Kara thought that regret would drive her back to the bunker.
Somehow, her right conscious was peering it's way through the fog in her mind as it normally did. As she enveloped herself in the north wind of the night sky, she couldn't help but think about the look in Oliver's eyes as she exited the bunker in her rage.
It wasn't feigned in pain— no. It was marked with fear.
Kara couldn't quite decipher what that fear lied in. And that uncertainty is what was eating at her conscious. She almost immediately regretted the brashness that she approached her rebuttal with, the haste in how she swatted away his hand.
She knew that she had done something to incite what she observed in his stare. And that was the last thing that she ever wanted to do.
But regret took a back seat as her rage had full control of the wheel. Especially when that regret had nothing to do with what she desired to accomplish. She had finding saving Alex in her sights. There was no emotion that could hold her back from doing that.
The night was quiet— quieter to her as she tried to focus her auditory senses on any sign of her sister's life. She searched and searched, only to feel the anger in the silence tense her temple. It was just like when she couldn't find Oliver. A flight through lonely skies with not a trace of the one person who could keep her sane.
She knew that her daylight alias could likely get her into ARGUS. A simple acknowledgement of her role at city hall and relationship to Alex would slip her through a typically hefty secured entrance. So as she landed, she pulled her hair back as she usually did and threw her annual attire over her body in a quick rush before walking normally to the door. She was immediately stopped by an armored guard.
Upon her motives for appearance being questioned, she answers in a simple mannered tone, "I work closely with DA Chase. He needed some processing documents signed."
"Name?"
"Kara Danvers," she replies, pulling out her ID card for proof. "My sister also works here. She apprehended Tommy Merlyn, who I need to go see."
Realization hits on the man's face, as a more cordial demeanor follows. He opens an entrance through the door as he says, "Go to your right and they'll give you a retinal scan to confirm your entry. You should be good to go from there, Ms. Danvers."
"Thank you," Kara tells him with a quick smile as she walks past him. Everything following went exactly as he said. They asked for her name, an ID, and reason for entry. A retinal scan confirmed her identity and enabled her to get through the final wall of security.
And as an ARGUS agent led her through the building, she took the opportunity to double check through all of the walls, confirming that her sister was nowhere to be found in the parameters of ARGUS. She hardly was holding onto any hope that she was possibly there. The search was made in desperation. But yet, somehow, she felt any kind of hope leave in the warmth of her breath in her sigh. It was a shaky one in her attempts to hold herself together.
It wasn't that she had lost touch with her emotions. She had a full grasp of them. She knew that the moment she felt the tears begin to build within her eyelids and she was able to shake them off and allow them to dry away.
The only sentiment that she wanted to channel was anger. And this desire was only strengthened as she entered the area in which Tommy's cell stood.
She was let in through a steel door. The four glass walls holding him captive felt as thin as the air they were both breathing. She could see his reflection along one of them as she approached another. Him arms were folded while he stood, his head making it seem like his attention was on the ground but his eyes remained fixed on what he could see of Kara through his glass window. The smugness of his tight lipped grin was nearly bouncing off the floor.
"Ms. Danvers," his head pops up with his words. The grin had become a smirk as he continued. "What do I owe this pleasure of a visit?"
As Kara awaits the room to empty, she puts her face mere inches from the glass. She hears the door close behind her, enabling her to begin her interrogation.
"You know why I'm here, Merlyn," Kara begins through her gritted teeth. "Cut the bullshit."
"Damn. Are any of you even slightly conversational?" he begins through a haughty chuckle. "You, Ollie, Chase. . . you just waltz in here, make demands of me. And I don't know what's worse. The abrasive nature of the demands or the naivety of your expectations of me."
"What the fuck does Alex have to do with any of this?" Kara asks, her fist going against the glass as she ignores Tommy's clear and obvious deflection. "Why did you take her?"
"I have been nowhere but this cell for the last week," Tommy continues to deflect, putting his hands over his chest for emphasis in his words. "But I'm sure my compatriots had an understanding of her relation to you."
"Your quarrel has never been with me," Kara hisses. "It has always been with Oliver."
"You really don't get it, do you?" Tommy asks with condescension. He slowly makes his way towards the opposite side of the wall that Kara stood behind, squatting to make himself somewhat level with where she stood. "The moment that you met him, you became apart of this. The moment that you allowed his life to touch yours, you put your entire livelihood at risk. And that includes your sister's."
Kara slams her fist against the wall, feeling a slight crack touch her skin. She watches Tommy glance at it for a moment and his smirk only widens into one with teeth. She moves her hand away in an attempt to avoid any further satisfaction on his end.
"You've got quite the temper." Tommy says through a quiet whisper. "How far are you willing to let that take you?"
Kara laughs, no humor residing in the breath as she shakes her head. "I'm not going to do what you want me to do."
"Then what are you going to do, Kara?" He pushes. "There's a reason that you came here and I know it wasn't to ask me these shallow questions. We both know what it is you really want."
"I just want to find my sister," Kara says firmly. "And I don't fucking care what I have to do to you to make that happen."
His eyebrow raises emphatically, the question in his tone matching his demeanor as he asks, "What about what you could do for me?"
"I will never do a damn thing for you."
He nods knowingly. "But what if it meant me telling you where you can find your dear sister? And quite possibly your friends too."
"What could I possibly do to make you think to do that?" Kara asks, her harsh tone masking her peaking interest.
"Get me out of here," Tommy tells her. "And then I'll tell you where to find your friends."
"No." Kara replies simply. "You're not leaving this cell until they're all found and brought back."
Tommy chuckles. "What about when they're all dead? You're going to wish you took me up on this offer."
"You son of a bitch. . ."
"You don't want that on your conscience, now do you?" Tommy continues. "Help me escape and I'll tell you where they are."
"How am I supposed to do that?"
Tommy points towards the door that was opening behind her. She looks to see two ARGUS agents now standing guard by the entrance. One of them makes eye contact with her, giving an acknowledging nod before tapping in motion on the screen next to the door.
"You have people on the inside?" Kara asks.
