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 45: Deathstroke
"Before we get started," Mia said, "let me remind everyone here how much Slade loved his mind games. So Mom, Dad," she looked to her parents, "I know you'll be panicking a bit during this memory set, but don't worry. Obviously I made it out alive. So try not to worry, okay?" with that, she started the memory.
The memory set opened inside of the town car with Slade and Thea. "Your mascara is running." Slade noted. He handed her a handkerchief.
Moira looked at Mia in disbelief. "Try not to worry? Seriously?"
"I made it out alright." Mia repeated.
"That's debatable." Dinah said with a smirk.
"Thank you." Thea said, wiping at her eyes.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
"I don't know." She admitted. "It's my boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend now. He just completely out of nowhere decides to end things."
"Yes, lets' talk about our relationship issues with the creepy eye-patch guy." Thea shook her head in annoyance. "What the hell was I thinking?"
"You weren't. Thinking." Roy clarified.
"Heartbreak is something I know all too well." Slade said. "It's not an easy thing to recover from. Sometimes you never do."
The car pulled to a stop. Thea looked out the window, confused.
"Um, we're not at- this isn't my home." She said, suddenly nervous.
"You're not going home, Thea." Slade said coldly. He turned away from her, looking straight forward. "Get out." Thea was frozen, not understanding-
Slade turned to look at her. "Get out!" he roared. Terrified, Thea jumped out of the car and ran down the alley they had pulled to a stop next to. She looked behind her to see if Slade was chasing after her, and didn't see the man in front of her until she ran right into his arms.
"Hello, Thea." Brother Blood said as she looked at his mask, horrified. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
Moira closed her eyes, terrified for her daughter despite Mia's reassurances.
Malcolm, seeing her distress, reached over and gently squeezed her hand.
The scene changed to the Lair where Oliver was trying to teach Roy the finer points of archery. Dig sat at Felicity's desk, checking the crime stats.
"No time. You letting the bad guys stay alive this year has filled the jails up to capacity." Dig told Oliver.
"Yeah." He agreed, looking to Roy, who was poised with an arrow ready to shoot. "Ready?"
"Yeah, on a lighter note." Roy said with a smile. "Ready to watch the world's most inept archer?"
"Well, I've been working with Sara, but I'm not exactly a natural." He warned.
"Neither was I." Oliver said. Roy let out a breath, aimed, and fired. The arrow sailed right past the targets and hit the power cables on the far wall, sending up a fountain of sparks. "Ok." Oliver said, nonplussed. "We have some work to do."
"Just some?" Mia asked with an amused grin.
"In my defense, I got really good once the Mirakuru was out of my system." Roy said.
Roy sighed tiredly. "Sorry, I'm just having a hard time keeping my head in the game today."
"Thea?" Oliver guessed.
"I just can't stop thinking what's the worst that can happen if I just told her the truth?" he asked.
"Well, I told a guy the truth and he got struck by lightning." Felicity said as she came into the Lair. "To be fair, probably won't happen again, statistically."
Oliver looked at Roy seriously. "Telling Thea the truth won't make her safer." He warned. "Just the opposite. What we're doing, Roy, it's dangerous. And anyone that is even in our orbit can get hurt."
"Yeah. You know what's even more dangerous? Not knowing whose car NOT to get in." Mia growled. "God he was an idiot!"
He clasped Roy on the shoulder. "Try again. This time… aim." He advised. He moved away and walked towards Felicity, noting a thick stack of pink paper notes in her hand. "What are those?" he asked.
"About a month's worth of phone messages from Queen Consolidated." Felicity said, waving them at him.
"Toss them." Oliver said offhandedly.
"That's what I did with last month's phone messages." Felicity argued.
"With Slade out there, I don't have time for the company." Oliver stated.
"If he doesn't make time, he'll lose the company." Malcolm noted. "And with the amount of his own money tied up in Queen Consolidated, that would be devastating financially to him."
"Well, you have to make time, Oliver. At least three hours." She shot back. He groaned as he remembered why. "The annual board meeting." She confirmed. "There's absolutely zero way that the CEO can avoid being there. And I know it's been a while, so in case you've forgotten, that's you. Do you remember where you put your business suit?" she glanced over at his Arrow suit. "Or do you keep it in a cool glass case, too?" she quipped.
"Maybe I should have bought another for that." Felicity said.
FIVE YEARS AGO
Hendrik screamed in rage as Anatoly finished trying him up. "I'm going to kill all of you!" he roared, and Anatoly took the last bit of rope and forced it into the other man's mouth as a gag.
"This is not personal." Anatoly said, then paused, considering. "Well, maybe a little." He admitted gleefully.
"It's not." Sara said, rising from her seat on a crate. "This is about survival."
Peter scoffed. "Survival. What a noble word for murder."
"Slade gave us no option. Hendrik for Oliver." Anatoly reminded him as he dumped Hendrik to the floor.
"And what gives any of us the right to decide one's life is more valuable than another?" Peter asked.
"To be fair, there was no guarantee that Hendrik would be killed." Sara said. "Slade needed him to fix the engines. He would also need him to maintain the engines."
"Did Slade strike you as a balanced human being?" Diggle asked.
"He struck me as only slightly less balanced then Hendrik." Sara replied coolly. "Besides, there was a good chance that if Hendrik had stayed with us, most of the survivors would have been killed sooner. By him."
Anatoly gestured at Hendrik. "He is tied up. We are not."
"Once he gets the boat working, Slade will have no more need for him." He said, pitching his wares to Sara now. "So let's not kid ourselves. Doing this is effectively sentencing Hendrik to death."
"He would do the same thing to any of us! In heartbeat!" Anatoly said. "This is only option."
"What if it's also an opportunity?" Sara said suddenly.
"To do what?" Anatoly asked.
"To kill Slade." She said.
Everyone looked at Sara in shock. She just shrugged. "I learned really fast to do anything it took to survive."
"It's just…" Laurel shook her head. "That's just a bit more ruthless then I would have expected."
"Ruthless keeps you alive." Dinah remarked.
PRESENT
The scene changed to Queen Consolidated the next day. Oliver walked through his office to the boardroom, finding it conspicuously empty of anyone- except for Isabel Rochev.
"I know that I haven't been here in a while, but you don't look like the entire Board of Directors." Oliver quipped to the CO-CEO.
"Don't give her any ideas." Moira growled.
"The meeting doesn't start for another half hour." Isabel said.
Oliver glanced at is watch. "Really?" he asked.
"I routinely bump all appointments 30 minutes in anticipation of you being late." She said, smirking.
"Huh." Tommy said. "That's… surprisingly smart."
"It's good policy." Olive complimented.
"But, thank you for coming out of hibernation for this." Isabel said, rising to speak to Oliver as equals. "Whether you recognize it or not, it's your name on the building, and no matter how many meetings you miss, you're still the public face of this company." She reminded him.
"Isabel, I realize I have been distracted." Oliver noted. "Thank you for picking up the slack." He said sincerely.
"Ours is an unconventional partnership, but it's a partnership." Isabel reminded him. "And it's working."
"Indeed it is."
