Chapter 5
Old Wound
And here's the latest chapter before the hiatus. I'm gonna take a break due to college. but i'll work on my story. Enjoy the chapter.

A couple weeks before Laurel Lance's discharge

"Ms. Lance?" Laurel looked away from her computer to see a mid 30 something woman in a formal outfit with glasses. Her auburn hair was flowing down her back and she looked a bit anxious like someone was watching. But she took a deep breath to introduce herself. "I'm Dr. Andrea Frost. I would like to talk to you about something very important. It has to do with Sebastian Blood."

"The Mayor Candidate? What about him?" she just found out about the death of Maya Resik from by call from St Walker's Hospital, so she wasn't in a very good mood but her curiosity peaked when the mayor candidate was mentioned.

"I got bank records of him funding a underground super soldier project." She took out a file from inside of her jacket and placed it on the table, "There's also a file of the project and the names of those involved. Please, read it."

"Of course. I'll look into it as soon as possible, Dr. Frost." She said, "What's the name of that super-soldier project?"

"Wolverine."

"1-1." Oliver announced as Jericho swiftly got taken off his feet with a swift heel kick during their session, so far it was intensive, flared, high tempo. Jericho had won the first round but Oliver just won the second. It was a stalemate between the two fighters.
Jericho chuckled as he got back up and resumed his fighting position "Who trained you how to fight like that?"

"Yao Fei." He replied, avoiding a roundhouse kick and went for a high kick of his own which Jericho dodged it

"Was he on the Island?" he questioned,

"He was a prisoner held by a small group of paramilitaries stationed there." Oliver said, "It must've been hard for you, living up to your father's name."

"You have no idea." He stated, "He's like the boogeyman of the criminal underworld. Trust me, he's not someone you want to get on his bad side."

"Is that so?"

"Oh yeah." Jericho replied as he fake punched when in actuality, he bypassed his opponent and elbowed Oliver in the back. He stumbled a bit before he regained his balance.

"Nice move." He praised, then they traded punches and kicks at a fast pace that was too quick for the spectators to keep track. Jericho jumped over a heel kick and pulled Oliver close for a snapmare takedown.

"2-1." Jericho declared with a smirk, "Looks I'm winning."

"Don't get ahead of yourself." Oliver said as he lifted his legs up and wrapped them around Jericho head for a head scissor, taking Jericho off guard. "2-2."

"Have you ever seen a flower die? Watched something that was once so beautiful, so full of life, collapse and rot from within..."

Jericho and Barbara was listening to Freeze's testimony as they sat in the front of the prosecution's table where Ferris Boyle feared the worst. The court wasn't going to his favor and Jericho knew it. There was no way he could manipulate out of this one. DA Kate Spencer was asking Fries the questions.

"You refer to your wife's lliness, correct?" She asked,

"It seems like yesterday when I first found her. It all happened so quickly. Suddenly, I was losing her." he said,

"What about your employer, Gothcorp? Did you seek help?" she continued,

"I hid it from them, diverting resources from GothCorp's research in an attempt to find the cure, but in the end, I failed. Time was running out. I knew that if I was discovered, Nora would die."he replied,

"I'm not following. Why would you do that?"

he sighed as he clarified his statement, "Initially I made a deal with Ferris Boyle, the CEO. He would finance my research for a cure to Nora's Huntington's and in exchange he put me to work on a secret cryogenic weapons program, most of my former coworkers were dubious. But then I discovered that he had no intentions of living up to his promise."

"So why did you take that risk?" She questioned,

"Do you know what it is to love someone? To really love them?" Fries inquired,

"Yes."

"Nora was all I could think of. I re-ran the diagnostics, re-examined every detail from every angle, certain that I had missed something. I cursed myself for being so blind, so stupid. Surely there was a cure; I just needed more time. Then I realized what I had to do." He explained,

"What did you do then, Victor? If you don't mind me asking?" she inquired,

"I had worked without sleep for a week. My needs didn't seem important. Sleep didn't matter. Food didn't matter. There was only her. I looked at Nora and told her that I loved her. She said there was nothing I could do, that I... we should just accept fate. She smiled her beautiful smile as she said it. I promised to cure her. And then I pressed the button."

