'I PROMISE..'
Right. My turn.
"15A," I shouted, to which my watch gladly responded.
The sonics I had laid out earlier on the walls were instantly activated and everybody went for their ears, disoriented..instead of focussing on me.
"HIGHER!" I shouted some more as the sound waves began shaking the whole place up, breaking the glass ceiling completely and the windows with it.
Good thing, I was wearing the plugs.
'At least one of them..' I thought, flinching my eyes as I jerked my head to free my right ear off the dysfunctioning device.
Hurts but not as much as them.
'Still, an advantage..'
'No lights...' I smirked to no one's sight, as every single outlet burst through as well.
Hello darkness, my old friend..
No lights. It was pitch black. I had just about taken out my phone for some flashlight when I heard some more noise.
"What the- who..who is it?"
Not a sound came back.
"I said, WHO IS IT?"
"AAH..!" I shrieked in pain as I felt something pierce my skin. It wasn't deep. At least I think it wasn't.
But it was enough for the phone to stumble out of my hand and get lost in the dark.
"Where did that fucking phone go?" my volume still not lowering.
So, being a horror genre fan myself, I decided to do the intelligent thing...
Go back.
Unlike every night-at-a-creepy-cursed-farm-house-character ever.
But now, the door was suddenly locked.
"Great.."
"I don't even have the password," I remembered as I turned back around.
'I must find that phone' my resolve.
Though, I came in here with an entirely different purpose.
But, this...this just became too real, too fast.
"What would mom do without me.." the only thought in my mind.
I walked aimlessly around the place, knowing someone was here, hiding in the shadows, biding his time, waiting...for me.
But what else could I do?
All these thoughts paced around in my mind, while hoping that I wouldn't step on some rat or something.
I was beginning to "see" a bit in the dark by now though, as my eyes adjusted, becoming a bit more comfortable without any light to work with.
"Hello?" Is someone here?" I asked again, stupidly, like a bad horror movie cliche.
And for the danger I was probably in- locked in an abandoned store room with a potential psycho, who even knows the password to my store room- it was going amazingly mundane.
"NOO. FUCK.." I reacted with instinct as I bashed right into something made of glass.
"OUCH! What the hell is this?" I cried.
And then, a tiny weird voice began to whisper beneath my feet.
It was the lights. The emergency green tingish lights were activated around the glass case.
And as I looked into the darkness, standing in front of it, everything was finally clear.
It was never more transparent as I could see something. It was a reflection. My reflection.
In the glass.
While I stood on the other side of..the hood.
A green hood.
I wanted answers. I finally had them.
"Ollie. What did you do? What did you just do?"
"Thea.."
I turned around, upon hearing my name being called.
"Is that..Ollie?"
"She's free..take cover," the bullets went flying all over the place.
"FIND HER..!" the man in charge barked orders at the fools, still unaware of what had just transpired over here.
And as the emergency lights began flickering back and forth, throwing some shade into the dark, it became painfully obvious.
As he saw me.
Holding my chains in one hand.
And a gun in the other.
While all of his guards were piled together on the side.
And just for his amusement, I fired the gun..again.
"How long have you been shooting up there giving me false hope?"
"Since after the first five minutes, no offense."
"Be as it may, kiddo. I still have something you don't.." he smirked.
"And what is that, shit-face?"
"Power.." his face lit up with that response.
I chuckled instead.
"Power!? Don't you watch Game of Thrones?" I asked him.
And the very next second, he was screaming his lungs out as a very pointy arrowhead went right through his hand.
"No crappy power struggles. This isn't a CW show.."
So much for power.
"Just like I told you before, I'd love to get that necklace back, over your dead body," I smiled gleefully, my mask still off.
He finally believed me.
"Wait, stop. No, please.."
At last..the right words were coming out of his mouth.
I stepped towards him and that alone..scared him, prompting him to crawl backwards, all huffing and puffing.
I was trained by the very best. I know just where to hit him.
"Aaaaaah! my knee...you bitc-"
"That knee cap would take time to heal. Still, that is to say, you'll have any time."
"Please, here, take it back," he threw away my property.
Out went another kick.
"You're done. You're not surviving me. You're not lasting to see the final poll results. You'll die. Tonight."
"As if Blood is any better, rich city has gone to shit in the last two years. Or haven't you noticed from your pretty little castle with the ocean view?
And how do you think I amassed all these drugs? Girls? All this power?
With Sebastian Blood's support, of course.."
His beaming face hurt my eyes.
"You'll end...right now.." I said in anger, as I pushed my bow across his face.
He put his hands, in defense, and said, "Wait. You need me to confess...the trial. Remember? I'll confess. Just let me go.."
"Like hell," I smirked.
Revenge is always sweeter when it's served with a severed head. Or was it just "cold"?
Or was it a "cold, severed head?" Yeah, most likely, that one!
"You'll just let an innocent die, then, uh? Some hero you are."
"Who said there won't be confession, Vincent!? You just won't live long enough to see it."
"Code 12R," I spoke in the watch.
