Tryna find a little respect, stay tuned to what your gut knows rough roads always make it tough keep my circle small, no guests, got anxiety in my chest

Notes:

This is another rather short one, but it once again felt right to end it where I did.

I'm not sure if I'd mentioned lately how much you guys' continued support means to me, so here let me tell you just in case: You guys are awesome and you rock and I hope you all have a great day, week, month, year... I truly appreciate you! I just realized this week that I started this fic like four years ago and that knowledge still blows my mind. Thank you for sticking with me and motivating me and keeping me going. It means the world to me.

Sara

Sara, something's come up. Not sure how long it'll take. I'll explain when I'm back home.

She wasn't sure what it was, but something about the text felt off. She couldn't say exactly why, but... Ollie did keep it short and to the point most of the time. It was just... he'd usually... maybe he was just short in time and wanted to make sure... if someone got their hands on his phone that... but he usually kept his personal cell in the Bunker to prevent that from happening... making sure the connection between Oliver Queen and the Green Arrow couldn't be made through his phone in case someone got a hold of it and to protect everyone he holds dear.

Plus, short and to the point was exactly what he usually did, and even though it was short, it wasn't really making any point at all. He always explained the reasons he got back home later than usual or expected once he arrived home or the morning after, if she was already asleep by that time. Not that she didn't usually wake up when he joined her in their bed, no matter how stealthy he was, but he'd leave actual conversations to the next day, not wanting her to be fully roused and spending hours lying awake and trying to fall back asleep again, especially now that finding a comfortable position to fall asleep in was getting more and more difficult given her advanced stage in pregnancy. Well, there were the occasional instances that he wanted her wide-awake, but those usually didn't involve any coherent conversations and led to her falling asleep again pretty fast after too, content and satisfied. So why would he write something that was part of their normal routine?

The same applied for the part about not knowing how long it took. That was a given with pretty much every mission or event that required his attention and presence. You could never know what unexpected factors would rush or prolong the conclusion of a situation that needed their involvement. There were so many elements that played into any mission, it was impossible to foresee just how long it would take, which was why they were doing time windows when calculating around what time he'd be home depending on what was on the agenda. Again, this was a "duh", so why was he mentioning it? If he was short on time, why waste it by pointing out the obvious? She knew the deal, she understood how it was in their line of work. And he knew that. It made no sense. And it wasn't like him. He wasn't much into texting, so he wouldn't just… something was off. But maybe he was just…

Sara tried to shake the uneasy feeling the text gave her on top of him still being gone. It was supposed to be a short ordeal, in and out. Sneak in, get Joanna, and get the hell out of there. Him having been gone all afternoon, evening and even night without a word until now made no sense. But maybe she was just on edge and too worried to… she knew she was lying to herself, but she needed to believe… especially since Sin had looked worried ever since entering the kitchen and realizing Ollie still wasn't home and making them breakfast as was part of his normal routine this let her know she wasn't being irrational and hormonal right now. But maybe there was a good reason he hadn't come home yet or contacted her until now and for the way he texted, and he would let her know once he was safely back home. Only time would tell. But for now, she decided to do what she always did when he contacted her right before a mission and texted a short reply.

Okay, thank you for letting me know. Stay out of unnecessary trouble. Wǒ ài nǐ.

She put the phone away and tried to focus back on Sin and coming up with even more ways to distract herself while waiting for Ollie to come home. She had done all the housework that needed to get done. Honestly, she was sort of looking forward to Mila being born for situations like this one, certain she'd be easily occupied or distracted taking care of a baby while Ollie was out on GA business, and no longer in need of searching for something she could do to stay busy and not get lost in her own mind and drive herself crazy coming up with all sorts of scenarios that could be the reason why he wasn't home yet. Her hand automatically went to her stomach at the thought, softly stroking her daughter lying beneath. She could clean out the kitchen cabinets. That would take up some time even if not occupy her mind. But it was something she could do that wouldn't require her mind to be focused, and that helped. Knowing for a fact that there was no way she could accomplish something that needed her to concentrate and be fully there with her mind. But she could keep her hands busy and that was at least something.

