Thea walked, sitting in the large living room that her mother and father had once used as the room to meet important guests, and was often the main room that they held functions in. Now, the room was the only thing apart from Ted and the men he hired as guards protecting her and Connor. The room was bare except for some furniture that wasn't removed and instead was covered by old dusty sheets.

She removed a sheet, and sat her nephew on the sofa, and handed him a couple of stuffed toys, before pacing around the room, wondering what she was going to do next. A few seconds later, she heaved her nephew into her arms and put her fingers to her lip.

She heard creaking from the front door, followed by shuffling, she looked back to where she had left Connor, to see the sole bare sofa, with one of his toys on the ground. She had forgotten to cover her tracks in an attempt to keep him safe.

A few seconds later she watched as Ted walked in, holding a couple of bags of Big Belly Burger. Thea slouched, "Will it offend you, to say that I can't wait for all this to be over?"

Ted shrugged, sitting on the sofa, and placing the bag on the coffee table, "I made a few calls, I can get you and Connor out of the country soon enough. Egypt seems your best bet, an old buddy of mine works with the ruins over there. Kent Nelson. He's a good man. He can get you a job, and you can live a normal life." He said, taking a sip of his coffee.

She left her nephew down, to watch him scurry off to pick up some chicken nuggets. She hated how she had been giving her nephew a lot of fast food recently, but she hoped that Laurel would understand if she managed to get out of the abyss she had found herself in. "I don't know what I can do."

Ted took a sip of his coffee, "My friend, once told me that everyone is fighting a war within themselves. A war that many don't see. Though, there are times when people see it."

Thea smiled at her nephew, as he tried to feed his stuffed bird, "What do you do when you feel like you have lost? Ollie is indoctrinated by Ra's; Roy and the others are trying to stop whatever it is they are doing. And Lau… Dinah" She corrected herself, looking at Connor, "She's fighting against Brick, and I tried to help her, I did Ted, instead I basically handed my sister over to him on a golden platter."

"A woman that I see as a daughter came to visit me a little while ago." He said it as if he was remembering it.

"Laurel," Thea said almost inaudibly.

Ted nodded, "She was looking for advice, or permission to do what she believed to be necessary. All I could think about was how her situation was similar to what I and Stanzler had to deal with. I gave her the advice to keep playing by the rules I taught her. Perhaps I am getting old, and the rules have begun to change. I thought her to live in the world as it ought to be, to show it what it can be. But… The World has started to beat the light out of her."

He looked back up at Thea, "I can't argue with her perspective, everything she has ever loved is being torn away from her, piece by piece. She's a single mother trying her best to save her family at any cost."

"How could I live with the guilt of abandoning her?" Thea asked almost inaudibly.

"She gave you the most precious thing in her life." He said looking down at Connor playing with his toys, "I don't think she would expect anything from you, apart from keeping her son alive and healthy."

A tear slid down her face. "I told Brick who Black Canary was… When I was leaving his penthouse, he threatened Connor."

"Nothing that you have done, or will do, can't be redeemed. I believe that under all the pain she is suffering, she still has her generous heart. She would forgive her baby sister. Especially when your intent matters. You were doing what you could to save your family. Like Dinah is doing."

:-:-:-:-:

Laurel stared at the man at the computers, seeing Brickwell's FBI convoy pulling up in the garage. She pointed at the monitors, "How long?" She asked. Her heart thumping against her chest wall.

Curtis Holt stammered, looking from the monitor to her, "I… uh… What?"

"How Long!?" She growled at him.

"Seconds? Minutes?" He answered her, looking truly frightened.

Laurel gasped for air, what on earth was she going to do? She could stop Brick here and now, ambushing him in his own room, where there were no cameras. But in doing so, she would be condemning her sister and baby to death. She couldn't let them die, no matter the cost.

She slammed her fist against the wall, even when the bastard didn't know her plans, he had managed screw her over. Time and time again, he kept winning despite her best efforts!

Laurel turned towards the door, only for Curtis to call out to her. "If you leave, I have to tell him that you were here. If I don't my husband-" Laurel swallowed hard, as Curtis Holt continued, "he will triple the security and it will rival Fort Knox."

Laurel stammered this wasn't supposed to happen. "No, no…."

"You can end this here and tonight." He insisted, "I can see that this Thea Queen and her nephew are important to you, but as Mr. Spoke once said; The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one."

The pair watched from the monitor as Brick was escorted out of his armored car. He was being escorted to the suite above her. She could see Mr. Holt looking at her with pleading eyes. She could never turn her back on her loved ones.

Connor was her baby boy, the most important person in her life. And Thea… The young woman looked up to her, was her best friend. They had saved each other countless times. The last of her family.