"The simple answer is yes." Tommy says with a shrug. "And all you have to do is give them the go-ahead. I'll be free and you will be able to find your friends too."
Kara shakes her head. "How do I know this isn't a trap?"
"You don't." He tells her. "But the fate of your friends withstanding, I know how badly you want to find your sister. And how your world would fall apart without her. So for the sake of you, her, and the world around you, you know what you have to do."
She sighs as she ponders the ultimatum she had feared that Oliver would give into. She remembers the relief she felt upon realizing that he had no desire to break Tommy from his cell. He wanted to find their loved ones the right way. And now, she found herself with that desire. And despite her recognizing the potential consequences of her actions, she couldn't see a reality in which she didn't do what Tommy was asking of her.
She already couldn't live with the fact that she couldn't protect the people she cared most for. She feared deeply for who she would become if she facilitated their deaths. And with the knowledge of who she has been in the time since finding out about Alex, she couldn't risk a life without her entirely.
So she took a deep breath before turning to the guards, replicating the nod that they had given her upon walking in. They maneuvered with the settings on the screen, guiding the air sealed door that was keeping Tommy captive open. She watches as he exits the cell and walks towards the guards who cuff him without question.
"What am I supposed to do?" Kara asks with impatience.
"Follow behind," Tommy replies with a smug grin. "In case they need backup."
And she does exactly that. They walk throughout the facility unchallenged. Most agents simply staring as Tommy stood in front of the pyramid of unsuspected smugglers. Anytime someone popped in a question, it was a simple answer of "processing mishap." Sometimes coming from the mouth of the guard, and sometimes coming from the mouth of Kara once she finally caught on.
She could feel the stares become more questioning as they got closer to the exit— except this one wasn't the one that she had entered through. No. They were going upwards towards the roof, and as they got closer, the less other agents were buying the excuse of a processing mishap. She felt the presence of more agents following them as they got to the door.
"Good luck," the guards whispered before turning around. And when they opened the door to shove both Kara and Tommy through, they immediately began firing at the agents who stood behind them.
"No!" Kara yells as she turns around. She can hear the troubled screams and cries as she watches bullets take agents down one by one. She tries to rush to help them only to feel a tug of her wrist as Tommy pulls her away.
Once again, she felt powerless.
And as they walked outside, Kara felt pouring rain drops fall onto her head and shoulders. Her hair was quickly becoming soaked as her and Tommy ran through a fenced trail. More ARGUS agents approached them and Tommy fought back, eventually taking a gun from their grasp and using it to his advantage. Kara didn't aid his escape, standing back as he took out five agents almost in seconds.
"If you want me to keep my end of the bargain, you sure as hell better keep yours and help," Tommy tells her before firing another shot into the chest of a hardly breathing agent on the ground.
She doesn't respond as they continue to make their way towards whatever destination Tommy was leading them towards. More agents pursued and Kara had no choice but to fight, holding back her punches only for Tommy to take their life anyways. She felt herself only growing in anger as she watched the way that he was able to take lives without even slightly second guessing himself.
He was truly a monster. Everything that he tried to paint Oliver to be, he was. And that infuriated her.
They soon, after trudging through a final round of agents, approach a running chopper. He stops mere feet in front of it, taking a reveling inhale before turning around to face Kara. He says with a smirk, "Thank you for your cooperation and help, Ms. Danvers. All footage of that will be erased and anyone who saw you will think you were a victim."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Kara asks, her rage coming through her quickened steps as she follows him towards the chopper. When she notices that he wasn't stopping, she charges him, taking his yellow jumpsuit into her fists as she shoves him against the chopper. "Tell me where they are!"
He narrows his eyes intently as if he was anticipating her next move. "Remember what I said earlier? The naivety of the expectation that I'm going to do what you ask?" He chuckles as his stare softens. "What are you going to do about it now?"
"You're going to tell me where the fuck my sister is—"
"ARGUS will be up here before I can do that," Tommy tells her smugly. "They can either find you on the ground as a victim or they can watch you let me get away. You'll be arrested immediately."
Kara pushes her arm against his chest, knocking the breath out of Tommy without remorse. "You're not going to like who you get the next time we see each other."
"I'll be looking forward to it," Tommy chokes. He feels Kara's grip loosen, taking advantage of that as he shoves her off of him. She sells it by faking the force affecting her, falling to the ground harshly as he makes his way inside the chopper. "Tell Ollie I'll see him soon."
Kara stays on the ground as she hears the boots of ARGUS agents running towards them. She looks up and watches as the chopper lifts off the ground, taking away her one chance at finding out any possible location of where her Alex is. And once again, she has to feel the void of her powers having to be hidden, knowing that Kara Danvers could never be seen with the abilities of a Kryptonian. Her chance at a somewhat normal life would be ruined.
So she lies on the ground, feeling the weight of her mistakes as his chopper flies out of sight. Her face had become saturated with the drops of water from the sky but she could taste hints of salt as drips fell off her cheek and onto her mouth. There was this sense of hopelessness looming about her as she felt her body become soaked in the tears of the sky. Her feet weren't any closer to the ground than they had been the second that she found out that Alex had been taken. And she knew that they wouldn't be until she knew that Alex was safe.
Alex was no longer hooked on the railing of Kara's ship of life. And now Kara was simply free floating, praying that the turbulent waters wouldn't set her on a course that she couldn't return from. But the winds were blowing, ferociously at that. The boat was fighting to even stay afloat.
She was losing her grip on reality— and she feared what would happen to the people who lied in her wake.
The look resting in Kara's eyes was one that was all too familiar.
The rage masking itself in a blank stare. Occasionally in her words, he would see a subtle storm begin to brew in the sapphire sea. Something striking through her narrowed lids. But once she was left to her own thoughts, it cleared like a murky night sky. The clouds weren't thick enough for precipitation yet there was still enough coverage to dim any kind of light that the moon and stars could give off.
It was the look he'd so often seen in his own reflection. The one that his loved ones would describe as they tried to reach through the wall that he had built up. He thought about the pain incited by worry and trepidation that was so clearly being reflected back at him in those moments.
