Disclaimer: Arrow is owned by The CW, Berlanti Productions, and Warner Bros. Television. The characters of the Green Arrow and the Justice League is owned by DC Comics. I own nothing; I'm just playing in their universe.
Chapter 41: Time of Death
It was almost 8 AM by the time Felicity ran out of her room the next morning, after only getting about two hours of sleep. It was no surprise to her that she could hack into federal databases- she had already done that once in college, to disastrous results- but being able to hack into federal databases and hacking into a computer system that wouldn't be invented for 25 years were two completely different things, even if the underlying code was her own. As it was, that small fact was the only reason she was able to breach the system as deeply as she had. Hopefully, by the time the day was over, Felicity would have access to Mia's memory files and find out just what it was that she was hiding.
"Did you sleep at all?" Thea asked Felicity as she ran into the viewing room. She handed her a plate of food, which the hacker took gratefully.
"Sleep? What's that?" Felicity joked, taking a bite of a bagel with cream cheese. "Mmmm. Jewish comfort food."
"Did you get anything?" Thea asked quietly, checking to make sure Mia wasn't in the room yet. She wasn't.
"I should have something by tonight. Thea, what is it that you're expecting to find? She asked carefully.
Thea shook her head. "I don't know." She admitted. "But for someone so against secrets, she sure does have a lot of them."
"Maybe she has a reason." Felicity said, but then her mind started racing. "Or maybe that isn't really you, but an evil doppelgänger. Or maybe it IS you, but you're possessed by an alien starfish…"
"Alien starfish?" Thea choked out, trying to suppress her laughter. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of." She shook her head. "No, that is me. And she's hiding something big." Her eyes narrowed as Mia, Roy and Sara walked into the room. "And I want to know what."
"Sorry we're late, but the child need to be tended too." Mia said with a grin. "Also, Lian was acting up a bit."
"Ha." Roy said drolly.
Everyone made for their seats. Sara sat down next to Laurel, and when her sister made to say something, Sara put a hand on her arm to stop her. "I remember what you said, Laurel." She began. "And you were at least partially right."
"I had no right to say that to you!" Laurel said. "After everything you'd been through—"
"Which you didn't know about, and that you were too blitzed to care about." Sara said with a smirk. "Listen, I'm not upset- really, I'm not. We both made mistakes when I came back. It took us a while to get back on the same page, but we got there. Just be patient."
"And don't worry," Mia added. "Soon you clean yourself up, and I go back to making an ass of myself."
"Joy." Thea said dryly from her seat next to Moira. "It'll be hard to meet Roy if I end up in a convent."
"Now there's an idea…" Malcolm said with a raised eyebrow. Thea shot him a glare, but said nothing.
"Alright, let's get this show on the road." Mia said. "Rose, light it up!"
'All right then.' Rose said, queing up the next memory. 'By the way, that process brought to you by Arby's,' she cracked. 'Arby's: You think pain and grief are hard to digest.'
The memory set opened in the lobby of Kord Industries. A man walked in the glass revolving door, then paused as a voice came over his Bluetooth headset.
**In six seconds, lobby security will undergo a shift change.** the voice said. From an undisclosed location, William Tockman watched security camera footage on his computer monitors. **When that happens, make for the elevator bay.**
The man looked over as another man walked through the doors. "Copy." He said, following the second man to the elevators as the security teams switched out. The two got into an elevator.
** Now, remember what I told you- timing is everything.**
When they exited the elevator, both men were dressed as janitors. They quickly disposed of their suit jackets and briefcases into a cleaning cart.
"Anybody else thinking 'Mission: Impossible'?" Tommy asked.
"Me." Laurel said.
"Me." Thea added.
"I'm humming the theme in my head." Felicity said.
**Maintain a pace of 1.3 meters per second.** Tockman told them as he watched on the monitors. **Six seconds to target. 5…4…** he watched as they approached a corner. Around the bend, a three man team was carrying a secured briefcase. **Now is the time, gentlemen.**
The two men rounded the corner and easily dispatched the team with silence tranquilizers. The first man grabbed the case and looked at it. "It's a fingerprint reader. I can't crack it." He said.
**I can.** Tockman remotely hacked into the lock and deactivated it. The man opened the case to reveal a white cylinder. He grabbed it and slipped it into his overalls.
**You have 5.3 seconds to get down the east stairwell.** Tockman told them. They started running down the stairs when he suddenly called again. **Stop. Stop!**
The two men paused there, out in the open. "What the hell are we doing?" the first man asked tensely. "We got what we came for."
"He said to wait." The second man said.
"Out in the open?" The first man said. "Forget this." He took off down the stairs and out into the hallway, his partner reluctantly following. They skidded to a stop when a security guard rounded the corner up ahead. The three stared at each other for a moment, frozen.
"Don't do it." The first man warned as the guard went for his gun. "Don't do it!" The guards hand dropped to his gun, so the first man pulled his own gun out and shot him.
Malcolm shook his head. "Idiots."
"For once we agree on something." Quentin said wryly.
**Ahh!** Tockman screamed in frustration as he watched it go down over the security monitors.
"Security clocked us!" The second man said over the wireless.
In the lobby, the guard on the desk saw the shooting on his monitor and called the police. "SCPD? You've got to send some officers here." He looked over to the leader of the security squad. "Up there, third floor. Third floor!" he told them. Soon the guards were storming the third floor.
Tockman let out a breath, set the timer on one of his watches, and checked his monitors. **They've alerted the SCPD. Exit the east lobby in 22 seconds.** he ordered.
Outside the SCPD arrived. Lance climbed out of his patrol car just as the two men burst out of the building, firing their uzi's at the cops. Lance drew his weapon. "SCPD! Put your weapons down!" he ordered, then ducked behind his car to avoid being hit. As the man ran past, Lance recognized him. "Walczak!" he reached up to his shoulder mic. "Delta Charlie 52 to Central, shots fired. I need back-up, downtown!" he yelled into the radio as he took off after the two shooters.
The two men had a large lead, and as they rounded a corner they ran into a street protest. Quickly they stripped off their overalls and grabbed a pair of hapless protesters, they knocked them out, took their hoodies, jackets, and their sign. By the time Lance and the cops rounded the corner, the two disguised men walked right past the cops.
"Aw, hell." Lance muttered.
"And you wonder why we take the law into our own hands." Malcolm said to Quentin dryly.
"Who is this guy?" the cop wondered aloud, ignoring Malcolm for now.
Tockman smiled. "Power to the people."
The scene shifted to the Lair. Oliver, Diggle and Sara were working out with staffs, all trying to get a feel for each other's moves as Felicity watched on enviously from the periphery. Sara got a good hit on Dig's calf, sending him down to one knee, then took the fight to Oliver. Oliver blocked her attacks, and when Sara spun back to Dig, he tagged her had on the temple.
Sara smiled fondly. "Ah, the good old days." She said wistfully.
"Remembering when we could move that well, eh?" Mia guessed.
"Oh, yeah."
"Dig!" Felicity yelped in horror.
The fighting immediately stopped. "Sara, I'm so sorry." Dig said apologetically.
Sara groaned as she stepped off the practice area. She put her staff down on a table. "It's ok, I'm fine." She assured the bodyguard.
Oliver walked over. "Let me see." She flinched when he raised his hand to her head. "Let me see." He repeated. Reluctantly she held still as he examined the wound. "She's bleeding, but it's not deep." He told her.
"Good, I can't take any more scars." Sara said flippantly. "Speaking of…" she looked down at Dig's ankle. "Mortar round?"
"Yeah, IED, the Paktika province in Afghanistan." He said. "Good eye."
"I know my wounds." She said. She showed one on her ankle. "Grenade. Algiers."
"We now join 'Lethal Weapon 3', already in progress." Tommy joked.
"Lethal Weapon 3?" Dig said with a snort. "Try 'Jaws', son."
