Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or Batman.
Starling City
Night
"Are we really doing this?" Laurel asked as she, Diggle, Oliver, and Sara rode in a van in black masks.
"Slade gave us no choice." Oliver said firmly.
"I never thought I'd be doing something like this." Laurel admitted.
"I've done a lot of things in the last seven years that I never thought I'd do." Sara told her sister bluntly.
"We're here." Diggle called out as he pulled up outside the building.
Team Arrow pulled down their masks and got out of the van. Diggle took out a pair of pliers and started cutting through the wires. While he did that, Oliver and Sara moved inside and took on the guards. Oliver put his guard in a chokehold until he passed out while Sara simply knocked him off his feet. He fell down on the pavement steps, none too gently.
"Sara, that man used to work for our family!" Oliver called out.
"And now he works for Slade." She reminded him.
"Security cameras are down." Felicity said through the comms.
"What's that?" Laurel asked as Oliver pulled out a white, cylinder shaped device and held it against the door.
"The skeleton key, it can unlock any lock." Sara explained as a beep went off.
"Including this one." Oliver said as he pulled the door open and they walked inside.
They walked inside and Laurel, who had never been inside the Applied Science building, looked around stunned. Diggle knelt down and began pulling out the charges.
"These are plug and play," Diggle said as he handed them to all of them, "strap them to what we talked about, let the C4 do the rest."
Team Arrow moved out, setting the charges on places they needed to be. It was going as planed until-
"Freeze!" a guard came out and aimed his gun at Laurel.
However, Laurel had been training with Sara for weeks now, so she was prepared. Laurel whirled around, grabbed the guy by his arm, and threw him on the floor. The guard looked up to see Laurel holding the gun in his face.
"I'm sorry about this." Laurel said as she punched him hard enough to leave him unconscious.
"We need to go, now!" Oliver ordered as he picked the guard and hoisted him over his shoulder.
They ran out of the building and Oliver dropped the guard with the ones from earlier, which had been moved to a safe distance. Team Arrow got in the car and drove off.
"Thermal imaging shows no vital signs inside." Felicity said over the comms.
Oliver pulled out the detonator and moved to push the button. However, his finger hovered just an inch above it.
"Ollie," Sara put a hand on his shoulder, "it's just a building."
Nodding, Oliver pressed the button. Immediately afterwards, the building exploded in the distance.
Arrow lair, next day
Morning
"For the record, I hated her before we found out she was a supervillain." Felicity said as she turned off the news report about Isabel.
"Okay, Slade's goal is to great an army of super soldiers using the Mirakuru. To do that, he needs an industrial centrifuge." Oliver began.
"Which Isabel taking the company gave him full access to." Sara noted.
"But since the Applied Sciences went kaboom, he can't use that technology for his warped science experiment." Felicity pointed out.
"Slade's had us on the heel for weeks; I say we take the fight to him." Diggle said.
"I'm with John." Laurel.
"All this will do is set him back; we have no way of knowing where the next attack is coming from." Oliver told them.
Thea's apartment
Same time
Thea was at her computer, looking at an article about her brother and Sara after they first returned home. She then brought up some articles about the vigilantes. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out if her brother was The Arrow, then Sara was The Canary. But were they?
Iron Heights
Afternoon
"I'm sorry daddy, this all my fault." Sara said as she sat across from Quentin, who was wearing a prison suit.
"I made the choice, not you. Between you and Oliver, it's amazing you have time to do what you do with all the self-loathing the two of you do." Quentin said dryly.
"Don't joke dad. You were caught aiding and abetting the vigilantes. You're facing prison." Sara told him worriedly.
"This'll all blow over, okay? Then you can let me take Shado out for some ice cream, alright?" Quentin said as he flashed her a reassuring smile.
Queen Mansion
Same time
"Well, now I have to become mayor," Moira said after their family lawyer left, "it seems I'll need the income."
"Losing the company wasn't your fault, it was mine. I let Isabel Rochev get the better of me." Oliver said in self-loathing.
"No, you always see the good in people, even when they don't deserve it," Moira said as she walked over to him, "Isabel is a vindictive woman, it was only a matter of time once she joined the company."
"How do you know? You told me months ago I couldn't trust-which I already knew, by the way." Oliver told her.
"Your father a weakness for beautiful, strong women." Moira said and it took only moments for him to put it together.