"...It brought me comfort knowing that he won't be alone up there. Besides, he probably would have told.."
His eyes widened at hearing gis voice.
"It won't be admissible in court. You know that, right?" he said stuttering.
"Yeah, well. I have your laptop. Going to New Gotham tomorrow, huh? And then, Moscow a few days later?" I hit back the words.
I finally saw a lump develop in his throat. The sweaty palms, the forehead and the whole shin-ding. He knew he was beaten. Classic.
"Any last wishes?" I positioned the bow, just at the right angle.
"What about the girls? My buyer took them away while you were unconscious..."
"Oh, I know Fernandez's address. Don't you worry about that.."
He knew I wasn't lying. That he was done.
"And now, it would be some good practice to take out an eye, what do you say?"
"An eye?..wait, what if I gave you something?"
"Like money? I have enou-"
"No, him. I know..him," he said, interrupting me.
"The man you've been hunting all this time."
"You can't ha-"
"Deathstroke," he smiled and seeing me hesitate and lower my stance only added to his confidence.
"Oh, so, the rumors were right then. You are looking for him. How fun.."
"Where is he?" I asked him, very politely.
"No.." the cocky asshole had returned for a second round!
"WHERE IS HE!?"
"I said, NOO!" he said, matching my volume.
Ugh. This just became a CW show. *sigh*
"You're gonna have to choose," he smirked, as I heard the alarm kick in.
"Either you kill me and let your archnemesis go. Or we'll do the opposite. Kill him and let me go. But, we have got just a minute or two. So, choose wisely. Very wisely, girl.."
He thinks he has leverage.
He's still at my mercy but he doesn't feel shy in lowering his own chances at survival by saying, "Also, take in consideration if you want me out there. After all, I could tell SCPD the truth, can't I..Thea?"
"Is that..Ollie?"
A sheet dropped from above and a light, from what seemed like a projector behind me, lit it up.
It was a recording. By him.
"Hey, sis," said the man on the screen.
"Ollie.."
What I would not have given to hear his voice again..?
"Thea. I know all of this must be hard for you to accept. To see me..in the hood. To see me as a killer.
I know I have failed you. Just like I've failed this city. Or I probably will have, if you are seeing this.
I-I..don't know where to begin this.
It's not a conversation I planned to have when I came back. But then again, I didn't expect Slade to come back, as well. I don't know if I can stop him. I really don't. So, you must know. The truth, for a change.
Our father...our father wasn't the man we thought he was. He..he was involved in a group. A gr-" he stopped.
"Stupid me. Always miss the stuff that matters.
You still miss me, don't you? And here I am, getting straight to the-" he sighed and took in a short breath.
"So, before that, I..I just need you to..forgive me. For all of this.
Some of the worst things that have happened over the last year to you and our family were because of me. Your kidnapping. Roy getting involved in the streets.
Even the earthquake. I couldn't stop it in time.
Tommy.
The list never ends. It really doesn't.
But I want you to know that all of that was for a reason..a purpose. I didn't mean to get anyone in harm's way. This was my mission. Only mine. But somehow, other people kept getting involved. Despite all my efforts to stop it.
Tommy, Mckenna Hall, Roy, Felicity, John, Sara, Helena, mom, you..." he paused for a breather, trying to keep his emotions in check.
"Laurel.." he smiled as he said the name.
'He still loved her..' my only thought in that very second.
"And then there are those whom I killed. But Thea, those aren't random killings. I went after the city's worst, because..our father was involved with these people. Last year's Undertaking? Dad was involved too with Malcolm.
I..I tried to stop it. I really did. But, I couldn't."
"It all began with the Gambit. We shipwrecked. Dad lived too. But we didn't have the resources to survive. So, he took a gun and shot himself. So, that I could live. I survived five years in hell to return home but not without a purpose.
I wanted to right his wrongs. Save this city. Make things better.
That's what he asked of me.
He gave me a list. It contained the list of names who were involved with the Undertaking. I spent the better part of last year taking out those people.
I'm telling you this. All of this because I want you to understand. Understand that whatever I did, I did because I felt, it was right for this city. But that didn't always come without a price. And I apologize for that.
Now, I want you to remember this.." he took in another pause.
"What else is left, Ollie?", I had settled into the chair nearby with my hands covering my imploding head by then, when I heard his phone rang.
He looked at it and smiled.
"It's from you.." he said to the camera. To me.
"Hey, sis...where I am? I am..at..work.
What work?" he did his nervous laugh routine, prompting me to smile a bit.
"I'm at the club. Just doing some financing.
Hey, just because I didn't complete college, doesn't mean I don't know what's 'profit', Thea.
No, I'm not lying to you.."
I suddenly remembered this conversation.
"No. I don't think I'm forgetting anything important.
Come on, Thea, don't be mad.
Heeeeyyy. Just tell me what it is. I'll try to correct it.
Hey. That's harsh. Maybe I forgot something. Doesn't mean you get to say that you hate me...because I don't. I lov-" I had disconnected the call by now.