"You put her in cryostasis. Keeping her on ice sort to speak, so you could find a cure for her." She concluded, "Did you feel relieved?"

"I was. But that moment of relief was ruined by him." he pointed his ice cold finger at Boyle as if he was something nasty and he was in his opinion that was shared by the others of the jury who took sympathy for the witness.

"By the time she was asleep, Ferris Boyle had found me. He ordered the guards to shut the lab that I was conducting my research at. He said to me like all of my "research" she belonged to him. I was enraged, I took a stand but as a result for my efforts, I was drenched in the cryogenic chemical I had created. I lay on the floor helpless watching Boyle and the guards escaped. He left me to die."

"Boyle is so screwed." Jericho declared and he was proven right when the jury had reached a verdict a hour later.

"Has the jury reached a verdict, Ms. Field?" Judge Newton asked,

"Yes your honor." Ms. Field replied, "We find the defendant Ferris Boyle… Guilty."

"Nyssa? Nyssa was here?" Talia asked in disbelief, after last night, Jericho called Talia and told her to meet him at Gotham City Cathedral in Park Row when she got there wondering why he would meet her in the now closed Arkham City and the first thing he said was that Nyssa dropped into two. To say that the news was a surprise, was a understatement.

"Yep, dropped by the balcony just to check on how I was doing." Jericho replied, "Other than that, we didn't say much to each other."

"That's a bit out of her character, Jericho." She replied, rubbing her chin in a thoughtful manner "Do you think her visit may have something to do with our father?"

"No, I don't think so but she did mention that she was being followed. Could be the reason why she was in a hurry?"

"Maybe." she shrugged, could it be the reason why she left in a hurry? If so, then there's more to it than it meets the eye. It must be a reason why she was here in Gotham, As they were thinking then his cellphone ringed interrupting their conversation, Jericho sighed knowingly of who's calling him at this time.

"We shall discuss this later." She said; Jericho nodded in agreement before answering the call.

"Yeah." He listened to what the caller had to say and was surprised when the caller told him, "What? You're serious? Ok, I'll get there by the afternoon. Call Oliver to give him ." He put his cellphone back and glanced at Talia who was curious of who called him, "That was Barb. Nyssa's passport just flagged at Starling City Airport."

"How does she know?"

"Because I told her to follow Nyssa's movement since she left Gotham." He told her, "Looks like we're heading back to the Star City."

"How long will you be there?" Barb asked, Jericho was packing up some things before the flight back in their apartment,

"A few days, tops." He answered, as he finished packing it and went to get his passport from the bed table. "At best.

"I don't like this, Jericho. " she said, "I got a bad feeling about this."

"Believe me, so do I." he responded, "But I'll be fine. just gonna find out why she's in Starling city." despite the reassurance, she was still worried.

"Be careful, alright?"

"Always am."

"Welcome to Starling City International Airport." After a 2-hour flight from Gotham, they went through the metal detector as they retrieved their passports along with luggage.

Jericho arranged the booking of the earliest flight back to Starling City. Barb called him to let him know that Oliver got the heads up and is expecting them. They got into a cab and told the cab driver to get them to the Starling City Plaza. Jericho's mind was going through millions of scenarios played out. What are her intentions here in Starling City? Is it because of Sara? If so, what happened between them since he was no longer in the League? Did they have a fall out? Sara didn't say much about their relationship status so there was some tension. But she did not say that they were through though.

"Any idea why she is here?" she asked, Jericho didn't answer directly but his body language was telling her that he knows something that she doesn't'. "Do you know something, brother?"

"Maybe." He said,

"Tell me." She demanded, Jericho shifted a bit contemplating if he should tell her or not, after a thoughtful pause, he decided to tell her anyway

"Sara is here in Starling City. she has uh, left the league."

