Part 11

Undertaking


After she discovered Thea's paternity, Veronica went back to her researches and, less than two days later, had figured out what Malcolm was planning. She had been through so many pieces of information without finding anything that the only things left for her to find was exactly what they needed to know. She had piles of "maybe something or part of something" information and she had finally found exactly what she needed to piece them together. Half a letter, a map, a symbol, an email and other things that had finally led her to the right conclusion.

"So, what is it?" John asked her.

"He's building a weapon, some kind of machine that can create man made earthquakes. It took me this long to figure it out because he's been hiding it by building it in different companies. I don't know where he wants to use it though. Maybe he wants to sell it to the army but then what would be the point of calling it an Undertaking and of making such a big deal out of it?" Veronica replied.

"I guess there's only one thing to do then." Oliver sighted.

"And what's that?" John asked him.

"Ask my mother and keep on asking until she tells us the truth." he replied, determined.

"It'll have to wait a couple of days, she's still out of town on her business trip." Veronica reminded him.

"Then we wait." Oliver nodded.

"While we wait... I was thinking..." Veronica started before pausing long enough to think of the right way to ask them.

"You look nervous, what is it?" Oliver asked her.

"I'd like you and John to help me learn to fight. I mean, I can throw a punch, Madison's face can attest to that, but I'd like to be able to fight against bad guys if I ever lose my whip. I mean, we never know. I should be able to defend myself and attack them, right?" Veronica explained.

"Makes sense to me." John nodded, knowing that it was up to Oliver to decide.

"I don't like the idea of you anyway close enough to a bad guy to take a punch but I guess it makes sense. Alright, we'll train you." Oliver nodded.

"Great! Can't wait!" Veronica exclaimed happily before she joined Oliver and John where they usually trained and took her first lesson.

.

Laurel knew that if the roles were reversed, Veronica would try to find answers for her. She had helped her often find evidence to win her cases and she owed her, which is why she had asked her father to help her, to do this for her.

"Did Veronica ask you this?" The detective asked his daughter.

"No, she doesn't know that I'm asking you either and she can't know, not until we know if it's really her mother in town or not." Laurel shook her head before she added:

"Please, dad. I know that you're not her biggest fan because she often worked on cases you worked on and solved them before you guys did but she's helped me out a lot and I owe her. I really want to help her and the least we can do is warn her if her mother is really in town or not."

"Fine, I guess I can do this for you. All I have to do is go to AA meetings all around town until I spot her?" he asked confirmation.

"Yes. Here, I asked Oliver to find me a picture of her. It's a bit old but it's all we have for now."

"So Oliver knows about this?" Quentin Lance asked.

"Yes, and he's agreed to keep the secret for now. He got the picture from Keith. I mean, from Veronica's father. He doesn't want her to come back into Veronica's life and ruin it either." Laurel replied.

"Yeah, well, with what little I've heard about her, can't say I blame him." Quentin nodded before he left to go back to work.

.

Veronica had just trained with John and Oliver for a few hours and went home to shower before a stakeout when her phone rang.

"Hey Mac. What's up?" Veronica asked her friend after looking at the caller ID.

"Oh, you know, not much. I was actually calling to ask you if you thought Oliver's job offer was real." Mac asked her.

"Of course it was. Why? Are you considering it?" Veronica asked her.

"Actually I am, yes. It's getting kind of lonely here in Neptune. Wallace is always working or dating or something and working at Kane's... Not exactly the kind of place I want to make friends at." Mac replied.

"Well, you're always welcome here and you'd be able to stay with me until you find your own place."

"Isn't Oliver already staying with you?" Mac asked, a smile in her voice.

"Not officially, no. We kind of sleep at each other's places. I spend the night at his place, he spends the night at mine... We each have a few change of clothes at the other's place. We just spend the night wherever is closer when the day is over." Veronica replied.

"By the way, I heard there's a new Vigilante in town. Karma. Cool name, right?" Mac asked and Veronica could feel that her friend was trying to ask her if she was Karma.