And there was no doubt in his mind, Kara saw the same thing from him.
Maybe this was the world's way of showing him what it felt like all of those times that his loved ones fell victim to his silent rage and grief. Because all he could focus on was the fear and worry he felt for how Kara would react to her own fury-inflicted desires— and it was crushing him.
His fear only strengthened in the time that she was away from the bunker. She gave no indication as to where she was going, what she was going to do. And even if Oliver wanted to stop her, which he did, he was physically incapable of it. So he had to sit back, powerless as he awaited her return.
She looked completely out of herself when she left. Like there was nothing keeping her feet on the ground— and more than anything, Oliver regretted the fact that he couldn't be that for her.
So he sits along the steps of the platform, hopelessly glaring at the elevator doors as if it was an abyssal void. Soon the steel color of the doors seemed to become one as the shape of his vision had lost it's figure. But he was so lost in his own thoughts that it felt like the normal sight of the view.
His trance wasn't lifted until his phone vibrated in his pocket. His heart sunk into his stomach upon reading the caller ID. He took a moment to catch his breath before answering. And when he heard the words from the agent at ARGUS, his fear turned to rage.
"Merlyn escaped."
Almost immediately after cutting the line, he heaved his phone across the bunker. It shattered upon hitting a pillar, breaking into pieces as it emulated his sanity.
He ran, no, sprinted towards where his suit rested on a manikin, prepared to slip it on in the quickest manner he could before he caught sight of someone sitting along the stairs that led to the outside entry. He knew almost immediately— it was Kara.
And as the shadow from the distance faded and he got a clearer look at her, his desire to scorn her quickly went away. Her entire body was soaked in what he could only assume was rainwater. Her wet hair covered her hands that were holding her bowing head.
When she heard his foot steps, she looked up and he saw her reddened whites that were fogged through tears. She began to shake her head profusely, telling him lowly, "I fucked up. I fucked up badly."
All Oliver could do was nod as he slowly made his way towards her, sitting on the step below the one she was resting on. He didn't have many words to say, as he feared the harshest ones would fight their way through the empathy.
So he puts a gentle hand over her thigh, hoping that a simple gesture could soften the load that her clear regret and grief was burdening her with. She takes hold of it while looking away. It was almost as if she couldn't look him in the eye.
"I know you said that you weren't going to get him out. . ." She trails off, swallowing the lump that was straining her words. "But I couldn't look past the threats he was making if I refused his offer. I couldn't risk the possibility of him taking her from me—"
"Hey," Oliver interjects, squeezing her palm softly as he tried to bring her attention towards him. Once he had her eyes, he continued. "You did what you thought was right in the moment. Don't dwell on it being the wrong decision. Make it right by finding everyone and stopping him. That's the only thing you need to worry about right now."
She nods, the pace matching her gradual motion to wipe a tear off her cheek with her free fingers. It wasn't as much an agreeing nod but one that showed understanding as the look in her glassy eyes still was a burdened one. She took a firmer grasp of his hand as she told him with a tone full of intent, "I want nothing more than for him to suffer for what he's done. And I'm not going to stop until I'm fucking sure that's going to happen."
"He's going to pay, Kara," Oliver tells her firmly. "I promise you that."
"Do you think we should kill him?"
Oliver ponders on the question, taken back by the genuine inquisition that rested in her demeanor. It wasn't a hesitant ask. She wasn't hoping or expecting him to say no. It was almost like she was anticipating, waiting for the go ahead. She was hoping he'd say yes. And that only furthered the notion making itself known in his mind— he needed to say no.
"That's not how he needs to pay his penance, Kara," Oliver tells her firmly, watching her eyes fall as she realizes they weren't on the same wavelength. She pulls her hand away harshly, standing up abruptly as she pushes herself off the step.
"How can you be like this?" She begins to pace, talking angrily through every step. "You're so calm and level headed. What the hell are we going to accomplish without your rage?"
Oliver squints his eyes as he tries to get a grip on where Kara's emotions are guiding her. She's directing her anger at him and he knows her anger isn't internally at him. So he keeps true to her accusations, replying with a collected response. "I'm not sure what else I'm supposed to do."
"Tommy took Barry, Adrian, Felicity, Thea! Your sister. " She snaps, stopping in her pacing steps as her words echo through the bunker. "Why aren't you fucking angry?"
He slowly stands up, putting his hand over his chest to emphasize his words as he continues to try to keep himself level. "I'm furious, Kara. But I know that Tommy wants me to react to that fury in haste and I've given him what he wanted for far too long now. Killing him would only be giving in to him one last time."
"He's just going to keep coming back and finding more ways to hurt you. And it's starting to hurt me too," Kara cries as tears break her voice. Her voice became more of a desperate plead along with her demeanor as she continued. "I lost my home, my family, the people that I loved. And for decades, I allowed for that to make me feel powerless. I cannot allow Tommy to make me feel like that again. I can't."
"You're the one who kept telling me that killing him was never the right choice," Oliver tells her firmly. "You cannot give in to him, Kara."
He watches as the realization falls in her eyes, almost as if at that moment she had recognized where he desires were leading her. She shakes her head as she brings her attention towards her feet. She puts her hands over her hips as she tells him lowly, "I just need to find Alex. And our friends. I cannot look past my need for vengeance until that happens."
"I know what you mean," Oliver says as he approaches her, putting his hand along her shoulder gently. "And I promise you, we're going to find them."
Kara nods, crossing her arm over her body to take a hold of his hand. She shakes her head in awed disbelief as she tells him, "It's ironic that you're being the idealist right now."
"I'm not being an idealist," Oliver says with a shrug. A sentiment that she gave to him radiating through his intent stare. "I have hope."
Kara turns to face him, that same sentiment beginning to show itself for the first time since finding out about her sister's capture. She grazes his jaw with her fingertips, holding her hand there for a moment as she tells him in an awed smile, "I needed that."
He nods in acknowledgement, a wide gleam affirming Kara in knowing that her understood the weight of her words. She allows her hand to fall to him arm as she asks, "So what's the play?"
