That night, I was after something. I knew that I needed to help Thea on both fronts. I was definitely going to do whatever I could to try to help her legally, but I also knew that I had to go after the person responsible. Now I couldn't go after the person who drugged her because The Vigilante attacking teenagers just seemed wrong. Plus, I didn't want to make it seem personal. Instead, I was going to find out who made vertigo and get them off of the streets by whatever means necessary, especially after the research that showed how deadly it was.
I finally caught up to the dealer and an arrow through his jacket, pinning him to the overhang he was on.
"Come on. I'm just trying to make an honest living." He stated.
"There's nothing honest about what you do." I argued. "Who gives you vertigo. If tell me, you get to live another day."
"Please, he'll kill me." He begged.
"Whoever you're afraid of, be more afraid of me." I declared as I drew my bow.
"Okay, they call him The Count. I don't know who he is or where he is. Please don't kill me." He declared.
I then radioed Scarlett with the news.
"Let me guess, you have another one." She said.
"This one finally gave me a name." I told her. "He calls himself The Count."
"Doesn't he know that's the name of a Muppet?" She asked. "So what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to find him. This man is responsible for numerous deaths and he needs to pay for it." I explained.
"Well don't kill him. He needs to get justice for his crimes." She pointed out. "Also, you need to get some sleep. Thea's hearing is in the morning."
"Do you believe me when I tell you she says she was drugged?" I asked.
"Whether or not I believe it is irrelevant." She said. "It's not something that's easy to prove without a confession."
"But do you believe it?" I repeated.
"I think you believe it and I want to believe in her as much as you do." She answered. "I probably do, but it doesn't matter."
In the morning, I went to Thea's room. I knew I had to help her, but I had only been in a courtroom once before and her case wasn't as easy to get out of.
"Hey, judges don't like it if you're late." I told her.
"Do you have any tips?" She asked.
"Don't speak unless someone directly asks you a question." I responded. "Hey, you have the best lawyer in the city defending you. If anyone can get you out of this, she can."
"Can't you get Shelley to confess to drugging me?" She questioned.
"I could, but I won't because it feels so wrong. I can't bring myself to attack a teenager unless they are the type of threat that warrants it." I explained. "This is your first real offense, so maybe they'll go easy on you."
"I wish my dad or Ollie was here." She admitted.
"I'm here." I assured her.
"We should leave now." Mrs. Queen interrupted.
As soon as we got there, she was hounded by reporters. I decided to grab her hand. It felt so good when her hand touched mine.
We headed inside, and the judge began to speak.
"We are here for The People vs. Thea Dearden Queen." He said. "How do you plea?"
"Not guilty, Your Honor." Laurel declared. "DUI is listed as knowingly driving under the influence of a control substance. My client was given the drug against her knowledge."
"Miss Queen, did you crash the car immediately when you started to feel disoriented?" He asked.
"No, Your Honor." She admitted.
"Then you knowingly continued driving while you were impaired." He pointed out. "This drug has been causing problems for us for some time. Miss Queen, like it or not, you are now the poster child for this menace that is vertigo. Maybe if people see that the Queen family can't get away with using vertigo, they won't think that they can either. This case will now proceed to trial. Court adjourned."
Well I knew that was not what we wanted. It sort of did make me want to find out where Shelley was because I might have to get her to confess.
"That cannot send my daughter to prison." Mrs. Queen seethed.
"He can, but he won't." Laurel promised. "I will do everything in my power to prevent it. I'm going to work on an appeal."
She then left the room.
"Thea. we will handle this." Her mom promised.
"Like you promised to always stay faithful to Dad and Walter." Thea replied. "Something about your promises doesn't make me feel better."
Thea then walked out.
"That judge wants someone to make an example of." Mrs. Queen stated. "Why does it have to be her?"
"Maybe it doesn't." I replied. It was a longshot but maybe if I could capture The Count, they would take it easy on Thea.
I then went to the precinct and gave a brief explanation of what happened.
"So, do you think that if maybe the judge had someone else to make an example of, he would go easy on Thea?" I asked
"Possibly, but it won't be this girl who drugged her." Scarlett explained. "She's not nearly as big a name as Thea."
"I can't help but wonder if this is my fault." I declared. "I asked her to come to me that night. Also, I was talking about The Count."
"Yes, if you find Thea would probably get off with a significantly lesser sentence." She admitted. "But we would have to find him and capture him probably before the trial even begins. Also, he would have to be alive. There's little chance that the police will be able to catch him."
"So means that I'm going to have to." I replied. "I promise I won't kill him."
"You know it's great that you're doing this for Thea. Should I be jealous?" She asked. I glared at her. "Sorry. Bad joke."
"Do you think you have any pull with him?" I questioned.
"Sara, he's my uncle. I can't be involved in this case at all. I could get in a lot of trouble." She replied. She was also keeping my secret identity and she could also get in a lot of trouble for that, but I understood her point. I didn't want her to do anything that could affect her job. It wouldn't be fair to her.