"What?" she asked, Jericho knew that he shouldn't told her because he expected a reaction like this. "How come I haven't been told about this?"

"Because you have trust issues?" he tried to light up the situation but Talia wasn't going to be persuaded that easily. He was trying to buy the cheap way out. But she wouldn't allow her brother. After an uncomfortable moment of Talia staring daggers, Jericho couldn't take it anymore. "Look, I saw her across the street from the hotel. I went to catch up with her."

"And then?"

"She asked what I was doing here, I explained why and she told me that she left the League to check on her family after the earthquake. Been there ever since." He left out the part of her night-time activities as the Black Canary because he didn't want to get into more trouble than he is right now. She made an unconvincing Mhmm as if she knew that there was more to the story, but chose not to comment on that.

The cab arrived at the Plaza, Jericho paid the tax feed and they got out of the backseat with their bags. Once they checked in, they went to their hotel room preparing for the upcoming evening. It's going to be a long one.

Talia was doing situps while Jericho did pushups as the night came in, their combat suits were hanging in the closet, everything was set and they were now waiting for the call from Oliver. In the meantime, they were working out One of their cellphones that was on the bed table ringed.

Jericho stopped the workout and went to answer it.

"Yeah." Jericho answered, "Hi Oliver. We just arrived in the afternoon. What? Yeah. No no, we'll be there." he then hung up and put it on the table. "Nyssa just made her first move. She tried to convince Sara back to the League of the Assassins but she refused."

"I don't understand, what do you mean…" she trailed off as she understood the reason behind, Nyssa came to Starling City so to remind Sara to honor her vow to the League. "She sworn an allegiance and. And Nyssa's here to bring her back to our father."

"Exactly." He confirmed; that only answered one out of the two questions. But it was a start. "Sara however doesn't want to be there anymore."

"But that doesn't explain why she visited you brother." She said, " But we may find out why soon rather than later."

they changed into their we and left the hotel heading to the Verdant nightclub on the rooftop

"Oliver, can you hear me?" He said, tapping into his earpiece,

"Loud and clear. Where are you heading?" Oliver asked,

"We're heading to the Verdant nightclub. Is Sara with You?"

"She's with me." Oliver confirmed, "Along with your biggest fan."

He chuckled, "Can't wait to meet her again." Then the connection ended,

"Fan?" she questioned with her eyebrow raised,

"Don't ask." He said,

It took only 30 minutes for them to get there. They snuck through the back door down the stairs to Oliver's secret base. Oliver, Sara and Felicity were monitoring the computers when they heard their arrival.

"Glad you came by." Oliver said, as the girls turned around and saw them.

"As-salamu alaykum, Ta-er al-Asfer." Talia greeted, " (Peace be upon you, The Canary.)

"Wa alaykumu as-salam, Talia." Sara responded, (And unto you peace, Talia.) "It's been too long."

"It is." Talia replied, it had been far too long between old comrades and there would be a time for them to catch up. Right now they have important matters to tend to. "Give us a sitrep."

"I found Sara's sister Laurel unconscious at her apartment last night. At first doctors thought it was a OD but drug results came back negative. However, I noticed one of her eyes being discolored. So i asked Felicity to check her blood work, there was traces of snake venom from a Tibetan viper." Jericho and Talia shared a look knowing who would poison her.

"You think its..."

"Oh it's her. I recognize that poison from a mile long." He stated, the Tibetan viper can only be found in the mountains of Nanda Parbat and it was clear that she extracted the poison from one of the vipers. It was a way of luring Sara out of the shadows and return back home."Is Laurel ok?"

"She's fine. I gave her an antidote to counter the venom." Sara confirmed, her cellphone buzzed once she informed about her sister's condition, "I gotta take this." she separated from the group to take the call.

"Hi dad. What's up? What?" the group turned around when they heard Sara voice turned up a volume. That doesn't sound good. "I'll be there right away." She ended the call to tell the group about what she just learned and it was bad.

