Disclaimer: Not mine.
It's always interesting when I come to episodes that, in the main, just can't happen in the fic even remotely close to as written. And we have come to actually three episodes in a row that will mostly be virgin territory - for different reasons, the plots of 2x11, 2x12 and 2x13 largely can't happen (though some B and C plots from each might show, especially one in particular you guys might be able to guess at)
Regardless, there is plenty to do and see, so, on with the fic.
Thanks extended to Okoriwadsworth and everyone else in the Lauriver Discord server for their help in several places, and also I did steal a line from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. because the line was too good not to use here.
The Siege of Starling City
By Kylia
Chapter 15: Dangerous Leads
"In unexpected acquisitions news, Wayne Enterprises has outbid LuthorCorp for control over several subsidiary companies previously owned by MerlynGlobal. This news resulted in a rallying stock price, which had been on a steady downturn after the still unsolved murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne three months ago. Analysts are torn on if this is a reckless gamble by the Gotham City-based company, or if it's a sign that the company is now steadying its course under its new leadership."
"In further stock news, PalmerTech's stock soared today following the announcement of a new generation of their top-selling smartwatch, which should hit store shelves in May. CEO and Founder Ray Palmer promised that this new smartwatch would be 'just as much of a game changer as our first generation'"
-Excerpt from a CNBC News Broadcast on February 12th, 2014
January 20th, 2014
Merlyn Global HQ, Starling City
"No. Absolutely not." Tommy said, an uncharacteristic heat to his voice. "If you want to do something as stupid as this, you can do it, but you'll be doing it without my help."
"Why?! She has a right to know!"
"Know what? That her biological father is the monster who murdered the man she knew as her father, and then another 318 people in a manufactured Earthquake? Not to mention the god knows how many other people he's killed." Tommy set his jaw, looking at her, "I tried to figure it out, you know. Ran the numbers. The crew of the Gambit, the people he killed before Christmas to draw Oliver out, Frank Chen... but there's got to be more. And that?" Tommy demanded, "That's what you think Thea deserves to know? That her father is that psychopath?"
Sara could hear the bitterness and loathing dripping off of Tommy's every word. Her friend was not really one for hating people, never had been. Sure, there were people he didn't like, people he didn't want to be around, but hating people always seemed too much work, he'd said.
He hated Malcolm Merlyn. And the depth of it in Tommy's voice now... Just one more thing that bastard ruined.
"Her father is and will always be Robert Queen." Sara said. "But she has a right to know that biologically, Merlyn sired her, yes. For one, god forbid the medical history of her family ever become relevant, it might be useful to know who her actual dad is in those circumstances. For another, if there's one thing I've learned in the last twelve months, it's that secrets have a godawful habit of getting out at the worst possible times." She inhaled sharply, then let out a low, slow breath. "I don't want to tell Thea. But I think she needs to know."
"Didn't you tell me, back when I first showed you...his message and the DNA test, that you'd hurt me, if I told her?"
Yeah, but that was before Cyvus Vanch started blackmailing me, and then I accidentally let it out because the secret was eating me alive, along with the new IA investigation. From what little Sara could tell, it was stalling out, but still, there it was, looming overhead. That was before Oliver and Laurel decided to reveal their identities as the Arrow and Black Canary to Thea.
"In my defense, I had just learned about it, Tommy. Forgive me if my first reaction was the same as yours - hide it, and pretend it never happened. But we can't do that." She shook her head and started pacing in front of Tommy's desk. Tommy had sealed off his office, there was no one else here, no one else outside could hear the conversation they were having (small favors for Malcolm Merlyn's paranoia, she supposed.) "Not forever. I don't know how, I don't know when, but the odds of this coming out? At the worst possible time?"
"How!? Who even would know?"
"The person Malcolm had run the DNA test? Maybe he killed them, but he couldn't exactly kill everyone who ever did anything sensitive for him." Criminals who did that quickly ran out of people. "Maybe a doctor Moira had to tell when they were seeing Thea? I don't know. But she has a right to know from us, rather than if this gets out in some other way."
Sara couldn't go into the rest of it. The reason why all these secrets were weighing on her. And why she was so sure it would all get out. She and Laurel still hadn't discussed Vanch - Sara had kept putting it off, and Laurel kept pressing her about it, but wasn't forcing it. Probably because there was just so much else to do, and Vanch hadn't reached out since she'd given him that heroin. She kept waiting for that shoe to drop.
