"This," Felicity said as she looked at the timeline Laurel presented them with, "Could actually work." She told the group. "We could finish Darhk's reign in Star without having to kill him. It could actually happen," She told them with a little bit of a smile.
Thea nodded. "One question," She asked. "Since Malcolm seems to be the chaotic force in our lives and worked with Darhk before, what's to stop him from doing so again?" She asked.
Laurel grinned wickedly. She hadn't told them about the other tier of her plan. To get Malcolm out of their lives forever. For punishing him for giving her so much pain. For hurting all of the people she loved. She took the file out of her jacket and flung it on the table. "This is from Diana. Another gift in ressurection," She told them, with a little blush.
Thea looked at the file and grinned a little. "This is everything," She told Laurel as she looked up from it. "It's every nasty thing he can be connected to. And it's some pretty real shit. You sure we can do this?" She asked.
Laurel nodded. "Yeah," She told Thea. "I do. I think we can do this. I think you can finally be free of him," She said as she rubbed Thea's arms. "I didn't come back from the dead just to save myself." She told her little sister, her everything in this world. "I came back so I could make a difference. We're gonna make a difference, kid," She told her.
Thea pushed her arms around Laurel's neck and held tight. "I love you so much," She whispered. Laurel nodded. She held Thea in her arms for what seemed like an eternity, but in reality what was just a couple of minutes.
Felicity looked to the two of them and nodded. "So what do we do first?" She asked. "Malcolm or Darhk?" She asked.
"Malcolm," Oliver said, definitively. "So he can't get in the way of the plans again and muck everything up. Besides, with this evidence, we can go through the courts and get him arranged in a high security set up with no option of parole. He'll be out of our hair while a trial goes on," He told them.
Laurel looked impressed with what he just said. She didn't think he knew anything about the law really. She didn't think he paid attention when she talked about remanding dangerous criminals. She didn't ever expect him to hear any of that stuff, because you know, she knew it was boring. It was a very specified interest.
Oliver looked amused at her face. "Yeah, I picked up a few things," He told her with a grin Felicity hadn't seen on his face in a long time. In fact, Laurel was probably the last person to bring that grin to his face.
"Well, that's exactly right," Laurel said as she looked down at the table. "We do the legal battle with Malcolm in the morning and then we start on the plan with Darhk." She told them. "That's the way it goes the smoothest," She told them.
Diggle thought it was a good plan, but couldn't help but see what Felicity saw. This was their mission. It wasn't Diggle's or Felicity's. It was the Queen Lance Family mission. Lance Queen Family Mission. It was a little bit about vengeance, but mostly it was about justice.
It didn't mean that it wasn't important, but it did mean that it could be easy to leave the two of them out, accidently. They never meant to, god knows, that Oliver and Laurel and Thea would compensate and keep them in the loop if either of them said anything, but it was different. It was always going to be different with them.
They were a team yeah, but Oliver, Laurel, and Thea were family and they were really family. There was nothing that they wouldn't do for each other. And that meant coming back to life for each other. Because not even death could keep them apart.
"Okay, so we should regroup tomorrow after Oliver and Quentin serve up papers on Malcolm?" Diggle asked, with a propped up eyebrow. "And he'll just say nothing about any of us? Even though, he knows we've been running around the city for the past four years, he's just gonna be cool sitting in jail?" He asked.
Laurel smiled. "Well, he risks losing the only family he has ratting us out," She told Diggle. "Using Malcolm's father love for the Queens against him will be one last act of revenge. And then once he's convicted no one will believe a word he says,"
Diggle look shocked, incredulous look on his face. "And you think this will work? Just all go according to plan and there's gonna be no hiccups that we didn't forsee?" He asked her. This was crazy. They were taking advice from someone who had been dead. Not only dead, but someone who they had tried to get over.
They weren't doing this for the good of the city anymore. They were doing it for her. Righting old wrongs. Laurel never liked that they let Malcolm survive, that they hadn't given him to the league when they could have. It was the one thing that tested her strength with the no killing.
