Chapter 24
Crossroads of Conscience: Heroes at Odds
"Don't let desperate situations make you do desperate things."
-Unknown
With the lead that Black Siren was the main suspect in holding the City's money, Curtis, Rene, Dinah and Ari began their search in tracking her. Their search started the last place she was seen. The old theater.
Ari trailed behind the three of them. This search felt off for some reason. She knows how important finding this money is, but it doesn't even feel like that's what their doing.
"We've already been over this spot a thousand times." Rene said glancing down the alley.
"Yeah, which is exactly why I brought my new toy." Curtis replied reaching behind him and pulling out the two T-Spheres.
"Oh, you finished them?" Ari stepped forward to look at them and Curtis proudly nods.
"Presenting Mr. Terrific's supersonic spectrograph." The spheres float from Curtis' hands. "It uses Earth-2 Sonic frequencies emitted from Black Siren and combines them with light imaging to create a holographic replication of her position during that night's events."
They watch as a light emits from them and soon a holographic image appears of Black Siren.
"Is that-" Rene says, curiously watching the image.
"Laurel." Dinah mutters walking over to get a closer look at the image.
"Is she crawling?" Curtis asked.
"No." Ari said moving in closer as well as she watches the woman. "She was dragged."
"Looks like she wasn't putting up much of a fight." Rene said noting the woman seemed to be dragged without confrontation. "Your bullet must've tagged her, D."
"Good." Dinah said as the image disappeared. "Now we just have to find her before the others do something stupid."
Ari looked over to her with a furrowed brow and the woman turned to her and sighed.
"Stupid how?" Curtis asked.
"Oliver is not seeing clearly on this." Dinah replied. "He's desperate to get that money. He will believe anything Laurel says."
"And you are seeing this clearly?" Ari asked and Dinah once again turned to her. "Let's just be honest here, you don't give a damn about that money. You're hunting her, and you're taking us along with you. Our focus should be the money."
"Ari's right. The city's hurting." Rene said.
Dinah glanced from him back to Ari. She wasn't an idiot. She knew the teen was having issues with the way she was coming at Black Siren.
"There are more effective ways to find out where she's keeping that money." Dinah replied looking at the girl.
"Sounds like you're talking about torture." Ari said her eyes on the woman.
"And it sounds like you want to go soft on her." Dinah replied and Ari scoffed.
"Not soft, just not being a blood thirsty psycho." Ari said and Dinah took a step forward, but Curtis moved to block her.
"Ari, the only way to get justice for Vince and the money for the city is going to be messy." Dinah said and Ari just shook her head.
"It doesn't have to be. We choose how this goes down and we can choose to stop all the blood shed. We find the money, we find Black Siren, and she goes away for a long time."
"That's not happening." Dinah said.
"That is happening." Ari said just as confidently. "Because I will ensure it."
"Ari, you're just-" Dinah shook her head. "You're a naive child and you just don't get it. You've never experienced this kind of pain."
"I've never lost someone I love?" Ari scoffed. "My mother was murdered by some crazy bitch currently locked in some ARGUS prison right now. My father was shot in the head by the woman who is currently the only mother I have right now. I know what it feels like to lose someone you love because I had to experience it twice, but if you let that emotion push you over the edge, you're not better than any of the criminals we stop."
Ari took a step, but Curtis, lifted an arm to keep the space between them.
"And if that's the road you want to go down, then know that you will be the next one that we find and put in cell."
"You're an arrogant brat, that Oliver and Katie coddled. You have no idea how this world works, but if you get in my way, I will show you."
"I'm pretty sure I'm the one that will show you a thing or two." Ari said before turning to Curtis. "I'm no longer comfortable with how this search is going." she turned to Dinah. "It's time we crossed that bridge you two wanted to ignore."
"Ari, just chill." Curtis said before turning to Dinah. "You two. We're a team, we're all on the same side.
"What are you talking about?" Dinah directed the question to Ari. "What bridge?"
"Your vendetta against Black Siren is not jiving well with what the this team is supposed to stand for." Ari said before turning to Curtis.
The man looked at her, before turning to Dinah who met his gaze.
"Look guys, right now, nothing's happened." Curtis decided to say. He turned to Ari. "We haven't crossed that bridge."
She looked at the man and just shook her head before turning to Rene who didn't say anything.
"You two are cowards." she said before turning back to Dinah. "And you are hurting. And for some reason when you're hurting, you go homicidal. It's what you did to Sean Sonus who you thought killed Vince the first time."
"C'mon guys, we don't have time for this." Rene said walking over. "Pipsqueak, we get it, you got opinions, and we hear them."