"What is she playing at?" Moira wondered.
"You'll see." Mia promised.
"Oliver," he turned to see Felicity at the door. "Your mother's here."
Isabel noted the annoyed look on his face band smirked. "Family squabble?"
Oliver rolled his eyes, and then stepped out into his office to confront his mother.
"And how is Ms. Rochev these days? Still angry that Dorothy dropped a house on her sister?" Moira asked sarcastically.
Everyone laughed at that. "Meow Mom!" Thea teased.
"Ahem." Oliver cleared his throat. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.
"Have you heard from Thea?" she asked.
"No." Oliver said after a moment.
Thea blinked. "And no ones worried?" she asked in disbelief.
"They probably think you're with your boy- oh, right." Tommy trailed off.
"The drawback of being an independent woman, I'm afraid." Mia said. "Mom didn't know about the break up, and Ollie thought I needed time alone. No one thought that maybe something bad happened, even though there was a mad man threatening our family." She finished crossly.
"You haven't returned any of my phone calls, so I'm left to resort to checking in person as to whether you're attending the debate tonight." She continued crossly.
"I told you that I would publicly support your campaign." He reminded her. "Anything else?" he asked, clearly dismissing her.
"It would be embarrassing for us both if you couldn't at least appear to be my son tonight." Moira pointed out, turning to leave.
"I have gotten pretty good at pretending to be someone I'm not." He said, drawing her attention back. "I learned it from you." Moira stared steadily at Oliver for a moment, before turning and walking out.
"That was harsh." Thea said.
"But not altogether untrue." Moira admitted.
The scene changed to the debate site later that night. Oliver was walking briskly through the backstage area, looking for his sister. He was starting to become concerned. "Oh, excuse me, have you seen Thea Queen?" he asked, stopping one of the make-up girls. The girl shook her head. "Ok." He said with a smile, allowing her to move off as he continued his search. He pulled out his phone and dialed her number. "Speedy, it's Ollie, and I'm at the debate, where I thought you would be." He began when it went to voicemail. "Listen, I know that you're upset about Roy, but mom needs both of us here. So please, just call me back." He sighed in aggravation as he hung up.
"Well, at least he started to get worried." Thea said.
"Only took him all day." Tommy groused.
"You do not look happy." Oliver turned to see Sebastian Blood walking up to him. "Is everything all right?"
"Yes. My sister's just a little late." Oliver replied with a forced smile.
"You wouldn't happen to know where you've stashed her, would you?" Laurel said sarcastically. "I can't believe I'd fall for that guy."
"To be fair, I was drunk or high most of that year." Dinah said.
"I'm afraid that's my fault." Blood said, heading towards the stage. Oliver looked at him curiously, and Blood chuckled. "SCPD insisted that I arrive with a motorcade." He explained "We tied up traffic all over the city. I'm sure Thea's probably just fallen victim to gridlock."
"Please tell me he gets his ass kicked." Tommy growled.
"He gets what's coming to him." Mia assured him.
"Well, I should probably try her again." Oliver said, shaking Blood's hand. "Good luck tonight, Sebastian." He said.
"Thank you, sir." He watched as Oliver walked off towards the front of house, and then smiled as he saw another familiar face approaching him. "I thought backstage was supposed to be restricted access." He said pleasantly.
"The benefits of having a district attorney's badge, I guess." Laurel replied with a smile.
"You stop by to wish Moira good luck?" Blood asked.
Laurel nodded. "I did. But I'm really glad I ran into you." She said. "I owe you an apology. I accused you of really terrible things."
"All true." Laurel added.
"You were going through a very difficult time." Blood said in understanding. "I'm just happy you're on the mend." He kissed her on the cheek.
"Good luck tonight." Laurel said.
Blood grinned. "I'm not the one who's going to need it." He assured her.
"Sebastian Blood is not the man you think he is." Moira was saying later after the debate had started.
"Truer words were never spoken." Laurel noted.
"He's not going to revive the city with social services. He's going to bankrupt it with unfunded mandates."
"Mrs. Queen's problem with my proposals is that they will be paid for by the one percent." Blood countered. "It's time that the wealthiest people stop avoiding their responsibility."
"But it will limit their abilities to hire people." Moira pointed out.
"You know, I actually read through some of his proposals." Dinah said. "Some of them were pretty good. But most would have caused a mass exodus of businesses from Starling."
"All right, that's time, and I will remind the candidates to please refrain from interrupting." The moderator said, trying to cool down the debaters. "Now we have the next in our series of video questions submitted by Starling City voters. "This one comes from… Thea Queen" he said, confused. "Ok, there must be some mistake." He said, shuffling through his cards. The video wall behind the two candidates flickered briefly, and then cleared to show Thea's terrified, tear-streaked face. Oliver shot up from his seat as the audience gasped in shock.
"Help! Help! Somebody help me, please!" Thea cried as Moira looked on, horrified. "He-sla—" she started a hand clamped down over her mouth. Moira cried out in shock as a man knelt down behind her, his face covered by an armored, blue and gold mask. Over the picture on the screen, a question was flashed:
HOW MUCH IS THEA QUEEN'S LIFE WORTH TO YOU?
Moira gasped in shock and pulled a pale Thea closer to her. As if to protect her. Malcolm was growling in anger. "I should have killed him…"
"I wouldn't have disagreed." Dinah said.
"I'm alright, Mom." Mia said, shooting Dinah a dark look. "I survived. Remember what I said about mind games?"
"But—"
"But nothing." Mia said. "What you are seeing right now is a small part of a much larger plan. Just keep yourselves calm, please."
The scene changed to Queen Consolidated a short time later as Diggle and Roy rode the elevator to the executive floor.
"We're going to find her, Roy." Dig told the boy quietly. "We're going to get her back. She's a tough girl."
"Is she going to be alive when we find her?" he asked harshly.
Dig glanced over at him. "You can't think like that." He advised.
Roy flared back at Diggle. "I can't stop thinking like that." He said. The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened, and Roy squinted under the glare of the lights being shone on him and Diggle from dozens of reporters who had staked out the hallway. They all started shouting questions, most aimed at Diggle as he was the Queen head of security, but Dig remained silent, leading Roy into the sanctuary of Oliver's outer office.
"I think I might have found something." Felicity said from her desk. "I'm working on it."
On one of her screens, Blood was giving a press conference. 'I am suspending my campaign and devoting its resources to the safe return of Thea Queen.'
"That son of a bitch." Diggle scoffed.
"He liked to play games, too." Sara said,
Diggle nodded and headed into Oliver's office, where Lieutenant Pike and Officer Lance were filling a shaken Moira in on what they knew.
"Well, the video referenced a demand, but no ransom." Pike was saying. "Which means this might not be about money."
"We're going to get her back, Moira." Lance said, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I promise you. Thea's coming home."
"Now, can you think of anyone who might want to get to you through Thea?" Pike asked.
Moira thought instantly of Malcolm, but dismissed him immediately. No, if Malcolm had taken Thea, he wouldn't have been so public about it. "No one except for the families of the 503 people that died last year." She said shakily.
