be so caring about his life right now?"
He had pushed himself off the wall and began to make his way towards Kara while talking and as Barry noticed the rising tension between the two, he stepped in the middle of the two. He looked at both of them with pleading calmness as he said, "Let's not do this right now."
"It's not just his life that I care about," Kara replies to Adrian's comment, ignoring Barry's desire for peace. "I don't want any of us to have to live with his blood on our hands. You've killed before. You know exactly what that feels like. Think about that before you continue to tell us that we should just let Tommy be killed."
"He hasn't taken anyone from you, Kara," Adrian replies, sorrow breaking and cracking through his words. His eyes fell with his lips as they pressed together, as firm as his cheeks had become. "You don't know what this grief feels like— the anger that I have towards him. I can't do anything but think about what it felt like to kill and what drove me to that. Because that's what I feel right now."
"Who did he take from you?" Kara asks with a calmer tone, her eyes radiating a care that translates to his deflation.
He sighs as he shakes his head. "That's not important."
"Adrian, who did he kill?" Kara continues, closing the space between her and Barry and by extension, Adrian.
"Carter Dayne," Adrian begins, a lowness filling his voice that begins to pick at Kara's heart. She saw the despair in his glassy eyes as he brings his attention to her and Barry. "He was one of the first people that Merlyn killed. I'd known him since college. He was my best friend. . ." He scrunches his face as he tries to recollect himself. "I put myself on the case mere minutes after I found out."
Kara felt the tears well up in her eyes as she realizes the pain that he had been suffering throughout the time they had been working together. She never knew why he was so drawn to Prometheus to begin with and it was now becoming chillingly clear. And she even began to wonder if Tommy was deliberate in killing Carter to cement Adrian's role in Oliver's pursuit to find him.
"I had no idea. . ." Kara trails off, her voice cracking as she places a kind hand over his arm. "I'm so sorry."
Barry's stare hadn't moved from Adrian in a moment as his reaction was emulative of Kara's. He turned his body to face him, shaking his head as he replied with empathy in his voice, "Why did you not tell us this about this?"
"I'm not one to talk about my feelings, Allen," Adrian replies with a breathy chuckle as he brings his attention to the ground. "I just wanted to see Prometheus brought to justice. I didn't want to make it personal and take away from what we were trying to do."
"It was already personal, Adrian," Barry says. "And now I think it's even more imperative that we make sure his ass is stuck in a cell for the rest of his life."
Adrian nods, a slim smile forming on his lips as Barry slaps his shoulder gently.
"So what's the play then?" Thea asks as she makes her way to where the three were standing. "Are we going to turn this footage into the police or are we going to apprehend him ourselves and turn him into ARGUS?"
It was at this moment that Kara realized that she didn't have much of a choice. She wasn't convinced that Adrian was fully off of the no-kill train and she knew for a fact that Oliver was still gunning for the kill-shot.
"I'll call Alex and see what they can do," Kara begins reluctantly. "Regardless, we're going to have to apprehend him. I don't trust the police with this and the history that Tommy has with the ACU makes me nervous. We can handle him. Once we have him, we'll turn him over to ARGUS while the ACU processes and investigates his case."
Barry nods fervently. He looks at Adrian with affirmation as he says, "There's your justice."
The day had gone by quicker than Kara wished it would. The team had formed a plan to attempt to apprehend Tommy while at his office, with contingencies created in the case that Oliver showed up to take any kind of kill shot. They figured that he would get wind of what they were planning to do and worried that he would try to interfere in the way that Kara had interfered with his initial plan.
Kara was still unconvinced that Adrian was fully onboard with the plan. He nodded as they worked through logistics, seeming somewhat engaged yet his eyes still appeared to be off in his own solitude. Normally he always tried to play a part in vocalizing his own ideas when they planned their missions but he was anywhere else today.
But he agreed to do what was going to be asked of him. And that's the only confirmation that Kara needed to continue.
Alex got involved- assuring Kara that ARGUS had a cell that could keep Tommy for the time being. She wasn't sure that the director would be enamored with the thought of keeping him prisoner but Alex was adamant on making sure Kara knew that she would oversee his intake, questioning, and transports as well as have access to any and all camera footage with his whereabouts while on base.
After all, it wasn't Alex that she had a lack of trust in. It was ARGUS.
There was still another element that they hoped would become a factor. And approaching this element, well, it made Kara far more nervous than the idea of going after Tommy in mere hours did.
Kara cautiously opens the door to his office, peaking her head in to see if he was at his desk. He was— and as their eyes met when his came up from his computer screen, she could see the impatience resting in his stare. She sighs as she walks in and says, "I promise I won't be long. I just wanted to run something by you."
