Disclaimer: Not mine.
After several chapters covering both the midseason and now a whole chapter with the aftermath, it's time for us to - at least by the end of this chapter - finally get back to the show. I don't apologize for stopping to explore these divergence-eddies, but I do appreciate they're not everyone's flavor.
I actually checked, and Spiders Georg got big in early 2013, so Sara mentioning it here is perfectly cromulent.
The last scene does delve a little into RL politics, but given that it's about elections, that makes sense. The show, like many TV shows, was allergic to political detail, nuance or any connection to reality, which I do understand, but... really makes it hard to tell a story about anything that does touch on politics/elections un-universe.
Also, thanks to Okoriwadsworth for coming up with the sentence I end the chapter with, because I was getting nowhere myself and asked for some help and he just... :chefs Kiss: came up with the best ending sentence.
The Siege of Starling City
By Kylia
Chapter 13: A Campaign That Starts off With A BOOM
Solidsnakestightass69: (7:43 PM March 18, 2019)
I'm not defending Deathstroke or Rochev, the former was a psychotic terrorist and the latter was a rich corporate raider who decided she wanted revenge on her former boyfriend's kid for some reason, but I am saying that it's mighty suspicious that Sebastian Blood, who was basically the closest thing we've had to a socialist nearly winning mayor of a major city in a long time, turned out to be 'allied' with those two.
Wizardvortex712471: (7:57 PM March 18, 2019)
So, what, you think Arrow and Black Canary framed him? I mean, Arrow may be a little too busy with supervillains constantly attacking Starling to go after the 1% like he used to, but he's not gonna frame a guy trying to help the poor, and Black Canary sure as hell wouldn't.
Solidsnakestightass69: (8:09 PM March 18, 2019)
I'm saying Moira Queen and the corporate establishment in Starling framed Blood. And I wouldn't be surprised if they were behind Deathstroke. There was a lot of money being made in rebuilding the city, and funny how a lot of the deaths were in poor and middle class neighborhoods.
#Mighty Suspicious #SSTA Wears Their Tinfoil Hat #Supervillain Discourse #Late Stage Capitalism
-a post on Tumblr blog Solidsnakestightass69, retrieved April 21, 2020
Hochman Hotel, Starling City
December 17th, 2013
Sara hadn't been sure she'd actually get the call that Nyssa had the time to chat, but she did. Sara had just enough time to stop by Mister Bagchi's place, get a cup of his Masala Chai tea made, and get to Nyssa's hotel - the Hochman. Because why not have the member of the not-Amish but with murder stay at the most expensive hotel in town?
Okay, actually, in fairness, they're also the most private. They were the only hotel where everyone, cleaning and cooking staff on upward, signed ironclad confidentiality agreements. Legally, without a warrant, the staff there couldn't tell anyone anything about the hotel they couldn't see with their own two eyes.
Walking in through the front door, Sara went up to the front desk. "Sara Lance, to see Nyssa Raatko." She told the clerk.
The clerk looked at her computer, then nodded. "One moment please." She dialed a number on the phone, then picked it up. "Ma'am? Yes. She's here. Of course. We'll send her up." The clerk handed her a small key-fob looking thing, though with no buttons. "Hold this up to the elevator controls to be taken to the right floor - 7th floor. Miss Raatko is in room 703."
"Right." Sara looked at the fob. So guests had specific fobs for specific floors? That seemed... a bit much.
As she waited for the elevator to come back down to the ground level, Sara tried to ignore that her pulse was raising, her heart was bounding in her chest, and she kept licking her lips.
I'm not nervous. She was just - concerned. She was about to go meet with an assassin on her own turf, or at least ground of the assassin's choosing, and sure, Nyssa wasn't going to do anything to her, Sara was confident in the other woman's lack of interest in doing anything that would upset Laurel, but...
Still. On principle.
Her cop's instincts were screaming at her to just turn around and leave. That this was not a good idea.
Sara ignored those instincts. This was important.
There was so much about Laurel's time in the League, what it had done to her, that Sara didn't know. That Sara would almost certainly never hear from Laurel. Plus, with Nyssa like another sister to Laurel...
Sara needed to have this conversation.
And it had nothing - nothing - to do with the fact that Nyssa was apparently her achilles heel when it came to how women looked.
Nothing
Because yes, Nyssa was gorgeous, and Sara was absolutely thinking about that fact a lot. And yes, Sara knew that she was prone to being distracted by a very very attractive man or woman, she'd known that even before she was bi, even if she'd rationalized the distracted by an attractive woman part away back then. But just because the other woman had invited her to her hotel room to talk didn't mean that she was thinking of this as any sort of-
Oh who am I kidding. Part of me absolutely thinking like that.
Which, honestly, was baffling. Sara was indeed prone to the distraction thing, but it wasn't like she'd been forced to deal with it over the years, and done a good job of it. And yes, Nyssa was gorgeous, but Sara was not some teenager driven by hormones. And yet, when it came to the woman, part of Sara was that.
She did feel like a teenager having their first serious crush - like a high school sophomore crushing on a college kid, someone they felt like was way, way out of their league, and also knew on a very fundamental level that dating them, even if it was possible, was all sorts of bad ideas.
Yes, Sara was confident she'd be able to stay on task, but...
What the fuck is it about this woman?! It would be easy to blame the fact that Sara hadn't dated or anything else in ages, which was true, but that couldn't possibly be it. Sara had run into other gay or bi women in that time who were, objectively, on the same level as Nyssa aesthetically, and Sara did not react this way.
So what was it about -
Sara was jolted out of her thoughts by the ding of the elevator as it opened for her. She ran the fob over the reader when she stepped inside, and the elevator closed, the number '7' appearing on a digital display next to the doors.
There are questions I need Nyssa to answer, and as much as part of me wishes otherwise 'do you want to have sex?' is not actually one of them.
Shaking her head, Sara managed to keep herself focused as she walked over to room 703 and knocked.
Of course, when Nyssa opened the door and Sara saw her again, that focus slipped a little, but she managed to avoid making a complete fool of herself as she held out a thermos. "Tea? Masala Chai. I have it on good authority from a habitual drinker that it's pretty good."
Nyssa raised an eyebrow. "Good authority from whom?" She accepted the thermos, but didn't drink from it yet, stepping aside to let Sara come into the hotel room.
The room was large - nearly the size of her apartment, and through the open door of the bathroom she could see what looked like an absurdly oversized bathtub for -
Nope. Sara blinked, not letting her brain follow where that would inevitably lead.
"Well, one, I figured since I'm eating up your free time, so I should come bringing gifts, and two, you can't go around insulting my country like that and not expect me to show you up. I'll grant that we americanize a lot of stuff - because it tastes better like that - but you can get authentic stuff if you know where to look." Sara kept looking around the room, mostly to avoid looking at Sara and the way she wore those black jeans.
It was... fancy. There was some sort of expensive-looking art on one wall, the bed was huge, and the TV equally some sort of oversized monstrosity. A dining table complete with a full tea set, which also looked fancy as hell and a desk that looked older than either of them - probably a reproduction, but a really high-end one - helped round out the excess of the room.