"You do what you have to do, Mr. Holt, to keep your family safe." And I shall do the same.

:-:-:-:-:

Thea watched as Ted tucked his jacket around Conner as if it were a blanket."The little guy is tucked out." He then looked at Thea, "I have a few people who owe me favors, of the rougher sort, walking around the mansion."

Thea gave him a thankful gesture, "Thank you, Ted."

"I'm just grateful that Dinah let me be a part of her life, and that you and the others accepted me, and let me be a part of your family. United we stand, Speedy."

"United we Stand, Wildcat."

The fake Black Canary walked in through the front door, "Thea Queen!" She shouted as they heard steps, until the woman in her sister's suit had blood-soaked hands, with a red-stained blade.

Thea jumped in front of the sofa, which held Connor, who was now sobbing from being forced to wake up from the yelling. She hadn't noticed Ted shoving her nephew into his arms, and telling her to run. Thea knew the mansion better than everyone else. It was her childhood home and she could remember playing hide and seek with Oliver and Tommy growing up.

She was about to dash into the other room, leaving Ted alone with Laurel's double, until Black Canary threw a knife, just missing her, Thea stopped dead in her tracks before quickly hiding her nephew in one of the storage closets and asked him to keep quiet before she to gave him his toy, before closing the door.

Thea then walked back to the room she had fled from. "I'm here. No one else needs to be hurt."

Her sister's evil twin smirked, "Hello, Thea, we meet again." She then threw a knife at Thea. Thea expected to have been killed, she would have gladly given her life for her beloved nephew. Only the knife never came, she turned to see the knife in Ted's chest.

Ted Grant stumbled slightly while holding the knife in his chest before he fell to his feet with a loud thump. "I'm… proud of you two... My Birds of Prey..." he whispered to Thea before his eyes glazed over.

Ted Grant dived in front of her, to take the proverbial bullet for her. Thea felt sick, and time moved slowly as she raced out of the room to try to find Connor, and escape. Only for a loud scream to be heard, and Thea flew across the room and hit the wall.

:-:-:-:-:

Laurel walked in wearing her impromptu vigilante attire, it had felt like years since she had walked through the old Queen Manor. Her heart kept thumping as she saw men who either had their necks snapped, or their throats slashed.

She walked past the foyer and into the room that Moira had used as a meeting room for business meetings and philanthropy events. That's when she saw Ted laying in a pool of his own blood, a knife protruding from his chest.

Her heart stilled, "Ted, Ted Teddy!" She screamed at him, slapping his face. Tears left her eyes and slid down her face, the man she saw as a second father had been killed by Brick and his puppet canary. "Please…" She sobbed, clutching shirt. "Don't leave me, Teddy!"

Ted had given up his life to protect Thea and his surrogate grandson. He had always told her that he wished that he had given his life to protect his family, and now he had. A tear slid down her face as she kissed his brow, thanking him.

She looked across the room to see Thea knocked out, she looked as if she had been thrown across the room, Laurel walked over to her to see, her baby sister's eyes flutter. She was alive. "L…Laurel…Connor… He's hiding… need to save him…So sorry."

Laurel wiped her eyes, as she gently kissed her sister's cheek, and left the room and around several hallways to find her doppelgänger about to open a closet, Laurel silently walked behind the woman and threw her over her shoulder.

Faux-Canary rolled backwards, only to hear Connor's sweet voice, crying out for his mother, "Mommy?"

The woman sneered as Laurel charged towards her, engaging in close-quarter combat, grabbing Smythe's wrist that held the knife, while sending a hard-right hook to the woman's face, eventually relieving her of the blade. Laurel then proceeded to grab a fist full of Smythe's silver hair, slamming Smythe's head through the stained glass window.

The woman grabbed the powdered glass in her hand and tossed it towards Laurel. Laurel closed her eyes, feeling the small cuts on her face before she felt a leg sweep beneath her leg and being forced into the chest of drawers with her Banshee Wail.

Laurel fell to the ground, feeling her body ache, and she could only watch dazedly as Thea stumbled into the hallway, clutching her leg, who walked towards the woman, who opened the door of the closet that Connor was seeking refuge in.

Laurel and Thea could only watch helplessly as the woman pulled another knife from her belt, ready to slash at her son, only for Connor to scream and both mother and aunt watch in awe, as Connor's scream suddenly turned into a canary cry, flinging back her doppelgänger.

SCREEEEEE

Laurel stood up, wanting desperately to ensure that her son was alright, to comfort him, Laurel picked up her son, whispering sweet things in his ear, and kissing the crown of his head. Thea reluctantly managed to take Connor into her arms. "I'll get Connor out, you handle this bitch!" Thea growled.