I knew that if I had any chance to find The Count, I would dig into some of my darkest connections. I couldn't take Thea because she was under house arrest, so I had my bodyguard by my side.
"You know I'd probably rather be in Afghanistan then a plan run by the Soviets." He remarked as we walked into the garage.
"This is the hidden headquarters of the Bratva." I declared. "Diggle, please just go with whatever I say. These men are very, very dangerous."
"It's been a long time, particularly for a Bratva captain." Alexi told me,
"I've been a bit busy lately. I need your help with something. I'm looking for an individual known as The Count. Have you heard of him at all?"
"He is a difficult man. He does not like new friends." He explained. "I will what I can find on him, but I first need a favor from you. It is unusual for an American woman to hold such a position of esteem in our organization. Anatoli speaks very highly of you."
"He should. I saved his life." I explained. At that point, they brought out a man who was struggling and frightened. "What did he do?"
"Something that I told him not to.' The Russian declared. "For a favor for me, kill this man. Then I will believe your interest in our organization, and I will arrange a meeting with The Count for you."
"Sara…" Diggle replied.
"Shut up." I replied as I begun to choke the man. I knew a trick that would make them think that I killed him. There was a reason that I wasn't going to use the gun. I then took him out to the car with s.
"I can't believe that you did that." Diggle told me.
"I didn't." I replied as the man woke up. I then punched him out.
"Whoa, that's a neat trick. Can you teach me that sometime?" He asked.
"No." I answered. "I need you to arrange a new identity for this man."
"So, you're going to take this meeting to catch this guy." Diggle responded as I closed the trunk.
"No, then the Bratva will know that I manipulated them It's for that same reason that I can't tell the police about it." I explained. "I'm going to the meeting as myself and then I'm going to follow him back to his hideout and get him there."
The following day, Laurel came over. She said that she had an idea.
"So, I have an idea. I think I may be able to get the judge to back away from his stance. I may be able to get the judge to give you community service and probation as long as someone is watching over you." She explained. "I think you could help out at the office."
"I have a different idea." I replied. "She could work for me."
"Sara, working in a nightclub doesn't exactly count as community service." Laurel pointed out.
"But entertainment does." I argued. I then noticed shocked looked on their faces. "Get your minds out of the gutter. I was talking about singing. Thea has an amazing voice and she could be a performer."
"I could try it, but we go with my idea if it doesn't work." Laurel replied before she left.
"How do you know that I can sing?" Thea asked.
"I've heard you in the shower a few times." I admitted. "Thea, this will make it a lot easier for us to hang out together. It's the best that I can do. It gives us a backup plan in case I can't catch The Count in time."
"You know part of me wants to just reject the deal and go to jail to spite my mom." She admitted.
"Thea, that would be incredibly stupid." I pointed out.
"I'm not going to do it." She told me. "I just hate her so much for betraying Walter. Part of me thinks that she's part of the reason why he's missing."
Was it possible yes? Robert Queen was secretly a bad person, so it was feasible that his wife was as well. I didn't know exactly what he was guilty of, but I assumed that they were some pretty bad things, but there still wasn't any evidence that Moira had done anything to directly lead to Walter's disappearance. Plus, she didn't have any motivation. If she wanted to be CEO of a company that she already owned, she could have probably just asked him. He seemed like the kind of person that would let her do that if she wanted to.
"Thea, we don't have any proof of that or any reason for why, especially since we can't prove anything happened between her and Tommy's dad." I pointed out.
"Sara, the Russians called. They want to meet tonight." Diggle interrupted.
That night, Diggle and I were with Alexi and his associate as we waited for him to show up.
"Do you know why they call him The Count?" Alexi asked. "When he was developing his drug, he experimented on the homeless. When the police found their bodies, they had puncture marks on their necks like they had been bitten by a vampire. You should not be in such a hurry to meet this man."
At that time, a car pulled up a man with slick black hair came out. He first had his man pat us down. I wanted to punch them because I was pretty sure that they were using it as an excuse to feel me up, but I had to keep my composure.
"So, Sara Lance. Does your father know of your interest in the feel good business?" He asked.
"No." I replied. "Do you honestly think he would be dumb enough to use his own daughter as a mole?"
"Well why are you interested?" He inquired.
"I am opening a nightclub and I would like to give my customers a little something extra." I lied.
"You know a good wine is judged by the number of years it's had to ferment." He stated. "Vertigo is measured in lives. 56 people died to perfect this high. Believe me when I say, they did not die for nothing.
Okay, this guy was a clear psychopath. Even someone like Lawton killed for money or the Bratva killed for power. This guy just seemed to like killing people. He reminded me of a man that I had only read about, the worst villain in the country: The Joker. I didn't think anyone could be that bad.
However, before I could get the drug, my father showed up.
A shootout started, but I followed after The Count.
"No witnesses." He declared before he stabbed me with a needle. I pulled it out and immediately, my vision got blurry.