It wasn't hard to see why Laurel wanted him dead. He hurt everyone, but more than that, what he did was personal to her. He sank the Queen's Gambit. He murdered her sister. He turned her most beloved into a weapon that he could use. He killed his own son. His actions were either directly or indirectly responsible for all of the horrible shit that went on in her life.
Laurel sighed. "I don't know," She said, "But I would rather try and fail with Malcolm than have it be over before it even started," She told him.
He shook his head. This was a bad idea and he knew it. He knew going after Malcolm, that was gonna complicate their lives forever. But still, she had a point. It wasn't like they were talking about anyone. It was Malcolm. He took everything from them.
He nodded. "Okay, well then, we go home, and we start this process tomorrow," He said as he walked out the door.
"Home," She said. It hadn't occurred to her that she didn't exactly have one of those anymore. She was technically dead. Her apartment would have been cleaned out and probably rerented. She couldn't exactly stay in the place where Thea was murdered either.
Thea and Oliver looked at each and looked at the clenching of Laurel's fist. How could she have been so stupid, she thought. She could have been dropped into any time before now, before she was officially declared dead, and she didn't even think to ask about that.
Thea took Laurel's hand. "Hey," She whispered.
Laurel looked to Thea and softened. "Hey, how are you?" She asked as she put a hand on Thea's cheek. God, she never thought she would be able to see this girl again. This girl was good.
"I'm good," Thea chuckled. Always thinking about everyone else. She pushed Laurel's hand open and then pushed some keys into it. Laurel's brows knit together and Thea laughed even more. "The keys to the Pier 4." She told Laurel softly.
Pier 4. God, she hadn't heard about that place in years. It must have been about three. Last time she went there was with Oliver and Tommy when Oliver first got back from the island. They reminsced about the old times. The good times.
But she thought that Malcolm had thought it was silly and sold it away. She didn't even think that he would keep it. "How is this possible?" Her voice cracked. God, Tommy. She should have seen if Diana could bring back Tommy. But that might have been pushing her luck as it was.
Thea shrugged. "As much as he might say he's not a sentimentalist. Tommy and Rebecca loved it. He could never disrespect both of them. One at a time, sure, but not both of them. So that's where Oliver and I are living. And we figured, you might want to make it home too?" She asked.
Laurel wiped away a few tears and nodded eagerly. "But just till we figure everything out. Can't exactly be a dead woman forever," She told Thea.
The three of them left together, as a family, as it should be, Thea thought.
Pier 4 was not the most opulent place in the world, but it was kind of luxurious. Way more than at eighteen she ever thought she would ever live in. Pier 4 was the kind of place that she dreamed of living in when she married, with tons of light, and exposed brick. It was a two bedroom place with a chef's kitchen.
It was the kind of place that Malcolm, Oliver, and Tommy would use to woo people for business deals. When they decided to make business deals and not just be exceedingly good looking playboys.
Now, it had more pictures of Laurel, Thea, Tommy, and Oliver than it ever did of just the Merlyn family. Pictures of beach days and big smiles were all around. Thea went to the kitchen and started cooking something, while she let the other two just roam the halls.
Laurel sagged against Oliver's shoulder. "Yeah," He told her. "It's been awhile."
She nodded a little. "I didn't know I was going to be saved." She told him. "I woke up in another dimension,"
He closed his eyes and let out a little laugh. "Yeah, that's definitely something for a full story after we defeat Darhk." He told her as he took her in his arms and hugged her. "God, I missed you so much," He told her.
She tried not to cry. "I missed you too, Ollie." She promised him.
How did she get so lucky that this man was in her life for so long? How did they get so lucky to find someone who understood the other so completely? She looked at him and smiled. "God, coming back to life, it's not easy," She told him.
He nodded. "Yeah, definitely not the easiest thing in the world." He told her. He ushered her up the stairs and brought her to his bedroom.
She blushed. "I can take the couch. I mean, it's super big," She told him. "Or I can bunk with Thea, it's not a big deal." She insisted.
