Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.
Nicole was going down the Glades before noticing that two men were following her as she started to pace faster and lose them before she bumped into a tall man.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"
"Please, I'm not looking for trouble…" Nicole stepped back, frightened before one of them grabbed her from behind.
"Come on, don't be like that, sweetie, we just want to have some—" He didn't get to finish his sentence as Nicole stepped on his foot and whipped her head, breaking his nose and punching him in the face, then grabbing the other man by his arm and throwing him towards the one in front of her.
"Don't mess with me, I grew up in Gotham, assholes!" Nicole shouted.
Then, the man, who she had punched in the face had recovered as he pulled out a knife and Nicole tried to punch him again but he grabbed her by her arm as the other man grabbed her by her other arm as they started to cut her shirt.
"Fiery. I like her."
"Let me go, you bastards!" Nicole yelled before the Canary jumped down from above, taking two of them down as the last one ran into an alley in panic.
"You OK?" The Canary asked as Nicole nodded, then the vigilante followed the last thug, who bumped into a man in black hood with ripped sleeves and a dragon tattoo on his arm, who started to pummel his chest in quick succession of blows as the man coughed out blood and collapsed, while the Canary noticed the mysterious man. "Hey!"
The Canary tried to follow the man, who climbed on the rooftop with his parkour skills as she took a quick glance of the dragon tattoo before the man vanished in shadows as the blonde vigilante stared. There was something familiar about this man…
Later, morning, Fyff's House
Sara stitched Nicole's wound as she sighed, throwing the bloodied cloth into the trash bin. "Nicky, what were you thinking, going into the Glades at night?" She whispered, trying not to wake up Riley.
"I needed some air, Sara." Nicole sighed. "I just… I miss Hank, you know? I appreciate that you and Barbara are here but—"
Sara nodded in understanding. "I get it but please, stay out of the Glades, ever since the earthquake it's been twice as dangerous."
"Did he sleep well?" Nicole asked.
"He didn't even notice that you were gone." Sara assured her. "I miss your brother too but you need to stop worrying, you know that he's too stubborn to die. Who was that guy?"
"I don't know." Nicole shrugged. "But there was something… familiar about him."
"Yeah…" Sara nodded in agreement. "And he had a dragon tattoo." Both blondes stared at each other.
"You don't think—"
"He died, Nicky. I was there." Sara interrupted her thoughts. "They killed him right in front of me." Nicole nodded, looking down sadly.
Then, Sara's phone rang as she picked it up. "Yeah, Daddy?"
"Honey, can we please talk? There's something I need to show to you and Oliver."
Later, the Lair
Sara entered the lair, where was already Oliver, Diggle, Chloe and Quentin. "What's going on?"
"Barton Mathis." Quentin said as he showed her the file.
"The Dollmaker." Sara remembered.
"They call him that because of a flexible polymer he pours down the throats of his victims and then he dresses them up like dolls. I put him away." Quentin said passionately.
"And he escaped during the earthquake." Chloe explained as she pulled up the SCPD records. "Pike has been keeping it hush-hush to avoid mass panic."
"Yesterday, Pike ordered me to stand down. I need your help." Quentin implored. "Please. Last time he killed eight girls before I stopped him."
Three years ago, South Africa
Sparks flied as Sara's batons crossed with Turner's claws and even though she managed to land successful strikes, Turner would not stand down as he scratched her across her stomach as she hissed in pain, then he stabbed her in the knee as she knelt down but she lunged at him and broke his hand, pulling his knuckles off his fingers as Turner groaned before she started to pummel him relentlessly.
"Hold!" Dragon stopped as the circle of mercenaries yelled cheerfully.
"Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Sara glared at Turner, considering before remembering Oliver's words. "Once you take a life, it changes you forever… and I don't want that for you."
She roared and dropped her batons before standing up. "I will not kill! I won't!"
"These are the rules!" One of the mercs protested. "Kill or be killed!"
"Then kill me!" Sara taunted. "Because I'm not going to kill him!"
"Hold!" Richard intervened as he stepped up. "You held your own against Turner. I'm impressed." He smiled at Sara. "You're the first person, who defeated him in the initiation. Perhaps she can be your sparring partner, Ben."
"We'll see." Turner said, amused.
Sara got up on her feet as Richard smiled. "You survived. That's good."
"I honestly thought I'd have to kill him." Sara said, more afraid of the fact that she would kill someone than that someone would kill her."
"So did I." Richard nodded. "I can see it in your eyes; you don't want to become something that would make you do something horrible. You don't want blood on your hands."
"I have more than enough blood on my hands already." Sara admitted as Richard nodded in understanding.
"I see."
"What happens now?" Sara asked.
"For now, you rest." Richard said as he accompanied her to a small cabin aside from tents.
"What about Riley?"
"You and Riley are gonna live with me." Richard explained.