"Sara, are you okay?" Diggle asked. He took me back to the lair. I felt like my body was in excruciating pain. He went into my trunk and started to mix the herbs together. I seriously hoped that it would work. I was pretty sure that I was hallucinating because I attacked him. I then screamed as I passed out.
When I came to, I found out that he wasn't the only one in the room. I couldn't help but wonder what she was doing there, but I then remembered that I had told her the combination.
"What the were hell were you doing?" Scarlett asked angrily.
"I was trying to find The Count and follow him back to his lair, so I could stop him." I explained. "God, I feel like I have the worst hangover of my life."
"That's got a be a lot coming from someone who spent a majority of her late teens wasted." Diggle quipped.
I then realized that I was handcuffed to the table.
"Seriously? I'm not going to kill either of you." I replied.
"I'm surprised that you can stand." Diggle replied. "He only got you with half a dose, but you still took it really hard."
"I take it your friends didn't catch him." I said to Scarlett.
"Nope." She confirmed. "But your father is pissed."
"Well tell him that I was trying to find The Count, so I could pass the information along to you. I was wondering if maybe you could give this sample to your narcotics division to analyze and we could find out what is really in vertigo, so maybe we'll have some way to find out where he is." I explained.
"I can do better. I'm going to analyze this myself." She said. "But once I figure out where this stuff came from, I'm going to send a unit there. You need to make sure that you don't get caught."
At that time, I got a call from Thea.
"Did you catch that guy?" She asked.
"No." I realized. I still felt kind of woozy. I knew that I would need to soon. I might even have to go in the daylight if that was my best shot.
"Well I'm going to take the deal. We'll see if the judge approves me working at your club. If he does, I hope that I don't stage fright." She said.
"You won't and I know you'll be great." I promised her. "I don't think that I can come to the courtroom. I'm not feeling good right now."
"Give a few hours. I'll send what I find to you. I'll even give you an hour head start before I send SCPD to pick it up. Please tell me that you can stop him in that time."
"I hope I can." I told her.
I didn't want to admit it, but I was still feeling the effects of the drug. My vision was still blurred Being on it now made me glad that I never really got into the hard stuff when I was younger. I could not imagine what it would be like to actually drive while under the effects of this stuff. Thea must have been so scared. I was going to take him down for the both of us. I knew that I should kill him, but Scarlett was right. He needed to see justice.
Later, I was still in the lair after she left. She emailed me a map of where the water in the sample came from.
"So, looks like your girl came through. The water in the sample is from an area within a ten-block radius of where the Glades meets the bay. There's nothing but an old juvenile detention center that closed down two years ago." Diggle explained. I then grabbed my hood. "But you can't go out there. You're still suffering from the aftereffects of the vertigo. You're not at the top of your game."
"Well I have to stop him." I replied. "I'm the only one who can. Do you honestly think that the police will be able to stop him. Not to mention, any number of officers could get dosed with this stuff. John, please let me go. I know I can do this."
"This is definitely a situation where you could use Thea for backup." He told me.
"But she can't go out right now. I have to do by myself and I know that I can do this by myself, so let me do this by myself." I told him.
"If you hit this, you can leave." He said as he held up a tennis ball near his head. I drew my bow before I put it down.
"You need to remember one thing, John. I don't need my bow." I stated.
I headed to his lair and started to beat up his minions as I went inside. I saw the guy that had touched my boobs and gave him a kick to the face. Walking and balance still weren't easy, but I was able to still fight off low-level thugs, even when two were coming at me at the same time.
When I found The Count, I found out that some of his men had guns. It still wasn't a problem because I was able to dodge the bullets. I still was able to throw an arrow if I couldn't shoot one. I then found myself face-to-face with him. He was holding a gun.
"You should have stuck to your depraved elite. I am merely providing a public service." He stated.
"So am I." I replied as I threw an arrow at him. He dodged it. We then started to fight hand-to-hand which I knew that I was better at. I grabbed the syringe that he planned on injecting me with and stuck it into him instead before injecting him. "Enjoy the fruits of your labor."
At that point, my father once again came into the room. I knew I had to make a break for it fast. I couldn't even talk to him. I threw The Count at him and ran out as fast as I could. It was faster than I thought I could. It was probably because if he saw me, he'd probably be able to tell who I was.
The following day, Thea and I went to the club together. They were going to let her help open the club and count it towards the community service.
"So. you probably have the record for shortest time with your driver's license." I quipped.
"You know you didn't have to take down an entire drug empire for me." She said.
"But it's more fun that way." I replied. "So, this is going to work out great for us."
"Well we got the Count. We got him for pretty much every crime there is." Scarlett said as she walked in. So, how much longer till you open this place?"
"Wait, since when does she know about this stuff?" Thea asked.
"It's a complicated story." I explained.
So, I changed it so Thea will be legally working for Sara. I was also surprised that they didn't have Laurel represent her in the episode. Also, Scarlett is definitely an asset to the team. Please don't forget to review.