I was with the man who still hadn't told me his name. He shot a rabbit. Come on, wasn't there anything else to eat?
"Dinner." He declared.
"Hey, I have an idea. Maybe I could shoot that thing and you could pick up the bloody animals." I suggested. He just held out the bow. "Are you serious?"
"Try." He instructed. "Breathe. Every shot breathe. Breathe, aim, fire."
I took the bow and the arrow that he gave me.
"Aim that tree." He said pointing to the plant. I fired the arrow and promptly missed by a lot. I didn't even hit the tree. He then said someone in Chinese.
"I don't speak Chinese, remember?" I retorted in annoyance.
"It mean you will die badly." He responded as he took the bow back. "Now get dinner."
I sighed and went to fetch the rabbit. I had to admit that I felt like a dog. However, before I could get there, I was grabbed my some men and throwed into a small pit and locked in.
"Hey, you can't leave me here. I'll do anything you want." I begged.
The police thought that they knew who I was. They thought I was the vigilante, the man in the hood terrorizing criminals. They also thought that I was trapped. They thought that I had no way out. They were very wrong. They took my mugshot. I wanted to smirk, but that would make me look guilty.
I then went into a room with Hilton. He was going to be interrogating me.
"This is a mistake." I declared.
"I'm going to ask you a few questions. It's standard procedure." He remarked. "Have you ever been arrested before."
The technical answer to that was no. I had been taken to my father before. Considering that I had never committed any major crimes, they figured they could do that.
"You have the wrong girl. This is a mistake." I repeated.
"No, the only mistake was me not shooting you down at the docks." He argued. "You are exactly who I think you are. You are a menace to society and a dangerous psychopath."
I couldn't be a psychopath. Psychopaths are born without moral ground. The correct term was sociopath, but I wasn't one of those either.
"Detective Hilton, you are my father's partner. You have never liked me even before the accident, but none of that makes me a vigilante." I responded. "Why would I even need to be when I could get into the academy easily?"
"You being caught on camera at the UNIDAC auction with a green hood makes you a vigilante." He declared. Unless he had me wearing the hood, it was circumstantial evidence at best.
"I ran upstairs as I heard shots. I found a bag that I thought belonged to the shooter and found a hood." I replied. Such a statement couldn't be disproven.
"Well what did you do with it because we can't find it?" He asked. "And what about the incident with Adam Hunt? That happened right across the street from your party."
"That's just a coincidence." I pointed out.
"No, that's evidence." He countered. "And there is a lot of piled up against you."
"Is any of it anything but circumstantial?" I questioned.
At that point, the door opened. It was my father.
"Quentin, I'm in the middle of an interrogation." Hilton remarked.
"Well even you know that she has the right to an attorney." Laurel interrupted as she walked into the room. I was surprised that she came.
"You can't represent your sister." Hilton argued. "It's a conflict of interest."
"I never said that I would be representing her." Laurel pointed out before her friend walked into the room.
"My name is Joanna de la Vega and I will be acting as Sara's attorney." She said. So that was her name.
"You know it's also a conflict of interest for someone so close to the accused to be involved in the arrest." Joanna declared. That was true. I had been to dinner with him and his family a few times. "Now unless you want these charges to be dropped, you'll need to recuse yourself from the case."
It meant that he would have to talk to someone else. He left the room, but I didn't think that I was out of the woods yet. I would still have to submit proof that I wasn't the vigilante.
"Can I have a moment with my family?" I asked Joanna. She stepped out of the room. "Does either of you think that I'm capable of murder?"
"Well to be honest, after that island, I don't know what you're capable of." Dad admitted.
"Just don't say anything to the police without Joanna present." Laurel said. "And as for your question, no I don't think that you are the vigilante. She at least cares about people."
It seemed she was still hung up about the shooting thing. I would think that being accused of these things would help clear things up between us.
"You know I really wish that you were the one representing me." I told my sister. I knew that Joanna stood for the same things as Laurel, but at the same time, she wasn't Laurel. She was not my sister.