Laurel hesitated before nodding, she ran towards the woman who stumbled to her feet, and delivered a quick punch to Smyth's throat, taking some sense of pleasure in hearing the woman who almost killed her son, and sister, the criminal who killed Ted, gasp for air.

Laurel reefed The Banshee out the door and back into a new hallway. Smythe picked up another knife, from her boot, and before she threw it, Laurel ducked and kicked out, sending the woman back into the living room.

Smythe rolled away when she turned and used her Banshee Wail, sending Laurel flying through the railing of the stairs, and watched as Laurel rolled down the steps with little to no movement, as Smythe in the Black Canary suit advanced upon her slowly, Laurel managed to crawl up a few steps, only for her legs to be pulled out from beneath her.

Laurel turned around to see the woman raising one of the fire pokers, ready to puncture her chest. Before Smyth had a chance to land the fatal blow, she watched as two arrows hit the Psycho-Canary, forcing the woman to stumble backwards, and to the floor below due to the railing being destroyed earlier.

Thea rushed over to her sister, gently cupping her battered and bloody face, "Laurel! Oh, my god! Laurel, you have to wake up, open your eyes…Please?" She sobbed, clutching Laurel's jacket in her fists. "I can't lose you too, Laurel! Connor needs you!"

All of a sudden, Laurel inhaled deeply, startlingly, Thea. "Hey."

Laurel panted, as she struggled to sit up, let alone stand, "I can't let her leave— Connor? Where's Connie, Speedy?" She rasped out.

Thea tried her best to give her a smile, "Connie's in my old room, turns out I didn't remove all my old toys." Her old archery gear when she was a teenager. She looked over the broken balustrade, to see that Laurel's evil twin had vanished. She turned back to her sister, who hadn't moved. "Laurel?"

No answer.

Thea called out again, which brought Laurel back to earth, "Speedy?"

"Yeah, we need to go." She said as she heard the police sirens, followed by the red and blue lights dancing together through the windows. "I'll, get Connor, you have to be ready to leave when we get back."

Laurel nodded as she used the wall to pull herself up, and looked down the steps to see Ted's unmoving body. "She killed him." She whispered, "She killed Teddy." Laurel's mind flashed seeing Joanna's body, to Tommy's, Her fathers, Sara's… and now Ted's. She didn't even want to imagine seeing Ollie's body, not after Ra's had finished with him.

Thea came back, "I'll stay here, explain what happened. Maybe it's better if Connor stays with me, they may know about him being here."

Laurel shook her head vehemently, "Can't," she said and continued before Thea could continue, "The woman who is wearing my suit. It's FBI Agent Siobhan Smythe. She works for Brick, and now…So does Agent Watson."

Thea gulped, looking at her nephew, before looking at his mother, "Which means if they see us, any one of us three… We will be killed." Laurel nodded gravely. They escaped through the side entrance and hid behind the large hedges.

As they knelt, Laurel looked at her sister, "Why didn't you run, Speedy?"

"Probably the same reason you didn't." Thea returned with a quirk of her brow and a sullen smile.

Laurel swallowed; she knew it wasn't fair wanting Thea to do what she herself had refused to do. "If you get caught, Speedy…if Connie gets caught…"

"I know, Laurel. It's my fault. Just like Sara, Ollie, and now Ted." Thea exhaled guiltily as Laurel held her baby boy in her lap for the first time in what felt like years, and gently hummed to him. "I betrayed the trust that you and Ollie put in me, you and Ollie trusted me to protect Connor, and he almost died, if he didn't inherit your cry…Brick knows who you are."

"I think he knew that for a while, Speedy," Laurel said, "And none of this is your fault. Not Ollie, Not Sara and not Ted. I don't blame you for their deaths. I never did." Laurel sounded so tired, not that she could blame Laurel. Laurel looked like she had gone a couple of rounds with Slade with his Mirakuru-enhanced strength. "I gave up my chance to ambush him, to take him out."

Thea bit her lip as she watched Laurel unwrap the straps around her right arm and played with her son's dirty blonde hair. Minus the blood, on her sister, it looked almost domestic. It's something she knew that Laurel and Ollie would have wanted if their self-imposed obligations to the city didn't get in their way. "What do you mean, you had him?" Thea asked, feeling slightly nauseous at the implication.

"I was in his penthouse. For the first time since this whirlwind of events happened, I had the drop on him."

"What were you planning on doing?" Thea asked, as she gently picked out a shard of glass from Laurel's cheek.

