Thea was in the loft, despite Connor playing with his toys, blissfully ignorant of what his parents had done in the name of family and the city, the apartment felt empty. It was usually full of life, Oliver cooking his chili in the kitchen that Raisa had taught him, Laurel making final adjustments to her briefs, Connor being well… Connor, often the apartment would have either the radio or the TV was on in the background for ambient noises.

She was alone, Thea realized, Oliver had given up his life for all of them, for the city, for her. All he asked her to do was look after Laurel and Connor. She couldn't even manage half of that request. Ollie would be disappointed in her, that she let Laurel go off half-cocked towards Brick. It was another thing that she had done to destroy their family.

She had killed Laurel's sister. Killed Sara. Thea would be damned if anything happened to her nephew. To Ollie and Laurel's son. Apparently, the last person with actual Queen blood alive. Thea chewed her cheek, she would protect Connor and hopefully get Laurel back on side. Perhaps that could be the start of her atonement for killing Sara? And for failing Ollie's final request?

She turned to face her bubbly nephew, gave him a watery smile, Thea made her way to him, and leaned down to Connor, "What are we gonna do Conn?" She didn't expect an answer, and certainly did not expect him to pat her shoulder reassuringly as she picked him up. A tender and thoughtful response that she was sure Connor wouldn't know the significance of.

Somehow, she had solely inherited this beautiful apartment, a baby boy, and a city to keep safe. A city that was facing a two-front war against the machinations of Brickwell, and Ra's Al Ghul. She was caught on the enemies of her brother and sister.

Connor sure would have a lot of interesting stories to be told about his family when he grew up. Could she start telling stories to him; about two heroes that wore green and black who saved the day? Or would that be pulling Connor into vigilantism from a young age?

A knock on the door startled Thea. She carried her nephew to his room, handing him his stuffed hawk, and placed him in his crib. She then walked out, locking the window, then the door on her way out, walking towards her handbag to pick up the pistol Quintin had given her when she first started going out as Speedy.

She fought a small smile at her lip, Quintin was right when he told her that the people that die are never gone, but live within them. He was keeping her and his grandson safe thanks to the pistol in her hands.

She turned off the safety, and moved towards the door silently, looking out of the peephole. Her heart leaped as she saw a man covering his face with a crimson hoodie. Roy. Thea could recognize his jawline anywhere.

Thea swung open the door, and leaped into his arms, "You're back?" She sniffled as she moved into his warm embrace.

"I came once I heard about Brickwell, it's on the news and everything." Roy lovingly pressed her into his chest, "I made an arrangement with ARGUS to delay the plan for me to work with them until things have settled down here." He pressed a kiss to her head, "How's Laurel?"

She blinked away the tears, then dragged him into the apartment, and retrieved Connor, so she could keep an eye on him. "Laurel's gone, Roy. She's given up on her life as Laurel and has decided to just be the Black Canary. She did it to protect us."

Roy sat her nephew on his lap, and bounced him on his knee, "What about Con-Man?"

Thea briefly looked away, finding her nephew giggling easier to look at, "Laurel thinks that by putting distance between her and Connor will keep him safe."

Roy hummed, "What did Felicity and Diggle say about that?"

Thea exhaled audibly, "Laurel almost strangled a human trafficker to death, he had heard about Brick before the media, and she choked him to get information on her first night back in the job. When we returned, she was bombarded by Diggle and Felicity telling her that Ra's was the real threat and that they didn't believe Malcolm about Ollie being killed by the League."

Roy was silent for a second before nodding, "So she left? And is hunting down Brick?" Thea nodded, "So, what's the plan? Where do you need me, babe?"

"Only one person alive may be able to stop Laurel from doing something she can't come back from." She looked around the empty apartment, "After I talk to him, we can look at looking after Connor, then the city."

"Laurel will come around. She needs time. For better or worse, her family, you and Connor are everything to her. I promise you that she will come home to you and Connor."

:-: :-: :-: :-:

Ra's snapped his fingers as he watched the unbaptized body of Al Sahhim being carried by his soldiers. The Demon's Head had commanded Sarab to be elsewhere, his former self was showing, he wished to be one of the men to care for the body.

It was a risk he couldn't afford, Maseo Yamashiro to return from the grave. He had made a decree that Sarab was not to visit Al Sahim under any circumstances. If he were to exhibit more dissent he would be sent into the black cells for a few weeks. Being held in the cramped cells, not big enough to lay in, nor stand for several weeks in absolute silence and darkness was enough to break the will of any man and allow reconditioning to take place. If not he would made a head shorter.

His horseman and heir would not meet until Al Sahim was truly a man, and no longer the boy that once inhabited the vessel.

Ra's watched as the priestess moved in front of Al Sah Him. The man had many scars both mental and physical, the pit would cure him of the physical traumas that Oliver Queen had ever incurred. Upon seeing several tattoos, the priestess commanded a branding iron.

The ink in his skin would only serve to remind him of his former life. That he had ties. He watched as the priestess seared off the reminders. The man's flesh would return whole as if he was never burnt, inked, nor suffered his wounds. A true rebirth.