"That was my dad. Mom just got grabbed outside the hospital. He thinks that League of assassins took her. But I know who really did this."

"Nyssa."

They got to the hospital where Sara's father Officer Quentin was waiting for her looking very guilt ridden as if he were to be blamed for this. Oliver were on the rooftop of the hospital watching carefully.

"What happened, Dad?" Sara asked, not wasting any time.

"Your mother and I were talking about Laurel when that assassin group you're part of came out of the blue and took your mother. They drove off in a black van."

"Did you see their faces?"

"No it happened so quickly that I didn't have the opportunity." Quentin noticed they were not alone as he saw Jericho and Talia for the first time, "Who are you guys?"

"I'm Jericho; this is my sister Talia." Jericho said, "Sara's a old comrade of ours. We know who kidnapped her mother."

"Who? I thought that…"

"It's our sister Nyssa. A high ranked assassin who's come here to retrieve your daughter." he explained,

"Why?"

"Sara had sworn an oath to the League of Assassins and Nyssa's here to make sure that she'll honor it in the name of our father Ra's Al Ghul." Talia stated

"Great." Quentin muttered, as if there wasn't enough trouble going on tonight. Jericho's cellphone buzzed once again for a third time tonight. He checked the Caller ID to see unknown.

"Yeah."

"Hello brother."

"Nyssa." Jericho hissed, everyone was stiff for a spilt second at her name, "How the hell did you get this number?"

"You should worry more about what will happen to Ta-er al-Asfer's mother. I tried to warn her of dishonoring her oath but she wouldn't listen. So I thought it would be instructive for her to know what it feels like to suddenly lose someone you love…"

"To have them ripped away from you." Jericho finished, "I know. Nyssa, don't do this. you don't want to hurt Sara's mother."

"You're right. I don't." Nyssa agreed, "Tell Ta-er al-Asfer that she has one day to make her choice. Make sure it's the right one."

"Felicity, you and Diggle better have come up with something because I'm not in good mood right now." Jericho declared as he paced back and forth back in the cave, How did she get a hold of his number? He groaned as he figured it out how. she must've checked out Barb's cellphone and found his number.

"Fortunately we have. We researched the poison Nyssa used on Laurel." Diggle said,

"Luckily for us, Tibetan pit viper venom is surprisingly difficult to transport. It starts losing its potency the moment it leaves the fangs." Felicity paused for a moment, once she said that out loud.

"Yet another sentence I never thought I'd actually say out loud." she mused,

"Well, at least Dracula didn't hear that." Jericho remarked, earning a blush from the blonde IT-girl.

"So it was bought locally?" Oliver inquired,

"Not locally. Stolen." Diggle clarified,

"From where exactly?" Talia questioned,

"The zoo. A local break-in." Diggle answered, "The perps didn't steal anything, so the cops chalked it up to a bunch of kids looking for a thrill. "

"I pulled up the zoo CCTV footage from the night of the break-in." Felicity pulled up footage from the night of the break in and zoomed in on a license plate. "I caught a plate. The car's a rental. Address is in the Glades."

"Good work, Felicity." Jericho complimented, "Sara, call your dad." Sara nodded in agreement as she went to call your father about the new development just as Oliver's cellphone.

"OK. Dad's on the way. If we find Nyssa or her associate, leave them to me."

"How do I know we can trust you, darlin'?"

"You obviously don't remember South Africa too well." Sara teased.

"They're coming." Nyssa alerted, Jericho was working on a smoke pellet of his own design when she said that. he, Nyssa along with Talia and Sara were protecting a small village where a small group of mercenaries were approaching fast. They got the word from one of their contacts that the group of mercenaries had planned a hostile takeover on one of their households scattered around the globe.

"Just about putting the finishing touches." He declared, "there!"

"Sara's taking the members of the household to safety." Talia informed as she joined her brother and sister in appropriate clothing ready for combat, "Is everything set, brother?"