"So this is what it's like to travel on the League's dime?" Sara asked, chuckling. "Are they taking applications?"
"It is this hotel's ability to keep their resident's privacy that serves as the primary utility," Nyssa countered. "Your government takes a dim view of the League's actions, and especially in larger cities, I must be careful." Sara looked at the assassin, and she genuinely couldn't tell if the woman was being honest or bullshitting her.
Which made sense, given her profession, but, like... there were other ways to be anonymous. Lots of shitty motels that didn't ask questions, didn't have answers - she had to be picking the Hochman
"Where exactly did you get this tea?"
"Little spice and tea shop in the South End. The owner likes me. Not a tea person, but I get spices from him from time to time." She needed some way to make the microwave meals she ate at home more flavorful. "I figured he would have something that might live up to your exacting standards. Does it?"
Nyssa raised an eyebrow, but unscrewed the lid of thermos, looking at the contents, then smelling them.
"What, you think it's poisoned?" Sara made a face at the idea Nyssa thought she'd do that. You're important to my sister, of course i'm not going to -
"The proper experience of tea requires more than just taste," Nyssa's words interrupted Sara's thoughts. Sara blinked, then felt her cheeks got hot. Right. Duh. Sorry.
"I - sorry." Really can't stop putting my foot in my mouth around her, can I?
Nyssa took a sip of the tea, then lowered the still open thermos, a thoughtful expression on her face. She took another slow, careful sip.
"Good?"
"Surprisingly so." Nyssa admitted. "Would you like coffee? I understand that you take it black."
"...did Laurel tell you that?" Sara wasn't sure when that would have come up. She'd only started liking it black after becoming a cop, so Laurel wouldn't have known that and told her when she was in the League...
"You talk about it on your facebook page." Nyssa explained.
"...Okay, now you're just fucking with me, right?" Sara asked, staring at the woman. She just... could not imagine Nyssa on facebook. At all. The image of her, scrolling through her feed, hitting 'like' on memes or news articles and commenting on someone's status update - it refused to actually take shape in Sara's head.
"I'll admit that the whole Amish but with murder line was stupid and I should never have assumed you don't use any technology," though Nyssa's weird elitism on guns had given her good reason to think it was a thing, "but there is no way you use facebook or any other social media. What next, are you going to tell me you secretly have a reddit account where you upvote funny lolcats, or you reblog spiders georg memes while tagging posts with 'superwholock' on tumblr?"
Nyssa stared at her, tilting her head to the side a little, as if considering her. "...That was technically English, and yet I have no idea what you just said." Nyssa sipped at the tea again, slowly. "The rise of facebook and other social media where people remove any divide between their private life and their life on the internet has done much of the preliminary research on our targets for us," Nyssa explained. "It is rare that our targets themselves share vital details, but their employees and family members often do. I simply performed research before our meeting."
She walked over to the TV, opening a cupboard on the stand and revealing a very expensive looking coffee maker. She watched Nyssa unscrew a bottle of water, pour it's contents into the maker, and then set to work making coffee.
"...you guys research your targets on facebook. I -" Sara blinked as she watched Nyssa start the maker, looking away so she didn't think about those jeans even more now that Nyssa was facing away from her. Her entire train of thought derailed, she went with the first thing that came to mind: Objecting to expensive coffee. "You don't need to - Christ, Nyssa, one cup of whatever coffee you're making probably costs more than a tank of gas. You don't need to make me any."
"It is the polite thing to do for a guest." Nyssa countered. "You would not make me a rude host. The Laws of Hospitality are sacred to the League."
Sara bit back her immediate 'that makes no sense' because she'd been burned by that hot stove too many times. She pursed her lips, thinking it through. She'd read a few books, watched a few shows, where the Laws of Hospitality, or something like that was a thing. And a faint memory of learning about Greek Mythology in High School niggled at her , something about Zeus punishing people who were bad to their guests or something like that.
The League serves its own sense of justice. An older form of it. An older law. Laurel had told her that once, in one of the few times she'd said much about her time in the league...
"Because Hospitality is one of those older laws you uphold." Sara murmured.
"Indeed." Nyssa nodded. "In the days when the League was founded, violations of the Laws of Hospitality were among the gravest of betrayals. They were far from the only law we enforced, but it was one of the most common that drew our ire - when a ruler or a general would invite his enemies or rivals to a meal, and betray them at the feast, or when a guest would come to an invited banquet and kill their host. And smaller violations of Sacred Hospitality, when word of them reached us."
It was interesting, watching Nyssa speak. She chose her words carefully, deliberately. Her eyes were expressive, but it was hard to tell what they meant, especially when the rest of her face was carefully schooled as she spoke.
"And if someone showed up at your fancy mountain fortress? Would they be extended the same Hospitality?" Sara doubted the answer was 'no', but she wanted to hear what Nyssa said about it. She needed to understand the way this League worked.
"Nanda Parbat does not host visitors often, but on the rare occasions when Ra's al Ghul allows a guest, they would be treated as a guest under those traditions. Hospitality can only happen with mutual agreement - a host is by no means obligated to accept a given guest. But once they do..."
"They have to follow the rules. I have to imagine that you don't get as many opportunities to punish people for breaking hospitality these days." Sara noted.
"Less so than in days past, true. But there will always be evil for the League to punish. Man will always stray from justice, and the League will always be there to correct that course." Nyssa selected a mug and set it in place in the coffee maker, then gestured to two cushioned chairs next to a coffee table. "Shall we sit?"
"...that seems like a good idea." Sara picked one of the chairs and tried to not sit as tensely as she felt, but not really to much success. Nyssa sat down, seemingly relaxed, but Sara had no doubt the woman's guard was still up.
It is very unfair how good she is at seeming nonchalant. And how good nonchalant looks on her.
"You said you wanted to get to know me better. Because I will be part of your sister's life." Nyssa murmured. "What do you want to know?"
A lot of things that I'm not going to actually ask you.
"Well, for starters, the League. Clearly, I have a lot of misconceptions about it, and Laurel... Laurel doesn't talk about the League much, or her time in it. But it had an impact on her. And... well, the League is your life. Understand the League, I understand you, maybe I understand Laurel more..."
Cult or not, how can you all be okay with being murderers? With just... declaring yourselves arbiters of life and death? It was -
It was the central question of Sara's life these days.
And just... What was it like, being part of the League? Laurel made it sound like a hellish, repressed existence, that most people she knew in the league were pretty dead inside after a while and yet Nyssa... wasn't? Why? And how - how did Laurel and Nyssa come to be so close?
"You don't ask simple questions, do you?" Nyssa murmured.
"I didn't even ask the question yet, but... why wouldn't it be simple? You go around killing people who violate your code. Without any accountability. No authorization." Laws - from governments - and so on all... it all went back to that whole 'social contract' thing. Sara's badge came from somewhere, she was supposed to be accountable.
There were huge problems with that system, but there wasn't anything for the League. Just themselves. And how long had Ra's let Malcolm Merlyn run rampant?