"I've never been hit by a grenade." Oliver remarked as Felicity watched on, feeling left out.
"All those scars, you've never been hit by a grenade?" Diggle said, astonished.
Oliver started pointing to random scars on his chest. "Arrow, knife, knife. A lot of bullets, no grenades."
"I've got myself a new bullet." Dig said, showing the scar on his arm. "Nine millimeter, right there."
Sara showed off on her side. ".38. I'm mostly swords, and a spear."
"I have a scar." Felicity said suddenly. The three turned to her. "It's in my mouth. I had my wisdom teeth removed when I was 16. Three stitches. They were really badly impacted." She babbled.
Felicity groaned and dropped her head intio her hands, embarrassed.
Sara chuckled. "I don't think you ever realized you were the most dangerous one of us, Felicity." She said.
"'Cause I'm such a badass." She mumbled.
"Look 'Lis, I may be able to kill a person; but you can wipe a person out of existence with literally the push of a button." Sara pointed out. "You can drain a person's bank account in seconds. You can enter them into federal databases as a terrorist in minutes. The pain I can cause can last only moments. The pain you could cause would last forever."
"Good thing you don't hold grudges." Roy said wryly.
Sara grinned at her. "You're still cute." She told her sincerely.
"We should get going." Oliver said as Felicity slunk off back to her desk, mildly humiliated. "You don't want to be late for your own welcome home party."
"You didn't have to throw me a party, Ollie." Sara protested again.
"Sara, when you come back from the dead, you get a party." Oliver said with a grin. "It's a Queen family tradition."
"I don't know how well that's going to work with the Lance family tradition of holding grudges forever." Sara pointed out.
"She'll come around." Oliver assured her.
"Maybe." Sara conceded. "And maybe we should keep what's going on between you and me between us. For Laurel's sake."
Mia smirked at Sara. "How'd THAT work out for you?"
"Remember when I said we both made mistakes?" Sara said to Laurel. "You'll see one of my dumbest mistakes in a little bit."
"Can't wait." Laurel said with a smile.
"I get that." Oliver agreed.
Sara sighed. "I survived Lian Yu and Nanda Parbat, I guess I can handle a cocktail party."
"Don't be so sure." Oliver said, giving her a quick kiss. He moved off to get showered and changed, and leaving Sara to remember.
FIVE YEARS AGO
Slade, Sara and Oliver were on a high cliff overlooking the bay. Sara had out her microbinoculars and was looking at the 'Amazo', far in the distance. She sighed. "We're never going to make it." She told them, lowering the glasses. "Ivo has eight guards on deck at all times, all armed. The second they see us, we're dead."
"Assuming we can deal with Ivo's defenses." Slade said. "How are we going to get close enough to board the ship?"
"Have Slade swim over and go to town." Dig suggested.
"Maybe we build a raft." Oliver suggested.
"It'll take us weeks to find the timber." Sara argued. "We don't have weeks."
"I've been on this island for 264 days. All I have is weeks." Slade shot back.
Oliver frowned, hearing something. "Shut up." He said.
Sara glared at Oliver, misunderstanding him. "You don't have to stick up for me, Ollie."
Oliver looked at her in confusion. "What?" He shook his head. "No, both of you shut up. Listen. Do you hear that?" they were silent, and then all three could hear it- the unmistakable sound of an aircraft engine. They looked up to see a small Piper aircraft flying low over the island. At once all three were up and running underneath the low-flying playing, waving their arms and yelling, hoping to draw the pilots attention. Suddenly, a white streak headed straight for the plane, and a moment later the missile fired from the 'Amazo' blew the wing off the aircraft. The plane plummeted to the ground as the three ran away from the suddenly falling debris.
PRESENT
"Man, that island sucked." Sara said.
In the undisclosed location, Tockman was examining the device his two men had stolen.
"Oh great, these idiots again." Lance said crossly.
"You left us sitting in front of the security camera." The first man was saying. "Guards could have killed us." Tockman said nothing, still looking at the device in his hands. "Are you listening?"
"If you had simply waited for five more seconds, like you were told, no one would have died." Tockman said, turning to face he men.
"Sorry." The first man said sarcastically. "I wasn't going to bet ten to twenty up in Iron Heights on your skills with a stopwatch."
"'The strongest of all warriors are these two- time and patience.'" He quoted.
"War and Peace." Diggle said.
"What?" Tommy asked in confusion.
The first man looked at him in confusion. "What?"
Tockman coughed. "It's from 'War and Peace'." He said. "1440 pages. It takes a while, but it's worth a read. Tolstoy knew that patience was the epitome of strength. It takes fortitude to stand still."
Diggle scoffed at Tommy's surprised look. "I read a lot in Afghanistan."
"Just as it is a sign of weakness or cowardice to move when you should not!" he added in an angry shout.
"Look." The man said, brushing aside the edge of his coat and placing his hand on the butt of his pistol. "We did the job. You owe me."
Tockman sneered at the man. He reached down onto his worktable and casually spun a gear like a top. "The dead are owed nothing." He said. Suddenly he spun around, the long metal arm of a clock in his hand. He stabbed the man with it once, twice, three times, then let the man drop to the floor, dead. As the second man looked on in horror, Tockman casually took of his glasses and cleaned off the blood that had splattered on them, coughing slightly as he did so.
"Well, shit." Thea said in surprise. "I did not see that coming."
"It's always the quiet ones." Laurel said.
The scene changed to Queen Manor, where the 'Welcome Home' party had begun. The doorbell rang, and Oliver and Thea answered it to see Sara, Lance and Dinah standing there.
"Ah, come in. Come in, come in." Oliver said awkwardly, allowing the Lances into the house. "Welcome home, Sara." He stammered, giving her a hug.
"I'm so happy you're here." Thea said, hugging Sara as well. "Come on." They walked deeper into the house, Roy and Sin came out of the lounge. Seeing her friend, Sin ran without thinking and gave her a big hug, to Thea's surprise.
Sara shook her head fondly. Mia snickered. "Oops."
"Oh, Sara, this is Sin." She said, confused.
"Wait, do you two know each other?" Roy asked.
"Uh, no. We don't." Sara said quickly, giving Sin a small wink.
"Right." Sin said, playing along. "Uh… I love when people come back from the dead. You know. Juices my zombie fetish." All three looked at her oddly.
Thea laughed.
"Should have briefed her." Diggle said.
"Well, now we know." Sara said.
"Um, Roy." He said, shaking her hand.
"Sara." She said in reply.
"Come on." The said, leading her into the lounge. Sin fell into step next to her and whispered 'Sorry' as they entered.
Out in the hall, Oliver took out his phone and dialed a familiar number. He frowned when it went right to voicemail. "Laurel, it's Ollie." At her apartment, Laurel was laying on the couch, watching a movie with a large glass of wine. "I hope you're coming to the party." Oliver continued. "I heard that you maybe were a little mad at Sara, and I…she's your sister, and-and you only get one. You know? Bye." He hung up, felling sad.
"Eloquent as always." Laurel said sadly.
"Hey." Oliver turned to see Lance walking briskly towards him. "Laurel is not coming."
"Well, maybe she just needs time." Oliver suggested.
"Yeah. Yeah, I needed time, too." Lance sighed. "When you got back, I… well, I was pretty harsh on you."
"Hey, Mr. Lance, you-you don't have to—"
"Oh, I do." He assured the younger man.
Quentin shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and steadfastly ignored the smirks from everyone in the room.
"When you and Sara went off on your dad's boat, you were just a kid, both of you were. And whether she came back, or…" he looked around, gathering his thoughts. "I was out of line." He admitted. "You're not a killer, Oliver." He held out his hand. After a brief moment, Oliver shook it. They stood there for several moments in awkward silence before Oliver finally gestured to the lounge.
"Yeah, come on, yeah." Lance said, and the two men went to rejoin the party.
"Guess I picked a bad time to stop drinking." Lance said dryly.
