Pike woke up in an abandoned warehouse, he presumed that it was somewhere in The Glades. He looked around to see men in black and a man wearing a fitted black suit, with a dark green silk tie.
"I apologize for the rather crude way I had to retrieve you."
Pike blinked. "Who are you?"
"I have gone by many names, a necessary evil of my line of work, I'm afraid. You may call me by the name I was given at birth; Henri Ducard." The man revealed, with a slight bow. It was as if the man had an aura of the aristocracy of old the way he spoke and carried himself.
"You work for some sort of government clandestine group?"
Ducard looked at Pike as if he were but a mere child. "We work from the shadows, yes. You hunt for the man known as Green Arrow."
Pike was thinking about all the people that he had directly and indirectly killed. Lance and Hilton. "You willing to devote your resources to help me find him?'
Pike watched, as Ducard's lips curled upward slightly. "You will be able to find him quite easily, once you know his name."
"Why would I believe any name that you say?" Pike asked, feeling uneasy around the well-dressed man.
"You will think about all that your friends have told you about him. Then you will research him, and come to the irrefutable truth, you will know; Oliver Queen is the Green Arrow."
:-: :-: :-: :-:
An FBI agent sat waiting for Daniel Brickwell to be transferred to the consultation room, she looked down to see the large folder that had rubber bands keeping the pages secure. The Brit had never given them information. Not even after a year of near-constant meetings every month, sometimes twice to make him break. He always remained tight-lipped.
It pissed her off that she was being passed over for a promotion, due to her financial issues, that she was in debt due to her paying her brother's treatments for his Huntington's Disease. She was his big sister, it's her job to look after her elder brother.
Debt made her a target for people who wanted a mole, or someone to manipulate in The Bureau. So, despite her stellar record, she was passed over and made to continually interview the man who had brought Starling City to its knees. A feat that the city had yet to recover from; due to subsequent terrorist attacks. A colleague of hers was tasked with the potential correlation between all the terror attacks and the emergence of metahumans in Central City. The timing was too coincidental.
Samandra sighed, as she looked around the almost sterile white room, and the steel table she sat at, it wasn't until a few minutes later, she watched as Brickwell was let into the room, wearing his prison blues.
"Mister Brickwell," She said pulling out her identification and showing it to him. "My name is Special Agent Samandra Watson of The Federal Bureau of Investigation." She then pocketed her ID and continued. "The FBI wants your assistance to…" She scoffed at the situation, knowing the outcome. "Let's just get to the point, and tell me to shove it, so we can get on with our day?"
After an awkward silence, with Brickwell massaging his cuffed wrists. "Tell me, Special Agent Watson, do you love someone, anyone so much that you would do anything to protect them?"
Samandra reeled back slightly, "You threatening me?" She asked with a cold voice.
"Quite the opposite, Love." He said, quietly, almost politely. "I have made many illegal and immoral choices. I accept that I am paying my debt to society here. But what I do not accept, is that my son is forced to pay for my sins. That he is forced into a flawed system, rather than being with people I know that would cater to him with every need and love him unequivocally. I will do anything to protect my son, Sammy, you understand? Anything."
Samandra sat up in her seat, her interest was certainly piqued. "What are you saying, Mr. Brickwell?"
"I want to make a deal." He said after a few beats.
:-: :-: :-: :-:
Oliver and Laurel watched the news as they sat in The Bunker, where both parents felt the weight of the world upon their shoulders.
He gently kissed his son, as he rested on Oliver's chest, and turned slightly to gently give Laurel what he hoped was a reassuring kiss on her temple, a silent promise that he knew he couldn't keep. That they would be ok.
But they both knew the truth, they had underestimated Ra's and now they are reaping what they have sown. Oliver blamed himself for putting his family's life in jeopardy, even if he accepted prison time, he doubted he would survive the trip to his cell.
The League does not like loose ends.
He would be leaving Laurel, Connor, and Thea with a dark cloud over them that would be his reputation as a murderer. It would cause them to be shunned. Laurel's practice would fall apart without clients.
He never should have trusted Malcolm. He should have learned from his parents' mistakes, and not associated with Malcolm, and just offered Malcolm up to Nyssa who could have been persuaded to allow Thea to leave, as she was a victim as much as Sara.