"The Traditions of the League speak of a powerful being, a sky god, who charged the first Ra's al Ghul with defeating evil and protecting the innocent." Nyssa countered. "What gives your sister, or her beloved their authorization to act as they do?"
"They aren't killing people, if they can help it." Sara countered, her defense of her sister feeling a bit weak. Sara wasn't going to argue with Nyssa on religious grounds, and she didn't think Nyssa was inviting her to question the existence of this 'Sky God'. "That's what makes them doing what they do okay. Or at least.. Less bad." Sara let out a long sigh. "Okay, I don't really have a good answer to that question."
"And yet you demand an answer from me? From the League? Not all within the League believe our most ancient of traditions, but all believe in our cause. We are called to defend Justice. It is that same call that animates Laurel, and Oliver." Nyssa explained.
"And that call to justice mandates killing anyone who tries to leave?" Sara asked, cleared her throat, "You don't need to respond to that. I just - I don't understand. There's a difference between killing people and... well, being an Assassin."
"That is, in truth, a misunderstanding of our true name," Nyssa countered. She stood, fetching the cup of coffee as the maker finished, and bringing it over to Sara. Sara accepted the coffee, bringing it up to her lips for a very small, very careful sip.
It was scalding hot on her tongue, but it was also intensely smooth. No acidity, no bitterness. The battery acid she drank at the precinct was all well and good but this...
"I hate how good this is," Sara murmured, then cleared her throat as she realized someone was actually here to hear her say that. "Thank you. It's... very good." Certainly the best coffee she'd had in a very long while. "So... you're not actually the League of Assassins? Laurel calls you that."
"It is, at this point, the accepted translation into English, and most European languages, for our proper name, but it is... imprecise. How familiar are you with the Crusades, and the story of the so-called Hashshāshīn?"
"Only what's in the Assassin's Creed video games." Her girlfriend in college, the one who hadn't wanted to date a cop so they'd broken things off before she'd graduated, had been really into them. "So for all intents and purposes, very little." Sara clarified quickly.
"It is a complicated story, but the so-called Order of Assassins was created many decades after the League." Nyssa explained, leaning back in her chair, tucking a few stray hairs behind her ear.
"And Europeans just called you guys the League of Assassins because you killed people and spoke Arabic?" Sara could see that being a thing. Standard European white people treating foreigners like all one group or whatever.
"No doubt in part, but the League does have a history with the Isma'ili sect I'm speaking of."
The next hour and a half ended up enlightening Sara very little about the way the League of Assassins operated, or what it was like at Nanda Parbat, what made Nyssa okay with the League's actions and every other question she'd come into the hotel room with.
Instead, she'd had a surprisingly engaging history of Islamic interfaith conflict, the role the Crusades and the Mongols played in it, and the fact that after the 'Order of Assassins' fell, many of it's members would end up joining the League, even if they had become disillusioned of their old faith in many ways, embracing the ways of the League instead. It was why Arabic had become the language of the League, rather than one of several spoken within it.
The most she'd gotten was a loose sketch of the League's history until the 1500s, from the point of the Assassin's merger with them forward.
It was only when Sara had left, after Nyssa had said that she needed to make ready to depart on her mission, after Sara had gotten back into her car and was halfway back to the precinct that she realized she'd gotten almost none of the answers she'd sought. She'd been so engrossed in what Nyssa was saying - less even than how she looked while saying, and as much how... animated she was, discussing the League's history? She'd been... oddly passionate about it, in a very restrained sort of way.
I guess she doesn't get much chance to share it with people who don't know?
But if Nyssa al Ghul hadn't been deliberately sidetracking, then Sara would eat her badge. In other words, Sara had been played.
As she pulled parked her car at the precinct, this realization saw Sara pause, one hand on the wheel, one hand on the keys she'd just turned to turn off the car. She stared ahead for a long moment, then muttered:
"Motherfucker,"
Oliver and Laurel's Apartment, Starling City
December 17th, 2013
With their 'night jobs', seeing the other bruised, bloodied, cut or otherwise hurt was par for the course. But still, even seeing how stiffly Laurel was moving when she came back after her training with Shiva, Oliver wasn't prepared for just how much of Laurel's arms, legs and torso was starting to turn - just starting - black and blue.
It was an exaggeration, but she basically was one giant bruise. Despite all his experience in seeing her injured - and his experience in controlling an almost primal desire to protect the most important woman in his life - Oliver couldn't help but inhale a breath sharply.
"Normally I'd say you should see the other guy, but I couldn't even land a hit on Shiva." Laurel admitted, looking over her shoulder as she carefully examined her injuries in the mirror on the inside door of their walk-in closet.
"What did that accomplish for why she's here?" Oliver asked, before retrieving bruise cream and handing it to her. She would have applied some earlier, after training, but still. Oliver got some onto one hand, and then used the other to give it to Laurel. Shel accepted the container, nodding.
"Control. I need to learn how to control my body, my reactions. Even more than the League did, if I want to be able to make sure I can control this ability." Laurel winced as she moved her arm to apply the bruise cream, and Oliver started gently applying some to her back and sides. Laurel let out a long breath. "If this helps me make sure I don't accidentally kill anyone with my new superpower, then it's worth it."
"Will it?"
"I think so." Laurel nodded. "It may have just been one session so far, but I learned... a lot. God, Oliver, you should see the way she moves." Laurel shook her head, mouth hanging half-open. "And her expression. I never once guessed what she was going to do next. No hints, no signs, no little indications. I couldn't read her at all. Every move I made, she caught, every attack, she countered - but when she went on the offense..." Laurel exhaled, trailing off. "Well, you can see for yourself."
Oliver wished he could admit that he didn't feel a desire to find Shiva and make her pay for what she had done to Laurel. Laurel didn't need him defending her, not in this case. But it was just a flash of protectiveness, and the fact that Laurel could take care of herself, and could end the training whenever she wanted or needed. He trusted Laurel to know what was best for her in this case.
The other thing that made his momentary desire to hurt Shiva for hurting Laurel was the fact that he knew that even if he tried shooting her with his arrows from a safe distance, he was all but guaranteed to end up in a melee with her, and in that arena, Shiva would have him beat in less than five seconds, judging from what Laurel was saying.
As it was, Laurel could beat him in a hand to hand almost every time. If Laurel had even no chance against Shiva...
I just hope no one hires her to deal with the Arrow, or the Black Canary. If it came to that... well, they wouldn't just lay down and die, but they'd be in for the fight of their lives, to say the least.
Once they were done, Oliver and Laurel both sat in bed together, Oliver's arm gently around Laurel's shoulders, holding her close.
"Have you finally accepted that we need to tell Roy, even if that means telling Thea?"
Oliver exhaled slowly. "Yeah. You're right that we need to tell Roy. He's proven he's invested, that he wants to help, and after being taken by... whoever was behind Cyrus Gold... he's involved. And Thea..." Oliver let out a long breath. "If anyone did find out who the Arrow is... she's the first person they'd go for." His mother didn't stay cooped up in the estate all the time, but she did stay home more often these days, and the security there was still solid. Thea, on the other hand..."
