Disclaimer: I do not own anything you may recognize
Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed or reviewed this fic so far.
Thanks a lot to Brainstorm Sorcerer and Stand with Ward and Queen for their help and suggestions on this chapter, very much appreciated.
Also, Jason's rampage won't start yet. It will take him a while to get from Camp Crystal Lake to Keystone City via a boat. He will come around after the Vandal Savage crossover. For his movies, all the movies except Jason X and the 2009 reboot are canon, meaning everything up to 'Freddy vs. Jason'. The reboot can't be canon as its a reboot, and Jason X can't be canon as its supposed to take place in the future.
While for 'Child's Play', everything until 'Curse of Chucky' would have been canon, nothing after that, which was a given since Alice Pierce is still alive in this fic.
And, while Rick Flag was originally played by Alan Ritchson, I changed the actor to James Badge Dale, thanks to Brainstorm Sorcerer for the casting. The fight between Hunt and Flag last chapter wouldn't make any sense with how much Ritchson towers over Cruise (as well as Hunt).
Also, might have forgotten to say this before, but for 'Blade', only the first 2 Wesley Snipes Blade movies are canon on the MCU Earth, not the 3rd one.
TW: Thanks for the review, glad it was satisfying.
Guest: Okay, I've to say this now- 90% of your reviews are all about Prue for some reason or the other, and how unfairly she was killed off, and you keep asking whether I'll bring her back or not. In the 'Heroes' series as well, you did that a lot. And after I brought her back as well, you kept asking me to specify how she survived in the new Multiverse. I get it, you're a huge fan of the character and find what happened to her unfair. There are many characters I love for whom I've similar feelings, but this asking about Prue has got to stop now, it has been done too much. I don't want to fight with you or anything, but like I've said, you're doing it too much now, and it has to stop. To answer your question, the original 'Charmed' will be brought in at some point, but Prue is not gonna come back this time, though she will appear sometimes as a spirit, but that's it.
Chapter 9- The Waller Job
Earth-205
Angel and Buffy waited in the alley, and after a while, they saw Sam come back to them alone.
"Where's Dean?" Buffy inquired.
"He'd a date", Sam revealed. "Regarding the mummy, it wasn't a legit sarcophagus, it was from a prop house in Philly, with a small bucket of dry ice inside."
"So, did the mummy make his own special effects?" Angel asked.
"That's what I'd said", Sam said. "So, you're a detective of some kind?"
"Yep, private detective of the supernatural", Angel told him. "Angel Investigations is the name of the business."
"Cool", Sam had to say.
"Ummm, guys?" Buffy called out.
"What?" The two said at the same time, turning to her, a bit annoyed.
"Nothing", she said on seeing their faces.
"So, we got a Vampire, a werewolf and a mummy, all of them like the movies", Angel noted. "What could it be?"
"Is this town some kind of Hellmouth where people's fantasies could come true or what?" Buffy wondered now.
"What's a Hellmouth?" Sam inquired.
"Not important", Angel told him. "Anyways, you guys got a place or something? We could talk more about this there."
"Sure thing", Sam said as they began to walk off, when Sam got a call.
"Yeah, Dean?" He said into the phone, before sighing. "We're coming."
He cut the call as Buffy asked. "What happened?"
"Dean's date was attacked by our creature", Sam told them. "He fought it off though. Let's go there."
Sam walked off, the two walking after him.
A while later, the three came into the bar as Sam asked Dean and Jamie. "Hey. You guys all right?"
"Yeah, I think so", Dean told them. "And I think I know what's going on." Dean put a folded towel on the table.
"Yeah?"
"Part of it, at least."
Sam opened the towel. Dracula's ear was inside.
"Uh, the ear part?" Sam asked him.
"Ripped it off of Dracula's head", Dean revealed. "Touch it."
"Eww", Buffy muttered. "This reminds me, I got some of the werewolf's hair."
"Show us", Dean said, as Buffy took the hair out with a wince, putting them next to the ear.
Sam touched both. "Ugh."
"Feel familiar to you?" Dean inquired.
"Oh, man", Sam groaned.
"Skin of a shapeshifter", Dean revealed. "Just like St. Louis and just like Milwaukee. Of course this one's all holding buckets of crazy. Oh, and, uh..." Dean took out a medallion from his pocket and gave it to Sam. "This, I uh, pulled it off during the fight. Look at the label on the ribbon."
Sam looked at the label. It read, "THE FX SHOP PROPHOUSE PHILADELPHIA, PA." "It's a costume rental."
"All three monsters - the Dracula, Wolf Man, and the mummy - all the same critter, which means we need to catch this freak before he Creature From the Black Lagoons somebody", Dean said to Sam.
"Wait, what exactly are shapeshifters?" Angel inquired.
"They are monsters that can take any human's form at will, including fictional ones I guess", Sam told them.
"We've seen some shapeshifting, but not to this level", Buffy had to say.
Jamie asked. "So, you guys are like Mulder and Scully or something, and The X-Files are real?"
Dean shook his head. "No, The X-Files is a TV show. This is real."
"As much as we wish it wasn't", Angel added.
"Oh."
Sam noted. "Okay, so, the stagecraft, the costuming… it's like he's trying to re-enact his favorite monster movie moments, right down to the bloody murders."
Jamie suddenly asked. "Wait a second. Who the hell is Mina?"
"Mina?" Angel and Sam went together, then shared a look.
"Yeah", Dean revealed. "That's what he called Jamie. And he called me Mr. Harker."
"Jonathan Harker?" Sam noted. "They're characters from the movies and the novels - Mina, Dracula's intended bride, Harker the fiancé that stands in the way. Seems like he's fixating on you, like he sees you as his bride."
"Wow. Lucky me", Jamie realized.
"Oh no, not this Dracula crap again", Buffy groaned, making Dean and Sam look at her.
