Disclaimer: Arrow is owned by The CW, Berlanti Productions, and Warner Bros. Television. The character of the Green Arrow and the Justice League is owned by DC Comics. I own nothing; I'm just playing in their universe.

Chapter 26: Black Canary

Mia wearily dropped down into Malcolm's vacated chair, cradling her head in her hands. Around her, there were softs sobs and teary eyes as everyone processed what they had just seen- except from Slade, who watched everyone with bored disinterest. Behind her, the door closed and locked with a soft click.

Roy walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. "You tried." He told her softly.

She looked up and glared at him. "I ain't done yet." She vowed.

"Mia, some people can't be changed."

"Like me?" she shot back, he moved back, startled by her outburst. "I changed, Roy. Twice." She shook her head. "If I can be better, then so can he. He just needs a push."

"You pushed him and he bolted." Roy pointed out.

"He needs time, Roy. He can be better, I know he can."

"What if you're wrong?" the two looked up at Laurel, who had spoken. "What if he doesn't change? What if he uses what he knows now to-"

"He won't." Mia said firmly.

"How can you be so sure?" Laurel asked.

"Because if we still feel he's a threat when this is over, we'll wipe his memory of these events before we send him back."

Slade perked up in interest.

A pause.

"You can do that?" Felicity asked warily.

"No," Mia said with a sigh. "But I know a couple of Martians who can."

"And that thing you said?" Thea asked timidly. "About me or Tommy having to die…"

Mia chuckled. "Oh, that. I just made that shit up."

Thea looked at her older self in disbelief. "You are insane."

"Probably." Mia gave her younger self a tired smile. "Let's just hope I pushed Malcolm enough to see the truth of what he's planning to do."

Gym

Malcolm rushed into the spacious gym, collapsing against the railing before sliding to the ground. As he sat, the panic he had been feeling began to abate and some of the control he had spent years honing finally came back to him. He maneuvered his body to sit cross-legged on the floor, and started doing the breathing exercises that Ra's had shown him those many years ago in Nanda Parbat.

Are you willing to kill one of your children to avenge your dead wife?

Was he? Was he willing to risk his son's life to realize his vengeance? Or his daughter's? For years he had worked towards this one goal- destroy the Glades, and then rebuild it in his own image. Make the Glades a beacon in Starling City, a place where you could feel safe, a place where you could live in peace. A legacy to leave his son.

But what good was a legacy if there was no one around to claim it?

He shuddered at the memory of his son, bloodied and dying, impaled by rebar and crushed by concrete. Why did he have to go down to the Glades? Why did he have to be at CNRI? That woman! He raged silently. That damn Lance woman had-

"Thinking upon your sins, Mr. Merlyn?"

He didn't open his eyes. "Tempting fate, Miss Lance?" he growled.

"There's no fate but what we make." She replied. "Though I am thinking of making a little fate right now…"

Malcolm opened his eyes to tell her exactly what she could make- but he froze. Standing before him wasn't the Laurel Lance that had been clinging to his son minutes before. This woman was older- her long hair dyed bleach blonde; she was dressed in leather pants, boots and a black leather jacket that covered her arms but allowed her halter to showcase her chest. "Miss Lance," Malcolm said warily, rising to his feet. "My how you've grown…"

Dinah stared back at him with cold eyes as she began to move around him. "Do you know why you're here, Mr. Merlyn?"

"Because my daughter wants to undo all that I've done over the past ten years?" he replied dryly, never taking his eyes off of her.

Dinah smiled coldly. "She believes you're here so that you can change and become a nice guy." She said sarcastically. "But we both know better. You're a monster, who hid behind the façade of the altruistic businessman. The humanitarian of the year." She scoffed. "You're actually here because you're a mad dog that needs to be put down."

Malcolm smirked. "And you're the one that's going to do it?" he asked. "What do you plan to do, counselor? Argue me to death?"

Dinah Laurel Lance grinned maliciously. "Shall I begin my oral arguments?"

Viewing Room

"Malcolm's not evil, Tommy. You have to believe that." Mia was saying to her brother.

"I just watched him level half the Glades and kill me. Forgive me if I'm skeptical." Tommy shot back.