This would be different for the would-be usurpers and pretenders; Al Saher, Al Ghabash. Malcolm Merlyn and Damien Darhk, and his traitorous eldest daughter, Talia. They only stole a portion of the waters, one would have to bathe in the pit to fully be revitalized, lest mementos of their mortal wounds remain. Scars, burns alike all remain without bathing in the depths restorative waters.

Any scar that Al Sahim would receive would be in honor of Ra's Al Ghul, and The League of Assassins. He would be born anew.

The body was then dressed in fine robes worthy of the Heir of The Demon. They slowly placed into the depths of the holiest of waters. It took a few moments until the water bubbled as if the waters were boiling over.

His heir's hand rose from the depths and watched as his men hauled him to the side. Once the man was brought a new dry robe to wear, Ra's moved towards him, cradling the man's head in his calloused hands. "Who are you?"

The boy before him looked lost, he truly had no idea where he was or who he used to be. Good. "I… don't."

Ra's silenced him gently, not unlike a father would for his child. "Hush now. You are Al Sahim, Heir to The Demon. It will take time until you truly know what that means, but you will." Any remaining memories will soon fade, leaving only Al Sahim. Ra's then looked over at the priestess, "Ensure that my heir is given the Lotus." The curative would prevent any issues from the mystical waters affecting Al Sahim.

:-:-:-:-:

The crowd was gathered around the Hochman Hotel, chanting and protesting about the injustice of the FBI allowing the crime boss to live in the lap of luxury. It certainly wouldn't be the first time that Brick had bought the loyalty of people of influence.

"Lock Brick up!" The crowd cried, "Lock Brick up!"

She watched as she saw a mob of protesters waving signs and banners that expressed the same sentiment. Brick belonged in prison.

Did the FBI not care about all the people he hurt? That he had killed Jo? "It doesn't make any sense." She muttered to herself as she watched the protesters.

She then heard the cockney accent of the man that had ripped her from her son, "Of course it does, no good deed goes unpunished."

She turned to see Brick behind her, wearing a fine suit, and yet no one around her seemed to notice that the man that was the cause of their protests was next to her, "What are you talking about?"

"A mother who left her bastard son to grow up knowing that both of his parents abandoned him, that they tossed him to his paternal aunt all because they put the needs of strangers above him. That they loved strangers over him, so much so that they were willing to give their lives for them"

"That's not what happened. I'm doing this for Connor, I have to keep him safe from you. Even if that means that I can't be with him."

"You can't admit it to yourself, your son was a mistake, an unplanned pregnancy."

Laurel growled at the hallucination, "My son is not a mistake!" He had been a surprise to be sure, but she never considered him a mistake. Connor is the most important thing in her life. His unexpected conception was never going to change that. Connie was the product of the deep and unconditional love between her and Ollie.

Brick seemed to ignore her outburst as if she hadn't just defended her baby. "If there is a god, look at what he has done. He first gave you everything in increments, Thea, Oliver, Sara, then Connor, only to pull the rug from beneath you. Moira was killed by Slade Wilson, your father died after the stress and injuries from The Siege, Sara murdered and her body displayed in front of you and your son. Roy took the fall for crimes he never committed, and your husband, he fell on his sword so The Demon's head couldn't use his on Thea. You lost everything, and everyone just so you could hear my name chanted by the crowds, the final nail in the coffin."

"No!"

"You lost everything just in time to come to the learn the irrefutable truth, I may have lost the battle, but in the end, and this is the end, I won the war." He chuckled, causing Laurel to curl her hand into a fist. "You always thought that Connor was the universe's way of rewarding you and your so-called-husband for fighting the good fight, but does it sound like this is a reward?"

Laurel swallowed the bile rising in her throat, "No, this is hell."

She turned to look at the Englishman, only to see no one next to her, and the crowd continued to chant against Brick's house arrest. It was then that she saw Thea. Laurel moved behind a tree, obscuring herself as she watched her sister, in all but blood, walk towards the FBI agents.

When the voice of her demon returned, he was standing behind her again, "You can never keep her and Connor safe. In the end, you will kill them too."

"Stop it."

"Just like your father. And Sara."

"I said stop." She mumbled a little louder at the specter haunting her. Oliver had told her about the ghosts haunting him, that he had to learn about what they were trying to tell him. She was getting their message loud and clear. She was cursed.

"Just like; Moira, Joanna, and Tommy." It was true, Moira died because Laurel got her out of prison, she defended her in court, Jo died because Laurel couldn't let go of Brick, and Tommy died because she didn't trust him with her secret and so he wanted to show Ollie and her that he could be an asset to them and not just the devil-may-care playboy, were their deaths a warning?

Laurel let out an exasperated chuckle as Not-Brickwell continued, "They all died because of you, Dinah Laurel Lance. Their blood will be coating your hands."

The sound of Thea's voice broke her out of her thoughts, "This is so stupid, I can't believe this."

Laurel's hallucination of Brick chuckled from behind her. "You avoid her because she killed Sara." Laurel clicked her tongue. "Your so-called baby sister killed your blood. How can you trust that she won't ever do the same to Connor, to you?"