"I met the real one last year, we almost ended up re-enacting his book's plot, but I beat him", Buffy explained to the brothers. "Not the most pleasant experience, even if meeting Dracula was…something else."
Angel groaned and ranted. "I'm much more interesting than some brooding, goth punk princess." On getting looks from the rest, he said. "The guy's a shill and sellout. He shouldn't be the Vampire everyone looks up to!"
"Jamie", Sam brought the attention back to the important stuff. "If the shifter is fixated on you, my guess is that he has to have seen you before or been around you."
Dean inquired. "Jamie, has anybody strange come to town", he gestured to Angel and Buffy, "not them", they had a weird look of 'seriously, dude?' as he continued, "somebody that has taken a specific notice of you?"
"I don't know, Dean. It's Oktoberfest. I'm a bartender. There's lots of people. I... wait a second. There is Ed", Jamie realized.
""Ed Brewer" Ed?" Sam asked.
"Yeah", Jamie nodded. "He moved here about a month ago. Lucy swears he has a crush on me. He comes in almost every night. But, you know, I don't think he's the type of guy-"
"Where does Ed live?" Dean simply asked.
"I don't know", Jamie confessed. "But he works at the old movie theater. I think he's the projectionist there."
"Take care of Mina?" Sam asked Dean.
"Yep."
"I'll stay too if he comes", Buffy added. "I mean, I know the plot well due to….reasons."
"Sure, I'll go with Sam", Angel said awkwardly, as he and Sam left, leaving Buffy and Dean behind with Jamie.
Earth-1, Star City
Eliot was bandaged, and hooked on an IV, lying down, with Oliver having applied Lian Yu herbs on the man's body to help him recover faster.
"They really did a number on him", Sara noted from a distance, disgust in her voice. "And I've seen plenty bad."
"I know", Oliver said, as Parker and Hardison were on either side of Eliot.
Eliot then managed to speak. "They wanted...to know about us. Our world...governments...enhanced...I didn't tell them jack shit."
"We know you didn't, brother. Just take it easy leave the rest to us", Hardison said, making Eliot's eyes widen a bit.
"...That knowledge doesn't exactly comfort me."
Hardison deadpanned the bedridden hitter. "Oh, so now you can speak in complete sentences."
Eliot smirked, but Hardison laughed with him, before Eliot closed his eyes to rest.
"I want to hurt 'em." Hardison says to everyone after walking to them.
"The feeling is mutual", Parker agreed.
"You might want to slow down. You just took down a squad of ARGUS goons, they'll expect retaliation", Diggle pointed out.
"No, not this time", Ethan said as he stood with Eliot's teammates. "If this is allowed to continue, taking these "interlopers" and doing to them what they did to Eliot, or worse, it needs to stop."
"But mostly revenge", Sara noted.
"Yeah, that too."
"Well, I'd do the same if it was someone I loved", Sara shrugged while glancing at Oliver for a brief second.
"I think you all should think this through though", Thea pointed out. "This will be dangerous."
"What would you do if it was Oliver on that bed?" No one could answer, but Ethan knew what that meant. "I figured as much. We're doing this, with or without your help."
"Look, man, I know ARGUS, and I know the horror stories around Waller, because my wife used to work for her, and I've been made to work for her a few times too. Trying to get back at her will be impossible", Diggle warned.
"Well," Ethan looked at the extremely motivated and concerned Parker and Hardison, "impossible is what we do best."
He looked at Team Arrow then. "You can help us, or get out of our way."
"Do you know who you are going up against? Amanda Waller is the most dangerous woman in the government. She has no empathy, only a twisted sense of patriotism where she sees people as things that she can use for her own benefit, exploiting any weakness she can find, even someone's family. Without blinking, she would kill her closest friend to prove a point that she can't be broken. And you want to take her down?" The undeterred faces told him everything, then Oliver almost smiled. "Then there's no way you're doing this without me. Waller and I, we have history, anything I can do to help, you have it."
Earth-205
Buffy listened from a corner as Dean told Jamie about his near-death experience. Hearing that, she related a bit. "I had one of those too a while ago. It was…bad."
"Sorry to hear that", Dean said, then told Jamie. "But when I came to…things were different. My life's been different. I realize that I help people. Not just help them, though. I save them. I guess it's - it's awesome. It's kind of like a gift... like a mission. Kind of like a... a mission from God."
"You really think that?" Buffy asked him in shock, not believing this was how someone would react to something like that.
"I do", Dean said. "Its made me re-evaluate everything, and now I know what matters."
"Right", Buffy said, turning away.
Jamie asked Dean. "So, does the mission from God make you like a monk or something? You know, celibate?"
"I hope not", Dean said, as he and Jamie began to kiss, Buffy deciding it was better to go off and follow Angel and Sam instead of acting like a third wheel here.
So getting up, she walked out, heading towards the theatre. She'd soon wish she'd stayed.
Earth-1, Star City
Lyla Michaels looked at Eliot's condition, then at Diggle and Oliver, the former saying. "I know you've worked for her, but with what she has done, and will do to innocents, you know its gonna get really bad, Lyla."
She couldn't deny his point, Oliver adding. "You're a good person. I know you can't be comfortable with any of this. So, if there's anything important you can tell us about Waller, now is the time."
After a few moments, where Lyla looked to be in turmoil, she finally said. "I can tell you all about where the important stuff is. How you get it, that'll be up to you."
"For us, that works perfectly", Parker said with a smirk.
Later
After Lyla had told them everything- Oliver, Hunt, Parker and Hardison sat together, brainstorming their strategy.
"So, what do you say?" Hardison asked as he looked at Parker.
"While Nate made me the Mastermind when he left", Parker started. "This is Oliver's world, and he knows Waller best. So for this Job, I know what roles we'll have."
She gestured to herself. "Thief." She looked at Hardison.
"Hacker", he realized.
Then she turned to Hunt.
"Spy", Hunt spoke his role.