"She goes out on her own a lot, or just with Roy." Laurel finished. "She wouldn't be helpless - she's still training at that same gym she's been practicing at since she met Roy, and Roy's going too, but -"
"A little self-defense won't count for much if she doesn't realize the kinds of people that might come for her. A single mugger or something like that? But -" Oliver shook his head. "I just... I never wanted my family to know about this. You always wanted to bring Sara in, but - with Thea..."
Thea had always been his baby sister. That was true for Laurel and Sara, yes, but Sara was a lot closer to Laurel in age. When they'd actually gotten along - which, growing up, hadn't always been the case - Laurel and Sara's dynamic was closer to friends, rather than Oliver looking out for his baby sister who was always 'speeding' after him and his friends.
"If we tell her, when we tell her that we're the vigilantes, when we bring Roy in - I'm worried she'll want to be involved. Ever since her community service, since she's been spending more time in the Glades, or dating Roy..." Oliver trailed off. "She's been paying more attention to the problems in the city. And it's not like I can forbid her from doing something if she decides to do it on her own." And the thought of Thea going out into the night, fighting for her life...
Maybe I can delay her by pointing out she needs training? Oliver could only hope that Thea decided against going out onto the streets and fighting, but... it felt like a dim hope.
"Well, I mean, you could try," Laurel offered, grinning. "You'd just be a raging hypocrite."
"Yeah, well, I try to avoid that these days." Oliver murmured, kissing the top of Laurel's head lightly. "So how do you want to do this? If we're going to tell them both... we should just tell them both. Bring them both down into the Foundry and fill them in."
The conversation was going to be hard. He'd have to tell Thea the truth about what happened to their dad, how he'd shot himself, about the list... having Roy there for her would be good. And if he and Laurel were going to have to relay even the high points of the five years they were gone, then it was probably better to do it once.
"Ask Thea to bring Roy and meet you at Verdant?" Laurel suggested. "Then take them down into the Foundry. I can be there. They see the arrows, our costumes on the mannikins -"
"They'll figure it out, and we can explain from there." Oliver nodded. He swallowed. He -
He wanted to believe that Thea wouldn't turn away from them - that the fact that he'd killed people, even if he wasn't anymore, the fact that Laurel had been an assassin - wouldn't make her behave the way Tommy did, once he'd found out.
Of course, granted, he found out around the same time we killed his dad, and that - that's not really applicable here.
Laurel laughed, and Oliver raised an eyebrow, looking at her. Laurel covered her mouth a moment, taking a breath, then explained: "You know - Thea did archery for a bit, while we were gone. Sara said she was pretty good."
"Yeah." Oliver nodded slowly. "I remember her joking she was into it before it was cool." He blinked. "If she does decide she wants to get involved, then archery would be a good option." Oliver let out a long breath.
"It'll probably be the one she gravitates to. You know how much she still looks up to you."
"Not as much as she used to." Oliver shook his head.
"Not in the same way, maybe, but even if she doesn't want to admit it, Thea still kind of idolizes you," Laurel corrected.
"I think she idolizes you more. She even took after you in your taste for men everyone else thinks are lost causes," Oliver didn't say it with any heat, or bitterness or implication that he actually qualifed. He knew Laurel never saw him as that, and after enough time of her all but beating it into his head, Oliver was starting to believe it too. But when they'd started dating, and kept dating, and had their on and off periods, and every time he'd screwed up -
Laurel had been told by people he was a lost cause. Her friends. Her dad. Hell, I told her that sometimes.
"Roy isn't one, but god knows Mom really wishes she could tell Thea he is. And Roy..." Oliver trailed off. His mother hadn't every said much against Roy, since at first she'd never known about him, and then she was in jail
"Roy was convinced he was a lost cause himself, until 'The Savior' got him, and then I rescued him." Laurel finished. Then she chuckled, more of an ironic exhale, "I suppose you could put it like that."
"I do. Thea looked up to you when she was twelve as much as she did me." Oliver hadn't heard Thea say it like that, but she'd always been full of praise for Laurel, in awe of her almost.
"Then maybe we should trade students?" Laurel teased.
"There's no guarantee Thea's interested. And you're definitely the one Roy wants training from."
"...you're still sore that he said you were his second favorite vigilante, aren't you?" Laurel laughed, poking him lightly.
"Guilty as charged," Oliver 'confirmed', smiling. He let out a long breath. "Nothing can be simple anymore, can it?"
"I don't think anything was ever simple. I think we just thought it was."
The Foundry, Starling City
December 19th
Laurel was waiting in the base, as she heard the door from the club open, Thea's voice ringing out as she walked down the stairs, Roy and then Oliver right behind her.
"I thought you said this place flooded during the Under..." Thea trailed off as she got far enough down the stairs to see the contents of the basement. Laurel watched Thea's eyes dart from the bow and arrows in their place, their costumes on the mannikins, the training equipment, the medical equipment...
And then of course, her eyes landed on Laurel, standing there, waiting for them.
"Laurel?!" She nearly shouted, and then she finished going down the stairs, Roy looking around just as much as her. Thea stared, seemingly at a loss for words, as she looked back to her brother.
"...I told you your brother was scary," Roy told Thea quietly, and Laurel smiled.
"I'd have tried to be scary to my sister's boyfriend regardless." Oliver noted. "But you've more than proven yourself, Roy. Just keep being good to Thea, and we won't have any problems on that front. Hurt her," Oliver gave Roy a friendly smile, "And I'll snap-"
"Oh no, no, NO!" Thea cut in quickly. "You're not threatening to kill my boyfriend, not even in a half-joking way, not after you're just - You're the Arrow!" She looked at Laurel, "You're the Black Canary! You can't just open with that and pretend everything's normal! Explain!"
"We were going to get to that," Laurel assured her. "You know Roy's been helping the Black Canary, serving as her eyes and ears."
"Yeah... and it's weird seeing you talk about yourself in the third person." Thea observed, a skeptical, careful cast to her voice.
"Hazard of having two identities, I'm afraid," Laurel let out a breath. "The point is, Roy, you've worked hard on your training, and proven that your desire to do more isn't some passing fancy. And... well, you've proven that you're a good person, and I think, the right person to help us."
Roy swallowed, staring, "So you mean - you - I -" he took a breath. "You'll let me join you?"
"First I'll be training you more - directly. The Wildcat Gym gave you a very solid foundation, but there's a difference between knowing how to fight, and actively trying to take on the worst this city has to offer." Laurel explained. "But yes. If you can show the same skill and dedication you have so far, then you'll be able to join us out on the streets, if you still want that."
"I do!" Roy said quickly, "I -" He cut himself off, looking at Thea. "I - this is important, to me, Thea. I need to do this. But - are you -"
"I am nowhere near ready to say if I'm okay with you suiting up in some costume and mask and taking on criminals on the streets of the city!" Thea raised her voice. She closed her eyes and took a breath, slow and shuddering. "My big brother is the Arrow, his girlfriend is the Black Canary, and I -" Thea cut herself off, looked at Oliver, then Laurel. "Tommy knows. That's why he's being all weird and avoiding you guys all the time. Because you killed his dad."