"They were together." Oliver said softly.
"Yes," Moira said as she turned away, "she was still in business school at the time, the pretty intern that caught the CEO's eye."
"Why didn't you tell me this?" Oliver demanded hotly.
"I didn't want to tarnish your memories of your father." Moira said and Oliver scoffed.
"I think that ship sailed with The Undertaking." Oliver said sarcastically.
"Mr. Oliver," the pair looked up to see Raisa, "a Mr. Wayne here to see you?"
"Bruce Wayne?" Oliver asked stunned and she nodded.
"You know Bruce Wayne?" Moira asked surprised.
"Yeah, long story." Oliver said still stunned.
"Well, take these to Thea," Moira said as she handed the forms to Oliver, "get her to sign. Convince her, somehow, to help us fight back."
Oliver nodded slightly as he walked out of the room. He walked towards the front door to see a tall, well dressed dark haired man with blue eyes waiting for him.
"It's been a while Oliver." Bruce Wayne said in greeting.
"Over two years. What are you doing here Bruce?" Oliver demanded as he reached the other man.
"Well, the Starling Vigilante is testy," Bruce joked and Oliver glared at him, "is that anyway to thank me for my help with those goons last a few days ago?"
"You…you're?" Oliver blinked and Bruce chuckled.
"We have a common enemy: Slade Wilson." Bruce told him and Oliver regained his composure.
"How do you know Slade?" Oliver demanded.
"He was in Gotham a few months ago, caused a lot of damage, killed a lot of people. I've been trying to track him down for months but I didn't have any luck until Thea was kidnapped, I recognized the uniform in the video. So, will you accept my help or are am I gonna work alone on this?" Bruce asked.
Lian Yu, five years ago
Night
"Can you help me up?" Oliver asked as Sara used a rag to clean his face.
"Yeah." Sara said as she helped her boyfriend to his feet.
"Just to my trunk." Oliver said and she helped him towards it.
Oliver opened it up and pulled out the pouch with Yao-Fei's herbs in it. He opened it up and took a pinch before putting it in his mouth and swallowing it. He sighed as he felt himself begin to heal.
"Ah, look who's up!" Anatoli said jovially as he and another prisoner walked in, "just in time for the fun."
"What are you gonna do to him?" Sara asked as Anatoli walked over to Ivo.
"Make him scream, just like he made us," Anatoli said as he pulled out a pair of garden shears, "they say living well is best revenge. I prefer torture. You want first turn?"
'No." Oliver said as he looked away.
"Please, I can help you." Ivo begged.
"No, I can help you. What was it you said you needed for research? An eye," Anatoli said before lunging forward and grabbing Ivo, "let me give you a fresh one!"
"You can still stop Slade Wilson!" Ivo shouted desperately.
"Anatoli, wait," Oliver ordered as he walked over, "what did you say?"
"I can help you stop Slade." Ivo told him.
"How? Miracle drug of yours turned him into monster." Anatoli pointed out.
"I know. I can turn him back." Ivo told him.
"Ivo what are you saying?" Oliver demanded.
"The Mirakuru. There's a cure." Ivo explained.
Verdant
Later in the afternoon
"Long time Bruce." Sara said as they greeted each other.
"Sara." Bruce nodded.
"So Bruce Wayne is Batman? Never would have seen that coming." Felicity said as she, Diggle, and Laurel stood back from them.
"And how do you three know each other?" Diggle asked curiously.
"We encountered Bruce our firth year away." Oliver explained as Bruce looked over at the others.
"And you three are…" Bruce trailed off, waiting for an introduced.
"Bruce, this is my sister Laurel and our friends John Diggle and Felicity Smoak." Sara said as she gestured towards each individual.
"Mr. Diggle, Ms. Smoak," Bruce nodded politely to Diggle and Felicity before walking over and holding out his hand to Laurel, "Sara mentioned she had a sister. You're not what I imagined,"
"Are you insulting me?" Laurel raised an eyebrow as she shook his hand.
"On the contrary, I am complimenting you." Bruce smiled and, after a moment, Laurel returned it.
"Okay, let's go," Oliver said before they entered the lair, "I know Slade, he is not gonna stop. He's-"
"Welcome home." Deathstroke said as he stood in the liar.