"This isn't about the quake." Oliver growled, pacing the office in frustration.
"Well, how can you be so sure?" Lance asked.
"Because I know who did it, but I won't tell anybody to keep them 'safe'." Mia said with surprising bitterness. "God he could be an ass."
"You just need to find the man in the mask!" Oliver yelled angrily.
"Look, we're working on it. We're running down every lead." Pike assured the upset man.
"What are those leads?" Oliver demanded.
"Oh, God! Oh, God, how could I have let this happen?" Moira cried out, sobbing.
"You didn't let anything happen, Mom." Thea whispered to her mother.
Oliver heard a tapping on the glass; he looked up to see Isabel motioning for him to come into the conference room. "Excuse me for a minute." He told the cops.
"If I hear about one more invasive press inquiry being sent to Mr. Queen or to any member of the Queen family, I will hold you personally responsible." Isabel was saying.
"You're very scary." Oliver remarked as she hung up the phone. "Thank you."
"My job is to take things off your plate, now more than ever." She said. "To that end, you remember how at today's meeting, the board nominated new officers?" she reminded him. "Voting has to take place within 24 hours. It cannot be suspended. It's an SEC thing." She said in a rush.
Oliver growled in frustration. "I can't think about this right now."
"I know, and I'm sorry, but you have to." Isabel said. "You're the CEO and you have responsibilities-"
"Which you handle for me all the time." Oliver reminded her.
"A board vote is several orders of magnitude different from covering a missed meeting." Isabel explained. "You could appoint someone CEO pro tempore." She started to suggest, then frowned when Oliver bent down to the table, grabbed a yellow legal pad and pen, and began to write. "That's not a good idea." She said at once.
Moira gasped, this time in anger. "That's EXACTLY the idea she wanted!"
"What?" Thea asked in confusion.
"I think Isabitch just managed to get Oliver to sign the company over to her." Felicity said.
"I'm appointing you." Oliver said. On the pad he wrote a simple note- 'I transfer my authority as CEO of Queen Consolidated to Isabel Rochev. –Oliver Queen'
"What?" she asked in shock.
"Congratulations. You are the temporary CEO." He said, tearing the note off the paper and handing it to Isabel.
"I can't." she said at once.
"Please." He pleaded. Reluctantly she took the note. "Thank you."
"Have Thea thank me, when she's back safe at home." Isabel said.
Mia snorted. "She hated me most of all." She said. "After all, if I hadn't fallen off that horse, she and Robert would have run away together."
"Mr. Queen?" Oliver turned to see Felicity standing in the doorway. "I need to talk to you, it's about Mr. Wilson." Oliver nodded and followed her out of the office.
The scene changed to the Lair. "Since the last place Thea was seen was Verdant, I used credit card receipts, compiled a list of customers last night, pinged all their cell phones and hacked into their photos." Felicity explained. She led Oliver, Diggle and Roy past Sara, who was working at the lab table, to her computers. "The NSA is right; it's a lot easier when you don't need a warrant. I eyeballed every photo."
"There must have been thousands." Dig noted.
"It's Thea." she replied simply. "I found this." She pulled up a picture of the town car. "Partial plate three blocks from the club. Car's registered to a Slade Wilson, and it has GPS."
Thea smiled at Felicity. "Thank you." She said softly.
Felicity smiled in return, then frowned slightly when she felt a vibration in her pocket.
"Where is it right now?" Oliver asked.
"Parked outside a defunct bar on Roosevelt." Felicity said.
"Ok, this doesn't seem easy to you? Slade using a car registered in his name?"
"The whole thing smells rotten." Oliver replied shortly. "Either Thea's there or he is. Either way, we have to go." He went over and grabbed his bow.
"Yeah, I figured you'd say that, which is why I worked up these." Sara said, carefully handing him several injection arrow tips. "Tibetan pit viper venom. The League of Assassins' poison of choice. And the most powerful sedative that I've ever worked with."
Malcolm's eyes narrowed. "That much venom could kill ten men."
"Or put one Mirakuru-enhanced person out for about 4 hours." Roy said. "Trust me. There was a time when I was hooked up to an IV of that stuff, just to keep me under."
"That'll give us an advantage." Oliver said, and then looked to Roy. "But you are going to give us another."
"Are you sure you want me to go?" Roy asked uncertainly.
"Are you angry?" Oliver asked. Roy nodded. "Use that rage."
"Well, you're just always telling me to hold back." Roy observed.
"Not tonight." Oliver said coldly.
FIVE YEARS AGO
"Landmines?" Anatoly looked over the ancient device that Sara had partially uncovered a few clicks from the fuselage. "What kind of island is this?"
"Can you remove the explosive?" Sara asked.
"Certainly." He replied. "Without it going off, eh. Less certain." He stared fiddling gently with the device. "Ah, KGB. You taught me many, many things. Russian bomb, Japanese bomb; they both go… boom." He breathed a sigh and he pulled the detonator free of the device. "Congratulations, we are not dead. Now what?" he asked.
"Well, Slade takes Hendrik as we agreed." She said. "And then once they're far enough away…"
"What- you want to rig Hendrik into bomb?" Anatoly asked, both surprised and impressed.
"Well, Peter was right." Sara said. "Handing Hendrik over to Slade is the same thing as killing him. And you're right, too." She sighed. "We don't have a choice. I mean, at least this way, he can take out Slade, and then we can take the ship." Sara reasoned. She noted the look Anatoly was giving her. "What?"
"Just… wondering." Anatoly said. "When did you become so scary?"
"Around the same time Ivo's men picked me up." Sara said coldly.
PRESENT
The scene changed to the abandoned bar. Oliver, Sara and Roy headed down to the ruined main area, where Slade was sitting comfortably in a ratty old easy chair. The three vigilantes surrounded Slade, who smirked as he smoked a cigar.
"Where is she?" Oliver demanded.
Slade put down the cigar and calmly stood up, not saying a word. "The man asked you a question." Roy growled, punching the older man as hard as he could on the chin. Slade's head whipped to the side, but otherwise he didn't move. He looked back to Oliver and spat.
"Damn." Diggle said. "He barely even moved!"
"We both had Mirakuru in our system; but he had five years to let it mature. Every cell in his body as suffused with the stuff." Roy shook his head. "I was naive to think I could take him in a fight."
"Where is she?" Oliver demanded again.
"What are you going to do, kid?" Slade asked, taking a few steps forward. "Kill me? But then who would tell you… where your beloved Thea is?"
The two stared at each other in silence for almost a full minute. "Call Detective Lance." Oliver said finally. "Tell him to come down here."
"Wh-what? Why?" Roy asked, startled and confused.
"To arrest Slade Wilson." Oliver said. In one fluid motion he drew and fired one of the special injection arrows into Slade's chest. The man fell back against the chair, passing out under the venom's effects.
"NOW he wants to rely on the justice system?" Lance asked wryly.
"Slade had him on his back foot from the word go." Roy said. "I think he felt the police could get more info out of him than he could."
"Still… I wish he'd cut off his hand, or foot, or something." Sara remarked.