I knew I would have to find a way to execute my plan to clear my name. I knew that I could get out. I hoped that I would be able to get out of jail because it would be easier to operate that way. Maybe Joanna would be able to get the charges dropped, but that wouldn't do me a lot of good because there would still be people suspecting me. I couldn't have the public thinking of me as the vigilante regardless of whether or not the police had anything on me. The court of public opinion was just as bad as the court of law.
At that point, there was a knock on the door. Dad opened it and Joanna walked into the room.
"So, bad news. They're not dropping the charges. Detective Hilton is recusing himself. Instead someone named Detective Bowmen is taking over." Joanna explained.
"That's not good." Dad remarked.
"Why?" I asked.
"Detective Bowmen is youngest detective we have." He explained. "She progressed through the ranks quickly because she is extremely thorough in her investigation."
At that point, a tall woman with black hair and brown eyes walked into the room. She wore a leather jacket with a blue blouse and black pants. I wasn't expecting her to be so attractive.
"Ms. de la Vega, my name is Scarlett Bowmen. Tell your client that her arraignment is starting." She declared. She didn't seem to be very emotional.
I headed to my arraignment. I had a feeling that I would make bail considering how much money the Queens had.
"Ms. de la Vega, how does your client plea?" The judge asked.
"Innocent, your honor." Joanna remarked. "This case against my client is extremely circumstantial."
"Considering her connection to the Queens, the richest family in Starling City, we believe no bail should be filed." The prosecutor responded. Maybe this Detective Bowmen would be a problem.
"Objection, your honor." Joanna declared. "Just because Ms. Lance can make bail doesn't mean that she should be denied it, especially with no hard evidence against her."
"How do we know she won't leave town?" Bowmen suggested. "Her own bodyguard has had trouble keep track of her."
"Then make it easy to track her." Joanna suggested. "My client is willing to undergo house arrest and wear an ankle device."
I wasn't expecting that. I didn't want that, but it would probably help me better because I could prove my whereabouts for once. I couldn't say that I liked the idea though.
"Granted." The judge declared. "The defendant will be put on 15 million dollar bail and the fitting of an electronic monitoring device."
"You are just as good as Laurel." I remarked.
"You know I'm only doing this because your sister can't." She stated.
I went home and took my shoes off.
"This machine will go off if you leave the property." Bowmen declared. "Do you have any questions?"
"Yes, I'm going to have a party here tonight and I want to know if I can make it a pool party." I declared. I wanted to definitely make sure people knew where I was.
"Fortunately for you, this won't go off unless you leave the driveway or anywhere outside of the campus." She remarked. "That includes going over or underground."
"Excellent. Would you like to come?" I quipped.
"I don't know if a party is the best idea." Mrs. Queen replied.
"I'm stuck here for who knows how long. I might as well enjoy myself." I argued. "I know Halloween was last week, but do you think anyone would object to a costume party?"
"You probably shouldn't do this." Tommy opined. "I don't know if a party is in the best taste."
"Hey, I know I'm going to be fine. I have the 2nd best lawyer in town working for me." I pointed out.
A little bit later, Diggle came into my room.
"Thanks for coming. Shut the door." I told him.
"This is quite a mess that you got yourself into." He commented.
"I'm not in any mess." I pointed out.
"Sara, they got you on video." He argued.
"I knew there was a security camera. Why do you think I didn't put the hood on until I was out of its view?" I questioned. "I knew I would be arrested eventually, so I made sure that they could do it without any convincing evidence, but that's just part of the plan."
"You wanted to get arrested?" He asked.
"I knew that someone would make the connection about the suspicious arrival of the vigilante soon after my return to Starling City." I remarked.
"Well how does going to prison help you?" He responded.
"Diggle, I have a plan. It'll all become clear soon. I don't want to talk about what it is while Thea is still at school." I remarked. If they were both going to be working with me, I needed them both to be treated equally.
"Well I hope it's a good plan because your father and your sister are freaking out. You do not want to put them through a trial no matter how strong you think they are." He stated.
"There's not going to be a trial." I remarked confidently. I knew this plan was going to work. I knew that I could count on Diggle and Thea and I knew that I would be fine. I was a little worried, but I couldn't show my fear because I had to be strong for my family and friends.