"We can only assume wherever he's heading is where he's keeping everyone," Oliver begins as they walk towards the computers on the platform. "Did he give you any kind of hint as to where he was going?"
Kara shrugs her shoulders as she folds her arms across her chest. "Whenever it was, he's going to arrive on a chopper. That's how he left so I'm assuming it's a longer distance."
"Was it an ARGUS chopper?" Oliver asks, awaiting the nod that Kara eventually gives. He goes to sit in the chair that typically belonged to Felicity. "We may be able to track it."
Kara raises an eyebrow as she watches him begin to maneuver with the keys on the keyboard. He fumbled his fingers quite a bit, clearly trying to gain his footing with the technology that was geared towards their colleague. She hovers above his head as she questions, "How exactly are we going to be able to track him?"
"Felicity is keyed into a satellite that tracks plane movement," Oliver says, noticing that Kara's confusion remained unchanged. "I don't understand the science of it. All I know is that it's our only option right now."
Kara leans her elbows on the desk, looking intently into his eyes as she tells him, "You could also talk with our guest in there. She might know where he's going. Or at least have an idea."
"She's not going to talk, Kara," Oliver tells her plainly. "We've already established that."
"She talked to me."
Oliver sighs. "That's because you're you."
"Or maybe that's because I'm the first person out of everyone who didn't see her as Tommy's accomplice. But as a human being," Kara says, following his eyes as he stands up. "I didn't know her before all of this, so maybe that helps me see past the betrayal. But you loved her once, Oliver. Talk to her like you would've before and I think you'd be surprised by what you get."
Oliver shakes his head, looking at the ground as he can feel his own regret piling in. "She's angry at me. . ." He trails off before looking at Kara once again. "She doesn't trust me, and quite frankly, I don't trust her. You should be the one talk to her again."
"I don't think we will fully have her on our side until you have a conversation with her," Kara begins as she keeps her eyes locked on his. His attention was on the computer as he listened, avoiding eye contact as he knew he'd give in immediately upon looking into them. She continues, "You go talk to her. I'll keep an eye on this."
Her stare was beginning to burn into the side of his face and he could no longer avoid it. He turns, sees the hopeful pleading in her gaze and the only thing that he could do was relent.
"Okay," he says through his breath, nodding as he made a space for Kara in front of the computer. He places a hand on the small of her back as he asks, "Tell me if you pick anything up?"
She nods as she gives him an affirming smile. "Of course."
He makes his way off the platform, slowly and hesitantly. It's almost as if he is trying to gather the courage to actually do what Kara's stare is demanding of him as he walks out of her line of vision. It's a lot more daunting when he realizes that he has to face his own guilt in something that she reacted poorly to.
And this was a reality that he unfortunately had to come to grips with as he gradually made his way to where Laurel's lonely cell stood.
"Why do I get the feeling that you didn't come on your own will?"
As soon as Laurel could see Oliver in the light that illuminated from her cell, she was filled with disdain. Her words came out with haste and he had to fight the urge to replicate that energy.
"Would you blame me?" Oliver asks as he stops and folds his arms across his chest. "I have every reason to believe you want to see me dead."
"Tommy doesn't even want to see you dead," Laurel replies, mimicking the look emulating impatience as she stands mere inches from him on the other side of the cell. "Just admit it, Ollie. You don't see either of us as anything other than another yearly threat."
"Again, do you blame me?" Oliver reiterates pointedly. "You've both killed. You've both been complicit in an attempt to make the people I care about suffer. All because you want me to feel the betrayal that you feel towards me. How else am I supposed to see you?"
He watches as Laurel's eyes fall in reaction to his words. For the first time, he wasn't staring into a blistery mist upon looking at her. There was a sorrow in her eyes. A hint of relenting. And quite possibly, remorse. But that wasn't what he came down here to receive, so he chose to redirect the conversation.
"I didn't come down here to fight, Laurel," he begins, the tone of his voice losing it's sharp edge. He takes a deep breath before continuing with intent, "Tommy escaped tonight. We're running out of options to try to find out where he's keeping our friends and now, he's not under our watch. I know you cared about Felicity and Thea once. Is there anything you know that could possibly help us find them?"
She shakes her head as he demeanor remains dour. "I'm sorry. He never gave me specifics outside of his general plan to take your friends."
"How exactly did you fit into those plans?" Oliver asks as his inquisition peaks. "Were you going to help capture them and take them to a specific place? Because you've been here the entire time. And he seems to have succeeded."
"I was supposed to take Thea," Laurel admits, and the regret was becoming incredibly clear. "He wanted me to take advantage of her possible trust and take her to a designated place when and if I captured her."
Oliver clamps his jaw as he shakes his head, trying to direct his anger in the right direction. He looks to the ground as he tries to gather himself, as he was overcome with a bout of rage upon hearing what Tommy expected out of her. He doesn't move his head as he asks lowly, "Where was that location?"
"He wasn't going to tell me until I confirmed to have her in my possession," Laurel tells him, following his eyes. "I hesitated the moment he told me my mission. I'm sorry."
He looked up once again, directly into the gaze of Laurel. He wanted to gauge where her honesty was— because despite everything that had happened, these were still the seers of a woman he knew better than almost anyone. And he found his affirmation in the clear fear and remorse that rested in her soft stare.
"Did you let yourself get captured?" Oliver asks, almost in realization.
Laurel slowly nods. "I was supposed to escape before you guys apprehended Tommy. I couldn't do it, Ollie. I couldn't stand by and be complicit in his aimless crusade anymore. I couldn't hurt Thea."
"So why deflect for the past week?"
She shrugs her shoulders as she shakes her head. "Because it's Tommy. And despite all of the horrible things he's done, I still look at him with such awe because he's alive. That was all you and I wanted for so long."
And suddenly, all of that pain that was seeping through Laurel's words and demeanor had transcended to him. He was taken back to all of the moments that he looked into the same glassy eyes as they grieved the loss of a man they both loved.
He could still remember the night he died in visceral nature. The throbbing ache in his chest as he watched one final breath labor through Tommy's chest and mouth was anything but a forgotten sensation. The tears that fell from his eyes as he could hear Laurel's cries as he fled the scene.