"I love you, Thea..." he said, disappointingly at the phone screen.
I had burst into tears, by now.
My loud sobs perfectly coinciding with the silence between us.
"Just so you know.." the voice spoke up again.
"I'm sorry for that again. It's just...I'm juggling night life as a vigilante. Try to give 2 hours in at the club. Laurel thought it would be best to end things between us after Tommy died. Mom is pushing me to work at Queen Consolidated. It's just..I'm breaking down and I don't know what to do.
I hope one day you'll understand.." his characteristic saddened smile returned.
"Anyway, as I was saying.
I want you to remember me. Never forget me. But at the same time, move on. Don't grieve me for the rest of your life. Alright? It's okay to move on. It's okay to be happy, sis.
I want you to take care of mom and build a happy life. Just go out there, make it big, be the best version of yourself and just..live life. Be brave and whenever life gives you a tough sell, you never buy it. You hear me? Never, ever even consider it.
You have a chance..a chance to live for us. Me and Dad. So, live for us, please? Maybe meet someone special and hold on to him..or her.."
Despite all that regret and anger burning in my chest at his words, I felt warmth at his acceptance of me. Not back then, certainly. But, still.
"Get drunk and have parties? Whatever your heart desires. But hey, no drugs..."
Even in death, he wouldn't stop. I chuckled with him even though I was still crying. "Oh, Ollie.."
"And most importantly, have fun. Loads and loads of fun. Because you know, beneath all this pain and misery, I sure did," his water-y eyes lit up, just like I remembered them.
"I want you to promise me this, Thea," a tear shed from his eye and the video ended abruptly just like his time with us.
How..poetic.
And cruel.
And to think, he cried even though the future he was sobbing for, wasn't set in stone.
He probably taped this on that one day when he came in my room, gave me a long random hug and walked away, not wanting to even talk about it..
"I promise, Ollie...I promise."
"I'll miss you, sis," I heard the words, though there was no one left to say them. Not anymore.
"I..I.."
"I'm sorry for your loss, Thea," a voice came from the shadows, his face covered and his eyes staring right into my fears.
"Who are-"
"No," I shot an arrow right into his toe.
"AAAH!" he shrieked in pain.
"What are you doing? Killing me without that information serves you no purpose."
"Oh, but it does. All of this has a purpose. My father taught me that," I shot an arrow through his leg.
As he cried some more in pain, he mumbled, "This isn't logical. I can help you...you stupid bitch.."
"When life gives you a tough sell, you never buy it. My brother taught me that.."
"AGHH..!"
Bullseye.
I grabbed hold of the hozen and ran to the back door as sounds of people running rose exponentially in the last few seconds.
But before I broke the door open, "FREEZE!" a familiar voice startled me in my position.
It was that hesitation that cost me my escape.
"Wait! Nobody shoot," he said to his colleagues.
"You. We have seen you for the first time in these three months of your..career."
"Three months!?" I scoffed.
"That you know of.." I said, my back still turned to them.
"Why kill him? We could have arrested him and shut down all his operations..." he said before I interrupted him.
"Am I under arrest, Officer?" I asked him as I raised my hands in the air after dropping my bow down to the floor.
I could never outrun them. I am NOT the Hood.
The officers looked to his senior for the answer.
"No, you're not. Some months ago, you would have been. Not anymore. We need good guys like you. And, it's Detective."
"Didn't see that coming, Detective Lance," I said, relieved.
"Just tell me one thing...Is he..dead?" he asked instead.
"No. The man behind the mask may have died. But the symbol he carried is still alive."
"I may have failed him. I won't fail you," he nodded as I looked at him over my shoulder.
"Just..."
"What?" I asked.
"Stop with the spray and all. People are up my ass with that."
"See you around, detective," I chuckled and out I bailed through the window.
A shot to the rooftop adjacent to the warehouse, and I quickly glided back up there to get back my bag which I left behind.
I hurriedly got my things - the casing, extra arrows, some medicine and an additional bow, for emergencies - and jumped up the wall straight ahead. And then another, running across smoothly.
And finally, there I stood at the edge of the final jump point.
"This is gonna be rough.." I said thinking of the slant and I traced a few steps back with the intention to run with momentum, but as I jumped, I suddenly felt something thick, pierce my face, mid-jump.
"What the-?" I burst out as I hit face first into the wall and fell through to the fire escape.
'Probably an arrow..' my instinctive answer to my subconscious question: what the fuck just laced my skin?'
Short-breath and hurt to a point that I couldn't move much, I looked up to the point of my jump.
A shadow-y figure lurked in the darkness above.
I...I couldn't see clearly who it was. But I knew that suit. That..uniform. Complete with a bow and a quiver.
And a familiar looking sword hung around his waist.
But how..? And more importantly..why?
"Dad!?" I mumbled in my lips as he launched another arrow in my direction.
"Oh, crap..."
Author's notes:-
"I Promise" arc is a 3-parter/trilogy. I promise you that the resolution of this trilogy will be really realllly satisfying.
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