In the lounge Sara was greeting some of her old school friends while Dinah and Moira stood off to the side, watching.
"I'm so happy for you, Dinah." Moira told the other mother. "Those five years that Oliver was gone, was like a piece of me was missing."
"I know just what you mean." Dinah said as Oliver walked over. "Oh, excuse me."
"Of course." Moira said pleasantly, taking a sip of her drink.
After the other woman was gone, Oliver let the smile drop from his face. "I didn't think you'd be here." He said coldly.
"This is my house." Moira reminded him. "And if you don't want to pretend to be mother and son, then don't throw parties in my home." She moved off.
Moira sighed in disappointment. Thea patted her hand. "Don't worry, we'll fix it." She whispered to her.
Thea looked over and saw her abrupt departure. "Mom?" she said, rushing over to her. "Is everything ok with you and Ollie?"
"Yes, of course." Moira lied, smiling as she walked off. Thea looked over to Oliver, who smiled. reassuringly.
Dinah was watching Sara circulate through the room when Lance walked up to her. "Hey." She said.
"Hey." Quentin replied, unconsciously taking her hand in his.
"You know, I still can't quite believe it." Dinah said. "I never really thought Sara would come back to us, Quentin."
He looked at his ex-wife, a woman he still loved, and then down at their entwined hands. "Yeah, I know." Suddenly his cell phone rang. Frustrated, he let go of Dinah's hand and pulled the phone from his pocket. "Excuse me." He said, answering the call. "Lance." He listened, then exhaled deeply in aggravation. "I'll be right there." He hung up, then looked at Dinah sorrowfully. "It's work. There's a homicide in the Glades, and I- I better go." It was a reasoning he had used dozens of times before, and one of the many reasons she was his ex-wife now.
"Mm-hmm." She said sadly as she watched him walk out.
"Why are they calling you in?" Tommy wondered.
"I'm a cop." Lance said slowly, as if explaining to a small child.
"You're a BEAT cop. You're not a detective anymore." Tommy reminded him. "There's no reason to call you in."
Quentin winced at the reminder.
"It was probably Pike." Laurel growled. "He and dad NEVER got along. And it feels like a dick move he would pull."
Oliver watched him leave as well, so when his phone rang, he wasn't surprised. "I'm on my way." He said immediately upon answering.
'How did you know I was calling?' Felicity asked.
"Because Detective Lance just got the same call." He said. He looked up at Sara, and she looked back, knowing something was up.
The scene changed to an alley in the Glades. The Arrow and The Canary stood by their bikes as Lance moved to join them.
"It's also tradition to sneak out of your resurrection party apparently." Felicity joked.
"What, you guys just show up to every crime scene now?" he joked.
Sara smiled as she moved towards him. "I saw you leave." She said.
Lance smiled tiredly, and then pulled out a plastic evidence bag. "CSU just pulled this out of a skel I know named Eddie Walczak." He said, handing it to her.
Sara frowned. "I've never seen a knife life this." She said.
"It's not a knife, it's a minute hand." Lance explained. He pulled out his phone and showed her a picture of Walczak's body, with the minute hand still in it. "Like from a clock. I popped Walczak for b&e a few years back. This morning, he and an accomplice were involved in a robbery homicide."
"What'd they steal?" the Arrow asked.
"Some high-tech gizmo. Kord rep called it a, um, skeleton key." He said. The Arrow sighed in aggravation; Lance noticed. "What? You know what it is?" he asked.
"He should." Malcolm said. "Tempest passed that idea over to Queen Consolidated's Applied Sciences division two months ago."
"Oh, yes." Moira said, remembering the project.
"It was intended as a military tool to aid in code breaking on foreign intelligence targets." The Arrow explained. "Felicity Smoak works at Queen Consolidated and she said they were working on something similar… but Oliver Queen shut it down once he realized what it could be used for."
"So weird, hearing him talk in the third person like that." Tommy said.
"What?" Canary asked.
"It could be modified to open a bank vault." Arrow replied. "Any bank vault."
"Huh." Malcolm said in surprise. "I… hadn't even thought of that."
"Seriously?" Tommy asked , shocked.
Malcolm gave him a look. "I'm already a billionaire. Why would I need to rob a bank?"
"Good point." Tommy admitted.
"Ok, listen- Walczak's small-time on a good day." Lance said. "I mean, I doubt he'd even know how to use this thing, let alone break into a place like Kord and steal it on his own."
"Walczak was just the muscle." Arrow stated. "We need to find the brain."
The scene changed to the Lair, where Felicity was throwing some very awkward looking punches at the Wing Chun dummy. She didn't notice that Sara had entered the Lair until she was right behind her.
"Oy." Felicity said, embarrassed again.
"Don't sweat it." Sara told her. "Remember- you're the biggest badass down there."
"Plant your feet." Sara advised, moving behind Felicity and re-positioning her feet. "Strong foundation equals stronger punch." Her feet properly planted, Felicity threw a hard punch at the dummy. "Nice." Sara said. "If this is for self-defense, I'd recommend Wing Chun. It uses your opponent's strength against him. So it's ideal for smaller people," she threw a few hits at the dummy. "Like us."
"You seem like you can take care of yourself just fine." Felicity noted a little enviously.
"Are you ok?" Sara asked.
Before Felicity could say anything, Oliver came in. "Where are we with the skeleton key?" he asked as he jogged down the stairs. He did a double take as he looked at Felicity. "And what are you wearing?"
"I just thought I'd…" she started, and then noting his look shook her head moved to her computer. "I'm cross referencing Walczak's known associates with decryption experts on the NSA watch list, but it's taking some time." She noted.
"Which we don't have." Oliver said in frustration. "Ok, the key is not just a code breaker. In the wrong hands, it's a weapon."
"Whoever killed Walczak, in addition to finding creepy uses for clock parts, is very good at covering his tracks." She said.
"Lucky for us. Uncovering tracks is what you're very good at." Oliver said, giving her a small smile.
"Right." She sighed.
"Subtle." Felicity said crossly. Sara chuckled.
FIVE YEARS AGO
The three ran towards the smoldering wreckage of the Piper. Slade reached it first, and ripped the door off. He glanced at the pilot, who appeared to be dead, and then spied the radio. He grabbed the mic and clicked it, frowning when nothing happened. He pulled the radio itself out and noted in disgust that it was busted.
"Of course." He growled in frustration, throwing it to the ground.
"Ollie probably could have fixed it if Slade hadn't just trashed it." Thea noted sourly.
Sara moved in closer. She touched the pilot gently on the shoulder, and suddenly the man gasped, his eyes shooting open.
"He's barely alive." Sara said. She looked back at Oliver. "Do you have medical supplies at the fuselage?"
Oliver scoffed. "We have-we have some." He started.
"Just go." Sara told them. "I'll be fine." Slade and Oliver took off for the fuselage as Sara moved to tend to the pilot.
PRESENT
Laurel was sitting on her couch reading a book when Quentin walked in.
"Hey." Her father said.
"I'm really starting to regret giving you a key." Laurel replied, annoyed. She sighed. "I'm sorry I bailed on the party." She started.
"No, you're not." Sara said with a smile.
"No, I'm probably not." Laurel admitted.
"Ah, I figured you wouldn't make an appearance." Quentin replied.
"Finally, someone understands." She quipped.
"Well, I, uh, I wouldn't go that far." Quentin replied. "But I understand how Sara keeping it a secret that she was still alive could hurt. 'Cause it hurt me, too."
Laurel looked up from her book. "I sense a 'but' coming in my future."
"But, yes, but I need you to move past it." Quentin said, sitting down across from her. "Laurel." He pushed the book down so that she was forced to look at him. "A family dinner. It's a chance to reconcile."
"I don't want to reconcile with Sara." Laurel said bitterly.
"I'm not talking about you and Sara." Quentin revealed. "I'm talking about me and your mom."
