Chapter 63: The Parted Veil
"And now, a recap on the story that everyone's been talking about. Two days ago, Chrysanthemum Balliol Preparatory Academy for the Gifted held their annual opening ceremony. What was supposed to be a fun day of music and dance and food for its one thousand students turned into a nightmare when a local gangster by the name of Daniel Brickwell took the students, several teachers, and the mayor of Starling City hostage, demanding four million dollars a head."
"With all members of the Justice League occupied in other cities trying to put down simultaneous gang riots and metahuman attacks, the situation was poised for a tragic end. Thankfully, Black Canary, Starling City's third vigilante, was here, and took on a daring rescue. Using her wits and skills, she managed to subdue Brickwell and his associates, and release the hostages. Afterwards, she was personally invited into the Justice League by fellow Starling City vigilantes Green Arrow and Supergirl, and Central City's vigilante the Flash."
"Black Canary is the third hero to join the Justice League in the last two months. The self-proclaimed protectors of the world are proving to be true to their word and expanding their ranks at a rapid pace. The question now is: what will they do next?"
"… and this," Vixen parted the glass doors to reveal a room filled with foliage, flowers and trees alike, "is the garden. It's mainly used as a place to relax. There are a few benches to sit and a small lawn to lay on, too. There are also some stairs to the right that lead to a balcony that overlooks the garden as well, in case you want a view. It was the last room to be constructed, mainly because the architects wanted our input with it. If you have any requests, you can mention it at our monthly meeting and we'll write it down for consideration."
Black Canary stepped inside, gazing in wonder at how much color there was. "It's beautiful."
"It is, isn't it?" Vixen stepped next to her, eyes wistful.
After things at the Stadium finally calmed down, Canary had a short meeting with her three new teammates. She was instructed to go to a private airfield two days hence, in full gear, with a couple changes of clothes for both her vigilante identity and her civilian identity. There, a plane would pick her up and fly her over to the Justice League's private airfield, where she would then be escorted to the Hall of Justice for full tour and complete orientation of her new 'job'.
They told her that there was one catch: she would have to reveal her true identity to the other Leaguers. In return, they would reveal their identities to her. It was to foster trust between teammates, because trust was often the difference between life and death. After some ruminating, Canary had agreed to this condition - she wanted to be a part of this, and she had seen enough of each Leaguer's deeds on the news and in person to know they meant well.
Those two days were spent healing up her wounds and making arrangements for a few days off. Thankfully, Laurel Lance had built up plenty of vacation days during her time at CNRI and had no urgent cases to work on, so arranging a few more days off was not an issue. It helped that she had a well-publicized friendship with the Queen Family - most of her coworkers had implicitly assumed that she would be visiting them after the scare Balliol had. There was also Nyssa, who promised to watch over the city in Black Canary's absence - unlike her student, Nyssa had gotten out of the mess unscathed.
When she arrived at the airfield, a private plane was waiting for her just like they said, with state-of-the-art facilities. It was a short plane trip, about an hour long, to the Hall of Justice, and when she arrived, another teammate was waiting for her: Vixen. Vixen had elected to be her guide, as she was the only 'veteran' member Canary had yet to meet. It was her who explained the Hall of Justice's location at the very, very far outskirts of Central City, and then directed Canary to the building itself.
After showing her how to enter the building using her ring, and also a concealing function for the ring to use when in her civilian identity, Canary was shown to her own private quarters. Each Leaguer had been given their own room to stay in while at the Hall of Justice for an extended period, one that they could personalize if they so wished. Canary left her clothes in a drawer there before continuing tour.
She was shown the locations of the library (with computers), game room, training room, kitchen (fully-stocked!), mission control (if needed), weapons arsenal (both lethal and non-lethal), pool, dining room, and finally, the garden. The meeting room would be the last location she would be shown, where she would also meet the rest of the League - and share her secret identity with them. Canary would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous, so she was taking as much time as she could in the garden to prepare herself.
Vixen touched her arm softly, and Canary turned to look at her. "Are you ready?"
Canary took a deep breath, and nodded.
