A/N: A special thanks to Okoriwadsworth for reading through the fight sequence and ensuring that it made sense. I really appreciate it. If you haven't read Okori's fics, I can't recommend them enough.
Ray took a large gulp of his espresso and sighed as he felt reinvigorated. He looked back at the computer monitor, "Ok, alright…" He then smiled congenitally at the webcam that he was adjusting, "This will be gauntlet pulse test thirty-seven Alpha."
He moved to the side table, picked up the gauntlet, and slipped his hand into the glove, followed by taking a screwdriver for adjustment, "Two-second burst at eight-hundred vaults." He aimed his wrist-mounted laser gauntlet at the creepy clown punching bag.
Payback for when he watched It for the first time and found it difficult to walk over storm drains for the next few months.
"In Five, four…" Smoke, followed by rattling emitted from the gauntlet, before sparks flew and shorted the device, Ray slammed his fist on the steel desk and swore.
The city had gone to hell in a handbasket. Black Canary had disappeared either during or after The Undertaking and was suspected to have succumbed to her injuries, or just as likely had hung up her mask, after failing to stop the event. Her partner in crime, The Green Arrow had recently died after the fiasco with Roy Harper. All that was left was Speedy.
The poor archer had never operated by herself without either The Emerald Archer or The Canary of Starling City was around. That is partially why he had started preparing his invention, to aid Starling City from the numerous crimes that riddled the city, a crazy woman attacking the FBI, the rumors of ninjas, and most importantly, to ensure that no one suffered the loss of someone thanks to the machinations of dangerous people, as he lost Anna.
When he heard the sound of heels clicking off the marble floor, he looked up to see Felicity Smoak, "Clowns?"
"Clowns freaked me out. Especially Pennywise, couldn't, and still can't walk over drains without feeling anxious."
"You are sure showing that evil clown now." Felicity quipped, looking from the clowns to Ray.
"I would be if I could figure out how to modulate this damn gauntlet." He said shaking his wrist that held the gauntlet in frustration.
"Ray, I know that I said that I would help you…"
"Save the city you mean?"
Felicity nodded, "Um… Yeah, I don't want you to risk your life."
Ray turned around and held her shoulders. "The assortment of vigilantes from The Flash in Central City, to Black Canary and Green Arrow here in Starling where little to no armor. I will be more than safe in the exo-suit." He assured her.
"But…"
Ray gave her a small reassuring smile, "It is too difficult a pill to swallow, start out small." He then pulled out a small nano-chip. "Help me configure this chip, first. Baby Steps."
:-: :-: :-: :-:
Laurel walked the familiar hallway to her family's loft, her home…their former home. She pulled out a picklock from her jacket pocket and prayed that neither Thea nor Roy were home and that she and Roy had taken Connie and moved back into her old apartment. She looked up and down the hallway, unlocked the door, and entered.
She walked up the stairs slowly as she remembered her, Ollie and Thea looking around the loft with the realtor. She initially was reluctant to leave her apartment but was convinced by Oliver that it would be safer for them, and better for their small family to have a larger space.
She made her way up and entered her baby's room. She felt a tear escape from her eye when she opened the door. She slowly moved around the room, picking up a toy snake, before moving over to his crib to pick up his stuffed hawk.
Laurel clutched the stuffed toy and could smell her son. She hoped that she was doing the right thing for him and that he and Ollie wouldn't hate her for leaving Connor with his aunt, while she risked life and limb fighting Daniel Brickwell.
After a little while, she left Connor's room, and his toys to enter her and Ollie's room. The bed had remained untouched from when she had last used it. She buried the thoughts of Ollie hating her for leaving their son in the lurch.
After she had changed, she left the apartment, exited the building, and called a cab. A few seconds later, she entered the car.
The driver sighed dramatically, looking at her in the view mirror, "Oh, these mornings are getting colder and colder, where are we headed, Ma'am?"
Laurel smiled at the driver as she told him where she needed to go, she was headed to The Glades to a small-time forger, Ollie had come across him last year when he needed information. She pulled the money out of her pocket and felt guilty for stealing it from her sister.
:-: :-: :-: :-:
Roy watched as Thea paced up and down the living room. He could tell that she had been itching to tell him something for the better part of a day, ever since he had returned to Verdant with Big Belly Burger. Something had happened that was eating at her. "Wouldn't it be easier to tell me what's bugging you, than wearing a trench sized hole in our living room?"