And finally, she looked at Oliver, giving him a firm nod, that he returned.
"Mastermind."
And then she said. "Let's go steal a lot of files."
Earth-205
Angel and Sam were on their way to the movie theatre, as Angel asked. "So, you two are hunters, huh?"
"Yeah", Sam told him.
"If its too personal, don't answer", Angel assured. "But, been like that your whole life?"
Sam thought about it, then spoke. "Our mom, she was killed by a Demon when I was a baby. Dad, he couldn't cope with it, he had to find answers, and he did, and he became a hunter, made Dean and I hunters too."
"That's not right", Angel noted, having an issue with children being brought into this world.
"For a long time, I was angry at him for everything", Sam said. "Part of me still is, but then, he gave up his life to save Dean. So, we had our issues but…he was my father."
Sam wiped his eye, Angel noting. "Fathers. Always so complicated."
"You had issues with your old man too?" Sam inquired.
Angel shrugged. "He was a merchant, dealt with fabrics, silks and linens mostly. I was his disappointment ever since I was eight years old. Nothing I ever did was good enough. At one point, I figured, if I was never good enough, then I should stop trying. You think you kids act out these days? Back then, I'd spend my days and nights drinking, whoring, and brawling. In fact, it was because of how I acted, that I caught the eye of a Vampire...and she turned me." Angel's eyes were lost in the memory of that day, centuries ago, when his life ended, and Angelus was born. "It got worse from there."
"How bad?"
"Rather not talk about it, but it was really bad. I was really bad. Until I pissed off a gypsy clan by killing their favorite daughter, and they returned my soul to punish me."
"Damn!" Sam whispered, realizing how bad it would be. Apparently this guy did not have a soul when he was a Vampire and did bad things remorselessly, but on getting it back…it would have been too much.
"Guess we should change topics now", Angel said.
"Yeah, most likely", Sam shrugged. "So, I guess you're from another world then?"
"Really?" Angel inquired. "We fell here through some blue portal thing that looked like a wormhole I'd seen months ago. So, this is another world?"
"Most likely", Sam told him. "Since you're a different kind of Vampire, being soulless beings, and you being given yours makes you different. Plus your Vamps have the standard weaknesses, which are just myths here. We have faced creatures recently whom we haven't seen or read about anywhere. Or at least they aren't how they're described. Like, a berserk undead warrior. It was a pain to put down."
"I can imagine", Angel said.
"And some gnarly looking disgusting creatures with crude weapons", Sam told Angel.
"Must be hard", Angel noted.
"Yeah, not to mention, we're not getting any answers about this either", Sam said. "But anyways, we have sensors to detect ghosts. With the help of a psychic I know, I modified it to detect anything from the wormhole. So after this is done, I'll scan you with it, then we could try to find which breach to send you back through."
"That'd be much appreciated", Angel said with a smile. "You're really smart, I must say."
"Thanks", Sam nodded gratefully. "I like tech."
"Ever made a grapple gun?" Angel asked now.
"I thought about it", Sam said. "In case we needed it to get out of certain situations. But we were never able to find the right type of wire to hold our weight, and the pully system usually failed."
"I used monofilament wire, for the pully, well, what if you kept something on you conceal the gun, like a gauntlet or something, and have a motorized reel system for a quicker ascent?"
"That...that could actually work. You're a genius." Angel waved off the praise, but it was nice to hear, especially considering Cordelia's constant teasing of his lack of skill with all things technology. Could she make wrist-activated stake bracers? Angel didn't think so.
By now, they were in front of the movie theatre, where 'Phantom of the Opera' was showing, the organ music playing as Angel groaned. "I hate this music."
"Too Dracula?" Sam asked.
"Yes!"
Sam checked the clip in his gun then walked towards a shadow of a man playing an organ, Angel behind him.
Ed Brewer switched the music to something happy. Brewer turned around in surprise. "Whoa!"
Sam pushes him against the organ and held him at gun point.
"You, FBI man - What did I –"
"Shut up, okay, you know what you did", Sam snarled.
"What?"
"Play that Dracula music!" Angel growled.
"I know what you are", Sam added.
"I'm not anything. I just like to play the Casio."
"Had time to grow the ear back, huh?" Sam said.
"What?!"
Sam pulled on Brewer's ear. Brewer screamed in pain.
"It's supposed to come off", he said in confusion.
"No, it's not!"
Sam looked at Angel, bewildered, who said. "We need to get back!"
"Yeah", Sam agreed, as the two rushed away, leaving a confused Ed behind.
As Angel and Sam ran back towards the bar, they saw Buffy coming their way, and Angel asked. "What happened? Why are you here?"
"Things got flirty in there", Buffy sighed. "I didn't want to be the third wheel."
"You shouldn't have left them!" Sam snapped.
"Why?" Buffy asked. "Didn't you two get the shapeshifter?"
"It wasn't him", Angel revealed, to Buffy's horror. "We need to go back."
"Oh no!" Buffy muttered.
The three arrived back at the bar, only to see a shattered bottle, glasses on the table, and no Dean or Jamie.
"Dammit Buffy!" Angel and Sam said at the same time.
"Come on guys", Buffy sighed.
Angel walked to the glasses and sniffed them. "Ketamine."
"Goddamn it!" Sam snapped, then saw a napkin next to the broken bottle with Lucy's lipstick on it. "Lucy."
"Westerna?" Buffy asked.
"No, a waitress who works here", Sam said as he got up. "She is the shapeshifter."
Earth-1, Star City
Amanda Waller was walking in the ARGUS base, an agent passing by her, as she opened a door to a room, only to see various agents lying on the ground, all knocked out.
"Mr. Queen", she said with a smirk, turning around to see Oliver Queen in the Green Arrow suit standing there. "How nice of you to pay a visit. Thought my agents didn't have enough of you tonight?"
"We need to talk", Oliver snarled. "About your new hobby- taking in people from other worlds."