"Yep." He confirmed, "Shall we?" she nodded a yes and they went separate ways to take their positions. One half of the mercenary group had entered the household armed to the teeth with rifles and guns. Jericho hiding behind a wall had a smoke pellet. He threw it on the floor creating a big smoke. The mercenaries were blinded and couldn't see Jericho sneaking up on the two of them and snapped their necks. He then snatched a gun from another mercenary and fired a bullet straight through the head. but he made a crucial mistake of not having the eyes on the back of the head as a bullet went through his thigh. He yelled out in agony as he went down on the floor. Just as the other mercenary was about to finish him off, Sara came to the aid by thrusting a knife onto his back. he died in a instant.

"Always mind your surroundings." She remarked as she helped him up putting his arm over her head.

"I thought that you'd gone by now."

"And miss the fireworks? Never."

"Damnit!" Jericho cursed as he punched the wall in frustration, Felicity jumped startled by the sound, while Diggle was unfazed by the sudden outburst. Jericho, Talia and Oliver just got back just a few moments ago; they do not look pleased. They went to the address in Glades and stumbled on Nyssa's comrade but when they subdued him during his escape attempt, he killed himself with a vial of viper poison eliminating the chance for an interrogation. Damn poison. And now they were back to the drawing board and they don't have much clue of where Nyssa's holding Sara's mother so it's a dead end.

"I take it that it didn't went well." She said from an observances point of view. Jericho shook his head no in response.

"No. We caught Nyssa's accomplice back in the Glades but he drank viper poison, thus killing himself. We never got the chance to ask him where Sara's mother is."

"So we're back at square one." Diggle summed it up; this was a major setback. "How's Sara?"

"Not well, I'm afraid." Oliver replied quietly, "She's taking it pretty hard." Jericho decided to head back to his hotel room as he left the cave with no signs of the others stopping him. This was giving him a headache for sure and it was about to get worse the next day.

"We have a big problem." Oliver stated, as he and Talia reappeared in cave, after Moira Queen's Campaign event for Mayor. The Al Ghuls packed everything for their return home once the when Oliver called them to meet them at their base. He didn't exactly sound joyful when he spoke on the cellphone.

"Define big problem." He said, "Because you're not exactly helping with my mood."

"The Snake venom is gone and so is Sara. She's found Nyssa." Jericho face palmed in despair while Talia shook her head in discontentment at the terrible news;

"You foolish woman." Talia berated Sara under her breath, "Have you located her yet?"

"I planted a tracer on her in case she disappeared on me, again." He said putting emphasis on again like it's happened before, "She's on her way to the docks outside of town."

"Which is likely the location of her Mother's imprisonment." Talia stated, "Brother you don't think that Sara will…"

"Kill Nyssa?" Jericho shook his head, "Unlikely. Unless." A horrifying thought came across his mind as he recalled a moment with Sara last night after the accomplice's suicide.

"Where you're going?"

"Someplace quiet."

"And What is this place?"

"Somewhere you wouldn't go. I got places to go, mother to save and no killing."

"God damnit, Sara!" Jericho cursed, then turned to ask Oliver about an antidote "Do you have some antidote or something?" Confused by the question and the reaction, Oliver went to get some herbs and once oliver handed it to him, Jericho ran in a hurry with Talia following him.

"What is wrong, brother? Where are you going?" He ignored the question and went to the nearest cab leaving her behind.

"Starling City Docks." Jericho told the cab driver once he got in, "Get there as fast as you can!"

"Nyssa! Sara!" Jericho called looking around the docks, so far he hadn't been lucky to find her or Nyssa for that matter. he kept looking around the dock when he heard someone calling for paramedics from one of the warehouse and then there was a struggle going on. He recognized the voice as officer Quentin Lance. Aw hell no, he's not going to die on his watch. Jericho ran as fast as he could to the warehouse where he saw Nyssa about to kill Lance.