Deathstroke then raised a gun and fired. Oliver and Sara grabbed Felicity and Laurel respectively before jumping over the side of the stairs. Felicity and Laurel took cover as Bruce and Diggle rushed down the stairs, even as Deathstroke fired at them. As Deathstroke was distracted, Sara took out her baton and lunged at Slade. However, Deathstroke whirled around and grabbed her by the throat, stopping her in her tracks.
"Hello Sara." Deathstroke growled before throwing her across the room.
She hit a table and bounced off it on to the ground painfully. Bruce was near her and checked on her as Diggle jumped out and fired at Slade. Despite Oliver shouting not to, Diggle kept firing but none of his bullets fazed the mercenary.
"You're wasting your bullets." Deathstroke said just as the gun clicked empty.
Diggle then tried to strike Deathstroke with the barrel of his gun but it had no effect. Oliver and Bruce both stood up and tried to rush the mercenary but they were too late. Looking like he was barely trying, Deathstroke punched Diggle and the man went hurtling into the case containing Oliver's suit. The glass shattered as Bruce and Oliver reached him.
Oliver picked up two steel escrima sticks while Bruce picked up Oliver's bow. Slade switched his sword blade sideways and blocked Oliver as Bruce tried to strike him with the bow. Slade dodged and punched Bruce, sending him flying. Oliver fought back but Slade easily got behind him and flipped him on his back before punching him.
"Don't forget who taught you how to fight kid." Deathstroke said before walking off, seeming to disappear.
Oliver sat up as everyone else got up, all of them realizing Slade was gone.
Starling General Hospital
Later in the afternoon
"I've never felt so helpless; part of me thinks I could have done something." Laurel confessed to Bruce in the waiting room.
"There was nothing you could have done; you saw how easily Slade took out all four of us. He was just toying with us." Bruce assured her.
"I joined this team so I would never feel helpless again, now…" Laurel shook her head.
"Why do we fall? To pick ourselves back up," Bruce said and she looked over at him, "my father told me that."
"He sounds like a wise man." Laurel noted and he smiled sadly.
"He was. He died when I was young." Bruce told her.
"I'm so sorry." She said apologetically.
"It's okay, you didn't know." Bruce assured her.
"Excuse me; I'm looking for my sister in law, Sara Queen's room." Thea asked a nurse.
"Right there." She gestured and Thea nodded.
"Hey, is she okay?" Thea asked the doctor as she reached the door.
"Yes Ms. Queen, just a hair line fracture of her wrist, we set it," he said and Thea relaxed, "she's got some nasty bruises but it looks worse than it is. It's nothing compared to her previous injuries."
"Previous injuries?" Thea asked as the doctor started to walk away.
"Yes, she has extensive scared tissue on her body. The last person I say with these kinds of injuries was a veteran injured in Iraq. Has your sister in law served in the military?" the doctor asked.
"No." Thea said weakly as she turned away.
Thea walked into Sara's room just as Sara was putting her shirt on. She caught a glimpse of the scars across Sara's back and had a flashback.
Queen Mansion
Almost two years ago
Afternoon
"Mom said that there were scars but-" Thea pulled open her brother's shirt to reveal his scared chest.
"I don't wanna talk about it." Oliver said as he pulled away and buttoned his shirt.
"Thea?" Sara was surprised when she turned around to see Thea standing there.
"I…" Thea couldn't get the words out as she had confirmation of Slade's claims, which she had not believed up to that point.
"Thea?" she turned around to see her brother standing behind her.
Overwhelmed, Thea rushed past him and out the door.
Verdant
Night
"Thea, we need to talk," Oliver said as he walked up to her, "I know how you feel about me right now but…are you okay?"
"Fine." Thea tried to dismiss it but she put a bottle on the shelf as her hands visibly shook.
"Thea," Oliver took the bottle from her and set it on the shelf before looking at her, "I know you're really angry with me and I don't blame you, I should have told you about Merlyn. But something else is bothering you, something besides Merlyn. No matter how you feel about me right now, I'm always gonna be your big brother. Talk to me."
"It's nothing. What did you want?" Thea asked and Oliver wanted to press it but knew it wouldn't do him any good right now.
"I know you're angry with me and mom but we need your help. We need you to sign this to get our fortune back," Oliver handed the paper to her, "I know you're angry with me, you may hate me, but I know you don't hate Shado. She will need that fortune; it will set her for life. Do it for her. At least think about it."
"Okay." Thea said shakily.