He shook his head. "Are you scared of sharing a bed with me, Laurel?" He asked.
"What?" Her eyes widened.
He chuckled. She was so easy to rattle. "It's not like we haven't done it before. Sharing a bed. It's not like I'm asking you to go down on me." He told her.
"I don't even have any clothes." She said.
He shook his head again. "Not actually true," He said as he opened one of the big closets in this room. And before her, she saw all of her clothes from her apartment. "Your dad wasn't ready to do it, so Thea and I did it." He said, and now it was him choking up, "Everything you could ever want from your wardrobe." He told her.
"Okay," She said. "But we keep pillows between us. Because we don't need to make this more confusing," She told him as she looked around and smiled. Yeah, they would definitely have a little bit more difficulty navigating this time, because he had all of her stuff, but they would figure it out. And they wouldn't end up banging, she insisted in her mind, that was so blasé. And it sent the wrong message, that she came back for him. Which she definitely didn't.
He nodded. "Why don't you get changed?" He asked. "Thea's probably close to finished with dinner and she's probably wondering why we aren't back yet." He told her.
He left her alone and she looked into the closet and found literally all of her clothes, including the prom dress that she still had in the closet from years ago, back when she and Oliver were prom dates, because he couldn't bear to take anyone else.
Tommy went with them and it was great. She remembered staggering back into the limo and up the stairs as she flumped in the bed. It was perfect. It was good time.
She came out of the closet and went into the other one, where all of his clothes were neatly put away and picked up a clean shirt off the ground. Clean as in had no stains, but he'd worn it recently. It smelled like him. She put it on and relished in the comfort it held and then went back to her own closet and picked some boxer shorts on and put them on too.
When she came down, Thea and Oliver looked at her with a grin.
She laughed a little, nervously, "Do I have something on my face?" She asked.
They shook their heads. "No," Thea said. "It just looks like you belong here. You were what we were missing," She told Laurel. "But eat," She said. "I'm sure it's been awhile,"
Laurel thought about it and it had been awhile. She came right from having a tough simulation fight in another dimension to saving people from a fire. And then there was everything that happened tonight. She knew they would worry about her.
After dinner, they all went upstairs and Thea grinned when she saw Laurel and Oliver go to the same room. "Do you think she'll ever get over it?" He asked.
Laurel shook her head. "We're her psuedo parents." She told him. "I think she's always gonna wish that we were together," She told Oliver.
Tomorrow was gonna be a day that changed their lives. And Laurel would have to sit back and watch it happen, because there was no way that she could let Malcolm have the upperhand and know she was alive.
"You look worried," Oliver said as he pulled the covers back from the bed and slipped in. Laurel pulled back her side and snuggled into he bed too.
She nodded. "I just wish I could be with you when you did this thing with Malcolm." She told him. "I know you can do it though," She told him.
"You would just know exactly what to say no matter what. And with me, there's a chance to fuck it up," He told her. "But trust me, I learned from the best." He said as he kissed her forehead. "It's gonna be fine," He promised her.
She nodded, "I hope so," She said as she closed her eyes.
The next day, Laurel opened her eyes, feeling enveloped and warm, cozy. She looked down and smiled as she saw arms around her. And then she freaked out. She looked over her shoulder and saw Oliver curled around her, sleeping peacefully.
The pillows were all pushed to the side, including several on her side of the bed. Which meant that they both pushed them out of the way. She tried not to freak out. But that wasn't really working. "You were shivering," He told her. "And I didn't want to get out of the bed to get you a blanket."
"You're up?" She asked.
He nodded. "Yeah, and don't worry about this. It doesn't mean anything right?" He asked her.
She shrugged. "I guess I can take your advice and not worry about it too much," She told him.
He grinned. It was a nice thought, but he knew that she would probably freak out about it for awhile. And she would probably have an aneurism about it later. But today was the day that they got to take down Merlyn.
"He's not gonna be in our lives any longer," Oliver said as he brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, almost not believing it himself. "How do you feel about that?" He asked.