Quentin blinked. "What?"
Sara winced. "Oh, yeah. I forgot about that…."
"Mom and Dad got back together?" Laurel said in surprise.
Sara hesitated, then sighed. "No." she said reluctantly. "Let's just say we ALL made mistakes that night."
Lance sighed in disappointment. He had never stopped loving Dinah, and a small part of him had always hoped they would get back together someday.
Laurel blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know to describe it." He started. "It was like there was, um…signals. And feelings." Laurel smiled at that. Lance chuckled. "And I'm not exactly sure what's going on, but I figured if we were all together as a family, maybe it would remind her of how happy we were. You know? I mean, I don't know, maybe it… Is it stupid?" he asked.
"No, it—" Laurel started, but she was interrupted by Lance's radio going off.
Quentin sighed in frustration, but activated the mic. "Go for Delta-Charlie 52."
**415 in progress. Widmeer Bank. Lieutenant requesting all units.**
"No, the Lieutenant wants to work Dad into the ground." Laurel growled.
"Delta-Charlie 52 responding." He turned off the mic and looked helplessly at Laurel. "I got to go." He said, getting up and heading for the door.
"Tonight." Laurel called out after him. "Tell everyone to be here."
"What?" Lance asked in surprise.
"Well, your place is too small, and, no offense, it's kind of a mess, so…"
"Oh, sweetheart." Lance came back and hugged her.
Laurel chuckled. "Ok."
"I love you, sweetheart." Quentin said in a rush as he ran out the door. As it closed, Laurel sighed.
"Ok." She muttered to herself.
Lance smiled at Laurel. "Well, thank you anyway." He said.
The scene changed to Widmeer Bank. Tockman's new crew were at the vault, the skeleton key placed next to the lock.
"Device is hot." The second man said. From his hideout, Tockman activated the key and in seconds, the vault door was open.
"Son of a bitch!" Lance exclaimed.
"I wonder how that works…" Felicity mumbled, leaning forward.
"Uh-oh, I gave her an idea." Mia said, winking at the hacker.
He smiled happily. "Extract as much money as you can in 90 seconds." He ordered, watching the heist on the security cams. "Stop! Get out of there!" he ordered suddenly.
"We've still got 20 seconds." The man said in confusion.
On his screens, Tockman saw The Arrow stalking down the hall. "No, you don't."
"Come on!" The second man ordered his partner.
Seconds after they had left, Arrow and Canary entered the vault. "They're already gone!" he said over the coms.
"I think I have an idea where." Felicity said, tracking the key from her computer in the Lair. "The skeleton key operates on an OFDM wireless signal. I'm picking up a transmission signal in the alley next to the bank."
**But you won't be heading there.**
The Arrow paused. "What was that?" he demanded.
"He's hacked our transmission." Felicity said, astonished.
"He what?!" Felicity exclaimed.
"Any system can be hacked. Especially with that skeleton key." Mia said. "That's what it was initially designed for. Remember that."
**My associates may be headed to the alley, but the 9:40 bus from Crescent Circle is about to collide with the Starlight Freight Express.** Tockman said, rerouting traffic.
Felicity double checked on her screen. "Oh, my God, he's right, the 9:40's headed for the track at Amherst." She said, horrified.
**By my calculations, you can't be in two places at once.** Tockman said happily.
Tommy smirked. "He doesn't have to."
The Arrow looked over to the Canary. "He doesn't know there's two of us." He realized.
In the alley behind the bank, Tockman opened the door to his mobile command center. "Come on! Come on!" he yelled at his two hired thugs. When he saw The Canary round the corner, he pulled out a pistol and started shooting. Sara separated her staff and hurled one half like a spear. It hit Tockman in the temple, causing him to drop his gun as he staggered back into the truck. One of the men turned around and opened fire, causing Sara to take cover behind a dumpster.
"Nice shot." Laurel said, impressed.
In the Lair, Felicity was trying to re-route the bus or drop the train barricade, but she was unable to get past Tockman's hacks. "He's in the transit department network! He's-he's hacked the signaling system. I-I can't get the crossing barriers down!" she said frantically.
"Those buses have radios." Oliver said. "Can you break in, wave them off?"
"No, he's keeping me out." She replied in disbelief.
Felicity looked over to Mia. "Skeleton Key?"
"Yup." She confirmed.
Felicity frowned. She really needed to look at that device, if only to design a defense against it.
Back at the bank, Tockman and his squad held off the Canary long enough for them to peel out of there in the van. Sara ran up and picked up the other half of her staff, noting the edge was coated in Tockman's blood.
At the bus, Oliver managed to pull ahead of it and skidded to a stop right in front of its path. The bus skidded to a stop, mere feet from the railroad. Oliver braced himself against the front of the bus as the train sped past, much to the relived bus drivers' eyes.
"That was a little too close for comfort." Moira said faintly.
The scene changed to Verdant later that night, as Sara and Oliver watched news coverage on one of the flat screens near the bar.
The banner on the news story read 'Clock King Strikes Twice.' Sara scoffed. "I guess it's not real until the media comes up with a nickname." She noted sourly.
"How can I run a bar without any bartenders?" They turned to see Thea walking behind the bar, stocking it as she talked to one of her now ex-employees' on the phone. "For that matter, how can you quit without giving me notice? No, one hour before opening is not notice, Mandy." She said angrily. She hung up the phone, sighing in frustration. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at her brother. "Can I talk to you for a second?" she asked, deceptively calm.
"I'm going to go use the little blonde's room." Sara said, moving off.
"Everything ok?" Oliver asked.
"You tell me." Thea replied. "Other than the party, I haven't seen you at home all week."
"I've been busy." Oliver hedged. "Being a CEO doesn't leave me a lot of free time."
Thea gave him a look. "Yeah, looks to me a whole lot like you're avoiding mom." Thea said.
"I'm not avoiding mom." Oliver lied.
Another look. "You're lucky your life does not revolve around lying." Thea stated.
Thea rolled her eyes. "How can he be so good at lying about one thing, but not another?"
"It's a talent." Mia said.
"Thea." He looked at her with as honest a face as he could muster. "Everything's fine."
Thea sighed in annoyance as she rounded the bar. "You know, it's secrets that pushed this family apart in the first place, Ollie." She said sourly.
"Kinda like my talent for stating the obvious." Thea added.
"Speedy, Speedy." Oliver stopped her and gave her a kiss on the top of the head. "Really. Everything's fine." She rolled her eyes and walked off, and the smile fell off his face. This was one lie he was having a really hard time selling.
A few minutes later everyone was down in the Lair. "What do we know?" Oliver asked.
"He hacked into our frequency, somehow gained remote access, but I upgraded our firewall." Felicity said. "Now he won't be able to talk into our comms even if he had a bazooka." She said confidently. "You know computer science-wise."
"Good." Oliver said.
"I think I have something that might help us track him down." Sara said as she scraped some blood off the end of her staff. She spread it onto a glass slide and put a cover on it, then mounted it onto the microscope.
"I can run that to the lab." Felicity offered.
"I spent a year on the freighter studying genetic blood anomalies. I kind of know my way around a microscope." Sara said offhandedly as she examined the blood sample. Felicity sat back, feeling dejected. Diggle noticed and moved over to her as Sara looked over the sample.
"See, I still love ya." Diggle said to Felicity, nudging her shoulder. She gave him a weak smile.
"There's some significant cell damage and the platelet count is extremely low." She moved away from the scope. "Felicity, can I use your computer?" she asked. Felicity was silent s Sara started looking something up. Finally she found what she was looking for. "Macgregor's Syndrome. It's a genetic defect that creates fluid build-up in the lungs, which leads to oxygen deprivation and multi system organ failure." She looked back to Oliver. "It's terminal."