The seven chairs surrounding the stainless-steel table in the meeting room had been spread out. Instead of a semi-circle, the chairs now encircled the entire table, though still in the same order they had been placed when they were first shown to the nascent League by Amanda.
When Black Canary arrived, she saw that everyone was already there, each standing at their positions. Vixen guided Canary to one of the empty spots, before moving to her own between the Flash and Black Lightning. Canary herself was between Black Lightning and the Martian Manhunter. Rounding them out were Supergirl, who stood next to Manhunter, and Green Arrow between her and the Flash at the head of the table. Canary stood, waiting for someone to break the silence.
"This is the meeting room, Black Canary. As you can probably guess, this is where we make our reports, discuss potential missions and threats, and generally do any official business that requires four or more Leaguers." Vixen explained. "If you could look down at the chairs, you'll notice that yours is bare while ours have logos on them. If you could submit a logo within the next two days, we will have etched it into your chair by your next visit to the Hall."
"Alright." Canary nodded, a little awkwardly. "I'll do that." She looked around, noticing that everyone was a bit tense themselves. Revealing your secret identity was always a momentous occasion, as it should be; it was a secret that could mean life or death, after all.
"I'll go first." Tentatively, she removed her mask, revealing her full face. So nervous about what she was doing, she didn't notice the widening of Green Arrow and Supergirl's eyes. The Flash, for his part, merely crossed his arms - to the people who knew him well, they could sense the slight smirk on his face. Martian Manhunter was the only one who didn't allow his reaction to show.
"My name is Laurel Lance. I'm a lawyer for Starling City's Necessary Resource Initiative." Laurel introduced herself. "Unfortunately, this isn't my complete civilian identity - I dye my hair platinum blonde when I become Black Canary. My real hair color is brunette."
The tension now broken, Black Lightning followed the suit, removing his own mask. He gave Laurel a bright smile, and the two shook hands. "Jefferson Pierce. I'm the principal of a local high school in Freeland."
"A fellow public servant, huh?" Laurel smiled back.
Jefferson shrugged. "When I quit being Black Lightning the first time, I still felt the need to help people, and educating the youth of Freeland certainly counted. Now I help them both day and night."
"I can relate."
Laurel then turned to Vixen, who was muttering something while pressing two fingers to the head of her necklace. At her confused look, Vixen gained a sheepish expression.
"I'm deactivating the glamour my necklace gives me. See, this necklace is a magical artifact from my homeland called the Anansi Totem. It's bonded to me, and is the source of my powers." Vixen explained. "Now, can you remember my face?"
Laurel blinked, and thought hard, and realized that her memories regarding Vixen had become a lot clearer. She looked at Vixen, and that was enough of a confirmation for her.
"Good. My name is Mari McCabe, and I'm fashion design student and aspiring model from Detroit."
Having already exchanged pleasantries right before the tour, Laurel simply exchanged a grin with Mari and then turned to Martian Manhunter.
Martian Manhunter stared at her, long enough to become a bit uncomfortable, before speaking. "This is a modified version of my true form. My name is J'onn J'onzz, the last son of Mars."
"However," he continued, stopping Laurel from moving, "you know me by a different name, Laurel Lance."
Laurel watched in astonishment as he morphed into a vaguely familiar face - one that she had seen occasion during her outings with Kara and Sam.
"You're John Jones!" She exclaimed. "Kara's neighbor!"
"Yes." John nodded. "It is good to see you here, Laurel."
"Oh my God." Laurel said as she shook John's hand, not noticing the confused looks Jefferson and Mari exchanged and then shot at the three remaining Leaguers. "If Kara knew who you were…"
At that, John looked down. Laurel's glee dimmed as she blinked confusedly at his actions. She was about to ask what was wrong, until a voice interrupted her.
"Actually…"
Laurel looked up as John moved to the side, to see Supergirl removing her hood and veil. Her jaw dropped when she saw who it was.
Kara Danvers.
"Kara, you're-"
"Supergirl, yes." Kara said, clutching the back of her chair tightly. "And my real name is not Kara Danvers. It's Kara Zor-El, of the House of El, of the planet Krypton."
Laurel's eyes were ready to pop out of her skull. "Then, does that mean Kal...?"