"Shut up." Laurel growled under her breath, "It was Malcolm, not her. I would never have left Connor with her if I believed that she was responsible."

"It wasn't like you had a choice." Her hallucination sported a sinister smirk as he taunted Laurel. "Thea will corrupt him, mold him to be his mother and father's successor. If not for her, perhaps Felicity Smoak, or John Diggle? A perfect soldier with a pedigree of vigilantism, someone they can use, especially if sweet Connor inherited his deadbeat mother's gifts."

"I don't want him to live the life that we live, or lived." She sighed, "I want him to grow up and live a normal, healthy, boring, white picket fence life. If Connor becomes a librarian or an accountant, I would consider it one of my greatest achievements||

Before Not-Brickwell could answer, the voice of a cop broke her out of her stupor. "What are you doing Miss Queen?"

Thea graced the officer with a smile, "I'm sorry, who's in charge here?" She asked as she felt as if someone was watching her, she turned around slightly and saw a myriad of indistinguishable strangers going about their day.

:-: :-: :-: :-:

Thea's heart sank. She hoped to have seen Laurel looking around the hotel, so it could have been a chance to reach out to her sister before it was too late.

The officer pointed at an African-American woman in a pantsuit: "That's the brains behind Limey not being behind bars. Special Agent Watson."

Thea thanked the officer and moved towards Watson, Thea knew that she had to try to stop Laurel by cutting her off at the pass, if not for Connor, then for Laurel herself, for Starling. The city needs them to be united. Even if it was just her, Roy and Laurel. "Agent Watson?"

The agent shook her head. "I'm sorry I'm not authorized to divulge anything to the media."

"I'm not the media, but a concerned citizen, I heard you were the one behind Brick's release."

Watson furrowed her eyes at the younger woman. "That's misinformation: Brickwell has not been released, but is under house arrest and is a cooperating witness. Make no mistake, he's a convicted criminal and is being treated as such."

Thea scoffed, giving the agent a bemused smirk, "Being held in a twenty-million-dollar penthouse? An interesting punishment."

Watson glared at her, and staunchly defended the bureau, saying, "The suite was seized by the government."

"Ooh, so what's on the menu for his majesty tonight? Steak Tartare and champagne or Corned Beef and mash?"

Watson sniggered and pointed over at the line of reporters, "Media over there, and protestors in the mosh pit." She said as she started to walk away from Thea.

Thea recalled her time working alongside Laurel and smirked before calling after the federal agent, "Brick was convicted on five RICO counts. That's twenty years apiece." That's putting aside the murder of Jo. "Care to explain to me how justice has been achieved?"

Watson halted, before marching towards her, "Clarke, Meyers, Cortez, Bennet, Elliot. They lost their lives, and they were good agents, good people. Their lives will not be in vain." She replied coolly before leaving Thea alone.

Thea turned on her heel and left. Perhaps she should talk to Walter soon. If Brick wanted to play the influencing people game, she could do the same. Her mother would be smiling from the grave if everything hadn't gone to shit. Her daughter was about to reconstitute the Queen's family legacy. Thea was going to talk to Walter about creating Queen Consolidated or something similar, to get the clout necessary.

:-: :-: :-: :-:

Laurel sighed in relief, as Thea hadn't detected her. She walked down the road and around the corner to see the FBI assisting suppliers to unload and helping them through the side entrance of the hotel.

Finally, some good luck, she thought. She discreetly watched as they entered the pin-code and walked to the van that the suppliers owned, climbing into the back, and pulling out an unused jacket with the supplier's name, and donned the jacket, wheeling another box to the side door.

She walked past the sentinels, giving them a friendly smile, before entering the pin and entering the door, hauling the heavy container with her, one of the agents gallantly held the door open for her, "Thank you." She said sweetly as she entered the building and heard the door close behind her.

She dragged the container down a claustrophobic hallway that just barely would have brushed against Ollie's arms. She shook her head and continued to move forward. With one foot in front of the other, she rounded the corner as one of the suppliers spoke to her, "Oh, hey, hand me one of those BNCs?"

She stilled, what the hell was a BNC? She was a lawyer, the eldest daughter of a long line of cops on her father's side and her mother was an academic, neither were tradesmen. She looked in the open box to see a variety of bits and pieces. She selected one of the metal bits at random and handed them, man, it, and swiftly left the hallway, as she heard him complain that he asked for a BNC, and not whatever else he received instead.

Laurel walked past a bin and tore off the rain jacket and shoved it in the container, she adjusted her hoodie and walked out to the lobby of the hotel. She looked around at the new home of one of the men that had uprooted her life. And was now an ever-present threat to her baby boy. Daniel Brickwell. An upper-class establishment that had candles lit, the waitstaff, wearing cummerbunds and bow ties. This was not supposed to be his castle, he should be rotting behind bars.

She heard many of the hotel's guests were voicing their discontent at the thought of sharing a building with the man.

She continued forward, and she heard his voice again, making her wonder if she was losing it. Why was she hallucinating that bastard? "So, you made it into my castle, now what?"

"Why would they let you out?" She mumbled under her breath. The last thing she needed was to alert people that she was crazy, she may very well lose her chance to even make her move.