"It would have been nice for him to be handicapped." Dinah agreed.
"You two are very scary." Tommy said warily.
The scene changed to the SCPD a short time later. Slade Wilson was seated in the interrogation room, his hands handcuffed to the table as Pike interrogated him. Watching from outside were Quentin and Sara.
"Any idea what this son of a bitch wants with Thea Queen?" Lance asked his daughter.
"No." Sara lied. "We just need to make sure that Slade gives up where he's holding her."
"Does Oliver know?" he asked suddenly, looking at her. "That you're working with the Arrow on this?"
"Oliver doesn't know anything about the Arrow." Sara said quickly.
"THAT was subtle." Felicity joked.
"Yeah, and under different circumstances, I would have actually caught on." Lance said.
"Hey, are you ok?" Sara asked, looking at him in concern.
"Yeah. It's just that look in Moira's eyes." He replied sadly. "Terrified she's lost her daughter. I couldn't go through that again, Sara."
"I'm sorry we kept putting you through that." Sara told Quentin.
There was a knock on the door. Lance turned to see another uniform poking her head in. "Officer Lance? The Queen family's here." She said.
A few minutes later Lance and Pike went out into the squad room to talk to the Queen's.
"Mr. Lance, did he tell you where Thea is?" Oliver asked immediately.
"Mrs. Queen, thank you for coming." Pike said.
"This doesn't make any sense. Slade Wilson is a friend." Moira began.
"And he's been in Costa Rica for the past 72 hours." Pike informed her, startling Oliver. "He can provide flight manifests, phone records, even some videos, so he couldn't have taken your daughter."
"If he didn't, then why did you arrest him?" she asked.
"We didn't. He was apprehended by the Vigilante." Pike said turning to glare at Lance. "Who then contacted Officer Lance."
"Oh… shit." Laurel said with a sinking feeling.
"Lieutenant, I can explain—" Lance started, but Pike cut him off.
"No, I think I got a pretty clear picture. God, you're a special kind of stupid." He spat as Oliver realized that Slade had just played him- and cost him his contact in the police. He took the opportunity to slip away towards the interrogation room. "The whole reason you're wearing that uniform instead of a detective's shield is 'cause you were working with the Vigilante." Pike continued.
"A young girl is missing, and you just—" Lance started to protest, but Pike cut him off again.
"And now you arrest someone on his say-so? You'll be lucky if the next uniform that puts you in isn't prison gray."
"He's setting you up to go to prison." Laurel said.
"I don't get it." Felicity said. "As soon as Thea is found, she'd tell them that it was Slade Wilson who took her!"
"But in the mean time, Lance is seen as working for the Vigilante, and persecuting an innocent man." Mia explained. "Even after Slade is identified as the kidnapper, Pike can't just release Quentin, because technically he was going against police policy. "
Oliver walked into the room and closed the door quietly. "They're calling you Deathstroke." He began.
"It's a bit flamboyant." Slade chuckled. "I like it."
"How did you get off the island?" Oliver asked.
"That is your first question?" Slade said in surprise.
"Well, you've made it pretty clear that you're not going to tell me where my sister is, so, yeah. That's my first question." Oliver replied calmly.
"I swam." Slade said after a moment. "But it wasn't without its obstacles. The rip current dragged me under. The rocks on the reef cut up my flesh to the bone. But the Mirakuru- it regenerated everything." He pointed to his eye patch. "Except this."
"And his sanity. Can't forget about that." Dinah said sarcastically.
Oliver sighed, then moved towards the table. He bent down to stare at Slade. "You know, it's just the two of us in here, so why don't we try being honest?" he offered. "Why are you doing this?"
"You know why." Slade replied.
Oliver straightened in surprise. "It was five years ago." He said.
"It was yesterday." Slade shot back "Oh, I tried to let go of the island… but it's still got a hold on me. And if that hood that you wear every night is any indication, it's still got a hold of you, kid."
"She never did anything to you." Oliver growled. "I did. Shado is dead because of a choice that I made. So punish me. Blame me." He pleaded. "But Thea." He took a breath. "You want me to beg? Is that what this all about? Because I'm begging. You win. Just, please… please tell me where she is." He begged.
Slade considered him for a moment. "Hmm, that must have been hard for you to say." He admitted. "Thea… well, Thea's—"
At that moment, the door opened and Lieutenant Pike walked in. He stopped in surprise as he saw Oliver in the room. "Mr. Queen. Who the hell let you in here?" Oliver remained silent, so Pike moved to Slade and undid the cuffs. "Mr. Wilson, you are free to go, with the department's deepest apologies." He said.
"I'll have that dumb son of a bitch's badge." Malcolm vowed.
Slade stood and rubbed his wrists. "No need, Lieutenant. An innocent girl's life hangs in the balance. You need to follow every lead possible."
"Well, still, you should know that officer Lance is facing some very serious charges." Pike assured him.
"Well, don't pursue them on my behalf." He smirked at Oliver. "I'm not one to hold a grudge." With that, he walked out of the room, leaving a desperate Oliver alone.
"When we get back, I will find Slade Wilson. And I will do what Oliver failed to do- make sure the bastard is dead." Malcolm spat. Mia gave him a look, but remained silent.
Outside the precinct the press huddled around, shouting questions as Slade walked out the door a free man.
"Mr. Wilson, Mr. Wilson, have the police cleared you of all charges? "What did you tell them about Thea Queen's disappearance?" one shouted above the others.
"I was in Costa Rica, but returned to Starling City as soon as I heard the terrible news." Slade said as Oliver led Moira out of the precinct. He glanced across the street and nodded at Diggle, who was in another car. "I'm offering every resource at my disposal, plus a $5 million reward for any information that leads to Thea Queen's captors." He said, and then climbed into his waiting town car. The car pulled out, and a moment later Dig pulled out behind him.
"This is Dig, I've got the follow." Dig said.
In the Lair, Felicity had a lock on the town car on her computer. "Tracker on his car is active. Roy, he's coming up on your position."
From a corner up the street, Roy stared hard at the car as it approached. "Got him."
"He's turning up Warner." Felicity said.
"I see him." Dig confirmed. "Heading north." Two cars ahead Slade went through an intersection. Before he could follow, though, a black SUV drove through the red light, skidding to a stop in front of Dig's car. He pounded the steering wheel in aggravation. "Damn it, I lost him!"
"It's all right. I still have eyes on him." Felicity said. "Sara, cut right onto Downey."
Sara pulled out onto the streets on one of Ollie's spare motorcycles. "Got 'em." She said. The car pulled to a stop at a light, and Sara pulled right alongside of the car- the EMPTY car. "Negative." Sara said in astonishment. "Negative, it's not him!"
"What?!" Felicity blanched as her screen went crazy with dozens of dots, all marked 'Slade' appeared on the screen at once. "Oh, my God. He's cloned the tracker's signal. "Roy, you've got to move!"
In the street, Roy took off at a dead run. 'Roy, you got to pick him up on Fuller.' Felicity said. Roy bolted down the middle of the street, running fast enough to keep pace with the cars. As he got to the intersection at Fuller he skidded to a stop, bumping into a car but not feeling a thing. Frantically he looked around, desperate for a sign of Slade's car. 'Roy, do you still have eyes on him?' Felicity asked. 'Roy? Roy!'