"Yes. His name isn't Clark Calvin Kent. It's Kal-El."
Laurel was speechless.
Which, of course, the Flash took as his opportunity to speak.
"She's not the only one, Laurel." Laurel turned towards him, just in time for the Flash to become Barry Allen. Laurel fell into further disbelief.
"Barry, you too?"
Barry shrugged. "Guilty as charged."
Laurel shook her head, completely at a loss. "Kara, you're Supergirl, and Barry, you're the Flash, then-"
She stopped, then turned to Green Arrow, her face completely blank. He, in turn, stared back at her. As their eyes met, Laurel wondered why she had never been able to recognize his gaze.
She'd known it all her life, after all.
Green Arrow remained silent as he removed his headwear, revealing Oliver Queen in all his glory. Unlike Laurel, a dozen emotions seemed to reflect in his eyes, and he looked at her with a small, but thoroughly genuine smile.
"Hey."
Laurel, meanwhile, felt herself flashing back to when she had first met Oliver after he had returned home. She remembered feeling so happy, she could cry. But she hadn't cried, because she figured he had already seen enough tears. Enough to last a lifetime.
This time, she couldn't hold them back.
"Hey." Laurel replied, a watery smile on her lips.
Iris West whistled as she arranged the dining table, setting down four place mats, and then the silverware, followed by the dining ware. Weekly West Family Dinner was a go.
"I see you didn't arrange a fifth place for Barry." Joe commented as he threw a stained towel over his shoulder. Iris turned around to glare at her father.
"Because Barry isn't coming, remember?"
"Who knows?" Joe shrugged. "He might drop in."
Iris looked away. Joe sighed. "Iris-"
"No, Dad." Iris cut him off. "Just no. Not tonight. Please."
Joe pressed his lips together. "If you're sure." He turned back to the kitchen to continued preparing the food.
Iris turned back to the table and glared at the spot where Barry would normally sit - next to her, fisting her hands. It hurt so much just thinking about him, all the confusion, the anger, the pain. It was hard to keep it all bottled up, and she was glad Barry had the sense to stay out of her way. At the same time, however, she wished he'd stop ignoring her, because there was no other way of putting it. It'd be so much easier if she could just cut him out of her life for good, but she couldn't. Because Barry was still a part of her father's life, of her mother's and Wally's. Hell, even their jobs were connected.
She couldn't imagine her life without Barry, because he had always been a part of it - even when he had been hundreds of thousands of miles away.
The doorbell broke her out of her angry thoughts. She schooled herself, trying to make herself appear happy. It wouldn't do for her mother and brother to see her so conflicted.
Iris walked to the foyer, opened the door, and -
This man was not her mother or brother.
"Hello, I'm Hunter Zolomon, a professor at Central City University." The tall, handsome man said. "Is this the residence of Barry Allen?"
Iris slowly nodded.
"Is he here right now?"
"No." Iris managed to jilt out. "No, he - he's out right now. Do you need anything?"
"Oh, no." Hunter laughed, handing her a folder of papers. "I'm just here to give back some corrected homework. He forgot to pick it up when he was in class yesterday. Normally I would just give it to him next class, but I was passing by and figured I'd just see where my oldest and most mysterious student lived."
Iris took the papers, still stunned. "O-Okay." She swallowed, and finally regained her composure. "I'll give it to him later."
"Thank you." Hunter grinned. "Is it alright if I ask who you are?"
"I'm Iris. Iris West." Iris said, hesitating for a moment. "I'm Barry's best friend, I guess."
Hunter raised an eyebrow at that last part, but said nothing. "Alright. It was nice to meet you, Iris."
"You too, Professor Zolomon."
"Seeing you here…" Laurel sighed. "I can't quite put it to words."
"Me either." Oliver chuckled. "I'm surprised, and at the same time, I'm not. I feel like I should've known it was you. There had always been something familiar about Black Canary, something I couldn't quite touch on."
"Same here." Laurel replied, twisting her hands together. "Looking back, there were signs, and they've become so much more obvious now that I know the picture."