"Does it even matter, Darlin'?" He asked, "I think the real question is what are you planning on doing when you find me, what are you willing to do?"

She ignored his questions, looking over the fine banisters and down to the lobby below, hearing classical music playing softly in the background of people's mutterings. "If the FBI is protecting you, you're an asset. You made yourself important. You cut a deal with them." Laurel whispered as she looked around.

"Smart lass, with everything I know about the criminal underworld in this beautiful city… They will be eating out of my hand."

"You will manipulate them." She corrected her hallucination.

"You don't know that. You're not clairvoyant, if you were you wouldn't be questioning your decision to abandon your baby son. Perhaps they will allow me to raise him as I should have done for Sammy before he was ripped from my arms."

"You will never touch Connor!" She snarled. "And I know you, you will corrupt those agents."

"Perhaps prison has changed me, is that not a part of your ideology that you cherish so much? The purpose of prison is to rehabilitate and allow a person to atone? Isn't that why you stopped Oliver from killing when he was behind the green hood after returning from abroad?" Laurel chuckled at the thought of Brick redeeming himself, a leopard cannot change his spots.

Her hallucination of Brick continued to taunt her. "Maybe at this very moment, I am providing intelligence for the FBI, information that can and will save lives. And you are dallying around this hotel doing what? Skulking from the shadows. A deadbeat mother that clings to her oldest enemy for stability, a sad ending for the once-revered Black Canary."

She looked around, before walking away from Not-Brick only for him to follow her, "Oh, the Irony, that I am to become more valuable to this city than you everywhere." She continued to ignore him and continued walking down the grand staircase.

:-: :-: :-: :-:

Brick placed his cup of tea beside his feet, not looking at his lawyer, "And?"

"Josiah Beckett has eyes on him, Samuel is safe. I have designated two men to watch him from a safe distance."

He had to ascertain if his son was where the FBI said he was. He needed to know how far he could trust them, how much they trusted him.

"A small town in Kansas not far from Metropolis. His foster parents are clean. Farmers." He stood up glaring at his lawyer, "Why the hell is he in Kansas?"

"It was his choice, apparently the judge was sympathetic to him, and gave the boy a map of the states, and asked him where he would want to live. He chose Kansas."

Brick scowled; what kind of judge would do that? Was the man simple? "How is he? Is he happy? Healthy?"

Brick's lawyer handed him his phone that showed his son helping his foster father erecting a wooden post and rail fence to keep the livestock in the fields. Brick smiled proudly at his son who had grown into a strapping young boy, and yet, he looked so much like his mother.

"And to answer your questions, yes, Samuel is happy and healthy and is in the top quartile of his class. Though he has gotten in his fair share of fights with some of the children who have accosted him for his relation to you."

"Double his guard, Kansas is close, and is under the radar, but I will not underestimate the Irish." He heard his lawyer leaving, his shoes echoing as he left the penthouse.

:-: :-: :-: :-:

Thea was sitting in the loft, and as Roy went to get them some dinner, she turned and threw a flechette towards the window, as Malcolm deftly caught the missile. "It seems that Laurel has taught you well. Speaking of The Canary of Starling City, where is she?"

"Gone," Thea responded curtly. "What are you planning on using her as well?"

Despite Laurel almost automatically forgiving her for killing Sara, Thea still felt the miasma of guilt creeping through her chest. And the man standing in front of her was the sole reason for her losing her family to Brickwell and Ra's.

"And yet, she abandoned Connor, and you?" Malcolm asked her with the look of a parent who knew his daughter was lying, "I'm not stupid, Thea. I know that my old associate is on house arrest, and she is the… the headstrong woman she is has decided to renew her one-woman-crusade upon him. Not that I blame her."

"What do you want?" She growled as she moved towards Connor's playpen to put herself between him and Malcolm.

"Relax," He said raising his hands, "I have no intention of harming your nephew, in saying that, you remind me of your mother." He said thoughtfully. "Like Laurel, I'm a parent that will do anything to keep my child safe. We need to go, take Connor and we will leave the country."

"What? No."

"It's not up for debate, I lied when I told Oliver that his death would satisfy Ra's desire for my death. Ra's himself needed to die for the blood debt to be wiped out." It was his plan, after all, to have Oliver kill Ra's, who would deny taking the throne, and he would step into the void and restore Nanda Parbat back to obedience.

"If you told Ollie the truth, Laurel would have stayed to help protect us from them." Thea continued to glare at her biological father. "Diggle should have let Laurel strangle you!"

"Your faith in your sister-in-law is endearing, but if Oliver can't beat him, what hope does she have? She may have that scream, but beating Ra's is something else entirely. She also has unfinished business with Brickwell and knows that the man is not one to forget an insult. Laurel has finally grown up into a woman who understands that the world is not the idyllic place that she imagined but a cold, unrelenting world."

:-: :-: :-: :-:

Laurel was sitting at the bar, listening to a couple of agents bickering about their food. One seemed disheartened about the fact that the other had bought them Big Belly Burger, and not something more exotic.

The bartender came over to her, "What can I get for you, Miss?"