And of course, there was another secret that had eventually come out - William. Oliver's son. So far no one was sure if Samantha Clayton had covered him up. Sara, knowing what she knew about Thea's parentage...
Moira Queen was clearly capable of keeping secrets. And hiding them. So...
"Sara, you're worrying about nothing." Tommy countered. "You don't think Mrs. Queen would have made absolutely sure about who she shared that information with?"
"She would have, but despite how well her trial went, it's not like her name is worth as much as it used to be," Sara pointed out. "Tommy, if I go to Thea without proof, she's going to think It's some sick joke I'm telling her." She held her hands together, pleading with him to see things her way.
"It fucking sounds like a sick joke," Tommy muttered, then he spoke at a conversational tone again: "The trial where the prosecution tried to make a big deal out of the idea that Moira Queen and Malcolm Merlyn were sleeping together? You want to tell Thea they actually did?"
Sara shook her head, trying very hard not to raise her voice. She spoke quickly, urgently. "Tommy, stop bringing up 'want'. 'Want' doesn't enter into this. I don't want to tell Thea anything. I don't want her to ever find out, and I sure as hell don't want Oliver or Laurel to know I knew and didn't tell them, even if I point out it wasn't my secret to tell them. But I also don't want Thea to find out from a stranger, or as part of some attack on her, or her mom, or from some tell-all book that comes out in a few years that reveals all the dirty secrets of the Queen Family!"
"None of which is particularly like, Sara. I get it, this is a huge secret to keep. But do you really think it will make anything better? Do you want to crush Thea's spirit? Make her never talk to her mom again? Not to mention what this will do to Oliver's relationship with his mom." Tommy shook his head. "I'm not even that angry at Oliver, or Laurel, anymore, over-" he gestured vaguely, "things. But even if I was, I wouldn't want to risk ruining Oliver's relationship with his mom over this."
"Isn't the reason you were angry with them in the first place the fact that they kept that they were the Arrow and Black Canary secret?" Sara said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"This is different," Tommy said.
"How?"
"It - I'll get back to you on that." Tommy said quickly, looking away. Sara raised an eyebrow. "It is! This is a secret that would make Thea's life worse, not better. And - it's not finding out two of your best friends are willing to murder people!"
"No, but it's just as important."
"If you want to tell her, you'll be doing it without my help, Sara," Tommy said firmly. "You're worried someone will tell her, but I don't see any scenario where that's likely to happen."
"That's the point," Sara said, trying very hard not to grit her teeth. "It's the scenarios you don't see where it's a problem, Tommy." She didn't wait for his response, instead turning and heading for the door. Thea needed to know, but... Sara didn't want to go without Tommy's agreement. Not just because more proof was good, but because...
Well, Tommy's got a lot of good points. She couldn't shudder to imagine what sort of reaction Thea would have to finding out Malcolm Merlyn was her biological father, what sort of response she'd have to finding out just how much her mom had lied about that.
The prosecution never actually implied the affair happened remotely when it actually did. Not that Sara was sure 'affair' was the right word. It was a mistake by Moira, certainly, a moment of weakness, but in her mind, 'affair' implied a more prolonged process, and that wasn't it.
But if she had been able to convince Tommy, then that would have been proof she wasn't overreacting. Because... again. He had a point.
But so do I, damnit!
Inhaling sharply, Sara stalked to the elevator, heading down. She had to get back to work anyway. She would find another way to convince Tommy... or give up, if she couldn't. For now anyway.
Just for now.
January 20th, 2014
Streets of the Glades, Starling City
Laurel tried not to have too much of a direct connection with the 'Canaries', that neighborhood watch program that had taken their name and inspiration from her. They did their best to look out for their fellow Glades citizens, without involving the police.
She had mixed feelings about that, since she knew that vigilantism could not do everything a full police department could. There were all kinds of things they couldn't do. She didn't want to undermine people's faith in the police.
Of course, I didn't really do that, now did I? The police did that all by themselves.
And no amount of being a vigilante would do that either.
Regardless, she kept her distance from them, most of the time. She didn't want people like China White, or Danny Brickwell to think that going through them was a good way to get to her. So far as she knew, no one knew that Sin knew her, that Roy had been a conduit of information to her.