"Totally. Love her." She replied, amused.

"I bet. Do you think she's really dating the green hood guy?"

"We call him Arrow now and yes, I do. Why? You're jealous of her?" Veronica asked her.

"Not really, just curious." Mac smiled.

"You know what they said: curiosity killed the cat." Veronica replied.

"Good thing I'm not a cat then, or have one." Mac smirked.

"So, what else is new?" Veronica asked Mac.

"Not much. The rich get richer, the rest of us keep on working for them and the sheriff's office is as corrupted as ever, though your father is working on it." Mac replied.

"What do you mean?" Veronica asked her friend, concerned.

"He asked me to hack a few files. He's working with Sacks but I think that now Norris helps him too. A truck almost ran them over a couple of days ago but they're fine. Sack just had a broken leg. I can't help but wonder what would have happened if Norris hadn't been with them though."

"He never told me any of this." Veronica shook her head.

"Because he doesn't want to worry you and he knows that if you get too worried, you'd go back to help him. He doesn't want that." her friend explained.

"I can take care of myself, I'm very resourceful." Veronica replied.

"I know, Karma." Mac replied.

"You know?"

"I know you, it's not that hard to connect the dots. I'm guessing Oliver is Arrow?"

"Please don't say anything to anyone. It's a secret." Veronica pleaded.

"I know how a secret identity works Veronica, don't worry, you can trust me."

"I know." Veronica replied.

"But if Karma starts showing up in Neptune every time your father is in danger or every time you come to town, other people will start guessing the truth." Mac warned her.

"I know but I don't like to know that my father is risking his life for a town that doesn't deserve it." Veronica admitted.

"I know but you have to trust that he knows what he's doing and that he's just as stubborn as you are."

"I know." Veronica replied before she hung up, took her shower and went on her stake out.

.

Two days later, when Moira finally came back from her business trip in the middle of the afternoon, Oliver, John and Veronica were waiting for her. Tommy was taking care of the club and Thea was there as well because Roy was now working there, thanks to her two big brothers.

"What's going on? Is Thea okay?" Moira asked when she saw them together with very serious faces on.

"Thea's fine, for now." Oliver replied.

"What do you mean?" Moira asked her son.

"What's the Undertaking? We know about the earthquake machine, now we want to know when and where Malcolm is going to use it." Veronica blurted out.

"Where have you heard that word?" Moira asked.

"Just answer us, mom. Whatever it is, we know it's bad and you need to tell us about it. You need to come clean or we won't be able to stop him." Oliver snapped, half pleading.

"You can't stop him, even the Vigilante couldn't stop him." Moira shook her head.

"What are you talking about?" Veronica asked her, confused.

As far as she knew, Oliver had never gone after Malcolm Merlyn as the Vigilante, so what did Moira mean?

"Malcolm is the Black Archer, the one that the cops called the copycat. Oliver... I... You can't stop him." Moira said.

"Tell us what the Undertaking is, now." Oliver snapped, very serious and, at that moment, his mother understood that his son was the Arrow, that he was the one she had shot in her office a few months ago.

Believing that he could, maybe, stop everything or at least save some people, she decided to tell him everything, to believe that he'd do what's right. She'd face the consequences, it was her own fault for not standing up and fighting Malcolm earlier. he wasn't alone, he had Veronica, whom Moira believed to be Karma and John, his bodyguard who was apparently doing a very good job so far.

"Malcolm plans on using it to level the Glades and everyone in it." Moira dropped like a bomb.

"What? Why?" Veronica asked.

"Because his wife was killed there and nobody helped her. He's crazy... I tried to get out of it when I discovered everything after your father died, Oliver, but I couldn't and then when I tried again, he took Walter. He scares me too much." Moira replied, pleading them to forgive her.

"When?" Oliver asked, too angry to forgive his mother right now.

"Tonight." Moira replied, ashamed.

"That's why Malcolm wanted to see Tommy tonight, why he insisted so much and got so angry when Tommy told him that he couldn't bail on work just for him." John realized.