"He wasn't born evil. He did evil things because circumstances drove him to." Mia countered. "In his mind, his wife died because of his inaction. And while he shifts that blame to the people of the Glades when he talks about it, deep down he still feels respons-" she was cut off by a loud screaming sound that reverberated throughout the station, and the very physical shaking it caused.

"What the hell was that?!" Quentin exclaimed.

Warning: Active Metahuman Power in use in unsecured section. Continued use of power may result in explosive decompression.

"What the hell…" Lance said, paling.

"What does that mean?" Slade demanded.

"Gideon, identify origin of Metahuman activity." Mia demanded.

Source of power is Black Canary.

Mia looked at Sara, panic in her eyes. "Gideon, enable Meta-Dampeners on this level."

Unable to comply. Meta-Dampeners are off line.

"Oh, shit…" Mia snarled. She jumped up from her seat and ran to the door, expecting it to open as she approached. Because it didn't she ran right into it face first-

Then again when Sara slammed into her from behind-

And yet again when Roy slammed into them both.

"What the fuck!" she exclaimed, rubbing her chest.

"Some superheroes." Slade said with a sardonic grin. "Can't even beat a door."

"Gideon, open this door." Mia commanded.

Unable to Comply.

"WHY!?"

Combat Lockdown has been initiated. All rooms have been sealed for visitor's protection.

"By whose authority?" Sara asked.

Black Canary.

Mia reached up to her ear and tapped her com piece. "Mia to Rose." She said, getting nothing but static in return. "Green Arrow to Supergirl, respond!" she shouted. "Gideon, what's the status of communications?"

Communications are off line.

"Gideon, end Combat Lockdown." Sara said. "Authorization Canary Tango-Delta-Zulu-4972."

Access denied. Code restricted.

Sara looked at her friends in confusion. Mia suddenly got a frustrated look on her face. "Gideon, whose codes are currently active?"

Black Canary. The computer replied.

"I HATE your sister." She told Sara quietly. Then she looked over to Felicity. "Lis, I need you to hack our system."

"What?" she asked.

"A member of the Justice League has gone rogue and is right now probably trying to kill Malcolm." Mia said. "We're locked in- we need to get out to stop her."

"Why bother?" Thea asked coldly. "He deserves to die."

Mia rounded on her. "NO ONE DIES!" she roared, scaring her younger self. "Not here, not now, not while I'm around. Felicity," she turned back to the hacker, "I need you to get around the lockout. Please."

"I don't know if I can…"

"Listen, this system is based off of designs you constructed." Sara told her. "If anybody can figure it out quickly and get us out, it will be you."

Felicity took a deep breath, and then nodded. She moved up to the door and activated the holographic interface. "First time I've ever hacked via a hologram…" she muttered to herself as she began to type.

Gym

The blast from Dinah's Canary Cry had sent Malcolm rocketing backwards across the floor of the gym, crashing through the glass panes that partitioned the handball court from the workout area, and sliding the rest of the way over slick wood and glass shards until he hit the far wall. He hit with his head and shoulders, and that coupled with the deafening sound left him temporarily deaf and disoriented. In his mind he cursed himself for underestimating a potential threat even as he struggled to get to his feet. It was difficult, however, since the room refused to stop spinning around him…

Dinah calmly walked towards her prey, immensely enjoying seeing him struggle to his feet. "I've waited for over twenty years for this moment." She snarled; reaching him just as he managed to find his footing. She threw a punch- a rather sloppy one, one that he managed to block regardless of the vertigo he was experiencing- but followed that up with a sharp jab to his gut, then two more to his solar plexus that left him gasping. She continued with a roundhouse kick to his back that sent him tumbling to the ground and spinning back towards the gym proper. "Come now, Malcolm. Surely the League trained you better than this?

Malcolm grabbed a handful of shattered glass and threw it at Dinah, causing her to shield her face. He then grabbed a larger piece of broken glass and sliced the glass through the air in a wide arc. Dinah saw it coming and blocked his shot with her right arm, then planted her palm in his face, breaking his nose and sending him stumbling back. She followed that up with several quick kicks, then stopped to pick up a 40 lb. weight and swung it into his face, shattering his jaw. Malcolm finally cried out in pain as the impact sent him tumbling up the stairs and out into the hallway. "Don't leave, I'm just getting started." Dinah said with a smile.

