Oliver, John, and Roy were discussing allotments for a timetable for their vigilantism. So, some nights they could train, rest, or spend time out as people rather than vigilantes. Oliver even before Sara's death had been yearning to spend more time with his family, with Connor and Laurel.
If his plan worked, Laurel would also be able to gradually re-establish herself as the Black Canary, Starling's first hero. It would give her a purpose again and an avenue to harness her anger into something productive, instead of stewing in her anger. As much as it would pain him seeing her don on the black suit, he knew that she had only hung her mask temporarily. And that she felt alive when she was helping people, and bloodying her fists, trying to keep Starling safe.
Nyssa walked down to see Oliver. "My sources say that you met a man matching Merlyn's description. And yet you did not kill him?"
"No. He swore to me that he didn't kill Sara."
She scoffed in derision. "A man who is known to lie. How do you know if he is not spinning yet another one? How do you know he is telling the truth?"
"I believe him. Because he swore to me on his daughter's life, as a father I know that is not something you ever swear on lightly." If at all.
He then walked past her and proceeded to study the five-color coded timetable on the bench. Green, black, dark red, bright red, and bronze, representing himself, Laurel, Speedy, Arsenal, and Diggle, respectively.
Before he could start moving the colors into the days of the week, to get a feel for the program, Nyssa spoke, breaking the tense silence.
"We had heard rumors that Merlyn fathered another child. We could never confirm the existence of such a child." Oliver sighed, not losing eye contact with the assassin in front of him. "You know who it is." She realized, taking a measured step towards him.
"I do." He answered, straightening his back and squaring his shoulders, towering over Nyssa's smaller frame, despite knowing that it would not intimidate her.
She took a few steps towards him, slowly and in an intimidating manner. "If you put me through the effort of finding out on my own… I may have to exact a prize from whoever it is you're protecting."
"My sister." He said. "Thea, Laurel's baby sister, and my son's only living aunt." Nyssa sneered, as she took several paces back, reeling from the discovery. "She is the reason he came back to Starling City, he killed several of Slade's Mirakuru enhanced soldiers, when Speedy was guarding the train station, helping people escape." He looked at Roy. "That's why she had several cracked and bruised ribs. But she never saw who protected her."
"And that is why you continue to spare Merlyn, and have convinced my beloved's own kin to forego vengeance, justice?"
He closed his eyes. Nyssa had tempted Laurel to circumvent his wishes to kill Malcolm. And despite her rage and anger, Laurel had rejected Nyssa's proposal. He internally felt pride that despite everything she has been enduring, Laurel was still willing to trust him, to stand fast in front of temptation. The darkness that was threatening to overtake her hadn't corrupted her, she stood fast.
Oliver shook his head. "It had nothing to do with that, and Laurel has her own agency. She believes in justice, not vengeance." That was something that she had inherited from her father. He then continued. "Malcolm explained that in his own twisted way, that he loves Thea. He swore to me, on her life."
"I swore an oath of my own to my father, Sara, and to your beloved. That I would see Sara's killer receive justice in the truest and oldest sense of the word." She then walked out. As she did, Oliver tried to call out to her, only to be halted by Diggle, who stood in front of him.
"We have to stop her."
Diggle crossed his arms, blocking him from the stairs. "Do we? Listen I understand why you can't kill him, why you convinced Laurel. I get it. All the reasons." It was true, like him, John was also a father. And wanted to make Starling a safer place for their child to grow up in. "Perhaps he killed Sara, maybe he didn't."
"He didn't," Oliver said resolutely. Oliver, himself could never imagine making an oath on his child's life, let alone lie about it. Connor was the most important person in his life, he could never see himself, nor Laurel allowing their son to be put in harm's way.
Diggle didn't relent. "Either Either way, Laurel made a point when she found out about Malcolm. The world will be a safer place without him in it." It reminded Oliver that Diggle was a military man, like Slade. It was something they had inherited from their mentors. The idea that sometimes it's better to kill someone to make the world a safer place.
He always thought Laurel had escaped that, that Grant was different. He wasn't so sure anymore., Laurel merely voiced her rage, but when faced with the opportunity to do the deed, she balked, was that Grant's influence or Quintin's conscious? Regardless, Laurel has a good heart to see and do good in so much pain.
"You made a vow not to kill, man. You wanted to be a man that your son could be proud of. I get that, better than anyone else. You won't be killing him, Nyssa will." Oliver swallowed. If he sent Nyssa to kill him, was that any different to him killing Malcolm?