"Fine!" She grumbled, "But you can't tell Felicity or Diggle." Roy nodded and gestured as she continued, "You remember when you and Conn left to pick up our dinner while I worked? Well, Laurel showed up, and proceeded to tell me that I will never see her again."
"How was she?" Though judging by the fact that she wasn't here with them, he could hazard a guess.
"Lost." She answered sadly," She—It was like she didn't care that she was walking towards her death." Thea added before rushing towards the door and unholstering her small pistol from her calf.
Roy sighed, as he watched her race off to the door once again, "Thea, it's locked, just as it was the last few times you checked it."
Thea returned, waving her finger at him. "We need to get more than that dead-bolt. We should bar the windows, especially Connor's."
Roy stood up, walking towards her, "Thea, relax. It's going to be alright."
"I doubt that. Malcolm tells me that he had lied to Ollie. Ra's wouldn't consider the blood debt settled with Ollie's blood. My brother left me, his wife and son for nothing! He died for nothing! And now, Brick will want my head, and likely yours and Connor's, too." She then paced again. "Laurel wants me to stick to the sidelines while she deals with Brickwell."
"Thea, breath. We will take the necessary precautions, and just because Laurel is busy with Brick, doesn't mean that you and I can't look after this city and ourselves. If Laurel were in our footsteps, you know she would do the same, give her breathing room. If she needs us, we will answer the call, she's family whether she wants to admit it or not, she's not alone."
:-: :-: :-: :-:
The cab had arrived at Iron Heights before she climbed out of the vehicle, where she handed the driver a couple of hundred dollar bills, feeling immense guilt as she did so, but she tried to silence her rising guilt, at reminding herself why she was doing this; to protect her family, Her baby, Thea, and Roy.
"Take the two hundred, if you wait to pick me up afterwards?"
"No problems, Ma'am." The driver said as he reclined his seat, as she left the car and slowly walked towards the perimeter of the jail, and into the front entrance. Laurel walked in and made her way to the clerk who was behind protective plastic. "Hello, How's your morning?" She asked putting more enthusiasm and happiness into her voice than she had had in a long time.
The man thankfully was interested in small talk, "Purpose of your visit today, Miss?"
"I have a meeting with my client this morning." She answered and followed up with a fake smile that she was sure would make both Moira proud.
"I.D?"
Laurel padded down her jacket and looked at the man flustered and slightly embarrassed. "I can't find my purse. God, don't tell me I left it at home after I had to deal with my son's tantrum!" She muttered to herself frantically, hoping that the man would take some pity on her.
"How about picture I.D? I know how it feels forgetting something like that after being frazzled by the little ones."
"You sure?" She asked, relieved that she didn't have to continue lying.
"Yeah."
She gave him a genuine smile, padding down her jacket and pulling out her fake I.D. that showed her a picture under the name of Sara Drake. Her sister's name, and her mother's maiden name. It felt strongly comforting that one of her sisters was with her on her crusade.
"Name?"
"Drake. Sara Drake."
:-: :-: :-: :-:
Laurel was sitting in the visitor section of the prison, waiting for a client of CNRI, she looked up as the man briskly walked towards her, he looked happy to see her, "Laurel! I thought that I had a new lawyer…"
"How are you, Sean?" She asked as he wrapped his arms around her.
"It's so good to see you. How have you been? How's the baby?"
Laurel grinned, "He's good, quiet but good." Internally she was worried that she would break down after hearing, thinking and talking about her baby. It's good to see you though, Sean."
"Yeah, me too. Even if it is in this shithole." He then stopped, and raised a finger, "I'm sorry, been curbing my language as of late, how can I be an upstanding member of society if I speak like a damn sailor?"
"Oops, there you go again," Laurel said with a small chuckle.
"My apologies, Saint Laurel."
"I'm no saint." A saint would never abandon her son with their aunt.
"You and Thea saved my hide. You cut down my sentence to two years then parole provided I am on good behavior. And I have been a model prisoner." He then looked around the room, "Where is Thea anyway, you two are always joined at the hip."
She coughed, "We aren't uh… We aren't working together anymore."
"Wow, I'm sorry to hear that you two were my knights in shining armor. Thea was ok… for a brat born with a silver spoon in her mouth." He said with a small amused grin. Laurel swallowed down the guilt, imagining Thea huffing at his playful barb.