"I really hope you do." Ari said letting out a sigh before taking a step back. "I'm out." she glanced between Curtis and Rene before turning to Dinah. "The whole wait and see tactic doesn't work for me. I see where this is going and my instinct is to stop it before it happens. If you go out looking for this woman with the intent to kill her, I will stop you."
"You're sounding more and more like your dad everyday. It's like I said Ari, I love you, but if you get in my way, you will learn a very harsh lesson."
A smile pulled at Ari's lips as she began backing away.
"I'm sure one of us will." Ari said before turning and heading down the alley.
They all stood watching her walk away before Rene nudge his head behind them.
"Uh, I found something." they followed behind him as he crouched down by a piece of cardboard. "Tire tracks. If they're from whoever dragged her off, could be something."
"Let's make sure they didn't leave anything else behind." Dinah said before stalking off to look for more clues.
"What the hell just happened?" Curtis asked and Rene turned to him. "Did Ari just quit the team?"
"I don't know, man. I feel like that conversation was bound to happen at some point. For right now, we find the money and we try to keep D on the rails."
Curtis nods before the two move to follow after the woman.
Laurel sat in the passenger seat of Thea's car. They'd pulled up to their family cabin where her father just went inside.
"What should we do now?" Thea asked looking over to Laurel who was typing on her cell phone. "Everything alright?"
"Yeah, my husband is just kind of freaking out because I'm not at home." Laurel sighed before turning to Thea. "But he'll be fine." she slipped her phone into her pocket and turned back to the cabin. "He's been in there for while." she looked over to Thea and nudged her head. "Let's check it out."
"Maybe I should check it out and you and your unborn child stay in the car."
"Nice try, this is my dad and if something is going on with him, I'm going to find out what it is." Laurel said before stepping out of the car.
Thea swore under her breath before getting out as well, and creeping over to the cabin.
They both moved cautiously toward the window, placing themselves on either side. Laurel held up a hand to Thea, before she slowly eased her head to look inside.
That's when she spotted her father standing, looking over to a woman sitting on the couch. It wasn't until that woman turned her head, did Laurel gasp.
"Oh my god." Laurel said, and a curious Thea moved her head to peek inside as well.
"Is that-"
"Black Siren." Laurel whispered unable to turn away from the face of the woman who looked just like her. "My father has been hiding Black Siren at our family's cabin." she finally tore her gaze away to look at Thea. "I think it's time we found out what the hell is going on here."
And with that Laurel headed for the door, and Thea was hot on her tail.
Katie stood in the kitchen, her second cup of coffee in her hands. Will had already turned in, she'd check in with Lyla to see how Robyn was doing, and now her evening was spent waiting for Oliver and Ari to come home.
Her head perked up at the sound of the front door closing and she sat down her mug to see who was coming in. When she stepped out of the kitchen, she came to a stop at the sight of Ari.
"You're in before curfew." Katie said walking over to the girl.
"Yes, miracles do happen." Ari said moving around the woman to the stairs.
"Hey," Katie said and Ari stopped and looked back to her. "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, just-" Ari sighed. "I had a bit of a disagreement with the team, so I left."
"Disagreement?" Katie walked over to her. "What kind of disagreement?"
"The kind I don't come home to tell mommy about." Ari replied. "It's fine, I will handle it." she nudged her head toward the stairs. "I have to check something on my computer, but then I have to head back out. I forgot my back pack at the team's bunker and I have to grab it. You should get some sleep, you look tired."
With that Ari turned and jogged up the steps.
Katie just sighed before turning and heading back into the kitchen.
The night was just not going Oliver's way. He, John and Felicity's search for Black Siren in the alley behind the theater lead to a foot print that belonged to Dinah. It made them think that Dinah may have found Black Siren and was acting on her revenge. So they headed off to the other team's bunker to check it out.
Turns out, Black Siren wasn't there, and the night just became the two teams arguing with each other. Tensions ran high, and Rene just had to hit Oliver where it hurts.
"I-I do think Oliver wants to fight, because that's how you always solve your problems." Rene said over to Oliver. "That doesn't make you a hero. It makes you a thug." the man shook his head. "And it's a real shame because they're gonna feel so betrayed when they figure it out." he nods his head, his eyes holding Oliver's gaze. "You know who I'm talking about, don't you, Hoss? Your kids."
Oliver shook his head before turning to leave.
"Don't turn your back on me!" Rene stepped forward to grab Oliver, but Oliver, turned grabbing the man's arm, and pushing him against the wall, pointing an arrow to his throat.
When Dinah and Curtis took a step forward, John pulled out his gun.
"So what, you're going to shoot us now, John?" Dinah asked.
"Stop it!"