But every now and then, one of the Canaries did go looking for her, or she was willing to show herself to one. Usually when they had information, and she'd heard as much. She kept a watch on places where the Canaries liked to gather, to make sure no one got hurt, and to find out if they knew something. And then she could drop by one, alone.
Better to be safe, than sorry.
Laurel dropped into the alley behind one older woman, the manager of a dollar store in the Glades. The place had been robbed at least once a month, before she'd started being active. It hadn't been robbed at all in the last twelve months.
"I hear you've been looking for me?" Laurel said, voice scrambler serving to mask her words. The importance of spectacle, of seeming like she had eyes and ears everywhere had done a lot to deter criminals in the Glades too.
The woman nearly jumped out of her skin, letting out a noise of startlement, then she turned, breathing heavily.
"My apologies," Laurel added. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"You'd think I'd know to expect it. Everyone always says you do this. Drop down behind someone." The woman said. "Of course, it seems to work on all the bad guys too."
"Not quite all, but close," Laurel agreed. "In my experience, people aren't used to thinking in three dimensions, so they never think to look up, most of the time."
"In any other city, this conversation would be even more surreal than it already is," the woman muttered to herself, then flushed a little as she realized she'd said that out loud. "I - sorry, I didn't-"
"It's okay." Laurel shook her head. "What was it you were looking for me about?"
"There's a man, looking for you. Well, two men, actually. They've been going through the Glades, talking to people, trying to figure out where you hang out, how to find you, if anyone can get in contact with you."
"Have they threatened anyone?" Laurel tensed. If someone was looking for her, and going through the people of the Glades to do it...
"Oh, no, no! They're not - they're reporters. Well, a reporter and a photographer." The woman said, quickly. "He said it was from the Daily Planet." She furrowed her brow, "Aren't they a Metropolis paper?"
"Still one of the most nationally celebrated papers," Laurel considered. A reporter, looking for her? She supposed it could be a cover, some criminal pretending. Or it could be the police or some other law enforcement, with a similar cover. Though if the press heard about it, they would have a field day. "Did you catch his name?"
"White. Perry White."
"The investigative journalist?" Laurel blinked. If there was ever a reporter to go looking for her, even here in the Glades, she supposed it would be a guy who had reported on the crime families of Gotham, investigated corruption in the New York Governor's office, and helped with a series of bombshell reports about covered up military misconduct at a base in Texas. The man was by all accounts very hard to scare or worry.
I can't deny I'm tempted to let him find me. In hindsight, this was something she and Oliver should have thought about. Reporters would of course want to find them, talk to them. In even more hindsight, she was surprised no one else had by now. Starling didn't have a particularly robust local newspaper - she was pretty sure Malcolm Merlyn could be blamed for that, but she couldn't prove it.
"I...I can't say I read the paper, any paper," The woman admitted, sounding a little embarrassed.
"He's the real deal. But I appreciate you letting me know he's looking for me." Her temptation aside, she definitely would need to talk to Ollie about it first. "And the other man with him?"
"Uhm... he had a camera. He was African-American, tall... bald." She leaned in a bit, lowering her voice, "Don't tell my husband I said this, or he might pout, but he was a very handsome young man."
"Did you catch a name?"
"John? James? Something with a J. I'm -"
"You don't need to apologize." Laurel interrupted. "Thank you, again. Be careful, and stay safe." Laurel used the closed dumpster against an alley wall to get back on top of a roof with just a few jumps, and then moved a few more roofs away, continuing her surveying of the glades, then brought a finger to her ear.
"Felicity?"
"Yeah? Yeah?!" Felicity sounded like she'd started to drift off.
"You okay?" Laurel blinked.
"Just - just haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately. Rochev is demanding a whole bunch of compliance stuff from the IT department, so I've been getting started a little earlier for the last week. I swear that woman has it out for me." Felicity grumbled. "I might have been doing some extracurricular digging to see if she's guilty of anything, but so far, nothing illegal." She admitted, speaking quickly. "I would have said something to you and Oliver if I found anything," she added, just as quickly, defensively.
"I figured you would. Do you want Oliver to talk to her?"
"No. This is stuff that needs to get done sooner or later, she's just putting it on a tight time scale. But if you don't mind, I'll probably head home earlier than normal tonight."
"Sure. Before you go: Do you know if there's a way you could check to see if Perry White is in town?"
"The guy who broke the story about that base in Texas, with the covered up rapes?"