Laurel put her finger to her lips, before whispering, "I can see her, she's not wearing the suit anymore." Thea and Laurel watched as Smythe and Watson started canvassing the area in their windbreakers with their flashlights. After about a half an hour of searching, the SCPD and FBI looked like they were ready to leave the mansion, leaving behind a skeleton crew.

Laurel smiled as she heard her son's soft snores, despite the exciting day that he had endured. Apparently Connor inherited his father's talent at being able to sleep even when by all rights he should be on full alert. Always able to sleep whenever, wherever.

Laurel looked at Thea who looked at her with guilt. "Why is Brickwell hunting you?"

"A stupid plan to save you. I visited him, thinking that I could rattle his cage." Thea answered, avoiding her sister's eyes, instead, looking at the blades of grass that she had pulled out.

"To what end?" Laurel asked, looking up at her after she had been tracing her son's face with her eyes.

Thea hesitated, looking from son to mother, "Enough to make him lose his cool, and assault me in front of the FBI." Thea pulled another handful of grass from the ground, "It didn't work. But he—Brick surprised me when he asked how long I knew your secret. I didn't say anything… I tried to mask my emotions but…He saw through me."

"You tried to outthink him, make him act out irrationally?" Laurel asked with a weary sigh.

Thea nodded, waiting for Laurel to explode, to hit her. She would gladly take it, she deserved it. Even if Malcolm had orchestrated it, she had Sara's blood on her hands. She betrayed Ollie, betrayed Laurel, and Connor. "I know I was stupid and impulsive." Only the hit, the justified onslaught from the tired and battered mother, never came.

Instead, Laurel shook her head. "I don't think so." She said softly, looking up at her sister's surprised countenance. "It was brave. It was something that Ollie would have tried to do. I miss him."

"It doesn't matter, about Brick, I mean." Thea lamented. "He didn't take the bait, which was me taking the blame for taking his son away from him. I thought that if I could get him to aim everything at me, you could live happily with Connor. And now…Ted is dead because of me." She then waited a little while, "What were you going to do with Brick?

"Kill him." She answered. "Call me a hypocrite for stopping Oliver when he came back. You can judge me, hate me for it. I can take it."

"I get it, Laurel. Different circumstances, Ollie would have done the same. I just… I feel sad for you that you feel you have to cross that line. Killing anyone, Laurel will change you. Ollie, Digg, Roy and I can attest to that." Even Ted could have. "But I could never hate you, Laurel."

"I could never hate you either, Speedy." Laurel then pulled out her burner phone that had somehow survived the fight. "I have an idea, Speedy." Laurel prayed that her idea would work and that her father's name still held the weight it once did.

:-:-:-:-:

Brick stood in front of the hotel on top of a podium in a well-tailored suit, looking out to the crowd below, beside him was his ever-loyal lawyer, and his guards flanking them. His lawyer stood up and addressed the crowd first.

"For the past two years, for his unjust conviction on racketeering charges, Daniel Brickwell, our client, has maintained his good name, and more importantly his innocence. His slate remains clean." He then let the crowd absorb that, before continuing.

"Just under an hour ago, the second circuit of the court of appeals overturned the conviction of the innocent man, known as Daniel Brickwell. The Department of Justice, after learning of the error of their ways, has decided to let justice reign, and will not be proceeding with the charges. Daniel Brickwell is a free man once again, as it should have been from the beginning."

Brick ignored the booing, and stepped up, "I know for most of you, this will be a difficult pill to swallow. And I do not blame any of you for that, you have been manipulated into buying into the fairy tale that I am the big bad wolf. That I am a criminal. Quite the opposite is true, I was demonized due to challenging the systems. Because I tried to make Starling City a safe place, a beacon of hope. Because I didn't lie about inconvenient truths."

He squared his jaw. "I was berated and lost everything due to false allegations. They sent someone to frame me. The Black Canary." He sneered; he had her dead to rights now. And no one and nothing would prevent him from having his vengeance on the woman that had obliterated his life. "The killer who has now shown her true colors. A woman who has tried to murder people in what should be considered safe havens, places of recreation. Homes and Nightclubs. The Black Canary is our true public enemy!"

:-:-:-:-:

Frank Pike climbed out of his car, in front of the Queen Mansion. He wondered what Moira Queen would have thought of her home being used as a war zone, and the location of a homicide of a known community worker that has helped in both Starling and Central City. What made it worse, was that he received a call from Lance's only living daughter, she asked him to keep her family safe.

He turned to look at the female agent, "Agent Watson. I'm Captain Franklin Pike, I'll be running from outside."

Watson nodded dismissively, "Sure, great. We will share the info ASAP." Quentin's daughter had warned him that they may try to block him and the SCPD. If what she told him was true and the FBI were in Daniel Brickwell's pocket, he had to move quickly and decisively.