Roy looked around helplessly. Slade was gone.
"He's good." Diggle said reluctantly.
"He's former ASIS." Sara reminded them. "He was doing this kind of thing before he got juiced."
The scene changed to a storage depot just outside Starling. Thea sat in a room, flanked by a pair of men armed with submachine guns. She looked up as a door swung open and Slade Wilson walked in.
"Leave us." He told the guards. He pulled up a chair as the guards left and sat down facing the terrified girl. "Sorry I was gone for so long."
"Screw you." She said shakily.
Malcolm smiled at his daughter's strength.
"I saw Oliver and your mother. They're all quite worried about you." Slade told her.
"If you hurt them, I swear I—"
"Please." Slade said, amused. "Go on. Finish that sentence. I'm curious to know what kind of threat a 19-year-old girl can make."
"Give me a year and I'll kick your ass." Mia said coldly. "Give me a couple more, and I'll take your head."
"What do you want with me?" she asked.
"Well, that, Thea is a very long story." Slade said, sitting back in the chair.
"Looks like I've got time." Thea noted sourly.
"Not at all." He relished the terror on her face for a moment. "You're free to go." He said finally.
"What?" Thea asked in confusion.
Thea blinked. "What?"
"I had to make a point, and I made it." Slade said simply. "The door is unlocked, so you can leave any time you'd like."
Thea stood and walked past Slade towards the door, but stopped just before she reached it. "But those guys who work for you will shoot me the second I walk out." She guessed, looking back at her kidnapper.
"No, they won't." Slade said. "Their instructions were to keep you here until I returned. And I have. So… you're free to go." Thea opened the door. "But," Slade said, rising to face the girl. "If you do, you may never know about your brother's secret." He stated.
Thea paused. "What?" she asked.
"Your brother has a secret, Thea. Would you like to know what it is?" he offered enticingly.
"He's going to tell me my brother is the Vigilante?" Thea wondered.
Mia smiled sadly. "No, not that secret. I wish it HAD been that secret."
The scene changed to the Lair, where a shaken Team Arrow were regrouping.
"So," Felicity started shakily. "What now?"
"Wait for Oliver." Dig said automatically. "Figure out what our next move will be."
"Wait for him to tell us, you mean." Roy said bitterly. "We can't do anything without King Queen's permission."
"You're out of line, Roy." Dig shot back.
"All right, let's all just calm down here." Sara said, trying to be the voice of reason. "Slade outplayed us. It happens."
"No, it only happened because the police let Slade go- after we turned him in, because Oliver told us to." Roy pointed out.
"What were we supposed to do?" Dig asked, aggravated.
"You're Special Forces." Roy started. "She's an international assassin. You would think between the three of us, we could have gotten answers out of Slade ourselves instead of turning him into the police." He shook his head angrily. "Here's what's really sick- Is that we didn't even question him because he said it was the right thing to do. Just like he said that I needed to break up with Thea. One week after telling me that it wasn't safe for me to leave her alone."
"Wait!" Felicity interrupted. "You think it's Oliver's fault that Slade took Thea?"
"I think it was his fault that I wasn't there to stop Slade." Roy replied harshly.
"And I think you're just blaming Oliver because you lost Slade." Sara said testily.
"Well, of course you'd take his side, you're screwing him." Roy spat. Sara stood up straighter, glaring at Roy as the other two backed off.
"Whoa!" Diggle said.
"That was a bit out of line!" Laurel argued.
"That was tempers running out of control." Sara said.
The scene changed to Queen Manor. Oliver was talking to the police as Moira stood in the lounge, staring at an old picture of Thea. "Can you guys give us a minute, please?" Oliver asked the cops quietly. They moved out into the foyer, and Oliver made his way over to his mother.
"Do you remember how she loved to color?" she asked absently. "Your father would buy her boxes of crayons by the truckload. She could never get enough. She'd draw on the walls. And I could never get angry, because it was just so adorable." She remembered tearfully.
"You should try to get some sleep." Oliver said awkwardly after a moment. He turned to walk out of the room, to give her some space.
"Is my baby still alive?" she whispered to herself.
Oliver turned back to Moira. "What?" he asked.
"Is my baby still alive?" she repeated, a bit louder.
Oliver paused for a moment. "Yes." He said finally.
"I woke up every day for five years the mother who lost her son." Moira said. "I- I can't... I can't endure it again." She turned to look at him. "And now you hate me, and you have every justification."
"Now is not the time." Oliver started.
"Yes, it is." She said. "It is exactly the time. I've told you that these lies were to keep our family safe; to keep us all together, but that was the biggest lie of all. And I told it to you, to Thea, to myself. Because I was too weak to face any kind of truth." She admitted.
"What's happening now isn't your fault." Oliver told her truthfully.
"No, it's yours." Mia snapped. Unable to watch this memory anymore, she abruptly stood up and stalked out of the room.
"Despite all the jokes and sexual innuendos, this stuff still gets to her." Roy said after a moment. "It also solidifies her point- all of the secrets and lies in your families destroyed you all."
Moira put the picture back on the table. "From the moment your children are born, you worry what the world might do to them. But you never stop to think what you might do to them." She said. "That we could be our own worst enemy." Oliver moved to her side and took her hand, a reconciliation.
"Well, at least you two are getting along again." Thea said shakily. "And it only took me getting kidnapped."
FIVE YEARS AGO
Two of Slade's men dragged Oliver into the fuselage. They were followed by Slade, who pushed in Anthony Ivo ahead of himself.
"Ollie!" Sara exclaimed upon seeing the wretched state of her friend. "What did you do to him?" she demanded of Slade.
"Not enough." He said, pushing Ivo to the far wall. The two men pushed Oliver towards Sara, and she caught him just before he collapsed.
"And what did you do to him?" Slade demanded, looking at the unconscious Hendrik.
"We just knocked him out." Sara said. "It's better that way. He wasn't exactly a fan of the arrangement." She noted desperately.
"I would imagine." Slade said.
"Hendrik's all yours." Sara told him, turning back to Oliver.
"I'm surprised he didn't just try to kill you all right then." Quentin said.
"He wanted us to suffer." Sara pointed out.
"I know." Slade motioned for his two men and they hauled Hendrik to his feet. As he came up, Anatoly subtly pulled the arming pin out of his impromptu bomb. The two men started dragging him out of the plane, but as they passed Slade, he turned to look at the three men curiously. "Wait." He ordered. The survivors looked at each other in worry. "It's an incredible thing, this Mirakuru. Not only does it give you strength, it also heightens all of your senses." Slade explained. "TNT has a particular smell." He lifted up the back of Hendrik's shirt and ripped off the bomb belt. "How long before it goes off? 90 seconds? 60 seconds?" he asked, waving the belt in their faces. "You're thinking that the blast would kill me, but I disagree. Not that I could say the same for you lot." He sneered at Sara. "I am tempted to see this blow you to pieces." He ripped the primer cords out of the bomb, then drew his pistol and pointed it right at Sara's head. "But then again, maybe I'll just shoot you the same way that he shot Shado."