"Yeah. Apparently he's in town, looking to interview the Black Canary. I just want to make sure it's him, and not someone pretending to be him to try and trap me." Laurel explained.
"Wait, you're thinking of giving him the interview?"
"Considering it, on my terms." Laurel admitted. "The media has been speculating about the Black Canary and the Arrow for over a year. Be nice to offer our side of the narrative."
"...if you do decide to do the interview, can you tell me beforehand so I can place a bet with the internet bookies when they finally get confirmation that the Black Canary and Arrow are romantically involved?" Felicity asked, then she laughed, "Just joking, by the way, but that is a thing there are actual bets online about."
Laurel exhaled slowly. "Of course they are." She rolled her eyes, chuckling. "God forbid a woman be prominent and not romantically attached."
"Confirmation that you're dating the scariest man in Starling City might get some of the grossest people talking about the Black Canary online to shut up," Felicity shuddered a little. Laurel knew Felicity had a bunch of programs running monitoring online chatter about their vigilante identities, which Sara had hinted could include some very unpleasant stuff. "Then again, it's the internet. Maybe not. But about the Perry White thing, I can run a check on credit cards in his name, or associated with the Daily Planet, for hotel rooms and coffee shops in Starling. That's going to take a few hours, at best, so I'll set it to run and head home."
"Sounds good. Thanks, Felicity."
January 21st, 2014
The Foundry, Starling City
"You know, when I agreed to have you teach me how to get better at archery, this part isn't quite what I had in mind," Thea grumbled. "I thought we were just going to work on my aim, shooting speed, that whole firing between breaths thing."
"But no," She went on, accepting the bottle of water Oliver handed her. "It's chin-ups and bench pressing and rows and pull-ups!" She sucked down a gulp of water, wiping her forehead with her towel, her hair kind of sticking to her scalp. "I'm not even going to go out shooting bad guys with you, so why did I agree to this?"
"Because you wanted to be prepared and keep your options open, is what you said." Oliver answered, smiling. "Though I think you were just using that as an excuse to spend time with your big brother again, Speedy."
"Okay, so, rule number one - if I do lose my sanity and decide to go out at night in a mask and stuff, my code name is not going to be Speedy." Thea said quickly, gesturing at him with the water bottle. "But seriously, what's with all the strength training?"
"Your aim and shooting form is pretty good, all things considered. Room for improvement, but if you're ever seriously going to defend yourself with a bow and arrow, you need to be able to handle greater draw weights." Oliver explained. He let out a breath, "Look, I won't deny that I might be working you hard, but - I -"
Thea held up a hand, "I'm just bitching at you, I'm not actually wanting to quit. And I know you're worried about those... super soldier miracle guys. I just... can we at least agree to no more pull-ups? I don't want to do a single pull-up ever again in my life."
Oliver nodded, "We can take those out of the rotation for a while, but when it comes to pull-ups, if you ever find yourself dangling off the edge of a building twenty stories up, you're going to want to do at least one." He grinned after he said that, and Thea rolled her eyes.
"Fun-ny," she said, then set the water down. "Okay. So. More strength training?"
"Not yet. I've got a meeting at the Company soon so I need to leave to be ready for that. But we have enough time to test where you're at." Oliver stepped away from the training area, over to where Laurel and he kept their weapons, and crouched under the table, retrieving a long, narrow box, when he opened, pulling out a bow, sized for Thea.
"I had this made, specific to your measurements. It's the same kind I use out there, in the streets. I want to see how much you can handle, so we know where we need to go." Oliver said, walking over and holding out to her. "It's adjustable, so we'll take it simple, and go from there." He added.
Thea accepted the bow, holding it up. "Looks... weird, compared to the ones I used on the Archery team." She held the grip in one hand, moving the bow, looking at it from all angles. "But then, those are just for hitting targets, not going through people."
"For something like that, there's a point where extra penetration power is undesirable," Oliver agreed.
Thea chuckled, "Guess you wouldn't want it going through the target and getting someone who's behind it." She lowered the bow, holding it by her side. "So this... when does this end?" She asked, looking around.
"Whenever you want it to," Oliver raised an eyebrow. He had to admit, he hoped Thea wasn't counting down the days until she could be 'done' with training. He still dreaded the prospect of Thea deciding she wanted to out onto the streets alongside Roy, or alongside him, but...