It was the trauma that shattered them both in half— but also the experiences that brought them back together in long run. It was the grieving process that they lived through together that led them to falling in love once again.
And the surreality of this conversation began to hit Oliver like a rush of wind. They were talking about Tommy. He was alive. And after months of thinking he'd lost his last tether to his missing limb, she stood here to say the words.
But the pain in her voice was just as real as it had been then because they both knew— Tommy wasn't who they remembered. And a realization that Oliver had to come to while being held in shackles was one that Laurel had to come to while constricted in walls. He had watched the realization befall upon her as the last sentence escaped her lips.
"He still has to be stopped," Oliver says, taken back by the shakiness of his words. "You know that."
Laurel nods as a tear falls down her cheek. "Let me help you."
The sincerity in her words moved Oliver in a way that he wasn't expecting. It drove him to unlock the cell. He not only let her out, but he pulled her in. She hesitated for a brief second before embracing him on her own will.
There was a harrowing sadness in the moment, as both of them knew that their hearts weren't where they were the last time they were as close to one another as they were now. They had become attached to others. But there was still a sense of longing that was ceased for the both of them. An aching and void that had been dying to be healed for so long finally had been fulfilled.
Seeing her as a human being once again was all he needed to do to forgive her, forgive himself— and doing that might have given him the advantage that Tommy was least expecting.
Not long after breaking away, they had began to make their way down the hall and towards the main area of the bunker. He heard rushing footsteps coming in their direction and was soon met with an urgency around the corner.
"I think it found him."
They follow her lead back towards the platform where they hover around the computer as Kara shows them what exactly it picked up. It had picked up an aircraft that had left Star City and gone east on a detour back towards where it had come from.
"There's no way that he would have come right back to the city," Oliver says. "Is there any other potential flight tracks that it picked up around the time he returned?"
"There was one that took off near the coast and is heading towards China," Kara tells him as she flips to another specific flight track that matched what she had described. "But I don't really think—"
"Oh my God. . . " Oliver utters as he recognizes an all too familiar trajectory.
It was the course that he had so often wondered how different his life would look had he not sailed it. He questioned the people he would still have in his life, the outlook of the people in his life that he gained, or lost, in that time. It was one of his biggest regrets.
Yet, the destination was the singular place that Oliver felt defined the last decade of his life. He was here, standing in this bunker that he had built next to someone who believed in this crusade of his as much as she believed in him, or maybe because of that.
Tommy knew this. And every move of his has been nuanced to perfection. So even though the path was not clearly heading towards this land of desolation to any eye that wasn't his own, Oliver knew exactly where it was heading.
"He told me that it was going to end where it all started," Laurel interjects as she connects the dots on her own.
Oliver looks at Kara, who's perplexed glare was suddenly becoming more akin to the realization reflected on his and Laurel's faces. His words come out lowly, almost to the volume of a whisper as he says, "He's going to Lian Yu."
He promised himself he'd never return.
So much of his life, so many of his mistakes were defined by who he became on that island— the tough choices that he had to make, the trauma that he endured from the every second he spent there. And from the moment that he sailed away for the last time, or at least what he thought was, he always strove to move past it.
But like always, his past had to inch its way into his cognizant present. Tommy was already an everglade of a reminder of that. And now, Tommy was the reason he was having to return to the place that he had worked for so long to bury. There was no doubt in Oliver's mind— this was always going to be the way that Tommy wanted to end things.
Oliver was slipping off his day-to-day clothes as he was preparing to put on his suit. He felt a gentle hand begin to trace dead skin on his bare lower back before a calming presence came over his shoulder.
"You got all of these scars over there, didn't you?"
Oliver sighs before turning to face Kara, who's expressions had softened into a display of care and concern. This was a conversation that he knew he would one day have to have— and he had already opened up to Kara about being willing to have it.
But the dagger of the reminder of it all being instigated by Tommy was nagging an aching in his chest. His immediate reaction was going to be pushing off the conversation— holding it off until they returned home with a comfort in knowing that he wasn't about to step foot there.
But the look in her eyes, the warm, altruism that rested in those gems had already cemented itself as an antitheses to his autonomic deflection. He already felt relief upon connecting with her leer, so he allowed his heart to be broken open once again.
"Most of them, yeah," he begins, taking the jacket she had grabbed for him and tossing it over his shoulders. "Some came in Russia, with ARGUS. . . . some in the years that I've been home. But the ones that stick with me are the ones that I got there."
Her eyes lock on to the three lined knife carvings across his chest, putting her hand over it before he can zip up his jacket. "How'd you get them?"
"I was tortured, hunted, shot. . ." He trails off, taking a glance at her hand before looking back at her. "I lost pieces of myself there, trying to survive, to make it home. I feel like I'm reminded every time that I look at them."
She nods, narrowing her eyes in a sign of understanding. "You know Tommy is going to try to take advantage of that. It's why he chose to go there." She moves her hand to his and takes her fingers into her's. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah," Oliver tells her, strongly enough to convince her but not without internal hesitancy. "I've had enough people try to use my time on Lian Yu as a manipulator. I'll be fine."
"I just saw the look on your face when you realized that was where he was heading," Kara tells him, concern beginning to seep into her tone. "I can only imagine the pain that all of this will bring back. With Tommy and the island. I can already see it setting in."
Oliver plants a light kiss on the crease of her forehead, leaving his head hovering for a moment as he assures her, "I'll be okay."
So he zips his jacket on while rying to convince himself that the words that he said were the truth. Kara read him like he was a flashing sign in Times Square. As much of a solacing principle his lack of ability to repress things from her was, he knew how much she'd worry for him in knowing all the ways in which he hurts.
Maybe it was something that he would have to get used to and adapt to. But at the moment, he wanted them both to focus on getting to the island and finding their loved ones and Tommy. He didn't want the conversation singled in on him.
So he packed all of his equipment, stuffing Adrian and Thea a weapon as well as Felicity's tablet into a duffle bag. It had to be a manageable weight, as he would be carrying it over his shoulder as Kara flew him to the island.
