Off with your mask


That day, Veronica and Oliver were with Laurel in Oliver's house. Tommy was supposed to be there as well but a last minute meeting forced him to be at work. Laurel didn't know why her friends wanted to speak with her, she just knew that it was important and she felt nervous. Maybe she had done something she shouldn't have and they were going to scold her or something? Was she working too hard and had missed something important in Veronica's life? Her head was full of hypothesis and she couldn't wait to find out the real reason behind this invitation.

"So, what is this about?" She asked them.

"Laurel, I know it's going to be hard to believe and to accept but there is something important that Oliver and I need to tell you." Veronica told her.

"I'm listening." Laurel nodded.

"There are no easy ways to tell you so we're just going to say it. I'm Arrow and Veronica is Karma. We figured that it was time you knew." Oliver declared.

"You're... and she's... Really? wow. Wait, Tommy was supposed to be here for this. You were going to tell him too, right? Why didn't you wait for him?" Laurel asked.

"Tommy knows already. Oliver had to tell him the night he saved his father with the blood transfusion." Veronica explained.

"I guess it makes sense. Actually, everything makes so much more sense now..." Laurel nodded.

"I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner Laurel, we knew that we could trust you but we didn't really know how you'd take it." Oliver added.

"I get it, don't worry. Wait, my father works with the Vigilantes, does he know you're behind the masks?" She asked them.

"No, he doesn't. We always mask our voices when we work with him." Veronica nodded.

"Okay. Who knows then?" She asked back.

"Well, Mac and John Diggle know and work with us. Moira and Thea know as well and we'll tell Roy soon." Oliver replied.

"And Barry Allen, a CSI from Central city, knows as well." Veronica added.

"Wow... And can I ask why you finally decided to tell me now?"

"Well, we decided that it was time you knew as well since everyone else in our close circle knew and Tommy kind of mentioned that you've been taking risks in the investigations you do for your cases." Veronica explained calmly.

"I... he doesn't really agree with the risks I take... I had no idea he was this worried... I think it's because I started investigating Sebastian Blood but I don't do anything you didn't do before." Laurel nodded.

"Sebastian Blood? My mother's opponent in the mayoral election?" Oliver asked her.

"Yes. I don't have much to go on right now but I don't like it. That and he flirts with me even though I'm openly dating Tommy and everyone knows we even live together. He's behind a lot of actions in the city since the undertaking but when I looked at everything that goes badly lately in town, he's behind or involved in most of the programs that have problems. I know it isn't much but I'm working on it." Laurel tried to explain.

"I get it, I don't like him much either. There's something fishy about him, I just didn't get the time to look into it yet with everything else that's been going on." Veronica nodded.

"Maybe we could look together at what I have and see what we can do?" Laurel suggested.

"Good idea and it will reassure Tommy." Oliver nodded.

"Well, right now we have to get to Queen Consolidated and Laurel I'm sure you have work to do as well. Why don't we meet up later today? When you're done with work, come find me at the office and I'll show you our vigilante lair. Just don't call it the Arrow cave because Oliver hates it." Veronica suggested with a smile.

"Good idea. I have to be in court in an hour, I should prepare." Laurel nodded before she left them.

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While Veronica went to the office, Oliver went to meet with Roy.

They had watched over him for over a week since he had been injected with Mira Kuru and now that they knew that he wasn't working with the man in the mask, they figured that it was time he knew who Arrow and Karma were, especially since Oliver would be able to help Roy control his new abilities.

"So, Thea just said that you wanted to talk to me. Why are we here?" Roy asked Oliver nervously as they both walked through an empty warehouse.

"We're here because this is a secure location and because I have several important things to tell you. Don't worry Roy, I didn't bring you out here to kill you or anything." Oliver replied with a small amused smile on his face.

"Okay, so what is it?"