"You seem to have picked that up", Waller sneered. "I know you had help from some more interlopers when you went after my agents. Hand them over to me, or I'll make sure you can't operate the way you have so far!"
"Perhaps", Oliver shrugged, then suddenly aimed an arrow at her. "Or I can shoot you right now, and end you. Sure, it will cause problems for me, but you won't be alive, which I'm sure doesn't sit well with you, because you know where you're headed after that. And I know it scares you."
"What guarantee do you have that I won't be replaced by someone even more….willing to do what it takes?" Waller simply asked in a levelled tone, Oliver lowering his bow.
"That'd be near impossible", Oliver told her. "Considering how you used Maseo's family to make me and him work for you."
"Still bitter about that?" Waller asked. "I am one of those who made you who you are today."
"You did, but that doesn't mean all the people who made me this man are to be appreciated", Oliver snarled at her. Yao Fei, Slade, Shado, Waller, Talia and Anatoly were all responsible for making him who he was now.
But Waller was the one who did not deserve any appreciation at all (there was Slade after the Mirakuru too, but before that, he'd been his brother).
"I have been influencing you even before we met, when you foiled Fyers' plan", Waller told Oliver. "How do you think you'll get along if I'm gone?"
"Your plans have a tendency to blow up in your face", Oliver shrugged. "I'm sure we can all manage better. And this plan is going to blow up too, because you're gonna piss off a lot of people, including from other worlds. You want to start a war?"
"It's a war I'll make sure we win."
"No, you will make sure you'll win. That's not a comforting thought."
"Is that trepidation I hear, Mr. Queen?"
"That's revulsion, I thought you would be better at reading people?"
"Insulting my abilities? Are you really so childish?"
"What does that make you? You see something new and you want it, it's like something a spoilt rich girl would do."
"Someone has to protect this country."
"This someone being you?"
"You have a better alternative?"
"Literally, and I really mean LITERALLY, anyone else."
"Naivety doesn't suit you, Mr. Queen."
"Actually, Waller, that was honesty."
The agent who'd walked past Waller stood in a hallway close to her office, before taking off her 'face', which turned out to be just a mask. It was Parker!
She took out Waller's phone from her pocket, having picked it from the ARGUS Director's pocket while passing by her, and taking out a spray, sprayed it on the phone, revealing Waller's handprint.
Putting the phone back inside, Parker took out a special kind of glove the IMF used, having gotten it from Hunt, and then took out the phone with her other hand again, touching it with the glove, copying Waller's handprint onto it.
Then, walking to Waller's office, Parker held the gloved hand out for the hand scanner.
"Scanning."
Within seconds, it said. "Scan successful. Retinal scanner required."
She tapped her earpiece. "Oliver, look into her eyes carefully."
Oliver heard, as Waller was saying. "I will get this man, as well as the others who took on my agents, and you won't be able to do a thing to stop me, Mr. Queen."
"Oh yeah? Watch me", Oliver snarled, looking at her.
"You know someone with my resources could easily find that protégé of yours, that Mr. Harper."
Oliver clutched his bow tightly in anger, as Waller continued. "No one will think of finding a dead man. He'd make a fine addition to Task Force X."
In a flash of movement, Oliver had Waller by the throat, making her gasp for a second as she looked into his eyes, the archer glaring at her in utter rage and contempt.
"You stay away from him, otherwise nothing will stop me from coming for you", Oliver sneered, having gotten a good look at her eyes, with the IMF eyepiece that he had in his own eyes, which Waller did not notice due to her throat being in his grip, and his anger at her.
He let go, as Waller breathed, holding her throat, Oliver adding. "What you are doing, I am going to stop you."
"Still being naïve?"
"No. Just honest."
Hardison, wearing a mask himself, was on his laptop, having gotten the scan of Waller's eyes as he typed in further. "And now you can do the scan."
Parker, having put her mask back on, put a device in front of the retinal scanner, the device connected to Hardison's laptop, and it produced an accurate copy of Waller's eyeball, which was scanned.
"Scan successful. Welcome Director."
The door to the office opened at last, Parker smirking.
"Don't step inside", Hardison said, walking forth, being joined by another agent, who was Ethan Hunt in a mask. "There are motion sensors inside."
"Can you hack them?" Parker inquired.
"No", Hardison shook his head sadly. "The entire room is on a separate network. I deactivated the cameras, but the sensors and anything else is just untouchable. I saw something underneath her desk with the cameras, but I can't make it out."
"Might be where her files are", Hunt pointed out.
"This office and the R&D section are the two most secure areas in the building", Hardison noted.
During that time, Waller's secretary was passing them.
Hunt nodded at Hardison, then grabbed the secretary in a chokehold from behind, dragging him into a corner as he struggled, but was knocked out, while Hardison typed some codes into the laptop, and they were all erased from the camera's footage, as if they were never there.
"IMF tech rocks", Hardison had to say.
"I agree", Parker raised her hand.
"Well, you use it very well too", Hunt praised Hardison, the two walking further until they reached where Parker was, in front of Waller's office.
"The agents who have to guard this office are knocked out, so we have a time limit, because their absence when they don't check in will be noted", Hunt warned, taking off his mask to reveal his face. "I'm going in now."
"How?" Parker asked, as Hunt took off his suit to reveal tactical gear inside. "You always wear that under your suit?"
"Only on missions", Hunt said with a shrug, before taking the bag Hardison had. "I'm glad I let you two take whatever you wanted."
From the bag, he took out two gloves, of the same variety he had used to climb the Burj Khalifa a few years ago. These were the improved versions.
"I'm going in, you just deal with any agents who pass this way", Hunt told the two, keeping his suit into the bag, before wearing the gloves.
As Parker and Hardison watched, Hunt leapt into Waller's office, using the gloves to stick to the wall, not letting his feet get on the ground.