The following day, Joanna and I went into the precinct where we met with the prosecutor and Detective Bowmen.
"Thank you for coming." Bowmen declared.
"Well considering this was my only chance to get out of the house, I jumped at it." I quipped as I sat down.
"So, let's start with the basics." The prosecutor said. "Detective Hilton made this arrest without consulting the district attorney so we're willing to accept a plea."
"No." I responded.
"Ms. Lance spent five years on an island cut off from civilization. She's most likely suffering from a form of PTSD." She continued. You know it was illegal for anyone other than a licensed therapist to diagnosis people. Or maybe it just wasn't a legal diagnosis. I forget sometimes. "Knowing that, we would support a plea of insanity that includes an extended stay at a psychiatric hospital."
"No. I'm not crazy." I remarked.
"These are very serious charges, Ms. Lance." Bowmen declared. "This is your only chance to accept the plea."
"How about I prove I'm not crazy?" I suggested. "I will take a lie detector test."
"She means that she'll take a private polygraph test." Joanna remarked. "If she doesn't pass, we will accept the plea."
"What she said." I agreed.
The men on the island started to take me somewhere. I wasn't sure what they wanted to do with me. It seemed like they weren't Chinese. I hoped that they didn't plan on selling me into slavery or trying to do things with me themselves. It seemed like they were doing something with weapons.
"Please sit, m'lady." A British man declared. "You're making me feel like an ass."
I nervously took a seat.
"I apologize for how my men treated you. They are trained to view any stranger as hostile regardless of sex or age." He said as he poured himself a soda. "My name is Edward Fiers. What's your name, Sweetie."
"Sara Lance." I stated. I was hoping that he could help me get home. "I landed here after being shipwrecked. I don't know how long I've been here. I just want to go home. I can assure you that you would be paid handsomely for my return."
"Well that will be nice, but let's just talk right now." He suggested.
"What do you want to talk about?" I questioned. He didn't seem to be interested in me sexually.
"This man." He replied as he took out a picture. It looked kind of like the Chinese man. "Do you know this man?"
"No, I've never met him before." I lied.
"You're a bad liar, Miss Lance." He declared. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."
"I've never met him." I restated. "I thought I was alone here."
"Do you know what this island is named?" He asked. "We're on Lian Yu. It's Mandarin for Purgatory, but I can make it feel like Hell. Why would you protect him? Do you even know why? Think about that when you're with my men."
I did not like the sound of that. I needed to do whatever I could because it sounded like he was going to offer me to them.
The next day, I found Thea on the deck.
"There's something that I want to talk to you about." I declared. She looked worried. "Hey, I'm going to get out of this."
"How can you be so sure?" She asked.
"Because I have a plan to clear my name." I assured her. "It's something that I wanted to talk to you about. So, I noticed that you have several archery trophies in your room."
"I don't see what that has to do with anything." She remarked.
"Well my plan starts with you not being invited to my party." I stated.
"I already know that you don't want me around all of that alcohol." She declared.
"I don't want you here at all." I replied. "I want you to be me."
"What?" She asked in surprise. I wasn't sure if she completely knew what I was talking about.
"I want you to go out tonight, wearing my hood and carrying my bow." I explained. "You don't need to kill anyone. I just need you to make sure that people notice you but you're not caught. Since the police will know that I'm here, they'll have no choice but to drop the charges."
"How do you know I can do this?" She responded. I would have to work on boosting her confidence.
"Because I believe in you and you're the only one you can." I pointed out.
Later that day, I was in the precinct yet again. I was hooked up to the lie detector.
"Is your name Sara Lance?" Bowmen asked me before she sat down.
"You don't know my name?" I questioned.
"These are just easy questions to test the polygraph." She explained. "Is your name Sara Lance?"
"Yes." I answered. I knew they would get harder.
"Were you born in Starling City on Christmas 1987?" She asked.
"Unfortunately, yes." I replied. Being born on Christmas sucked. I only got one set of presents.
"Is your hair green?" She inquired.
"No." I answered. "I tried to dye it in high school but my mom said no."
"Have you ever been to Iron Heights prison?" She asked. This was a question I could answer without giving her what she wanted.