"Apparently it wasn't enough to get him to change his plans." Oliver shook his head.

"Thea's at Verdant with Roy and Tommy, and Laurel is working late at her office tonight with several other lawyers, they're having a big reunion!" Veronica exclaimed.

"Where is it?" Oliver asked is mother.

"I don't know." She whispered.

"Where is it?" Oliver demanded to know, much louder.

"I don't know, Oliver, I swear!" Moira replied.

"We need to warn people, Oliver... Try to evacuate the Glades and locate this thing." Veronica declared, trying to calm him down.

"I... I'll have an emergency press conference to tell everyone the truth." Moira decided, taking her phone out to get everything organized while Oliver, John and Veronica left the house in a hurry.

Oliver called Tommy and Veronica called Laurel, telling them about what they had heard and warning them to evacuate as soon as possible, to head to Queen's manor. John called his sister in law and warned her as well. Moira would get the word out with her press conference but if they could get a head start, it would be better.

.

When Malcolm saw Moira on TV, warning everyone of his plan to level the Glades and insisting on his involvement, he was furious. How dare she!

He tried to call Tommy one more time but his son was refusing his calls and all he could do was hope that he's leave the Glades along with everyone else.

Quickly, he dressed in his League of Assassins uniform before left his office, right when Detective Lance and his men arrived to arrest him. Going through the window, he ended up on the roof of Merlyn Global, where he could see the entirety of the Glades he would destroy.

He wouldn't stop now, he'd turn it on and bring the Glades down, he'd kill everyone who was left in it and he'd do it as soon as possible to punish those who lived there before they evacuated and once he was done, he'd punish Moira, Oliver and Veronica as well because he knew that Oliver and Veronica had a play in it.

.

While Oliver and John made sure the Glades were evacuated as safely as possible, Veronica managed to select a couple of possible locations for Merlyn's earthquake maker. Now that she knew why he had done it, she had crossed the old subway maps they had collected with the locations where Rebecca Merlyn used to worked and was attacked. While she did it, she called Mac, asking her if she'd be willing to help them from a distance. Of course Mac agreed and Veronica sent her everything they had on the Earthquake maker so her friend could talk John through dismantling it.

Once that was done, she changed into her Karma suit and, while John went to disarm the machine with the help of Mac, who was doing the best she could from her apartment in Neptune, Veronica joined Oliver in fighting and trying to stop Malcolm. She knew that he'd need her help to bring him down before everything went off and she wanted to make sure he wouldn't be hurt.

They might not be able to stop him before the things went off, so they needed John to try and dismantle it before it went off. Mac was connected to him through their ear pieces to talk him through stopping it. They couldn't know if Merlyn had already turned it on or if he was only going to turn it on whenever he wanted from wherever he was hiding, so they had to be prepared for everything.

Before they left, Veronica checked her phone:

"Thea just texted me. Moira was arrested. Tommy and Laurel just arrived and are staying with her. Roy isn't there yet though and she's worried. I told her that we were fine and safe, just unable to reach them." Veronica replied before she jumped behind him on his bike.

As Oliver drove, Veronica couldn't help but wonder if they'd look better riding together if she was wearing a cape. She thought it would be cool and Oliver told her that if she wanted to try, he'd help her find one. Now wasn't the time to think about it though so she shook her thoughts out of her head and concentrated on the road and the people trying to escape the Glades.

She couldn't help but notice that whenever there was people or cars on the streets they took, they moved aside to let her and Oliver through. Maybe all hope wasn't lost for mankind after all.

"Isn't that Roy?" Oliver asked her from his place in front of her on his bike a few minutes later.

They were riding in an empty streets of the Glades and Roy was there, trying to help people trapped in a bus. The doors were blocked by a parked truck and there was no way for the people inside to get out. Apparently, nobody had tried to help them before they evacuated.

"Yes, that's him." Veronica confirmed before they both went to help him and advised him to go to his girlfriend's before things went south.