"...he figured it out, yeah." Oliver nodded slowly. In hindsight, Laurel wished there was another way they could have told Tommy, but even if they'd told him earlier, his father had still had to die. A prison couldn't have easily held him, and that fight - if they hadn't been fighting to kill...
He might have killed them.
And everything he'd done - the death penalty would have applied anyway.
But Tommy still would have had the fact that they killed his dad hanging over everything.
"And all those times you or Laurel had to ditch or weren't around or - you were doing... you were out, fighting crime, saving people and -" Thea cut herself off again. She looked at them again, barking a small laugh. "I can't say I saw this coming the whole time or anything, God no, but now that I know..." She shook her head. "So much makes sense."
That was probably going to be a common reaction from anyone who knew them, if they found out. Sara had already basically figured it out herself when they told her, but anyone else? It would probably be that missing piece that fit it all together.
"Does Mom know?" Thea shook her head. "No, there's no way she knows or she'd - god I don't even know what she'd do, but she'd be freaking out and trying to stop you." She laughed again, this time amused and bitter. "She'd say something about robbing from the rich being an 'inappropriate passtime for a Queen'. And yet here you are, being freaking Robin Hood."
"I'm not Robin Hood." Oliver muttered. Laurel laughed, his minor annoyance at the comparisons always amusing - he wasn't even that bothered anymore, Laurel knew, used to it, but still.
"You wear green, you use a bow and arrow, you go after rich bastards hurting the poor people in the city," Thea ticked off. "You're Robin Hood." She chuckled at Oliver's consternation. Then Laurel watch her expression get more serious. "So - you're telling Roy because you're bringing him in to your little club, but why are you telling me? I mean, you were fine with keeping it secret for over a year and I-" Thea paused, lowering her voice. "And I get it, I get why and - I - why are you telling me now?"
"We can't exactly tell Roy and expect him to lie to you about it." Laurel pointed out.
"I wouldn't have." Roy said firmly.
"So it's not because you want me to dust off my old archery equipment and join you?" Thea asked, sounding just a little disappointed, even though she laughed while asking the question. Laurel looked past the two kids and met Oliver's eye. Oliver grimaced, but then walked around to stand beside her.
"That's up to you." Oliver let out a breath. He grimaced again, then looked at Thea. "I can't say that I - that I like the idea of you choosing to put yourself in danger like that." Thea started to protest, but Oliver kept going. "But I can't stop you. I still - I still think of you as my baby sister, Thea, a little. Protecting you should be my job, but -" He laughed. "I'm also not enough of a hypocrite to try and insist you can't be involved in this if you want to be."
Then he shook his head, "But if you do decide you want to get involved, you won't be using the gear you used when you were on Balloi Prep's archery team. That's not what anyone should use in a real fight."
Thea stared at him "The Arrow is a snob about his equipment? Who knew!" She grinned.
"When your equipment is the thing keeping you from getting killed, you'll be a snob about it too." Oliver said gravely. "This isn't a game, Thea. It's dangerous. These days, I'm just as likely to have a criminal give up when they see me as fight, but when they fight, they fight to kill."
"You're still alive." Thea pointed out, but she swallowed, her expression falling. She bit her lip, looking away, at Roy. She took his hand, and squeezed it gently. Roy squeezed back, and the two shared a look. Laurel watched, wondering what was passing between them in that look. Thea looked back at Oliver, at Laurel.
"I'm still processing all this. It's dangerous and you do this every night?! Why? What - I mean, Tommy's dad was a psycho and it's good you guys stopped him but - how did any of this start?" Thea shook her head, "You wash up on an island and spend five years there, and - you both come back and decide to start fighting crime?!"
"No, it's not that simple." Oliver admitted. "There's a lot about what happened during those five years you don't know. We didn't actually wash up there together, at first. And Dad... he didn't die during the sinking. He made it to the lifeboat with one of the crew, and made sure I was in it too."
Laurel tensed as she saw Thea stiffen, watched Roy squeeze her hand. She met Roy's eyes and flicked her head in the direction of two chairs nearby, set up for this. Roy gently tried to direct Thea towards the chairs.
"Dad... dad made it a lifeboat? But-" Thea started, not resisting Roy maneuvering her into the chair. "He -" She closed her eyes, "What - happened to him? Did he - on the island? Why didn't you say anything?! We could have- where is he buried?!"
"He didn't make it to the island alive." Oliver told her softly. Now it was Laurel's turn to grab Oliver's hand, squeezing gently. "The lifeboat - there was only so much food... so much water. And there were three of us. Dad - he told me I had to live. That I had to get back to Starling, to you, to mom... that I had to right his wrongs. And then - then he shot the crewmember... and then-"
Thea could see where this was going, "No!" She choked out, starting to cry. Roy embraced her quickly, holding her close as she cried into his shirt, repeating the word 'No' a few times, before she forced herself to take a breath, holding on to Roy tightly, hands on his shoulders. She took another breath, removing one hand from Roy to wipe her eyes, and then she looked back to Oliver.
"Dad killed himself, to make sure there'd be enough food and water on the lifeboat for you?" Thea's voice broke as she asked, eyes still wet.
"Yes." Oliver answered.
"And - Laurel wasn't in the boat? But you were both on that island. And what did he mean, righting his wrongs? He was trying to stop Mr. Merlyn!"
"He was. But the only reason he knew about what Malcolm Merlyn was up to was because he had been working with him before," Laurel explained gently. "There's still a lot we don't know, but from what we know, what was revealed in your mom's trial - your dad, Merlyn, and some of their friends were trying to blackmail white collar criminals into helping the city. Make them donate to charities, or things like that."
Thea opened her mouth, as if to protest, but then stopped, closed her mouth, wiping at her eyes again, and then: "...that doesn't sound too bad. I mean, it's against the law but... they were trying to help. But if they had evidence... why didn't they turn it in? To the police? I mean - I know courts aren't perfect, I mean, they nearly railroaded mom, but-"
"We don't know for sure." Laurel explained. She held up a hand, ticking off the possibilities on her fingers. "It may be they didn't want blowback, or they were afraid the court system's failings were too severe to prosecute all of them. Maybe they didn't have enough evidence admissible in court. Maybe they thought regularly getting money out of them would help more people in the long run." She shook her head. "Or maybe they were afraid of rocking the boat, of disrupting the position of the rich people in this city too much."
Oliver went to a small safe under one of the tables and crouched down, unlocking it and pulling out a small book.
"I found this on Dad's body. When I finally figured out it was a list of names, I thought that it was a list he'd made of people who were destroying the city. We only figured out Merlyn had made the list later." Oliver explained. "Once we'd started."
"That - I - I mean..." Thea closed her eyes for a moment. "I'm usually more coherent than this."
"You're dealing with a lot." Roy pointed out, voice soft. "And you're still holding it together." He put his hand over hers, still on his shoulder.