Malcolm was sitting in his penthouse. A suite that belonged to one of his aliases that had no known connection to him. He picked up his crystal glass with cognac, and took a sip, he looked out the window, to see purple smoke, billowing from the city skyline.
He dropped his glass on the ebony table before rushing towards his safe room and towards his suit. Purple smoke only heralded dark news.
Oliver had called a meeting for the team, except for Felicity, who was busy working late with Raymond Palmer. He had finished filling in Laurel about what had happened, and Malcolm's relation to Thea.
"So, we know at the very least, Speedy only inherited her martial prowess from your mother's sperm donor."
Oliver smiled, as Laurel handed him a tablet device. "What's this?" he asked as he saw footage of a traffic camera, that seemed unremarkable until he saw the purple smoke. "Smoke signal?"
"It was recorded ten minutes ago." Laurel said, brushing a tendril of hair out of her face, "Now, while Sara couldn't reveal too much about The League, she alluded to the fact that some of their communication systems were quite outdated." Oliver was proud of her, that since their talk the other night, Laurel had been helping them more with vigilantism, even if it was from the sidelines until they could arrange the shifts for patrols.
Diggle nodded. "I'm willing to bet my savings that the signal indicates that Nyssa is holding Thea hostage."
Oliver agreed. "True, and the video supplies us with a location." He then ordered Diggle to monitor the perimeter to keep an eye out for any hostiles preparing to ambush him.
Roy stood from the bench he was resting on and stumbled slightly. "Where do you want me?" He still couldn't believe that just one person had gotten the drop on both him and Thea.
"Here, or at home. You have league tranquilizer in your system." The younger man reluctantly nodded.
"Ollie? I need to be out there. Speedy is my sister as well…"
Oliver shook his head. "Laurel, you haven't been out in the field for just over a year. And the first people you set your sights on are the world's best killers?" Oliver grabbed her free hand. And kissed the back of it. "If we absolutely need help, I know who we can call." He then tilted his head towards Roy. "Keep an eye on him."
Laurel gave him a reluctant smile and walked up to him, giving him a small hug before pulling back. "Bring Speedy home safe. And Ollie, keep in mind that while you aren't a killer. Thea is caught between two trained killers." With that, she gave him a kiss and helped Roy out to her car.
Nyssa looked up at the bound and gagged Thea Queen who was suspended from the rafters, several feet from the ground.
"I apologize once again for involving you. But I must remind you that I am more than aware of your training and prowess. The bindings wrapped around you are of League design. The more you struggle the tighter the binds will become."
She then walked around to see her captive's face. "But my quarrel is with your father."
"My father has been dead for years." Thea groaned as she struggled a bit only to find the bindings tighten around her abdomen. She then thought of Quintin and Walter, who had been something like father figures to her.
Laurel's father, her surrogate father, had succumbed to his injuries dealt by Slade Wilson's soldiers. Thea still remembered when Oliver was called not long after he had returned from Lian Yu. How She had informed him that Quintin had died in Laurel's arms on the docks.
"Not Robert Queen, your true father, the man whose seed you are born from; Al Saher, The Magician. Known to the uninitiated as; Malcolm Merlyn, though I hear that he has other names that your people have given him; The Ninja-Archer, Dark Archer and The Copy Cat Archer."
"If you know him, then you know what he will do to you when he gets here." She then chuckled. "Hell, you should fear Ollie more."
"Your brother is of no consequence to me. As to your father, he will die. Slowly. My father has taught me ways to cut a man without him succumbing to death. After we have everything we need, my father shall take enjoyment out of flaying the traitor."
"Sounds like the father of the year." Thea scoffed, still trying to wriggle her wrists.
"My father may be The Demon," Nyssa granted. "But your father is The Devil."
Thea scoffed, feeling slightly woozy from being suspended. "I only have had three fathers. Robert Queen and Walter for raising me, and Quentin Lance who took me in as one of his own, and helped me become a better person."
Before Nyssa could speak, an arrow flew through the air and cut the tight fabric that was suspending Thea. She fell, feeling both a semblance of relief from no longer being bound, followed by fear knowing she was about to hit the ground head first, she would barely have time to drop and roll.
Luckily, The Green Arrow, her brother, dived towards Thea, and caught her, before putting her on the ground safely. He whispered in her ear, so quietly that she almost missed it. He told her to head to his loft, Laurel was keeping an eye on Roy, and looking after Connor. Thea was to go to Laurel to check if she medical attention.
