Chapter 94: Siren's Song

Dinah scowled as she finished washing out the dye in her hair, revealing her natural brunette hair color. No, not Dinah. Laurel. Her doppelganger didn't go by her first name, but her middle one to differentiate herself from her mother. Since, you know, her mother was still alive. Like her dad. And her Oliver.

Calm, Sir-Laurel, calm. You fuck this up and Zoom will fuck you up. She reminded herself. She might be Zoom's top lieutenant, but she was nowhere near delusional enough to believe that made her indispensable. Even if her status as a doppelganger to one of the 'heroes' increased her utility above the others, in the end, Zoom was Zoom. He killed because he could, not for any particular reason. But when someone did give him a reason… Laurel shuddered. Even a cutthroat bitch like her had her limits.

Which is why, from this point on until Zoom said otherwise, she was Laurel Lance. Crusading lawyer for CNRI by day, crusading vigilante Black Canary by night. The daughter of Quentin and Dinah Lance, the older sister of Sara Lance. The lover and partner of Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow. That's who she was, and she could never, ever slip and reveal otherwise.

Laurel grabbed her bag and exited her hotel room. It was time to get to work.

"What's got your panties in a twist, Cisco?" Caitlin mockingly asked as her 'teammate', for lack of a better word, stomped into the Cortex with an angry look on his face.

"My doppelganger has a shit relationship with his brother. I can't wait to put Zoom's plan in action."

"Well, you're gonna have to wait," Ronnie said as he entered the Cortex after him. "We've got a problem."

Cisco frowned. "What is it?"

"Apparently, one of the conditions Flash was forced to implement in order to get this place reopened was the dismantling of the Particle Accelerator. And by the looks of it, he finished it before we captured him."

Caitlin crossed her arms, her amused expression replaced with worry. "You're kidding me, right? The Accelerator was one of the cornerstones of the plan!"

"Can we fix it in time?" Cisco asked, ignoring her.

Ronnie shook his head. "We're going have to find another way," he claimed.

"But how?" Caitlin asked, spinning around and looking up at the ceiling. "In case you boys haven't noticed, this place develops anti-meta technology, like the S.T.A.R. Labs on our Earth. The Accelerator was our best bet!"

"Well, we're going to have to try anyway!" Cisco shouted back at her. "The last thing any of us want to do is piss off Zoom, and this will definitely piss him off."

Collectively, all three shivered. An angry Zoom was something that could cause years of nightmares, as they had come to learn.

"We need start searching," Ronnie said after the moment past, taking charge. "Cisco, you head over to the storage area. Caitlin, you and I will take care of here." Their tasks assigned, the three separated, trying not to think of what would happened if they failed to find anything that could replace the Particle Accelerator.

Laurel took in one final breath as she exited the train. Having taken her counterpart's cell phone, she knew that Oliver would be waiting for her at the train station to pick her up and take her home to his house. Apparently, they were having another big dinner at the Queen Mansion and Laurel's family had been invited along with her. Along with her parents, she was going to see Robert, Moira, and Thea as well. God, give me strength, she thought to herself.

"Laurel!"

Ollie, Laurel glanced in her count-her boyfriend's direction, and tried to keep a smile on her face. Oliver was there, and he looked just like her Oliver, just older and more muscular and with shorter hair. He looked at her with so much love, so much like her Oliver and get a hold of yourself, Laurel!

This was not her Oliver. Her Oliver was dead. This was the Green Arrow, the enemy she had to manipulate so he wouldn't notice his teammate's disappearance too soon, and if she fucked this up Zoom will find out and she will die and so will Green Arrow, most likely. Well, Green Arrow was probably going to die either way, but it would just happen much sooner and Laurel would go with him. She could not let that happen. She liked living, thank you very much.

Oliver, the gentleman, took her luggage bag from her and then planted a somewhat deep kiss on her lips, mindful of the fact that they were in public. Laurel returned it while fruitlessly trying not to savor it too much. God, when was the last time she had been kissed like that?

"How was Central City? Did you see Barry?" Oliver asked after the kiss was over, taking her hand and guiding her to the parking lot.

Laurel's smile was sparkling. She wasn't entirely faking it. "He's fine, Ollie. You know how he is."

Oliver nodded and they continued their chat to the car. Deep inside her heart, Laurel tried not to scream.

"Okay, I think I'm mostly healed now," Barry declared, gingerly getting to his feet.

The others didn't look convinced. "Are you sure, Barry?" Laurel asked in concern. "You still look a little bruised."

"I'm fine. I've felt worse than this before, and either way we can't stay here for much longer. Now, quiet. I need to concentrate." Barry closed his eyes, reaching towards his speed and letting it envelope him. He began to vibrate, gradually becoming faster and faster with ever second, until at its absolutely apex, he began to phase through the carbyne wall.

Almost there. Almost there…

And then he hit it. The block.

He was thrown back into his cell with enough force to send him stumbling. "Shit," Barry cursed. "So close."

"Barry, what happened?" Cisco asked for everyone when they saw that the phasing had failed to work.