"Damn! He is really doing it", Hardison said, looking into the room, while Parker folded her arms, as Hardison shut the door, but not fully, to make it look like to passers-by that everything was fine.
"I wanted to do that!" Parker said with a whine.
Hardison looked at his laptop he was holding, typing through it to see through the cameras, including Ethan's climbing on the wall, while also making sure his presence was erased in any other security monitors in the building.
Hunt continued to climb, remembering Benji's 'blue is glue' and 'red is dead', so he made sure he stuck his hand when it was blue, and quickly pulled it back when it got red while putting the other hand to stick.
While he wouldn't die this time, the motion sensors were a thing.
At one point, he almost slipped, but managed to barely keep hanging.
"Damn!" Hardison said in fear, while Parker gasped too, as an agent passed by and looked at them weirdly.
"Nothing, just watching the match", Hardison said, changing the window to show that, and the agent shrugged before walking off.
"How far are you?" Parker then asked Hunt.
"More than halfway through", Hunt said, now hanging on the blackened window that prevented anyone from seeing inside, before he climbed a bit further, not taking his eyes off the desk.
Parker and Hardison watched in the latter's laptop.
And then, Hunt leapt.
Parker's and Hardison's hearts nearly leapt out of their mouths.
Hunt's hands ended up grabbing the table, as his feet almost touched the ground, but he lifted them up, using his hands and feet both to hold onto the table, panting now.
Parker and Hardison sighed in relief, the latter saying. "Man, you scared us."
Hunt climbed onto the table, then peaked down with his head, noticing a safe. "She is smart. She doesn't have digital copies of her 'off-the-books' projects. She made hard copies, and kept them inside."
"I think I could crack that, I should have gone inside", Parker said again.
"There's a device here", Hunt noted with narrowed eyes. "It recognizes a voice."
"And how much do you wanna bet its Waller's voice that opens it?" Hardison groaned, then tapped his earpiece. "Oliver, the voice recorder, we're gonna need it."
Oliver had the device in his hand already, having a feeling it would be needed.
"You really think you can control everything?" Oliver asked Waller with a smirk. "There are forces, both in this world and others, beyond your control. You are nothing but an ant in comparison, Waller."
And then he pressed the device, switching it on.
"An ant survives not because its strong, but because of its cleverness and resourcefulness", Waller pointed out. "You'd do well to remember that."
Hardison had gotten the voice of Waller, and typed into his laptop, before telling Hunt. "Use that speaker device."
"Sure thing", Hunt said, then activated the voice scanner.
"Voice scan required."
Hunt then activated the speaker. "An ant survives not because its strong, but because of its cleverness and resourcefulness. You'd do well to remember that."
After a few seconds, the device beeped green. "Welcome, Director."
And then, the safe opened, Hunt smirking as he saw various files inside, and put his hand in.
"You know Waller, I like to think of myself as an ant too", Oliver said, making the Director tilt her head as she looked at him. "There are things in this world beyond me, like meta-humans and magic. I'm nothing in comparison in terms of power. You know what I have? My wits and my resources."
Hunt took the files out of the safe, and at that moment, an alarm went off, because the safe was rigged with a weight sensor.
"Damn it!" Hunt cried out as he looked at the window. "Parker, Hardison, get here quickly!"
"What?" Waller muttered, the alarm ringing out, then glared at Oliver. "You…"
"And as you can see, I've more of both than you", Oliver told her with a smirk, as she took out her gun, only for Oliver to fire an arrow, disarming her of it. "You're done, Waller."
"My agents will catch your friends", she sneered.
Many ARGUS Agents kicked the door to Waller's office open, and saw Hunt, Parker and Hardison standing in front of the window, the files in Hunt's hands.
"Put your hands behind your back, get down on your knees", one agent said, all of them aiming their guns at the three.
They did as told, getting down on their knees slowly.
"Hand over the files", the lead agent then demanded.
To their confusion, the three smirked, when one agent noticed something stuck on the window. "Is that…a chewing gum?"
"Red light", Hunt said, confusing the agents. "Green light!"
And then there was an explosion, causing glass to fly all over, sending the agents flying back, while Hunt, Parker and Hardison had ducked to avoid it.
"Come on!" Hunt then said, running out, as the other two ran with him, Parker throwing Waller's phone back inside, and the three leapt off the windows, before Hunt and Parker threw a grapple hook each, getting another building, while Hardison grabbed Parker, and the three swung away.
The agents got up, and rushed to the shattered window, looking everywhere, only to find no one. The three had disappeared without a trace.
"Damn it!" The agent said.
Leverage The Team Soundtrack plays
"Everything off the books you've done, its with me now", Oliver said, Waller fuming in rage. "Now, you're gonna stay back, and let me deal with any interlopers in my way. Are we clear?"
"Crystal", Waller said with a sneer.
Walking up to her, Oliver taunted. "Not so fun being on the other side, is it?"
And then, Oliver punched Waller out.
Universe-208, Tatooine
Blade was meditating on top of the rock formation. The other Mandalorians were giving him space after his duel with Rix Awaud.
It earned him respect among the warrior culture, but it did not endear him to any. He was meditating, trying to dull his senses and not focus on the beating hearts of the blood flowing within the bodies surrounding him. It'd been days since he fell through that damn hole and days since that damn bullet fucked up his insides.
Blade wasn't religious, he never believed in God, hence the crosses never worked for him on hunts, but it'd been a miracle he hadn't given in to the thirst. For all his skills, the Daywalker recognized his weaknesses, the one that he would never escape was the unending desire for blood, and right now, he was reaching his limit.
His internal struggles were halted by the sound of humming. Golden-tinted eyes opened to gaze upon two dark streaks in the distance, racing toward the camp. Blade grunted, he recognized the armor of one of them even from this far, yet it was the body draped across the hover-bike, or "speeder" as he heard them call it, that had his attention.