"Thank you for at least thinking about it." Oliver told her before walking off.
"So do we have anything?" Oliver asked as he walked down to the lair to see his team and Bruce assembled by the computer.
"Slade wasn't here to fight; he was here because you had something he needed." Bruce told him.
"The skeleton key Ollie. I did a full sweep; it's the only thing that's missing." Sara said grimly.
"We destroyed QC's Applied Science division, now he can get a new one anywhere." Laurel said dismayed.
"Where's the most cutting edge technology housed in Starling City?" Oliver asked as he turned to Felicity.
"Star Labs," Bruce said immediately and shrugged when they turned to him, "Wayne Enterprises makes a donation every few months."
Not that longer after, The Arrow, Canary, and Batman took off on three separate motorcycles from the alley behind the club. They were in such a hurry that they didn't notice the car turn on and begin to follow them. Less than ten minutes later, the trio pulled up in front of Star Labs. Looking inside the window, they could see two panicked scientist talking quickly to the security guard at the front desk.
"We're too late." Batman growled.
Dismayed, the three drove off. Unnoticed was Thea, watching everything from her car.
Star Labs
Later
Bruce and Laurel walked into the room, which was noticed by two people. A tanned skin man with longish black hair and a Caucasian woman with brown hair and light brown eyes stood up as they reached them.
"Mr. Wayne, what are you doing here?" the man asked surprised.
"I was in town on some business when I heard about the break in. You two okay?" Bruce asked concerned.
"More than a little freaked out, but we'll be okay. Who's your friend?" The man asked as he looked over at Laurel.
"Laurel, this is Caitlin Snow, Bioengineering, and Cisco Ramon, mechanics. They both work at Star Labs. Cisco, Caitlin, this is Laurel Lance, my attorney." Bruce said smoothly as he introduced them.
"Is there are anything you can tell us about what happened here? Since he's an investor, Mr. Wayne needs to know if anything was stolen or damaged. Like an industrial centrifuge, for example." Laurel said professionally, both she and Bruce noticing how Caitlin tensed.
"It's kind of a secret." Caitlin told them.
"What kind of secret?" Bruce asked.
"The kind I have to keep." Caitlin said firmly and Bruce nodded.
"Well, I'm glad you two are okay. Laurel, we really should be going." Bruce said as he grabbed Laurel and began leading her out.
Arrow lair
Later
"I hacked into Harrison Wells personal files and look what I found," Felicity told the team and Bruce as she brought up a digital image of some blueprints, "it's a prototype of one of their new bio-tech-projects. The patent is still pending, which is probably why they wouldn't tell Bruce and Laurel what it was."
"What is it?" Bruce demanded.
"It's a biotransfuser. It can deliver blood from a single donor and give it to multiple patients." Felicity explained.
"Why would Slade need a blood transfusion?" Diggle asked confused.
"He doesn't. The prisoners he freed from Iron Heights do." Oliver told him.
"With a few tweaks, it can be used to put the Mirakuru in the prisoners, bypassing a less than successful ratio of success to, you know, death. Instead of metabolizing in the person, it happens in the machine." Felicity explained.
"Wait, this'll take a whole lot of blood. Even a man of Slade's stamina can't handle that kind of drain." Diggle pointed out.
"Slade is smart; he wouldn't weaken himself like that. He has to have a backup plan." Bruce pointed out.
"Then what is it?" Laurel asked but no one had an answer.
Lian Yu, five years ago
Night
"Don't listen to him, he's lying!" Anatoli spat.
"The cure is real, I promise!" Ivo insisted.
"He's just trying to save his skin!" Anatoli sneered.
Sara walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. After a moment, Anatoli stood up and walked back. Sara knelt down and glared at the mad man.
"Tell us about the cure." Sara demanded.
Anatoli sighed in frustration and stormed over to a corner of the fuselage. No one paid him any mind as they gave Ivo their attention.
"I want to help you Sara but first you need to help me." Ivo told her.
"We won't save your life." Oliver snarled.
"No one can," Ivo pulled his shirt apart enough so they could see black skin in his chest, "not anymore. All I ask for is a quick death."
"You don't deserve a quick death." Sara snapped.
"I know. But I'm asking." Ivo said.
Sara looked up at Oliver and they had a silent conversation with their eyes. Then Sara turned back and nodded.
"Start talking Ivo." Oliver snapped.