She looked up at the man, "Just water, thank you." The man nodded before walking away to resume cleaning some of his glasses before getting her water.

Laurel sighed audibly as her hallucination visited her again, "It has an amazing view."

"And you should be rotting in a cell, the only view you should have is one obstructed by cold steel bars and a wall." She answered as she saw Brick make himself comfortable on the stool next to her.

"Is that your grand plan? To ensure that I return back to prison? What was it they said about insanity? Something about repeating the same thing expecting a different result? There's only one way to stop me, and you don't have it in you to do it."

"You want to bet on that?" Didn't he know that she would do anything to keep Connor safe, the reason why everyone but Thea disavowed her?

"In a way, you are my accomplice. If I belong behind bars, so do you. Everything that has happened since you refused to kill me is in your hands as much as it is mine. No amount of mental gymnastics can stop that. The people I have killed, the ones to come, I wonder who is next?" She watched out of the corner of her eye, as Brick's smug lawyer walked past her en route to his boss's keep. "You can follow him right to me. It would be so easy; you know that you want to." He taunted.

Laurel stood from the bar and walked down the hall to where the lawyer had entered the building only to be stopped by a female agent, with brown shoulder-length hair. "May I see your room key, Ma'am?"

Laurel patted her empty pocket, saying, "Yeah I got it." She bluffed.

The agent stopped her, and placed a hand over her sidearm that was visibly holstered to her hip, The agent's brown eyes watching Laurel suspiciously, "No, I need to see it."

"Oh, sure." She said as she patted herself down trying to find something she knew didn't exist.

Brick's accented voice whispered in her ear, "You could take her, grab her gun. I'm caged up like an animal, unarmed. Like a lamb to the slaughter"

"Ma'am?" The agent repeated.

Laurel patted down her pockets to make it seem like she had genuinely lost her keys. She had to make it seem that she was an irrelevant, innocuous citizen. "This is embarrassing, they gave me quite a few of them."

"But you won't. You are too soft. That's why I don't hire women to do men's work." Brick's voice said. "You can't kill me. Oliver had no qualms about killing, he even fought Ra's with that intention."

Laurel stuttered as if she were flustered by the thought of losing her keys, not from being hindered by the agent. "I must have left them in my car." It was a terrible lie, and she could tell that the agent didn't believe her.

"Then you can't come through." She replied briskly.

Laurel gave her a faux-smile, to conceal her irritation, "Sure, I'll be back, agent?"

"Smythe."

:-: :-: :-: :-:

Later that night, Brick was served some third-rate meal, after the hot-headed agent left, all that remained was Agent Smythe. She stood by the window, unmoving as he was supposed to eat as if he couldn't be trusted with the kitchen utensils.

"It's Agent Smythe, correct?"

"Yes."

"You have my condolences for your fallen agents. Losing them to protect some criminals like me must be hard for their loved ones. I imagine that they find it easier in their hearts to hate me than think that those agents died as true heroes. If you think that it would give them some sort of solace, offer them my condolences and heartfelt gratitude for their heroism."

Smythe didn't even look at him, "You only have five minutes to eat your meal. Less talking, more chewing, convict."

"I owe those agents a debt that I can never repay. It is not lost on me, however, that I also owe you for your heroism. I have known... Gifted people. You use your extraordinary gift is used to help those in need. May I ask where you acquired your particular talent?"

Smythe marched towards him, snatching his uneaten platter of food and leaving the penthouse without uttering a word. She had watched her fiancé killed before her eyes as Zsasz stabbed him in the eye. She wouldn't succumb to this bastard's manipulations; he was no better than Charlie's killer.

:-: :-: :-: :-:

The Canary of Starling City waited in Brick's Lawyer's car, as the man sat in his expensive BMW, and closed the door, Laurel pulled his seat belt around his neck and pulled back slightly. "Why did Brick backstab the Irish?"

The attorney tried to look at her in the mirror, so she reached out, turned off the lights and moved the mirror out of focus.

"I don't know what you are talking about! You have the wrong person…" He gasped out the last word as Laurel tightened the cord, causing the man to reassess his priorities. "Brickwell hated prison. The FBI facilitated him getting out."

"No." She growled, keeping her voice low and deep, "Why did he specifically turn on the Irish and not someone else?"

"I'm just a lawyer." He rasped out, trying to protect his hide.

She was having none of that. He knew something. "What is he getting out of this? What's his endgame? The territory that belonged to the Irish?"

"No." He rasped.

"Money?"

The lawyer choked for a few seconds before managing to say, "No."

"Fair enough." She whispered, "Just tell me when you feel like breathing?" She whispered menacingly as she pulled harder on the cord, forcing the man to hit the back of his head on the headrest and gasp for air.

"Brickwell's son… Samuel. The feds will let him have full custody if he helps them." The Lawyer wheezed.

"No." The vigilante growled.

"I promise you! He's doing it all for that boy."

Laurel loosened the cord slightly to allow him to breathe, the last thing she needed was him passing out before she had what she needed. "And where is Samuel?" She asked, while she could hear a couple of agents planning to have dinner, she dived out of the car, using the other cars in the parking garage as cover. Meanwhile, Brick's lawyer begged for help.

