A/N: Hello m'dears… I hope the week has been a good one for you!
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S/N: I just want to apologize for the lateness of this chapter. Between being busy and getting sick, I just couldn't get this chapter out as I had wanted. We should be back on the right schedule from here on out, promise!
Oliver arrived at Queen Consolidated at five minutes past nine. He stepped from the taxi (since showing up to a meeting with the executive board in jeans seemed inappropriate even for him) and paused to survey the damage that had been caused to the outer exterior of the building. He'd known the gleaming glass-and-steel skyscraper in the heart of downtown Starling had suffered some major damage during Slade's attack upon the city. The front entrance as well as the top floor (where the majority of the fight had occurred) where the board rooms and CEO's office were located all needed new panels of glass installed.
Who'd initiated the repairs, though, he could not say. Until her death three days ago, Isabel Rochev had been the company's acting Chief Executive Officer. As far as Oliver was aware, Isabel hadn't bothered with naming someone to take over for her in the event of her death. Isabel wouldn't have considered it necessary to protect her investment, arrogantly believing she and Slade would be victorious in their quest to destroy the Queen family. So who's approving the repairs to the building?
Oliver found himself wondering about that as he entered the lobby.
The front atrium was a series of pandemonium what with crews working to make repairs and employees trying to do their jobs. The entire area still reeked of smoke, scorched steel and cordite. All around him, he could see evidence of the battle which had been fought. He pushed his compounding guilt aside as he entered the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor. A surge of memories rose up to assault him, reminding him of everything that'd happened and everyone he'd lost in the past month. All because of a madman hellbent upon getting vengeance for something Oliver had had no control over. The elevator stopped and the doors slid open with a soft chime he'd once found comforting. Opened to an even larger scale mess than the one down below. Crews were busily sweeping up the mountains of broken glass, replacing drywall and removing ruined office furniture as well as other broken office equipment.
"Oliver," he heard a surprised voice say as soon as he stepped out into the hall. He turned and found himself face-to-face with Donald Tolliver. A dignified gentleman in his sixties, Donald stood there with a folder in his hands and a kind smile. His neatly trimmed hair and mustache were now more white than brown. One of the executive board members, he knew more about this company than anyone else since he'd been with the company from day one. If anybody would have an idea about what was going on, it would be Donald.
"Mr. Tolliver," Oliver greeted him cordially. "I see you survived the attack upon the city by the masked vigilantes."
"Yes," the older gentleman said wryly. "I'm rather glad to be alive and well considering what those masked men were doing to our city." He pushed his eyeglasses farther up onto the bridge of his nose before peering at the younger man with hawk like eyes. "I am quite surprised to see you here, Oliver. Were you asked to attend today's board meeting by the new CEO?"
Oliver's eyebrows shot upward. "There's a board meeting?" That question was quickly followed by an even more surprised, "Queen Consolidated already has a new CEO?"
Donald gave a slight nod of his head. "Oh, yes, there is a new CEO." His eyes twinkled with secrets. "And she's requested that all board members attend a special session this morning in order to discuss how Queen Consolidated will start recovering from the scandal it has faced for the last few weeks."
Who the hell is in control of the company?
Oliver's brow puckered as he pondered just who Isabel (or Slade for that matter) might have left to take charge of the company. There was one extremely likely candidate, he realized with a small kernel of dread, who may well have been selected to usurp the role of CEO should Isabel not survive what Slade had had planned. Oliver felt his stomach churn with a mixture of anticipation and a serious dose of apprehension. He hadn't seen nor heard from Sienna since the night of his confrontation with Slade. He had no idea where Slade had stashed her in order to keep her safe from the mayhem he'd unleashed. He knew she'd managed to survive, though. Slade, before he'd left the man to rot in his underground prison, had shouted one final thing at him: "Sienna is not going to leave me in here! You mark my words, kid! She won't leave me in here!"
No, he knew Sienna James would not leave Slade to rot in the rich, black hole that Oliver (and A.R.G.U.S.) placed him. As kind and generous a woman as he believed her to be, Oliver also knew Sienna was deeply loyal (and very much in love) with his former friend. She would do whatever she needed in order to get Slade out of prison. And I will be there to stop it from happening, Oliver thought pensively. There was absolutely no way in hell he'd ever allow a man as dangerous as Slade to see the light of day again. However, he could not fault Sienna for wanting him freed. If he was in her position, and this someone he loved, he to would move Heaven and Earth in order to break them out of jail.