Viewing room

Felicity Smoak was hacking like she had never hacked before, cutting through security and bypassing systems whose predecessors she wouldn't create for another five years. Finally though she made it into the security sub-system. "Yes!" she exclaimed, pumping her fist in the air.

"I'd be more amused at that if someone wasn't committing murder right now." Mia said worriedly.

"Who is this Black Canary, anyway?" Laurel suddenly asked, looking to her sister.

Sara, Mia and Roy all looked at each other awkwardly. "Uh, well…" Sara started.

"Got security cams!" Felicity suddenly exclaimed. On the main view screen several images started coming up, and Felicity selected the one covering the main hallway. Tommy gasped as he saw his father, bloody and broken, stagger out of the gym.

"Dad…" he whispered. Villain or not, DEATH or not, Malcolm was still his father, and he still cared about him.

Then his attacker stepped out into the hallway, and Laurel gasped.

"Yeah, it's you." Sara finished lamely as they watched the elder Laurel continue her attack.

Hallway

Despite his injuries, Malcolm was still a trained warrior of the League of Assassins. 'Pain is inevitable. Suffering is Optional.' He repeated the phrase in his mind again and again like a mantra against the pain. The brief respite had allowed the floors to settle as the vertigo faded, and he brought himself into a proper defensive position as Dinah moved in to continue her attack.

"Oh good, still got some fight left in you." She said with an evil grin. She launched into a fresh attack, peppering him with punches and kicks designed to hurt and main, but not seriously incapacitate. She wanted him to suffer as much as possible. Now more focused, Malcolm was able to block most, if not all, of her attacks and began returning a few of his own.

Viewing Room

Roy shook his head in disbelief. "He's holding his own, I don't believe it." He looked to his two lady friends. "What the hell do they feed you in the League of Assassins?"

Mia ignored her husband, spying lines of code she recognized. "Excuse me," she said to Felicity, moving past her and quickly bringing up the transporter commands.

Sara blanched as she saw what Mia was doing. "Are you INSANE? You know what shot-hop transports are like!"

"No choice. I got to stop you sister before she kills him." Mia said resolutely. She finished inputting commands and looked back to Felicity. "Get these doors open." She insisted, and then hit the activation button. There was a loud hum, then a flash of light that enveloped Mia-

And an instant later she reappeared in the hallway outside the door.

And then she promptly collapsed.

Moira gasped. "What happened?"

"Transporters are tricky things." Roy explained as Felicity went back to work. "They're great for long distances, but incredibly dangerous for short trips. Something about your molecules being disassembled and having time to stabilize before being reassembled as opposed to your molecules being ripped apart and shoved back together. Only someone with incredibly high pain tolerances would even attempt this…"

"I don't have high pain tolerances." Thea said softly.

Roy looked at her sadly. "You will."

All right, who let the psycho bitch out to play?

"Rose!" Sara called out. "Where are you?"

Still locked in the control room. she replied. I've got communications back up and I'm trying to get ahold of the League-

"Where are they?" Roy demanded.

There was an alert about a major disaster in Corto Maltese- though from all reports I'm starting to get it looks like it's sunny and in the high 80's. Oh, the person who reported the disaster? Dinah. Rose snorted. You're sister's a real bitch, Sara. It's pretty bad when she makes ME look sane.

"I'm standing right next to her younger self, Rose." Sara replied, though Laurel was too focused on the screen to pay them any attention. "Look, get out there. Dinah's trying to kill Malcolm-"

Roy winced as Malcolm took another hard hit. "And will likely succeed in her endeavor." He put in.

"And Mia just took a short-hop transport out into the hall to stop them."

Working on it. she replied.

Hallway

Malcolm was losing.