"I was never able to replicate the Mirakuru serum from the original Japanese world war two research I discover. After conducting experiments on the prisoners I picked up this last year, I managed to synthesize a solution that counteracts, reverses the philological effects that exposure to Mirakuru produces. From more than human back to human." Ivo explained.
"Where is it?" Oliver demanded.
"You'll keep your word about ending my life?" Ivo asked.
"As long as you tell us where the cure is." Sara told him coldly.
"It's on the freighter. In a safe in my quarters," Ivo said as he pulled out a key and handed it to Sara, "Now I believe this concludes my end of our deal."
Queen Consolidated, next day
Afternoon
"Whatever you have to say, it takes security sixty seconds to get here, so make it quick." Isabel told Oliver as he walked into her office.
"Where's Slade?" Oliver demanded and she laughed mockingly, "I just want to give you one last chance to do the right thing."
"I'm under thirty and the CEO of a fortune five-hundred company, I say I've already done the right thing." She said arrogantly.
"Do you even know who Slade Wilson is? Or why he's doing this?" Oliver demanded.
"I don't know and I don't care. I got what I earned." Isabel told him.
"What you earned?! You think that sleeping with my father entitles you to my family's company?!" Oliver snapped.
"You don't know what you're talking about." Isabel snapped.
"My father fooled around with a lot of girls. I don't see them ordering hostile takeovers. Oliver snapped back.
"Fooled around, is that what your mother told you? Of course she would try to degrade it to some meaningless affair," Isabel scoffed as she stood up and stormed away from her desk with Oliver following her, "Slade Wilson put me through hell, his training nearly killed me. Would I do that if I was just some jilted lover?"
"Honestly, I don't know what you are!" Oliver sneered.
"I was your father's soulmate!" Isabel declared and Oliver laughed at her delusions, "He was going to leave the company, leave your mother, leave you!"
"Really?" Oliver asked sarcastically, not buying it.
"Our bags were packed, then your sister had to go and break her arm. Doing something ridiculous, no doubt." Isabel sneered.
"She fell off her horse." Oliver remembered.
"We were at the airport when he got the call. I begged him not to go, reminded him that Thea wasn't even his!" Isabel seethed and Oliver froze.
"Are you saying that my father knew?" Oliver asked stunned.
"Of course he knew. He was a fool, not an idiot. And like a fool, he loved her anyway. He told me we would leave the next day, but instead my internship was terminated and he never spoke to me again." Isabel told Oliver.
"So that's what this is really about? He chose us over you." Oliver was in disbelief as two security guards came in.
Please escort Mr. Queen off the premise." Isabel ordered and they moved towards him.
"Don't touch me." Oliver said harshly and they stopped.
"Mr. Queen is no longer welcome in the building, my building." Isabel said smugly as she smiled vindictively at him.
"If looks could kill, Isabel would be dead ten times over. Oliver whirled around and walked out of the room, digging out his phone. Dialing a number, Oliver put it to his ear and waited.
"Hello?" Thea asked.
"Thea, its Ollie. I just need five minutes face to face. There's something you need to know." Oliver told her.
"Okay. Come by the club after we close." Oliver was surprised by how fast she agreed.
Iron Heights
Night
"Hey, I didn't expect to see you here." Quentin looked up from his hospital bed to see Thea walk in.
"I was on my way to see you when I heard. You okay?" Thea asked as she sat in a chair next to him.
"Fine. What can I do for you Thea?" Quentin asked and she paused, trying to form the words.
"I need advice and you're the only one I can turn to. When the vigilantes first came to the city, you were their most vocal opponent. What changed your mind?" Thea asked and Quentin paused, trying to formulate a response that wouldn't give away his insider knowledge.
"There was a time that I would have sold out my badge to find out who they were, you know that," Quentin began and Thea nodded, "then I realized that I didn't care who they were. In fact, I didn't want to know who they were."
"Why not?" Thea asked curiously.
"Because if I knew, then they would become people. Maybe they have families, friends, people they care about, people with lives. Then they couldn't be what I needed them to be, what this city needs them to be. It's The Arrow and Canary that matter, the people under those masks aren't important. Can you imagine what it's like to be them, day in and day out? What they have to live with every day, what that's gotta be like? The burden of the secrets they keep, how they continuously put their lives at risk for the people of this city, never even asking for a thank you or rewards. The least I can do is sit here and do a little time for them. Does that help any?" Quentin asked as Thea sat there silently.
