Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I'm only borrowing them for a while. I own the original ideas found in this.
AN: Thanks for continuing to read and support this story. Hope you are enjoying this story. And the next big surprise I have in store for you, which we are building towards. I again apologize for the long wait. Real life took a sudden turn for me at the beginning of the month, and it hasn't been good. Writing is one of the few things I have left to bring me joy at this time, so I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Earlier that day, as the team was busy with Roy, Moira took a moment to appreciate the beautiful day it was, even at 9am, as she stepped out of her family home. Easier than figuring out her son. Who had left the house at the crack of dawn, before she could ask him the questions which had occurred to her overnight.
Her campaign office was sending a car for her today. Lucky for her, because she didn't know where the usual chauffeur was. And Mr. Diggle, who occasionally would offer to drive her, had also left the house after he, Sara and Ms. Smoak had grabbed a quick breakfast. They hadn't offered to tell her their plans for the day, and she didn't feel comfortable asking. For some reason, because usually she wouldn't hesitant to ask any question she had. However, her son's strange behavior over the past few days was for some reason affecting her. And it was that same behavior which made her skittish about driving herself to the office.
A limo approached the front door and Moira walked towards it, as the driver got out and opened the back door for her. She didn't notice, as she got into the limo, a man sitting in the back seat. Only after she had climbed into the limo did she feel a presence beside her, bringing her out of her reverie.
The door was closed abruptly as Moira looked up and noticed the man beside her. It was Slade Wilson. The man whom her son had warned her about with such fear in his eyes. She reached for the door handle, but the door automatically locked before she could open it. Her eyes fell back to Slade, who was now pointing a gun at her.
"Not a sound, Mrs. Queen, or your children will be orphans. Please sit back and enjoy the ride." Pulling a black cloth bag out of his pocket, he placed it over her head with his other hand. "I'm afraid I have to ask you to wear this bag. To protect yourself from things you shouldn't know." He then asked for her to hold her hands out, and she felt handcuffs placed around her wrists. Moira sensed Slade turn away from her and say, "We can go now."
Moira attempted to quell the fear threatening to explode out of her. She had no idea what he was going to do with her, and it frightened her immensely. She wanted desperately to beg for her life, but she kept telling herself to remain quiet for now. To wait for Slade to reveal his plan for her and her family. Feeling she had no other choice, Moira sat back into the seat, and tried to remain calm for the rest of the ride.
~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~
It felt to Thea as if days had passed since Slade had left her alone in the room, instead of a few measly hours. Her attempts to remain calm were failing miserably as she alternated between worrying about Roy and whether he was still alive, and Slade's plans for him. She wondered if she would've felt the least bit better if she knew Slade's plans for them all, then quickly changed her mind. Perhaps she was lucky her kidnapper hadn't decided to play 'big bad villain' and boasted his plans to her before leaving.
To her dismay the bonds tying her to the chair refused to budge. She didn't feel them loosen at all. Instead, they were beginning to be slippery once again with her blood. The only result from her attempts were reopening the cuts on her wrists, making the ropes slippery with blood.
Suddenly she heard noises outside the room. The door opened, and she gasped as she watched Slade leading a woman with a black bag over her head, her hands handcuffed in front of her, wearing a very familiar dress, into the room. Thea swallowed her sobs as she realized it was her mother being brought towards her.
Without a word, Slade brought Moira over to the chair left vacant with Roy's absence and forced her to sit down. He took rope out of his pocket and proceeded to tie her firmly to the chair, binding her upper arms tightly to her sides as well as the chair. He then took out a second piece of rope and tied her feet together and to the bottom rung of the chair. He then removed the bag from her head and Moira gasped, as her eyes fell on Thea.
"Oliver said you were with Roy," Moira said, her voice shaking, her face pale.
Thea swallowed another sob as Slade spoke. "Oh, indeed she was, Mrs. Queen. The boy had been here earlier. However, true to his vile nature, your son didn't tell you the complete truth, did he? That they were kidnapped. Tsk, tsk, tsk. I'd think you would've taught him better than that."
