A/N: Thank you all for the reviews, favorites, and follows! They mean so much to me! I hope you are all enjoying this adventure :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Flashpoint or Arrow. If I did Flashpoint would have never ended and Arrow would have...turned out differently.
Lian Yu, 12 years ago
"Ollie! Come! Let's watch a movie!"
Oliver could hear her sweet voice as it floated towards him, seemingly coming from all directions. His footsteps reverberated in the mournfully empty hallway as the dark wood and flickering lights led him further down as he continued his search for his little sister. It felt as if it would never end.
"Juli, where are you?!"
His voice was strained as he took a right and was faced with another long strip of hallway that seemed to go on to the ends of the earth. He rocked slightly from side to side and as if for the first time, realized he was on the Queen's Gambit.
"I'm right here Ollie!"
He turned around quickly at the sound of her voice, frowning at the door that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. His heartbeat quickened as confusion and fear set in, a trickling of sweat running down his brow.
He placed his shaking hand on the doorknob, frowning when he felt icy coldness licking at his feet. He looked down in horror as dark water seeped from under the door.
He turned the knob, his heart beating in a frenzy when it wouldn't budge. He continued incessantly, his fists connecting with the wooden door in frustration and fear.
"Juli! Juli! Open the door!"
Only silence met his pleading cries.
And then: "I love you, I love you more, I love you most."
The soft singing coming from inside sent chills down his spine. But as the gentle singing became gurgled as if under water, he began to panic.
He pounded harder, his breath coming in short gasps, and suddenly the door flew open, a wave of icy ocean water crashing into him.
He gasped and sputtered as the water invaded his lungs, choking him.
He coughed and coughed and abruptly opened his eyes. Only to be hit by a wave of confusion.
He was back at the cave, the musty earthy scent immediately invading his senses, as water rolled down his face onto the ground beside him.
He wiped at the water and looked up to see the Asian man towering over him, holding a now empty gourd. It all made sense now - he had been dreaming.
The Asian man grunted, eyeing Oliver carefully, before tipping his head to the side of the cave.
Oliver followed the motion and spotted his baby sister sitting with her back to him. Not caring about the consequences, he rushed up, wobbling slightly at the sudden movement, and fell to his knees beside his sister, feeling tears of relief flood his cheeks.
She was here. Alive. Not lost in a never ending maze on a sinking ship.
"Juli." He reached out and she finally turned to him, tears streaming down her cheeks.
He frowned as he wiped some dirt off her small face, wiping his own eyes with the crook of his other arm. Her tears scared and worried him. "Did he hurt you?"
She shook her head furiously. A look of shame crossed her features and he could sense her utter distress. "I had to Ollie. You wouldn't wake up and I was so hungry."
He looked back to where he had been sleeping. How long had he been out? He mentally kicked himself for that - his sister needed him and he had been dozing, although not voluntarily.
Then her other words registered. "What did you have to do?"
She bit her lip and looked away. She then reached for a bowl and handed it to him, her eyes never meeting his.
The bowl contained some kind of meat - cooked he realized. He touched it gingerly and brought it to his lips, eating a morsel. It was meat. But then her sister would be happy, not guilty. Why was she so heartbroken?
As if sensing his unspoken question, the girl whispered. "He brought in a bird and he asked me if I was hungry. He told me to kill it." She sobbed and breathed raggedly. "I killed it with my hands, Ollie."
Suddenly the meat was no longer appetizing. He put down the bowl and gathered her in his arms, holding her as she cried.
"Eat. Crying won't help you survive."
Both siblings tore apart and looked up with wide eyes at the Asian man as he uttered his first words.
Oliver felt anger surge in him and he stood on shaky legs, narrowing his eyes. "Who the hell are you? And why are you doing this to us?"
The man stared at him with a stone face. His eyes flicked down to the shaking girl and his eyes seemed to soften. "I'm not doing anything to you but keeping you alive. You must learn how to survive so you won't get killed."
Oliver eyed him warily. "Why?"
The man didn't answer. "Eat. Then you will go pick berries." With that, the man returned to the rock he had previously been sitting on, sharpening what Oliver now realized were hand made arrows.
Oliver stared after him but finally sat, taking the bowl in his hands and placing it on his sister's lap. Although he understood her pain at killing a small animal, the man was right - they had to eat to survive. "Eat, Juli."
She stared at the bowl for some time, and then a determined look fell on her wet eyes. They both ate the meat silently, a strangled sob escaping Juli every bite or so.
At mid-afternoon, they abandoned the cave in favor of picking berries, the Asian man not far behind. The man only spoke to warn them against the poisonous berries or to order them to remain in a certain area.
Weeks and countless days passed as they began to warm up to the man that for some unknown reason was offering them his knowledge and protection.