"I hit a block. I wasn't fast enough so the carbyne threw me back," Barry buried his forehead into one of his hands. "I can't do it. I don't have the speed."

"Barry, you can't give up now. We need to get out of here."

"Don't you think I know that, Laurel!" He snapped at his friend, rage finally reaching a breaking point. "The last thing I want to do is leave everyone at the mercy of that monster! But I'm just not fast enough! I'm not… I'm not…" Barry fell back into a sitting position, looking almost defeated. "I can't do it."

Laurel's face saddened, and she wet her lips. "Barry, I know this is hard for you. Especially after what Zoom did. But right now, there is no can or cannot. There is only do, and you have to do this. At least try, one more time. If it doesn't work, then we'll think about something else."

Barry turned to look at her, and seeing the determination on her face, sighed one more time and stood up. He looked at the carbyne wall, and steeled himself, and began to vibrate again.

"Just think about the others, Barry. Think about the friends and family Zoom will kill if we don't get out of here. Oliver, Kara, Kal, your Dad, Joe, Iris… Zoom will kill them all unless we escape in time to warn them. To protect them."

Laurel's voice echoed in his thoughts as he began to vibrate faster and faster. Slowly, he began to phase through the wall again, moving millimeter by millimeter until finally, finally…

"Barry! You did it!"

I did it? Barry opened his eyes and saw that yes, he was outside his cell. He allowed himself a small cheer, before looking around at the others. "Now, how are we going to get you five out?"

"There must be some kind of switch, certainly?" Stein asked, looking around. "Even if this is Zoom's lair, it would be mighty inconvenient to just phase people in and out one by one, no matter how fast he is."

Barry frowned and started looking around, his hand trailing against the seams of each cell until he found it — a switch. He flicked it to the other side, watching in glee as the carbyne wall in front of Laurel's cell slid up. The two Leaguers clasped hands the moment she got out, sharing another hug.

"Thanks, Laurel."

"Think nothing of it. Now, let's get the others out before Zoom gets back."

It took some time to find all the switches, but soon everyone was outside their cells. Barry put his suit back on and sped them all out, one by one, taking note of how the lair was located off a cliff in a forest of some kind. He dropped them off at the edge of the forest, as far away as he could.

"Where are we?" Ronnie asked once everyone was out, looking up at the treetops.

"I don't know man," Cisco started, walking opposite the direction of the lair, "but what I do know is that I want to get out and get back to civilization. Let's find the nearest city and we can get a pay phone to call one of the others."

Deciding that his proposed course of action was the best one, the others followed him.

"Wait, wait," Cisco slowed his compatriots down, smirking. "These will do?"

Ronnie and Caitlin peered over his shoulder at the devices, and blanched. "Are you sure? We need a lot of dark matter, and these don't seem to produce much."

"One alone, perhaps, but multiple ones, all over the city? That'll produce plenty. And since this is S.T.A.R. Labs, we've got access to multiple 3D printers that will be able to mass produce them instantly."

Ronnie clapped his hands. "Great. Then all that's left is building Zoom's machine. You can do it, right, Reverb?"

Cisco snorted. "Of course I can. What do you take me for, you?" He turned and walked away, heading for his counterpart's workshop.

Ronnie scowled at his bask, fisting his hands as flames began to flicker up his arm. Caitlin quickly grabbed his hand, allowing herself to slowly absorb away the heat was forming. "Calm babe, calm."

"I wanna kill him, hon," Ronnie snarled.

"I know, I know, but we can't. Zoom needs him, so that means we need him. You know the price for defying Zoom."

He shuddered as the memories flowed through his head. He knew exactly what she meant. What Zoom had done to the Flash of their world… the last thing he needed was him or his wife to end up like Garrick. Even if he had hated that sanctimonious bastard, he had to admit what Zoom did to him was cruel even by his standards. Ronnie was no saint, but even he had limits.

"So what do we do?"

Caitlin smirked. "We wait. Zoom won't need him forever, after all. And when his use finally runs out… well, there's always a little friendly fire in war, right?"

Ronnie grinned. "God, I love you Caity."

"And I love you, Ronnie Raymond."

The two kissed.

The moment Oliver pulled up the car in the Queen driveway, Laurel finally started having second thoughts.

I can't do this I can't do this I can't do this… she kept chanting inside her head, but no, she had to do this because Zoom Zoom Zoom Zoom. Laurel knew the price for defying Zoom, and she'd rather not have her insides paved on the road like Garrick's. She still had nightmares about that one.

So, she steeled herself, making sure she looked normal and that Oliver wouldn't suspect anything because her family and his family assuredly wouldn't, and got out of the car. Apparently, Laurel had been staying over more and more often at the mansion, so the idea of staying over for the night wasn't even a question.

Oliver handed off her luggage to one of the help in then guided her inside. She greeted his maid — Raisa, right? — and then followed him into the living room where the others were waiting for them. She stopped there, and nearly forgot to breathe.

Mom. Dad. Thea. Three loved ones, all dead on her world, all alive on this one. It wasn't fair, but when did fairness ever matter when it came to her? Laurel smiled and greeted them and hugged them, all while resisting the urge to tear her heart out. She had to do this, she had to. Because, because, Zoom.

