Episode 25: The Cure—Part 1

Talia set her syringe on the nightstand at Anna's bedside and sighed as she walked to Oliver at the door. She glanced back at Anna before speaking. "She doesn't have more than two days" Talia said, grimly. Oliver stiffened upon hearing Anna's deadline. He gazed over at Anna a minute before turning and walking downstairs.

Anna's team and Diggle were waiting in the living room when he came down. They all stood at attention, waiting for orders. Oliver was surprised at this but it didn't make him hesitate to speak. "She has two days," he announced. "This means we only have one to find the cure."

"Ra's has it," Batgirl said. "We can get it, can't we Helena?" she glanced mischievously at Helena and Helena smiled. "No problem" she agreed.

"We need to be smart about this" Oliver said.

"This is the only way to get the cure. You want it, don't you?" Helena asked.

"Of course I want it, but it matters how you get it" he said.

"The cure is an isolated cell in Miracuru hosts," Drake said. "It's called Hiroshi, and there are a few vials in our old safe. But it's booby trapped all to hell so good luck getting in."

"Show me the safe" Oliver said. Victor motioned for Oliver to follow as he started out of the apartment. When they arrived at the safe, it wasn't anything like what Oliver expected. It was truly booby trapped all to hell. Victor and Oliver stood and the entrance and they both stared, agape, into the safe.

There were lasers and even spikes that shot up out of the ground, ceiling, and both walls when passed incorrectly. Victor tried his code but it only shut off the spikes. The lasers still were working. He cursed under his breath. "I don't suppose you know how to maneuver through lasers?" Victor said, turning to Oliver.

"No" he replied.

"Can men do anything by themselves?" Batgirl asked, coming to stand on the other side of Victor. "Got news from Drake. The vials are on sub-level five." Victor sighed ruefully. Oliver raised an eyebrow and Batgirl elaborated. "Sub-level five takes a lot to get to," she explained. "Anna designed the security systems so you have to be like a super ninja in order to make it there alive."

At The Apartment…

Sophia sat next to Anna on the edge of the bed and took her sister's hand. "I told her not to get mixed up in hero stuff again" she said, sadly. Talia put a hand on Sophia's shoulder. "Neither you or I could have stopped her" she said.

"The whole point of leaving home was to get her out of all of that. And now look at her!" Sophia said. Sweat beaded Anna's forehead and she was extremely pale. Occasionally her eyelids would flutter and her breathing audibly hitched. It's not the worst she'd ever looked, but it was bad.

At The Vault…

Sub-level three was a nightmare. Sub-level four was worse. Sub-level five…Anna would have had to have been in a pretty bad mood to come up with the security measures used: Lasers, Metal Spikes that rose from the ground, Tranquilizer darts that flew from holes in the wall…it was like an Indiana Jones movie.

Except it wasn't a movie. It was real life, and in real life you can get hurt or even die. And this was no exception to the rule. Batgirl and Oliver were the only two that continued after Sub-Level three. They stood at the front of the long room that led to a single locker on the far wall.

Batgirl let out a light, quick breath and crossed her arms. "What was she thinking? This is ridiculous," she mumbled, eyeing the intense security. "Well, I guess the saying is ladies first, right?" she unclipped her cape from her shoulders and left it rumpled at the entrance.

She began twisting through the first phase: Lasers. She weaved her way to the second phase: Tranquilizer Darts. She nearly got hit with the first set and quickly rebounded to dodge the second. Once past the third and fourth set of Darts she made it to phase three: Metal Spikes.

Those were the easy part. Phase four was no ordinary phase. There were high tech heat-sensing lasers that formed holograms in the shape of people. The people would act as guards, fight like guards. They were programmed with Anna's fighting style, as well.

To Be Continued…