They all turned at the voice to see Ari standing at the top of the stairs her eyes wide at the scene she'd just walked into.
"So this was your plan all along, huh?" Rene said out of breath. "To get the chance to look through our bunker. And you wonder why we can't trust you."
"Do it." Oliver said and without a word John lifted his gun and shot the pipe, causing the room to fill with smoke.
Oliver looked at Rene for a moment, before turning and following after John and Felicity who hurried out, grabbing Ari's arm and tugging her with them.
When they got outside, Ari finally tugged her arm from Oliver's grasp.
"What the hell is going on?!" she asked looking between Oliver, John and Felicity.
"Come to the bunker with us, I'll explain everything, but-" Oliver shook his head as he looked back over to the door. "This-" he turned back to Ari. "I'm no longer alright with you working with them." Ari looked at him for a moment. "Please, just come with us."
She didn't say anything, before she nods and then turns off to head over to her car.
At the bunker, Oliver stood by John and Felicity, before casting a glance over to Ari who was on her phone talking to Katie.
"I hate to state the, oh, so depressingly obvious, but since Dinah and company don't have Laurel, we have nothing, Nada, zilch, bupkis." Felicity sighed looking down to her computer.
"Not true." John replied and they turned to him. "We have 3 former teammates who hate us more now than they did before."
"Can't worry about them." Oliver said, unknowingly taking on his wife's habit of pacing. "Guys, we're out of time here."
"Should I reach out to Lyla?"John asked.
"I appreciate that, John, but the last thing that we need right now is yet another group putting Black Siren in their cross hairs." Oliver sighed, once again glancing over to Ari who was still on the phone.
"Oh, square, meet one." Felicity muttered.
"She didn't vanish off the face of the earth." Oliver said.
"Are you sure?" Felicity looked back to him. "I mean, because, technically, she is from another earth."
"We're gonna find her because we have to." Oliver said before turning and heading over to Ari.
Ari glanced over to him before turning away.
"I don't know." Ari sighed before sliding a hand over her eyes. "Probably not long. We still can't find Black Siren and-" Ari dropped her hand. "Oh, ok, um-" Katie hung up the phone and Ari sighed. "Yeah, she's upset." Ari turned to Oliver. "I was supposed to be home and you haven't checked in since you've been out."
Oliver sighed as he folded his arms over his chest.
"I'll call her in a bit. We should talk about what happened back there." Oliver nudged his head back to John and Felicity. "We found Dinah's foot print while searching for Black Siren and we thought-"
"What exactly did you think?" Ari asked looking at the man who just shook his head. "Did you think of maybe calling and asking."
"That wouldn't work, and you know it."
"I'm talking about calling me." Ari replied. "You had other choices tonight, and you chose the wrong one."
Ari glanced over to John and Felicity before nudging her head.
"I'm going to be on the computer over there. I can't just sit around and do nothing." she turned and headed over to the other side of the bunker away from everyone.
Oliver watched her before letting out a sigh. He slipped his hand in to his pocket and called Katie. He brought the phone to his ear and listened to it ring. He frowned when she didn't answer after a while, but then he heard the click of the line.
"Hey, Twinkie, you there?"
"Yes, I'm here." she replied.
Her voice was a bit low and was a bit raspy. Oliver sighed as he turned and took a few steps away.
"I'm sorry, I know it's late and I haven't checked in, but I'm ok. We're just not having much luck finding Black Siren and this money."
Katie didn't say anything.
"But that's no excuse. I know I'm supposed to check in."
Still nothing.
"Twinkie, say something please."
"I'll see you when you get home Oliver." she replied before hanging up the phone.
Oliver pulled the phone from his ear and sighed. Tonight just wasn't his night.
Katie stood once again in the backyard of their house. The cold night breeze keeping her awake, not that she thought she could sleep anyway. She didn't miss this part. The being at home, not knowing where they were or what they were doing or if they were hurt or in danger. She didn't miss this feeling of helplessness.
She closed her eyes and inhaled the fresh air, when her phone once again rang. She let out a sigh as she looked down to the screen with a frown before answering.
"Do you know what time it is, Martin?"
"You're a night owl." Martin lightly chuckled. "I had the feeling you'd be awake."
"I'm almost afraid of what a late night call from you would be about."
"Probably the last thing you want to hear." Martin sighed. "It's about Alice Hayworth."
The moment Martin said the name, Katie stopped breathing. It had been a while since she's heard that name. The name of the woman who murdered her father.
"I've been monitoring her stay in the ARGUS prisoner facility, and I've just gotten word that she has been taken to the medical unit." Katie didn't say anything. "She's been vomiting and lethargic. She has cancer. Stage four. And she's refusing treatment." he paused for a moment, hoping for a response. "Without treatment, they don't think she's going to make it that long. The only thing she is asking for is to see you before she dies."