He had also enjoyed teaching her. He didn't find archery in of itself 'fun'. But teaching Thea how to shoot better? How to build her strength for handling better bows? Seeing her progress? He was surprised to realize how much he was enjoying that.
"No, not this," she held up the bow. "This," she gestured to the whole Foundry, taking in the whole space. "The whole... vigilante thing. Is this... is this just your lives, forever? Is there..." she shrugged, "I don't know, a point where you're going to decide you've shot up enough criminals, punished enough one percenters?"
Oliver shook his head, "There can't really be an 'end' to the mission, Thea. I mean... What would count as an end? No crime? That'll never happen." He sighed, turning away for a moment. "When I first resolved that I was going to use the List to honor Dad's last words to me, right his wrongs, I thought... maybe when I'd dealt with every name on it, gotten justice for the victims of each one, either through recompense or sending them to jail or killing them, maybe then I'd be done. That that was all I needed to do."
"When did you change your mind?"
"Before I even got back to Starling. When I found Laurel again, in Russia. When we both resolved to go back." Oliver looked back at Thea, "Remember what Tommy and I always said to Laurel, when we were teens? 'Dinah Laurel Lance, always trying to save the world'?"
Thea smiled, nodding. "I remember."
"Well, the thing is, there is no point when the world is 'saved'. There's no end to crime. And you and I both know that there's always going to be rich people willing to do illegal or immoral things to make more money." Oliver shook his head. "I hope... I hope we reach a point where the Arrow and the Black Canary aren't necessary. Where the police can and do handle all the crimes the city faces, not just some. And maybe we'll reach a point where the police are equipped to handle things like Malcolm Merlyn, or a Mirakuru super soldier.
"And until then, what, this is your whole life?" Thea asked, raising an eyebrow. "I mean... no end in sight?"
Oliver raised an eyebrow again, trying to understand why this was coming up now. Oliver didn't have an end in sight, no. Aspirationally, yes, he'd like to see a point when the Arrow wasn't needed. And... he didn't want to be doing this while being a parent, something both Laurel and he still wanted. Someday. William had implicitly raised the question sooner - and Oliver still wasn't sure how that could be handled, how to do what was best for William, while still having a chance to get to know him - but it was still in the future.
Someday, Oliver would like to hang the bow up.
But it wouldn't be because his 'work' was done. With Roy now training with Laurel, perhaps the answer was that eventually, they could pass it down to Roy, and Roy may have his own sidekick someday.
Not that Laurel had ever called Roy a sidekick to his face. She didn't want to do that to the kid's pride.
Roy.
"You're wondering if Roy will be doing this forever." Oliver said, stepping closer to her.
Thea scoffed quietly, softly. "I'm not exactly measuring myself for a wedding dress, god no, but I am at the point with Roy where I'm wondering about long term prospects. I mean, I've already moved in with him-" she looked directly at Oliver, holding up her hand. "And before you ask, yes, we're using protection, and I'm on the pill."
Oliver stepped back, blinking, "I - I wasn't going to ask, and I do not want to know about what you and Roy do, alone, in private."
"Good. Because it is none of your business." Thea added firmly, then she swallowed slowly, letting out a long breath. "But... yeah. I - this makes Roy happy, you know. Helping the Black Canary, now training to be Laurel's sidekick," her words, not mine, Oliver thought to himself as Thea kept going, "and I don't want to take that from him. But... I guess I just want to know if I should prepare myself for him to do this for the rest of his life, if we do stay together for the long haul."
"Well, that's a conversation you'll want to have with him, eventually," Oliver said softly.
"Roy's still getting used to the fact that he might actually live to see his 22nd birthday, let alone any longer than that," Thea said, shaking her head and smiling a little.
January 22nd, 2014
Ruins of CNRI, Starling City
The City Necessary Resources Initiative. One of the best things the Glades had had going for it, probably the only thing, apart from the Rebecca Merlyn free clinic, that had kept the district even halfway liveable, had been shut down due to lack of funds, the last of it's big wealthy donors pulling out in the months leading up to the Undertaking.
The very slow, and not very well publicized investigations, trials and plea bargains of the other members of Malcolm's little group was, from what Sara had heard, proving that the end of CNRI's funding had indeed been directly instigated by Merlyn.
Thankfully, she was hearing rumors that something like CNRI might be reestablished. Though if it was going to be, it wouldn't be here.