"That's all well and good, Agent. But something doesn't sit right with me. The Black Canary was sighted by the few victims who have survived, that she was targeting Thea Queen once again, and possibly her nephew, and yet you paint Miss Queen as her accomplice?"

Of the ten guards with a criminal past, only two of them managed to survive their wounds.

Watson looked at Pike, with a defeated look, "More is happening behind the scenes than you are aware of, Captain. I appreciate your input; however, this remains an FBI crime scene. I will endeavor to report any findings to you or your precinct."

He stopped as he came to his car, to see Thea Queen and her nephew in his police cruiser. He opened the back door, "What are you doing?"

"I'm surrendering myself into your custody." Thea Queen said looking bruised and battered. The girl holding her young nephew looked a lot younger than she was.

"What the hell is this!?" One of the FBI Agents asked from behind him.

"Who are you?" Pike asked, sizing up the woman who had charged towards the police cruiser, as well as Thea and Connor Queen.

"Agent Smythe." She answered. "She is a federal suspect." She said, pointing at Thea, though stopped as if her shoulder ached. Her eyes squaring on the younger woman in his cruiser.

It was the usual sign that Green Arrow, Speedy and Arsenal were around, someone trying to cover up their puncture wounds. And yet there was no report of them being present. Only the Black Canary. There was more happening than he knew, that was for sure. And Thea Queen and Laurel Lance were involved.

Pike shrugged, as about ten SCPD officers moved towards the car, blocking agent Smythe from getting near Thea Queen. "She is suspected of being an accomplice in a murder. That's state law. If you want to have a meeting with Miss Queen, she may be available once I have the writ in my hands."

"Is that her nephew?" Smythe growled, "I won't let you take them from us!"

Pike glared at the overzealous agent, before looking over his shoulders to see about ten cops. "You and what army, Agent?" He asked with a brow raised. "You planning on assaulting fellow officers of the law?" He then gestured to the camera on the dashboard, as well as cameras on some of the vests of the uniformed officers. He then gestures to the cuts and bruises on Smythe's face. "I suppose you want me to believe that Miss Queen, a girl born with a platinum spoon in her mouth, and an infant did a number on you? "

Agent Watson came over, putting a gentle hand on Smythe to calm her down. "A word captain?"

Pike moved back to the car and turned to speak to the agent. "Listen very carefully," Watson said softly so that no one else could hear them. "If we take Thea Queen into FBI custody, she and her nephew will be dead before she or the kid reaches HQ." Before Pike could move, Watson quickly added. "Don't react. Just get her the hell away from us, we clear."

"Crystal," Pike answered tersely.

Pike drove away from the mansion and eventually pulled up somewhere between the Glades and the City proper. He pulled the hand-brake, opened his door, and moved around taking a curious Thea from the car.

"The FBI won't be pleased that you let us go." Moira Queen's daughter said, looking around as if waiting for someone, eventually, he noticed a car pull up with a man in a red hoodie, waiting for her, judging by Thea Queen's lack of fear at noticing the man.

Pike scoffed, "They can kiss my police-blue ass. If I hadn't first heard it from Laurel, then saw it with my own two eyes, I would never believe it. I can't believe she only saw it coming. I don't know what you or Laurel have done to piss off Brickwell this much. But you CNRI girls are the real heroes. I'm sure that Quentin, Robert, and Moira would be proud of you two." He gave a small sniff before heading towards the open door of his car.

Thea smiled, "It was a little more than Laurel, but yeah, Brick did it while Starling has been dealing with everything else."

"I know." He said with a look that Thea couldn't decipher. He then gave a small smile. "You tell Lance's girl, that you two are not alone. And perhaps, perhaps I was rash when I outlawed vigilantes." He said sincerely. "The city went to hell without them. Lance was right, we need them to supplement our forces especially after everything that has been happening." Thea could only smile and gently readjusted her sleeping nephew on her hip. "Brick killed a lot of the boys and girls in blue. If you find a way to take that smug British bastard down, know that every SCPD officer will be shielding your back."

"Thanks, Captain Pike, and take care of yourself."

Pike gave a nod of his head, "You too. Quentin would come back from the grave if two of his three daughters died while under my duty as Captain, never mind his only grandchild. I don't know where Laurel or her husband are hiding, but they must be to trying to keep their son safe and this city safe. I would advise that you and Connor disappear with them, to whatever hole they have been hiding in. Godspeed, Miss Queen."


A/N the next chapter is called Family and will be the beginning of the end. And it will mainly be the end of most of the angst that this fic has been filled with.