But the text just wouldn't leave her alone and she couldn't get it out of her mind. Because the timing was off too as she found out when turning on the TV and watching the news as a means to stay distracted, when Sin's worry about the Queen siblings reached a point that had her rather quiet too, only to turn it back off after it had the opposite effect once she learnt that Joanna had been brought to the police station hours ago. And spent another couple of hours at the hospital before that. So why hadn't Ollie contacted her then to let her know Joanna was safe before this new thing had come up? There were several hours in between them successfully rescuing Joanna, as the plan had been and him now telling her that there was something else he needed to take care of. There would've even been enough time for him to come home, take a shower, get something to eat and probably even a couple of hours of sleep before heading out again. Which meant plenty of time to not only text her but actually call, as he normally would if he stayed out for another specific reason after having taken care of the issue that made him go out in the first place. This made no sense whatsoever and the more she thought about it, the less it seemed to be in line with the way Ollie was usually doing things. This was not his modus operandi. Not the normal pattern for him to interact with her while being out on GA business.

Yes, he usually kept it short to the point, but this was very impersonal. Too impersonal. No 'Pretty Bird', no 'I love you', no checking in concerning her wellbeing or Mila, no comment about food or question if he should bring something home with him, no reply to her 'I love you', no nothing… it wasn't at all like Ollie usually texted her.

Ollie's short to the point texts to her were usually more along the lines of 'Pretty Bird, shit just got real, get some sleep, I'll bring donuts, love you.' The message was obvious; GA business was taking an unexpected turn, and he wasn't sure how long it would take. So he didn't want her to wait up for him, and it wasn't anything he felt she needed to worry about. He would be home for breakfast at the latest and he'll fill her in then. There was never any need for him to spell out the obvious to her, which was why he didn't. It wasn't like they were talking in code they just put the focus on other things and knowing the other the way they did and their daily routine, there was no need to spell out the obvious. And yes, Ollie and she were creatures of habit, always had been, even if it didn't seem like it to others. It were those factors that led to her making a decision and getting her cell phone before calling the only person who hadn't been useless lately, while Sin went to the bathroom. Unfortunately for her, he didn't pick up, and she was left with his voicemail.

"Roy, something's wrong. Ollie hasn't been home since he left to get Joanna. Joanna is home, and it seems the team went with him against his wishes and now he's gone. And there have been texts, but even though they are from his personal phone, they are not from Ollie. Everything about them is off. I know how Ollie communicates with me, and this is not it. I need your help. I can't go out there and look for him. I can't trust the team. I need you. Please, get back to me as soon as you get this and help me figure out what the hell is going on." She knew getting a hold of Roy wasn't always easy, knew he was lost in time most of the time, but she just needed to let him know what was going on and hoped he'd get the message soon and have the chance to actually come and help her. She felt bad about asking him for help yet again, knowing just how busy he was and who he was dealing with right now. The combination of Malcolm and Damien was very concerning, and she didn't even want to think about the damage they could do without taking time travel and another adversary, even if one of Barry's and not Ollie's, into account. A team up like that could be fatal to a lot of people, if not the entire world. She knew Roy should be focused on them and taking care of that serious issue. And asking him for help again, which also meant asking him to not take care of the severe threat to the world he was facing, was rather selfish of her, but she didn't know what else she could do. It wasn't like she wouldn't have gone to figure out what was going on with Ollie herself had she not been pregnant. But as it was, her hands were tied, and she had to rely on other people's help. And Roy was the only one she felt she could rely on even though she knew that he more than had his hands full and didn't need her adding even more to his plate, but there wasn't really anyone else she trusted with Ollie's life right now, at least not in Star City or who could reach Star City in a short amount of time.

And her gut was telling her time was of the essence here.