Felicity had a thought and spun back to her computer. "But the syndrome may give us a way to ID him." Felicity started typing furiously, back in her element. "People with Macgregor's are extremely rare, and people with Macgregor's and a degree in computer science are even more rare." She stated. In a moment, she had what she needed. "William Tockman. Former encryption engineer at, wait for it- Kord Enterprises."
"What's the point? He'll be dead before he can spend all the money." Dig noted.
Felicity dug deeper. "He's not stealing the money for himself." She realized after a moment. "He's using it for his family. His sister, specifically. She's got cystic fibrosis and needs a lung transplant."
"Give me an address, please." Oliver ordered, going for his gear.
"52 Nelson Way." Felicity said. She looked back for some kind of validation, but all she got were the backs of two vigilantes.
"A thank you would have been nice." Felicity grumbled.
A short time later the pair rode up to the alley behind 52 Nelson Way. The Arrow climbed off his bike and looked around. "This area doesn't look very residential." He noted.
"There." The Canary pointed out the large white van. "That's Tockman's ride." They approached cautiously. When they reached the side door, Sara took up position at the latch while Oliver drew an arrow. Sara threw open the door-
But the van was empty, save for a router set up right in front of the door.
Oliver activated his coms. "Tockman's not here. Just some device."
"I'm on it." Felicity said, already working to track the signal. "Whatever's in the truck is transmitting the same OFDM signal Tockman used at the bank."
"Can you trace it?" Oliver asked.
"As we speak." Felicity worked on tracing the signal, and after a moment the location on the map changed- to Verdant. "It's leading back to our network." Felicity said, her voice filling with dread. "Tockman's piggybacking off my hack. It's a trap. He-he's trying to break into our network." She realized, working frantically to keep him out.
Felicity paled. "Oh, no…"
Suddenly her screens flashed as Tockman broke through **I'm not trying. I am.**
From his hideout, Tockman smiled as the skeleton key did its' job. "Where are you? Are you home? Are you safe? Somewhere you think you're safe? Somewhere without windows for anyone to creep through? Underground, perhaps? You think no one can get to you? You think no one can touch you in the safety of your hidey hole?"
"Felicity—" Oliver started.
**But I can.**
Felicity gasped as the monitors around her exploded. Diggle pulled her away as the servers, her custom built system, flared with sparks and arcing electricity, and in moments- it was all destroyed, leaving the Lair a dark, smoldering ruin.
Felicity let out a strangled cry of despair. Dig put his arm around her and pulled her in for a hug. "Don't sweat it." He whispered to her.
"Why do we fall, Felicity?" Roy asked the hacker. When she looked at him, he smiled. "So we can learn to pick ourselves back up. A friend told me that once."
"We all have to fail, Miss Smoak." Malcolm said. "That's how we learn to be better." He glanced at Mia, who smirked.
A short time later Oliver and Sara returned to find Felicity on the ground in front of the server racks, pulling out pieces and trying to find anything salvageable as Diggle watched on protectively.
"How bad?" he asked.
"Tockman used the skeleton key to penetrate our firewall." Felicity said distractedly. "And recode our security. Basically, he told our system to commit suicide. And it did." She sighed, throwing away another melted part. "Bravo, Clock King." She muttered.
"Sara stopped Tockman's men before they could get away with the cash. So Tockman is going to be looking for another score." He thought for a moment. "Maybe we should give him one." He said finally. He looked down at Felicity. "Would you call Walter and have him liquidate 500,000 shares of Q.C. stock? Put it in cash in my vault at Starling National, and ask him to do it tonight."
"If Tockman wants to make another score…" Diggle started.
"Who better to rob than a suddenly cash flush Oliver Queen?" Oliver finished.
"And what if he doesn't take the bait?" Dig asked.
"That's a good point." Oliver turned back to Felicity. "Make it 800,000 shares."
"Ok." Felicity said numbly.
"What can I do?" Sara asked.
"Go to your dinner. Your family's probably waiting for you." Felicity said.
Sara sighed. "Right. Dinner at Laurel's. This is more important." She decided.
"You can't do anything here, Sara." Felicity said, turning back to look at her. "Your family's important, too."
"Yeah." Sara said unexcitedly.
"Remember that mistake I was talking about?" Sara said awkwardly.
"Hey. You should go." Oliver told her.
"Will you go with me?" she suddenly asked him.
Laurel gaped at her sister. "You seriously brought Oliver Queen, the man who cheated on me WITH YOU, to a FAMILY dinner at MY APARTMENT?!"
"So I'm completely misreading my ex-wife, and you're rubbing your conquest in your sister's face." Lance sighed. "Yeah, this will be a fun dinner."
"What?" Oliver asked in surprise. Dig and Felicity glanced at one another for a moment before she went back to pulling out burnt computer guts.
"I know I've wanted us all to get together for a while now." Sara said. "It's just, now that it's actually here, I'm nervous. I mean, last time I saw Laurel, it… didn't go very well, and…" she looked at him hopefully. "It'd be helpful to not have to go alone."
"I should probably stay here." Oliver hedged.
"Yes. Ollie, show some common sense." Thea pleaded.
"What is it exactly you think you can do here to help?" Felicity asked, giving him a tired look.
Oliver nodded. "Call if you need us." He said.
Thea sighed. "Well. I can't imagine how this could go bad."
"Yep." Diggle replied as the two went to change. He looked at the depressed hacker in sympathy. "You know, it's not your fault, Felicity." He told her.
"Really? Which one of the rest of you put up the security safeguards?" she asked. "Maybe if it been Sara, we wouldn't be in this mess." She added harshly, tossing down another burnt piece.
"Now, I know we haven't talked about this, but it must be difficult for you seeing them together." Diggle started.
"This isn't about them being together." Felicity objected at once. "This is about me. Ok, Sara can analyze blood. She can kick ass. She can do anything." Felicity sighed. "And the one thing I'm supposed to be good at, I'm failing at miserably. And why do you even need me now that you have her?" she asked rhetorically.
"Because you're irreplaceable, Felicity." Diggle replied honestly. She looked up at his reassuring face, but she didn't feel at all reassured.
"I have a lot of work to do." Felicity said, turning back to the computer. Diggle rose, pausing to put a hand on her shoulder before leaving her in peace.
"It's true, you know." Sara told her. "You are irreplaceable."
"Damn straight." Diggle agreed.
"You're stronger than you give yourself credit for." Moira told her. "Not many people would choose to confront me; you did it in my own house."
Thea got up and moved to the other side of Felicity, then sat down and hugged her from the other side.
Felicity blushed. "Thanks." She said quietly.
The scene changed to Laurel's apartment. Laurel walked into her room and moved to her dresser. She opened a small jewelry box and withdrew a bottle of pills, and was about to take one when Dinah's voice called out.
"Laurel, Sara's here."
Laurel paused, looking at herself in the mirror. She put the pill bottle back and walked out of her room in time to see her mother open the door, revealing Sara and Oliver standing there.
"And I probably should have taken the pills." Laurel said dryly.
"Oh." Dinah said in surprise.
"Hey, Mom." Sara said, hugging her mother.
"Oliver." Dinah said. Oliver said hi and gave her a small bouquet of flowers. "Well, thank you, these are lovely."
"Thank you." Oliver said with a smile. As the moved into the apartment, he smiled at Laurel. "Hey."
Laurel glared at him, her arms crossed. "I don't remember your last name being Lance."
"Well, yeah, I certainly didn't want to crash your family dinner, but then Sara and I ran into each other, and she mentioned it." Oliver lied.
"And I told him how Dad was making his famous chicken cacciatore." Sara added.
"Actually-excuse me!" Quentin said, walking into the room with a couple of pizza boxes and nearly running over his ex-wife. "We're, uh, we're—" he paused in surprise. "Oliver."
"Hey, Mr. Lance." Oliver said awkwardly.
Thea snickered, and even Laurel was amused. Sara sighed and shook her head.
"One too many hits to the head, me thinks." Mia opined.
Sara snorted. "You should talk."