Roy nodded and both Veronica and Oliver went back on the bike, riding as fast as they could to where they believed Malcolm Merlyn to be hiding.

"Ready Karma?" Oliver asked Veronica once they were about to jump building to reach the one where Malcolm was.

"As I'll ever be, Arrow." She nodded, wrapping her arms around him so he could transport the two of them when he jumped buildings.

They quickly found Malcolm, on top of a building, where he could see the chaos he was going to create.

"Well, if it isn't the Vigilante and his girlfriend. You're too late." Malcolm smirked.

"No, we're not." Oliver replied before he started shooting his arrows while trying to avoid the ones thrown at him.

Quickly, Veronica used her whip to disarm Merlyn but the man was quick to fight back in hand to hand combat against both Arrow and Karma.

"The Lady needs more training." Malcolm smirked as he sent Veronica on her ass.

"The lady is going to taser you in the balls." Karma growled angrily.

After a few minutes of fighting, both Vigilante heard through their ear pieces that John had effectively disarmed the threat.

"It's over Malcolm." Oliver told him, managing to pin an injured Malcolm down.

"No, it's not." Malcolm smirked as he pressed on a button they hadn't seen before.

Veronica then tasered the man, which immobilized him long enough for Oliver to inject him with a solution that would knock him out a few hours.

"No! Look!" Veronica exclaimed, pointing to the east side of the Glades.

"He had two..." Oliver realized in horror.

"We should have known that one wasn't enough to level everything, he had to have anther plan..." Veronica shook her head.

"Hopefully people will have had the time to evacuate by now." Oliver replied as the cops, warned by John, arrived to take Merlyn in.

Not willing to risk getting arrested by detective Lance and his men, Oliver and Veronica left just as they arrived.

"Here goes my office and my apartment." Veronica sighted as they both rushed to the destroyed part of the Glades to try and help as many people as possible.

"You'll just stay with us then." Oliver replied with a smile.

"Is this your way to ask me to move in?" She asked him with an amused smile.

"What if it is?" He asked her as they both climbed on the bike, knowing that John would meet them there.

"Of course I'll move in with you, but just so you know, there was an easier way to ask me to move in with you, one that didn't involve destroying my street." Veronica joked.

"I'll work on it for the next time." Oliver replied before driving faster.

Once they stopped, Veronica got her phone out and texted Tommy that they were alright and going to check on the part of town that had been hit by Malcolm. Tommy replied that everyone was fine as well on his hand.

For hours, Karma and Arrow helped the firemen and everyone else find survivors and bring them to safety. They didn't even know that they were being filmed by some news reporter.

.

Hours later, Veronica and Oliver were finally able to go home, shower and rest with their friends and family while news of the night events took over the TV. John had left them to go check on his sister in law and on his nephew.

"Apparently, the Arrow and Karma were there and helped the cops stop Malcolm." Thea told her brother.

"They also helped me save a bus full of people before it went off. they're so cool!" Roy added.

"We went through the destroyed part of the Glades, they were there too." Veronica added while the TV showed images of Arrow and Karma helping the firefighters rescue people from crumbled down buildings.

"Damn they look good together." Thea commented when she saw both Arrow and Karma in action.

"Is my father really in jail?" Tommy asked Oliver in a whispered voice.

"Yes, he is. They're warned that he has special skills and kill keep him tied up." Oliver whispered back.

They all spent the rest of the night watching the news and relaxing together before going to bed and prepare for what was to come during the next few days. The aftermath of the undertaking was going to change all of their lives, they knew it.


So, what did you think? I know I rushed things but I didn't really fancy going through a play by play of the Undertaking. Mix what I've written with the episode ;-)

I just wrote the storyline for part 16 to 19. Want title spoilers? Coming next is Responsibility, competition, paternity 2, competition 2, Nanda Parbat, Hot in Russia, 3 angry Veronicas (this one will anger some of you), Mira Kuru. I hope these title spoilers for the next few chapters will make you want to read and share this story. An idea? A suggestion? I'm here, I'll read.

A little review please?

Lorelei Candice Black