She rationally knew that the Flash would be ablet to come here in the span of seconds, probably. But she didn't know Barry Allen, not really. She knew what she'd been told about him and from the few times she's seen him ever since coming home and she admittedly had had very little interaction with him so far, which had been totally her own doing but she hadn't been in the state of mind to handle that much optimism and cheerfulness. And still wasn't entirely sure she could handle it now, not while she was seriously concerned about Ollie's whereabouts. The last thing she needed was blind optimism. But she also didn't know how he worked in the field. She knew Ollie's criticisms about his methods, and she wasn't sure having him just rush into it would be beneficial to them. She also wasn't sure whether he'd even have the time. From what she knew through Caitlin, they were about as busy as Ollie usually was, so chances were slim that he'd be able to come to help them without them being able to give him specifics as to where to look for Ollie. Or there was even the chance that her husband's team might have already contacted him, since they seemed to be very close and work together, sort of regularly. At least partially from what she'd gathered. So it would make more sense for them to contact the Flash than her who only really knew Caitlin, and not at all vigilante based. It was actually a topic that rarely came up during her check-ups. Their conversations usually were about her pregnancy, or just more personal stuff. She'd gotten to know the other woman pretty well during the last couple of months, especially thanks to Ollie asking her doctor specific questions about her life that gave her more insight into it and who she was. It was a considerate thing he'd been doing, and she was pretty sure Caitlin wasn't aware of it. Her husband could be very sly when he wanted to. Plus, he really was interested in her answers and wasn't just asking her to give her a chance to get to know the brunette better without playing twenty questions.

So she'd feel weird to contact Barry Allen and ask for his help. It was already difficult enough to ask Roy, and Roy was pretty much family.

The thought of contacting Ollie's team and asking for answers crossed her mind several times, but she had a feeling she wouldn't get any truthful ones. Had they wanted her to know what was going on, they would've contacted her and let her know. She felt communication had been better ever since the conversation Ollie had had with them to after he'd been MIA after his conversation with Laurel. So this played into the unease she was feeling. She received no messages or updates from anyone. The fact that no one, not even her sister, thought to contact her to let her know Joanna was safe was very strange and out of character for the entire team. They usually were very big on patting their own backs after positive outcomes and letting people know.

Plus, she had helped them look for her sister's best friend. She had provided them with the address after all, sure Roy had been the one who found the location Joanna had been held at, but she'd been the one who thought of asking him, because she was certain if anyone could locate Joanna after such a long time, it would be Roy with the help of Gideon. She'd also spent hours with Felicity trying to locate Joanna. Letting her know she was safe would've simply been common courtesy. But it looked like she wasn't even getting that from Ollie's team anymore. Never mind her sister. It would've been the least they could've done. She knew she wasn't a part of the team anymore, hadn't been in a long time, nevertheless, the way she was currently being treated made her feel as if they didn't care about her or her feelings, as if she didn't matter. It made her wonder once more why her sister had brought her back, after she'd practically replaced her, when she showed her so little consideration. And she knew she might be a little unfair here. She had stayed out of it all until recently, but Laurel knew she'd worried about Joanna too, even though she didn't know the woman. The very least she could've done was let her know she was free. Which brought her back to the text again.

Sara, something's come up. Not sure how long it'll take. I'll explain when I'm back home.

Ollie would've mentioned it. Ollie would've let her know Joanna was safe, that their rescue mission had been successful. Because he knew she'd worried about the other woman. Because he knew she'd be home waiting for an update on that, because she was doing what she could to try and help them find her and get her home safe. Her husband would've let her know the minute he got the time to send a quick text. Even if it were a one word one like a simple "success" or thumbs up emoji or something along those lines, he'd know that she'd get it and would know what he meant. Or told Felicity to let her know if he were too busy to send a one word text himself, which honestly was ridiculous. Ollie would've made it a point to let her know himself. He wouldn't have made her wait and worry until she'd get the result of the mission from the news.