"I just want to go home." Sara said. "And besides, Henry, Nicole and my friends are looking for us."
"I promise you, I'll get you back to them." Richard said, assuring look on his face. "But for now you need to play along."
"What about you?" Sara asked. "Will you face them? Your family? Henry? Nicky?"
Richard looked down for a moment, considering. "No. Let's just say we did not part on best of terms."
Sara decided not to dig any deeper as she followed him.
Present
"I have something on Mathis. I couldn't figure out how did he pick his victims but he did have a right for an attorney." Chloe said as she went over the file. "Tony Daniels. Who knows, maybe he'll crack." She told Oliver and Sara.
Sara dialed Quentin's number.
Later, elsewhere in Starling City
"Tony Daniel?" Quentin asked as he entered the office.
"Help you with something, officer?" Daniel asked as he put on his vest.
"Barton Mathis." Quentin replied. "According to the D.A.'s office, you handled his post-trial appeals and I'd like to know where he is."
"So you can give him a parking ticket or something?" Daniel asked sarcastically. "If you want to talk to me about one of my clients, come back with a detective shield or a court order." He said as he put his papers into his briefcase and closed it as Quentin smiled. "What, you find that funny?"
"Well, a little bit." Quentin quipped as Daniel noticed a shadow of a hooded man behind on the wall as the attorney turned around to face the Arrow and Canary, suddenly fear flooding through him.
"Where do we find him?" The Arrow demanded.
"Iron Heights prison." Daniel replied.
"He got out." The Canary snapped.
"What?" Daniel asked, apparently surprised. "How?"
"You spent hours with him!" The Canary snarled. "Where would he run? Where?!"
"I don't know, I swear!"
Sighing in frustration, the Arrow notched an arrow and fired it through Daniel's shoulder, who screamed in pain.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Quentin shouted. "I thought we agreed to no killing!"
"He'll live." The Canary retorted.
"Yeah but he'll report me to my lieutenant." Quentin pointed out nervously.
"He won't because he still has another shoulder." The Canary drove the arrow deeper as Daniel screamed in pain.
"OK, OK, OK! There… there is another place." He cried out. "He was always drawing it. Sketching. His cell walls were covered with the place."
"Yeah, well, what's the place? Was it in Starling City?" Quentin inquired.
Daniel nodded. "The Bisque Museum. He said the building reminded him of Germany. Where the porcelain dolls were invented." He said quickly as the Canary let go and the vigilantes left the office.
"I'm sorry, I guess they just get enthusiastic sometimes." Quentin said quickly before leaving the office as well.
Apartment complex near Bisque Museum
"The lady at the desk said a guy matching Mathis' description checked in last week. Room 52." Quentin informed the duo as they walked down the hall. "And he paid in cash." Around the corner was the said room. "Now listen, just so we're clear, when we go through that door, we're here to arrest Mathis, OK, not to torture him."
"You want him caught or not?" The Canary snapped.
Quentin sighed in frustration as he pulled out his gun. "Let's go." He kicked the door as he burst in, scouring the room with his gun ready as the vigilantes followed him, only to find a small porcelain door on a small table, on which was clipped an old newspaper article with a headline 'Dollmaker Captured' with younger Quentin and Mathis on photo as a phone on a smaller desk in front of them rang.
Quentin cautiously picked the phone. "Detective, it's been too long."
"Watchtower, can you find him?" The Canary asked through the comms.
"I'm trying." Chloe replied.
"You sick son of a bitch." Quentin growled into the receiver.
"Sick? I've never felt better." Mathis said, amused. "Fresh air agrees with me."
"Yeah, well, don't get too used to it." Quentin sneered. "I caught you before; it's just a matter of time before I do it again."
"Fair enough. In the meantime, however, I have someone, who'd like to say 'hello' to you. Say 'hello', dear." Mathis replied as a moment later, Quentin heard a girl scream on the other side of the receiver. "She's a little inarticulate."
"She's done nothing to you." Quentin pleaded. "Please, don't hurt her, just let her go."
"And allow her to wither away in a mediocre and forgettable life? No, no, no, no, no, she deserves so much better. She deserves to see her beauty preserved. Pristine. Forever. Don't worry. I will turn her into something special. Pay attention, Detective. What comes next is really quite exquisite. The sound of an esophagus slowly hardening." Quentin heard muffled screaming as well. "Like a symphony."
"Chloe!" The Arrow snapped.
"I'm doing what I can but he's blocking the trace somehow." She said quickly.
"Barton, don't do it." Quentin begged. "I'm begging you, OK? Is that what you want? I am begging you, please, just stop!"
"It's for the world to enjoy; after all, everyone loves a pretty doll." Barton said as Quentin put the receiver down, staring at the window in front of him in defeat.