Given it was moving, it was unlikely any bounty. Most of the Mandalorians that went out for bounty work come back with no bodies, or the remains of them.
Daywalker or not, Blade did not wish to discover what the Kryze woman meant when warning against any more "disintegrations".
The speeders blurred by his position and entered the camp as the armor clad warriors went about their business or watched as the tall Mando removed his helmet and threw the body into the sand.
Knowing his meditation would only be continued to be interrupted, Blade stood from the lotus position, and tuned his attention to the newcomer to the camp.
It did not look good.
Earth-205
Buffy broke the lock of the house, entering with Sam, who'd drawn his gun, Angel taking a tentative step over the threshold, and on seeing he wasn't pushed back, he entered fully.
"What was that about?" Sam asked Angel.
"Vampires need to be invited into someone's home where I'm from", Angel said. "Guess this guy being a shapeshifter negated that."
"Can you find Dean and Jamie?" Buffy asked Angel.
"Yeah, I have their scent", Angel said, getting to the front. "Follow me."
They walked around a bit, eventually going down into what was a dungeon, and they entered, seeing Dean trapped in a metal contraption while wearing lederhosen.
"Oh, thank God. Just in the nick of time. That guy was about to Frankenstein me", Dean said, as Angel broke the contraption, freeing Dean, who sighed.
"Lederhosen, seriously?" Buffy chuckled.
"Shut up!" Dean said, before gesturing to the door. Buffy kicked it so hard it shattered into pieces, and she'd to avoid falling due to not having expected that.
"Let's go", Angel said, the four walking forth, Dean looking at the dungeon one last time.
"You can reminiscence later", Angel said, making him groan before they continued, with Sam opening a door to the bedroom as he saw Jamie lying on the bed in a white gown. Dracula intercepted him from behind and threw him through the wall, his gun dropping.
"You will never be Van Helsing!"
He turned around, only to be decked by Angel, which sent him flying off and falling to the ground, groaning in pain.
"I always hated Dracula." He kicked the shapeshifter, making him roll away in pain again. "Everything is so dramatic with that guy. Not even Bram Stoker bought into any of his crap. The guy was hypnotized! And what does he get? A whole fricking franchise. I should be the one with the movies!"
"Wow!" Buffy said, making Angel turn to her. "You and Spike agree on something."
"Spike hates Dracula?"
At her nod, Angel growled and stomped his foot in frustration. "That bleached haired bastard! He always has to copy me!"
Sam and Buffy looked at each, the former mouthing "wow" while the latter just nodded tiredly.
As Dracula got up, Angel snarled. "Wanna meet a real Vampire?" He vamped out, and the shapeshifter stumbled back in terror.
"This is not supposed to be in the mov-"
Buffy did a cartwheel and struck him on the face, sending him flying off again. "If you talk about the black and white monster movies again, I'll beat you until you become the Creature from the Black Lagoon. That one didn't talk."
The shapeshifter staggered up, only for shots to ring out, while there were holes in his chest.
"Silver?" Dracula turned to see Jamie holding Sam's gun. "It was beauty that killed the beast. No, Mina, do not weep." Jamie just looked at him in confusion as Dracula fell into a chair. "Perhaps this is how the movie should end." Dracula died in the chair.
"Yeah, now stay quiet you attention seeker!" Angel ranted, getting weird looks again.
A while later, the four were outside, as Dean asked Angel and Buffy. "So you two are from another world and fell here through one of the blue portals, eh?"
"That's the consensus", Angel said. "Any idea how to send us back?"
"We'll think on it, but", Dean turned to Buffy. "I wanna speak to you for a bit."
"Sure", Buffy said, as Dean led her to a corner. "What's up?"
"When I was talking about my near-death experience before", Dean started. "The way you responded- you actually died, right?"
"….Yeah", Buffy confessed, seeing no point in hiding it. "How'd you figure it out?"
"I died for real too", Dean told her with a shrug. "That's why I re-evaluated everything."
"I wish I could do the same", Buffy said, looking away. "I was dead….and….wherever I was….I was happy. At peace."
Dean stared at her in some sympathy as she continued. "I knew that everyone I cared about was all right. I knew it. Time ... didn't mean anything ... nothing had form ... but I was still me, you know? She glanced at Dean, then glanced away. "And I was warm ... and I was loved ... and I was finished. Complete. I don't understand about theology or dimensions, or ... any of it, really ... but I think I was in Heaven."
Dean stared at her in dismay now. "And now I'm not." She was almost tearful. "I was torn out of there. Pulled out ... by my friends." Dean continued to listen. "Everything here is ... hard, and bright, and violent. Everything I feel, everything I touch ... this is Hell. Just getting through the next moment, and the one after that ..." she muttered softly, "knowing what I've lost..."
As she looked up at Dean, she noticed the sympathy in his eyes was gone, replaced by some hardness.
"Buck up!"
"What?" Buffy asked, not having expected that response.
"That's what I said", Dean shrugged. "So you went to some fancy Heaven and got to put your feet up, whoop-de-do! You know what happened when I died? Hell! Actual Hell! You think this world is Hell? You ain't seen anything yet! Here, it was just 4 months, but in there…it was a lot longer, and I was there all this time."
Buffy stared at him in horror and shock as he continued. "What, you just gonna cry like some little bitch baby for the rest of your life? I'm sure that would make everything your friends went through worth it. You wanna hate something, hate the monsters you kill, but don't even dare think that they're the ones at fault!"
His piece said, Dean walked off, Buffy staring at him in stunned shock. She…she just couldn't believe this was what he had to say.
But then, if he was in Hell, actual Hell, her saying the world was her Hell…yeah, not gonna go over well with him.
Thinking about what he'd said, Buffy rejoined Angel and the brothers, and asked. "So, any suggestions?"
"Well, let me use this first", Sam said, taking out the sensor, only for it to go haywire. "What's going on?"
At that moment, a breach opened up very close to them, and they realized the sensor was reacting to that.