"Yeah." He said, wondering himself why Oliver was there. By this point, so was Oliver. "Um, we're having pizza. I'm sorry. I had a little incident in the kitchen. I guess that's what happens when you haven't used an oven in six years." He laughed. "Want to grab a slice?"
Soon they were all seated around the table,, and Quentin was doing his best to keep the conversation light. For a short time, it seemed to be working." Yeah, when I was pitching a tower of caccitore- a cacciatore tower, yeah." He was joking.
Oliver laughed, then looked to Dinah. "Are you still teaching, Mrs. Lance?" he asked.
"Yes, I am." She said. "Greek and Medieval History at Central City University."
"Wow. You could probably give them notice." Quentin noted offhandedly.
Dinah chuckled. "Why would I do that?"
Quentin blinked. "Well, I mean, you're going to come back to Starling, right?" he asked,
Dinah scoffed. "No. I'm not moving back to Starling, Quentin.' She said firmly.
"Well, Sara's back." Lance said, patting her arm as Laurel poured herself more wine.
"Yes, just what I need. More alcohol." Laurel said.
"In this case…" Thea trailed off.
"I have a new life in Central City, and, um, I have a wonderful job." Dinah said.
"Well, there's jobs here." Quentin replied lightly, taking a sip of ginger ale.
Dinah looked at him significantly. "More than a job. Um…I have someone." She admitted finally.
Quentin winced.
"Oh." Quentin said, stunned.
"Congratulations." Oliver said pleasantly.
"You know, it's great, Mom." Sara said, not looking at her father as his heart broke again. "You deserve to be happy. Everybody does."
"Yeah." Quentin said quietly.
Laurel looked around the table, then looked between Oliver and Sara. And suddenly she KNEW.
"And here…we…go…" Tommy said
"Ohh. You've got to be kidding me." She said.
"What?" Sara asked hesitantly.
"You've been back like, what, a week?" Laurel scoffed as the two didn't look at one another. "And you're not even denying it."
"It's…it's complicated." Sara started.
"Of course it is. It's you." Laurel spat.
Quentin slammed his hands down on the table, startling them all. "Laurel, please." He said, trying to control his temper.
"Dad, you are no better than they are." She shot back. "I mean, what did you think? Mom was just going to sit around and wait for you for six years to bake her chicken?" she asked sarcastically.
"Ok, Laurel, enough!" Sara tried.
"And sweep her back off her feet?" Laurel continued scornfully.
"Enough, ok?" Sara said, firmer.
"Yeah, you know what, it is enough!" Laurel shouted. She jumped up from the table. "Invite yourselves out when you're done." She spat, running out and leaving her devastated family- and Oliver- behind.
"Well… that was awkward." Diggle said.
"We've had worse family dinners." Tommy said.
"Yeah, so have we." Thea agreed.
"No we haven't!" Moira objected.
"There was the first time Oliver got kicked out of college," Thea began, ticking the memories off on her fingers. "Then there was the second time, the thing with the paparazzi, the peeing on the cop, that one party that got raided…"
"Yeah, we had that one, too." Tommy said, looking at his father. "The time I got kicked out of Stamford, the time I wrecked the Bentley…"
Moira and Malcolm looked at one another, and realized that their children were right. It was not a pleasant realization.
FIVE YEARS AGO
Sara had managed to pull the pilot from the plane and was trying to make him comfortable, hoping the boys would get back in time with the medical supplies. The man started groping at his jacket, trying to get into his pocket.
"My wallet." He groaned.
"Ok." Sara said, reaching over and pulling it out for him. She handed it to her and pulled out a picture. "She's my daughter." He gasped. "She's 12. I need to talk to her…"
"Your radio's broken." Sara said sadly.
The man groaned and gasped in pain. "Her mother died. Just after she got out of diapers. Cancer." He explained. "And without me…" he cried, thinking about her, "She's not going to have anybody to look after her. So… I know I don't know you. And I know you don't know me. But-" he put the picture into her hand. "Please make sure my daughter's ok." He begged. "Please."
Laurel sighed. "And I'm pissed at you over Oliver." She said sadly. "Was there anything good that happened to you?"
Sara smiled sadly. "Nyssa." She said simply.
PRESENT
Laurel stormed out of her apartment, wanting to find a quiet place to get drunk. Moments later, Oliver followed her out into the hall.
"Hey!" he shouted angrily.
Laurel spun around to face him. "You are unbelievable!" she shouted back. "You lecture me on how I need to repair my relationship with Sara when you're the one who messed it up in the first place. By screwing her! And now you're doing it again."
"You're right. This is all my fault." Oliver said.
"Yeah. Yeah, yes, it is." Laurel agreed.
"And is you losing your job, doing drugs and being a drunk, is that my fault?" Oliver asked harshly. "Is that your family's fault, or are you going to blame Tommy for dying?"
"HEY!" Tommy shouted angrily.
"No, he's right." Laurel said. "I'm blaming everybody else, when it's my problem."
"Screw you, Oliver." She spat.
"I have stood by you through everything- the DUI, losing your job; and Laurel, I was concerned about your well-being when you were trying to get my mother the death penalty!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah, you've been a real stand-up kind of guy." She replied sarcastically.
"Laurel, do you think you're the only one that is having a hard time?!" he shouted. "Do you think you're the only one with family issues? You have- you have no idea what is going on with my family right now. But I am still standing here. And you are still blaming everybody but yourself." He told her.
"Are you done?" she asked.
Oliver looked at her disgustedly. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm done. I'm done taking the blame. And I'm done caring. Why don't you go have a drink? Get wasted, go… go to Verdant. I'll pay for it." His disgust turned to sadness. "I have loved you for half my life." He told her. "But I'm done running after you." He turned and walked back into her apartment. Laurel wiped the tears from her eyes as she turned to leave the building.
"Half the time it was running away from me." Laurel muttered.
Later that night Oliver and Sara made their way back into the darkened Lair. The found Diggle seated at Felicity's station, pounding impotently on the keys as DOS code scrolled across the screen. "Have you seen Felicity?" Diggle asked them.
"No; I wasn't invited to the dinner." Felicity said, giving Sara a weak smile.
"Next time." She promised.
"No." Oliver froze. "Wait, why?" he asked at once.
"I went to Big Belly to get some take-out. When I came back, she was gone." He said. "I haven't seen her for hours."
Oliver frowned. Suddenly his cell phone started ringing. He pulled it out and noted it was Felicity. Nodding to Dig, he answered the call. "Hey."
"Tockman took the bait." Felicity said. "The money you had Walter deposit. I'm reading his signal at Starling National."
Oliver frowned. "Wait-" he said, suddenly very concerned. "How do you know that?"
"Because I'm here." She said form the bank.
"What?!" Felicity exclaimed.
"What?!"
Felicity groaned. "Oh, I got a bad feeling about this…"
"You have nothing to prove—" Dig cut him off with a look.
Felicity was using the computer set up directly in front of the vault. It was only a few minutes after her call to Oliver that she heard footsteps heading down the stairs towards her, and doing the only thing she could think of, she ducked down behind the computers' podium. She knelt there, hoping they wouldn't notice her long enough for her to make an escape, when suddenly and hand grabbed eh arm and yanked her up. She yelped in surprise- then sighed when she saw it was Diggle. He gave her a look, but before she could say anything a throat cleared. She looked to the stairs to see a very cross Oliver standing there in full gear.
"What are you doing here?" he asked tiredly.
"I'm tracking Tockman." She said. "He fried our computers, so I'm using the banks to trace the skeleton key's signature."
"And the jacket?" Sara asked, noting that Felicity was wearing her leather jacket.
"I was cold."
Thea chuckled. "Sure you were…"
"It helps to hid the bright colors of the dress." Tommy pointed out.
"Hmm." Sara smirked fondly at the hacker.
"Diggle, get her out of here." Oliver ordered. Diggle moved to comply when suddenly the alarm sounded.