He had to keep moving forward; A shark that does not swim drowns.
He wasn't paying attention to whatever segment that was discussing FBI stings around Starling, including in The Glades and The Warehouse District. Then the segment quickly changed to a live feed of Captain Pike discussing The Green Arrow, with big bold letters on the bottom of the screen, saying 'Breaking News'.
"We have had a breakthrough, in the last twenty-four hours in our investigation into the man only known until last night; as The Green Arrow. The District Attorney has just issued an arrest warrant for the person solely responsible for these acts of senseless violence. Oliver Queen is the Green Arrow. He is considered armed and extremely dangerous, do not approach him…"
"Pike knows." He muttered gently, as he rubbed Connor's back slightly. Holding his son in his arms provided him with a slither of peace during this storm that he and his family were forced to endure again. Only this time he had brought the storm to them.
"And now so does everyone."
It was all his fault. "I'm so sorry, Laurel. Nothing seems to go our way, and it's all my fault. I should have killed Malcolm when I had the chance. Given him to Nyssa, plead to her humanity for Thea's life." His voice hitched and felt his eyes sting from the salty tears pooling in his eyes. He had doomed his soon-to-be-wife and their son's future. "I should have made sure he was dead. Especially after we had already inadvertently killed him a year before."
They both heard footsteps in the main part of The Bunker, followed by a slight knock in the archway as Speedy, Roy, Diggle, and Felicity walked in.
"We need to pull some sort gambit throw them off you sent, Oliver," Felicity said, as she walked in.
Diggle pointed at the television feed, "She's right Oliver, you have managed to escape those accusations once, why not again?"
Oliver shook his head, "I had a plan, and it only just worked." He said looking at his sister, who had just picked up her nephew and was making strange faces, and quietly blowing raspberries on his stomach now that his sleep had been disturbed because of everyone in the room, causing his son to burst out in giggles, a stark contrast to how everyone else felt. Connor was blissfully ignorant of the Sword of Damocles above their heads. "This, this is Ra's' plan. He is forcing my hand to give up the killer."
He watched as Thea stilled slightly, at his words, before sullenly going back to play with Connor, careful not to let the infant near her side, that a League assassin had barely grazed her with their sword.
Oliver looked over at Felicity, "How's Ray?"
"Better than you." She said, sounding scared. She then looked around the room, before stopping on him again, "Please tell me you have a brilliant plan?"
"I have nothing. He cut us off at the knees."
Roy looked down to his feet, before looking at Thea, before looking at Oliver and Laurel. "What if Diggle goes out again as The Emerald Archer? He did it before?"
"Pike has a lead and must have some form of evidence. He won't rest until he has Oliver or The Green Arrow in custody." Diggle said, crossing his arms.
"Can't run either. Pike has frozen Laurel's and my bank accounts and assets."
"Mine too," Thea said, as she laid her nephew into his playpen. "He doesn't want you able to flee, thanks to what is left of our wealth."
Oliver stood up, and walked up the stairs, he ignored all the pleas for him to stop, and explain what he was going to do, bar one person. Laurel. She ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him. "You're going to give yourself up? If Ra's won't kill you before you get into custody, The City will go for the death penalty… I know what we promised each other after your mother was taken from us, but… I can't do this alone, Ollie. We're partners for better or worse.
He walked back with her down the stairs and looked at Diggle. "Diggle, can you give me one last favor before I turn myself in?"
He nodded. "Of course, man, you don't even need to ask."
"Can you marry us?" Diggle gave a small, almost proud smile before Oliver looked back at Laurel who was shocked. "I know it's not what we envisioned… But will you marry me, Dinah Laurel Lance?"
Laurel jumped into his arms, kissing him, and mumbling, 'yes' over and over again. He then pulled her back and held her hands as she looked into her gorgeous green eyes. He wanted to remember this moment with his family and close friends. He pulled out the two rings that they had picked out. Two simple yet elegant gold bands. It was them; they didn't care about parading a giant expensive piece of carbon.
He gently put the ring on her finger. "Laurel, Pretty Bird, we have been through hell together, even when we were separated. You showed me that there was more to me than a killer. I'm lucky to have met you, and even luckier to love you. We have a beautiful baby boy together, there is no one else in the world, I would rather spend the rest of my life with."