"Yeah…it helps a lot." Thea said softly.
Verdant
Later
"Thea, thank you for agreeing to," Oliver began but was cut off guard when Thea hugged him, "I-I thought you were mad at me."
"Not anymore," Thea said as she stepped back, "It wasn't your secret to tell. Mom should have told me a long time ago, she shouldn't have made you feel like you had to keep this from me. But I'm not signing those papers."
"Thea please." Oliver begged.
"You and Sara have been putting all the money you have made since coming back in a separate account, right?" Thea asked and he nodded slowly, "you and Sara will be fine. I'll be fine, the only one who loses is mom."
"Thea-"
"Aren't you tired of being the same story in this town? Dead father, terrorist mother, son who comes back with girlfriend from being stranded on an island? Maybe it's time you and I write a new story for the Queen family." Thea told him.
"Thea-" Oliver began when his phone started ringing.
"It's okay, we'll talk later." Thea smiled at him before she turned around and walked off.
"Yeah?" Oliver answered, still highly confused about what just happened.
"The grid at Collins and Main just spiked, drawing a hell of a lot of power," Felicity began, "so someone either plugged in the world's largest hairdryer or the biotransfuser just went online. You have thirty minutes, forty tops."
"I'm on my way." Oliver prepared to hang up.
"What about your family's assets?" Felicity asked.
"This is more important." Oliver said as he hung up.
Warehouse
Later
The Arrow jumped down the roof access and entered what looked like some mad scientists lab. He walked in, seeing the prisoners from Iron Heights hooked up to the biotransfuser. Seeing the platform where it originated from, The Arrow walked over and froze. It was not Slade hooked up to the machine, but Roy. Seeing the wire, the archer moved to pull it off Roy when a familiar voice spoke up.
"I wouldn't touch that if I were you," The Arrow whirled around and notched an arrow at Slade, "removing him mid-cycle would surely end his life."
"Slade, he's just a kid!" The Arrow argued as he noted Isabel behind his enemy.
"Only because you pushed him away. You were the one person he looked up to you and for that, you crushed his soul." Slade told him.
"We found him in a shelter in Bludhaven; he didn't even put up a fight. Pathetic." Isabel mocked.
"I will. Tell me how to shut it down!" The Arrow ordered.
"If you could feel the power surging through me, you would know that I do not fear an arrow," Slade sneered as he pulled out his sword, "I am stronger than you can even imagine. And soon, I will not be alone."
The Arrow turned and fired at the fuse box. His arrow hit it and there was a spark before the power in the room went out. The Arrow then turned and fired various arrows at Slade, who easily blocked them with his sword. Isabel pulled out a pistol and fired at The Arrow, who turned and ran to avoid the bullets. Isabel pursued him before the archer fired back at her his arrow knocked the pistol out of her hand and she rushed him. However, the gap in skill began apparent when The Arrow easily defeated her with a punch to the face. However, Slade then grabbed her and slammed him into a wall. Slade then lifted him over his shoulder and dropped him, The Arrow getting up in a crouching position and aiming at Slade.
"You can't hurt me kid." Slade smirked.
In response, Oliver hit a switch on his bow and a pair of bolts flew out, hitting Slade in the chest. Sade looked down, frowning in confusion before they exploded in a rain of sparks. Slade grunted in pain as he stumbled back and fell to the ground. The Arrow stood up and went over to the transfuser
Something caught his eye and he looked over at the transfuser to see a green vial in it. Realizing what it was, the archer picked it up and pocketed it before going up to Roy. Uncuffing him, he looked up to see Isabel about to fire at him. However, what seemed to be a bat fly out and hit her hand, knocking the gun out of her hand. Batman then jumped out and punched her before grabbing her, and whirling around, throwing her into the wall roughly. As she slumped to the floor, Batman turned around and faced The Arrow. Nodding at each other, they turned just as Slade stood up. The Arrow fired an arrow at the ceiling while Batman shot off a grappling hook. With The Arrow grabbing Roy, the two vigilantes rode up the lines, away from Slade.
Backup lair
Later
"He's lost a lot of blood," Sara said as Team Arrow and Bruce stared down at Roy, "I don't know what the transfuser did to him, but his pulse is weak. He needs a real doctor."
