In Rebellion,
There Is Freedom
Disclaimer: This is a take on things involving that phone call Laurel made about a certain party. I don't think it was ever stated when exactly it happened so I'm going with a short time after High School.
"Sweetie, we need to talk." Announced one Quentin Lance to one Dinah Laurel Lance as he came into her room.
And to her surprise, accompanied by Oliver 'Ollie' Queen and her sister, Sara Lance. Both of whom were frowning and Laurel had to guess it was because neither were all that happy about that party both were at getting ruined by the cops showing up. Something she herself had caused thanks to a little call on her part in the name of looking out for her sister and because of her crush on Ollie. A crush she knew her sister had as well but her own feelings, Laurel knew, were much stronger than her sister's puppy love ones. "Okay, what's up?" Asked the future Lawyer.
"Its about that call ya made the other night, sweetheart."
"Just doing my duty as an older sister, dad. Never know what or who could've been there." She said and Oliver's frown deepened.
"The 'worst' thing that was at that party was Alcohol, Laurel." The Queen Scion told her.
"And we checked that for ourselves and he's right. And while I appreciate you doin' like your mother and I want, that call was a waste of our time and wrong of you to do."
Laurel couldn't help but gape in shock at her father's words while her sister and Ollie nodded in agreement. "I, I don't think I heard you right, daddy."
"Oh, you heard him right. You know I really like Ollie and you can't handle that he's as into me as I am him. So you made that call to try and get us in trouble but newsflash, Laur, it didn't work." Sara told her while trying hard to keep from smirking in victory at the whole thing.
"And the last thing you need to be doin', sweetheart, is worryin' about boys when you need to be studyin' to get into a good College. 'Sides, Queen might have his bad moments but I know he'll do right by your sister. So do us a favor, alright? Make better judgement calls in the future so we can avoid this kinda thing. Somethin' you'll have plenty of time to think about while grounded, young lady."
"Tommy's interested if that helps you any." Offered up Oliver and prompting a thumb's up to happen from Sara to show her approval at that idea to the continued rising shock that Laurel was feeling.
Idly wondering if she was dreaming and if so, what the Hell did she eat or drink prior to falling asleep to have this kind of a nightmare. Because that's what it was and she desperately wanted to wake up. "Ow." Muttered Laurel after pinching herself.
Realizing to her horror that she is, in fact, awake, and not dreaming like she was hoping was the case. "I… I can't believe I'm hearing this. I'M the one in trouble when I only did what you and mom expect out of me when it comes to being the older sister!? Are, are you drinking and that's why I'm being unfairly treated this way!? Sara's the one who was at that party where ALCOHOL was at! SHE should be in trouble and grounded, NOT ME!"
Quentin frowned unhappily at his eldest, not liking the tone he was getting from her. "Do not raise your voice to me like that, young lady. And I resent the accusation about me drinkin' when I'm damned clear headed." He told her sternly to her shock and rising anger.
Anger that only rose when she caught sight of her sister smirking and before Laurel could so much as stop herself, she was slapping the feeling out of her sister's face much to the shock of everyone else present. "HEY! THAT'S ENOUGH!" Roared out Quentin angrily as a shocked Oliver quickly wrapped his new, sobbing, girlfriend in his arms and glared at Laurel.
"NO! THIS IS BULLSHIT, IS WHAT IT IS! Time after time I am expected to be the responsible sister while Sara gets to do whatever the Hell she wants and I AM SICK OF IT! God! I even attempt to try and have fun and you and mom are all over me and its UNFAIR!"
"You know that is not true and I'm warnin' you, Laurel, keep this up and your groundin' will be a Helluva lot longer."
Letting out a scream of rage and chucking a nearby picture frame into a wall as tears started to come from Laurel's eyes, the young woman decided then and there that this was the final straw. She was done being the responsible role model who never had any fun while her sister got to do anything she wanted to do and get away with it. "I… You want to ground me!? GO AHEAD! BUT I AM DONE BEING THE GOOD AND RESPONSIBLE SISTER/DAUGHTER! I'M DONE! YOU HEAR ME!? DONE!" Tearfully cried out the angry and heart broken young woman before forcing her way past the trio and being none too gentle about it.
Her father angrily chased after her but Laurel ignored this as she went for the front door and out of it, slamming it as she did so and kept on going. "LAUREL! GET BACK HERE NOW!"