"Tockman disabled the bank's security system." Felicity said, running back to the computer. "I re-abled it." She said proudly. She pulled up the security cameras, and they saw Tockman's men entering.
"They're blocking our way out." Diggle noted.
"I'll deal with them." Oliver said, heading up the stairs.
"Tockman's signal's strong." Felicity said. "He's here, he's close."
"Find him, Felicity." Dig said.
**No need.** Tockman's voice sounded over their comms. **I'll tell you exactly where I am. I'm everywhere. At the moment, I'm particularly focused on the sub-level. The gas mains, specifically.**
"He sure does like to hear himself talk, doesn't he?" Diggle said.
Felicity pulled out her tablet and ran a diagnostic. "Oh, my God." She said as the schematics of the bank came up. A warning was flashing on the screen. "He shut down the gas main release."
"And why is that bad?" Sara asked.
"The build-up could cause an explosion." Diggle stated.
"It will. It'll blow up three square blocks." Felicity said.
"No, it won't." Dig growled, moving off towards the basement access.
Up in the lobby, Oliver made quick work of the two goons- taking one down with a bola arrow to the legs, and then punching the second goon that tried to rush him. The first tried shooting the vigilante, but the Arrow easily shot the gun out of his hand.
Down in the basement, Diggle found the shut off valve and struggled to close it as the gauges crept closer to the red line.
Back up by the vault, Felicity grinned at her table. "Wait. Tockman overplayed his hand." She said. "The gas main's in the city's network, that's where I live."
"Am I supposed to understand that?" Sara asked, confused.
Felicity blinked. "Ohh. In trying to blow us up, he gave me a way to track him down." She said, dumbing it down.
"That I understood." Sara replied with a grin.
"See?" Sara said. "Badass."
In the lobby, the first goon cut the wire loose and used it like a whip, swinging it at the Arrow. Oliver ducked, easily blocking the attack and handily dispatching the man.
From his overwatch position, Tockman screamed in frustration as he was once again denied the money.
In the basement, Diggle had grabbed a metal bar and jammed it into the stuck handle. With a yell, he managed to force the valve closed, shutting off the gas and disabling the impromptu bomb.
"Whew." Dig said.
"Very nice!" Tommy congratulated.
After securing the two goons, Oliver activated his comms. "What's happening?" he demanded.
The Canary followed Felicity's directions through a service tunnel into an adjoining building. A new addition to the bank that was being remodeled, it was filled with scaffolding and draped with tarps, instantly creating dozens of hiding places. The Canary slowed, moving cautiously. Not as cautiously was Felicity, who ran in after her and startled the vigilante. Sara was about to admonish her when Felicity saw Tockman round a pillar with a gun raised.
"Look out!" she cried, pushing Sara to the ground as Tockman opened fire.
The men all gasped in suspense. Felicity paled as she saw herself get shot.
"Good work pushing Sara out of the way." Thea told her.
"Which I wouldn't have had to do if I hadn't distracted her." Felicity replied despondently.
"You don't even know why I'm doing this." Tockman cried, approaching the two women. Sara pulled herself into a crouch while Felicity lay on the ground, gasping in pain from the bullet wound to the shoulder she had taken. "The money's not for me! I'm doing this all for her!"
"Doesn't make it right." The Canary replied. She was unarmed, and he was too far away. She was out of options.
Tockman sneered at the woman, raising his gun to her head. "Tempus fugit." He said.
"Time flies." Felicity gasped, hitting a button on her tablets' screen. Suddenly there was a bright flash of electrical discharged from Tockman's breast pocket, and the man screamed in pain before dropping to the ground, twitching.
"Holy shit!" Tommy exclaimed. He looked warily at the hacker. "Since when do you have Sith lightening?"
Thea rolled her eyes. "Nerd."
"Hey!" Felicity objected. "I'm a nerd, too!"
"And she has Sith lightening." Tommy reminded his sister.
"What the hell was that?" Sara asked, dumbfounded as she got to her feet.
"His cell phone. I uploaded the same virus he used on my gear in the foundry." She said, her satisfaction shining through the pain. Suddenly she frowned. "I didn't just kill him, did I?" she asked worriedly.
Sara ran over to the man, kicking the gun away from him. She knelt down and found a pulse. "Just knocked him out." She assured Felicity as she came back to check on her.
"Badass." Sara repeated once more, and this time Felicity's smile was bright.
"We did it." Felicity said.
Sara smiled at the hacker. "You did it." She said fondly.
The scene changed to the Lair a short time later. Oliver had rigged up some work lights, and Felicity sat on a stool, her jacket and shirt removed so that Sara could tend to the bullet wound. As Sara stitched her wound, Oliver and Diggle stood a short distance away, their backs turned to respect Felicity's modesty as she was only clad in her bra from the waist up.
"Wow." Felicity said, turning a bit green. "I can't believe I'm letting you do that."
"You never needed to prove anything to us." Sara told her. "But sometimes, we need to prove things to ourselves."
"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" Oliver called over his shoulder.
"Mm-mm. You guys never go to the hospital." Felicity said firmly. "Besides, Dig gave me some of those aspirins. Are you spinning?" she asked suddenly.
Oliver glanced at Diggle. "Aspirin?" he asked.
"Oxycodone." Diggle replied. The two men grinned at one another.
Tommy snickered, and Thea nudged her in the shoulder good-naturedly.
"I wouldn't be here if you hadn't been so brave." Sara told her "Thank you."
"It was nothing." Felicity replied happily. "I've always wanted to say I've taken a bullet for someone, and now I can. So really I should be thanking you."
Sara chuckled. "All done." She said, placing a bandaged over the wound before draping Felicity's' shirt over her shoulders. "Not bad, but you're still going to have a scar." Sara told her.
"My own scar. Yay." She smiled.
Oliver walked over to her. "You all right?" he asked. "Diggle had mentioned that maybe you were feeling a little left out." He clarified.
"What?" She frowned. "No. I was just use to being your girl. I mean, not your girl-girl. Your girl. I know it sounds like the same word, but it means something different in my head." She rambled through the drugs.
He placed a gentle hand on her cheek. She leaned into it happily. "Hey." He said, trying to get her attention.
"Hmm?"
"You will always be my girl, Felicity." He assured her. She smiled, and he turned and walked off to get changed.
Felicity smiled happily at Diggle. "Can I have another one of those aspirins?" she asked him hopefully. He grinned in response.
"Careful, or you'll end up like me." Laurel said wryly.
"What, gorgeous, drunk and stoned?" Tommy said. "That was me for most of this past decade."
Laurel shook her head. "And just when I was starting to like you."
The next morning, Oliver walked into the empty club to find Sara behind the bar. "Hi." She said to him, holding out a drink. "Try this." He took the glass and took a cautious sip, and was surprised how good it tasted. "Good, huh?" she said with a grin,
"It's really good." He said.
"Mm-hmm."
"And what are you doing back here mixing drinks?" he asked,
"Thea hired me." She explained. "I am the new bartender." She said.
"Uh-huh." Oliver noted with a smile.
"I bartended in college, and, uh, well, it's kind of hard to get a job when international assassin is the highlight of your résumé." She explained.
"I hear that Merlyn Global has an opening." Tommy joked, unable to resist. Sara laughed.
"You're going to do great." Oliver assured her. His phone buzzed, and he pulled it out, looking down at the screen. He frowned at the text from Thea.
-Come Home 911-
"I have to go home." He said, concern in his voice.
"Is everything ok?" she asked.
"I hope so." He said. He headed for the door, but stopped when Laurel walked in.
Laurel tensed, but Sara smiled at her. "You can start to relax now." She said.
"You can go." She told him after a moment, and then glanced at her sister. "I'm not here to kill her or anything."
Oliver stared at her, and then headed out.
Laurel started walking towards the bar. "I remember you used to bartend at that skeevy bar with the peanut shells all over the floor." She started.
