! Warning: Torture and mild sexual content at the beginning. Reader discretion is advised. !
Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.
Jade was chained up and hanging on a pipe, stripped down to her undergarments and slowly waking up as Shiva was preparing some tools and syringes with drugs as Laurel, Barbara and Tatsu felt more than a little uncomfortable, unlike Oliver, Henry, Sara or Helena before they went aside.
"Is this necessary?" Laurel muttered.
"She poisoned my sensei. She gloated over it. And she planned to poison and mutilate me." Shiva sneered as she sharpened her scythe.
"Why?" Laurel demanded.
"A job. Nothing personal. Well, not for me, at least." Jade shrugged.
"And you have also killed innocent people in the past and tried to kill my friends many times. Never for free. Who hired you?" Oliver said as he pulled out a knife.
"You know what I'm capable of, you think I will break?" Jade laughed.
"We have our ways." Oliver said as he cut into her with a knife and Jade hissed.
"It'll take more than that to make me talk." Jade challenged.
"Oh, you will." Henry promised as he pulled out a syringe with a yellow liquid. "I have some experience with interrogating people. I have no doubt you have high pain tolerance. But… I've broken people, who were as tough as you too. Shadowspire. Ring any bells? They killed my daughter. And I knew how to break them before I would find the man responsible. Since then, I've… improved my skills. Ever heard of Vertigo or the Red Death?"
Jade paled as she realized what was in the syringes. "A.R.G.U.S. likes experimenting with new ways of interrogation. Kind of a mix, with… Crane's fear toxin formula and anesthetic. It won't hurt… at first. I know you have high pain tolerance but this… it will strip you of any sensation of pain as we cut into you. But then, as the anesthetic wears off, all that pain will be like if you're reliving it for the first time and it will hurt like hell, with you reliving all that pain you had endured before, like if it for the first time, all at once. Now, believe me, we don't want to do something so extreme to you but if that's what it takes to make you talk, we won't hesitate to use it. What's it going to be?"
Jade tried to get ahold of herself. "I won't break."
Henry sighed as Oliver and Sara nodded as he turned to them. "Your choice." He jammed the syringe above Jade's breast and she hissed as the liquid entered her heart.
Jade panted out and started to sweat as Shiva cut into her and Jade screamed as the drug had robbed her of her pain tolerance.
"I really don't like that we have to do this." Henry said uncomfortably as they heard Jade scream.
"Me neither but it's the lesser evil." Oliver nodded but both he and Henry felt more than uncomfortable.
"It just dredges up some bad memories, you know." Henry said.
"No kidding." Oliver agreed. "We didn't exactly go off a good start."
Ten years ago, Hong Kong
Oliver was running down the streets and entering an internet café, pushing a man away from the computer, about to write an email to Moira before Maseo entered and shot the monitor down, causing for people to panic.
Maseo and Oliver faced each other as Maseo blocked Oliver's attacks and kicked him in the face before starting to speak Chinese and Oliver glared.
"I told you, I don't speak Chinese."
"And I told you, you try to escape again, I beat you senseless!" Maseo punched Oliver in his face.
As Waller was done interrogating Waller, Henry entered, seeing Oliver for the first time. "This is another one of your handlers, Henry Fyff. Mr. Fyff, meet Oliver Queen. You will be teaching him your investigating skills and computer skills."
Henry measured Oliver with an assessing gaze before turning to Waller. "I do this, can I—"
"Teach him what you know and once the mission is complete, you can go home. Refuse or try to escape, you know what happens." Waller warned as Henry glared at her, realizing that Waller was almost as bad as Mercy Graves, if not worse as Waller left as Henry sat across Oliver.
"Look, let's cut to the chase, OK? I'm not here by choice and guessing from your look, neither are you, Queen." Henry said.
"I just want to go home." Oliver sighed.
"Yeah, no kidding." Henry nodded. "Can't say I blame you but honestly, I want to go home too but neither of us have a choice here."
"If you want out too, maybe we can work together." Oliver said as Henry considered.
"I'm afraid that's not an option." Henry said as Maseo entered and punched Oliver in his face, knocking him out.
Oliver woke up in Maseo's home as Tatsu treated him before Oliver got up as Maseo was offering him soup. "Welcome to my home. Dinner?"
Oliver looked around. "How do I get out of here?"
"You can't." Henry said. "You can't escape this and I don't want to work for her any more than you do."
"Then let's work together—"
"You've seen that I will not let you go." Maseo said.
"Then I'd rather—"
"Die?" Henry laughed. "Yeah, that's what I told Waller too, when she… coerced me into this. But to be blunt, none of us have a choice here."
As Oliver saw Akio, Maseo's son, Maseo explained to him that Waller would have his family killed if Oliver tried to escape, making Oliver realized that he had no choice.
"That's how you can hack into the security measures." Henry said as Oliver reluctantly typed in some commands into the computer before he saw that Henry didn't like working with him any more than Oliver did like working with him.
"What's your problem, Fyff?" Oliver asked.
"Honestly, I don't have a problem with you, Queen. I just want to get this over with and go home." Henry said.
"Do you know what's going on here?" Oliver asked.
"If I did, we wouldn't be here." Henry said as Oliver tried typing in some commands but did something wrong as the screen flashed "ERROR".
"No." Henry looked frustrated. "You know what, I need a break." He got up and looked annoyed, taking a drink as Oliver noticed that Henry seemed as desperate as Oliver and Maseo were.
"Is Waller threatening you too?" Oliver realized. Henry looked surprised but quickly got a hold of himself. "Hey. It's OK. Just tell me."
Henry sighed. "Look, I'm not here by choice either. And I'm guessing she coerced you too by blackmail."