In the following days after storming from her home after the 'talk' she'd had with her dad regarding Sara and as well as Oliver, Laurel would move out and go to stay with the Wu-San family thanks to being long time friends with Sandra and Carolyn. Ignoring everything said to her by her so called parents and having to resist the urge to do more than just slap her sister whenever the two crossed paths with one another and Sara would be incredibly smug about everything. So one could see why she had to resist the urge to hurt her because of that. Laurel would take to wearing darker clothing and beating the Hell out of a gym bag the Wu-San family has to vent her frustrations on so she wouldn't do something she'd regret. She'd even start going out to have fun with the Wu-San sisters and even get into a little trouble on occasion and utterly revelling in the whole thing. Essentially rebelling against the expectations she'd been forced to deal with for so long and it was all so freeing that Laurel felt like she was flying because of it. Interestingly enough, a few Glades residents would get her into Parkour and Free-Running.
Allowing her to really fly after getting the hang of the whole thing and practically soaring through the air as she spun, flipped, and jumped. Hell, Laurel would even join a rock band called 'Tiamat' some friends of hers had been trying to get her to join thanks to how well she could sing but hadn't done so because of other obligations and being the good sister. But now that that was over with, she no longer had a reason to say no much to their immense joy and would get the nickname of the 'Black Siren' in the process. Now Laurel would still go to College so she could become a Lawyer, even if it was somewhat difficult thanks to the fact she didn't have support from her family but despite that, she pressed onwards. But when the band she was in began to really take off, Laurel made a decision to quit College to focus on the music. Especially after she had remembered it was basically a path she'd been forced to take thanks to her dear old dad's resistance to the idea of her joining the Force.
Something he had threatened to ensure wouldn't happen if she even tried to join. And while helping people was a passion of her's, Laurel didn't see the need for Law School anymore as another part of her rebellion and felt that the music she was doing with the band was another way to help people in some form. There was even a rumor after she dropped out that her dad had gone nuts over that decision since he'd been hoping she would see the light but Laurel never quite bothered to find out how true that was. And any shot at a potential reconcilliation was out the window later on after she was unfairly blamed for Sara's death after the Queen's Gambit had sunk in the North China Sea. Truly shattering the Lance family in the process and for Laurel to continue her rebellion and staying the Hell away from her so called parents. Sometime later however, would see Laurel start to do some vigilante work after witnessing the ineffectiveness of the Police while on tour and using the name 'Themis' for a codename. Even if it did have some ties to her past pursuits and the like.
But it was important the codename didn't link her to the band or the Black Siren name she used with that. She'd also be fairly indifferent when it was revealed later on that Oliver Queen had survived the sinking of the Queen's Gambit and had been stranded on some Island for five years until getting rescued by some Fishermen. Though from what she'd later hear, her drunkard of a father was none too happy with him for surviving and not Sara. But all that was far away from her as she continued on with her life of freedom in rebellion and band practice would be re-defined for Laurel thanks in part to the explosion of the Particle Accelerator since thanks to the mixing of the two, she'd gain the ability to produce a powerful scream her bandmates would later nickname 'The Siren's Scream'. It'd take some time and effort to get the hang of it but Laurel would accomplish it and made sure to be careful to avoid being seen using it. Preferring only to use it for her vigilante work since it proved to be a useful tool in that area. Laurel would become one of the more well known heroes of the modern age as time went on and her band would have something of a cult following for years. And the song 'Rebellion's Freedom' would be a huge fan favorite for years to come as well.
Especially after her double life was revealed in late 2021 during a confrontation with a Telekinetic Meta-Human. This revelation would be what caused her father to have a heart attack as he couldn't handle the fact she had gone outside the Law as a vigilante. Prior to that, the man had long been fired from the Force for years after his drunken antics had finally become too much to ignore for the Brass. Especially after they had started to approve of the Green Arrow (originally going by Hood and then Arrow before finally settling on Green Arrow) as time went on. The archer, who is actually Oliver Queen, was not someone Laurel got along with all that well thanks to the past despite his having changed. Though a part of it had to do with his earlier methods when he first started out as the Hood way back when. Eventually, the animosity between the two would lessen but nothing more would happen but Laurel was fine with that since she wasn't really looking for love due to what she had her priorities focused on.
Naturally, love would creep up on her without her looking once she started to work with an Activist for Alien Rights. But that's a story for another day.
Author's Notes: Well, that kinda got away from me there as I just kept wanting to write and write. Themis comes from the Greek Titans.