"Yes." I responded. "My dad took me and my sister there a few times when we were kids."
"Are you the girl in this picture?" She inquired as she revealed an artist rendering.
"No." I remarked.
"Were you injured on Lian Yu?" She questioned.
"Yes." I responded. I hate what Fiers did to me. He thought he could break me by having one of his men rape me over and over. It didn't work. I wanted to die, but I fought on for my family. Some tears did form in my eyes. "I think we've asked enough questions."
Later that night, I was preparing for my party. I was dressed as a sexy Alice in Wonderland with a blue dress and white stockings with a blue headband and black Maryjanes. I was even wearing a heart ring. Thea and Diggle were in my room.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Diggle asked.
"This is the only way to end this quickly." I pointed out. "It doesn't matter if the charges are dropped if the public still thinks I'm the vigilante. I'll have an alibi and the heat will be off me. It'll be fine."
"But what if Thea gets caught instead?" He challenged.
"She won't." I replied. "We're talking about a girl whose childhood nickname was Speedy."
"I resent that nickname." Thea commented.
"Just take her to my lair." I instructed. "The bow and hood are there."
I knew Thea would be perfect for the job, not just because she was roughly the same height and weight as me, but also because she was like me. She wasn't as skilled as me, but she could learn. Maybe someday, I would even let her go out into the field with me, but that day was several days away.
I then headed out to my party. The music was loud and the people were dancing. There was all sorts of costumes. I was also pretty sure that some of the girls used it as an excuse to come in their underwear.
"Hey, everyone. Welcome to Wonderland." I announced. "It looks like I ended up in the right place before I fell down the rabbit hole. You can be as loud as you want. Just try not to stay outside."
I knew that Mrs. Queen wouldn't like it if my guest broke any of their things. They had a lot of priceless artifacts and I didn't want to be responsible for the destruction of them. The worst thing that could happen would be the lawn. That was easy to repair.
I went inside where champagne was being surprised and I was a little surprised at who walked in.
"Last I checked, you weren't my lawyer." I remarked. She was dressed as some kind of cat. It wasn't the best costume. She actually looked like she came up with the costume on short notice, like she had decided to come at the last minute. Joanna was not with her.
"But I am your sister." She pointed out. That would always be true. "I want to talk. Can I take you away from this ill-timed rave for a few minutes?"
"Wow, I don't think I've ever been in here." She admitted.
"So your costume looks like it needs some work." I quipped.
"I can't remember the last time that I went to a costume party." She declared.
"I do." I said. "It was Halloween 2005. You were going with Oliver to Tommy's party."
"Yeah, now I remember. I wore those awful fishnets." She replied. I thought she had looked good in them.
"There is something that I wanted to talk to you about." She replied. "There's something that I've been thinking about. When you first came back you gave me this."
She was holding the hosen that I had given her.
"It's an arrowhead." She stated.
"Laurel. I got that at the gift shop at the Beijing Airport." I lied. "Now I'm glad that I didn't get you the panda hoodie or you would think I was Panda Girl."
"Well Dad feels awful about what Detective Hilton did and he's thinking about requesting a different partner." She explained. Could he even do that?
"I don't think he should do that." I opined. "Detective Hilton made a mistake, but I don't think it should be held against him. He and Dad have been friends and partners for years. Why don't you hate me?"
"I never hated you." She responded. "No matter how mad I get at you, I want you to know that I'll always love you. Even if you are this vigilante, which I don't think you are, it won't make me loved you any less."
At that moment, I thought about telling her the truth, but I decided not to because I felt that enough people knew already.
"There's one thing." She added. "I need to see your scars."
"Well we need to make sure the door is locked." I declared. I was a little nervous even though my sister had seen me naked before. I lowered my dress and removed my bra and let her look. It was a good thing that we were sisters because otherwise it would be easy for someone to get the wrong idea. There would probably still be some that could get the wrong idea. Those people probably needed help. What kind of person would want siblings to fuck?
I was tied to a cot. Even after everything that had happened, I still wasn't going to give Fiers what he wanted.