Even if he didn't have long to live. And this wasn't the wedding that they had planned, but then both of their lives had never gone to plan. He was marooned on an island, and eventually became a vigilante, Laurel in her grief channeled it and became a hero in her own right. After drinking a little too much champagne following The Undertaking, and mourning Tommy, Connor was conceived. He was the best thing that Oliver had ever done.
He and Laurel had agreed, that even if their plans went awry for their life, they still loved it, and the people around them.
Diggle looked at Laurel and gave her a slight nudge from her revelry. "Laurel?"
She hummed, and sniffled, as she put the ring on Oliver's fingers. "You're the love of my life Ollie, I've known that since I got to know you. And I wish that we could do this under better circumstances, but with us, life never goes as planned. I love you, Ollie." Thea handed her sister a tissue and rubbed her back.
Diggle smiled at the pair, "By the power vested in me, I proclaim you husband and wife." He then smiled as he allowed Oliver to kiss his bride.
It wasn't a real marriage, everyone in the room knew it. But for them, it was just as real as if they had a marriage license. In their hearts, Laurel and Oliver were married, even if it was only for a minute, they had bound their hearts in matrimony.
After the small congratulations, the atmosphere returned harder and melancholic than ever. He kissed Laurel and did the same with Connor. He walked over to Thea and asked her to look after their family. Once she nodded tearfully, he silently left The Bunker. He knew his fate was waiting for him.
:-: :-: :-: :-:
Roy watched, as Laurel wept in Thea's arms. This woman had been through hell, so had Oliver. They had given their blood, sweat, and tears for Starling CIty, they had their family, something to live for.
He cleared his throat to do what he needed to do to ensure Oliver would be able to have a fighting chance at living with his wife and son, he needed Laurel and Thea to leave. He walked over to the two women and handed Connor to Laurel.
"Laurel, perhaps you and Speedy should take the little man home? He needs to sleep." Roy said before he hissed as his girlfriend touched his arm that John had recently removed a bullet from his bicep. A wound that he had taken protecting Thea from the spray of police bullets.
Laurel was about to protest when Thea nodded and led her family out and home to their loft. After the three Queens left, he looked at Felicity and Diggle. "If we were in Oliver's position, he would do whatever it took to help us. No matter the personal cost."
He just hoped that one day, Thea would forgive him.
:-: :-: :-: :-:
Pike was sitting opposite Oliver, he berated the man condemning him for every terrorist attack that has occurred in the city. The deaths of; Thomas Merlyn, Lucas Hilton, Moira Queen, Quentin Lance.
Pike asked when the madness was going to stop.
Oliver could only think about the people he had lost, those that had died for him, or by him directly or otherwise. He then thought about the people he was leaving behind, knowing that he was on the final leg of his life.
Laurel. She would be a widow of one of the most hated men in the city. A single mother. Connor, the seed of someone that the city would condemn. And Thea, an orphan with no brother, all she would have is Roy, and a devastated and broken sister-in-law and nephew.
He had come back home to right his family's wrongs. To redeem the actions for his father and mother. Instead, he had tarnished his family's name. He failed. Ra's had shown him that.
The armored van came to a screeching halt as Pike jumped out, a figure in a dark green suit jumped from the roof of the vehicle and down to the road and knelt with his hands behind his head. Oliver froze, thinking that Ra's was giving him the final push to reveal the murderer of Sara.
You have the wrong man, Captain." The Green Arrow said. "I can't in good conscience allow an innocent man to take my place." He then lowered his hood, revealing Roy. "I am The Green Arrow."
Oliver felt sick. Roy was giving up his life. They all knew Oliver's wishes. He would have to discuss with them what it means to honor someone's sacrifice. If he ever gets the chance.
:-: :-: :-: :-:
Thea put Connor in his room, then she wrapped a blanket around her sister, now sister-in-law. As she wrapped the blanket around Laurel she sat down and rested her head against Thea's shoulder. Thea wrapped her arm around her as they watched the television in silence.
It was some dumb soap opera that neither cared for, but at that moment, it provided them with ambient sounds and voices to keep Laurel's dark thoughts away. All of a sudden, the soap was switched over to a breaking news segment.