The Woman in Black darted away from the car and hid behind a cement pillar, an agent was speaking over the radio. "Unidentified assailant in the parking garage, the person is considered armed and dangerous"

Laurel heard a gun cock and leaned against the cement pillar as an agent started to walk past her, casing the area. She silently followed, before sending a hard punch to the side of his head, knocking him out. She grabbed his heavy body before he fell and tucked him beneath one of the cars.

Two more agents moved past as she hid in the shadows. She managed to sneak past one, without detecting the other, she pulled her arm around his neck and choked him until he passed out, hiding him in a small alcove.

The Canary made her way to the stairwell, only to hear a couple of agents announce their presence over their radio. After gently closing the door, she darted out and hid behind a car as she heard one of the agents request backup.

She stood up, and left her hideaway, to have a gun pointed at her face. "Stop! Federal Agents!" He stood a step towards her, "They had families, bitch."

"I respect your job, I'm not here to…" She then lunged for the gun, with the attempt to disarm him, only for the agent to be a lot stronger than he looked, the agent lifted her up with ease and slammed her hard onto the hood of the nearest car.

She weaved out of his grip and slammed his head into the hood.

"There she is! Stop!" She bobbed and weaved out of the line of fire, and ran to the cars for cover. "Come out with your hands up. Now."

She snuck around them and flanked them, taking two off guard and throwing one of the pistols at the other's head. She didn't see the man behind her who bull-rushed her, sending her flying to the ground, she haphazardly kicked out towards him, and stood up, delivering an uppercut.

The agent fell. "Stay down, I don't want to hurt you." The Canary warned before the agent stood back up, only for her to send a couple of jabs, sending him back to the ground. She walked past him, only for him to grab her leg.

She stopped, and exhaled, when she again heard the voice of the devil on her shoulder, Brick "That's it. Let the Canary out!"

She grabbed the man by the scruff of his collar, delivered several hard punches to his face and dropped him back to the ground, before kneeling over him, and picking him up again, punching his face repeatedly.

She hated herself for losing control. Maybe she was a monster? She shouldn't enjoy hurting people, she enjoyed helping people. How could she look in her son's eyes when she was someone that enjoyed inflicting pain on others? That she was a monster?

"Felt good, didn't it? Too bad that you still can't get to me and they are a poor man's substitute for; Yours Truly. I am going to kill everyone you love, and there is nothing you can do about it, the FBI will turn a blind eye as long as I spoon-feed them information."

:-: :-: :-: :-:

Thea sat at the table after just feeding Connor and watching Felicity try to convince baby Sara to eat a small morsel of chicken parmigiana, despite the infant's age. Thea turned back after wiping her grubby nephew's face of the dinner, she watched Diggle placed his gun on the table and take a sip of Lyla's wine.

She heard Lyla reprimand her husband for leaving the Glock on the dinner table as Roy moved towards her, and wrapped his arms around her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "How's Con-Man?"

"Messy." She grumbled, "And I think he has just noticed that M-O-M and D-A-D have not been around for a while."

"I'm surprised that Laurel left him to pursue Brick," Diggle said as he sat down. "It's like Laurel has been itching for something like this to happen. An excuse to fight."

Lyla shrugged, taking a sip of her wine, "You saying that if I had died or was MIA, and someone like Brick or Lawton came back, someone who you have a history with you wouldn't do whatever it took to stop them if they were targeting Sara? Leave her with family or close friends? I think you are being too hard on Laurel, Johnny. "

"I suppose, I don't know… I find it hard to imagine a scenario that would lead me to abandon Sara."

After an awkward silence, Felicity coughed and looked between Roy and Diggle. "How did it go out there last night, she then looked at Thea, and why weren't you out with them?"

"Your intel was spot on, caught four Outsiders unloading a shipment of M16s."

Thea then piped up, "I wasn't out because Lyla was helping me with Connor."

Diggle sat up, and looked at Thea, "How are you doing?" Thea wasn't her usual bubbly self since Laurel decided to go rogue. Even having Roy back wasn't enough to revitalize his brother's sister. It was one of the many reasons he and Lyla had suggested to Thea that they would be happy to look after her nephew when she needed it.

"Having never looked after Connor for more than a weekend max, I think I'm coping." What else could she say, without sounding like a horrible parental guardian?

"I mean about Oliver and Laurel." He clarified gently.

"I don't know." How could she describe the myriad of feelings she had, how she had managed to endure her brother being killed to save her, and Laurel going off on a suicide mission to protect Connor and herself? Not to mention to stop the bastard from infecting the city again. "The mornings are the worst, or when Connor looks around for or cries out for them… I— we just miss them."

Thea felt Roy wrap his arm around her, and Lyla rubbed Thea's forearm. "All three of you are always welcome here." The older woman then looked at Roy. "You have now officially been put on our books as a freelancer, but you won't be called upon to work. It's just for the books so you can stay here indefinitely."

:-: :-: :-: :-:

Laurel was washing her hands in Ted's old storage room, his Wildcat suit and weapons safely packed in boxes. In one corner was an old worn futon, and next, it was the photograph of her family before everything went to hell.