Dinner was ready within the hour and Laurel was seated right next to Oliver, of course. He smiled at her with that loving expression and Laurel smiled back it wasn't hard to fake it all, because it was still Ollie, wasn't it? Just not her Ollie. She didn't have the oodles of history with this Ollie but they still had history, didn't they?

"So Laurel," Dad asked, and it wasn't Dad, because Dad's dead dead dead he died in a car crash when she was thirteen because she was so selfish and stupid he's not Dad but he is Dad, he is. "I heard you and Oliver are thinking of moving in together."

We are? Shit, that wasn't in the primer. "Yeah, well, we've been dating for a while now, haven't we?"

"Nine months and counting," Oliver added, grinning, "It's about time we take the next step."

"Where are you guys planning on moving to? It's not the Glades, is it?" Quentin gazed at them both with a disapproving look. "I know you both work there and all, and that place has been getting better later lately, but it's still not the safest place to live."

"Uh—Well—" Laurel glanced at Oliver expectedly.

Oliver raised a confused eyebrow at her, and then answered. "We're thinking somewhere in the center of the city, near Kara's place. Of course, close to Glades as well, so we won't have to commute too far."

"Not too close, I hope."

Laurel shook her head vigorously. "Of course not, Dad. Of course not." She smiled pleasingly at him, and he smiled back.

The meal continued on for some time after that. Eventually, however, it finished, and everyone readied themselves to turn in. Quentin and Dinah gave their 'daughter' one last hug before departing, and if Laurel squeezed a little tighter than she usually did, well, as long as no one noticed, right? Thea yawned and announced she was going to bed, and soon it was just the Queens and their son and his girlfriend left, drinking in the living room.

Laurel's smile became more and more genuine, as much as it was fixed. It was okay to enjoy this, right? It's not like Robert was going to notice, he wasn't the Hood on this Earth. And Moira was as kind as ever. She deserved plenty of smiles. And Ollie is Ollie, and she loved Ollie.

She could do this. She just had to be smiling and pleasing and they would buy it, wouldn't they? They were buying it now, after all. Just remember Zoom, remember the tender feelings she once had for them all, and she could do it. It wouldn't be hard at all.

Perhaps that's why she never noticed the way Oliver's eyes sharpened at her when her back was turned.

"Okay, so Zoom wants 'your world'? What could he mean? Does he just want to conquer the planet?" Laurel wondered out loud as she stepped over a log.

"That's… rather stereotypical and generic," Cisco commented, drawing from years of pop culture references. "It can't be that simple."

"Maybe it is," Ronnie suggested. "Face it, we didn't even know the guy existed until he showed up. And it's only now we have any clue about where he came from, let alone who he is or why he's doing all this."

Next to him, Stein crossed his arms, humming. "He does seem particularly obsessed with Barry, though."

Barry snorted. "If you call 'beating the crap out of me every time we see each other' obsessed, sure. He's real obsessed with me."

"No, not that Barry. You're usually more intuitive than this."

The speedster frowned. "What do you mean, Professor?"

"You were the only person in there that he acknowledged at all," Stein pointed out, "The only one he bothered to interact with. And his little ragtag group of metas, none of them once looked at you. They didn't dare to."

"What are you trying to say?" Barry stopped walking, his attention now fully focused on the college professor.

"When you asked him about what he wanted, he said 'your' world. Not our world, yours. And every time he's shown up on Earth, it's been specifically to draw you out. It's not much to go on, admittedly, but whatever this is about, Barry, it's about you."

Barry swallowed slightly. It did make a little sense, but a person could easily argue that was because Zoom viewed him as the biggest threat on their earth. After all, he was the only person on the planet capable of catching up to him. Not even Kara was fast enough to reach the speed needed to keep up with Zoom.

But… that didn't feel right. For whatever reason, Stein's words were resonating with him. Could the professor be right?

"Uh, guys…?" Cisco's voice called out.

Everyone's attention quickly snapped to him, and they all jogged forward to catch up with him to see what the issue was — only to still at the sight that greeted them.

It was Central City… except not Central City. For one thing, Central City did not have a futuristic retro look that seemed to come from straight out of Tomorrowland.

"What the hell," Laurel stated bluntly, eyes wide.

'Don't bother trying to escape. Even if you do, you're never getting home.' Barry thought back to Zoom's words, and nearly hit himself over the head. Of course. "We're not on our Earth," he muttered.

Everyone glanced back at him. "Barry…?" Caitlin asked hesitantly.

"We're not on our Earth," Barry said, louder so everyone could hear. "We're on Zoom's Earth."

The looks of confusion turned into looks of horror as everyone glanced back at the retro Central City.

"But if that's true…" Laurel started, clutching her heart as she thought of Oliver and the lookalike that was no doubt impersonating her right now, "… then how are we supposed to get home?"

And now, we're getting into the good stuff. We're seeing friction with the Earth-2 gang while the Earth-1 gang is trying to figure out a way back. And Oliver is getting suspicious. Will he figure it out?

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