"There is breaking news regarding the identity of the hooded vigilante, known as The Green Arrow. According to the authorities, a new development has occurred. A man by the name of Roy Harper, a former Glades resident with a criminal history has given himself up, and identified himself as The Green Arrow…"
Thea felt like she was about to be sick. First, Ollie, her brother, was forced into a corner, and now Roy wanted to play the martyr. She looked at Laurel. "We have to do something!" She noticed her sister was frozen watching the screen. "Laurel?"
Laurel looked at her, "We can only save one of them. And we don't know if Roy was acting alone or with help from the other two."
Thea chewed her lip. "They will keep it hush-hush if they are a part of it. Perhaps they have a plan for Roy?"
Laurel hoped she was right. Their family has had enough bad luck as it was. "I can try to get a judge to expedite a Habeas writ. But saving Oliver will be condemning Roy… If we do this, we have to have faith that they have a plan."
Thea sighed, was she willing to put her and Roy's happiness above Laurel, and Ollie's? Above Connor, who would only see his father with a divider between them? Thea closed her eyes and prayed for anything, anyone that was listening to help ensure that both Ollie and Roy got out alive.
"Do it."
Laurel pulled out her phone and started to talk to a judge.
:-: :-: :-: :-:
Laurel walked into the SCPD, with the writ in her hand. She saw Pike intimidatingly standing over her husband, she marched over to her father's colleague.
"Oliver?" She said as she made her way towards them. "Not another word." She commanded him as if he were just another client. The last thing she needed was someone questioning her integrity and state of mind. She needed to compartmentalize. She looked at Pike. "Uncuff him."
"Your father would be rolling in his grave, knowing that you had a child with a murderer."
She forcefully shoved the writ into Pike's chest. "Alleged, and is considered innocent until you have proof. Thanks to the man that you have in the interrogation room, wearing the Robin Hood suit." She then smiled at him. " And Oliver Queen is not just the father of my son, but my husband." Her father had gotten past his issues with Oliver and was just happy to see his eldest daughter happy and starting a family of her own.
Pike scowled as he uncuffed her husband. "This isn't over, Queen. We both know those deaths are on you, and now you're condemning a young man for your crimes." After Oliver was unshackled, Pike left for the interrogation room.
Oliver massaged his wrists, before looking at Laurel with irritation and disappointment. "What are you doing, Laurel?"
She hugged him, and he barely returned the embrace. Laurel tried hard not to let it sting. "I don't know what the hell is going on, but I am making sure that both of you don't rot in jail."
:-: :-: :-: :-:
The next morning, Oliver made his way to where Roy was kept in custody, he walked in and gave him a rueful smile. "Why?"
Roy shook his head. "You have a family, Oliver. You, Laurel, Thea, and baby Connor. A proper family. Your family needs you; The City needs you. Ra's will kill you if you are sentenced, or the courts will."
Oliver shook his head, "Roy, what about Thea?"
"She can survive without me, I… I already know what's it's like growing up without a father, don't subject Connor to the same life. I killed that cop, Mirakuru or not. I need to receive justice for that.
"I will try to save you…" Oliver said to his friend helplessly.
Roy gave Oliver a sad smile. "The die has already been cast."
:-: :-: :-: :-:
Oliver was pissed off. Diggle and Felicity had wiped down the entire Bunker down, only leaving Roy's prints. The playpen was removed and placed in Thea's manager's office, Arsenal's suit, Black Canary's and Speedy's were all removed to the secondary base.
They were willing to let Roy be hung out to dry. They were a team; a family and you don't betray family. For better or worse, his parents had taught him that when he was a child and his time with Slade, Yao Fei, Maseo and Anatoly solidified that belief.
He looked between them as he spoke. "You wiped the entire place?"
"And your more sensitive items, along with your wife and sister's gear. Your welcome." Felicity replied.
He glared at her; how could she leave Roy to the wolves? "You didn't remove Roy's prints."
Diggle squeezed his shoulder, acting as an intermediary between Oliver and Felicity. "Roy already confessed, no point throwing you under the bus too. Not when Ra's is still lurking around with The League."
"I'm not losing Roy."
"And what?" She asked rhetorically. "Should we just tell Laurel to take on Ra's herself? Or add Thea? While your sister has been in the field, Laurel has been off fieldwork for the better part of a year. Neither of them is equipped to handle him, or The League of Assassins."