Laurel gave him a smile that didn't reach her eyes, "In saying that, this visit is just between you and me, yeah? Thea doesn't have to know…"
"Say no more, I've got you. You saved my life from being behind bars for a misunderstanding. It's the least I can do." He then leaned on the table, "What's the big secret?"
Laurel cleared her throat, and prayed that he would be willing to talk, "You, uhh… worked with the Irish, right?
He shook his shoulders. "A long while that was. Petty stuff, lookouts, running."
"Fair enough, but have they granted you their protection?" She prodded.
Sean sniffed as he looked around, "What do you even want with the Irish anyway?"
"I would like to meet them."
"Branching out? What both of the Queens leave you behind? A single mom?" He asked, taking her silence as an answer, he gave her a look of pity, "If any of them need a good defense lawyer, your name will be the first to come up. I know you need money as a single mother, Laurel, they aren't your usual clientele, they're murderers. People that wouldn't hesitate to snuff you and your little man if they thought you aired their dirty laundry."
"I want a meeting with Liam Delany."
Laurel watched as Sean sat back, looking uneasy, his voice becoming firm, a stark contrast from the jovial man he was a few seconds ago. "Nobody gets in with Delany."
She cocked her head, "C'mon, you can't make it happen?" As Sean looked around, looking for eavesdroppers, so did she. Laurel spotted two men, one prisoner, and the other a visitor, who kept subtly turning their gaze towards her and Sean. "What do you want with him, anyway?"
Laurel answered softly so that the observers couldn't overhear, "Daniel Brickwell could have backstabbed by anyone. I want to know why the Irish?"
Sean spoke to her while looking at the men watching them. His voice no longer firm, but fearful. "Let it go, Laurel. Please."
"I wish I could. Brick stays out of prison, innocent people die; my son will die!" She whispered to him, more forcefully.
"I don't know shit." He said, clamming up.
"You can help me; I will put a good word in for your parole board when it comes up." If she lived that long.
"You know I would. You and Thea saved me from a lot of time in here, and I will be forever grateful, but this will get me killed. I can't." The next thing she knew, Sean apologized softly, before he delivered a right hook, and the blow sent her off the stool and to the ground. "Get the hell away from me! I don't know him!" She turned to see her former client dragged away by several guards. As he was, he looked directly at one of the Irish prisoners and proclaimed that he never uttered a word to her, on the life of his mother.
A few seconds later, one of the guards came up to her, "Ma'am."
She waved him away, "It's all right. Just a misunderstanding." She didn't have a record of being in here. It was bad enough she didn't anticipate the swing from Sean.
"Miss Drake, you need to be checked out by a nurse, you were slugged pretty hard by him."
Laurel chuckled away his concerns, "I'm fine. I'm fine, really."
"Fair enough, you can say that in the incident report. Non-negotiable, liability concerns, you know the drill. Can't let you go before you sign one, unfortunately." He said that as he gently put his hand between her shoulder blades, he gently led her to the medic station, though his eyes never ceased from following her. .
The guard let her down several hallways before they entered the hospital wing and one of the rooms. "Wait here, the doc or the nurse will be by shortly."
"Thank you."
:-: :-: :-: :-:
Felicity was running a side program on her work computer, trying to track the movement of The League for her, John, Thea, and Roy to follow, so far, with John's contacts, the League was known to brainwash people into becoming their soldiers. A man with the strength, resilience, and skills that Oliver possessed surely would be an asset to The League.
She looked up to Ray walk in, "I know it's rather late, but any luck with the nanite issue?"
"No." She said,
"Yeah, it's the overcomplicated interface, right?" He said clicking his tongue, "I knew that the design was off."
"You know it won't bring her back, Ray?"
Ray nodded, his usual jovial nature left as he became more sullen. "I know, but I can ensure no one else has to suffer the same fate. It's not some idea I got from a cartoon, once you have suffered true loss, you will do anything to stop others from feeling it."
"I have a friend in a similar position, I tried to tell her, and now I'm telling you. It's not what Anna would have wanted. You are risking your life to play hero!" Why couldn't Ray or Laurel grasp that she was just telling the hard truth they didn't want to hear?
Ray stood still; his jaw clenched. "You are working through stuff, fair enough. We can talk about it, or I can listen. But never again tell me what Anna would have wanted. You don't get to do that, not ever."