Thea pressed her forehead to Roy's for a moment, then pulled back. She took another breath, deeper, slower.
"And how did that... how did that turn into... this. How did you learn... I mean, unless you both were hiding it really well, neither of you could - I mean, neither of you could fight like you do now. You can't just... I mean, you need training, right? You don't just get that good practicing on your own!? What - what happened on that island?"
"A lot. And it's a very long story." Oliver told her softly. "There's no way we can tell it all now, but..." He looked at Laurel, who nodded. "But we can tell you the highlights."
"While Oliver was in the lifeboat," Laurel started, "I was clinging to a piece of the ship. And then I got found, by another ship, called the Amazo." She paused, took a breath and swallowed. "The man who was in charge of the ship was... a monster named Dr. Ivo." She kept her tone calm and even as she said his name. The power he'd once had over her, the memory of him, and what he'd done to her, was gone. But it still wasn't something she really wanted to talk about. But she did have to share at least the outline of it.
And Thea especially needed to understand the stakes of the world she might be entering into.
"And he was convinced he was going to save the world..."
The Foundry, Starling City
December 19th, 2013
Even with abridging a lot of the details, or skipping over large parts of the story - the details of what happened in Hong Kong, or with Shadowspire were mostly glided over, for instance, and Laurel could hardly have gone into everything she did while part of the League - relaying the story of the last six years took an hour.
Thea and Roy didn't interrupt much, thankfully, which made it easier to get it all out in one go.
Of course, by the time they were done, Thea and Roy looked overwhelmed. Thea in particular - her eyes were wide, she looked mentally and emotionally drained, skin pale, hands gripping the one arm of her chair tight, knuckles all but colorless, the other hand squeezing Roy's hand tight enough by five minutes into the story Oliver wouldn't be surprised if his hand had gone numb.
Roy was handling his shock better, keeping a measured, controlled expression, but his eyes were darting between them, confused, swallowing. He opened his mouth a little, as if to start speaking, then cleared his throat a few times, and closed his mouth again.
"How... how exactly are you - how are you still sane?" Thea finally asked. "How - after everything you've been through... how - shouldn't you be... how are you still sane?" She repeated, gawping at them.
If that question had been from someone other than his own sister, or someone just as close, Oliver might have been upset, but - he knew Thea. Knew what she was asking. How had they been through all they'd been through, and were still functioning.
It was a question Oliver asked himself, though he was certain a key part of the answer was Laurel - the memory of her, when he thought she was dead, and then her again, now that she was here. If he'd been doing this alone...
"Well, if you believe our detractors in the media," Laurel offered with a wry, bitter smile, "We aren't."
And most of the local news talking heads were still not huge fans of the Arrow or Black Canary, though they'd moderated their criticism since the Undertaking, and a few on local public radio had actually come out enthusiastically supportive of them, from what Sara relayed.
Oliver tried to avoid news stories or public discussion about his vigilante identity, but it was unavoidable in the city now. Even on conference calls with other branches of the company in other cities, in other countries, the topic came up. Concerns about the vigilantes and their effect on the company's business, if nothing else.
To those, Oliver always pointed out that as long as they continued with ethical business practices, there shouldn't be a problem.
It didn't always dissuade the executives in their concerns, of course.
"Ha, ha," Thea said flatly. "That's not what I meant, and you know it. I - if I - If I'd been through even half - hell, like, even ten percent - of what you guys went through - I'd need a straightjacket! I mean, I was twelve when you left, Ollie, and I loved you, and I love you, but - how did the guy you were then survive?"
"Because I had to." Oliver answered quietly. "And you're stronger than you think, Thea. I'm - I'm very glad you didn't go through what I did, and I hope you never go through anything even close to like it, but you could survive." He stepped forward, putting a hand on her shoulder for a moment.
Thea swallowed, eyes watering again. "...Why do you have to be such a supportive brother at all the worst moments?" She asked, a choked laugh escaping her as she said it. She wiped at her eyes, letting out a long breath.
"I don't - god, I don't even know where to start with processing all this."
"I can't say I really do either," Roy admitted, shaking his head. He held up a hand, "Don't get me wrong - I still - I still want to help you, Laurel, if you'll let me. I want to do something to help this city... be more than I was."
"Roy, you already are. You don't need to put yourself in the line of fire just to make up for some petty crimes," Laurel told him, firmly. "If you want this, you have to want to do this because you want to help protect the people of this city."
"I do." Roy nodded. "It's not just about what I did. I can help, and even if it means taking chances, putting myself in the line of fire..." He shook his head, "I don't want to keep sitting on the sidelines."
"Then you won't have to," Laurel confirmed. "Take your time to think about it. When the new year starts, we'll start your training. And get you set up with a costume. We'll need a codename for you to, so think about what you want."
"Or you'll be stuck trying to fight against what else people try and stick you with," Oliver noted. "'The Hood' was never a great codename."
"I didn't mind Banshee that much, but it didn't really have the connotations I was going with."
"I'll think about it." Roy nodded. "Why do we have to wait until after the new year?"
"Mostly because there's something else that's going to be taking up most of my time until then," Laurel admitted. "We'll get to that in one second." She looked over at Oliver, gesturing very slightly towards Thea with the hand by her side.
Oliver nodded. We have to give her the chance if she wants it. He wouldn't even chance his sister going out there until she was really, truly ready, but...
If she decided she wanted to be involved, there really wasn't much Oliver could do to stop her, if she really wanted it.
"Which brings us back to you, Thea." Laurel said as she turned back to his sister You don't have to have an answer now, but... do you want to do the same thing as Roy?"
"I know you're starting to see how bad things really are in Starling for most people," Oliver noted. "But you don't have to get involved like this. With this."
"Well, as long as Roy's going to be going out and beating up criminals and getting shot at, then yeah, I'll be getting involved." Thea pointed out. "But if you mean do I want to suit up in some costume and go around shooting people with arrows?" Thea let out a small laugh, smiling. "It - it sounds like it would be cool. I mean, being a legit heroine - you've seen the way people talk about you guys on Twitter-" Thea started, and then she screwed up her face, making a gagging sound.
"What?" Oliver raised an eyebrow.
"I'm guessing she's remembering the thirst posts people make about the Arrow." Roy answered, holding back a smile "There's - there's a lot of people on Twitter with some... very specific things they want the Arrow - or Black Canary - to do to them."
"Oh. Those." Laurel rolled her eyes. "You learn to deal with that sort of thing. Ignoring it usually helps."
"God, now that I know you're the Arrow there are so many people on Twitter I'm going to have to block to be able to ever have peace of mind again!" Thea made another gagging sound, shaking her head. She closed her eyes, shook her head once more and took a breath. "Okay, sorry, sorry I - I'm good."
"You sure?" Oliver raised an eyebrow. Sara had shown him a few things people said about him - the Arrow, that is - on Twitter - the 'more tame' ones she'd said, but even those... hadn't been. It was a lot more... visceral than some of the stuff that had been said, that was still said about 'Oliver Queen, rich playboy' or 'former playboy' now, since the tabloids had finally accepted Laurel was the woman he was going to spend the rest of his life with...