For the first time since his training was completed, he was in a fight with an older, more experienced fighter who had managed to get the drop on him and handicap him almost immediately. Try as he might, he just couldn't get ahead-

"All the people you've killed…" Dinah snarled, unleashing a snap kick to his broken jaw that staggered him. "All the lives you destroyed…" she followed that up with a kick to the gut, and then grabbed his head. "This is for Tommy," she drove her knee into his head once, "for Oliver," twice, "for the people you butchered in the Glades," and once more. Totally spent, Malcolm collapsed to his knees. Smiling triumphantly, Dinah pulled a long knife out of her boot and held it up for him to see. "And this," she grabbed his hair and yanked his head back, exposing his throat, and then flipped the knife in her hand so the blade was pointing down, "this is for me." She drove the knife down-

And it stopped mere inches from his throat as another hand caught her wrist.

Dinah looked up in stunned surprise at Mia, who held her hand still with an iron grip.

"That is ENOUGH!" she growled.

Dinah shook her head. "I don't believe it." She said after a moment. "FIFTEEN YEARS and you're still his lapdog!"

"I'm no one's lap dog, Dinah." Mia said coldly.

"Then why are you protecting him? STILL protecting him!" she emphasized.

"Because I gave my word that I would keep them safe- ALL of them, even the ones you didn't like. And I keep my word."

Dinah laughed humorlessly. "You don't get it, do you? This is why we allowed you to bring them here!" she exclaimed.

"Is that a fact?"

"YES!" she exclaimed. Dinah yanked her hand free, and in the same instant lashed out with her foot, kicking Malcolm in the side of his head and sending him to the ground, unconscious. "They are rabid dogs, and they need to be put down!"

"Oh so you want to kill all of them then?" Mia shot back. "Should I bring Quentin out next so you can get that out of the way?"

"Don't be stupid." Dinah spat. "Malcolm Merlyn and Slade Wilson are monsters- soulless killing machines." She sneered at Mia. "But you'd know all about that, wouldn't you, Thea." She spat the name. "How do you look at them?" she asked as Mia visibly reddened. Dinah stalked up to her and they stood there, chest to chest. "When you look at your mother, do you think about all that you've done? When you look at Felicity, do you see her as the woman she is now, or as the charred corpse you left her as-" Mia shoved her away hard.

In the control room Felicity paled and Thea covered her moth in shock, and looked to the shaken Felicity.

"God damn it, Dinah!" Sara snarled quietly to herself. "Shake it off, Smoak." She told her. "Right now, you're our only hope." Felicity shakily resumed hacking, trying to open the doors.

In the hallway, Mia was literally shaking with rage. "Don't even." She told her nemesis.

"They are monsters, Thea!" Dinah pointed to Malcolm. "He is a monster! He took the man I loved from me-"

"WHICH ONE!" Mia shouted suddenly. "You never could make up your god-damned mind! Always leading one by the nose while spanking the other's ass…" Mia smiled maliciously as Dinah reddened. "So THAT'S what this is all about!" she said gleefully. "Underneath all the stern words and bravado, you're just a little slut, crying out for her dead boyfriends. I'd laugh if it wasn't so pathetic." She paused a moment, taking joy in Dinah's pain. "Ah, what the hell. I'll laugh anyway."

Mia started to laugh, and suddenly Dinah lunged forward, swiping at her throat with her knife. Mia, expecting the attack, leaned back out of the arc of the knife, and then moved to the left to avoid the follow-up downward swipe. Dinah then lunged forward, aiming for Mia's heart, and the younger woman once again caught Dinah's hand in a steely grip.

"I was wrong, THEA." Dinah snarled, trying to push the knife forward. "There are THREE monsters to slay here!"

"You know what, LAUREL?" Mia snarled back. "There's something I've always wanted to tell you."

"What's that?"

"I always thought you were a stuck-up bitch!" Mia lashed out with her foot, planting it in Dinah's gut and sending her back a few paces. Dinah recovered almost immediately and attacked, slicing at Mia with the knife.

In the viewing room, he assembled people watched horrified as the two women went at each other with the intent to kill. Sara glanced at her sister, who looked sickened, and then to Thea, who looked to be on the verge of a complete breakdown.

In the control room, Rose finally managed to raise the Justice League.