"Now, where does that lead?" Angel inquired.
"I think it leads to your world", Dean said.
"You sure?" Angel asked.
"Maybe we can take a leap of faith I guess", Buffy said, Angel nodding, as he looked at the brothers.
"Nice to meet you guys", he said, sharing a nod with Sam, and a curt one with Dean.
"Likewise, Angel", Sam smiled.
"Would be fun to see ya guys again", Dean added.
"Maybe you two could come over sometime", Buffy joked, as they chuckled, and then Angel and Buffy walked through the breach, which closed.
"You feel like something else is going on?" Sam asked.
"Nope, holes opening up randomly and sucking people in is a normal thing now", Dean shrugged.
Earth-92
A breach opened, as Angel and Buffy walked out of it, back at the spot where they'd talked before.
"So we are back, huh?" Buffy noted.
"Yeah, looks like it", Angel smirked. "So, those sensor things they had, I think we need those too."
"How'd we make it?" Buffy inquired.
"Let's have our teams get together", Angel suggested. "Fred can handle the science part, Willow and Tara can handle the magic parts, and Giles and Wesley would know stuff too."
"Makes sense", Buffy said, as she walked off. "We'll see each other soon then."
"Yep", Angel nodded, walking off towards Los Angeles as well.
Universe-208, Tatooine
Gar Saxon threw down a farmer from his speeder, then getting down, removed his helmet, before ripping off the sack over the farmer's head, revealing an older man with greying hair and fear reflecting in his blue eyes.
"Tell me, farmer, what do you see?" The farmer shook in fear as Saxon loomed over him. "Go on, look!" He ordered the man.
Doing as the Mandalorian bid, the farmer looked, and saw only more of his kind, armed, deadly, watching from behind their "T" shaped visors, or smirking at his predicament.
"What do you see?"
"Ju-just the fearsome warriors of Mandalore, sir." The farmer tried to placate, but it only earned him a kick to the chest, pinning him to the ground.
"Water, old man. There's no water!"
"We had no choice! The harvest was failing, Tuskens and who knows what else were about, I had to fill the orders or else I could lose my farm. I have a family depending on me."
Gar Saxon did not care, instead grabbing the farmer by the front of his clothes, pulling him up until he was kneeling before the Death Watch commando.
"You'll be losing more than just a farm now!"
The grey-haired farmer closed his eyes and awaited the fist rearing back.
Saxon made to throw the punch forward, but something grabbed his hand by the wrist, and he couldn't budge. Turning his head, he glared at the unnerving gold eyes of the outsider staring back at him.
Then a in moment too quick to follow, Blade wrapped his left arm around Saxon's elbow, then bent the wrist in his grip and grabbed it with his other hand, before kicking Saxon's knee, making the would-be abuser kneel.
"Now, that ain't nice", he hissed as the Mandalorian struggled against the iron grip.
But in that moment, so close to the neck, Blade felt the lust nearly take over. He could hear the carotid artery throb against Saxon's skin, the blood rushing through the veins. The thirst had only grown stronger. And he was surrounded by prey.
Blade blinked out of his daze, pulling back to twist and extend Saxon's arm before launching a kick to his chest. He felt the slight pain from striking the Mandalorian armor, but it wasn't enough to stop Saxon's body from being launched over the speeder and some distance, rolling in the sand until he ended up at the feet of Pre Vizla and Bo-Katan Kryze.
Placing himself in front of the farmer, Blade expected Saxon to rise up and charge at him, but even he was surprised when he did rise up, but Vizla grabbed his arm and threw him back. "Enough, Saxon."
"You would side with a farmer and an outsider?!"
"What did you intend to do, beat the water out of him?"
"A reminder would do well to show what happens when you break your word with Death Watch."
"That is MY decision to make, and mine alone. I won't have you sullying our reputation."
"But they-" Saxon could not finish before his leader narrowed his eyes and pushed himself in the taller Mando's face.
"That is all, Saxon." The blonde haired Mandalorian looked between Vizla, then Bo-Katan beside him, and more of Death Watch standing by their leader's decision. Saxon grounded his teeth, then shifted his eyes to the kriffing outsider, watching impassively. With a silent growl, Saxon turned and walked away.
Vizla watched him go, but addressed all gathered. "Gaining a reputation for beating the weak would make us no better than simple pirates. Anyone who dares tarnish the Mandalorians will be dealt with."
His warning heeded by all, he turned his attention to shaking farmer hiding behind their "guest".
"Reeves, take the farmer away. Make sure he's blinded when you leave." Vizla ordered the closest Mandalorian he could see, and watched her approach the man. But the enigmatic savior was gone.
"Blade continues to impress", Bo-Katan praised as she sought out the dark-skinned warrior. First he defeated Rix, now he sent Saxon away with one simple kick as if thrown away by a Jedi's power.
"Yet we are no closer to answers on just what he is", the bald Mandalorian recounted the fight and the current event.
In all honesty, Blade had impressed him, his demeanor, his strength, and restraint. He could use more warriors like him.
"He would make a valuable addition to our cause."
"Blade is not Mandalorian."
"We are not limited by blood."
"And who would perform the gai bal manda? You?" Vizla questioned sarcastically. Age did not limit the adoption ritual, but Blade looked near as old as Pre himself, older than Bo-Katan for sure.
"Hey, you're the one who let him stay", the sister of the Duchess shrugged her shoulders, before following the wielder of the Darksaber to the command tent.
They had plans to make.
Earth-1, Star City
Oliver looked through the files, his blood boiling at what Waller was up to, as Parker cheered. "Now that was fun."
"Agreed on that", Oliver said with a smirk, turning around to face them. "Most fun I had since…well, ever really."
"Well, there was our relationship", Sara reminded Oliver.
"Yeah, and it feels like a long time ago now", Oliver said, looking like he was lost in that time, Sara too briefly.