Felicity wiped her eyes off her tears, and muttered her apologies, and left the office.
:-: :-: :-: :-:
Roy finished dishing out macaroni and cheese with vegetables, he placed them on the small dining table, and adjusted Connor's bib, before sitting down opposite to Thea, "Listen, while you have been working at Verdant, or taking your turn being out in the field, I have been doing some digging. Some of it involved omitting the truth, and… fraud… but I have some information on Brickwell if you decide not to completely follow Laurel's orders."
"Mama?" Connor asked, playing with the stringiness of the cheese in his bowl.
Thea mussed up his hair while Roy smirked as he spoke, "Yeah, Con-Man, Laurel is Mommy."
Thea looked up at Roy, after giving her nephew a small kiss on his temple, "What about Brick?"
"I don't know how accurate this is, but I think I know how our favorite Brit is circumventing the FBI asset freeze. He funnels his money through Samcorp, which is a shell corporation that owns the majority share of the hotel. And he keeps it in an offshore firm named Red Lion National Bank."
"Mama?" Connor asked again, looking around the room for his mother.
Thea looked at Roy, with a heartbroken expression. How do they tell him that she is gone and may never come back?
Roy leaned over and tickled the inquisitive boy, "She's out Con-Man, but you have your Aunt Thea and Uncle Roy to look after you, which means so many more tickles!" He said as he started tickling Connor's ribs, his cackles filled the room, forcing a smile on the two adults as they listened to the infant's contagious laughter.
After they put Connor in his room to play, Thea sat next to Roy, on the sofa, her head resting on his shoulder. "I went to Ollie and Laurel's earlier because Conn was complaining about not having his dumb hawk. Anyway, when I did, I saw the dark sunglasses she was wearing when she met me at Verdant was on the coffee table."
Roy hummed, "How was she, I know that you already spoke about her telling you what to do, but…"
Thea sighed, "I've never seen her so broken. I think that a part of her died when Ollie did… I really thought she was going into the light, she was talking... I mean really talking about how she was struggling and thought she was coming out the other end before her entire world was pulled out from beneath her. Ollie and now Brick. We have to stop Brick before Laurel does something monumentally stupid and impulsive."
"We will try, but we don't have any concrete evidence on Brickwell, nor do we know where Laurel is. When either of us got close to where she had been, she disappeared." When they got an alert about the Hochman Hotel and a Woman in Black, they had arrived to see FBI agents carried off to the ambulances. And no sign of Laurel, she was a guerrilla, using hit and run tactics.
:-: :-: :-: :-:
Laurel had been waiting in the small medical room, preventing her boredom by looking around the room, particularly at both the door, and the chart that optometrists use to assess your vision. After waiting almost ten minutes, the door opened, and Laurel jumped off the medical chair, to see a male nurse walk in, and gave her a small smile before looking over his chart in his hand, "My apologies for the long wait." He then gave an extirpated sigh, an exasperated sigh before he gave her a rough cheek of her facial bones, "Good news, no dislocations."
She could have told him that. "Thanks, so I'm going to leave now." She said while adjusting her jacket over her shoulders.
"Not just yet, unfortunately. I'm sure you know how it is to be a slave to paperwork, Ms. Drake. An enormous waste of time if you ask me."
Laurel, without thinking, raised her hand to her necklace that held her wedding ring close to her chest. She had forgotten to leave her ring at The Bunker or in her apartment. She didn't leave Connor with anything to remember her or Ollie with. She cursed herself, internally telling herself that she is a horrible mother.
She broke out her darkening self-depreciative thoughts, as she heard a mental drawer open and the nurse spoke to her again. "I will just have to check your throat and eyes for any underlying injuries."
He walked over to her with a small blinding flashlight, "Just look up for a sec."
Laurel gently moved his hand that held the torch away, "No, please just hand me the paperwork."
The nurse nodded, his lower lip covering his upper lip, "No dramas. Let's get you out of her." He opened the metallic drawer, "I forgot to mention, if you come down with any headaches, or issues breathing in the following days, make sure that you…"
The nurse spun on his heel, lunging at her with a syringe without warning. Laurel blocked the attack with her arms, only to receive a prick in her right hand before the men were able to inject more than a small amount of the drug, she smashed her head into his nose, while he was stunned from the heavy blow, she sent an elbow strike to the side of his head, knocking him to the other side of the room.