So all in all, what they were saying didn't bother him much, as long as he ignored it. But what he had seen...
"Yeah. I'll manage." Thea chuckled, "...Sara didn't always know you were the Black Canary, like from the moment you guys got back, right?"
Laurel cleared her throat, and Oliver shot her a small smile as she nearly spluttered. "...No. Not at first. And we can table any discussion of that for later time. Much later."
"I don't think we need to, kind of answered it," Thea laughed. Then she sighed. "As for the question... I mean, it would kinda be cool, like I said, but I -" she shook her head. "I want to help, but I don't know if I want to help like that." She looked over at Roy, "One of us should be grounded and not acting like we're in a comic book."
"At this point, we may as well just accept comic books are real. I mean, those guys that had me - super soldiers? What's next, superpowers?" Roy pointed out.
Oliver looked at Laurel. They weren't going to get a better segue than that.
"Funny you should say that." Laurel noted. They'd discussed how they were going to do this, but after her session with Lady Shiva earlier today, Laurel was at least... reasonably confident that she could do her scream with more restraint. Still, they'd cleared away the training equipment from a section of wall.
"...what?" Roy asked. "Are you - no. Come on. No!" He shook his head. He looked at Oliver. "Is she- does she - what?"
"You'll see." Oliver said by way of answer. "You may want to cover your ears." He added, and did so. Laure's ability wouldn't really hurt them even if she screamed louder than intended, since she wasn't facing them, but if she was that loud, it would still make their ears ring, if unprotected.
Roy and Thea hesitated for a moment, then followed suit, hands over their ears. Laurel turned away from them, standing five feet from a different section of the wall than she'd hit last time, and then -
Visible waves of sound, matched with a loud, piercing cry coming from Laurel, crashed into the wall. It was, as Laurel had said, less intense than her earlier efforts, the waves seemingly smaller, and the sound was definitely less, but Oliver was still glad he'd covered his ears.
Laurel turned, breathing heavily a moment, face flushed. God, she's beautiful.
Roy and Thea just gaped at her for a long moment, before finally Thea spoke first.
"Holy shit that's so cool! You have superpowers Laurel!"
Secondary Base Number 1, Starling City
December 30th, 2013
Training with Lady Shiva, even if it was only a few hours at a time, and even if it was as much focused on practicing her scream as anything else, was hell.
Despite every trick she'd learned in the League, during her year and a half on the streets of Starling, and everything her imagination could come up with in the fight with her, Laurel had yet to land a hit on Lady Shiva that wasn't one the other woman deliberately allowed as part of a strategy against her.
Laurel liked to think she'd gotten closer, and she was doing better - her reaction times had picked up, and she'd even managed to reverse course a few times when attacking Shiva and the other woman dodged, but still.
She always ended up flat on the mats soon enough.
But the sparring was never the point, only a means to an end, and for that end...
"You have made great progress in developing your control." Shiva observed as Laurel picked herself up again. "Every movement you make is directed and carefully chosen."
"Only way I can try to keep up. And the only way I can do what you're here to help me do." Laurel noted. Shiva was right about that too. It wasn't just her training with Shiva - more distance from when she'd killed the Count, and even starting to work with Roy had done much to leave her not feeling ragged and raw, like an exposed nerve - but every session with Shiva forced Laurel to focus on every movement she made, and improve on the effort to have total awareness of her body and everything she did with it. Obviously, Laurel wasn't at the point where she could control all her autonomic functions, but -
She was better. And as much as that hadn't helped her with her fights with Shiva, at least in terms of letting her beat her, it had helped with her scream. She was able to consistently use it at lower levels of power - no matter what, it was probably always going to be pretty damaging to any glass or other fragile stuff that was vulnerable to sound, but in terms of causing damage to other things, like concrete walls, she was able to modulate it. Dial back the power, and then dial it back up. Laurel wasn't sure what the upper limits of what she could do were, but she was starting to wonder if she might be able to take down a small house with one scream if she did it right.
Laurel had no plans to test that, but she had tested the full range of scream.
It was hard to put into words how she was doing it - ultimately, it came down to willing her scream to be more or less powerful and just... focusing on that. It wasn't quite that simple, but it was - it was the same as choosing to scream words, or whisper. She chose, and so her vocal cords responded. How her body was able to do this at all, Laurel still didn't know, and didn't know how to safely go about figuring it out.
And there did appear to be limits. Using the scream several times in quick succession left her throat feeling raw, voice scratchy. She hadn't pushed it past there, unwilling to find out if she could lose her voice again if she went too much, too loud, too often.
"You have made rapid progress on both fronts." Shiva paused, considering her. "I can see why Nyssa holds you in such regard."
How? Laurel didn't exactly share any details with Shiva about anything, about herself - they sparred, they worked on her scream, and then Laurel left, black and blue and sore all over, but having made progress. So how exactly did Shiva claim to understand her, and why she and Nyssa were close, how she'd managed to win Nyssa over, how Nyssa had in turn, won her over.
Of course, it was entirely possible Shiva just had no idea what she was saying.
Now I'm curious.
"How? You don't exactly know me. We don't talk about anything but this training."
"True," Shiva stepped to the side, keeping her eyes on Laurel - who moved in the opposite direction, watching Shiva carefully. "But the purest way to know someone is to watch them fight. Combat reveals the true essence of a person's character."
Okay so... no? That was a mindset that some in the League also shared, and it didn't really surprise Laurel that Shiva thought like that, but violence was not the purest expression of anyone's character, even the hopelessly savage. Humanity was worth more than it's ability to administer harm.
"I can't say I agree." Laurel countered, stepping more to the side as she already had, watching Shiva mirror her movements.
"This does not surprise me." Shiva noted. She gestured for Laurel to attack her, and Laurel didn't make a move at first, standing still, watching Shiva. Shiva watching her. "You hobble yourself by refusing to kill, you still seek to bring justice... there is much left for you to learn and understand."
"I don't think there's any amount of learning that would make me see things your way," Laurel countered. She was moving before she finished, running at Shiva, pulling back from a seeming lunge/tackle and kicking out at the other woman - aiming for her chest. Shiva moved, almost too fast to see, ducking under the kick and trying to grab at Laurel's leg, leverage it against her - Laurel, though, managed to pull her leg back at the last moment as Shiva ducked, leaving her standing, still, on the mats, though in an awkward and exposed position. She repositioned, pulling her feet back into a defensive stance.
"Several moments of exposure," Shiva noted. "But your recovery was well-done. I think it is time for one last test."
Laurel stared at her a moment. "You want me to scream at you."
"Indeed." Shiva pulled two earplugs from a pocket inside her coat and put them in. Some testing with decibel readers had suggested that in theory, there were no earplugs that could ensure protection of hearing against her scream at its loudest, but she was never going to directly aim her scream at it's loudest at another person, so that wasn't much - much - concern.
Laurel nodded, and took a breath.
