The Second Quest

Part 2

Search and Seizures

Authors notes: First, sorry about the horrible typo's in part 1. This one should be much better. Two, this story

actually takes place after Dinah and Ollie and have broken up. Three, let me know what you think. I am

new to all of this and my plan is to continue until I find my voice, style, and it becomes pleasant for those

reading.

Peace!

Two men sat in a truck outside of Star City's largest wholesaler of electronic goods. The six foot

guy with a pencil thin mustache and jet black hair was tapping nervously on the steering wheel while his

partner next to him was dozing on and off. The night was quiet and still and the moon was only in its

first quarter, giving off very little light. The air was thick with humidity for the end of September and both

men were sweating even though they wore nothing but black t-shirts and black pants.

Stan, the driver, looked out the window and in his mirror's for the umpteenth time. The rest of them

were taking too long and he was getting nervous.

"Would ya stop looking in the mirrors for pete's sake," the passenger said without even opening

his eyes. "They're fine."

"Seems to be taking a long time, Jack," Stan murmured as he looked again out the side mirrors.

"You are becoming one big pain in the ass, you know that," the one called Jack blurted out.

"When the hell did you go all nancie on us, anyway? You used to be the best driver there was in these

parts. Everyone came to you for their jobs. Remember that time we nearly got busted during that bank

job in Central City. Man I thought we were goners, but you handled that car through alley's that I woulda

thought I couldn't have gotten my Harley into. Lost those sons of a bitches in no time flat and we all

walked away with a hundred grand each. Now you sit behind the wheel tapping your fingers and looking

around every thirty seconds. What he hell happened to you man?"

"You haven't had a run in with any of 'them' yet," Stan replied. "Two months ago I was doing this

b and e for Marcus, you know, and we got tagged by Arrow and that damn little brat that he's got hanging

around with him now. The kid knocked two of my teeth out. All of a sudden this whole damn town is

crawling with masks and bows."

"I knew I recognized you," a girls voice said coming out of the thick and steamy night air. "I

always remember a face...especially one that I've bashed in before."

The two men jumped at the voice and Jack was also looking around wildly now. Neither of them

could see anything around them but darkness.

"Go! Go," Jack screamed as he stuck his head out the passenger window and looked around.

He also drew his gun and had it moving wildly outside of the window, waiting for any kind of movement

in the deep shadows.

"Don't think so guys. Unless you mean 'go directly to jail and do not pass go", a male voice

said, but his was closer.

Stan started the truck with a scream as Jack realized where the male voice was coming from

and looked up in time to see a fist come down from the top of the cab. It hit him square in the nose and

he heard the crack and felt the blood fly out into the truck.

Oh crap, go!" Jack yelled through a crushed nose which was bleeding like a stuck pig.

Stan threw it in reverse and hit the gas. He heard the person on the roof roll with the vehicle

but did not hear him roll off, not a good sign. As he turned the wheels and put it in drive, he heard a

sound that he had heard once before, a couple of months ago, a sound that was a sort of "thwing".

He knew what was going to happen before it did; all four tires almost simultaneously went flat. He

knew they had four arrows in them. The truck stopped moving.

"Wads wong wit u," Jack screamed as he realized they weren't moving. He opened the door and

jumped out of the truck and into the alley entrance, still swinging his gun around. He looked up and

saw a young man with a bow and mask standing there. He swung the gun up to fire but he was not

fast enough and an arrow went right through his hand. He screamed in pain and dropped the gun.

The young man jumped off the truck and threw two kicks, the first hitting the man in the

jaw and the second hitting him in the middle of the chest. The man flew into the side of the

building and collapsed in a heap.

The second man also got out of the truck to run but as soon as he turned, she was

there with a smile on her face, "Here's a couple of more for you," she said and hit him again

in the face. He stumbled back and fell unconscious, sliding down the side of the truck.

The masked blond man with the brown skin and longbow walked up to the girl who

couldn't be more then fifteen or sixteen, "Including the five in the warehouse, that makes seven of

them. Not bad, but still no Count Vertigo."