"Yeah, Oblivion." Sara said.
"Right." The two sisters stood the length of the bar apart. It felt longer to them both. "I'm not here for a drink or anything." Laurel assured her.
"Then why are you here?" Sara asked.
Laurel took a shuddering breath. "Because I realized that that I went on that boat with you, too.' She said at last. "And I've been slowly drowning for all of these years. And after every heartbreak or set-back or loss I sank deeper into the dark water." Tears were streaming down her face. "And so when I saw you, so beautiful, and so alive, I realized that I'm not those things. Not anymore. So please," she begged, "Please don't hate me, Sara. Please."
Sara moved quickly to her sister and pulled her into a hug. "I missed you." She said as she too broke down into tears.
Sara rose and moved next to her sister, drawing her into a hug. "Now you start to pick yourself back up." She told Laurel. "And you became a much better person for it."
Laurel left soon after that, and Sara found herself sitting in the stock room, still crying.
"Didn't think anything could make you cry."
She looked over and saw Sin standing in the doorway. She smiled at the girl. "Guess I'm not as tough as you thought." She quipped.
"So… why the running mascara?" Sin asked.
"I had- I just had a moment with my sister." She smiled. "It was a good one."
Sin sat down on the crate next to her. "That's good." She said cautiously.
"Hey," she punched Sin lightly on the shoulder. "Laurel's my big sister. I still have room for a little one." She assured the girl.
"Good." Sin said with a grin. "I don't know what I'd do without you." She hugged her.
Sara clasped her warmly on the shoulder. "Well, you won't have to find out." She promised.
Slightly embarrassed by her behavior, Sin got up. "I'm going to go find Roy." She mumbled, heading out of the stock room. Sara watched her go, the pulled out her wallet. She opened it and with withdrew a worn picture that she had carried with her since the island- a picture of a young Sin.
FIVE YEARS AGO
Sara sat by a fire looking at the picture the pilot had given her. She looked past it at the pilot, who had died a short time ago.
"Wait," Tommy said. "So that guy is that girls's father?"
Sara nodded. "Yeah. Pretty unbelievable, huh?"
"Anybody else from the greater metropolitan area show up on the island then?"
"Did you go looking for her when you came back?" Laurel asked.
Sara shook her head. "No. I had her picture; but I didn't take his driver's license. I had no idea who she was. But one night when I was patrolling, maybe three days after I got back into town, I came across a group of guys trying to rape her." Her face darkened. "I made sure they would never do that to anyone, ever again." A sigh. "When I finally saw her face, I couldn't believe it. It was the girl from the picture." A chuckle. "I figured it was fate or something. So I made sure to look out for her as much as I could." A sigh. "In the end, though, it wasn't enough."
"You didn't get her hooked on drugs." Roy said.
"I wasn't around to make sure she didn't." Sara countered.
"Got it." She looked up to see Slade and Oliver running around the plane.
"It's too late." Sara said sadly "He's gone." Slade threw up his hands in disgust. "We're all going to die here." Sara lamented. "Just like him."
Oliver, kneeling by the pilot's body, shined his light into the plane. "No, we're not." He said suddenly, reaching into the fuselage. He withdrew something and tossed it to Slade. "I think I found our way on to the freighter." He said.
Slade looked at the package with hope. "Parachute." He said.
PRESENT
"How do you parachute onto a boat?" Tommy asked, trying to steer the conversation onto less depressing waters.
Sara chuckled. "Very carefully." She joked.
Later that morning, Quentin took a seat at his AA meeting. He looked up in surprise as Laurel hesitantly walked in. She sat down across from him, giving him a small smile. He smiled back in encouragement.
"Maybe when we get back," Quentin said hesitantly, "maybe you should help me find one of these meetings." He looked to Laurel, who smiled.
"I'd be happy to." She said.
The scene changed to Queen Manor. "Thea!" Oliver shouted worriedly as he ran into the house.
"Oliver." He stopped and sighed as his mother came into the hall. "What's wrong? Is everything all right?" she asked worriedly.
"Thea texted me there was an emergency at the house." Oliver said shortly.
"There's no emergency. I'm in the middle of a meeting and Thea's not even here." Moira replied shortly.
"Well, then why would she…" he trailed off, then sighed in realization. "I can't believe she would do this." He said.
"Do what?" Moira asked.
"She's trying to force us to talk because she's sensing the tension between us." Oliver explained.
Tommy snickered. "Sneaky, Speedy."
"I try." She said with a smile.
"And what did you tell her?" Moira asked.
"Nothing. To protect her. Not you." He clarified.
"Mrs. Queen. Is everything ok?" a voice called out.
Everyone sat straighter in their seats. They all recognized that voice.
"You can't be serious…" Moira started.
"Mom," Mia said, "This is as serious as it gets."
"Yes, thank you." Moira said, adopting a friendly tone. "Uh, my son just dropped by." She stated, leading Oliver back into the lounge. "Oliver, I'd like you to meet Slade Wilson." She introduced.
Oliver froze as Slade stood from the couch. He was older, he had a little more grey in his hair- and of course, the eye patch he wore courtesy of the arrow Oliver himself had stuck there.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Slade said, grasping Oliver's hand tightly in a seemingly friendly handshake, "Mr. Queen."
TBC
So, a bit of news I forgot to share last week- I AM DONE! This story is complete, just needing the editing and polish I give each chapter when I post them. So, barring any unforeseen circumstances, I should have a steady posting schedule through the end. Meanwhile, I've started working on the one-shots, and plotting the sequel.
A/N: Why was Lance called away from his daughter's welcome home party to go to a murder in the Glades? He's just a beat cop now, not a detective. There shouldn't be a reason for him to be called in. My theory is that Pike was feeling extra-dickish that day.
A/N 2- Okay, I have to level with you- this was an incredibly awkward episode for me to transcribe. While I thought it was a good episode, as someone who has struggled for years with being shy and feeling inadequate, writing Felicity here was… hard. And painful to watch at times.
Fun fact- I was looking up information from Batman and Robin (Macgreggor's syndrome) on IMDB. First thing- when you type in 'Batman and Robin", the result that pops up in the search bar is for the 1949 serial, not the 1997 movie. Second thing- according to the trivia, Schumacker's third choice for Mr. Freeze was HULK HOGAN.
God, I would have LOVED to see that. Also, kind of makes you wonder who his second choice was…
I love Alex Kingston. I HATE her 'American' accent…
Anybody else hate how contrived it was that the pilot who crashed on the island just HAPPENED to be Sin's father?
A/N 3: So I would like everyone's opinions. What did you all think of Oliver finally laying into Laurel? I thought it was a good thing, because it finally shocked her into admitting that yes she does have a problem. But I've heard other people say that that was exactly the wrong thing to do, and it could have led to her trying to kill herself. What do you think?
A/N 4: So, this is where I have a problem with the editing. When Oliver goes up into the club and talks with Sara at the bar, and he gets that 911 from Thea- it feels like he just left Felicity and Diggle downstairs- so it feels like it's still that same night. But then we see Laurel go to an AA meeting- in the daytime. And when Oliver walks into the house, it's daytime. I had a hard time trying to figure out why Oliver would wait a few hours before heading home, until I just realized it was supposed to be the next day. I love this show, but they really need better editors.
FINALLY- just as a fun thing, I'd love to hear ideas for the cast for sequel characters- specifically, who would play members of the Justice League. Here's who I have so far:
Batman: Ben Affleck
Superman: Henry Cavill
Wonder Woman: Gal Gadot
Hal Jordan: Nathan Fillion
Dick Grayson:?
Donna Troy:?
Barbara Gordon:?
Martian Manhunter:?
Supergirl: Melissa Benoist
Cyborg: Ray Fisher
The Atom: Brandon Routh
Tim Drake:?
Stephanie Brown?
Cassandra Cain?
Rose Wilson/Ravager:?
Give me your picks!