It wasn't something that he was initially willing to do. In fact, his suggestion was to fly there on an aircraft. But Kara insisted on the quickness, and safeness, that rested in the option of her flying him there.
He didn't have much of a desire to argue, nor did he really see a point. He trusted Kara to get both he and Laurel to Lian Yu safely. They had already discreetly and anonymously notified ARGUS of Tommy's whereabouts and they were preparing a fleet to take him in once again as well as carry everyone back to Star City.
They were going to end things with Tommy on their terms first. And Kara flying there gave them the opportunity to arrive before ARGUS.
So all three, once dressed and equipped, meet in the upstairs lobby of what once was Oliver's campaign office. Oliver couldn't help but look Laurel up and down and ask in observation, "No Canary suit?"
"I feel like I need to earn that first," Laurel suggests, getting an accepting nod and smile from Oliver in the process. She looks around, making an observation of her own as she asks, "So, how exactly are we getting to Lian Yu?"
"Kara's going to fly us there," Oliver tells her, almost grinning in his subtle pride as he looks to Kara.
Laurel cocks an eyebrow. "She's a pilot?"
"Something like that," Kara quips, ripping off her buttoned up shirt to dramatically reveal the crest on the chest of her blue suit. It was clearly something that she had been waiting to do, as the joy on her face couldn't be contained in her giggle. It got a jovial chuckle out of Oliver— partially because it was just as ridiculous when she did as when Clark did it.
"Is she related to Clark?" Laurel asks, her eyes widening in realization as she looks to Oliver for confirmation. She must have seen the same thing in her eyes as he did. Well, and also the notable crest. He nods, getting a slow mirrored motion as she says, "Everything makes so much more sense now."
Kara quickly speeds out of her casual clothes and links arms with the both of them. "I'd say close your eyes but this'll be over before you really get the chance to notice we're flying."
And before he could even get a word in, she had taken her leap into the sky and they were off. Everything was a blur just as it had been the last time that they flew, inciting a harsh motion sickness within Oliver almost immediately. He couldn't make out any of the landmarks that they were flying over, as they went by too quickly. The only thing he was able to recognize in the brief seconds that they were in air was the blue of the Pacific Ocean.
And with the uneasiness he felt in the free grasp of Kara's arms, the traumatic memories of shipwrecking and being stuck in that ocean were oddly fleeting as their feet reached the sand of the shore on Lian Yu. It was a brief flash of memories, but enough to further poke at the sickness that he already felt inside.
He had to bend over almost immediately to regain a grasp on his surroundings. Everything was spinning around him and the nausea refused to pass for a moment. He felt Kara's hand on his back as she asked through laughter, "Are you okay?"
"Normal human beings are not meant to do that, Kara," Oliver says, having to swallow some of the vomit trying to escape his mouth as he tries to stand up. He shakes his head while squinting his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose while his sight was slowly balancing itself out. "So please, for the foreseeable future, no flying for me."
She puts a gentle hand on his shoulder while giggling. "You told me that last time."
"Well, this time, I mean it," he replies pointedly. A small smile had began to creep on his lips but it quickly faded as they had began to walk toward the mainland. The feeling of his feet against the sand was one that incited residual fear within him.
He remembers what it felt like when he first stepped foot here. The terror of the unknown, the loneliness that had began setting in the moment the shock of his father shooting himself in the head in order to ensure his survival had worn off— the emptiness that not only was present in his heart, but in his stomach as he weakly vomitted nothing into the sand.
It all came back to him, forcing him to stop in their trek for just a moment. This wasn't the first time that he had returned to the island since, but this was a reaction he would always have to the traumatic stress making its way into his conscience.
"You okay?" Kara asks, noticing the uneasiness in his demeanor.
He nods, prepared to play it off. "Can you do a flyover, see if you can find where he's got everyone hidden?"
She nods before heading back into the sky. Both him and Laurel stand awkwardly as they await what should be a quick return. There was almost a surreal feeling as he stood here with her— as she was so often his driving force in his will to survive. He still somewhat felt like he needed to protect her.
But long gone were the days that he obligated himself to being that for her. And he was reminded of that as Kara swooped in without warning and pulled them towards the location that she had found.
He was taken back by the sudden motion, but this time it wasn't as bad, more akin to what it was like when Barry took him on runs. It still took him a second to rekindle his relationship with gravity and not feel like he took a shot of Vertigo. But once he did, he immediately notices hooded and masked individuals sprinting towards where they had landed.
And then the instincts once again kicked in. His arm moved autonomously towards what looked to be some kind of branch off of the League of Assassins. It was hardly a struggle. Oliver had taken on two men on his own accord, sparring with the metal fibers of his bow with the oppositions swords. With nuanced kicks and a fist to the tendons of their arms, he took their katanas into his own grip, knocking them out with the hard part of the handle.
Kara had taken the liberty of holding back her punches. Taking out the remaining three attackers with swift kicks to the temple and knocking them out almost immediately, for her, was showing restraint.
They both step over their victims to run towards where Adrian, Thea, and Felicity were all tied to stakes that were nailed into the ground. Laurel had already escaped from the fighting and had began to cut them all loose.
"So, we're working with Laurel now?" Thea asks quietly as Oliver approaches her.
He nods. "I think we can trust her."
"Good," Thea replies firmly as she opens her arms to welcome her brother in for a quick embrace. "I'm glad to see you, Ollie."
"I'm glad to see you too."
Oliver smiles as he brings her in tightly, slightly taken back by the emotion he felt in their reunion. He had tried so hard to repress the longing and worry that he felt for his missing sister in an attempt to maintain his sanity— and watching Kara juggle with the fear of her sister's wellbeing only made that worry even more unsettling. It only brought more agency and relief as he confirmed the mortality of his own.
But in the midst of a quick reunion embrace with Felicity, he realizes that Kara was yet to experience that same feeling. Not only that, Barry was nowhere in the vicinity either.
"Where's Alex?" Kara asks, panic widening her eyes as she looks in the vicinity of where they all stood.