Quentin tensed as his daughter was threatened.
Oliver rose unsteadily to his feet, but moved between the gun and Sara once again. "No." he said in a firm voice.
Slade glared at his friend, even as he heard another voice speaking to him. "Slade…." Shado said, getting his attention.
"And now we got crazy ghost girl to deal with." Quentin said worriedly.
PRESENT
Having had enough of waiting, Roy made to leave.
"Hey, where are you going?" Sara demanded.
"Well, sitting around here isn't helping Thea, now is it?" Roy said.
Diggle moved to Sara's side, standing in front of the super-powered teen. His right hand slipped behind his back to grasp the butt of his handgun. "Neither is you running off half-cocked, Roy." Dig pointed out.
Roy scoffed. "I know that you think that this is the Mirakuru, but it's not." He said. "I'm right, and you know that I am. So you better get the hell out of my way."
"Roy, just calm down." Felicity said tiredly. "It's what Thea would want us to do."
"She's right, Roy." Dig said, putting a hand on his back. "Come on, let's throttle back."
Roy allowed himself to be moved, and then suddenly his left arm interlocked with Dig's right, trapping it. With stunning ease he forced Diggle face-down onto a nearby table.
"Roy!" Felicity exclaimed, horrified as Diggle groaned in pain.
An arrow tipped with an injector pod slammed into the light right next to his head. He looked over to see Sara standing there with Oliver's bow, another arrow loaded with venom pointed at him. "Next one goes into your chest." She warned. "Let him go."
"You would honestly kill me because I dare to criticize the almighty Oliver Queen?" Roy asked incredulously.
"No, I'd kill you because you're hurting my friend." She replied. "Let him go." Roy glared at Sara, Dig gasped in pain, Felicity stood in the background, helpless…
"Let him go!" Oliver screamed angrily as he came into the lair. Roy let go of Diggle, who sighed in relief. "What the hell's going on down here?" he demanded.
"I'm done." Roy said heatedly. "That's what's going on. Thea, she's out there, hurt or worse, because of one person. And that is not Slade Wilson."
"Roy—"
"I believed in you." He said angrily. "There's nothing left for me here." Roy brushed past Oliver and bounded up the stairs ready to go out and look for the woman he loved.
"This was Slade's plan." Roy said. "Step one: sow discord among the team."
The three remaining team members stood silently for a moment, before an alert caught Felicity's attention. "Oh, my God." She said, gaping at what she saw. "Oliver…"
"Now what?" Dig wondered.
The scene changed to Queen Consolidated. Isabel Rochev sat in the boardroom, talking to the new board. "Publicity has drafted a rather compelling statement, and I will be doing the talk show rounds to control the spin." She was saying when a furious Oliver barged into the room, followed closely by a security guard.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Rochev, but he was very… insistent." The guard said.
Isabel looked at the board members. "Can you give us the room, please?"
Oliver waited until they had left before he started speaking. "Isabel, what have you done?" he demanded.
"Me? Very little." She said as he started moving around the table towards her. "You're the one who made this possible when you made me CEO. I know it was only temporary, but it gave me the authority I needed to call an emergency board meeting. As of 30 minutes ago, your company belongs to me." She informed him happily. "The directors unanimously made my appointment permanent. I'd say they lost faith in your leadership, but that would imply there was any." She smirked. "Maybe you should have focused a little less on your…evening activities." She added significantly.
Oliver stepped back slightly, rocked by the realization. "Slade… you're working for him." He said, stalking closer to her.
"Step two: take control of the company away from Oliver, and with it take away any and all assets he may have." Roy continued.
"I don't understand…" Thea said.
"Oliver had all of his capital invested in Queen Consolidated." Sara said. "Everything. But with Isabel in control, she could begin liquidating stock, devaluing Oliver's holdings and draining his money away."
"Slade wanted to take everything from Oliver, the way he felt Oliver had taken everything from him." Roy said. "That included material possessions. Plus- and stop me if you've heard this one- he needed QC's Applied Sciences for his plan to mass-produce the Mirakuru."
"With." She clarified as she was moved back towards the wall. "He knew planting me in your family's business would draw you back to Starling City. Truth be told, I was skeptical, but—" She as cut off when his hand shot around her throat and forced her back to the wall hard.
"Why are you doing this?!" Oliver demanded.
"I think it's sad you don't know. The sins of the father are the sins of the son." She whispered. He looked at her, startled, and that's when she struck. Isabel leapt up and wrapped her legs around his arm, twisting them and falling back to the floor. They landed and she rolled free of his grip. They both came up slowly, and Oliver took another look at her as he realized she knew how to fight. Isabel launched a flurry of kicks at him which he blocked, grabbing her leg on the last click and spinning her forcing her face down onto the boardroom table. He held her pinned down with a hand on her neck.
"You are going to tell me where my sister is, or I am going to kill you." He whispered to her. "Where is she?!" he screamed.
"Why not both?" Moira said coldly.
"Because he'd be sent to jail if he killed her right then." Dinah said.
"He's holding her at a storage depot just outside the city limits." She told him quickly. "Tosca Cartage."
"How do I know you're not lying?!" he demanded.
Isabel actually laughed. "It's cute how you think this isn't all playing out exactly how he wants it to." Oliver let her go and rushed towards the exit. "And he wants you to come alone." She added, stopping him in his tracks. "If he even smells your partners, he will gut sweet little Thea like a trout." She warned. He took a half step towards her, ready to kill her then and there, but Thea had to come first. He turned and ran out of the room.
"It was a pleasure doing business with you, Oliver." Isabel called after him, taunting him.
The scene changed to the Lair, where Oliver was frantically gearing up.
"At least let us surround the perimeter." Diggle offered.
"No, Isabel was very clear." Oliver stated. "I come alone or Thea dies."
"Ollie, this is another one of Slade's games, and unless—" Sara started.
Oliver angrily cut her off. "No! What I can't do, Sara, is nothing!" he shouted. "What would you do if it were Laurel, or your father, or your mother? I will not get dragged into the same debate over and over again!"
"Go."
The voice was Felicity's, and it was calm and measured. She walked up to him. "Go get Thea. Stop Slade. Do whatever it takes. End this once and for all." She told him. He nodded gratefully at her, then turned and hurried out.
"Thank you Felicity." Moira said.
"It's what I do." She replied.
As Oliver sped towards the storage facility, Slade armored up and loaded his weapons, saving his armored helmet for last.
"I hate the guy, no question." Tommy began. "But does anyone else think he looks like a bad-ass?" Everyone nodded in agreement.
The Arrow pulled up to Tosca Cartage and jumped off his bike. He strode into the facility, and came face to face with three armed men in masks. Immediately he went to town, beating them down in record time. More men came in, and they fell just as fast. He managed to fire off two arrows, but his anger was so great that The Arrow settled for using his fists or beating them across the heads with his bow. As he finished off the last man, he stalked deeper into the facility, ripping an arrow out of one man's leg as he stalked past.