"What's that?" Oliver asks, gently folding the laptop as he stands from his desk. The impatience had fallen from his demeanor and he seemed like he was more willing to listen, making Kara feel more comfortable in continuing the conversation.
"Felicity was able to find security footage of Tommy kidnapping you," Kara begins, a hopeful inquisition forming in her tone. "He obviously doesn't have his mask off. But if we get it out to the public and they know he was holding you captive, that gives you an opportunity to tell the public that Tommy is Prometheus. If you're willing to, of course. . . "
Oliver purses his lips together, nodding his head in a way that didn't emulate agreement but understanding. He folds his arms across his chest as he asks, "My word isn't going to be enough in court."
"As long as there is enough evidence for him to be incarcerated, that's all we need right now," Kara tells him. "ARGUS is going to hold him for the time being once we apprehend him—"
He lets out a frustrated sigh as he shakes his head fervently. "I'm not doing this again, Kara."
She widens her eyes as she watches him come around from his desk and attempt to walk past her. "What do you mean you're not doing this again?"
"I am not rehashing the same discussion we had mere hours ago. . . "
"Can you stop for one damn second and talk to me about what is going on?" Kara pleads as she had a firm hold on his wrist. He looks down at her hand for a moment before bringing his attention back to her. She doesn't have to say anything for him to relent and stay in one place. At this point, he knows that he doesn't have much of a choice.
He shakes his head as he exhales sharply. "Kara, I'm not sure what else I have to say. My intentions have been made clear and they're not changing."
"What has changed in the last month that has led you to believe that killing Prometheus— killing Tommy is the right thing to do?" Kara asks, her narrowed stare indicating that she's curious as to what his answer may be. "I know he tortured you. I know you're in ten different kinds of pain. But you told me that killing was never the right thing to do and I believed that's what you thought. I still believe that exists somewhere inside of you."
"And later that same night, when we thought that Adrian was Prometheus, and I was driven by rage, betrayal, a need for vengeance, my mind went to the same conclusion it's at right now. And that's that I have to kill him . ." Oliver trails off, looking away as he sighs. His eyes were glassy as they returned to her. His words were shaky yet there still remained a conviction in them that struck a chord of fear within Kara. It only worsens as he continues, "I will always, always be driven by those things. That's who I am. It's who I became on that island. No matter what I've tried to tell myself in the last three years since I vowed to stop killing, that's the truth."
"Oliver, everyone is driven by what their emotions are telling them in a moment," Kara begins, a caring passion ringing through her words. "Whether it be fear, happiness, anger, guilt— those are the things that make you human. How you react to them is what makes you who you are, and you choose how you react to them."
"But I've still chosen poorly. So many times I have chosen poorly. So who am I really, Kara?" Oliver asks, his voice almost falling to a whisper. "I've been in this vicious cycle for so many years. It's like something inside of me is sick— and there's no cure for it. I will always revert back to my old habits because I am incapable of being anything more than a killer."
Kara shakes her head slowly, reaching for his cheek. He initially turns away but she still grazes his jawbone with her palm. He tries to avoid eye contact but she follows his eyes, forcing him to look at her as she speaks. "You are not your past mistakes, Oliver. You are so much more than that. You are who you choose to be. And in the time that I've known you, I've not seen anything that tells me that you aren't one of the most caring, driven, and passionate human beings that I've ever met. Choose to lean into those things."
"Those things also have their flaws," Oliver says, his tone reflecting a demeanor that was emotionally spent. "And even if you can't see it, it's those very things that have taken me to the belief that I have to do this. It's all encompassing with me. And you're just going to have to accept that and move forward."
He tries to walk away again and this time she lets him. Instead of trying to physically make him stop and listen, she hopes that her words will resonate deep enough within him that he'll do the same willingly. "Accepting that means accepting that you're someone that you're not. And I refuse to do that."
He presses his lips together, nodding as if he was pondering on her words. He takes a deep breath and it leaves the small slit in between his lips as if it couldn't hold itself. "I'm sorry, Kara. I told you that my intentions were clear and aren't changing. I'm standing by that."
"It's funny that you say that your intentions are clear," Kara replies strongly. "Because I think they're clear to everyone but you."
He shrugs his shoulders as he opens the door and begins to walk out. "Be that as it may, my decision is still the same. So stand down, that way no one gets hurt."
"You're only going to be hurting yourself by doing this. . ."
He stops in his tracks, tapping his fingers on the door in his impatience. It was like he wanted to turn himself around but decided against it, therefore forcing himself to walk forward. And as he walked further and further away, the inevitable truth was becoming a cognizant thought in Kara's mind. It wasn't just going to be her and the team trying to stop Tommy. It was going to be them stopping Oliver as well.
Because no matter how far she reached her arm out as she fought gravity to try to take a hold of Oliver's hand as he fell into a void of darkness, he refused to take it.