In the next moment, two things happened - Shiva jumped at her, and Laurel opened her mouth, getting ready to scream, but as Shiva moved at her, Laurel just reacted.
She let out a scream - less intense than she could, far less, still managing to control herself that much, as waves of visible sound crashed into Lady Shiva - they knocked her backwards, sending her away from Laurel.
But Shiva did not, as someone else might, land flat on her back - she rode the scream, moving with it and landing on her feet and one hand, half-crouched, on the concrete, but no worse for the wear, or so it seemed.
Shiva stood for a moment, looking at herself. The force of the sound had actually ripped her coat in a few places, though nothing too much, and Shiva herself didn't seem to have any broken limbs.
"Fractures on my rips and my arms. Minor, but a serious concern for a lesser combatant. But nothing worse." She took one of the earplugs out, walking towards Laurel. "Minimal setback to my hearing. It would seem, Black Canary, that you have successfully achieved what we set out to do."
"Thanks to you." Laurel gave Shiva a quick, relatively shallow bow - respectful, and grateful, but nothing more. "Then you will be leaving?"
"I will." Shiva nodded. "My favor to Nyssa has been repaid, and you have learned what I came to teach you at this time." She looked at Laurel carefully. "As I said, you have much to learn, about the world, and about combat. But there is much potential in you, in both theaters. I suspect, should you survive whatever it is that you face in the coming years, that we will meet again."
"I hope it's not as enemies." Though if it was...
Well, Laurel would have to burn that bridge later.
"If it is, by that point, you may just be a worthy opponent."
That's probably the highest praise she has to offer.
Laurel nodded. "Thank you for your help."
Verdant, Starling City
January 15th, 2014
These days Oliver didn't have much direct hand in managing Verdant, having promoted one of the bartenders to manager on Tommy's recommendation after Tommy left after the Undertaking, but he was still the owner, and he could make decisions like closing the club down for an evening to hold a fundraising event for Sebastian Blood's mayoral campaign.
Oliver would have preferred to just let him use the space for free, but both Laurel and Blood had made it clear that that counted as a campaign donation, and while Starling City had looser campaign donation laws than federal elections did, Blood's desire to avoid the appearance of impropriety saw him insisting on paying fair market price for the space. Which was also why his campaign had born all the other expenses for the event.
Still, Oliver was here, and he was going to be donating in his own personal capacity, as were others. Not enough - too many of the well off people in the city were scared off by Sebastian's rhetoric, too concerned with their own bank accounts and their own privileges. Oliver had hoped his continued, open and active support for the Alderman might convince more people in the upper tier of the city to come out in support of the man.
Unfortunately, nowhere near as many as he'd wanted, but they did have some. Even some people from elsewhere in the state who supported Sebastian and wanted to help him get elected, supporting his ideas, and wanting to see more politicians like him elected across the country.
"To be honest, before Sebastian Blood started attacking me and my family, I hadn't had much chance to think about him. Or city government at all. But then I got the chance to talk to him. Get to know him. Get to understand him. It took a bit, but I think I managed to convince him I wasn't the enemy," a polite laughter rippled through the room, and Sebastian, standing next to him, smiled slightly. "And he managed to convince me that for all that I cared about the plight of the people of this city, there's a lot I didn't understand. There's more I have to learn, but one thing I have learned for certain is this: Sebastian Blood is the man we need in the Mayor's Office. So I hope you'll all join me in sending Starling's favored son there." Oliver stepped away from the microphone to polite applause as Sebastian stepped up and started speaking, thanking him, and Laurel for their support, and their friendship.
Oliver stood next to Laurel, scanning the crowd. Even if the turn out among his fellow 'elite' was not as much as Oliver had been hoping for, the turnout was still pretty good overall, with plenty of people come to show their support.
"...I am the man today because of my Starling City family. I think it's high time I start to give back, so thank you, thank you for your support." More applause when Sebastian stepped away from the microphone, as the glad-handing started. The alderman made his way into the crowd, talking to individual people, shaking hands, as some of his staffers and aides did the same. All about talking the candidate up, and talking people out of their money.
"You know politics better than I do," Oliver murmured to Laurel as they got off the stage. "How do you think things stand, for his chances?"
"Well, the Republicans don't have anyone half-way viable running for the nomination, while Sebastian has talked every potential Democratic candidate into bowing out and letting him have the nomination in a walk, so, so far - I'd say his chances are good. Very good." Laurel considered.
"Starling's usually a Republican city, with all the suburban areas incorporated into it, but after the Undertaking? With how good Sebastian is with a crowd?" Laurel shook her head, "I'm not saying it'll be a walk in the general, there's too many people who won't vote for a Democratic candidate even if he was Jesus himself, but..." she laughed.
"Pretty sure mom falls into the latter camp." His mother hadn't said anything bad about Oliver hosting this fundraiser, hadn't even given him a look when he'd told her - he'd felt like it was better to tell her than let her find out from the news or something. Still, even if his mother didn't agree with Republicans on social stuff, she sure did on economics. And the local Republican party was mild on that stuff, since Washington was very - very - blue, but still.
Oliver hadn't started paying attention to politics until this last year, but he'd picked up some things.
"I'd have said Dad would have been that too, but after Sara came out, he stopped voting Red and he seems to really like Sebastian too," Laurel observed. But she let out a small sigh and nodded. "Rochev hasn't tried to give you grief about this from a legal perspective, has she? If she even thinks about it - she wouldn't have a leg to stand on."
"Just noted I can't make use of any company resources or spaces for anything, which I wasn't. Queen Consolidated doesn't own Verdant, so there's nothing she can do." Oliver shook his head.
Oliver saw Sebastian talking to Thea and Roy for a moment, before turning to talk to someone wearing more in jewelry than some families made in six months. Thea had taken well to the first few archery lessons - better than Oliver had, at least - but she had a lot to do to boost her upper body strength so she could handle better draw weight-
The sound of an explosion - the boom, the shaking, glass shattering, car alarms going off in the near-distance pulled Oliver out of his thoughts. Without even thinking, he crouched, tugging Laurel down with him as others screamed, and panicked - out of the corner of his eye, Oliver saw Roy pull Thea behind him, pushing her down a little, trying to give her some cover. One of Sebastian's bodyguard had done the same for him.
It took Oliver and Laurel both only a few seconds to realize that whatever had blown up, it had been nearby, but not close enough to actually damage the club itself. Everyone else caught on moments later, straightening up, some even shrugging, or at least, not looking very worried anymore.
"What was that?" Laurel asked.
"I don't know." Oliver hurried to the front of the club, the crowd parting for him - he noticed in passing that Sebastian and his guard were close behind. He pushed open the doors and then looked - not too far away, just outside the limits of the Glades, an office building was burning on one of the upper levels.
"Bombs." Sebastian's voice came from next to him, the alderman looking at the explosion as well. There were murmurs behind them both, a crowd of people gathering. "People fearing for their lives. Is this the Starling City we want to be? Where we just get used to hearing explosions in the distance like it's the sound of church bells?"