Thea nodded as her brother commanded her to run. This was no place for her to be in her civvies, it would raise too many questions why Thea Queen was in league with the vigilantes, which could draw lines to the others that she would prefer remained a secret.
Green Arrow turned to see Nyssa unsheathe her scimitar. "Apparently, you and I handle grief differently. She then swung her sword at him.
Oliver deftly avoided her strikes and lunges. She reared back and swung her sword with a low swipe, Oliver flipped over the blade, and retaliated using his bow as a staff, he blocked her blade, before sending a kick to her abdomen.
As he trailed backwards, getting to a more open part of the warehouse so he could move easier, Nyssa advanced swinging her blade left and right, not allowing Oliver much to do besides go on the defensive.
Nyssa managed to swing him around, and before she could rest her blade on his throat, her sword was knocked to the wayside by a projectile. The cluttering of the steel echoed through the warehouse.
Green Arrow rolled out of the way to see Malcolm dressed in his League gear. The suit he had worn when he almost killed him. The same suit that he almost killed Laurel in.
"There is a misunderstanding the three of us need to clear up." The older man said.
Nyssa bared her teeth. "A conversation I'm rather eager to have over your bloodied rotten corpse."
Malcolm released a volley of arrows, one after the other, as Nyssa used a scarf to block, and knock the missiles away safely.
Oliver had to admit there was a certain elegance to the way Nyssa fought. The fluidity of her movements was something he had only witnessed a few times in the past. It differed from his assortment of martial arts and to Laurel's graceful yet aggressive movements. It was almost like she was dancing.
Malcolm then jumped down from his perch, as Nyssa withdrew a dagger. The two League trained fighters were fighting to kill one another, neither giving each other quarter as either on lunged or struck each other.
Oliver moved around the two fighters, watching them, and ensuring that neither killed the other.
Malcolm took a small window that Nyssa had unintentionally given and fired three arrows pinning her to a metal frame.
Malcolm had her dead to rights. Oliver fired a flashbang arrow that caused Malcolm to be caught unaware, and drop to his knees. The Green Arrow then drew another arrow aiming it at Malcolm who knelt in front of him reluctantly.
"Do it, Oliver!" Nyssa cried, with equal parts goading and pleading. "He killed Sara, and your friend, his own son." A tear slid down her cheek. "How long before he corrupts your sister? Set's his sights on Laurel again? Before he puts your babe in harm's way?"
Oliver swallowed. She was right. He knew it. Malcolm had killed so many people. He had tried to kill Laurel; He killed Tommy, how long before he did something to Thea, to Connor?
He could feel his heart beating against his chest. It would give Laurel some closure, but at what cost? He knew that his killing Malcolm would put a wedge between him and Laurel. She was angry and hurting, but he knew deep down that she would never forgive herself, for having Merlyn killed or having him doing the deed.
Malcolm removed his mask, panting, sweat glistening across his forehead. "There is blood on my hands. Almost too much to contemplate, that was never up for debate. But I promise you, that Sara Lance's blood is not on my hands." He said raising his hands, as a gesture of his innocence.
"Kill him!" Nyssa commanded, almost begged.
Malcolm's face became red in fury, as he glared at the Heir of The Demon. "I did not kill your beloved!" He snapped at her. He exhaled and spoke a little more calmly. "Your father, he doubted Sara's loyalties the moment you brought her into your home. Even more so, once Sara found out there was a new addition to her family. The crimson thread of kinship is stronger than any oath sworn." His lips slightly upturned, as if he was provoking her, "You know as well as I, what your father is capable of."
Oliver looked at Nyssa, who was attempting to keep her emotions under control. Malcolm continued. "Ra's will and has killed without hesitation or mercy. Do you really need me to tell you what he would do to the degenerate who stole his beloved daughter's heart?"
He then stood and walked towards Oliver, seemingly unworried that he still had his bow drawn.
"Oliver Nyssa doesn't believe me," he then gulped. "If you don't believe me... If you truly believe that a father could swear on his child's life, then listen to her. Put an arrow through my heart, then use her sword to relieve me of my head. And I promise you, that I cannot ever bother you or yours ever again."
Oliver stood still. Frozen. He was once again faced with the dilemma of killing Malcolm the threat to his family. Laurel had faced it earlier and had resisted her demons, but she always had a gentle heart. He didn't. Killers trained and molded him.