Watchtower, this is Supergirl. Can you read? the Kryptonian's voice suddenly called over the radio to Rose's relieved ears. We're not seeing anything- well, wrong down here…

"Kara, it was a trick! Get back up here; Dinah and Mia are killing each other!"

Corto Maltese

Kara's eyes widened, and in an instant she was off faster than a speeding bullet. Batman, who heard the transmission, groaned.

"Back to the Javelin!" he commanded, and the League ran back to their conveyance.

Watchtower

The two women continued going at it, but they were evenly matched. Mia was able to continue blocking the knife, and whenever Dinah looked to use her Canary Cry, a swift jab to the throat or jaw would silence her quickly. They danced around each other; evenly matched, and fought with everything they had, pouring out fifteen years of hatred and resentment. Finally Dinah landed a lucky shot to Mia's knee that sent her staggering. She then flipped the knife and drove it downwards towards Mia's throat. Mia managed to catch her arm with both of her hands, then immediately realized her mistake when she saw Dinah inhale as she prepared to deliver a Canary Cry point blank to her face.

Mia pushed up, bringing herself back to her feet, and then spun around so that her back was to Dinah's and the other woman's arm was twisted. Then she wrenched the arm down over her shoulder HARD, both cracking her own shoulder blade and breaking Dinah's arm. The scream she let out was thankfully unpowered due to the shock of the break. She then spun around again so that they were face to face, still gripping the now broken arm, and drove the knife into Dinah's lower abdomen. Dinah's face froze in shock as she looked down to her own knife protruding from her belly, then she looked back up into Mia's cold gaze.

Mia shoved her backwards, sending her toppling to the floor. "Now stay the fuck down." She growled-

Then collapsed as the just-arrived Kara punched her in the back of the head, knocking her out cold.

In the viewing room, Felicity finally managed to end the lockdown. "I got it." She said quietly as the door slid open and Sara and Roy rushed out.

Kara was looking Dinah over with her x-ray vision. "Well, she missed everything vital." She told the injured woman. "Just sit still for a minute and I'll get you down to the med bay." She turned back and started scanning Mia, double checking that she didn't crack her skull. But behind her, Dinah growled in rage and pain as she used her one good arm to pull the dagger out of her gut. She staggered up and lunged towards Mia-

And was blown back by a blast of energy.

Kara whipped around to see Dinah twitching on the ground, and then back down the hall at Rose, who had just gotten out of the control room.

"Despite what you might think, Dinah's the one you should have been watching there." She said as she walked calmly down the hall.

"She's right." Sara said, going to her sister. Roy moved towards Mia, directing Kara to look over Malcolm as the rest of the viewing group made their way into the hall. Tommy looked at the fallen form of his father, and was torn on whether or not to go to him. Laurel was staring in sickened disbelief at her older self as Sara tended to her; Thea was still in the room, still trying to process what she had just seen.

Slade looked at Rose as she walked down the hall and was stunned. "Lillian?" he rasped.

"Nope." Rose said, and in one fluid motion raised her stun gun and fired a double-tap into Slade's chest. The impact blew him back into the wall, then down onto the deck where he writhed in pain for several seconds before blacking out. "Hi, Dad." She said sarcastically as she walked right past him towards Malcolm.

"Rose!" Sara admonished.

"I'd apologize, but we all know that I'd be lying." Rose told the former assassin, and then looked to Kara. "How bad?"

"He's going to need the tank." She said. "Dinah did this?"

"You sound surprised." Rose said dryly, holstering her weapon. She then bent down and gently lifted Malcolm up. "We'll take them to the med bay. You get them," she indicated the others, "back to their rooms for now."

Kara nodded, and Rose moved off towards the med bay, followed by Sara and Roy with Dinah and Mia respectively. She turned to the group. "Well, I have no idea what just happened," she admitted, "But I'd ask you to return to your rooms for now-"

"What about my dad?" Tommy asked, surprising everyone including himself.

"We'll get him stabilized, and then I'll bring you down in a bit." She promised. "Please though, for now-" she was cut off as Thea ran past her down the hall and quickly disappeared into her room. Kara looked after her wordily, and then turned to Moira. "You need to go after her, now." She told the woman firmly. Moira looked at her in worry and confusion, but quickly moved past her and down the hall.