She shrugged. "It's gonna be weird, you know?" She asked him.
"I know that feeling," He told her. "He's been a constant in our lives. Good or bad, we're actually doing this." He said as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.
She followed suit. "We're doing this for Tommy. He would want his father to be taken in. And we're giving Thea a freedom that she can't have while he's not being brought to justice," She told him.
Maybe it was the feeling of being with someone who understood what she wanted to do to honor the people she loved the most, because he loved them too, but whatever it was, it certainly took both of them by surprise.
"Didn't mean anything," She told him.
He nodded. "Yeah," He said. "Got swept up in the moment." He promised her.
But he started to wonder if they were just keeping it up, because well, she just got back and that brought back powerful emotions. They were trying to keep the status quo. Because he was with Felicity when she was alive. Her dying words were an affirmation of his love for Felicity.
He certainly didn't want to tell Felicity about letting Laurel in his bed. Or the kiss. Yeah, that complicated matters. And he knew it.
"I'm gonna go get something to eat," Laurel said, definitively, getting out of the bed and going down the stairs. Before coming back up and going back to Oliver's room where she saw him with his shirt off, "God dammit," She said.
He blushed. "We've got to stop doing this," He told her. She shook her head. "I came back up for my laptop. You have it, right?" She asked him.
He nodded. "It's in the office downstairs." He told her and she headed back out. Thank god he hadn't taken off his pants. They would have been in real trouble if that had happened.
Thea and Oliver left Laurel in the office with a fresh cup of coffee and showed her where the pot was. "Wish us luck," Thea said.
Laurel gave her the biggest hug. "You don't need luck," She said. "You have all my love," She told her favorite person in the world. "Plus you have all the files," She told them. It should be a piece of cake.
That didn't mean that when they hadn't come home three hours later that she didn't worry. She hadn't heard anything from either of them and the news wasn't exactly helpful.
Where were they? She wondered. She didn't want to call and give them away for whatever reason, she just hoped that nothing had gone wrong. She was reminded of the things that Diggle had said to her last night, about how this all seemed too easy.
"Breaking news," The tv announced. "We have several sources confirming that Malcolm Merlyn has been arrested for his involvement in the Undertaking several years ago. For years, he has been using a different alias, a one Oscar Fowler. He was arrested at his apartment on the edge of the city and has been taken into custody where he awaits a bail hearing." The anchorman announced.
It was the same anchorman who announced when Oliver was alive. She remembered the dread she felt back then. And how that man's same booming voice filled her with a much different emotion now.
She pushed out of her chair and got they keys to the motorcycle that was sitting outside for her, along with her helmet and went down and followed her heart all the way to the cave.
She saw Felicity and Diggle there. They shook their heads. "What's going on?" She asked.
"There's been a little bit of a complication." Diggle said as he sighed. "They took Oliver and Thea in for questioning because of their relationship with Tommy and Merlyn." He said. "They think that Oliver and Thea could have had things to do with all of the nasty stuff Merlyn did. And they don't exactly have airtight alibis for everything they were doing."
Laurel fell into a chair. Fuck.
"This is exactly what I was saying, Laurel," Diggle said. "What are we gonna do?" He asked.
She looked to Felicity, who shrugged, "We do what we always do. We fight for justice," She told them.
"Not to sound like a broken record, but how are you going to do that?" Felicity asked. "You wanted to save your first public appearance to beat Darhk. And that's still the most important thing that we're doing. Thea and Oliver would agree with that." Felicity said.
She sighed. Felicity was right. Thea and Oliver both knew the importance of keeping Darhk out of the city, keeping the city free. "Well, then, you're gonna have to find a lawyer. And get my father in on this. He needs to know about Malcolm. And he knows they weren't involved. He might be able to help us."
Felicity looked to Diggle and they both looked to Laurel. "Your father hasn't talked to us in weeks." They told her.
"Well, try again and mention my connection with Thea." She told them. "We need to finish this. This is still part of the plan to defeat Darhk." She told them.