"I know what happened to you last week. I know you were injected with a serum by a man in a skull mask and I know because I was there when you were rescued. I'm Arrow. Veronica is Karma. We didn't tell you right away because we wanted to make sure you weren't working with the man in the skull mask. The serum you were injected with is called Mira Kuru and it changes you. Not only physically but also mentally. It makes you angrier than you originally are. It's happened to a friend of mine before, back when I was on the Island and I want to help you control it. I want to help you so that you don't let your anger control you." Oliver explained.

"You're Arrow? You're really him?" Roy asked him.

"I am." Oliver nodded.

Roy believed Oliver quite easily and so Oliver took time to explain to the younger man his history on the Island. How they discovered the Mira Kuru serum and how his old friend Slade ended up with it in him before Oliver had to kill him by putting an arrow through his eye. Of course Roy was overjoyed to know that Arrow was going to help him but he was especially worried about his anger issue.

"I have been more angry lately. I... I don't want to end up hurting Thea some day. I want you to promise me that you won't let me become like your friend Slade. Promise me that you'll shoot me down before I can hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it." Roy asked his girlfriend's brother.

"I promise but I'm hoping it won't come to that. If you grow out of control we'll either sedate you or find a way to imprison you until we find a cure." Oliver replied.

"A cure? Is it even a possibility?" Roy asked him, curious.

"We gave some of your blood to Star labs in Central City, we have friends there. They're trying to create a cure with it but it's not enough. They'd need a clean dose of Mira Kuru to work faster." Oliver explained.

"If I grow out of control, sedate me until you can find a cure but if you have to kill me, if there isn't any other option, know that I understand and that I forgive you in advance." Roy replied with a sincere smile.

"Alright. Now why don't we get back in town. You have to work with Thea and I need to get back to Queen Consolidated. Oh, and Thea knows about Veronica and me. You don't need to keep it a secret from her. It might actually be good for you to have someone to talk to, outside of the team."

"Thanks. So, how do you call yourselves, like Team Arrow or something?" Roy nodded, glad that he'd be able to be honest with Thea, one of the rare good thing he had in his life.

"We don't call ourselves that. Don't call us that. And if Thea tells you it's okay to call us that, she's lying. Veronica too." Oliver frowned, making Roy smile.

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Veronica couldn't get herself to concentrate on Queen Consolidated business. Laurel's words about Sebastian Blood were stuck in her head and had light a fire that she couldn't put down, not by ignoring it at least. She needed to find out more about the man, to know his secrets. Besides Sebastian Blood and the many mysteries around him, she was curious about one other matter: the identity of the man behind the skull mask.

Habitually, she'd respect the privacy of someone wearing a mask, at least she would as long as they only did good around them, out of professional courtesy. She understood the need to conceal one's identity when you were out in the open, stopping dangerous criminals. But this man, the one in the skull mask, it was another story. He was killing people, young people who had their future ahead of them, and he was obviously making Mira Kuru, or working with someone who was making it.

It was hard for her to decide who she wanted to work on first but since she had hit an impasse on her investigation of the man in the Skull Mask, she decided to start doing her own investigation on Sebastian Blood.

It took Veronica a few hours of work and all of her resources but she quickly found a few important things about the man. First of all, he was a liar and that was something she hated in people. The man pretended he was an orphan, yet he still had a living mother who was in a psychiatric hospital under another name. Veronica wanted to go and interrogate the woman who had given birth to the enigma that was Sebastian Blood but she thought it would be best to wait for Laurel, who'd want to hear these information as well.

"Everything okay my Love?" Oliver asked her as he entered her open office, bringing lunch with him.

"Yes, don't worry. Just finding out some things about Blood." She replied with a smile.

"Do you need me?" He offered, sitting on the edge of her desk so that he was facing her.

"Not yet, thanks. I'll go with Laurel later to visit this woman he claims died a long time ago. I have a feeling that she'll have some interesting things to tell us, as long as she's not really crazy."

"Well, be careful. I don't want you to get hurt, not when I'm not around to blame myself." he told her with a smile.

"You know I will do my best to be careful. Laurel and I will be fine." She replied with a smile before she kissed him and they went to sit around a small table she had in her office to eat their lunch while discussing company issues.

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Later that day, when Laurel arrived in Veronica's office, the blond was busy giving instructions to her assistant. As soon as the younger woman left with her instructions, Veronica guided Laurel to their vigilante lair.

"It's incredible, all this equipment... Thanks for sharing this with me." Laurel told her.

"No problem. Now, did you bring everything you found on Sebastian Blood?" Veronica asked her.

"It's not much right now. Just what everyone else knows about him, where he studied, who his friends were and are right now, where he lives and his medical records. Not much to go on." Laurel replied.

"Well, I managed to dig a little deeper and found out that his mother is still alive and not far from here. He had her transferred in town a few months ago. I was thinking we could go and see her, ask her a few questions." Veronica suggested as she showed Laurel what she had found so far.

"Will you go as Veronica Mars or as Karma?" Laurel asked her.

"Let's be Veronica for now." Veronica smiled.

They were about to leave when Oliver and Roy arrived to start the training of the younger man. They wished the girls good luck and Oliver reminded Veronica to call if she needed anything. Then they kissed and the girls left, taking Laurel's car to drive to the psychiatric hospital.

.

The woman was crazy, Veronica realized. She didn't make any sense and seemed truly terrified but she managed to tell them a few interesting facts. Sebastian Blood had killed his own father and accused his mother of it. Then he drove her crazy so she couldn't tell anyone the truth. Sometimes, he tells people that she's his aunt and he always has her transferred wherever he lives so he can keep an eye on her.

She didn't tell them more, they seemed lucky enough to have had a few minutes of lucidity from her so they left and went back to the Vigilante lair to look in old files.

"Looks like he knew Cyrus Gold. They were in the same orphanage." Veronica said, pointing toward the computer screen.

Laurel joined her and, a few seconds later, the files vanished.

"What's going on?" Laurel asked Veronica.

"Someone erased it. Someone erased the file. Him or someone working with him." Veronica replied after typing furiously on the computer for a few more minutes.

"So we know that he's lying and probably working with Gold but we don't have proof?" Laurel asked for confirmation.

"Even the things I had before got erased." Veronica nodded.

"Well, at least we know the truth, that won't be erased. We can still look and maybe we'll find something." Laurel shrugged her shoulders.

"I managed to clear my schedule for tomorrow, I think I'll follow him around to see what I can find this way." Veronica suggested.

"I'd come with you but I have to plead in court tomorrow." Laurel replied.

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine on my own. Plus, we both know that Oliver will only be a call away. He'll probably have Diggle be ready to join me just in case." veronica replied.

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The next day, Veronica dressed as Karma so she wouldn't be recognized when she followed Sebastian Blood around. Oliver would inform people that she was sick for the day and they would be connected through their ear pieces all day. He wanted to be informed if anything went wrong, which was also why Diggle was in the lair, ready to leave as soon as Veronica showed the slightest sign of distress.

Karma was discreet and nobody noticed that she was out and about during the day. She managed to follow and spy on Blood almost everywhere he went and, only when the day came to an end and Oliver warned her that he was about to join her with Roy, did she find out that he was the man in the skull mask. Of course this revelation angered Roy and so Oliver stayed with him to help him learn to calm down and get focus.

Knowing that Arrow would still come if she asked, Karma kept on following Sebastian Blood, trying to keep hidden her own anger for what the man was doing behind closed doors. Discreetly, Karma snapped a few pictures of Sebastian Blood putting on and off the skull mask, she'd need it later to get him to jail, like he deserved. She followed Blood back to his campaign office and, once he was inside, she entered the ventilation system to be able to follow him inside and to snap pictures if necessary.

She was surprised to see him back in his office so late at night but everything became clear when he opened his lap top and starting a video conference call. While it was loading, she turned her camera on and started recording what he did, from behind him, still in the ventilation system. When it finally opened, she had to bite back a cry of surprise. There, on the computer screen, was the face of Slade Wilson, the man Oliver thought he had killed.

She had seen an old picture of him in official records but it was enough for her to be sure it was him. She quietly recorded their entire conversation. She listened carefully as they talked of making more Mira Kuru now that they knew it would work. Slade assured Blood that they had enough men to take over the city and promised Sebastian that he'd be able to lead it once it was all over. They talked of taking Moira Queen out of the race before the elections before deciding it would hurt Oliver more if she died after the elections. The conversation didn't last more than 10 minutes but it was enough for Veronica to know that she needed to find Oliver right away.

They needed to upgrade the security around their family. Slade was coming for them and they needed to be ready.

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Sitting behind his desk, Slade was frustrated. He had told Sebastian Blood that he had everything under control but it was a lie. Taking over the city with his soldiers would be easy, destroying the city would be easy, but destroying everything Oliver Queen loved and cherished? It would be much harder than planned. He had ideas of course but Oliver's new girlfriend, Veronica Mars, had ruined them all in one way or another. Veronica prevented Isobel from taking over Oliver's company, she had convinced him that he could trust his sister and mother with his secret and even his ex girlfriend knew about it. Slade hated that he had absolutely no way of hurting Oliver in his private life.

There was only one thing left he could think of: Veronica Mars. She was the key, he knew it. He needed to hurt her to hurt Oliver. She was the one whose pain would hurt his old Island companion. Who knew, maybe he'd even manage to kill her in front of him. That would definitely destroy Oliver and make him feel the pain he deserved.

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On her way back to the lair, where Oliver was waiting with Laurel, Tommy, Mac, Roy and Diggle, Veronica called her father.

"Veronica, I wasn't expecting a call today. Is everything alright?" Raz asked her once the phone reached him.

"Well, I'm fine but the city won't be. I... I'm calling to ask for you help, Father." She replied.

"What's going on?" he asked her seriously.

"Slade Wilson is alive and mass producing Mira Kuru. He's going to make an army of Mira Kuru soldiers and attack Starling city. He wants to destroy it and to hurt Oliver as much as possible before he kills him. He wants to break him. We have friends working on a cure but we can't count on it to be ready right when we need it. It could be ready fast just like it could take some time." She replied, talking quickly but clearly.

"Oliver told me about Mira Kuru and Slade Wilson... Obviously that man is hard to kill." Raz nodded on his side of the phone.

"And we can assume that all of his soldiers will be just as hard to kill." She added.

"Don't worry, daughter. I'll get your sister and a few men to get ready." He promised her.

"Please warn Sara. Laurel knows about Oliver and I being Arrow and Karma. She doesn't know about her being alive but if she comes to town, she'll need to be prepared." Veronica warned her father.

"Very well. Take care of yourself and be careful Veronica. Your sister will arrive within a few days with a team to back you up."

"Thanks father, I love you." She told him, deciding that telling him how she felt was the right thing to do, even if neither of them were the kind of people to do this often.

"I love you too, Veronica." he replied before he hung up.

"What did my sister want?" Nyssa asked as she entered the room her father was in, having been told that her sister was on the phone.

"Trouble is preparing in Starling city. Slade Wilson is alive and making Mira Kuru. He's planning on taking over Starling city with Mira Kuru Soldiers." he replied.

"This is personal. He wants to hurt Oliver and get revenge for Shadow's death. He wants to punish Oliver for choosing to save me instead of her. Veronica will definitely be his main target. A blind man could tell that she's the most important person to Oliver and that hurting her would hurt him." Sara replied without hesitating.

"He will not touch my sister." Nyssa declared, a savage light in her eyes.

"No, he will not. Gather a team, a large one, and go to Starling city. Protect your sister and her beloved." Raz al Ghul ordered.

Nyssa nodded before she left the main room to prepare her team.

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Once Veronica finally came back to their lair, she showed the pictures and video to Oliver and the others. She also informed them of her phone call to her father and that he was sending a few members of the league to help them out.

They listened to everything twice before John declared that he'd get more security personnel for the Queen family and that he'd chose the men himself. Tommy was considering taking Laurel out of town for the coming weeks but his own family company needed him and since Laurel refused to leave town in its biggest time of need, he didn't argue about it and instead, they tried to arm up so they could defend themselves in case of need.

Roy was only too happy to spend more time with Thea in order to look after her, he'd stay with her at work until it was time to come home, then he'd come with her to the family house.

Oliver did his best to hide how worried he was for Veronica but the young woman knew him well and could feel his anxiety. She silently reassured him and, once they went home, he made sure he knew that she was fine, that she wasn't worried for herself and that she believed they'd win.

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The next day, a problem at Queen Consolidated kept Veronica and Oliver busy all day long at the office. They didn't have anything urgent to do in town so they decided to stop by their home first to have dinner with Moira.

"I like this." Oliver stated on their way there.

"What?" She asked him with a smile.

"This. The little moments when it's just the two of us doing something any other couple does." he replied, taking her hand in his while John drove them.

"Me too. I like being able to just be with you, without having to solve any problem or save anyone. I like that we can still have quiet normal moments." Veronica told him.

When they arrived to the house, they were laughing together at a joke they had hear earlier at the office when they heard voices coming from the living room. One of the two voices they heard was Moira's and the other one was one Oliver hoped he wouldn't ever hear in this house, especially not alone with his mother.

"Keep it cool, Oliver." Veronica warned him when she saw him get tensed.

"My mother's with him." Oliver said angrily but whispering so they weren't heard.

"I'll get Moira away, don't do anything until she's away. We don't want her caught in the crossfire." Veronica replied before squeezing his hand softly and leading him to the living room, with a smile on her face as if she didn't know who Slade was.

"Moira, I hope we're not interrupting anything important. We thought we'd have dinner together today." Veronica exclaimed when they entered the room.

"Not at all. Veronica, Oliver, this is Slade Wilson. Mister Wilson has offered to fund the last part of my campaign." Moira introduced them.

"Nice to meet you two." Slade told them while Oliver was forced to shake his hand.

"Likewise but, Moira, I was wondering if I could speak with you a moment? It won't be long, I'm sure Oliver can keep mister Wilson company until we come back. I'm afraid it can't wait too long, it's about Thea." Veronica said and Moira, oblivious to the tension rising in the room, nodded.

As soon as they were in the corridor, out of sight, Veronica hurried Moira outside.

"What's wrong?" Moira exclaimed while Veronica motioned for John, who was speaking with a security agent he had hired, to come to them.

"Slade Wilson was on the Island with Oliver. It's a long story and we'll tell you everything later but he hates Oliver. Definitely a bad guy. Go to Verdant and tell Roy and Thea what happened. Make sure Roy stays with you. John will drive you and explain everything on the way. Please, don't stay here." Veronica told the woman she considered her mother.

"But what about Oliver?" Moira asked, suddenly worried.

"Don't worry, he should be fine. He won't be alone." Veronica replied.

"Where to?" John asked Veronica.

"To Verdant. Roy will be present there." Veronica informed him and, as soon as they were in the car and driving away, she rushed back inside the house.

When she walked back into the living room, Slade and Oliver stood face to face. Oliver looked angry and tensed while Slade had a confident look on his face, like he was sure he'd win. They both looked about to jump on the other and as soon as Veronica entered the room, both men turned to look at her. One with love and worry in his eyes, the other one with a calculating look filled with hatred.


Yes, I did it, I left you on a cliffhanger...

What will happen next? Will they fight in the house? Will Slade hurt Veronica? Will they kiss and make up?

Review please and I love reading reviews.

Lorelei Candice Black