"You two," Quentin laughed sarcastically. "How did I know I was going to get a visit from the two of you when the Queens are in jail?" He asked.
Felicity smiled. She knew he was going through a rough time. Sara wasn't there and he didn't know about Laurel. He took it pretty hard. She checked in on him occasionally and he told her he was going to meetings, dedicated to his sobriety, but in truth, she knew he struggled with it.
"Captain Lance," She said. "You know that they're innocent and they're not connected to Malcolm's crimes." She told him. "Can't you do anything to help them?" She asked.
He shook his head. "Why should I?" He asked. "They have to answer for their involvement in everything. We all do. You guys know that. I mean look at Laurel. She had to answer for my involvement," He said as he sat down in his chair, slumped his shoulders. "My stupid involvement," He muttered with his head in his hands.
She nodded. "Captain, Laurel loved them. And you know that she would want justice done. And what the city is doing, what they want to do with them, that's not justice. They just want heads. And if they find out about the vigilante activity, they're going to roast them on a pyre." She told him.
He shook his head. His daughter, he knew that his daughter loved them. He knew that his daughter loved them more than anything in this world. She would go to the ends of the earth to protect the Queens, always had. He sighed. He looked over to the picture on his desk, the one of him and his two girls. "God, I shouldn't have had to bury both of them in my lifetime." He told her.
She looked to Diggle and then back tho him with a sympathetic smile. She wished she could tell him. Felicity knew it would give him so much hope to know that his daughter was back. But she didn't want to tell him. And Laurel had her reasons. She didn't agree with all of those reasons, but they were her reasons. "It's not fair, but you can honor her memory." She said quietly.
Quentin nodded. "She was better than all of us, you know?" He asked.
Felicity grinned and nodded. "Yeah," She said as she combed his hair out of his face. "If she could see you right now, she would be so proud of you."
He shook his head. "I'm not making any promises, but I'm going to talk to the justice department, make someone see some reason," He told her. "You okay with that?" He asked them both.
Diggle nodded. "Whatever you can do, it's gonna be a big help."
Quentin casually nodded. "Yeah, okay," He said. "Now get out of here. It can't look like I'm purposefully doing this. It needs to look like I came to this on my own," He told them as he shooed them out of his office.
They left and Felicity smiled. "Well, that wasn't a total waste, huh?" She asked Diggle.
"No," He had to admit that she was pretty good at the whole negotiating with a party that didn't want to be negotiated with. "But you know, that he's going to flip when he figures out that we've kept him out of the loop about Laurel."
She shrugged. "We didn't technically leave him out of the loop because we don't know how this happened," She told him. "She hasn't told us the story,"
He nodded skeptically. "And do you think he's gonna see that way when he hears that his daughter has been in town for basically a week without him knowing?" He asked her.
Felicity fell quiet. Yeah, it didn't seems great lying to him about Laurel when Diggle put it into perspective like that. And she knew how sensitive, he was about lies involving his daughters, but still Laurel had asked. If that meant that Quentin would hate her for keeping Laurel's secret, well then, maybe she would just have to take that.
Laurel's revival was huge. She knew it was. It broke all science and logic and everything she ever knew, but this whole year was about breaking about everything she ever knew. This was just another component of that.
Quentin's condition had to be considered. He was distraught, had been for weeks after Laurel's death. He seemed to be getting on his feet okay, but it was a slow process. And erupting it all eventually would hard, but it would also be good for him. He would be happy again, even if it would be utter chaos.
Felicity shook her head. "We're doing what Laurel asked," She told him. "We're doing the right thing for now. I mean especially with Dahrk out there, we don't want to get his hopes up." She seemed resolute. "Plus, we don't know if she'll even want to stay here," Felicity said.
Diggle laughed a little. "Yeah, she's really gonna give up living where the Queens are," He told her. "They'll all live together until they all fall permadead." He told her.
Felicity looked over at him and grinned a little, "Am I hearing a little bit of jealousy?" She asked him, incredulously.
He shrugged. "I just can't get over it." He told her. "The happiest and most proactive we've seen Oliver in weeks is when Laurel comes back. I mean he was actually smiling at the courthouse. I mean when was the last time you saw him smile like that?" He asked her.
She looked down at her feet. "I don't know," She told him, "Probably when I saw him with his kid." Felicity told him.
Diggle nodded. Yeah, there was something about that. "Ever wonder about that? That he can be so in love with family and it's always someone else?" He asked her.
She shook her head. "I don't want to talk about that. Diggle this is not the time or the place to talk about that." She told him.
When they got out of the station, he looked at her and sighed. "You know, you're gonna have to talk to them about this. I mean you guys were going to get back together, not even a week ago. You guys were thinking about moving back into the loft together again." He told her.
"I know," She growled. "It's just new, okay?" She told him.
Laurel grinned as she saw Felicity come through the door. She hugged her hard. "So what's going on?" She asked.
Felicity nodded. "Quentin is gonna try and get them released. He's talking to the justice department right now. And hopefully, we should have some news soon," She promised. "How are you?" She asked.
Laurel looked around and smiled. She couldn't believe she was back in this place. Yeah, it sucked while they were in jail and she was here at the pier without them, but it was nice. It was nice to feel at home.
"I just want them back," She told Felicity, honestly, "I'll feel a lot better when we can get back out there. And Malcolm deserves to be locked up." She said.
Felicity nodded. She definitely didn't disagree, but it was all a little weird. "You think it's just going to be that easy?" She asked.
Laurel shook her head. "It's never going to be that easy, but we have to start somewhere," She told Felicity. She looked down at her laptop and the background of Tommy, Oliver, Thea, and her. That stupid brunch. They all looked so happy, so long ago.
She shut her laptop. Felicity jumped.
"You're angry." She said, when she realized what all happened. "Why are you angry?" She asked.
Laurel shook her head. It was stupid. She knew why she couldn't be there, but dammit, why couldn't she be there? Why couldn't she help him, move him to the better place that she knew he had to get to? She looked at Felicity and looked back down to the desk. "It's nothing." She told her friend.
Felicity's turn to shake her. "It's not." She said as she put a hand on Laurel's back. "He's better. He's not good. But he's more consistent about seeing me now. Sees me a couple times a week. We talk. About stupid stuff mostly, but we talk." She told Laurel.
Laurel nodded. "So that means," She said, not wanting to finish the thought.
Felicity agreed. She knew. "Yeah. It means that there were times when things weren't so good." She told Laurel. "But he's doing better. And once this is done, he's gonna be even better. So you shouldn't worry so much about him, okay?" She asked.
Laurel shook her head. No. Never. There would never be a day when she wouldn't worry about him. There would never be a time when she didn't care about him. Or her sister. Her sister, out doing her time travel thing. Did she know about her death? How would she?
Did Rip know about her death? Or the weirdness about how she came back? Would he tell Sara? What were they even doing right now? Did she come back?
"You know I can't do that." She told Felicity.
Felicity nodded. "Okay, well, then, let's get this plan to get Darhk out of our city in motion," She told her friend.
"Okay," Laurel said. "Let's get Diggle and let's start this. The important part is to get him surrounded," She said as she pushed her laptop out of the way and nodded.
When they left the office, Felicity went through the front door and directly to the elevator where she got in her car and left. She started with Diggle. It would be best for him to hear about this from her. Because she knew he would take it a little hard.
Laurel got the keys from the bedroom and looked out the window. She saw a million cars with flashes coming their way. They would be coming this way and there was no way for her to hide. This is not how she wanted her unveiling to the world to come.
So she did what anyone would do when you just came back from the dead and another dimension and didn't want your family or friends or even your enemies to know you were back, she hid. In a closet. Till she heard the voices on the other side of the door that opened be drowned out by that door finally closing.
Still, she stayed in there for a couple more minutes before she let out a breath and slowly opened the door. Like opening it slowly would help her if someone who she didn't know was in the room and saw her alive and well, god knows possibly looking for a payout.
When she came out, she saw Thea and Oliver standing there with a grin on their face. "That was definitely a choice," Thea said as she tried to surpress a giggle.
Laurel shrugged. "I panicked." She said. "Felicity just left and I was about to go to the foundry," She blushed a little. "It's stupid,"
Oliver shook his head. "Not stupid." He said. "You didn't know when we were coming back. And you need to do this. You need to get Darhk. Because he is the missing key in letting everyone know about you in the light once again." He told her as he pushed some of her hair behind her ear.
Laurel looked up at him and her whole face lit up a little bit. His did too, Thea noticed. God, these two idiots. She put a hand on his cheek and smiled a little. "I'm glad you're safe. I hadn't thought they'd take you in,"
"Don't worry about it," He said. "Your plan is working brilliantly. And your father's testimony really clinched the deal with the judge about Malcolm. He was a perfect combination of familiarity and experience."
Thea coughed and they both looked over.
She grinned. "Well, I'm glad you two can talk about this, but we still have reporters down there and a need to get to the foundry to work on the other part of this plan." She told them. "So how exactly are we doing that?" She asked.
Laurel looked to Oliver.
Oliver ran his hand over the back of his neck and blushed. "I actually might have a plan for that," He told them.
Getting to the car like this was surprisingly easy. No one really expected Oliver Queen, who recently had a high profile breakup not to have a harem of women around him at all times. He hired several girls to insulate Laurel and Thea and to get them to a limo which would go to the downtown center where his political offices were and of course where all the good shopping was.
He would drop the harem of ladies off and they would have access to $5000 and they would also get exposure in the media. Thea looked to him and shook his head. "If mom could see how you spent Dad's hard earned money," She said and shook her head some more.
He looked to Laurel who simply chuckled. "Well, who knew that eventually your partying days would actually help us get out of trouble instead of into it." She said with a grin.
Oliver liked how she looked at that. "I miss those days with you," He told her. "You were always the best dancer."
Thea shook her head. "No. We're not talking about your grinding days. Besides, you just broke up with Felicity, Oliver. That's weird." She told him and they sat in silence, as the news vans went and flocked to his ladies who would all tell them about Oliver Queen's eccentricities, but also how he was a riot and quite fun to be around.
When they got the foundry, Felicity and Diggle looked up and grinned a little. "You guys are back!" Felicity said with glee.
Oliver nodded and looked down at his shoes. "And we should get to business. Quentin did his job perfectly." He said.
Laurel wasn't quite in the room and Diggle looked around. "So we're not talking about how Quentin doesn't know his daughter is alive?" He asked. "Even though he fell off the wagon and almost tried to kill himself? And we're not telling her that either, because?"
"No," Oliver said. "Because those are things that the Lances need to deal with together. And they should be able to deal with it in their own time. Laurel doesn't want to get her dad's hopes up. And you know what? I agree. He's been through so much," He said. "He's been through more than a father should and Laurel loves him too much just to give herself to him as alive and then to die again. She'd rather he'd never know at all if she dies a second time."
Laurel came into the room and a hush fell.
She laughed a little. "Don't everyone speak up at once." She said.
Diggle rolled his eyes. "What you're doing with your father, it's wrong." He told her. "You saw how keeping Sara's death from him hurt him. How can you do that to him?" He asked.
She shrugged. "Why should I put him in a grave too? Why should I let my mother suffer? My sister? Why should I let my whole family down if I leave again?" She said, a few tears falling. "Look, we had our moments, but my family, that's the one thing I always want to protect. And if I die right after coming back to them, it will only make them hurt more. And I can't be the one that does that to them. To him. Not after all of this time," She told Diggle. "That's why."
Diggle balled his fists and shook his head. "I still don't like it. Lying to family, in our line of work, has never ever done us a lick of good. I mean we all know how you took your sister coming back from the grave when everyone knew and you didn't." He told her.
She shook her head. "It's not a discussion." She said flatly. "You will either respect that or you won't, but I can tell you there's a hell of a lot more hell to pay if you don't respect it, Diggle. It's my family. You know how I feel about it."
He huffed and then looked over to Oliver and Felicity. "What's the plan?" He asked through gritted teeth.
Felicity turned back to her computer and pressed a couple of the buttons to make a display light up so the whole team could see and not crowd around her computer, which was getting to be an impossible task now that there were so many of them.
The display showed a map with a conspiciously placed red dot. "This is where Darhk will be everyday for the next three days at exactly 7:23 pm. He's stays there for exactly six minutes and for those six minutes, he is completely without his magic. This is when he essentially does the reset and updates for his magic as it were." Felicity said.
"Now we know from the last time that we went up against him that without his magic he's basically just an ahole in a suit, which can be beaten pretty easily, however, if he does gain his magic back, it's bad juju magumbo for the rest of us, as evidenced by Laurel's death," She said.
Laurel smiled though and looked to all of them. "If we can sever the magical connection on his side and not on talisman side, there's no more magic for him, not for a long time." She told them with the biggest grin Oliver had ever seen.
And he'd seen some of her most important grins. When she graduated high school. And college. And got into law school. When she told him about getting her job back. About her official year sober chip. All of these accomplishments and they hardly paled in comparison to the idea of being able to take someone on without fatality.
He envied that she could be so big, so right of character that it meant this much to her to save the life of the man who killed her, and grinned a little too.
"Six minutes is a really small window and no one has said exactly how we sever the connection between him and the magic," Thea looked around.
Felicity nodded. "That's where it gets tricky. "We have to basically knock him out, near the point of unconciousness, but he still needs to be awake," She said. "Once he's thorougly weakened by the three of you," Felicity played a simulation of what that would look like with very basic looking 3D bodies, nothing fancy there.
"Then I come in," Laurel said, "With this," She said as she held up the magic blocker. "It's basically a magic censor. All I need to do is get it close enough to his body with the least amount of magic in it possible, while he's still and it can worm its way inside of him. And then he can stand trial for what he's done," She told them.
Thea grinned. "That," She said. "Actually sounds perfect. And really fucking cool,"
Laurel nodded. It was coming together. Her life was almost about to be reinstated and she could do all of those things she promised Diana that she would.
Felicity coughed a little. "Okay, so you guys have a little time before you have to suit up, why don't you just relax a little?" She asked. "This isn't going to be an easy task. And we shouldn't treat it like it's going to be."
Laurel nodded and left the room. Diggle walked the other way. Oliver stood in the middle and looked to where Laurel was going. He wanted to be so casual and cool, Felicity could tell, but he was never going to be that guy.
When he looked at Laurel, he was always going to be the guy who saw her first and finally plucked up enough courage to ask her out. "You should go to her, you know," Felicity told him.
"Who? Laurel? No, she just wants to be friends," He said as he blushed a little. He pushed a nonexistant pebble with his toe and combed his fingers through the hairs on his neck.
Felicity shook her head. "No, she doesn't. She loves you. But she thinks that something happened between us. And you should just tell her that it's always gonna be her. No one else is gonna compare." She smiled.
"You say that like we're written in the stars," Oliver said, a nervous chuckle as he dared not to think about that.
Felicity shrugged. "Not all couples are, but you two?" She asked, "Oh, you most certainly are. Besides, it would make Lance happier than he would let you either of you know to have you two together again. If only because you being with her would mean she's alive," She said. "And there's nothing he loves more in this world."