Thea's Room

A distraught Thea ran into her room and closed the door, collapsing against it as she sobbed. Great! I grow up into a psychotic bitch! She had said after meeting her future self for the first time- and boy had she been right. I was an assassin for many years, Thea. And I was VERY good at my job. Thea caught a look at her reflection in the mirror, but all she saw was her older self. Enraged, she grabbed a decorative vase from the dresser and hurled it at the mirror. The vase shattered, but the mirror remained intact, made of much more durable materials than her mirrors back at home. Thea sagged against the dresser and looked brokenly into the mirror. "WHO ARE YOU?" she screamed brokenly at the reflection. When you look at Felicity, do you see her as the woman she is now, or as the charred corpse you left her as… She shuddered at that memory, and then looked down at the broken remains of the vase. Her eyes fixated on one long piece with a sharp point. She thought back to watching Dinah beating down Malcolm, and her simple pronouncement. He deserves to die.

She picked up the broken piece.

Such a simple statement, made in haste with a child's view of the world. He did bad things, so he deserved to die. But now as she thought about it, the fact that her very first instinct was to let the man- her own father, if only biologically- die.

She placed the tip against her wrist.

Thea looked back up into the mirror, seeing her older self in the reflection. 'I'm already a monster.' She decided. 'I'm already a killer.'

She pulled the shard away from her wrist, and then decisively brought it up to her throat. She had just started to pierce her skin when her door opened.

"Thea!" Moira shouted in panic, running into the room and grabbing her daughter from behind and wrenching her arm down and away from her neck. A thin line of blood ran down her neck, but it was only a minor wound. "Thea! Stop! STOP THIS!"

Thea screamed in rage and pain. "LET ME GO! I DON'T WANT TO BE HER!"she screamed. The two women collapsed to the floor. I DON'T WANT TO BE HER! I DON'T WANT TO BE HER!" Thea broke down, the tears falling freely as her mother held her close and rocked her, desperately wishing she could take away her daughter's pain.

TBC

A/N: Lillian Worth is the mother of Rose Wilson, FYI.

A/N: I had a request to put the chapter up early for Easter. 2 things- 1) Easter is on Sunday, which is the day I'm supposed to be updating anyway, and 2) Like Felicity, I'm Jewish;) So here's a special Passover chapter for you!

A/N: So, how about that teaser for the last five episodes? Looks like Olicity fans will be happy, and I think it's safe to say Oliver will have a new name and a new job by the end of the season. But man, for all of those who complain I don't update fast enough, the show is taking ANOTHER week off! Thankfully we get the final five in a row, but for god's sake…

Just as a reminder, I will not be covering Season 3 in this story. In my opinion, this season has been very uneven and marred by both the writers and producers focusing more on Flash to make sure it's first season is great (and it is. How about THAT teaser?), and throw in corporate decisions blocking the creativity of the writers (WB refused to let them use Ted Kord, saying they had 'Big Plans' for him, and thus we got Ray Palmer as Iron Man; and with the Suicide Squad movie coming out, WB ordered them to kill of Deadshot because they think we're too stupid to tell a white Deadshot apart from a black Deadshot). Add to that Lance's sudden shift in character. I understand him being upset, but it's truly getting ridiculous. For all the bad The Arrow has brought the city (let's face it- Slade Wilson is on Oliver), the fact is he helped lessen the damage of the Undertaking (and had Felicity walk Lance through disarming one of the devices), helped to stop a mad bomber, saved his and Laurel's life from the Dollmaker, and brought Brick in after the police had been forced to leave the Glades. And yeah, he did stop Slade and his army as well. And I understand that bodies are dropping and it looks like the Arrow, but even Lance can be smart enough to realize he's being set up if he wasn't so angry. So for all of that, I'm sticking to ending at Season 2, then doing my own thing.

Oh, and Shado had a twin sister. That she never mentioned. At all.

Lame.

Lastly, Mea Culpa. According to IMDB, that black woman in CNRI with Laurel WAS Joanna, not Anastasia- though I swore it was Anastasia…