Laurel shook her hand that was still stinging from the needle that was still in her skin. She panted as she ripped the syringe from her hand and dropped it to the ground, clutching her injured hand. She felt slightly dizzy, as she bolted to the door, turning the knob in haste only to realize that she was now locked in.
"Shit!" She swore. Laurel grabbed the knob more firmly and attempted to force the door open with her strength and weight to no avail. "C'mon." She growled as she kicked the steel door. The room started to look wobbly. She then rushed over to the window that had steel mesh covering the windows preventing the exact thing that she needed to do. Escape.
The phone in the room blared, after sending a half-hearted hit to the mesh, she turned to the phone and made her way towards it curiously.
A cold shiver ran down Laurel's back upon hearing the voice on the other end of the line. "You're not Sara Drake. No one is." There was only one person that she knew that held that distinct voice and accent. Daniel Brickwell. She curled her hand into a tight fist.
Laurel exhaled, feeling slightly tired, and not from the small brawl with the nurse. "Brick." Whatever that was in the syringe must have been some sort of depressant.
"I always wondered how you survived Iron Heights. The Arrow may have saved you in the end, but the maths don't add up, you may have your…agility and tenacity, but The Green Arrow won't save you now, Ms. Lance. I have you now."
Laurel turned slowly around looking for a security camera when she found one on the corner facing her, the small red-light blinking. "What did you drug me with?"
"I was not in Iron Heights at the time that Sara Drake visited the penitentiary." He said in his defence, with a proud tone. "An interesting choice of name, your deceased sister, and your mother's maiden name. A sentimental girl at heart aren't we, Darlin'?" Instead of waiting for her to speak he continued, "It's been a while, but I wonder… Do you recall the last time we spoke?"
"I remember." She replied. She should have ended all of his plans and machinations back then. Taken a photograph of her injuries and leaked it to the press, to her father, or Pike. He may have had influence within the confines of the prison. Her pride had prevented her from getting the police or the media to deal with him.
"You told me that for the cost of a postage stamp you could prevent my reunion with the only person who gave my life meaning."
Just as he was now preventing her from being with her baby. The only person that was keeping her sane and motivated to fight. Perhaps he was right all those years ago, they had a lot in common. Laurel panted as she used her hand to stabilize herself by leaning against the wall.
"I would have let it be like water off a duck's back if you had just targeted me. Instead of just threatening me, you targeted my son. You threatened Sammy, and that is not something that I can forgive." He growled into the receiver.
"I want you to listen to me very carefully…." The dial tone pulsed through the line. "Brick!" She slammed the phone on the hook and turned as the door buzzed and unlocked.
Of course, she thought. Brick was greasing the palms of almost everyone in the prison. It was obvious in hindsight that he would still have his finger in that particular pie hole. Laurel mentally kicked herself for forgetting what he was like in their last meeting, even if she had other things to occupy her thoughts. Her family. The machinations of Merlyn and Slade Wilson. Before she went for the door, she gave a final glare back at the camera. Laurel sent a silent promise that she would stop him, as the red light flickered off.
As she walked into the hallway, a large man in a prison jumpsuit walked out from his cell down the opposite end.
"Is that her?" Another asked.
"A pretty thing, isn't she?" Laurel unbuttoned her jacket and was glad that she had opted for her current footwear over her usual heels that would normally accompany the look. She turned her head slightly to see another few prisoners coming from the other direction preventing her escape. She was boxed in.
As the first man lunged for Laurel, she ducked and delivered a punch to his jaw before slamming his head into the wall with a loud thud. The force leaving a dent in the wall.
She skidded back, narrowly avoiding another strike from someone off to the side, she sent a kick to one, the man fell to the ground, she blocked the incoming punch from the other, she sent him over her shoulder and delivered several hard blows to his face.
Laurel was swept off her feet and slammed into the wall, forcing the air from her lungs. Laurel was quickly pinned to the wall by her throat. She gasped, before adjusting her neck and biting into the man's wrist, giving her enough time to send a strike to the man's jugular. In return she was thrown into a smaller man before the man that fell with her could move, she slugged him in the face.
Laurel got up slowly, too slowly for her liking, and tried to deliver an upper right cross to one of the incoming convicts, only for him to easily dodge, and knee her in the stomach and throw her back against the wall.