After a few minutes of tense, filled silence, Malcolm nodded. And started to walk away from Oliver and Nyssa.
Oliver pulled back the drawstring and aimed at the retreating form of Malcolm. The man hesitated before he stopped. "You may not have killed Sara, but you are still a murderer." He could still see Tommy's eviscerated body, how he had clutched his stomach.
Malcolm swung himself around with a cruel smile. "What are you going to do?" He goaded. "Arrest me?"
"I can have the SCPD here in three minutes," Oliver growled.
"True. But in half that time, I will escape whatever prison they put me in. You know that, and so does she." He said with a gesture towards Nyssa. "The League trained us. No prison can hold us for too long!" He then gave a cocky grin. "Not even the one that you have for Mr. Wilson on Lian Yu. There is only but one way to stop us. "
Oliver almost dropped his bow. As Malcolm voiced Oliver's thoughts. "This leaves you with only one option. To break your vows that you made to your city, to your fiancée, and your friends and family. You have to kill me."
Oliver felt Nyssa's pleading eyes on him. He could save everyone he loves by killing Malcolm right now. Only the cost would be his whole world. Laurel, Connor, Thea…
"Will you kill your sister's father?" Malcolm asked. Oliver lowered his bow, with a clenched jaw, and let Malcolm escape.
Diggle, Nyssa, and Oliver walked into his loft to see Laurel feeding their son dinner, Thea was sitting next to her reading one of Laurel's wedding magazines, helping Laurel plan their wedding, while Roy was lounging on the sofa, resting off the tranquilizer.
Oliver looked at his sister, looking her over for any bruises or cuts but saw none. "You ok, Speedy?" Thea nodded, as she went back to reading the magazine next to her surrogate sister and nephew.
As he turned, Nyssa slugged him across the jaw, causing him to stumble somewhat. "You deserve far worse."
Roy jumped up from the couch, still looking under the weather. "What's going on?"
"Malcolm didn't kill Sara." He then looked at Laurel, who was wiping their son's face as he babbled, blissfully unaware of the conversation. He waited as Laurel took their son to another room and returned. "Laurel. It means that Sara's killer is still at large."
Nyssa scoffed, as Laurel tried to absorb the new information that kept being thrown at her. "You're a fool who insults the memory of your friend, and your beloved's sister!"
"No. He doesn't!" Laurel fired back, as Oliver took a few slow steps towards Nyssa.
"I will honor Sara's memory by finding and punishing whoever did this. The real person." Nyssa, with a stiff upper lip, nodded rigidly and walked towards the door. "Nyssa." He called after her. She stopped and glanced over her shoulder. "So long as Malcolm Merlyn is in my city, The League will not make a move on him. He is under my protection."
He could practically feel Laurel glaring at him, but thankfully she bit her tongue. In the corner of his eye, he could see Thea look slightly conflicted. Despite everything Malcolm has done, he was still her blood. And to Speedy, he knew nothing was more important to her than family.
Nyssa turned and sauntered slowly towards him. "You would incur the wrath of The League of Assassins, and that of my father, Ra's Al Ghul?"
Oliver nodded solemnly. Internally praying that he was doing the right thing. "I would do whatever I have to in order to buy the time necessary to uncover what really happened to Sara. She may have been a member of your guild, but she was our family."
Nyssa moved closer to him and lowered her voice. "You have made an enemy this night. One that does not forgive, nor does it forget. The League always has its due." With having said her piece, he watched as she left the apartment.
He then felt Laurel lean against him, it provided him with comfort that she was still by his side, despite them not agreeing on the course of action he had taken.
"Ollie. You sure it wasn't him?"
"You trust me?" He felt her head bob up and down against his arm. "Then you know that I would never have allowed him to escape if I believed he had killed Sara. I promise."
She rubbed his arm affectionately. "I know. I just had to be sure."
Nyssa opened a large door and entered one of her father's quarters, the one with the pit inside. She knelt before the dais that was built around the pit.
"Father, the rumors were true. Malcolm Merlyn is in Starling City."
The privacy screen obscured her father, as he relaxed in the mystical healing waters. "There is a sadness in your voice." He then stood from the waters, she could hear the water drop from his body and fall back into the healing waters.
"Ta-er al-Sahfer." She resisted her voice from breaking. "She has fallen."
"Sara Lance is dead?" He asked, not sounding surprised nor melancholic. It was as if it were an eventuality that Sara would have been murdered, or killed.