There was one particular day that Oliver never thought he'd see.
He had just reentered the cave after picking fruits and he'd heard soft conversation coming from inside.
"Well actually my name is Julianna but Ollie has called me Juli since I was a baby."
"Yao Fei."
"What?"
The scratching that was probably the Asian man sharpening arrows stopped. "My name is Yao Fei. I used to be a General in the Chinese Army."
There was a short silence. "Is that why you are helping us? Because you were a soldier?"
Another silence ensued and Oliver thought the man he now knew to be named Yao Fei would never answer.
Until he spoke that is. His words held a nostalgia to them as he shared. "I have a daughter. You remind me of her."
They remained quiet after that, the scratching of arrows starting up again, and Oliver had walked in with a new understanding of their savior.
Oliver had seen the man smile more often after that and so had Juli, and eventually so did he.
Maybe they were going to be alright after all.
He was wrong.
A week after something terrible happened. Something that broke them both forever.
If only he had said no.
SRU Headquarters, 5:00 PM
Sweat trickles down her back, down her face, and into her clothes, soaking them. She will probably have some bruised knuckles from punching the bag so strongly afterwards but she doesn't care.
It's been a year and all of a sudden you want to play friends.
Oliver's words keep playing in her head like a broken record. It's not that she never intended for the guys to meet her brother, but she had just joined them a year ago and didn't trust anyone of them. But they had slowly and steadily earned her trust and she had realized that they trusted her too - that they cared for her genuinely.
I saw the way he looks at you. And I saw how hard you were trying to avoid looking at him.
Jules throws a kick just for good measure as anger surges in her. At herself and Sam Braddock. How could she be so obvious? Why does he do this to her? Doesn't he understand that she will only get him hurt? Doesn't he know that she's too far down and will drag him with her if he dare approach?
Who are you trying to convince? Me or you?
Honestly she doesn't know. She tries to tell herself that he has no effect on her, that the electric currents running through her are just product of her imagination. That no man will trick her ever again.
But then her heart beats and her body drowns. And she realizes that it's for him.
But those thoughts are selfish. Because if she dare give into him not only does she risk hurt, but he risks death.
Echoing footsteps and hushed voices capture her attention, and she chances a quick glance at her watch. 5:00 PM.
I've been here for three hours, she realizes.
She stops her beating on the innocent object dangling helplessly before her, noticing at once her bloody knuckles. She watches bright red blood trickle down with fascination and flexes her fingers, feeling only numbness.
Am I still human?
She grabs the towel draped on the treadmill and damps it with some water from her water bottle. She gently cleans her hands, turning as a single pair of footsteps approach her.
Sgt. Parker eyes the young woman. "You okay Jules?"
"Just making up for the workout hours I missed this morning." She looks past him. "Is the team here? I thought I heard you all talking."
Greg nods and motions with a hand towards the men's locker rooms, oblivious to the deflection. "They're getting dressed. Shift officially begins at 6, so for once I told them that we will actually start shift at 6."
Jules chuckles. Usually if shirts starts at 6 it means you better be here at 4:30 to start at 5. But since they've been pulling extra shifts this week because Team Two is on vacation, Boss has apparently decided to be lenient.
They stay silent for awhile, Jules wiping sweat off her face and neck as Greg seems to be lost in his own thoughts.
"Would you mind talking in my office?"
Jules raises an eyebrow, studying the SRU sergeant closely. He looks slightly uncertain. Almost as if he must swallow a bitter pill, knowing it's for the best but hesitating nonetheless.
"Lead the way."
She follows him to his office, standing by the door with her arms crossed as Greg leans against his large wooden desk.
"Everything okay Boss?"
The man looks up at her with a raised eyebrow. "I don't know, Jules. Is it?"
A guarded mask falls over her face but Greg thankfully doesn't seem to notice. Jules has, after all, tricked a lie detector itself.
"I'm not sure I understand where you're going with this, Boss."
The man lifts his cap and runs a hand over his head. "Jules, what can you tell me about your brother?"
Jules intentionally allows some confusion to show on her face. "What do you want to know?"
Greg feels at a loss, all of a sudden feeling his earlier concerns had no merit. If her brother was some kind of gun trafficker or criminal, Jules would have looked shocked or guilty or guarded... Anything. But the girl simply looks confused and curious.
Greg switches tactics and decides to be blunt. "Spike told us about the laptop."
Jules feels a small surge of betrayal but she quickly clamps it down - it's not like it was a secret anyway, she tells herself. Still she can't help but feel a slight tinge of hurt.
But it doesn't show on her face. Instead she acts amused. "He told you all about the catalogue of weapons huh?"