Confused, Adrian glances at Kara before looking to Oliver. He rubs at the rawness on his wrists from the shackles as he asks, "Is Alex here?"
"We assumed she was. . . " Oliver says in his direction, trailing off as he begins to walk around and do a search of his own for his friend. "And Barry?"
Adrian's eyebrow raises in concern. "Allen's here too?"
"They're both not here," Kara answers, cupping her forehead with her palm as she tries to cope with her stress. "Where the fuck does he have them?"
"Did you not see anyone else on your flyover?" Oliver asks as he finally catches up with her. She kept pacing back and forth before Oliver takes a soft, but firm grasp on her bicep. "Kara, talk to me."
She shakes her head profusely, pulling her hair back into the crown of her head. She exhales sharply, "No. I didn't see anyone else on the island."
"Tommy gave his associates specific instructions with Barry and Alex," Laurel interjects. "I'm not sure what they were, or why. . ."
"That's why he left Star City and came back. . . " Oliver begins in his realization, thinking back to the track that Tommy's flight that seemed strange upon first look. It suddenly made sense. "They're not here because they're with him."
Almost as if on cue, a small plane began to fly over their heads. Oliver watched as Kara's eyes focused in on the plane and fell into a rage as they realized who was sitting in it. She leaped into the air and began to follow it, without any kind of warning or indication that she was leaving.
"Goddamnit. . ." Oliver utters in his fear as he watches this happen. He closes his eyes as he takes a deep breath, exhaling quickly and sharply as he prepares to face everyone else. "Laurel, can you take Felicity and Thea to the shore? ARGUS should be here soon and I want to know that they're both safe and waiting."
"I came here to help stop Tommy, Ollie," Laurel tells him firmly. "Not stand and wait while you do exactly that. Thea is more than capable of protecting herself and Felicity."
Oliver looks at Thea for any kind of convincing acknowledgment. She nods with confidence. He sighs as he reaches down into his duffle bag to grab her bow and quiver. "Here," he throws it in her direction. "Please be careful."
"We always are," Felicity assures them before following Thea's lead to the shore. There was an eerie feeling within hearing that Oliver so often tell her. She sounded sure, but something in the apprehension that rested in the environment made it difficult for Oliver to believe.
He didn't have much time to dwell on it after watching them leave their line of sight. He heard Adrian begin questioning behind him, "And what about me?"
"You're with us," Oliver says as he once again reaches into his bag to grab his gun. "Thought you would need this."
He couldn't help but smile as he admired his weapon. "You thought right. So what's the play?"
"We get to where the plane was going. . ." He trails off, swallowing the lump in his throat as he thinks about his next words. "And then we stop Tommy— hopefully not having to stop Kara along the way."
"You don't think she's going to kill him, do you?" Laurel asks as they begin their quick paced trek.
"That's never been Kara's style," Adrian answers.
Oliver scoffs. "Back at the bunker, she definitely seemed angry enough to."
"You're actually worried that she's going to kill him. . ." Adrian questions, legitimate fear and concern resting in his tone of voice.
Oliver sighs. "I have no idea what she'll do. I really thought that we'd find Alex when we got here and she'd be fine."
"But we didn't," Laurel says knowingly.
"And that's why I'm worried."
They continue to walk quickly, conjuring up some sort of plan of attack for when they reached the landing point of the chopper. It was near tree level heading towards the ground so he wasn't going too far from where they stood.
Oliver felt like they had a chance at reaching there in time to make a move on Tommy. He believed that he was going towards an area with an inland shore around the lake. It was a popular landing spot for supply planes for the various operations that took place on the island in his time here and the trajectory of Tommy's chopper felt very similar.
He knew that Laurel could serve as an "ace in the hole" kind of factor, as Tommy had no cognizance of her allegiance turn. So she would stay behind and wait for an opportunity to deliver a final blow. It would be at that point that someone would search the plane for both Alex and Barry.
"You know, for a well thought out plan, you still seem pretty uneasy," Adrian notes as he had been observing Oliver's demeanor.
"This all just feels too easy," Oliver tells him in his trepidation. He can feel the instinct that had been keeping him alive for the last decade only quicken the beat of the organ in his chest. He just hadn't realized that it was affecting his outer expressions. "It's never been easy with him. You know this."
Adrian shrugs his shoulders. "Anticipating the worst only works when the odds are stacked against you. I'd say the odds are stacked pretty well for us right now."
Oliver can only affirm his words with a nod as they continue their trek. He tries to take a hold on the words that Adrian told him and allow for them to soothe his pulsing conscience. The closer and closer they got to where he could only assume Tommy was nearly arrived at, however, the feeling only got worse.
It felt as if someone was tying his intestines into a knot and slowly pulling it tighter with each passing second. The feeling in his chest was feeling like a boulder rested atop it, readying to crush him with one fatal blow.
But that fatal blow didn't come with that weighted feeling, no. The sound was what sent a sizzling sensation down his chest, stomach, and fizzling out to a tingling in his hands. He could no longer feel his heart moving in his chest as a numbness that he hadn't felt in months had returned.
The loud gunshots rang throughout the hollowness of the island— and there was one thought that prevailed the ringing sound in his mind. And if adrenaline wasn't coursing through him as violently as it was, the thought would have paralyzed him.
He had lost someone.
Kara only ever saw three figures upon doing her flyover.
She had hoped that maybe she just missed the remaining two, or possibly out of Felicity, Thea, and Adrian— someone had seen Alex or Barry elsewhere on the island. But much to her dismay, they were nowhere in the near vicinity of where they stood.
She had looked all over the island and saw no other sign of life. It was only the three. And she swooped in to take out the men trying to keep her friends in shackles, only to have panic set in as she finished, realizing that she still had no clue where her sister was.
She had engaged in conversation but her mind wasn't on her words. It was autonomously answering the questions asked of her. She had become enveloped in her own fears, almost as if she was steel on the outside but withering internally.
Oliver had suggested that Tommy brought them here instead of his compatriots— and that was the only kind of lead or indication of Alex's whereabouts that she could latch onto. She could feel her fear beginning to seethe into anger, a hatred that she had tried so hard to use hope as an ailment for.