"Yes. Struck through the heart with an arrow." Nyssa forced out, fighting the lump in her throat.
Nyssa could hear her father's servant dressing him in his usual garments, signifying his rank and station. "At Merlyn's hand?" Her father asked, as his servant tied the sword belt to his.
"It appears to be the case." She said, before continuing, her frustration lacing her voice. "I have vowed a blood oath to avenge her."
Ra's calmly took his rings that were resting upon a silk pillow and placed them on his fingers. "Al Saher will face League justice. But for his crimes against our code, and not against Sara Lance."
She looked up at him with anger and confusion. "But Sara?"
"Was never truly one of us." He then walked slowly and deliberately towards her, his gown trailing after him. "What of Queen?"
"He has granted Merlyn sanctuary. He will protect him at all costs."
"If that is true, Oliver Queen courts war with us." Ra's said turning towards her with a grim look on his face.
Oliver and Laurel were in The Bunker, alone except for their son, who was in his playpen playing with his toys, as his mother and father spared.
Oliver gave her a practice jab before they started. He gave her a playful smirk, "C'mon Pretty Bird, let's see if you still have it?"
Laurel raised her hands in the guarded position. Before throwing several punches, he dodged her punches with ease and returned several hard punches back.
As they traded punches, he looked at her, he could see her determination, the fire that he always loved to see in her green eyes. "You sure that you're okay with Merlyn being under our protection?"
She grunted, as she narrowly missed his head with an uppercut. "Not really. But, as I said before I trust you, Ollie. And if it turns out to be Malcolm in the end, I trust that he will receive justice. If death can't keep him, ARGUS will."
He dodged a high kick by ducking beneath her leg. "I thought you don't trust ARGUS."
"I still don't. But they have the means of keeping in under twenty-four-hour surveillance, and as long as they don't do something stupid like their Suicide Squad. I trust that at the very least Lyla will keep him contained even if they have to put him in an induced coma, or keep him on ice."
"I have to give Malcolm the benefit of the doubt, for Thea's sake." He said after he threw her over his shoulder.
Laurel rolled out of the way, of his sweep kick and jumped back to her feet, hands in front her face in the guarded position. "She holds no love for him."
"Maybe." He granted. "But I don't her living with the weight of the guilt of sending her father to death." It was bad enough that he couldn't stop his father from killing himself.
Roy woke up in a cold sweat. He had been having recurring nightmares, of killing Laurel's sister. He could see himself throwing the arrows as if they were small javelins and hearing each hitched gasp she gave out as she was skewered by the missiles.
He quietly got out of his bed, careful not to wake Thea up, and left for The Bunker.
As he walked down the stairs, he found Felicity and told him about the nightmares. She brought him over to one of her fancy computers and explained that she scanned her body in order to conduct a virtual autopsy.
"it's not as accurate as a normal autopsy, but considering the circumstances, we couldn't get our hands on a medical examiner. But I can reasonably ascertain the angle of the attack, it's tractor, and force of the arrow."
"I don't understand." He said. Why was she telling him, and not Laurel, or Oliver? Surely, they should be aware of this?
"I couldn't solve all the pieces of the puzzle. Specifically, the angle and velocity of the arrows. We're not consistent with an archer of normal height nor a normal bow." She then hesitated. "But if the arrows were thrown with the force of someone under the influence of Mirakuru… What if there was some residual Mirakuru in your system? It would explain the forensics."
He felt sick. He couldn't have killed Sara. Laurel's sister. He couldn't have hurt Laurel who let him babysit for her child, who kept an eye on him after Nyssa drugged him. "Only you said that I was negative. You said that!"
"No presence of the drug in your system today… or recently but… what if you had an episode where you burned off the remnants of it? And Sara was the final unfortunate victim of Slade Wilson's games?"
He left The Bunker, ignoring Felicity's voice calling him back. He needed air. He ended up finding himself in front of Oliver and Laurel's door to their loft. He gently rasped his fist against the door and waited anxiously in the silent hallway.
Eventually, Oliver unlocked the door and let him in. He saw Laurel at one end of the couch going over a deposition; She turned her head to see who it was that was welcomed int their home.
"Roy? Hey." Her face dropped at his sullen face. "You, ok? Thea?"
He awkwardly held his hands together. "Thea's fine, but Oliver… Laurel..."