Later, the Lair
"They found her body an hour ago." Chloe said as Quentin, Oliver and Sara entered.
"Does the new victim give us any forensics we can use?" Sara asked.
"You're lucky I know how to wipe my tracks." Chloe nodded. "I'm already taking a look at it." She showed them the toxicology report on the screen as Quentin took a closer look.
"Wait a minute, Chloe, go back." Chloe did as ordered. "Ethyl paraben. Sodium laureth sulfate. I've seen this before. Can you cross-reference—"
Chloe typed quickly in the keyboard as she found out the results. "Skin cream. According to the forensics report, it was on the victim's fingers. Maybe she used it before she got grabbed."
"Skin cream… Mermaid something." Quentin trailed off before it hit him. "One of the last victims from his last run, she had this in her purse and I had the lab analyze it, and it's the same formula."
"Maybe if I cross-reference the chemicals…" Chloe typed quickly on the keyboard. "One skin cream fits the ingredients. Mermaiden."
"Proprietary formula." Sara read.
"Two victims with the same taste in skin cream. I think we found Mathis's M.O." Diggle realized.
"I think we just figured out how he chooses his victims." Quentin noted.
Three years ago, South Africa
Sara saw the guilt in his eyes as she sat across him on the table. "How can you live like this?"
"Like what?" Richard asked as Sara stretched her arms around, seeing that Riley was already sleeping in the couch.
"You're a mercenary. You work with these creeps and you won't reach out to your family? Why? Are you ashamed? You feel guilty?"
Richard glanced on the desk. "You already have me figured out, do you, Sunshine?"
Sara smiled. "I'm smarter than people give me credit for."
"Nicky doesn't exactly approve of violence, I think you may have noticed she can get kinda edgy around Hank." Richard nodded.
"That's an understatement." Sara noted. "I honestly don't want to be around her, when she blows up."
"Yup, you have no idea…" Richard chuckled. "So tell me, what do you want, Sara?"
"To go home with my friends, to my family." Sara instantly replied.
"I mean, what do you want from the life." Richard corrected. "I know you miss them. And I promise you, as soon as you get the chance to leave, you will. But you're lucky you survived the initiation, otherwise, these people would… not be gentle to you." He said, the message obvious as Sara narrowed her eyes. "I'm not that kind of person, trust me but… they do like strong and fierce women."
"Don't expect me to become a hired gun." Sara snapped.
"It's either that or be buried six feet deep in an unmarked grave." Richard said. "But I promise you, as soon as you get a chance to walk away, I will help you."
"And what about Nicky and Henry?" Sara asked.
"In case I won't see them… promise me that you won't tell them about me." Richard insisted.
"Why?" Sara asked.
"Like I said, we did not exactly part on the best of terms. Just leave it at that." Richard said and Sara realized she would not get more out of him.
Present, Starling City
"I'm leaving the last store." Chloe said as the Arrow and Canary were watching from the rooftop.
"Get to the rendezvous point." The Arrow ordered.
Chloe was walking down the street before she noticed another blonde walking down the opposite direction as she tried to keep the act. "Hey, Nicky."
"Chloe." Nicole smiled.
"What? What is she doing here?" The Canary hissed.
"Damn it." The Arrow growled. "Dig, Quentin, abort. Keep your distance."
"Chloe, get her out of there, now." The Canary ordered.
"How's it going?" Chloe asked.
Nicole sighed, putting her hands into her pockets, sighing. "I needed some air."
"What about Riley?"
"He's OK, I left him with Sin. It's just that… I miss my brother, you know?" Nicole said sadly as Chloe nodded.
"Hey, if there's one thing I know about Henry for sure, it's that he's too stubborn to die." She assured her. "Don't worry."
"I'm a mess lately." Nicole sighed. "I… I just need some assurance from a man… it sounds silly, I know but it's always been me and Hank and our friends and without Richard and my brother right now, I just—"
"Hey." Chloe held her shoulders. "You always have me, Barbara, Jack and Sara. We're your friends. I promise you, everything it's gonna be OK. Just go home, OK, get some sleep."
Nicole smiled. "You're right, I'm being silly." She walked down the street again as Chloe, Quentin and the vigilantes were continuing their routine before a minute later, they heard Nicole scream.
"Nicky!" Chloe whirled around as she rushed around the corner and saw her knocked out and being dragged into some van.
Later, the Lair
"Damn it, this was not supposed to happen." Sara groaned.
"We'll find her, Sara, I promise." Oliver held her arms.
"If he hurt her, I'll kill him." Sara growled as her blood boiled and she picked up her phone.
Fyff's House
Sin looked into the fridge, annoyed. "No beer? Really? At least I still have my stash in the clock tower."
Clock tower
Sin went up to the top as she looked at the loose wooden plank on the floor, prying it and grabbing a pallet of beer. "There you are." Then, she realized someone was sneaking up on her but the moment she turned around, the man in black hood knocked her out.