Tommy had locked her in a vicious cycle that she wouldn't be free of until she had full confirmation and security in Alex's vitality. And that would only come from her being in her presence and away from the danger that Tommy presented— and whatever way that danger was no longer a prevalent fixture.
So when she saw the small plane flying above their heads, she centered her vision on it and saw Tommy sitting opposite the pilot. She couldn't see through the rest of the plane, therefore she was unable to even confirm whether or not Alex or Barry were on that plane.
And that is what dropped the red tint on her sights once again. The world around her became non-existent as she took her leap into the air to follow the plane. Without much further thought, she knew that she was done lacking faith in her powers, she was done hiding them as a strategy.
There was only one thought driving her. And that was all that mattered to her.
She watched as the plane took a nosedive towards an area of open land. There was a fairly large body of water near a shore and the trajectory of the plane was clearly going in that direction. So she hid herself in the trees, choosing to speed there on the ground in order to be the one waiting on Tommy's arrival.
She stood along the lakeshore, watching as the steel-plated plane was quickly nearing her. She could feel the power coursing through her clinching fist as she waited, her rage flowing through her like the currents of the water beside her. That other-worldly fury that surged like a burning fire that couldn't be stopped. It was almost beginning to feel as if she was losing touch with her humanity.
She watched as he stepped outside the plane, only hesitating for a second before making her way towards him. He began a quick walk in her direction. And the mere second that she was in striking distance, her fist collided with his jaw forcefully, causing him to double over as he held it.
When he lifted his head and blood was spilling onto his knuckles, she could see the corner of his lip rise into gratified grin behind his hand as he sensed the anger in her punch.
"Where are they?" Kara asks through gritted teeth. She sees the smug in his expanding eyebrows, recognizing his looming deflection and throwing another punch that lands on his cheek bone. "I don't want to hear another coy response. Tell me where they are."
"You weren't wrong when you told me I wouldn't like who you were the next time I saw you," he quips, through a chuckle as he rubs the newly formed knot on his face. "You pack a real punch."
She shoves him into the plane that wasn't far behind where they were, pinning him against the outer wall in the same fashion that she had him held in against the chopper not long before. Instead of holding his collar bone, she had a forearm across his neck. The tension was tightening her entire body from her face muscles down to her ankles. He was almost in a death-lock, unable to move from where she had him. She could hear his struggles to breathe and she didn't care.
"Where are Barry and Alex?" Kara repeats through a crying yell.
She allows her hold to loosen enough to where he could speak, but all he did was start laughing hysterically, shaking his head almost as if he was in some kind of disbelief. His stare narrows as he gains his composure, "They're fucking dead! I heard the gunshots as I took off."
Suddenly, Kara could no longer feel anything stem from the organ in her chest. Everything from that point forward was driven by a pain rooted in her soul, a void that's absence had kept her sane for so long. Her breath hitched, as did her grasp on Tommy.
She stepped back as if she was processing and tears had begun to fill her eyelids. Yet her sights were still set on Tommy. For so long, she had allowed this menace to wreak havoc on the people in her life. He brutally reminded Adrian of his father's transgressions that led to his own. He tore Oliver away from everyone as he shattered him to pieces.
And now, he took the one person who had defined and created Kara's humanity since the day she had to become one. All because of her relations to a man that Tommy felt wronged him.
And that only made the profuse aching in her chest pulse even harder. It was driving her slow tears, causing them to trickle down her cheek in such a pronounced way that she could feel the wetness leave a trail. Her clenched jaw gave it a sharpened curve to fall onto her collarbone. And once she allowed that human sentiment to have it's agency, she was done letting it keep her shackled to the ground.
Just as the satisfaction was creeping upon his face, she charged him with her speed, grabbing him as she flew in a straight line to the other side of the shore. She tossed him to the ground like he was nothing more than a stack of feathered pillows. Her hard punches only quickened in pace as she knew that he wasn't moving.
These weren't kill shots. But they were debilitating— and somehow a smirk never left his lips, only eclipsing her anger to a point in which she held her fist up past her head. It was angled towards his heart and she knew exactly where to drive it in.
Her breaths were heavy and the tears were free-falling down her face. Her mouth was a grimaced anger as she allowed every ounce of rage, fear, sadness, and grief to consume the force her hand was going to reach. But as she allowed those sentiments to once again settle, she was reminded of how those things defined her. And the look of satisfaction resting Tommy's glare only incited a mantra of Oliver's words to ring throughout her conscience.
You cannot give in to him, Kara.
In her hesitation, she felt him reach for his belt loop and draw something from it. There was no way that it was actually something that could harm her, so she allowed herself to contemplate and juggle with her emotions. But then heard the deafening bang from a gun barrel. It came from right underneath her. There wasn't much to think about, considering she never flinched when a gun was pointed at her.
But then a sensation that she had never felt externally came about in excruciating fashion. In shock, she carries her hand to where it was coming from only to feel something warm pulsing into her hand. It was then that she felt the next bullet enter her lower leg, causing her to fall to the ground.
There was no way.
It wasn't just central pain anymore. Her bloodstream was burning, writhing. It felt like her arteries could burst through her skin at any moment. She looked down at the veins in her hand and they were glowing— a green tint illuminating the sand below her.
Tommy had gingerly gotten on a knee, narrowing his eyes as he asked her through a harsh whisper, "You didn't think I knew?"
A/N: I have been waiting THREE. YEARS. to write that last scene and post this chapter. And my God... that hurt.
How do you think that this will affect how Oliver approaches stopping Tommy? How do you think he should or how will he stop Tommy?
Is Laurel's redemption for real?
Were you surprised that Tommy knew about Kara?
The final chapter of the first installment of this series is coming! I cannot wait to share with you all the craziness and emotions that it entails. I have chills thinking about it now. I also will share details on a short-story spinoff regarding a featured character in this story(any guesses on who?) I can also confirm a sequel IS coming to this story, and hopefully I can share a little bit about that as well!
Don't forget to let me know what you think in the comments! :)