"It does", she said with a nod.
"So, what are you gonna do with all this?" Felicity asked Oliver.
"Keep Waller away from interlopers, and also stop her from crossing anymore lines", Oliver told Felicity. "Though she'd try to get back at us in some way, I know it."
"Wouldn't put it past her", Diggle agreed.
"What do we do then?" Laurel asked no one in particular.
"For now, nothing", Oliver said, folding up the files as he kept them inside. "I'll keep these with me. Waller can't get her hands on these ever again."
"Let's make sure it stays that way", Thea added.
Leverage Main Title Soundtrack plays
"Still, lots of fun there", Hardison quipped, while looking at Hunt. "Very tense too."
"Done a lot worse before", Hunt said with a shrug.
"Oh! And nice job, team", Parker said, then looked at Oliver. "You too, Mastermind."
"Likewise, Thief", Oliver smiled at her, then looked at Hardison and Hunt. "Hacker. Spy."
While they knew bad things would happen again, for now, they enjoyed this victory.
In the R&D department of her ARGUS base, Waller fumed as she looked at a compartment with a cranial chip implant inside it.
This chip had the fighting styles of some of the world's best fighters stored inside of it, and if implanted into anyone, the person would gain all those fighting styles, and it could download any other fighting style the person witnessed as well.
Oliver, his team, and the interlopers were going to pay for what they had done. She always won.
Suddenly, Waller felt something. A gut feeling.
Turning around, Waller drew two guns, only for two arrows to disarm her, before another one struck her knee, making her gasp in pain as she went down, a hooded woman walking out of the shadows, carrying a bow and a quiver with arrows.
Waller started. "You have no idea what-"
"I do actually", the woman said in a middle-eastern accent. "Your contingencies have already been disabled."
She noted Waller's hand trying to reach for another gun, and fired another arrow, nailing it to the leg of the desk nearby, Waller grunting in pain.
Then, she fired an arrow at the other hand, nailing it to the wall, as the Wall herself looked at her in defiance, only to get another in the gut, blood pouring out of her mouth now, but she didn't back down still.
"Such fire inside of you. Pity we are not on the same side", the woman said, and then fired again.
The arrow struck Waller's throat, as her face scrunched into one of pain, blood pouring out of her throat, as well as her mouth, the life leaving her eyes at last.
Amanda Waller was dead!
Talia al Ghul smirked underneath her hood, lowering her bow, before walking to where the cranial chip implant was, picking it up.
"This is just what we need."
And that's another one done.
Angel and Buffy are done with their adventure on the SPN Earth during 4x5, with Angel and Sam bonding.
Dean was harsh to Buffy, yes, but since he has been tortured in the real Hell until he broke, Buffy calling the world as Hell is bound to piss him off. Plus in the show, while I was very sympathetic to Buffy at first, eventually, she just made the whole thing a pity party, and didn't even try to let anyone but Spike in (and he was soulless at that point, so he wasn't the best company. If only Spike was Ensouled right now), and eventually just treated others, especially Dawn, like trash. Dawn gets a bad rep in the fandom but frankly, with how bad Buffy's behavior got, Dawn behaving the way she did is not unjustified I'll say.
But in 6x17, when Buffy chose a hallucination over her friends, she frankly lost my sympathy, not to mention, she wasn't called out for trying to kill her friends and sister, and never apologized for it.
Up until then, while I had issues with her, I still liked her a lot. But after that episode, I genuinely stopped liking her character, up until Season 7 Spuffy (infinitely healthier than Season 6 Spuffy, because Spike was soulless then, but had his soul back now) started. And even in Season 7, my opinion on her varied depending upon how things went, because her leadership skills genuinely suck.
But anyways, with Dean's calling out, she has started getting her wakeup call. It will be finished later, but since Dean was harsh with her here, the later part will be gentler, but still reasonable and effective.
Meanwhile, the Waller Job was a success, and now she was made to back off by our Leverage team consisting of the Thief (Parker), Hacker (Hardison), Spy (Hunt) and Mastermind (Oliver).
The window in Waller's office would have had a safeguard too if someone tried sneaking in and out of there, but Hunt, Parker and Hardison didn't sneak their way out of it, they blew their way out when the agents had already almost caught them.
Now Waller is dead. While she should have been killed in the show at some point too, her death in Season 4 was just pathetic, and nothing like how the character should have gone out. I don't even remember the name of the guy who killed her, that's how pathetic the death was.
While I was originally thinking of some plotline which ended with Oliver having to put Waller down, I eventually got this idea of 'Leverage' being provided against Waller, and it would end with Talia murdering her for the cranial chip implant at the end of the chapter.
I'm sure you can guess what the chip is gonna do.
Blade's and Death Watch's dynamic continues to takes its own twists and turns, as you can see.
While it might look like I'm doing Oliver/Sara again, while I really love the pairing and consider it a favorite of mine (in Arrowverse its pretty much my favorite pairing alongside Barry/Patty), I feel like I've written too much for it now, so I'm not doing it here, and both will be paired with crossover characters, and don't worry, those pairings will make sense too.
Unlike the Arrowverse after Sara joined the 'Morons of Tomorrow' though, I won't be downplaying or outright ignoring the bond and connection that Oliver and Sara have, because their connection and care for each other runs very, very deep, which is what I showed here.
Out of everyone in his life, Sara knows Oliver best outside of Slade Wilson (no matter what Lauriver and Olicity fanatics say in the former's case and Diggle fanatics say in the latter's case), with Thea in the later Seasons on third, while Oliver knows Sara best out of everyone in her life as well (no matter what Nyssara and AvaLance fanatics say).
The creatures Sam mentioned to Angel were the Draugr from God of War 2018 and Orcs from The Lord of the Rings.
Thanks a lot to Brainstorm Sorcerer and Stand with Ward and Queen for their help once more, couldn't have done this without them.
Hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter.