Good news all, I'm back! Sorry this took a while, I've been busy on other writing projects while juggling uni. On the plus side, I do have the S1 finale draft written out, although it's going to require some tweaks due to a last minute change of heart. I'm also working on a spin of the Pilot so I can establish a better ground for everything and get in some more characters.

But for now, enjoy the infamous Merlyn Job and a few new faces. I've altered canon a little bit for the story, so there's some differences here.

Shoutout to saralxnces for the inspiration of, well pretty much this entire AU.

"Sara! Sara!"

Sara blinked her eyes open and looked in the direction of the voice. In the glare of a light, she could see her mother tied to a chair, eyes wide with concern and fear. Sara tried to stand up to help her, but couldn't. Glancing down, she saw she was tied to a chair as well, exactly according to plan.

"Mom?" she groaned, turning her head back toward her mother.

"Sara!" her mother sounded slightly relieved, but also panicked at the same time. "Are you okay? What's happening?"

"I…I don't know," she lied, squinting through the light to see if Oliver and his mother were in the warehouse too.

Her answer came a moment later after Moira came to and started to call out to Oliver. Sara's mother heard her, and the two women began to ask each other what was happening. Sara looked across the room at Oliver. Her friend was watching his own mother closely before meeting her eyes. He nodded at her.

"Dinah Lance," a modulated female voice echoed around the warehouse. "Moira Queen. You have failed this city."

A blonde in white leather and a mask entered the scene. She looked toward Sara briefly. Sara looked Sin in the eye and gave a tiny nod. This wasn't going to pretty or fun, but it was what they needed to do if they were going to figure out what the Undertaking was.

It was time to learn what they were facing.

Leonard's head snapped up as soon as he heard the footsteps coming down the staircase. Sin was the first to enter, pulling off the blonde wig and tossing it onto the table. Oliver and Sara followed shortly after her. Both of them had bruises from the "interrogation".

"What did you do?" he demanded as he got up and walked toward them. "I thought you said you'd be going easy?"

"She was," Sara replied as the same moment Sin said "I did."

Leonard found himself reaching out to cup his hand under the bruise on Sara's cheek. She didn't flinch away from his touch, but met his eyes instead. She seemed calm. For a moment, Leonard didn't see Sara, but Lisa after one of their father's "lessons". He knew it had all been part of the plan to get more information about the Undertaking, but seeing Sara like this made his heart clench and brought him back to the night he had found her bleeding in the back of his car.

"I'll get some ice," he told her, withdrawing his hand when he realized it was still there.

She shook her head. "I'll be fine."

A cold pack dropped onto the table next to them. Both turned to see Oliver holding an identical one on his blackened eye. Sara looked between the two men before sighing and picking it up.

"You'll nag me until I put it on anyway," she grumbled. "Right now, we need to find out anything there is to know about Unidac Industries."

"Queen Consolidated scooped them up about six months ago," Leonard said as he retreated back to the computers to pull up information on the company."

"We all know that," Oliver nodded, looking over at Sara. The night it had been auctioned off had been the same night he had learned she was the Canary. "So what don't we know about them?"

"That they're a research and development technology company," Leonard summarized as he read off the screen. "They specialize in seismic infringement…"

"Oliver's mother did say that Malcolm Merlyn wanted to level the Glades," Sara murmured. "He's going to do this with a device that'll trigger a man-made earthquake then."

"You can actually do that?" Sin frowned.

Sara shrugged. "Apparently so."

"The only other things on Unidac are the merger with QC and the massacre," Leonard continued, clicking on the article for the latter. "Which is suspected to be the handiwork of the Archer."

"Timing can't be a coincidence," Oliver muttered. "That archer's probably a lackey hired by Merlyn to tie up loose ends that could trace back to him."

"So he wipes away all evidence of his involvement," Sin sighed, looking to Sara. "So is the Canary going to go after Merlyn now?"

Sara shook her head. "If I go after Merlyn and stop him, the Archer can still set off that device. We need to find it first before we go after them."

"I can do that," Leonard smirked, fingers moving over the keyboard to hack into Merlyn Global.

"Hold on," Sara looked over his shoulder. "Are you hacking into Merlyn Global?"

"Yes."

Sara gave an impressed nod.

Time began to go by, but with every attempt Leonard made, he was blocked out.

"Damn!" he shouted after the sixth failed attempt. This never happened to him, but clearly Merlyn had taken preventative measures to stop hackers.

"Something you finally can't get into," Sin asked, having returned wearing her normal clothes.

"Unless I can somehow get to the mainframe of Merlyn Global, there's no chance of finding out where the device is."

"So we get you in."

Oliver frowned and looked at Sara. "What?"

"He needs direct access to the mainframe, right?" Sara asked, and Leonard nodded. "So we'll get you that direct access."

"To a mainframe on the 25th floor of the main headquarters of Merlyn Global," Leonard explained. "And to get to it, you need a direct access elevator. This wouldn't be a problem, but it would take time that we don't have."

"That's why we're going to break in," Sara told them.

"Sara Lance and Leonard Snart here to see Carter Hall," Sara said as they reached the security desk in the Merlyn Global lobby. "We have an 11:30 with him."

The security guard took their IDs from them and looked them on over. As he did so, a white paper bag from Big Belly Burger dropped on the counter. Sin, dressed in a delivery uniform, leaned up beside it.

"I've got a lunch order for a Mr. King," she said. "I think he's in security or something like that."

The man's lips pursed a little at the interruption before he handed back the IDs to Sara and Leonard.

"You two are free to go," he told them before looking back at Sin. "You, on the other hand, need to wait."

Sin blew a bubble with her gum and popped it.

They loitered for a while in the lobby while Sin delivered the food to Oliver, who had gone undercover as a security guard. Leonard's fingers tapped restlessly against the briefcase. Sara noticed the movement when she came back from the bathroom. His eyes shifted around, as though he was continually casing the room. He looked on edge, but prepared.

"The other security guy's out," Sin's voice came in over the comms. "You two are a go."

The two made their way over to the elevator and pressed the button to go up. No one else was around them, which was perfect. When the doors opened, they stepped inside. As Sara reached down to press the button to shut the doors, a man with a bundle of file folders and papers raced in to stand between the two of them. He looked relieved at his good fortune, but Sara frowned at the unexpected arrival. The man noticed her and smiled.

"Where are you headed to, sweetheart?" he smirked.

Sara glared at him, hoping he would be smart enough to deduce that she wasn't interested in him.

"Okay, top secret, I get it," the fool nodded. "Hope you're riding up the nineteenth, because that's where-"

The mountain of files and papers in his grasp was knocked out the elevator and onto the floor. He swore loudly and ran out of the elevator to collect them. Once he was out, Sara hit the button quickly again. Leonard was smiling smugly as the elevator doors slid shut and the car began to rise.

"Nice move," Sara complimented.

"Thank you."

The elevator continued to rise before stopping abruptly.

"This is as far as I can get you two," Oliver told them. "Cameras are down for now, so the rest is up to you."

"On it."

Sara braced the side walls of the elevator and opened the ceiling hatch. She lifted herself up and out onto the top of the car. Leonard passed her up the briefcase before following up after her. Unlatching it, Sara withdrew the grappling gun inside, and Leonard pulled out his tablet. She took a deep breath and climbed onto the concrete beam beside their car.

"Don't look down," she advised Leonard as he made his way up onto the beam beside her.

Her friend nodded. Leonard looked calm, but still on edge like he had been in the lobby.

"Let's do this," he said, turning toward her.

Sara nodded and held his gaze for a moment before looking at the elevator shaft across from them. Raising the grappling gun, she took a deep breath and fired. The end shot out and imbedded into the beam above the doors of the twenty-fifth floor. She gave it a small tug to make sure it stayed before looking back to Leonard.

"Grab on, and hang tight to me."

Leonard complied with her instructions with a teasing "Never thought you'd ask." Sara simply smirked in response.

"On three," she told him. "Ready?"

"Ready."

"One…two…three."

She and Leonard stepped off the ledge together, pushing their momentum forward. They swung over the massive drop for only a few seconds, but it somehow felt longer. Their feet planted on the beam on the other side. Beside her, Leonard was steady, but looked as though he was making more of an effort to keep calm. Together, they moved over to where the doors were, and Sara pried them open. Once they were, Sara and Leonard stepped out on to the twenty-fifth floor.

"We made it," Sara sighed into her comm, casting a glance over at Leonard. His tablet was gripped tightly in his hand. "You okay?"

"Peachy."

"Right," she nodded. "The mainframe's around the corner. You get in there and do what you have to. I'll have my meeting with Carter, and be out before the guards come back around."

"He's not going to be happy to see you," Leonard remarked.

Sara shrugged and began to walk down the hall. "I figure."

"Leonard, you've got a problem," Oliver's voice came out of nowhere as the download neared completion.

"This better be good, Queen," Leonard hissed. "I'm almost done."

"You need to get out of there now," Oliver continued. "Sara, where are you?"

There was no response from their leader. The download was at ninety-nine percent completion.

"Hey, smartass, get out of there!" Sin yelled now. "A guard's coming your way."

One hundred percent completion. Leonard swiftly unplugged the tablet and hurried to get out of the room. As soon as he exited, he found himself face to face with the security guard Sin had just warned him about.

"Dammit, Sara," Oliver muttered as Sin swore in the background.

The guard narrowed his eyes at Leonard. "Sir, this is a restricted area."

Leonard smiled smoothly. "They needed me to check something out in here."

"They?"

"You know," he gestured toward where Sara had gone. "The higher-ups."

The security guard did not look convinced. "Show some ID."

Leonard remained calm as he started to make a show of going through his pockets. His QC badge was in one of his pockets, but that wasn't going to fly here. The man started to pull out his radio.

"You!"

Both Leonard and the guard looked toward the sound of the noise. Coming toward them was Oliver. Leonard suppressed a smirk at the wig they had gotten for him to go undercover with. The smirk didn't last very long when Oliver grabbed his arm roughly. Still, he never thought he'd be so glad to see him.

"Thought you could give me the slip, huh?" Oliver growled at him before turning to the other guard. "Thanks for catching him. Mr. Hall warned me that some bookie was harassing him, told me to keep an eye out."

The guard nodded. "I've caught a few myself."

"Thanks again," Oliver nodded before dragging Leonard along with him toward the elevators. "Come on, you're not getting cash this time."

Leonard plastered a scowl on his face as they moved past the guard who had caught him, and was now continuing on his rounds. Oliver pressed the button for the elevator while Leonard kept a lookout for anymore company that could come their way. As soon as they entered and the doors closed, both men let out a sigh of relief.

"That was close," Oliver said.

"No kidding," Leonard sighed. "Any idea what happened to Sara?"

"I'm here," her voice answered. "I ran into Merlyn on my way out. He pretty much corralled me into the elevator with him."

"We'll be down in a few," Oliver replied. "Sin, you get out now. We'll get out when we can."

"Sara?"

Sara whirled around to see Laurel approaching her. She silently swore a little that the plan of quickly going in and out was falling apart right at the very end of it. Her sister's appearance hadn't even been expected.

"Laurel?" she frowned at her older sister. "What are you doing here?"

"I…just saw Carter," Laurel replied, an obvious lie given Sara had just come from there. "I heard from Kendra that the engagement was off between them, and wanted to see if he was doing okay. What about you? Why are you here?"

Sara gave the easiest smile she could. "I was just here to see Carter too. And I actually should get going. Don't want to be late to see him."

Laurel tilted her head before she could turn away. "Sara, you just got off the elevator."

So much for giving her sister the slip. Sara heaved a sigh and looked back at her. Further back behind Laurel, there was a man with his back turned to Sara. A dark blue hood was visible over the brown jacket he wore. There was something familiar about him, and then it hit her.

"Isn't that your friend?" she inquired, peering over Laurel's shoulder. "Tommy, wasn't it?"

Laurel followed her gaze. "Yes. We met up for lunch, and he gave me a ride here."

She was definitely hiding something. Her sister might have been good at lying, but going through five years of hell that held more than their fair share of betrayals and backstabbings had trained Sara well. She knew when someone was lying.

"Laurel, why are you really here?" Sara asked. "And please, don't lie."

"Sara, I don't know-"

"Laurel," Sara said firmly, narrowing her eyes.

She sighed and crossed her arms. "Tommy and I are trying to find the vigilante, okay?"

Her sister, Lawyer Laurel, was trying to find her. Sara frowned at her. "What?"

"Ever since Tommy was rescued by her, he's been trying to track her down," Laurel explained. "And I might have overheard Dad talking about how that archer is connected to Merlyn Global. So we decided-Sara, wait!"

Sara ignored her older sister and strode up to Tommy. "Tommy!"

The man in question turned around. Sara remembered him from the subway, when she had saved his life. But she felt as if she knew him from somewhere else too. She couldn't place it though.

"I don't think we've met," she continued as sweetly as she could. "I'm Sara, Laurel's little sister."

Tommy nodded. "Yeah, she's mentioned you. Nice to finally meet you."

Sara looked at his offered hand and glared back at him. "Don't mess around with the Canary. She is a dangerous, deranged killing machine. Anyone who gets close to her ends up dead. My sister is not going to be one of those bodies. If that happens, I'll kill you myself."

Tommy looked a little paler, but his features remained neutral. Laurel was staring at her with bewilderment.

"Are we clear?" Sara demanded.

The dark haired man nodded. Behind him, Sara could see Leonard exiting the building. He caught her eye and nodded. Relieved that he was out safe, Sara returned her attention to Tommy and Laurel. Her sister still looked stunned the attitude she had just displayed towards Tommy.

"Both of you need to leave," she snapped, channeling her vigilante side. "Now."

She stalked away from them and out of Merlyn Global.

As he left Merlyn Global with Laurel, he cast one last glance behind him at the tall building. The last time he had been in there was the day before his mother had died. It felt like a lifetime ago that he'd been Tommy Merlyn, spoiled rich boy. That had been before his mother had died and his father had sent him off to a fancy private school thousands of miles away from everything and everyone he knew. It was before things had gone sour, and the school had been attacked and Tommy Merlyn was presumed to be dead.

Except he didn't die like everyone thought he had. Tommy had survived, but he's been left with nothing. The people who had tried to kill him had still been out there, and he hadn't wanted to die at such a young age. So he had become a new person, both in name and personality. Tommy Newman was a new man, his former name long left behind.

"I'm sorry about Sara," Laurel apologized. "I didn't think she's react like that. She's usually the adventurous one, or at least she used to be."

"Probably the island," Tommy replied, looking over at her.

Laurel Lance might claim to be the less adventurous one, but Tommy had memories of her always climbing higher up a tree than him or Oliver Queen, or racing down a hill on their bikes to see who could go the fastest. It had always been him, her, and Oliver when they were younger before everything went wrong. They had lost their friend, and still believed he was dead. He'd been spending time with Laurel for weeks ever since she'd snatched her purse (in fairness, Tommy hadn't know it was her until later), and yet she still didn't recognize him. Maybe it was for the best. Tommy Merlyn had been a selfish brat. Now, he was older, wiser, and understood the world he lived in.

"We'll still find her," Laurel assured him. "Merlyn Global isn't the only connection to the Archer. The vigilante might be somewhere else."

"Here's hoping," he nodded.

"So you're telling me you couldn't get in?" Quentin Lance grumbled.

Kelton shook his head. "Merlyn Global has off the charts cybersecurity. Any path I tried to take in, I got shut out."

"You said you had good and bad news," the other detective in the room said gruffly. "What's the good news?"

"I wasn't the only person who tried to hack into the company," Kelton said triumplhantly.

Quentin set down his coffee. "What?"

"Someone else tried to get into the company's database too," he continued. "Used the same pathways I did, looking for any nooks and crannies to get in, and covered his tracks on the way out too."

"He?"

"Yeah," Kelton nodded. "His name's Leonard Snart. He works for Queen Consolidated."

The other man with Kelton and Quentin stiffened, but neither of them noticed.

"Who the hell is Leonard Snart?" Quentin frowned.

"I know," Detective Mick Rory sighed, shaking his head.

"How?"

"We go back."

Ta-da! There you have it.

And yes, Newman is my attempt to be clever.

Please review and tell me what you think. Or if you have a prediction on who you think is going to die in the next chapter- the S1 finale!