The scene changed to a dark, deserted road. A prisoner transport bus was heading back to Iron Heights, loaded down with over 50 heavy offenders.
Back at the facility, Oliver encountered more of Slade's men. He used the arrow he had pulled out like a makeshift dagger, stabbing the men when he wasn't beating them down with the bow.
"Yeah, he's pissed." Diggle said.
Back on the road, Deathstroke stepped out in front of the bus. "Holy…." One of the guards said, staring out the window at the imposing figure. "Stop! Stop, stop!" the bus slowed to a stop, and the guard grabbed his shotgun and stepped out. He cocked the shotgun as he approached the man.
Back at the facility, Oliver finished up with Slade's men and blew open the last set of doors. He stormed into the room, only to find one chair set up in the center of the room.
It was empty.
"Where am I?" Thea wondered.
"That was just to wear him down, wasn't it?" Tommy asked.
"Not so much wear him down as to cause him to waste time." Sara replied.
"Halloween was six months ago, ass hat." The guard said. "Now get off the road or get put down. You hear me?"
Deathstroke calmly reached behind him and withdrew his katana, throwing it in the same motion and impaling the guard in the heart. He followed that up by drawing his pistol and shooting the driver and the second guard. He lifted his hand and motioned for the prisoners to exit the bus. He waited until they formed in front of the bus. "I have a proposal for you men." He began.
"Step three," Roy said, "get some new recruits for his Mirakuru army, without any interference. With the police and Oliver so focused on Thea, no one was available to help stop this." He motioned at the screen.
At the facility, Felicity called Oliver on the comms. "Go!" he said angrily.
"Oliver, are you ok?" Felicity asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine, but Thea's not here." He said.
"You did it." Felicity said.
"Did what?" he asked in confusion.
"Thea's fine." She told him. "She's fine. She walked into the precinct five minutes ago. Safe and sound."
In the SCPD, Thea was led through the squad room, a blanket over her shoulders, as they took her to a place to rest and debrief her.
"He did just let me go." Thea said in surprise.
"Oh, believe me- he did his damage first." Sara said darkly.
In the facility, Oliver looked around in confusion. "What…."
'Oliver, did you hear me?' Felicity asked.
A short time later Oliver burst into the precinct to find Sara and Diggle already waiting for him.
"Thea?" he asked hurriedly.
"She's fine, no injuries. He didn't touch her." Dig told him.
"He wasn't there." Oliver growled. "He had a lot of men, hired guns. He wasn't there!"
"Because he was busy elsewhere." Sara noted sourly.
"Iron Heights reopened a wing damaged in the quake." Diggle explained. "There was a prisoner transfer. Slade hijacked it. Soldiers for his army." He guessed.
"Abducting Thea was all a diversion." Sara told him.
"Oliver!" he looked up as Moira rushed over to him. He took her hand and the two ran towards the interrogation room where Thea was waiting.
"Oh, thank God." Oliver said as he and Moira rushed to Thea. They both grabbed on to her, holding her tightly.
"Oh, my baby!" Moira cried, kissing her on the forehead. Thea was strangely unmoved. "Ohh! My baby."
Oliver stepped back, noticing how tense she was. "What?" he asked.
"He told me." Thea said. "Mr. Wilson He told me your secret." She said, glaring at Oliver. He backed away, stunned. "How you've been lying to me for years." She continued as his heart froze. "How could you not tell me Malcolm Merlyn was my father?!" she cried. Moira looked devastated, but Oliver allowed himself a moment to breathe a small sigh of relief. "I believed in you." Thea continued tearfully. She pushed past him towards the door.
"We were trying to keep you safe." Oliver said automatically.
"Well, you did a shit job of it." Dinah remarked casually.
Thea stopped and looked back her at her brother in disgust. "Do you have any idea who you sound like? You sound like her." She spat, storming out of the room as Moira broke down.
"Step four- tear his family apart some more." Roy continued. "And by doing that, prevent Oliver from taking any action to reclaim the family fortune."
"Why—"
"Because all three of you would need to sign off on some paperwork." Sara said. "And you didn't."
FIVE YEARS AGO
"Slade," Shado said. "Death's too good for them. This island should be their punishment."
"Death is too good for you. This island should be your punishment." He parroted.
"Their prison for the rest of their days." Shado continued.
"Your prison for the rest of your days." He repeated.
"These aren't the droids you're looking for." Tommy mocked. "Is that—"
"That's what we believe he was seeing." Roy confirmed.
"How do you know?"
"Because when it was me, I saw Thea." He said simply.
He shoved Hendriks at his men. "Get him out of here." He ordered.
"Slade—" Oliver tried.
"Get back!" Slade roared.
"I can help you." Oliver pleaded.
Slade glared at him. "You can live, or you can die. You choose." He turned to leave, then paused and turned back around. "Would you like to send a message to your family?" he asked. "'Cause as soon as this boat is fixed, I'm paying them a visit." They all watched helplessly as Slade strode out of the fuselage for the last time.
Moira shuddered at the thought of him coming to them even earlier, even more unhinged. 'He would have killed us all- Walter, Thea, and I- and we never would have known why.' She thought to herself.
PRESENT
The scene changed to the SCPD. Thea exited the building and wrapped her scarf around her neck to ward off the cold. She walked down the street, not noticing Roy as he watched her from his stolen Mustang. Knowing that she was alive, and knowing that he was the LAST person she ever wanted to see, Roy started the car and took off, leaving Starling City as fast as he could.
"Not the smartest move, I admit." Mia said, stepping back into the room. "After all, if Ollie had just given me a ride, none of this would have happened."
"You okay?" Roy asked.
Mia smiled tiredly. "Yeah. The miracle of children- they almost always make you happier." She moved across the room and dropped into the seat next to her husband.
"Almost?" Moira asked.
"Yeah. Sometimes they refuse to sign the paperwork that would safeguard your fortune because they're in a pissy mood." Mia said wryly.
Back in the SCPD, Lance was reduced to pushing papers. "Hell of a night." He noted to Sara, who was leaning against his desk.
"Quentin Lance, master of the understatement." She teased tiredly.
"A word, officer?" Lance looked back to see Pike. "Hold on, sweetheart." He told Sara, and then walked over to his Lieutenant. "Yeah?"
"I've spoken to DA Spencer about your… situation." Pike said "She doesn't want to press charges- if you cooperate." Pike offered. "Tell us where the vigilante is." Pike demanded.
"Well, I'd love to, but I don't know." Lance said truthfully.
"Well, that's unfortunate." Pike noted.
"Yeah, it looks like."
Pike reached to his belt and pulled out his handcuffs. "Quentin Larry Lance, you're under arrest for conspiracy and aiding in multiple felonies.' Pike began
"And Step Five- take away the Vigilante's support in the police." Roy finished.
"I can't believe they're arresting me for bringing in the right guy!" Quentin exploded.
"That's the thing." Mia said. "Once it came to light that Slade kidnapped me, and that the police had him in custody and let him go- well, once again the police brass were embarrassed because they were wrong and the vigilante was right." She looked at Quentin. "So you got punished."