It was late afternoon by the time she received another notification on her phone; she was surprised to see Thea's name, half expecting it to be Roy or even Ollie who called her or maybe she'd just let herself be hopeful. She picked up at the third ring, wondering why Speedy was calling her and whether she was finally getting some answers.

And she did. They just weren't at all what she wanted to hear and were so much worse than she had expected. And she could feel her blood run cold and boil at the same time at the young woman's words. Even if everything made a lot more sense now. Especially the out of character text message. She found it shocking and hard to believe the lengths the people Ollie trusted most would go to in order to deceive her. And that they seriously believed she wouldn't be able to tell the difference between his texts and theirs. It was almost as if they hadn't even really tried. And thought she was stupid or ignorant or easily deceived. Because Felicity should know the way Ollie communicated far better than this, after having known him for five years, worked as his EA for almost a year, even if reluctantly, and been in a relationship with him for like a year or so.

And Laurel, Laurel knew better, Laurel knew Ollie and with that his way of communicating almost as well as she did. Her older sister should've known this was not how he'd written it. God, she couldn't believe Laurel. Couldn't understand why'd she chosen to go down this route, especially after they'd talked about her very own deceit and as far as she was concerned tried to get past it and mend their still partially broken relationship. Only this was not helpful in that regard at all. This was only making things worse, this on top of what she'd learnt about Laurel's actions after she'd died… what the hell was wrong with Laurel? What had happened to her morals? Laurel had always been more righteous, at least most of the time and particularly after the Gambit had gone down. From what she'd gathered, she was better than this… only maybe not. Because Sara knew her sister better than anyone. She knew what Laurel was capable of, how far she'd be willing to go and how much she'd be willing to bend the rules to get what she wanted. She'd watched her to it time and again growing up, and even while she'd been back home the first time.

Her sister wasn't nearly as perfect and just as most people made her out to be. Laurel was willing to stoop pretty low to reach the outcome she was striving for, which wasn't a bad thing per se, and something she'd admired her for at times, but it could also have the opposite effect than she wanted it to and destroy everything she had worked so hard for. Just like now. And this action and behavior was showing her sister's darker side once more.

And it made her angry, because she'd been trying so hard, she'd shared so much personal stuff with her, things about Ollie and her that weren't anyone's business in order to make things right between them and this was how Laurel repaid that transparency and trust? Mending their relationship was a two-way street and there was only so much she could do, if Laurel wasn't willing to do her part… and this was the equivalent of throwing a fucking grenade on the road to a better relationship, blowing it all up, destroying the bridge she had been working on the last couple of months… what the hell was wrong with her?!

Sara chose to focus on that matter, on the anger and betrayal she was feeling given their actions, and she couldn't even process Dig and her dad's involvement yet, it was all just way too much but it was also easier to focus on the fury their actions invoked in her than to focus on the more urgent issue of Ollie's kidnapping, and the sheer terror and powerlessness that new knowledge brought with it.

Her eyes strayed to Sin which made her realize the young woman did not yet know what was going on and why Thea had called her.

"Ollie's been missing for almost a day now, and they had taken a vote and decided to only tell me tonight. If they haven't found him by then, only Thea didn't agree and was done playing along now." What she hadn't considered was that speaking the words made them feel more real, made the reality of the situation set in and led to her mind starting, or trying to process everything that came with the fact that her husband was missing without a trace. Her mind was reeling and running through a million scenarios a minute, one worse than the previous one, and she was grateful when it was temporarily interrupted by Thea's entrance.

"Look Sara, I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you sooner, but everyone thought and… I'm so, so sorry! But we'll find him. We will. I promise." Thea addressed her the moment she spotted her and while she appreciated her need to share everything with her right now, her mind had trouble processing anything past Thea's first few words on the phone which had consisted of "Ollie's missing… he'd been taken by Prometheus." Sara knew she had shared that information with Sin but that had been instinct, just relaying information she had gathered, no processing on her side needed to do that. Her mind had shied away from that revelation and decided to focus on the betrayals instead. But now her mind was trying to catch up and understand the meaning behind those words.