"We can't get him to a real doctor." Oliver snapped.
"You can't, but I can," Bruce said and they turned to him, "I have a friend, a doctor. Leslie Tompkins, she's a friend and she knows who I am. She knows how to keep a secret Oliver."
"…call her." Oliver ordered and Bruce nodded as he walked off, pulling out his cell phone.
"So what do we do now? Slade has twenty more guys just like him now, things just got a lot worse." Laurel pointed out.
"I think we have a way to stop Slade now," Oliver said and they turned to him as he pulled out the vial he had taken, "Mirakuru."
"You weren't thinking about taking it, were you?" Felicity asked worriedly.
"No. We're going to use it to make a cure." Oliver told them.
"Is that even possible?" Laurel asked stunned.
"Yes," Sara said and her sister turned to her, "On the island, a man had a cure for it."
"Why didn't you two ever tell us this?" Diggle demanded.
"Because we had a chance to cure Slade…and we chose to kill him instead." Oliver explained.
"Everything that's happening now is because we made the wrong choice." Sara said before the two walked off just as Bruce walked over.
"She's at a clinic in Africa, so it'll take us a few days to get her here. What I miss?" Bruce asked.
Lian Yu, five years ago
Night
"You might not believe me now, but I was a good man once," Ivo said as Sara aimed a pistol at him, "a good doctor, a good husband. Until the Mirakuru drove me mad. I didn't even take any myself."
Whatever else he was going to say was cut off when Sara pulled the trigger. A bullet entered his chest and, for good measure, Sara fired again and hit him just an inch above where she had first hit him. A glassy look entered Ivo's eye and his head fell limply to the side.
"For Shado." Sara said grimly as she lowered the gun.
"For Shado." Oliver echoed.
Anatoli said something in Russian and the two looked over at him.
"So, now what do we do?" Anatoli asked.
"Well, I don't suppose any of you know how to pilot a submarine?" Oliver asked idly.
Queen mansion, next day
Morning
"She still won't speak to me but she's speaking to you?" Moira asked as Oliver packed up some stuff.
"I don't understand it either but yeah. She asked me to pick up some of her stuff." Oliver said as he picked up a suit case.
"Oliver…in all the things that have been going, I haven't asked…are you and I okay?" Moira said and Oliver paused.
"I love you mom…I will always love you," Oliver said as he turned around to face his mother, "but I don't know if I'll ever be able to trust you again. I think that's what Thea's feeling right now. I only knew for a few months but you, you had eighteen years to tell her about Merlyn. You should have."
"Oliver-" Moira began.
"Thea said something to me last night and I think she's right. Maybe she and I should start writing our own story of the Queen family." Oliver said as he picked up the suit case and walked out.
Thea's apartment
Afternoon
"Thanks." Thea said as Oliver dropped off her stuff.
"Thea, I was gonna tell you this last night, but better than never right," Oliver joked but Thea just gave him a look, "Dad knew. About Merlyn."
"What?" Thea asked stunned.
"Whatever dad's faults, he loved us. All of us. You were his daughter, some stupid blood test wasn't gonna change that. He chose us, he chose you. He chose to be your father, even though he didn't have to. He chose you." Oliver told her gently.
Thea, having struggled not to cry throughout Oliver's speech, couldn't handle it. She grabbed onto her brother and sobbed into his shoulder. Oliver simply held her as she cried.
Arrow lair
Same time
"What are you doing here Bruce?" Laurel asked as she packed up some items.
"I could ask you the same thing." Bruce raised an eyebrow.
"Dig asked me to get some stuff to bring over to the new lair since this one's been compromised. And you?" Laurel raised an eyebrow back.
"I'm keeping an eye on you. After Felicity, you are the most vulnerable." Bruce told her.
"Way to make a girl feel good Bruce." Laurel said sarcastically.
"I meant to Slade. After Felicity, you are the least trained, the least combat ready. You saw how Slade took us out so easily. I hate to think what he'd do to you." Bruce said and Laurel smiled, flattered.
"So you're worried about me? Thanks but don't. I am not a damsel in distress." Laurel assured him as she walked over to him.
"Trust me; I am very much aware of that." Bruce assured her.
Neither was sure who moved first, but the next thing either knew, Bruce had her backed against the wall as they kissed fiercely.
So, what do you guys think? Please leave any thoughts or comments in a review, feedback is greatly appreciated.