They were sitting at a small table, located in the balcony that overlooked the garden. After Oliver had revealed his identity, the meeting broke immediately. Even Jefferson and Mari noticed that things had become too heavy to talk business, so everyone departed to give Oliver and Laurel some time to talk.
"A lot happened on that island, didn't it?"
"Yeah." Oliver said, solemn. "Yeah. Laurel-"
Laurel placed a hand on top of his, cutting him off. "Don't. You don't need to tell me anything. I can tell you're not ready yet."
"Laurel, you deserve to know." Oliver let out a strong breath. "You deserve to know what kind of man I am. Who I am."
"I already know who you are, Ollie." Laurel countered. "I know it down to my bones. You're a good man. One of the best I've ever known."
Oliver looked at her, and she leaned forward, placing the elbow of her other arm on the table. He could hear the sincerity, the faith in her words, and felt slightly overwhelmed.
"Whatever hell you went through, Ollie, whatever crimes you committed - they don't matter anymore." Laurel continued her speech, knowing she had his full attention. "Because you came out of it a hero. Whatever your misdeeds, you're redeeming them with all of this." She gestured to the Hall of Justice.
Oliver looked around, taking everything in, and closed his eyes, feeling a weight lifted from his chest. "Thank you, Laurel."
Laurel smiled softly. "It's nothing, Ollie. Just the truth."
They fell back into a comfortable silence. Laurel rubbed her thumb over Oliver's hand back and forth, thinking.
"Laurel." She looked up, to see Oliver watching her intently.
"That guy you never got over." He drew in a breath. "The one who left. It was me, wasn't it?"
Laurel opened her mouth, and then closed it. She closed her eyes. "Yeah."
"Good."
Laurel's eyes snapped open, and she had just a moment, before Oliver drew her into a kiss.
An hour later, a beaming Oliver and Laurel entered the meeting room. The rest of the League turned to look at them. The newly-formed couple blinked when they got a real look at what their teammates were doing.
"Are you guys playing Poker?" Laurel asked, shocked.
"Nah." Barry said, smirking. "Go Fish." He jabbed his thumb towards John. "This one's a cheat."
"Your own fault for agreeing to playing against a telepath." John shot back, stacking his many pairs of cards.
Oliver sighed, and then steeled himself. "Well, clean it up. It's time we discuss business."
Barry clicked his tongue and before Laurel could even blink, the cards were all gone, packed back into their box which the speedster was now tapping on the steel table, to the annoyance of everyone.
"Gonna take a while for me to get used to that." Laurel muttered as she let go of Oliver's hand and went to back to her seat.
Oliver shot Barry an unimpressed look, then became serious again. He went over to the back of the room and pressed a few buttons on a keypad mounted there. A large, square screen flickered on, and an opening in the wall revealed a remote. Oliver grabbed it, then turned to his teammates - the now fully-formed Justice League. Each and every single one of them had all traces of mirth wiped from their faces now, the picture of professionalism. Good.
"Laurel, Jefferson, it's time you know why you were recruited." He began, catching everyone's full attention. "As you know, the Justice League was created in response to the Undertaking. Initially, it was just intended to be a casual endeavor. The occasional team up when an enemy proved to be more than one hero could handle. However, circumstances changed."
He pressed a button, showing the picture of a government base - the same base he, Kara, and Barry had found J'onn. "Our benefactors, the alphabet agency A.R.G.U.S., sent us to deal with an off-the-books government installation manned by an Agent Smith. It was here that we found J'onn, and he alerted us to a new potential threat. After that, we started scouring the world for potential recruits, observing and monitoring different vigilantes from around the globe. Then, about two months ago, the threat became imminent, and shifted our time table."
"In response, J'onn agreed to join the Justice League and take one of the three remaining spots. We assigned him to Hub City, which was in sore need of a vigilante that couldn't be killed by conventional means and couldn't be bribed. While J'onn was building his reputation, we recruited you, Jefferson. You had actually been earmarked for recruitment for a while, but we planned to wait until a more opportune time to make our offer."
Oliver then shifted his attention to Laurel. "The last position, we had a number of candidates for. You were one of the frontrunners; what you lacked in power and experience, you made up in heart, determination, adaptability, and overall potential. After saving all those people two days ago with the aid of only one person, we knew you were ready."