Thea watched as anger ignited in her mother's eyes. Before Thea could stop her, Moira said, "How dare you talk about my son that way. It's no concern of yours how I raised him."
Slade lowered himself until he was right in Moira's face "As I warned your spoiled daughter, that high-and-mighty tone of the filthy rich isn't welcomed here. You should know I hold your lives in my hands. Thus, I deserve your utmost respect. And your caution."
Moira looked at her daughter, who nodded slightly at Moira. Thea bit her lower lip in an attempt not to say anything because she was afraid of angering the man. Slade was becoming more difficult to predict, his mood swings appearing at odd times.
Thea watched her mother attempt to gather her dignity while placating their enemy. "I apologize, Mr. Wilson. I did not mean any insult," her mother said, giving an air of sincerity to her words.
Slade nodded to acknowledge what she had said. "Yes, I would think you'd know how to act politely." He rose and began to pace slowly in front of them. "You may wonder what will happen next. Well, after I pick up our next guest I will contact your son, Mrs. Queen, to meet us here for a little…'talk'." He added, as he then walked towards the door. "I should gag you both, but I don't think you run too high a risk for me. I'll leave now to see about the next part of my plan. Take care, ladies. I'll see you soon."
The two women watched as the man left and two guards entered, taking their places on either side of the locked door. Thea thought Slade's security measures were overkill, but…perhaps her brother was indeed more dangerous than she'd previously thought. She still was having difficulty reconciling the thought of Oliver being the Arrow. That, indeed, her very own brother was capable of all those heroic deeds…it was just too…amazing to think about.
"Thea, do you know what this is all about?" Moira's question broke through Thea's thoughts.
Thea swallowed, looking at her mother. She wondered if she should share Oliver's secrets, but from what he knew of Slade, they'd probably come out one way or another. "Mom, Slade is apparently out for revenge against Oliver for killing a woman he loved."
"Oliver did share that little bit with me. But how was that possible? Why would my boy do that? Actually kill a woman? Not my Oliver."
"Slade didn't tell me the details either. Hopefully we can get Ollie to tell us. Once this is all over, hopefully, when we're all back at home. Safe."
At her daughter's change in tone, Moira looked up with concern. "Are you afraid he's going to kill us?"
"Or worse. He said…he said he raped Felicity to get back at Oliver. He says Oliver's been interested in her but hasn't made a move. He meant to hurt Ollie if he…did."
Moira gasped. "That man hasn't…he hasn't…?"
"No, Mom, he hasn't raped me." Thea swallowed and whispered, "At least, not yet, anyway."
Moira breathed a silent sigh of relief, then attempted to hide her fear. "I…I'm sure we're just hostages…and Oliver will get us out of here. I cannot believe Mr. Wilson would do something like this. He seemed such a perfect gentleman the other night."
"Looking back at that night, though, Mom, couldn't you tell Ollie was on edge? Something was wrong. Here I thought it was your argument you two been having." Thea stared into the distance off to the side of her mother. "I wish I'd have followed my instincts and asked Oliver what was wrong."
"He'd probably wouldn't have told you."
Anger passed over Thea's face. "Just like you, keeping things from us. From me."
Moira bit her lower lip, her eyes expressing the sorrow she felt. "I'm sorry, dear. Perhaps we wouldn't be in this situation if we'd all been honest with one another. No secrets. I vow, once we get out of this, not to have any more secrets from either you or Oliver."
"I hope so, Mom. I hope so."
"This isn't exactly the right time or place to discuss family secrets."
"I just hope we'll get another time to do so, then."
Moira decided to ignore her daughter's bitter tone, and ask another question. "Mr. Wilson mentioned Roy. What happened to him?"
Thea stifled a sob. "After beating him almost to death, Slade took Roy out of here. He wouldn't tell me where he took Roy, but he hinted he was bringing him to Oliver. Why, I don't know."