The building that had once housed CNRI, like so many empty buildings in the Glades, hadn't been reoccupied before the Undertaking, and now, it was a half-collapsed pile of rubble and crumbling walls.
And Cyvus Vanch had decided he wanted to meet her here.
"Well, well, well, I was wondering if you'd even show, Detective Lance," Vanch said smugly, stepping out into view on what was left of an upper level of the structure. Sara was standing in what was once the lobby, looking up at him through the big gaping hole in the ceiling.
"How the hell did you even get up there? Is there actually an intact staircase left in this building?" Sara demanded.
"Close enough to intact," Vanch chuckled. "I'll bet you've been driving yourself mad, wondering when I'll call again, what I've been up to since you stole that heroin for me."
Yes, but I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of telling you that. Sara shrugged.
"Oh, now you're going to tell me you didn't give me much thought at all, right?" Vanch asked.
"Well, that would be a lie too, and you'd know it. What do you want, Vanch?" Sara crossed her arms in front of her chest. She'd heard nothing about him on the streets, which was one of the most un-Vanch things she could imagine. The man thrived on the spotlight, on spectacle and theatricality. That was how he'd assembled his little criminal empire, especially after he'd gotten out of prison the first time and taken advantage of the chaos with the Bertinelli and the Triads at the time.
She could only assume he'd learned a little about keeping things quiet after how openly living large at his late Lawyer's mansion had worked against him so much. But he had to have a plan. Something that ended with him in control of a sizeable portion of crime in Starling City, if not all of it. And something that ended with Laurel, Oliver and herself dead.
Vanch didn't let people who'd wronged him live.
But she had no idea what it was. And so, she had to play along. Find out what he was up to, find out how to stop him from releasing that video.
What sort of deadman switch does he have? Will it send out emails? Actual mail with the video on a CD? Both? She didn't even know where to start with him.
"I hear your friend Oliver Hood has been shooting arrows in a lot of legs and shoulders all over the seedy parts of the city, looking for a man with a skull mask." Vanch produced an apple from his pocket and tossed it up in the air lightly, catching it, biting into it slowly. He chewed, then once he'd swallowed, continued. "Funny story - there's a guy who's been causing me some problems lately."
No.
No.
It couldn't be that easy. Vanch wasn't going to just drop that information into their laps. Her lap. And she wouldn't be able to trust it, either.
"He wore a skull mask." Sara raised an eyebrow. "You realize how incredibly convenient that sounds? The Arrow is looking for a man in a skull mask, and you just happen to know where he is?"
"Oh, I don't have the slightest clue where he is." Vanch chuckled. "But I do know where he's been. And I know who he's been seen with. An unusually strong son of a bitch, the kind of person who broke the backs of two special K dealers working the dorms at Starling City University, and jacked their stash. Just two days ago."
Special K. Ketamine.
"And what do you get from telling me this?"
"The two dealers might have worked for my new operation. Or I might just want to see what your archer friend does with this information." Vanch laughed, "Oh, who am I kidding: The man in the skull mask has plans for this city that don't line up with mine. And as long as you, the Arrow and the Black Canary work for me, might as well put you to use." He took another bite out of the apple.
"None of us work for you." Sara growled. "And you haven't actually given us anything useful."
"Just follow the blood trail," Vanch said, and then he doubled over laughing, like he had told the funniest joke known to man. "You'll all be kicking yourselves when you find out. I can't wait." He walked away, out of view, taking another bite out of the apple as he did so.
Follow the blood trail?
She needed to check something at the station.
This is at least two kinds of trap, but... it's a possible lead...
January 22nd, 2014
The Foundry, Starling City
Laurel was just getting suited up to head out. She had a possibility on Brickwell's location - the man had been laying low since the Undertaking, sending out his crew to handle protection rackets, carjacking and mugging under his orders. Of course, she managed to take out more his guys nearly as fast as he could send them out, and he was hurting for money, and rep, so Brickwell had decided to try something big and bold and shown his face at a jewelry store in the nice part of town, robbing the register, the safe and a lot of diamonds.
That was more than he normally went for, but it would get him a lot of money, if he could get the money from fencing them. There weren't a lot of fences left in Starling that would deal with people like Brickwell, unfortunately for him. Oliver had put arrows in more than a few, the Dodger had of course killed one and gotten another arrested, and she'd gone after most of the rest.