Quentin stared at him in disbelief, even as Pike slapped the cuffs on him. "What? Are you out of your mind?!" he demanded. "What are you doing? Wilson-Wilson did it! I collared the right guy!" he pointed out, sighing in aggravation.
Sara looked up and, seeing what was going on, moved over to her father. "What are you—"
"You have the right to remain silent." Pike continued.
"What are you doing?" Sara demanded as Pike led Quentin out of the squad room as the other cops looked on.
"You have the right to an attorney…."
"Dad!" Sara called out helplessly as her father was led away.
The scene changed to Queen Consolidated where Slade was sitting behind Oliver's desk, watching the news with Sebastian Blood and Isabel Rochev. 'Riding what pundits are calling a sympathy bump, Moira Queen pulled far ahead of Sebastian Blood in the latest polls conducted in the last 24 hours by channel—'
"The whole thing just blew up in my face!" Blood complained. "How the hell do I get elected now?!" he demanded.
"I think you intended a different tone." Slade warned.
"You said I'd be mayor!" Blood replied heatedly. Slade rose to his feet and moved around the desk, but Blood continued. "And you just delivered this election for Moira Queen, and for what? What is this obsession you have with the Queen family?" he wondered.
"You haven't told him?" Isabel asked, chuckling.
"Shh." Slade hissed playfully.
"You promised me." Blood stated.
"You promised me a new bike. Waa." Tommy said mockingly. He glanced at Dinah. "And you dated this guy?"
"Again I point out that I was drunk and high for most of this year." She said.
"I promised you this city." Slade roared, jamming his finger into Blood's face. "I promised you an army with which to take it." He looked to Isabel. "What is our status?"
"Queen Consolidated's Applied Sciences division is now fully dedicated to replicating a serum based on your blood sample." She reported.
"You see," Slade told Blood, putting on his coat. "Everything is proceeding as planned."
"Where are you going now?" Blood asked.
Slade looked back at the would-be Mayor. "To service my obsession. Oliver Queen needs one more distraction." He decided, walking past the apparition of Shado and out of the office.
The scene changed to the Lair. And exhausted Oliver walked in to find Felicity and Diggle waiting for him.
"What are you two doing here?" he asked tiredly.
"We thought this is where you would go. You're predictable." Felicity told him. "That, and you've been sleeping on the cot at night."
"What are you doing here?" Oliver repeated in confusion.
"Where else would we be?" Diggle said simply.
Oliver wearily sat on the edge of a work table. "Roy was right." He admitted. "At every turn, I had made the wrong decision. With him, with…the company, and," he gulped. "and with Thea. I was so focused on what Slade might do to me that it never even occurred to me what I could do to myself." He said. "I am my own worst enemy."
"That's Slade talking, Oliver. Don't let him in your head." Diggle advised.
"I can't keep him out of my head, Diggle!" he exclaimed. "I can't…I can't stop him from doing anything."
"Yes, you can." Felicity said confidently.
"What makes you so sure?" he asked.
"Because you're not alone, man." Dig stated. He let that sink in for a minute. "Now what, boss?" he asked.
Oliver considered for a minute. "Now we fight back." He stated.
"I'm looking forward to seeing how he does that." Malcolm admitted.
The scene changed to Laurel's apartment, where she was standing in front of her TV, drinking a cup of tea while she watched the news.
'Police have issued a warrant for Slade Wilson after Thea Queen named him as the mastermind of her kidnapping yesterday.' The anchor was saying. 'This in the wake of Wilson's arrest and subsequent release by the SCPD hours before Ms. Queen was released. In a statement to the press, SCPD Lieutenant Franklin Pike reiterated his support for his department despite what appears to be a serious blunder. He went on to say, the SCPD is committed—'
"-To persecuting a good cop because the brass can't do anything right." Laurel said bitter.u.
There was a knock on the door, and Laurel headed to answer it. 'To making sure any arrest they make is a legal one, but without sufficient—' she opened the door-
To see Slade Wilson standing there.
She made to slam the door, but he contemptuously pushed it back open. He calmly walked into the apartment as she backed away from the madman.
"Don't worry. I am not here to harm you." He assured her.
"Go to hell!" she spat.
"All in good time, I'm sure." He stated. "But before then, I have come to Starling City to see Oliver Queen suffer."
"Oliver…what?" she looked at him in confusion. "Why?"
"Because he's not the man you think he is." Slade said.
"And how would you know that?"
"Because I know Oliver Queen is… The Arrow." Laurel gasped in acceptance, as so many things started to make sense in her mind. His work done, Slade turned and walked out of the apartment.
"Well… at least he didn't kidnap ME." Laurel said, frowning. "Why tell me that, though? What kind of distraction—"
"I think what Slade thought was that you would go after him again, like you had earlier in the year." Sara said. "I think he was counting on you harassing him, trying to prove that Ollie WAS the Arrow. Or even that you'd try to sell that to the police to get Dad out of prison. What he didn't count on was that you were in a much better place than you were earlier in the year."
"In reality, him telling us actually helped Ollie, in the end." Dinah added.
"Here's a real obvious question," Tommy said hesitantly. "How did Slade know about Thea being Malcolm's daughter?"
"Isabel." Mia replied. "I never found out how those two hooked up, but when they did Isabel filled in Slade on the Queen family. Though I should say that, when Slade told me, he embellished a bit. He told me that Oliver always knew that Malcolm was my father. And i was so angry, I never even thought about asking Oliver what he knew, and when he knew it." she shook her head. "Well, before we get back to me being the whipping girl of the story, let's grab some refreshments." Mia said. "We'll bang out these next two, then call it a day. I have a feeling we'll need a break about then."
TBC
A/N: So in the comics, Kate Spencer is a masked vigilante known as Manhunter, and a good guy at that. In this show, I'm not quite certain if their Kate Spencer is a good guy, a bad guy, or just morally ambiguous.
I know a lot of people aren't liking how Season 3 is going right now, saying it isn't as good as Season 2. And maybe it isn't. But those same people seem to forget the glaring inadequacy of Season 2 that was Isabel Rochev. And the problem lay with the writers. The show runners have admitted that they didn't know what they were going to do with Isabel until after they were halfway through the season, which is why she disappeared for great lengths of time.
So…. Did Slade waste an army of trained mercenaries as a distraction for Oliver while he rounded up violent fellons with no real training to make his army? I guess that make sense, in that he wouldn't want anyone as highly trained as himself under Mirakuru
What WAS Slade's endgame for telling Laurel? Did he think knowing that would drive her to drink again, thus distracting Oliver? Or that she'd hate Oliver now that she knew? I'm honestly curious as to what you all think.
Wow, wrote most of that earlier this year! I had a lot of really good questions asked of me... but since they were anonymous reviews, I couldn't reply. Only takes a few minutes to sign up for a free account!
We're getting close to the end here, kids. As for the bridge stories- All of the individual character ficlets will be collected into a multi-chapter story, but the story dealing with Sin will be a stand-alone, single chapter story.
New season's almost upon us! Bring on Crazy Thea and Rambo Felicity!