"Would you know who Slade is going to get next?"
"I can't imagine, Mom. Slade hasn't told me anything of his plans. I don't understand anything," Thea responded, unable to hide her irritation any longer.
"I'm sorry, Thea. For everything. For you being in this position."
Thea threw her mother a look under furrowed eyebrows. "Mom, do you know something about all of this? Is this your fault?"
Moira sat back a little in her chair, apparently surprised by Thea's question. "No, I only meant to offer sympathy for your imprisonment here. He hasn't hurt you any, has he?"
"No, but he has hurt both Roy and Felicity. Who knows if we'll be next, Mom."
Moira shook her head. "Try not to think about that, Thea. We need to try to keep our minds calm so we can get out of here, if we can. Before anyone else is hurt."
Thea pointedly looked at the two burly guards at the doorway, pretending not to listen to the two women. Her lips curled downwards. "I don't know if that will be possible."
Moira decided to ignore her daughter's bitter tone and not answer. The two women fell into an uncomfortable silence. Thea went back to attempting to loosen her bonds, unobtrusively, since the guards were watching them. It took all her attention for them to remain oblivious. Actually, why am I trying? The bonds aren't loosening any, and with two huge men I couldn't escape anyway. Thea shook her head to clear her mind of such negative thoughts and continued to try to get free.
~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~
Previously:
To the relief of everyone sirens were heard then. Dig asked, "What's our story for the police and hospital?"
Oliver massaged his forehead with his right hand. "I don't want the police involved with this, but I guess we have no other choice. Roy needs to be hospitalized. There will be questions." Looking around the building, Oliver said, "Maybe I should say I've been thinking about opening another club, and Roy took it upon himself to scout for new locations."
"Roy could say they had masks on and he didn't see who they were," suggested Dig.
"Yes, that sounds good." Oliver stood up, having to get some air. He walked towards the door. "I'll go meet the paramedics and lead them in here."
Oliver rode in the ambulance with Roy, while Dig and Sara followed in the van. They found themselves waiting in the family room while Roy was immediately taken into surgery, to address the suspected internal damage to his organs.
Roy Harper's concerned loved ones spent four long hours waiting anxiously for news. Oliver had spent most of the time pacing the small waiting room, while Sara thumbed through magazines without taking in any of the information. Dig alternated between watching TV, changing the channels to find something interesting and keeping an eye on Oliver as he paced, wanting to say something to comfort the other man, but couldn't think of anything helpful to say. It wasn't until 1pm when a doctor in scrubs arrived to tell them that Roy was going to be fine. His internal injuries, though serious, would heal with time, with minimal if any lasting damage or disability.
Oliver breathed a sigh of relief. Taking out his phone, he was about to text Felicity a message when it rang. When he saw the number blocked, his heart leaped into his throat. He nodded at Sara and Dig. Turning away from them, swallowing the fear, he answered.
"Hey, Kid, glad Junior will make it."
Unable to restrain all the anger from showing in his voice, Oliver asked, looking around, "How'd you know that?"
"I got my sources." Waiting a moment, Slade then continued. "Now that you have that taken care of, why don't we move our meeting to 3pm today. Instead of tomorrow."
"What? That's less than an hour and a half from now."
"Don't tell me it doesn't leave you enough time to plan? Well, too bad." As Slade disconnected the call, Oliver turned back towards his team.
"Let me guess. He moved up the meeting time," Sara said with her lips turned into a scowl.
"Yes." Oliver looking at his watch, let out a sigh. "We can leave Felicity at the counseling center. She should be safe there and she needs the time anyway. Their sessions run until 5."
"Well, we better get going. Let me leave a message with the nurse to give to Roy if we're not back before he wakes up," Dig offered.
"And I'll text Felicity letting her know we're on a mission but will pick her up at 5," Sara said.
AN: Oh my, oh my, what is Slade up to now? Sorry it's slow, but we are building up to the final confrontation step by step.