She heard the door being unlocked, followed by Ted walking in, "Thea called. Said that you were hunting for Brick again?"

"Leave me alone, Ted. Doesn't Central City need you with its influx of people who are lost and need direction?"

"That's true for almost anywhere if you look hard enough. But Dinah, those people aren't my family." He said softly. After a long few seconds, he spoke again answering her unspoken question. "Thea's looking after the little one."

Laurel closed her eyes, feeling her eyes sting at leaving her son practically on her aunt's doorstep. Is she a terrible mother? "Am I a terrible mother for leaving him?" She asked, looking at her friend and mentor, needing him to tell her that she was doing the right thing.

"That depends, you doing this for yourself or for him?"

"I don't know." She admitted defeatedly.

"Yes, you do." He said calmly "And I won't get in your way of stopping you. I don't know what Thea intended when she called me, but I'm here for you, a shoulder to lean on. He then wrapped his arm around her, "So what are you planning on doing Dinah?"

She looked up at the dim overhead light pondering an answer, "I don't know. Maybe, I will stop him. For good this time.

Ted looked at her with concern, "You're going to have to deal with your rage, Dinah." He said firmly, yet not unkindly, "Find a way to harness it. Or it will destroy you. Anger is a spark, it can fuel you, it can be channeled. Rage, on the other hand, is a wildfire. Out of control. Useless. You are just as likely to burn yourself, as well as others. Think about what you have to lose, you haven't lost everything, not yet."

After a few seconds of silence, Ted spoke again, "Do you trust Malcolm Merlyn? Do you believe that Ra's truly killed Oliver?"

Laurel kept scrubbing her bloody hands. "I… I'm not sure." It felt different than the last time. When he had left on the Gambit with Sara and Robert. "If Ollie's alive, and I hope he is, that he forgives me, and knows what he's doing, then he has a plan. But I can't lose focus on Brick. He's just as much a threat as Ra's. I need to do whatever it takes to protect my family. "

:-: :-: :-: :-:

Thea was wiping down the bar at Verdant, she had to go over some managerial paperwork to keep the business running, which was one of the ways to honor her brother's legacy. She had made a vow to herself that she would remind the world that her brother was more than a former playboy, who collected misdemeanors, and the eyes of the SCPD. She wanted to remind people that her brother was a philanthropist, he cared about the city he lived in. That he was a loving brother and son, a devoted husband and father. By managing Verdant and ensuring that a percentage of the revenue went to helping The Glades, was her way of doing so.

Perhaps, between the money she had inherited from Malcolm's quote-unquote death, and the goodwill she is garnering in honor of her brother's legacy, she could either buy back either Merlyn Global, or Queen Consolidated, or at the very least own a large stake in Palmer Tech to help Connor, and Laurel if— No. When she returns from taking down Brickwell by herself.

She looked up at the clock, to see when Roy and Connor would return from picking up some Big Belly Burger when she heard the front doors open, and a figure in black walked in slowly, with a hood and sunglasses.

"We're closed for the night, housekeeping and the like," she said as she focused back on wiping down the bar, it helped ground her, doing menial work that everything that had happened was real and wasn't some horrible nightmare that she wasn't waking up from.

"Speedy." Came the voice of someone she never thought she would hear from again.

Thea's head shot up to see Laurel standing not five feet from her, "This isn't real." She murmured more to herself than to her sister in all but name. The woman in front of her had a much lighter shade of blonde hair, much shorter too. "L…Laurel?"

"It's real. I'm real." Her sister confirmed with a sad smile, showing her sporting a purple jaw and busted lip.

Thea chuckled as she bounced into Laurel's arms, perhaps her sister had come back to her senses and wanted to work as a team, as a family. The way Ollie would have wanted them to operate. She couldn't help but hum at the feeling of Laurel patting her on the back softly.

"Hey, Speedy."

Thea's smile widened, Laurel was truly back. "Your back! Roy's back too, we can work this out…" Thea's heart dropped, when she saw the guilty look Laurel was giving.

"I'm not back." Answered Laurel, looking melancholic.

"Oh." Thea's lips pursed as she tried to maintain her emotions. She had prayed that Ted would have gotten through to her, perhaps, he couldn't find her. She knew that Felicity had tried to find her once or twice to no avail. "If this is about Sara… I deserve whatever punishment you decide on, just please, come home." She pleaded as she wept.

Laurel removed her sunglasses, revealing a nasty black eye. "I could never blame you, Speedy. It's never been about that. I never blamed you for that… But I'm not back, Speedy." She reiterated it carefully. "Laurel Lance is gone… I'm leaving her behind." It was left unsaid why Laurel knew that Thea would understand her reasoning.

If Laurel Lance disappeared, Brick wouldn't go looking for her hubris. Out of sight, out of mind. Or at least she prayed that would be the case.

Thea swallowed, as she digested the information, she thought that her abandoning her life was temporary just to catch Brick. "What?" Thea asked, her voice thick with emotion.

Laurel hesitated, "I—uh… Came to tell you that I have confirmed that Brick is actually out of jail, I wanted to tell you to keep your head on a swivel."

"Laurel…" Thea started.

"I've been having a rough go at it over the last year and I thought I was coming out the other end. I've been questioning a lot of— the point of everything I have done." Her lips trembled before she spoke, her eyes looking anywhere but Thea's. "And last night, I had an epiphany. I am going after him, Thea. I'm going to take him down permanently. But I can only do that if I know that you, Connie and Roy, now that he is back are safe. That my family is safe."

Thea had to slow her sister down on her plans, and to do so, she would have to manipulate her sister, using Connor. Thea knew that she would feel dirty doing so, but she had to do whatever it took, "Slow down, Laurel. If you wait for say, five minutes, Roy and your baby will be here and we can talk and gain some perspective." Be a family. "Connor misses his Mommy; he cried all night he wants his Mommy."

Laurel's eyes welled up. It seems Laurel wasn't done with her life as much as she claimed otherwise. Maybe Laurel had not come here to warn her, but to just see and hear her family? To be with them, if only it was for a few minutes. Thea supposed that was a step in the right direction.

That no matter how much Laurel tried to build a wall around her, she still had a gentle heart and loved her family. And couldn't stay away from them too long even if she tried.

"How is—" Laurel shook her head and swallowed audibly. "I know that you will want to get involved, you and Roy will try to take on Brick in some fashion. I'm telling you to stay out of it, and leave him and this, to me. It started with the two of us, and that is how it will end."

Thea looked at her as if Laurel had grown two heads, "No," she scoffed.

"No?" Laurel asked, confused.

Thea repeated more firmly, "No. You don't get to show up after leaving your family. Your only child, and sister and order me like that. Since I started working alongside you, you insisted that we were partners, sisters, equals. You know me better than to think I would just accept your command." Thea took a breath, throwing the wet towel on the bar, "You're more than my best friend, you are my sister! We have to protect the last of our family, together." Thea hiccupped, as tears ran down her cheek.

Laurel pulled her dark lens sunglasses back on to hide her eyes from Thea. Concealing Laurel's emotions behind them. "I see now that I was wrong about many things; rekindling our friendship, training you…" Thea reeled back, visibly hurt by Laurel's words. Even if she knew the reasoning behind it, she was trying to keep her at a distance.

Laurel was trying to put up a wall of indifference and callousness to keep her away from helping Laurel with Brick.

"I…" She hesitated, sounding guilt-ridden and broken, "I put you in danger, and that was incredibly selfish of me." She cleared her throat, "Now, neither of us can change the past, however, I can stop making the same mistake… We are done, Thea. It's over." She said, standing up, from the barstool, she hesitated for a moment, "Please don't take this out on Connor, you and Roy are all he has."

Thea squared her shoulders, glaring at the woman that was as close to her as a sister, "I would never take it out on Connor! You know that!" She said, standing up, her lip rising into a snarl, "There must seriously be something wrong with you to abandon your family. My sister wouldn't turn her back on the people that love her."

Laurel gave her a rueful smile, "I know, Speedy." She said before her voice had an edge to it, a warning, that Thea had never heard Laurel use on her. "Stay away from Brick, tell Roy, and the other two to do the same. I would appreciate it if you could do me one last favor, on top of looking after Connie— Don't tell the others that you saw me, and don't follow, or track me."

"Do you even hear yourself right now, Laurel?" Thea feared that Laurel was too far down in her own rabbit hole filled with grief, that perhaps only Ollie or Quintin, or herself could help her out of the darkness she found herself in.

"Goodbye, Speedy," Laurel whispered sadly, as she left out through the side entrance.

"Laurel! Laurel!" She called after her, only for the woman to continue walking out of the club and into the world, alone with no family to guide her or protect her.

A few minutes later, Roy walked in with Connor in one arm giggling, and food in the other, if only she kept her sister busy for another few minutes, and Connor giggling and contagious smile would have won his mother over. Thea was sure of it.

:-: :-: :-: :-:

Brick was sitting on the staircase of his penthouse, when his lawyer walked in, "I have some information that you will want to hear."

Brick grunted as he gulped down the last mouthful of his tea from a foam cup, "And?"

"A woman in black had attempted to choke me for information, and got into an altercation with six FBI agents in the parking garage."

"Was it the Black Canary?" Brick asked as he lowered the cup with his feet. "I heard rumors while I was in prison that she was killed by The Green Arrow. The Russians seemed adamant. Other reports say that she perished in The Undertaking. Are you sure this is the same woman that stole everything from me?"

"She wasn't in a black suit with coattails, but yeah, I think it was her."

Brick snorted as he slowly walked towards the large windows that showed a panoramic view of Starling City, a city that had been accosted by vigilantes, terrorists, clandestine organizations, and mercenaries. "So, The Canary is back."

"We heard rumors of her months ago both here and in Central City. We, including yourself, thought it was a replacement or wishful thinking on our enemies. What do we do now?"

"Nothing. Not yet, we will continue on as planned. The Canary wears her heart on her sleeve soon enough she will show her hand to me, and then I will deal with her." And anyone else who wants to follow in her footsteps.