Oliver guided him to one of the seats at their table, and Laurel followed soon after. "What's up?" Oliver asked.
"I…" He stuttered. Knowing that he had to confess to the people that were closer to him than his family ever was. He had to explain to two people that he admired the most in the world, that he was a killer that he betrayed their trust and killed Laurel's sister.
He would explain to them that he would gladly take any punishment, be it death, or jail to atone for his crime.
"I have to…" He gulped, calming his nerves. "I need to tell you both something."
Oliver nodded slowly and said; "All right." While Laurel looked at him with sympathy, he knew after he told her the truth, her sympathetic eyes will look at him with scorn and hate. It was what he deserved. He knew that.
"I…" He looked at Laurel and almost lost his nerve. "I killed Sara."
Laurel's face broke, as she tried to absorb the information, that her friend, someone that considered her something like a big sister or a cousin to would kill her family. She swallowed as she struggled to speak.
She hadn't expected on of their own… Surely this had to be some kind of mistake? She was sure that it would have been Lacroix, then Merlyn… "That doesn't— You don't make sense." She looked between Oliver and Roy, trying to find the answer. "Why would you kill my sister?"
"It was the Mirakuru." He then explained to her that he had been having dreams that he relived lately of killing Sara. He explained how Felicity suspected they were suppressed memories."
"What—? This is insane." She stammered, still reeling from her friend's confession. Every time she thought she had a handle on her life, after Sara…Life came and ripped it from her grasp.
Roy went to reach for her hand, to apologize. To show her that he truly felt remorse.
She whisked her hands from him. "Don't!" She warned. She didn't know what to do. If Roy had killed Sara she didn't know how to react, she wished it was someone else. Someone she didn't respect. How could she be in the same room as the man that killed her sister?
Roy flinched backwards as if he had been burned. He nodded sadly and left the loft.
Laurel walked towards the windows, overlooking Starling. Oliver soon followed. "Laurel. If he was under the influence of Mirakuru…"
She turned sharply at him. "What does that even mean?" She hiccupped. "That Roy killed my sister, and it's not his fault?"
"Mirakuru warps people's perception of reality. Slade was a good, noble man before he succumbed to the drug." Oliver explained.
"If a person takes PCP, they are still liable for damages, and for any life they take." She bit her lip, squaring her shoulder. "If he's not responsible, then why is Slade locked up? Isn't he in the same boat?
Oliver sighed. She was on the defensive and was arguing with him, it was one of her coping methods when things were out of her control. Something she picked up from her father.
"The results of the DNA test were inconclusive. He may not have killed her."
She walked back to the window and brushed her hair with her fingers. "I cannot process this right now." Laurel hiccupped "It's too much, Ollie."
He gently tugged her elbow to make her look at him. "Hey, look at me," He said gently, as he waited to see her beautiful green eyes. "Focus on what you can process. We can do this together."
"I can't Ollie. If Roy killed Sara…"
"If he killed Sara, we will deal with it. But right now, I am more worried about you. You are just as important as finding justice for Sara." He said as she leaned into his embrace and buried her head against his chest. "Okay?" He asked before kissing the crown of her head.
"Okay." She repeated while sniffling.
Oliver was pacing in The Bunker, as he thought about Laurel and Roy. And the hell the two are enduring.
"Any word from Speedy?"
Felicity shook her head as she swiveled on her office chair. "Radio Silent, the last time I check a few minutes ago, Thea's last ping was near Orchid Bay.
Diggle bristled. "Let me go after Roy," he said. "If he is still experiencing side effects, we can't leave him running around."
"So, you bring him in. Then what?" He asked.
"Oliver, this crusade of ours, it's supposed to be about justice, right? So, if that's supposed to mean something, we can't have two sets of rules. One for the bad guys and one for us.
Oliver shrugged his shoulders, looking at his friend. "He is family. Speedy brought him into the fold, and I helped train him."
"Then perhaps, it's time for you or Thea to cut him loose." Diggle answered, "We can't have a team member who goes rogue."
Oliver looked at Diggle with disappointment. Roy was his family, Thea's chosen family. She loved Roy. Diggle, Oliver, and Laurel all had military training, and they never left one of their own behind. Oliver didn't and wouldn't abandon his family.
"Are you seriously telling me to abandon him?" Oliver asked
Diggle nodded, standing to his full height. "I am Oliver. To establish a precedent and to give Sara justice."