He then looked at John, who nodded and stood up, everyone's attention now on him. "About a thousand of your Earth years ago, I was simply another Martian, one of many, with a wife and family. And then… they came. I was a soldier in our war - a war that was lost. They captured me, put me in some sort of stasis, and when I awoke, my home was a desolate planet and I was the last son of Mars. The last Martian alive."
"And now, they come here."
Jefferson and Laurel looked at John in dawning horror, realizing what exactly he was talking about. The sound of bullets being fired caused them to shift their attention back to the screen, where it showed black and white footage of American soldiers fighting against almost giant humanoids with bulging heads.
"They are called the Dominators. And in one year, they will invade Earth."
Isabel smiled as she and her boyfriend separated. Tommy's hands lingered around her waist, and she was oh so tempted to stay the night. Alas, she had a busy day tomorrow, and couldn't afford a night at the mansion when she could be so easily distracted.
"Night." Tommy smirked lazily, planting one more kiss on her cheek.
"Tommy…!" Isabel squealed. She reluctantly pushed him away, and with one last wave, entered her car.
As her driver pulled out of Merlyn Mansion's driveway, Isabel's expression changed. No longer was she besotted; instead, she was tired and apathetic. Her phone ringed, and she picked it up, uncaring of whoever was on the other side of the line.
"How are things going?" Isabel sat up when she realized who it was. It wouldn't do to sound uncaring with this one.
"Things are going fine. He's falling for me more and more every day."
"Good. Don't screw this up. He's pivotal to my plans."
Isabel grinned. "Don't worry. I've got him under my thumb. He'll be yours before you know it."
"Very well then. Farewell, Isabel."
"Farewell, Talia."
ARC III: CONFLICT
END
NEXT: ARC IV: RESPECT
Arc III is finally over.
This took way longer than it should have, especially since it was eight chapters shorter than Arc II. The perils of writer's block.
Anyway, yes, Barry did guess Laurel was Black Canary but didn't bother to confirm it. He's too smart for his own good. Also, yes, Oliver and Laurel are now a couple. We will touch on the Nyssa side of the equation next arc. Barry and Iris will reconcile next arc as well, though I won't say how and when.
When will Arc IV be? Well I don't know. I still need to plan it out using the notes I made before I even started this story, and then modified to fit all the changes I've made to the story since then. Then there's writing it. I won't make any promises (because it seems I can't keep them well enough), except that Arc IV WILL come out eventually.
As for the contest, the date has been modified. The last day to submit something is the day the first chapter of ARC V is posted. That gives everyone anywhere from three months to an entire year to submit something. So, if you want to participate, you don't have that excuse not to anymore. I will post the original contest details with the new due date on AO3, FFN, and Tumblr.
Please comment or review. I prefer longer comments and reviews, particularly with what you like and what you don't like, but if you just want say "Good Job!" go ahead.
Please update the TV Tropes page. I imagine there will be a lot of tropes that can be added now that Arc III is over.
And finally, don't forget the contest!
The Prompt: Draw your favorite scene of To Hell and Back. Any scene. You can have as many entries as you like.
Dates: From the day this chapter is posted to the day the first chapter of Arc V is posted.
Submission: Submit your drawings to the story's official blog on Tumblr (the link can be found in the first chapter beneath the chapter summary on the AO3 version). If that is not feasible, then simply post it to your preferred image-hosting platform and send me the link via messaging on either AO3 or FFN.
Winning: There are three ways to win.
1. Author's choice. Whatever piece I favor the most.
2. Beta's choice. Whatever piece Kara Smoak, my beta, favors the most.
3. Fan's choice. I will put up a poll (either on FFN or Tumblr) and have all the readers vote via that.
Prizes:
1. For the fan that wins #1 (my choice), your piece will be the cover page for FFN, the first chapter of AO3, and the TV Tropes page!
2. For the fan that wins #2 (beta's choice), your piece will be the background image of the Tumblr blog, which is scarily bare.
3. For the fan that wins #3 (fan's choice), your piece will be inserted into the first chapter of Arc IV.