Taking a deep breath, Laurel ducked under a hard punch; the man tried to dislodge his hand from the wall. Laurel took that advantage and proceeded to slam his head into the hard wall. As the man slumped to the ground, Laurel turned to receive a hard blow to her ribs.
Groans from all involved echoed through the two adjoining hallways.
She was grabbed and held above their heads and shoved easily into the wall. She had to be careful not to use her cry.
Two men remained, with her in the hallway that were conscious. Both men came from opposing sides, she lunged towards one, using her hand on the ground as leverage, she sent a hard kick to the prisoner's groin, only to be grabbed by her hair, and thrown back into the hospital room.
Laurel spat out a mouthful of blood, her forehead ached and could see a crimson bead dripping down past her eye. She took another two kicks to her side, before she managed to grab the syringe that was injected into her and stabbed the needle straight into the man's leg, pulled him to the ground, and pulled the metal cabinet that the nurse had utilized onto the man.
She haphazardly made her way out of the medic's room, using the walls as a crutch as she made her way down the hallway, panting and feeling every inch of her body, ache, burn and sting.
"I made it out, Connie." She mumbled under her breath as she opened the door, only to see two guards in full riot armor and gear at the other end.
"On the ground!" One barked at her.
Laurel raised her hands slowly, still feeling some of the effects of the drugs, or was it from the fight, she couldn't tell. "Hold on, please…" She slurred. "I was attacked."
"Get on the ground now!" The other ordered.
Laurel was beginning to suspect that just like the felons earlier, these guardsmen were Brick's men. And yet, she tried again, hoping that it wasn't the case. "Please! Help me, I need help now." She looked down at her charcoal grey jacket and pants, blood splattered on it, and the pits of her jacket had ripped. Her once white blouse was splattered with red, hers, and the prisoners.
"Put your hands behind your head and get on your knees!"
"Fine." She reluctantly conceded.
The men upholstered their tonfas, "We got her now, Sir." The first guard said as the duo advanced on her. "She will be taken care of."
Laurel grabbed the second guard's wrist, deflecting the other guard's strike, she was taken by surprise by a slug to her head, dazed, the two guards pelted her with their clubs. She had to survive, she had to protect Connor and Thea.
Brick had cut off the security feed, Laurel remembered. She released her cry.
SCREEEEE
Her Canary Cry the two men backwards, one only back slightly, the other took the brunt and was launched backwards, she grabbed the tonfa, feeling the familiar weight in her hand, and thrusted the baton under the guard's riot helmet, knocking him out.
The guard that was flung, raced towards her, colliding with her and sent her to the ground. She blinked, using her elbow, Laurel leveraged her body up, to escape his entrapment, and picked up the tonfa and proceeded to hit the man repeatedly until she was no longer a threat.
She stumbled past one of the cells, for someone to grab her hand, "Nice one, girlie, now grab his keys, and we can have a nice time."
She ignored him, and took several paces forward, only to be halted by a blaring alarm, and amber lights flickering. The strobing lights and the deafening alarm exacerbated her already growing headache.
She could just hear over the hollering of the felons, and the alarm, someone over the PA declaring a lockdown on the block.
As she slowly made her way down the hall, a burly man jumped out from the shadows, and grabbed her, one hand around her neck, the other tightly holding her arms against her torso. He dragged her into the darkness. Laurel swung her head back, only to be thrown against one of the metallic gates, and pulled into a storage closet, before being shoved against the wall, with a sharpened toothbrush resting against her neck.
"Brick backstabs everyone!" She said quickly, "He will turn on you. Brick will flip on you, too." She repeated, praying that he would not use his blade.
"Who are you, Darlin'?" Asked a man with a thick Irish brogue. "And why does Englishman want you six-feet under?" He then said something in a language she didn't understand.
"What is that? Gaelic?" She panted, as her face was still against the wall. "You Liam?"
"You are a stupid lass for coming here. All the things that could happen to a pretty bird such as yourself, by the hands of men starved of a woman's touch. Brick still controls half the guards and prisoners."
She smirked and noticed her blood smearing on the off-cream walls. "Not the Irish though, right?" She panted, "Not since he became a turncoat for the FBI."
The man that pinned her, swiftly, and without warning, released Laurel, she slid to the ground, panting, and looked up at the leader of the Irishmen, who was speaking to her, "Why does a girl like you care?"