"Follow me," Oliver heard Donald saying. He stirred himself from his dark reverie and followed the older gentleman into the large board room at the end of the hallway. The meeting was just breaking up. Nervous board members rose from their positions around a large polished oak table, gathering together their files and notes. He saw how the windows along the back wall had been replaced and gleamed now in the early morning sunlight. Oliver's heart slowly started to pound as he peeked at each member as they walked out of the room. Most wouldn't even look him in the eye. The few who would, all mouthed apologies before they scampered on their way.
"Mr. Tolliver," he said once the room was empty. "Who exactly is the new CEO of Queen Consolidated?"
"Why, I am, Mr. Queen," a familiar voice drawled. Oliver's slowly turned to look at the woman standing in the open doorway, a sheaf of papers in her hand. Her stylish suit and matching heels were a jeweled shade of green. Oliver suspected her color choice to be a deliberate (and subtle) one. The knowing smirk she sent him confirmed as much. Oliver gave her a look to show he was not amused.
"You are the new CEO of Queen Consolidated?" He kept his tone light, but there was an edge beneath it that warned her to not test him. "How? I don't seem to recall Isabel Rochev wanting anybody but her to get their hands upon my family's company."
"Isabel Rochev was a bright and capable businesswoman," Sienna replied as she crossed to the great oak table. "But her hatred for you and your family, coupled with the Mirakuru Slade injected into her, made her reckless in the end." She sent Oliver a look that was all feminine superiority. "Her recklessness gave me the opening I needed in order to take back your company back from her."
Oliver's eyebrows shot upward. "Take it back?" His mouth thinned into a straight line and his eyes narrowed into thin slits. "Why would you do something you knew Slade wouldn't approve of?"
"What on Earth makes you believe that I did not tell Slade about what I planned on doing?"
That gave him a moment's pause. "You told him you were planning on buying the controlling shares of the company?"
Sienna made a slight nod as she set her papers into a tan colored briefcase. "Yes, I did." Her lips curved into a wry grin. "Of course, I told Slade I was protecting his investments because I did not trust Isabel, not because I was trying to help you in whatever way I could."
He frowned a bit at that thought. "You were trying to help me?" He frowned. "Why?"
"I told you, Oliver," she explained patiently. "So long as what Slade did wasn't hurting innocent people, I stayed out of the situation. It was his war. His and yours. But then Isabel began making decisions I did not agree with. Decisions," she added with a hard edge to her tone. "That I did not approve of. So, when she took Queen Consolidated public about a month ago, I told Slade I planned to purchase the majority of the shares in order to take control of the company. He considered it a brilliant idea, of course." Her lips trembled for a moment with humor. "He, of course, saw it as putting the company even further out of your reach. I, on the other hand, considered it as a means of ensuring your mother and sister would be taken care of in the event of your death."
He realized it did not surprise him about how she'd calculated he would be the one who'd kick the bucket in a fight against Slade. It just further reminded him about where her loyalties lay at the end of it all: with Slade.
"You..." he said slowly. "Took control of the company in order to ensure my family would be taken care of?" He saw her nod. He barked a short laugh. "Slade wanted them to suffer. He would never have…"
"I didn't want them to suffer, though," she calmly interjected. "And I figured that once his hunger for retribution upon you was satisfied that I'd be able to convince him to let them be." She sighed as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I did not recognize at the time that part of what he'd planned for you was to take away from you the people that you love."
No, she hadn't known about what Slade had crafted as his punishment. She hadn't expected any of this. Even if she hadn't admitted to him that she didn't know what it was that Slade planned, he'd have known it. He'd discovered two things about Sienna in his brief interactions with her: she was loyal to those who deserved it, and she was compassionate by nature. "I still do not see how you were able to achieve all this," he stated. "Not without Isabel figuring out what you were doing."
"Her hatred for your family made it where she could only see what she wanted to see," Sienna told him in a matter-of-fact tone. "Look, Oliver, this really is all very technical, and quite boring at that. Plus," she continued on a long exhalation of air, "I don't wish to stand here for the next hour trying to explain it anymore than you want to stand there and listen while I explain it. The important thing for you to understand is that your family's company is secure. Right, Mr. Tolliver?"
"Right you are," Donald stated with a nod. He settled a warm hand on Oliver's shoulder before saying, "There is nobody that I would trust more with handling this corporation than Miss James here, Oliver."
"And why is that, Mr. Tolliver?"
Oliver voiced the question even as a voice inside him reminded him about Donald Tolliver being an astute judge of character. He wasn't the kind of man to be won over by a pretty face. He also knew Donald wouldn't be so wholly at ease, and clearly in support of Sienna holding the place of CEO if he wasn't confident in her powers to act thusly.
"Ollie," Donald drawled. "You should ask the new CEO of your company, that particular question."
And with a final wink in Sienna's direction, Donald departed, leaving the two of them alone. Sienna let out a tiny sigh. She'd valued the older man's presence and ability to keep a degree of neutrality between her and Oliver.
"Who are you?" Oliver managed to ask after standing there for a number of moments in complete silence. "And how is it that you know so much about corporate shareholding and controlling interest?"
Her lips curved with mild amusement. "You had your team do your homework by finding out my name, Mr. Queen," she said quietly. "But it's apparent you didn't look any further than that. If you had then you'd have found out that my father is Jonathan Barclay James of..."
"James Industries," Oliver said in one long breath. He appreciated how her family background in business made her savvy enough to outmaneuver a woman like Isabel Rochev. However, it did not mean that he trusted her. She was Slade's woman, his friend, his spokesperson. And she desired something. That was abundantly clear. "I can see why Donald believes in your abilities to lead this company." Then he added, "And why Slade chose you to cover his business affairs. Your family…"
"He doesn't care about who my family is, Oliver." Her face was composed, but Oliver saw a wealth of dark things he understood all too well streak through her eyes. "He's never cared about who my family is."
"But…"
"Slade asked me one thing after I told him my name: did I want to stay with him, or did I want to go home." She paused. "Clearly, I chose to stay with him."
"Why?" It was the question he'd been dying to ask her ever since he'd met her. "Why do you stay with someone who has absolutely no compulsion about killing an entire city of innocent people all in the name of revenge?"
"I stay because he needs me."
Oliver just stared at her, clearly puzzled by her response. Sienna found him to be quite adorable at that moment, standing there as he was with his eyes these winking blue saucers and his mouth hanging all agape. Her lips shivered. "Are you surprised by my answer, or by the fact that Slade actually needs someone other than himself?"
"Both, really," he acknowledged with a small smile. "I can't imagine..." he trailed off before finishing what he'd been about to say.
"There is still a good man inside him, Oliver."
"Right."
"There is," Sienna insisted. "There is a man inside Slade Wilson that is worth fighting for. A man worth dying for. Who is worth risking it all for." When his eyes lifted to hers, Sienna could see his hurt and anger. It swirled inside a cornucopia of other emotions-of which she could see that hope and sadness were warring for dominance. "I know you are finding it very hard to believe, given everything you've gone through the last few months," she spoke gently now. "But it is true, Oliver."
"He murdered my mother." He didn't mean to hurl the words like an arrow at her. What happened wasn't her fault. She had had no control over his actions, or his decisions. Oliver sighed and started to apologize, but Sienna spoke before he could.
"I will always regret your mother's death, Oliver. As I told you I would when we spoke at the park." Her expression changed into that quietly intense one she put on whenever her guard was down. Then she said softly. "For what it's worth..." she hesitated. She sighed and looked away. A clear sign she was about to say something he wouldn't want to hear, and which likely would upset him. "I don't believe he intended to murder your mother."
"What?"
"That night-" pause. She turned and walked to the sideboard. Oliver watched her pour water into a glass. Her hand was shaking, a clear sign she wasn't as composed as she seemed to be. "He came home a changed man," she said finally. "The man who returned to our apartment was not the same one who'd left it a few hours before." She glanced at him from over her left shoulder. "Whatever took place that night wasn't what he'd meant to have come about. And…" she lifted her glass and took a sip. It was clearly a stalling tactic. "The Mirakuru, in combination with his hallucinations of Shado and his hatred for you made him reckless. And that rashness ultimately is what led to him murdering your mother."
It wasn't a subject he wanted to discuss. Not right now, and not after everything that had taken place three days ago. He drew in a breath and let it out slowly before asking, "Why did you ask me to come here today, Miss James?"
"Sienna," she answered absently. If she noticed he'd changed the subject, she gave no sign of it. "I think it appropriate, given everything we've been through, that we address each other by our first names."
He gave her a small, reassuring smile. "All right," he stated with a nod. "Why did you ask me to come here today, Sienna?"
Her lips curved on the brim of her water glass. "Clearly, I have a business proposition I want to discuss with you."
"I won't get Slade out of prison," he said in a strong voice, "so don't ask me too."
"I am not planning on..."
"He's where he belongs, Sienna."
"It just so happens that I concur with you about Slade being where he belongs," she stated in a prissy tone. "He's safe where he is, in fact. However," she said while flipping her hair over her shoulder and fixing him with a look that was all feminine arrogance. "I will say that if, and when, I do want to get Slade out of prison? I will get him out."
"I would not try to break him out of prison," Oliver spoke the warning even as he stepped towards her. "You won't like what'll happen if you do."
Sienna sniffed. Loudly. "Don't threaten me."
"Then count it as a promise," Oliver gritted. "Slade Wilson is never going to see the light of day again. I guarantee it."
Sienna set her glass on the oak table before setting her hands upon the shiny surface and leaning towards Oliver. "We will just have to agree to disagree about that."
Oliver felt a muscle in his jaw tick. "I am not kidding, Sienna."
"Neither am I, Oliver."
No, she was quite serious. He could see that well enough. She was quite serious, and being completely honest with him. She was going to get Slade out of prison. Oliver sighed inwardly. He'd thought this woman to be meek and mild? He snorted softly and shook his head. There was more of a tigress in her than he'd imagined there to be.
"What is your business proposition?"
"I will grant you your company, your money, and your life back in return for one teensy, tiny favor."
"And what is this teensy, tiny favor?"
Her face went as tranquil as death. Yet her voice, when she spoke, was like velvet steel. "I want your help in finding the ones responsible for you and Slade ending up on that island. I want you to help me find them. And," her eyes glinted now like polished obsidian. "I want you to help me to bring them to justice."
Jacob Justice watched as the black luxury car bearing Abraham Truth pulled into the underground garage. He was already talking before the man had had a chance to even fully stop the car.
"What are we gonna do, Brother Truth?"
Disgust and irritation snapped and snarled within Truth. His hands itched to vise around Justice's throat and press until the man's eyes popped out of his head like ping Pong balls. Intentionally he dug his fingers into his palms, the pain, calmed him enough to have him say, "We will go on as planned."
Justice gaped at him. "Pro-proceed as planned?" he squawked. "How precisely are we supposed to go on with our plan when everything has come apart?"
"Calm yourself," Truth ordered. "Our plan has not come apart."
Justice could only stare at Truth in what the other man regarded as a combination of incredulity and concern. Both sickened him.
"Brother Blood and Isabel Rochev both are dead and Slade Wilson has been imprisoned upon that godforsaken island by Oliver Queen," Justice stated on a harsh breath, "and you don't think our program has come apart?" He barked a laugh. "And what are you basing this particular view on exactly?"
"I am basing my opinion upon nothing but the facts," Truth hissed. "And I am telling you that our plan has not come apart. Not as you believe that it has."
"Why do do you believe that?" Justice demanded.
"Because I know that the facts themselves have not changed."
"Without Sebastian..."
"We have no need for Brother Blood."
Justice's brows forked. They did not need Brother Blood? Was his most prevalent thought. Then it changed too; well how the hell were they to gain touch with Brother Consequences without Brother Blood? He put that question to Truth.
"How are we to make contact with Consequences without Blood? Sebastian was the only one who had access to..."
"Now I have access to Brother Consequences."
"You have spoken with him?" Justice asked in an awestruck voice.
Truth gave a nod of his dark head. "Brother Consequences has appointed me as a temporary leader of the Cult."
"And his orders are to move as planned?"
"Yes."
"What about Sienna James?"
"Sienna James is of no importance."
Justice looked towards his comrade. "Have you forgotten that the woman is still trying to track down Wilson's missing money? And that today," he added in a hurry, "she has used her controlling shares in Queen Consolidated to become the CEO?"
"Miss James taking a controlling interest in Queen Consolidated is of no matter to us," Truth told him in a sober voice. "It was a move made in order to teach Isabel Rochev about her place in Wilson's life."
It was a move meant to make Isabel recognize how she was never as in charge as she believed she was. Truth kept that thought to himself.
"The woman is much more business savvy than what Brother Blood assumed," Justice said harshly. "She's no little upstart, Brother. She is corporate royalty. Her father is..."
"Jonathan Barclay James." Brother Truth declared in a cold voice. "Yes, I am well aware that Miss James is not the simpleton that Brother Blood assumed her to be."
"She is dangerous, Brother. If she uncovers..."
"She won't," Truth assured him. "While Sienna James may have staged a corporate takeover by taking the controlling interest in Queen Consolidated, she will not manage to uncover her lover's missing money, our connection to Brother Consequences or the Awakening. Even if she does figure any of those things out," his voice dropped now to a low, dark hiss, "I can assure you she will never reveal what she discovers to either Oliver Queen or Slade Wilson."
Brother Truth scoffed. "I would not be so sure of myself, Brother. Sienna James has demonstrated she is rather a cunning woman."
"No matter," Truth retorted with a little shrug of his shoulders. "If she gets in the way, then I will see to it that she is taken care of. Now, we need to discuss where we can move our operations too. Brother Consequences wants us to start manufacturing the Miracle serum again as soon as possible."
Truth's statement brought an end to any further discussion about what to do about Slade's woman. The two men got down to business, one of them confident that the ruin of the humanity was perfect while the other secretively wondered just how long it would be before Slade Wilson would be freed.