"Amazing. Most women would have given up by now." He remarked. "Or perhaps she actually doesn't know anything. Put her out of her misery."
At that point, Yao Fei came to my rescue. He helped me out of the tent. I grabbed the shirt I had been wearing. I wondered if I would ever be able to get some real clothes. I would even settle for animal skin if there were animals big enough.
A few minutes later, after Laurel had left, I got a call from Thea.
"So, I managed to break up an arms deal." She replied. "I know you didn't want me to do anything, but isn't this the kind of thing that you do? You're supposed to protect the city?"
"I'm just glad that you're alright." I remarked. "Did you make sure that people saw you?"
"Yes." She replied. "Can I come to your party now?"
"If you're going to wear a costume, it needs to be a different one." I explained even though I knew she was smarter than that. At that point, there was a knock on my door. "Yes?"
"Ms. Lance, you've been up here for a while." A man said. "Should I have some drinks sent up?"
"No, I'll be right down." I declared as I opened the door and realized that the man had a gun.
Suddenly, a fight broke out between us. I didn't know the man but I assumed he wanted to kill me because he thought I was the vigilante. That was why I needed to be exonerated in the court of public opinion. People would come after me and my family if they even thought I was her and I wanted to protect them. He grabbed the gun but before he could shoot, he was shot first. I noticed that Bowmen was holding the gun.
"You actually came." I remarked.
Fifteen minutes later, Thea was back and my dad was there, along with Hilton.
"How did you know I was in trouble?" I asked the woman.
"That broke your ankle monitor when he was fighting you." She declared. "Guess we'll have to get you a new one."
"This is your fault." Dad told Hilton. "Publicly accusing my daughter has made her a target and you also put me and Laurel at risk."
"I'm sorry." Hilton apologized as he started to remove the ankle monitor.
"What are you doing, Detective?" Bowmen asked.
"The chief called. The vigilante was spotted in the Glades tonight, so obviously we got the wrong person." He explained. "In light of these events, all charges against Sara are being dropped."
At they point, all of the police, including my father started to leave.
"Detective Bowmen." I remarked. She stopped and looked at me. Now she wasn't trying to put me in jail, she was kind of hot. "Thank you."
The following day, Thea and I were out back together.
"You know it was really fun being out there like that." She stated.
"Well you probably shouldn't expect to do it again anytime soon." I told her. I did wish I could see how she looked in my hood though.
"So, you were totally checking that detective out." She remarked. I just smiled.
Yao Fei took me back to the cave and I laid down. I was still in pain, both physically and emotionally. I really hoped that I wouldn't get pregnant, especially since there was no way for abortion or adoption on the island.
"I tell you island dangerous but you no lead them to me." He declared. "I'll lead them off while you stay here and rest."
I then went inside and found that Laurel was there.
"Dad told me what happened." She stated. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, it's just a bruise or two." I declared. "It's not the worst thing that's ever happened to me."
"What was the worst thing that happened to you on the island?" She asked. I hesitated. I hadn't ever told anyone about it. I was still nervous about telling her.
"I was…raped." I admitted. "I was captured by some men and they used it as a method of torture. I try not to think about it because it only brings me pain."
"Sara, I'm so sorry." She replied as she gave me a tight hug.
"You know why I don't tell people what happened or why I don't show them my scars?" I asked her. She didn't respond. "Because if people knew what happened to me, they would think of me as damaged."
That night, I was with Thea and Diggle in the lair. I told them what I had told her because I felt that if we were going to work together, they needed to know.
"Did that really happen to you?" Thea asked before she too gave me a hug. It made me feel different.
"Yeah." I admitted.
"You know I don't know if you stopped to considering how much this crusade of yours could affect the people in your life or how much it could hurt them." Diggle remarked.
"You're wrong." I replied. "I think about it all the time. The last thing that I want to do hurt my father or my sister. Also, not being able to tell them the truth hurts more than anything that happened on that island. Now I believe that it's time to deal with this dealer."
If you guessed Thea would the vigilante, you were right. If you guessed Laurel would represent her, you were wrong. Scarlet is played by Crystal Reed and named The Scarlet Bowmen from the Green Arrow comics. Please don't forget to review.