"Brick hates me as much as he hates you. I was the woman who got him locked up, and I am going to do it again, for good this time."
The old balding man shook his head, despite his shorter than average height he had an intimidating presence. "Nah, I reckon you will die here."
"Why did he backstab you?"
"Doesn't matter, now."
"Matters enough that you needed to kill him for it. You failed once in here and once again outside."
"My, my for a lawyer you are very quick to point the finger at me and mine, and you would be wrong. My lads and I never tried to snuff him… in here."
"No. Brick was shanked in the weight room. I heard about it." The Irishman had to be lying or at least telling partial truths. She briefly wondered if Connor would follow in his father's footsteps when he became a young man. Someone who would lie and tell partial truths to get what he wanted. She hoped not. But then Oliver became a self-sacrificing man who would do anything for his family. She hoped their son would be more like Oliver once he knew who he was.
"Not by us."
"Let's say that I believe that." She conceded as she forced herself to her feet. "If not you, then who?" She panted again, "Listen if I do this, Brick ends up back here. On your turf. When he is in your domain, you can do whatever you like with him."
Liam snorted, looking between his man and her. "Brick set it up himself. He bribed a lifer to stab him."
"He set this all up?"
"It's not out of character for the slimy Brit. His pawn made him bleed enough to convince the Feds."
"Of course, it makes sense." He did say that he would spend more than a postage stamp. She should have kept an eye on him, in case it wasn't the heated words of someone licking their wounds. "This lifer, he still alive and in solitary?"
"No. Brickwell lined the right pockets and got the guy out. A free man."
Laurel could just make out the faint steps of the guards coming this way, over her thumping heart. , "Listen to me, we don't have much time. Guards are coming, give the lifer's name and I can get to him, he is the only lead we have to prove that Brick did this. Help me help you."
"How?"
Laurel sighed, "If I can get him… I can—"
"You can barely stand, Darlin'."
"Liam, please…. You took a shot and you missed. I won't. All you need to do is help me get out of her and give me his name."
Liam pinched the bridge of his nose and ordered one of his men to drag the guard inside, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the men dress up as the guards. "Lost good boys in that attack, my brother's blood. Find the inmate who shanked Brick and make good on your word. I'm betting a lot on you. You better make up in dividends, or we come and find you and yours."
She glared at the leader of the Irish, she hated that she had to broker an alliance with the man who would no doubt plague Starling as much as Brick or Ra's would. "His name?"
"Joe Chill." He then looked at one of his men, who was now dressed in riot gear. "Get her out of here, if anyone so much as puts a finger on her, I will gut them slowly with a rusted blade."
Her assigned guard grabbed her by the arm tightly and led her down the labyrinthian hallways, and as he led Laurel around the prison, she could only watch as the numerous guards attempted to quell the insurrection.
Upon making it to the exit, she heard the Irish convict call out to the other guards, "I got a civilian here! Get her out. Go!" She was then shoved into the arms of several guards, who led her outside, she could only cough as the smoke-filled her lungs.
The new guards practically carried her to the gate and bellowed at the gate guard to open the gate to allow her to flee in safety. She dragged herself to the taxi that was waiting for her and told him to drive before her eyes got too heavy to keep open.
She could just hear the radio mentioning something about The Queens rising back from the dead and something about Queen Industries.
Laurel now had a lead; she was going to get Brickwell for good.
:-: :-: :-: :-:
Thea shook Walter's hand. "I really appreciate you helping me with creating Queen Industries. I wasn't sure after everything happened with Mom…"
Walter gave her a fatherly smile, "Your mother had her own demons, Thea. But the sins of the father, or in this case the mother, is not the sins of the son, nor daughter." He then took a sip of his glass of water. "It should be rather easy to create your business, and I know which company you should make a bid for. I can do it for you if you wish?"
Thea gave him a genuine smile, one that she hadn't felt in a long time. "I would appreciate that, Walter. And you can be the CFO and acting CEO."
"Of course, working in the bank was rather dull. And for better or worse, we are family, Thea. Speaking of which, my only price is meeting the young lad that I consider my grandson and Miss Lance. And it looks like you could spend some time with your family."
Thea hesitated for a moment. "Laurel is busy, but I can certainly bring Connor. It's a deal."