Speedy frowned at the mention of the name. "We should check in with Roy and see how

Ollie is doing," she replied with lines of concern covering her young face.

Conner Hawke nodded in agreement and reached into his belt and pulled out a phone.

He dialed the number while Speedy took the two remaining men and tied them up and placed them

in the back of the truck. She wished they hadn't fallen so quickly. There was still a lot of anger in

her over what happened to Ollie and she needed to release it. Of course Ollie would tell her that

it wasn't what they operated, but she knew better. Ollie was the biggest hot head she had ever met

and she had seen him go off plenty of times on a villain or thug when he was having a particularly

bad day.

Conner walked up to her with a smile on his face, "Good news, Roy said that he woke up

and they pulled the tube out. He's even talked to them a little before he fell back asleep."

"Of course he was talking," she said with a big smile blossoming on her face, "Did you

ever know Ollie not to talk when he could. Oh Conner that's great!" she threw her arms around

him and hugged him, but then drew back quickly and blushed. "Sorry," she mumbled.

Conner looked at her shocked, "What's wrong? It's alright to hug you know, I don't

bite."

"I know," she mumbled again. "Just not very professional, that's all."

Conner laughed gently, "We'll keep it between ourselves then so that nobody comes and

takes away your membership card. Now I'll call the police about these guys and we can continue on

with our search."

"Sounds good," Mia said rather quickly and went to check the ropes on the two she had

just tied up. She breathed a sigh of relief when she had gotten clear of him, and then began to

mentally kick herself.

I knew better then that. He thinks of me as a little sister. I need to avoid stuff like that,

she thought to herself. They had already been through all of this before and she wasn't going

to start it all over again.

Conner hung up his phone and waited patiently for her to come back. He knew what her problem was and he would address it if she did. If she chose not to, then he would respect that and give her the space she needed. She was lost right now and he knew that, just as he knew that the only thing he wouldn't do is walk away from her right now. She had just recently been diagnosed as HIV positive and even though she acted as though she was alright with it, he knew better.

"You ready to go, Green Arrow?" Mia called.

"Whenever you…" but he never finished his sentence. One moment he was standing there and the next he was on the ground trying not to lose his lunch. The entire world had turned upside down and he was doing everything he could to try and not fall up into the sky. He was able to catch a glimpse of a costumed villain hovering above him, it was Count Vertigo.

"Don't follow me," he whispered down to Conner. "I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to hurt anyone anymore. I am so sick of all of this."

"Let him go," Speedy shouted cocking an arrow and aiming it at the villain.

He turned slowly to Speedy but did not come any closer, nor did he release Conner from the vertigo that the young Green Arrow was experiencing. He did however speak to her in a pleading voice. "Please don't follow me. I just want to be left alone."

"People in Hell want ice water too pal, just let him go and I won't take this arrow and shoot it right through your left knee cap."

"You don't understand," he screamed, becoming more agitated.

Speedy caught Conner out of the corner of her eye and realized that he was throwing up in the street. The more agitated Vertigo became the worse it was for Conner. She had to take him out now, before it got any worse.

That was when it happened. Vertigo began to shake and, to the shock of Speedy, foam at the mouth. He began to fly erratically until he hit the side of the electronics warehouse. He fell ten feet and landed near Conner who was already shaking off the effects of the vertigo. The Count was also still shaking and foaming.

"He's having some kind of seizure. Take my phone and call an ambulance and find out where the police are. I need a minute…"

Speedy dialed the phone but her eyes never left Count Vertigo who had suddenly stopped shaking and lay still.

"This isn't good at all," she said to herself as the phone started ringing. She couldn't believe what she was thinking, but she was praying that she could get an ambulance there before he died.

Conner finally pulled it together and was grabbing Vertigo and checking for a pulse.

"It's there but it's real faint. Where are the police?" he shouted.

"They're on there way. What's wrong with him? Is he having some kind of attack?"

Conner opened Vertigo's mouth and smelled inside, wrinkling his nose as he came back up. "I don't think so. I think he's been poisoned.

To be continued….