Ollie had been taken by Prometheus.

Ollie had been missing since before Joanna had talked to the cops. Ollie had been missing for almost an entire day. And no one had told her. Worse than that, they had tried to make her believe he was fine, everything was fine, normal. That he was just busy. But she had known, she'd known something wasn't right, that the text she had received hadn't been from Ollie.

Her hand was once again lying on top of Mila, she wasn't sure if this act was meant to comfort and calm her daughter or herself. Maybe a bit of both. She felt as if someone had cut off her oxygen. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think. Sara knew this feeling all too well, knew what it meant. Just like she knew she couldn't afford to give in, she needed to get a hold of herself. A panic attack was the last thing she needed right now. The last thing anyone needed right now, besides given the distressed state Speedy was in, she wouldn't be able to handle it.

Thea was missing her older brother, her only living blood relative that mattered, and feeling responsible for his disappearance, and she was the older one out of the two of them. Thea needed her to be the strong, levelheaded one. Speedy needed her. She automatically settled back into the dynamic they used to have back when she was babysitting her, for a moment seeing the innocent, carefree twelve-year-old in front of her, instead of the twenty-one-year-old she now was.

The Canary took a deep breath and held it for several seconds while slowly counting in her mind to focus on something besides the feelings trying to overwhelm her and take back control. She repeated the action until she felt her heart rate slow down again and the panic subside enough for her to focus on the matter at hand. Defaulting back to what the League had taught her, with blood, sweat and tears. How to control her emotions instead of letting her emotions control her.

"Do you guys have any leads?" What she really wanted to ask was how it had been possible for Chase to take Ollie while his entire fucking team had been at the scene with him. And how he had managed to do that without them noticing or finding any clues, what was supposed to be, only moments after the men had left the premise. What she really wanted to say was just how incompetent they seemed to be and that this was exactly why she had wanted him to go alone. What was the point of him taking his team when his team didn't even notice that the enemy was kidnapping their leader? Why had he been left alone? Why hadn't anyone stayed with him and watched his back? But instead, she bit her tongue and asked the more productive question. Thea didn't need her to blame her for her older brother's disappearance and she at least, unlike the rest of the team including her very own sister, had come to her and told her the truth, explained the situation to her and Sara had no issue believing Thea when she said she had wanted to tell her right away. She's known the youngest, for now, Queen long enough to know when she lied, plus Thea hated lying in general. She hated being lied to just as much as she hated being forced to lie to someone and keeping things from people equaled lying to her.

"We… actually…" so that was a no. Perfect. Twenty-four hours, the first twenty-four hours were always crucial, and they were nearly up.

"Hold that thought, I've got to go pee, Mila is pushing on my bladder." It was only a half-truth. Mila was always pushing on her bladder nowadays and she constantly felt she needed to pee thanks to no longer being capable of completely emptying her bladder when she went because of the little girl residing within her. But that was only secondary on her list of things to do. But Thea didn't need to know about the phone call she planned on making. It was better if she didn't. The less she knew… she smiled at the young woman before gently touching her biceps to make sure Thea knew she wasn't mad at her before walking down the corridor towards the bathroom. Leaving the distressed Thea in the capable hands of Sin.

Determined that she was going to do whatever she could, which wasn't much right now, to find her Ollie and bring him back home. She closed the door behind her and took her cell phone out, only hesitating for a second before dialing the familiar number.

"I need your help. Ollie's been taken and his team can't find him." She hadn't heard back from Roy yet and she was running out of options now that she knew what really happened and who had taken him. No measure was too drastic when it came to getting him out of Prometheus' lethal hands and time was of the essence.

Notes:

Okay, so... let me know what you think...

I'd also love to hear your theories as to who Sara called at the end...

Chapter title is from the song "Naked" by Tom MacDonald.