"She's threatening to kill Maseo's family if I fail or if I try to escape. What about you?" Oliver asked.
Henry sighed, looking ashamed. "It doesn't matter. It's not like you can help, other than let me help you get Waller's mission over with."
"Look, we don't need to be so distant, OK?" Oliver said. "What's your story?"
Henry considered. "It's getting late. And I don't know about you but I wanna get some sleep. And let's make some things clear, I didn't come here looking for friends, so you can spare me the "best buddy" act. I came here to do a job, then go back home to my family. We're co-workers but not friends, just so that I can make myself clear. You want help, I'll help. I want help, you'll help. Don't expect anything more than that." He went into his room as Oliver wondered why was Henry so distant.
Present
"Yeah, neither of us wanted to work with each other." Henry laughed. "At least, I was more distant than you."
"Not that I blame you." Oliver nodded. "After all, considering that Waller pulled you out of Arkham…"
Henry laughed. "I gotta say, I honestly thought you were an idiot back then. We weren't exactly off to a good start."
Jade breathed out as Shiva stopped cutting into her back after few moments as it was bloodied as Jade had tears in her eyes as she stopped screaming. She tried to endure the pain but due to her lowered pain tolerance, it wasn't easy.
"Well, talk. Or I can make you bleed for days, if I must." Shiva said.
"I did not poison your sensei." Jade said. "Whoever did this, is trying to turn us against each other. Either you kill me or I kill you. I swear on my life."
"Then who did?" Laurel demanded.
"I do not know." Jade said.
"You're an honorable person." Oliver said. "You may be an assassin but you have honor. And I'm pretty sure you don't like being framed."
Roy stepped up. "Help us and we'll consider letting you go. For now."
Jade considered and then nodded before Henry freed her from her restraints.
"Betray us and you will beg for swift and merciful death." Shiva warned.
Later, Aberdeen District, Hong Kong
"I can't believe we're working with her of all people." Oliver muttered.
"No kidding." Roy muttered, remembering what Jade did to Rachel Roth back in Chicago or in Starling General to poison people.
"Let's make one thing clear, no killing, if it is not necessary." Laurel said to both Shiva and Jade.
"Where's the fun in that?" Jade laughed as the Birds of Prey, save for Helena, glared at Jade's ruthlessness.
"I cannot promise that I will not kill anyone who stands in my way but I will make this compromise, to satisfy you, Miss Lance." Shiva said. "If I decide to kill someone, I will tell you beforehand."
Laurel sighed. "Do you ever turn off the inhuman She-Beast act, Shiva? Talking like a human might not hurt. And as for you, Jade, poison one of us accidentally…"
"…I die. I figured." Jade nodded.
"Good to know we've reached an understanding." Oliver said.
"I advise you not to touch anything if you don't want to get poisoned." Jade said as she they entered her boat, where were vials and lab equipment.
"You're like Martha Stewart of homicide." Sara quipped.
"She may be the most brilliant toxicologist since Pamela Isley." Henry said as he examined the formulas and vials.
"Shh, did you hear that?" Oliver asked.
Laurel, Helena, Dinah, Barbara and Henry went upstairs slowly to see thugs surrounding them, with baseball bats, chains, guns, knives.
"Oh, no." Laurel groaned.
Jade examined the drawers and glared. "It's missing. It's gone! The map is gone!"
"What? What map?" Sara asked.
Henry dodged as one of the thugs rushed at him and Henry threw him off the ship. One of the thugs tried to stab him but Henry grabbed his arm and disarmed him before he stabbed him in the arm and threw him down.
Oliver grabbed the baseball bat of another thug and hit him in the face and kicked another one in the stomach.
Laurel jumped on a pole and kicked two thugs off the ship, while Shiva dodged the gunshots and kicked the gun off another thug before she poked him in the throat, making him choke out. Shiva then kicked another one of the thugs in his face and knocked him down.
Barbara grabbed two rebars nearby, using them as improvised batons as she beat the thugs up before Dinah used her Canary Cry, sending the thugs flying off the boat.
"Wait, what's that smell?" Laurel asked as Sara and Jade went out.
"Kerosene." Henry realized. "We need to get off this ship! Move!"
They all jumped off the ship as it exploded.
Later
"Do we really have to do this?" Jade demanded, tied to a pole.
"Let's cut to the chase. Who framed you and what do they want?" Oliver asked.
Jade sighed. "I know a location of another Lazarus pit. I've been hired to find it."
"By who?" Laurel asked.
Before Jade could say another word, suddenly, she was unable to speak, as she tried to open her mouth. In fact, no sound was heard before they were all hit with red darts in their necks as they passed out.
They all came to and found Jade nowhere. "Uh, what the hell?" Laurel demanded.
"She's gone." Tatsu said.
"And apparently, she had help." Henry nodded.
"She said she was searching for another Lazarus pit. I know what is she talking about." Shiva said. "It's how my sensei was able to prolong his life. And if someone finds it…"
"We need to stop Jade and whoever is she working with." Oliver said.
Elsewhere
"Well?" Bear asked as Jade entered, while he was sharpening the blades on his shield.
"You set me up and wanted for the Birds of Prey and Shiva to find me. Why?" Jade demanded.
"Orders." Silencer said. "We have a lead on another Lazarus pit."
Jade narrowed her eyes. "I thought your magician friends…"
"The magic of the Beast is getting weaker lately. We need a potent rejuvenating source." Red said.
"You know they won't stop looking." Jade said.
"We'll stay here and have some fun." Red said as she loaded her wrist guns with darts.
"I have other job to do. And we better move before Tommy Merlyn and Jason Todd catch up with us." Silencer said.
The Longbow Hunters are more or less in the background here, the story is setting up the sequel I plan in Summer 2019.
So, what do you guys think?
Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.