For some reason Greg feels like the tables were turned. He nods slowly. "Yes. And I would like to know why your brother has something like that."
Jules laughs softly, a lie forming in her brain and dripping on her tongue. "Boss, that laptop held a weapon catalogue because my brother was looking to buy a gun from a foreign country. Like I told Spike, he likes guns. He's a collector." She shrugs and smiles lightly.
Greg raises an eyebrow. "Really?" He sounds impressed, curious even.
"Yup. He's looking to buy a Dutch rifle. The laptop was encrypted because I was trying to be Spike and messed with it. Turns out I couldn't roll back the damage so I asked Spike for help."
Greg shakes his head and laughs lightly, feeling bad that he brought her in for questioning as if she were a criminal. Turns out there was a logical explanation like he knew there would be. "I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions Jules. Your brother sounds like an interesting young man, and on behalf of the team, we'd like to apologize to him."
Jules smiles. "He's coming to help Spike work on baby cakes tomorrow, remember? You all can talk to him then."
Greg nods and motions with his chin to the door. "I'll go clear this up with the guys now."
He pats her shoulder as he walks by, making Jules's insides clench with shame. Even after he's long gone, she just stands there wondering why all of a sudden it hurts to lie to her sergeant.
For some reason she feels like the enemy right now isn't the people of her past. But the person destroying her present and future in her new home.
Herself.
Smoak Hotels Headquarters, 10PM
Oliver stills. He stills his feet as they rest on the luscious green grass. He stills his breathing and heart rate as to not alert a single soul of his presence. He stills his roaming eyes as they land on the fifth window from the right of the 10th floor.
The window he knows to be Andrew Smoak's office.
He glances at his wristwatch. 10PM. Smoak is probably finishing some last minute details before he will pack his shiny black briefcase and go home, smiling as he thinks of all the money he will suck out his client's credit cards.
The thought makes Oliver's fists clench at his sides.
Training his eyes once again on the lighted window, he makes his way quietly to the back of the building. Once there, he retrieves a hook arrow with a line from his back. Aiming at a beam on top of the building, he lets the arrow flying, smiling when the click signifies it hit home.
Pulling on the line to make sure it's secure, he fastens it to his belt. He grips it with both hands and yanks, flying into the air as the line rolls back into the arrow.
On the roof, he picks the lock on the air vent latch and crawls inside, going by memory as he searches for Smoak's office. Finally, he's right on top of the office.
A laugh. "A yes, dear I'm almost done here." A pause. "Why of course, I would love that. Bye dear."
Andrew Smoak hangs up the phone, smiling lightly after speaking with his beloved daughter. He begins to pack up his documents, when a sudden click from the ceiling captures his attention. He looks up warily, eyes widening when a figure in dark green shoots out from the air vents, landing steadily before him, an arrow pointed at his heart.
He simply stares at the infamous Arrow with an unsettling smile.
"Andrew Smoak, you have failed this city." Oliver's mechanical voice growls as his green eyes glare at the despicable man.
Nevertheless, the man simply chuckles, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Ahhh the Arrow. I was wondering when you would pay me a visit."
Unfazed, Oliver counters. "Then you should know what to do."
The older man laughs heartily, running deft fingers through his crop cut silver hair. "Except, Mr. Arrow. Unlike most of your, uh, targets, I do not fear you. Quite the contrary, you should fear me."
Oliver remains calm, only slightly tightening his grip on his bow. It suddenly hits him how much he needs Jules right now. His little sister would have his back and he wouldn't be feeling as if he was walking into a trap.
Bracause he would know whether he was and he would know what to do to turn the tables.
"Mr. Smoak I believe you're forgetting who's holding the arrow."
Andrew Smoak grins, his smile menacing. "And I believe you are forgetting who I am."
"Enlighten me." Oliver growls.
"My pleasure." Andrew Smoak answers, lifting his hand. His fingers uncurl from a small device and he places it on the desk. "Now I just alerted the police. There's no way out and in no time you'll be heading to jail."
Oliver grins. "Now I believe the one underestimating is you, Mr. Smoak." He pauses. "I expect you to transfer all that money back into the people you stole it from and half a million to the city's bank account by 10PM tomorrow night. Or I come back." With a grin, Oliver adds. "Not alone."
The blaring of the police sirens spurs Oliver into motion and he aims his arrow at the window, blasting through it.
Andrew Smoak watches with an eerie calm, moving aside so the masked vigilante can jump out. He leans over the window, following the green leather until it disappears into the darkness.
Going back to the darkness it came from, he muses.
He then takes out his cellphone, dialing a number. He presses his phone to his ear with a sinister smile.
"It's confirmed. The Queens are here. In Toronto."
A/N: Please Review! Let me know what you think!