As Sin woke up, she groaned as above her stood the man, with his face covered in black hood and ripped sleeve on his shoulder, where was a dragon tattoo. "Did they send you?" The man asked.
"Did who send me?" Sin asked, confused. "Look, man, I think this is just a huge misunderstand—" The man slapped her in the face as she groaned. "Dude, seriously?!"
"Are you one of them?" The man asked.
"One of who?" Sin asked. The man neared her and grabbed her by her wrist as bones cracked and she let out a moan of pain before he heard a ringing in her pocket as he ripped out her phone and read the message before dropping it on the floor and letting her go.
"Get out of here." The man ordered. "Get out of here and don't come back and if I were you, I would not tell about this to your vigilante friends, especially the blonde in black, if you know what's good for you."
Sin nodded, not needing to be told twice as she grabbed her phone and quickly went down the stairs while reading the message from Sara.
"WHERE R U? NICKY'S BEEN KIDNAPPED, IS RILEY OK?"
Meanwhile, the Lair
"I think I can find Nicky." Chloe said as she typed quickly on the keyboard. "This isn't the first time someone would kidnap Henry or his family, so he planted a subdermal tracer into everyone."
"He's thorough, I'll give him that much." Diggle smirked.
"Where is she?" Sara asked.
"Metamorpho Chemical. It was shut down after the earthquake. Fitting place for a psychopath to hide." Chloe noted.
"He kidnapped my best friend, Ollie." Sara growled.
"I won't let you kill him." Oliver said, realizing what was she up to.
"No. I'm just gonna make sure he gets his ass kicked before we lock him up." Sara said as Oliver shook his head in disbelief and smiled in amusement at the same time. "Nobody messes with people I care about and gets to walk away without consequences."
Metamorpho Chemical
Nicole was choking out as the tube was secured in her mouth as she was strapped to a table.
"If you struggle, it will take longer." Mathis warned.
The Arrow jumped down, firing an arrow and knocking over the jar with the liquid as Chloe went to unstrap Nicole, while Mathis was running away. "I got this, get that bastard! Nicky, it's gonna be OK."
The Canary threw a knife as Mathis dodged and ran across the corner before a man in black hood and the dragon tattoo leapt down from above, engaging Mathis. As much as Mathis tried to block, the man was attacking with fierce savagery and relentless speed before Mathis retreated and pulled a chain as metal pipes fell on the man in black hood from above, subduing him.
Mathis was pulling out a gun before two arrows pinned him to the ground as the Arrow and the Canary jumped down.
"You're going back to prison." The Canary snarled before the man in black hood got up and threw a knife, hitting Mathis's chest and killing him.
"No, he's not."
Both vigilantes turned around, only to see the man gone.
"Nicky, it's OK, it's over." Chloe hugged her as she sobbed into her shoulder.
"I… I just can't take it anymore…"
Sara approached her from behind as she hugged one of her best friends. "Shhh, I know. I know."
"I need my brother back… please…"
"You'll get him back, I promise." Chloe and Sara kept on soothing her.
Later, Fyff's House
Chloe leaned her hands onto the table as Oliver and Sara sat across her. "You OK?"
"They almost killed one of my and Sara's best friends, Oliver." Chloe said.
"I know." Oliver nodded.
"You don't know how vulnerable she can be, when she feels alone." Sara pointed out. "Look, this can't go on like that anymore, Chloe. She needs Henry. We need him back."
Chloe nodded. "I'll call Jack, get him to tell me everything he can ASAP." As she got up, she shook her hand with Sara and Oliver. "I just wanted to say, thank you. For looking out for my best friend."
"She and Henry are among my close friends too." Oliver nodded.
Clock tower
The man with dragon tattoo and a black hood on was meditating as another man in black hood, mask and attire suddenly appeared behind him, the outfit same as the one League of Assassins wore.
"You should not have come here." The tattooed man said.
"I had no choice." The assassin replied. "Ra's al Ghul has ordered your return."
"I'm not going back. I can't." The tattooed man argued.
"That is not your decision."
"Tell them that you could not find me. Tell them I ran."
The assassin took off his mask. "I won't lie for you." He pulled out his knife but the tattooed man swiftly disarmed him and snapped his neck with a blink of an eye.
"Then don't tell them anything." Richard said coldly as he put his hood down.
Three years ago, South Africa
Sara and Richard were going out as she looked at him, worried. "Riley's gonna be OK, I promise."
"Where are we going?" Sara asked.
"Look, I'm not gonna force you to do anything you won't like but if you won't play along, they'll kill you." Richard warned her.
"Hope you're not afraid of blood." Turner smirked as he loaded his gun. "'Cause we're taking a bloodbath."
So, what do you guys think?
Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.