Enough to convince most fences in the city that if you bought from people like Brickwell, criminals who left trails of bodies in their wake, that you'd be getting the city's vigilantes landing on you like a ton of bricks.
She would rather have put them all out of business, but she admittedly didn't really like the idea of hospitalizing the ones that weren't hurting anyone directly. And some fences wouldn't stop for anything short of that. So she'd prioritized. Fences were a critical cog in the criminal machine, but, she had to focus on the people who were still preying directly on the people of the city.
Despite all that she'd done, people still got mugged and robbed and assaulted in the Glades. Less, yes, and less lethally, but still.
Tonight though, tonight for finding Brickwell, at the one fence he was almost certain to use. Who Felicity had recently managed to locate.
Laurel put her mask on, and then the 'sonic collar' when she heard the exterior door open, Sara coming down the stairs.
"Where's Oliver?" Sara asked quickly. "I've got a lead on the man in the skull mask."
"He's over by the docks, he thinks some of the dealers there might-" Laurel started,
"Nope, nope, he doesn't want to be anywhere near the docks." Sara cut in. "I don't know where the man in the skull mask is, but we have a new Mirakuru supersoldier."
Laurel stiffened. "Tell me everything," she said flatly. She looked over to Felicity, who contacted Oliver over the comms, telling him that Laurel told him to come back to the Foundry.
"You're not going to like how I got the lead." Sara said. "Neither of you are."
"What? Did you torture someone for it?" She laughed even as she said it. Laurel couldn't imagine her sister doing anything like that - maybe by subjecting someone to the awful music she'd liked when she was in High School, sure, but -
"No!" Sara made a face. "Why would you-" she cut herself off and shook her head. "Doesn't matter. No. I got a tip from Vanch."
Laurel's mirth fled from her, and she swallowed, setting her jaw. "We still haven't had that conversation about Vanch." So much kept happening, and Sara had kept avoiding-
"And we'll have to put it off for later." Sara said hurriedly.
Oh no you don't, Sara. "You can't possibly think Vanch is telling the truth-"
"The man in the skull mask was the same person who financed the Count's big scheme to draw you and Oliver out."
"And Vanch is the one who told the Count who we were!" Laurel said, raising her voice. "For all we know he's working with the man in the skull mask!"
"Laurel, I'll concede you know a lot of things I don't, you understand things I'll never understand, but I am the one who arrested Vanch. I'm the one cop on the entire task force who figured out where he was hiding the first time, before the case against him fell apart. I know how he thinks. Vanch doesn't work for anyone. He's always dreamed big, and he's still dreaming big." Sara started pacing, "I don't know what his endgame is, but it's different from whatever the man in the skull mask wants. Vanch wouldn't create supersoldiers to do his fighting for him. At least not once he knew the serum worked, which it does. He'd give it to himself and rip the doors off a cop car, kill the cops inside with a knife, and do it all in front of news cameras. He'd-"
Laurel bit her lower lip, watching Sara's agitation increase, her tone increasing in pitch, her hands moving faster, wildly. Her sister was working herself up into a minor frenzy.
"Sara!" Laurel raised her voice again, but it was just a shout, cutting her off, catching her attention. Sara pulled up short, dropping her hands by her side, turning back to look at Laurel. "I'll concede that you understand Vanch better than I do," Laurel said, forcing herself to speak in a lower volume, "but - why - why are you taking him at his word? Even if he does want to stop the man in the skull mask so he can do whatever he wants, he doesn't want to help us."
"As far as he's concerned, we'll be helping him. You don't under-" Sara swallowed, took a long, slow deep breath, moving her hands, palms down, to her sides, slowly.
Despite the gravity of the situation, and how upset she got with her sister every time Vanch came up now, Laurel couldn't help but feel concerned at Sara's agitation, how... visibly worked up, and anxious and -
She needs to stop holding everything in like that.
"Vanch thinks he's in control of everything." Sara said, finally sounding calmer again. "That I have no choice but to dance to his tune, that through me, with the video he has, he's got you under control too. You and Oliver. As far as he's concerned, we're tools for him. He's going to use us." Sara exhaled slowly. "As long as he thinks he can keep using you to clear out the competition..."
"Then he's not going to tip us off into a trap."