"No. Diggle. Speedy will find him, then I, and I alone will teach him how to meditate. Because he didn't kill Sara. It will clear his thoughts and reveal what his mind was suppressing."
Diggle scoffed. "And Laurel is fine with that play?"
"Laurel trusts me," Oliver said, as he started moving the furniture aside, and placed a candle on the ground waiting for Thea to bring Roy home.
Oliver was lying in bed, with Laurel, kissing and before their lovemaking could advance further, his phone rang. Between their kisses, he told her to ignore it, that the others could handle it for the night.
It wasn't until Laurel's phone started ringing as well, did he pull himself from his fiancée, with a growl that made her giggle into his chest.
"What?" He snapped at the caller.
"Wow, you are in a mood." He heard Felicity say.
"What do you want?"
"There was a weird homicide in Star City…. Was I interrupting — I was interrupting you and Laurel…"
"Felicity." She said her name forcefully. "Homicide?"
"Right." She said. "A man was murdered with a razor-sharp boomerang. "After some tests, I found that it had a large amount of iron oxide. The only place in this country with a large amount of the stuff is Central City. I can get everything ready for you, me and John?"
Oliver sighed as Laurel stood up and whispered that she would make them a cup of coffee. He smiled at her as she padded out of the door. "I think I may just take Laurel. Thea has been begging for a night with Connor, so you, Digg, and Roy could hold down the fort, or relax for a day or two while we check it out."
"Oh…" She said stunned. "I thought that since Laurel retired…"
He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "She hasn't retired she went on maternity leave. She needs to get back on the horse, and what better way than in another city, besides she has friends in Central City." He then hung up his phone and walked out to see Laurel pouring the hot coffee into his mug.
This would be the opportunity for Laurel to speak to Grant. Hopefully, the man could help Laurel in a way that he could not. Even if he didn't like the man, Laurel respected him. Grant had help Laurel through grief and hatred before, hopefully, he can do it again.
"Where's Green Arrow heading to tonight?" She asked as she sat down at the dinner table, sipping her coffee.
"Not just Green Arrow, I was hoping Black Canary would come out to play for a couple of nights in Central City."
Laurel stopped drinking her beverage and put the mug down. "Ollie...I haven't…."
He smiled as he walked around the table and held her in his arms. "It has been a while, but you never lost your fight in you. You train every other day and have been sparring with me, and occasionally Thea, Roy, and Digg. You can hold your own."
"It's been a long time since I have been in Central City." She muttered.
"The other reason I want to bring you is that your cry is an asset. Central City has changed since you trained there with Grant. It's not just average criminals' prey on the city. But so, do enhanced individuals.
"You want to fight fire with fire?" She asked with a quirk of her brow.
"If it comes to that."
Laurel nodded against his shoulder. She felt a mixture of nerves and fear roll around in her stomach at the thought of going back out as Black Canary, leaving Connor. Anytime either of them left the Bunker in their suits, there was an ever-present possibility of not coming home to see Connie.
"You gonna call Speedy? Or am I?" She asked.
Joe West and a team of SWAT officers were casing the storage building. He turned around to see the landlord.
"He always paid in cash, never seemed like trouble."
Joe signaled for a couple of men to take him outside and away from any potential firefight. He then took his men with their guns drawn and saw Bivelo trying to sneak away.
"Freeze! Don't move!" Joe commanded the criminal.
Bivelo seemed unintimidated and removed his red-tinted glasses. "Is there a problem, gentlemen?"
After Joe commanded the man to turn around, his eye glowed red. "What are you waiting for Certo? cuff him."
Officer Certo turned on his heel and aimed his shotgun at West and the rest of the SWAT team. "No. I make my own decisions now. He then cocked his gun as his eyes, like Bivelo before he glowed a blood red.
Joe ducked, as he commanded his men to do the same. He then unloaded a round at Joe, within a flash, The Flash had moved all the officers out of the range of the shotgun pellets, and tackled his adoptive father to the ground.
The brainwashed officer cocked his gun, as a bola arrow wrapped itself around his body, followed by a loud screech.
SCREEEEEEEE!
The Flash and Joe looked over their shoulders to see the Green Arrow and Black Canary, standing in the shadows. The archer smirked at The Flash, Nice mask." He then fired a grapple arrow, wrapped his arm around Black Canary's waist and disappeared through the manhole in the roof.
A/N- So next chapter we will be heading to Central City. And Laurel gets to speak to her mentor, the man that helped her into the strong heroine she is in this fic.