"Oh no, you don't!" Jericho announced as he tackled her off her feet, then glanced at Lance who nodded a quick thanks for the timing, "Get outta here, get the paramedics now." Lance took off after some hesitance

"Why did you interfere, brother?" she hissed,

"To prevent you from making a mistake." Jericho said, "Where is Sara?"

"Over…. Here." Sara yelled weakly from their position, Jericho suppressed a gasp running over to her as he saw her laying on the ground. She was slowly dying.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he said as he kneeled in front of her, he cradled her head in his arms

"Please…. spare me the lecture." She cut him off with each gasp for breath between the sentence. and "I had no choice." then coughed up some blood. she didn't have much time.

"There's always a choice, Sara." Jericho reminded, then looked up to Nyssa who looked like she was contemplating her choice, "She needs help, now!"

"I don't know if my heart can take more of this. If I had known the pain that I'm feeling in my chest now, none of this would've happened. I shouldn't listen to your advice."

"You're blaming me for this?" Jericho looked at her as if she was crazy, he had some influence but it was for good intentions.

"Who else should I blame? I foolishly believed you. But there's no such thing as a happy ending for us. "

"Don't blame me for this, Nyssa. You were the one who asked…"

"NO! Brother!" Nyssa cut him off while pointing at him in accusation, "I kept my emotions conserved. No one has ever affected me until her. she was the most beautiful woman that I ever saw." Tears were starting to form in her eyes. "I let this person in. I let her in. I don't let people in. You knew this. I loved her and she has broken me." Jericho didn't admit out loud but some of the things she said were true, she did love her but she chose to go on with her feelings, he did not force her. he just paved her the way. Jericho walked towards Nyssa, standing next to her and placed the bag of herb the that Oliver gave him back at the cave.

"You can tell her parents how much you cared for their daughter when we save her."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can. There's still time." Jericho reassured "Don't have a cold heart like our father." He hoped that his words would get through to her and after a thoughtful pause, Nyssa walked over to Sara and treated her with the herbs that was given to her.

"No more killing." She begged, once she digested the herbs, Nyssa couldn't help but touched by her last act and went to grant her wish.

"In the name of Ra's Al Ghul, I release you."

Jericho and Talia was about to get into cab the next day, Nyssa was nowhere to be found when the police and paramedics showed up, but it was understandable. She had a warrant, so she's not exactly friendly with the authority. After saying goodbyes to the team and Sara, they were heading to Airport.

"Starling City Airport." He told the driver their destination, the cab drove off as Jericho looked out at the window and watched Starling City from the distance. He sighed knowingly that it will be the last time he'll be here. he kinda liked it here, you know besides the crime rate and corruption.

"I wonder, why didn't Nyssa attack you last night?" Talia asked.

"I don't know, Talia." He shrugged, thinking the same thing. in fact it's been bugging him since last night. Nyssa had plenty of opportunities and yet she didn't even lift a finger. "I guess that deep down in her heart she still considers me as her brother even after I left. Blood is thicker than water right?"

"I suppose so." Talia replied, expecting his answer. They were on the highway when suddenly a black SUV came in high speed and collided with ferocity. The cab flipped over dozen times before it stopped rolling. The Al Ghul's were unconscious and the driver was dead when two men stepped out of the SUV and took Jericho back into the SUV and fled the scene. one of the men took out his cellphone and pressed on speed dial.

"We got him, Dr Conner. We got Project Wolverine."

"Excellent. Bring him to my lab. i've been expecting him."

"Understood."

Here's a preview of the next chapter. Adios, amigos. I'll be back.

Dr. Conner hung his head in anguish, they were so close but yet so far. It was all in vein.

But then… beep, beep. Beep, beep. Dr. Conner turned around with renewed hope in his eyes.

"What in the hell?" Isabel spoke for everyone as they watched Jericho's heart rate slowly but surely rising.

"Heart rate is back to normal." Dr. Frost whispered in awe,

"Adamanitum reservoir is depleted." One of the scientists reported,

"No rejection. Procedure completed." another scientist added,