"Especially since all Vanch did was give me a place to look. Son of a bitch has apparently decided being vague is too much fun," Sara muttered. She reached into her pocket, pulling out a thumb drive. "Felicity? I'm sorry you keep having to be witness to Lance sister arguments, but can you pull up the reports I compiled on this?"
"Of course." Felicity nodded. Laurel watched Sara turn back to her after giving Felicity the drive. "Vanch said that someone with unusual strength broke the backs of two Special K dealers near Starling City University."
"Ketamine." Laurel swore under her breath in Arabic. He had his serum, he had one soldier, and now he had his sedative again. So making more could be possible.
"I looked into it, and there's no police reports of any dealers having been assaulted near SCU. But there are two people who Vice suspected were dealing Ketamine - also LSD and Ecstasy - to students who recently were found in the streets after a suspected hit and run. A lot of broken bones, both are still in comas, and both are probably paralyzed for life." Sara shook her head, "And oddly enough, quite a few Ketamine dealers have wound up in suspected hit and run accidents lately."
"There's no way Vice doesn't suspect-"
"Oh yeah, they suspect. Actually, they've handed the case to IA, because they think someone inside the SCPD is killing the dealers and jacking their stash to sell. Every dealer was suspected, but no proof, and apparently Ketamine dealers in Starling keep a very low profile." Sara shrugged. "Who knew."
Laurel blinked. Club drugs had been the least of her worries, so she'd barely paid any attention to them, even in the Glades. She wasn't trying to fight the War on Drugs. The only time she'd gone after anyone that had anything to do with Ketamine was a date rapist.
So them keeping a low profile made sense.
"Okay. And you drew IA to your attention by looking into this?" Laurel asked.
"Laurel, I have been dodging IA and hiding my tracks from them for the last year. I think I know what I'm doing." Sara crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I used the password and access card of a different cop who's out of state on vacation right now. He'll get some grief, but nothing serious." Laurel bit back a response. Sara needed to stop playing chicken with IA, but... she couldn't force Sara to stop, and there was no way Sara could. All she could do was get Sara to actually talk about what she was doing so Laurel could help her.
"But what's important," Sara continued, holding up a finger," is that there's just one more major Special K dealer left in Starling right now that the SCPD suspects, and he operates out of one of those expensive soy wheat germ extra healthy grass smoothie places that cater to upper middle class soccer moms and trophy wives trying to milk a few more years before their husbands trade them in for a newer model."
"And you think the Mirakuru soldier is going to go after him?"
"I'm positive." Sara said. "And I think it's going to be tonight. This guy keeps a very regular schedule, and at 11:30 pm, he's going to be passing through a usually empty - at that hour - side street, with no traffic cameras, wide enough for a 'car' to 'hit and run' and with lots of ways for someone to get away unseen."
Laurel turned, and saw Felicity had opened all the files on the screens, "Show me this street."
Felicity nodded, pulling it up on a map of the city. "No traffic cams. Nothing for two blocks either way." She typed away. "Hell, I don't even think there's any private security cameras on this side street. Not outside, anyway. There's no external access to buildings to protect, no businesses..."
Laurel leaned forward, looking at the screen, where Felicity highlighted the cameras, projected the route the man supposedly took through that street every night.
It does look like a perfect spot for an ambush.
"There's no way we can force someone on Mirakuru to talk if they don't want to." Laurel murmured. "Whoever it is isn't going to feel fear."
"Not even after Oliver killed the last one?"
"Not even," Laurel murmured. "And there's no way to take one prisoner." She shook her head, "And I don't think we should." The idea of going up against someone enhanced by Mirakuru...
It'll just be another thug. Like Gold. Not a trained killer like Slade. She swallowed. But there was Mirakuru out there. And they needed to stop it at the source. That meant finding the man with the skull mask.
"I think I should let him get away." Laurel murmured, a plan forming in her mind.
"Laurel... what are you..." Sara started.
Laurel turned back to Sara. "The only way we're going to stop Mirakuru is to find the man in the skull mask, and find out who gave him the serum, and how. And the only way we're going to do that is if we let him get away, and follow him back to base."
"...there's no way it'll be that simple."
"Oh, no. It's a lot of things. But simple isn't one of them. I'm going to need your help, Sara."
"Of course."
"And we are going to have that talk about Vanch, afterward," Laurel said firmly, then she leaned forward, a hand on Sara's shoulder. "You don't have to keep dealing with this on your own, Sara."