Katie pulled the phone from her ear and ended the call. After that, it happened quickly. A sudden burst of emotions, settled right on her chest. Her hands began shaking, so much her phone slipped from her fingers. Her knees seemed to suddenly give out, and she dropped in the grass gasping for air.
It was just her luck that the backdoor crept open.
"Katie?" came the sleep filled voice of Will.
Katie didn't hear him. The panic had taken over her entire body, paralyzing her right there in the middle of the back yard.
"Katie?!" he called before running over.
Will looked down to Katie, noticing her rapid breath, and the fact that she was shaking and he knew something was wrong.
"Don't worry, I'm going to call for help." Will said, spotting her phone and grabbing it.
Laurel and Thea walked into the cabin to find her father. Over on the couch was Black Siren who looked to be sleeping.
"Laurel, honey, I can explain." Quentin said and his daughter turned to him with a look of disbelief.
"I knew you were hiding something. You've been acting weird, and dodging my calls and I thought it was because of the Metropolis talk, but I was wrong, wasn't I?" she shook her head. "Go ahead explain it to me dad. Why is the evil bitch who has hurt and killed multiple people with my face, peacefully sleeping in my family's cabin?"
"Sweet heart, just—she's different. She saved my life and she saved others. I don't think she's who everyone thinks she is."
"Except, that's exactly who she is. You forget I was there—the place she came from and I heard the stories about her. This just—this doesn't make any sense. What is this?"
"Look when you were gone, and I thought—I thought I would never see you again. That you were gone, and then I see her and-"
"She's not me, dad. She's the furthest thing."
"That's just it, I'm not so sure. I know she's not you, really I do, and I know she's done some terrible things, but I think she wants to be different and I think she wants to make better choices." Quentin glanced over to the woman and sighed. "I saw her—" he turned back to Laurel. "I saw your face. The face of my baby girl, and I don't know what it is, but I couldn't just turn my back on her."
Laurel didn't say anything as she stared back to her father, still not believing any of this. Thea took a step forward.
"Have you talked to her about the money?" Thea asked.
"I'm building up to that."
"Look, I know how important she and- and this whole thing is to you." Thea sighed looking over to the man. "I get it. But the city is dying without that money. We need to find it."
"Right." Quentin nods looking from Thea back to his daughter. " Right, right. And, you know, I'll ask her. But she j-she just- she can't feel like she's being forced into something."
Laurel scoffed with a roll of her eyes as she shook her head.
"Ok, well, you're running out of time." Thea replied. "I got to call Ollie and get him in on this."
"Ok, I'm sorry, but your brother's not exactly known for his light touch, all right?" Quentin said. "And you and I, we both know that I am the only person with any chance of getting through to her."
"Oh, that's so sweet of you to think, Daddy, but Thea's right." Black Siren said, and they glanced over to her. "You should probably call your BFF."
Quentin turned away to looking over to Laurel, who moved around him.
"Laurel-" he tried in a cautious tone, but his daughter wasn't listening. Thea took a step forward, but Quentin grabbed her arm to stop her. "Just—just wait."
"Look I get you've seen a different side of her." Thea whispers. "But I'm not risking her hurting my pregnant friend."
Thea tugged from his grasp as she cautiously moved in closer.
Laurel walked over to stand in front of the woman on the couch. The two women looked upon each other with disdain and distrust.
Black Siren let her eyes move over the woman, settling on her pregnant belly for a few moments before lifting her eyes back to the woman.
"I don't know what game you're playing, but I will not let you drag my father into it."
"Well your dear ole dad is the one who did the dragging." Black Siren said casting a glance over to the man before turning back to Laurel. "So why don't you go save your little condescending threats for someone else." Black siren turned to Quentin and Thea. "Make the call."
Oliver groaned after ending the call with Thea. After learning of Quentin hiding Black Siren and she and Laurel finding him, he didn't know what made him more angrier. Quentin's lies, or Black Siren blackmailing him with getting her out of the city in exchange for the City's money.
"Speedy, text me the address." Oliver said before ending the call, and stalking off to grab his bow.
He'd only taken a step when his phone rang. He glanced down to see Katie's number, and he quickly answered.
"Twinkie, hey, I can't talk now, I will call you back." he ended the call before she could speak.
Time was running out and he needed to get the location of that money.
Everything after arriving at the cabin just seemed off to Ari. They'd realized halfway there, that the other team tagged Oliver with a tracking device. But they found it and destroyed it before arriving at the cabin.
She followed behind Oliver, as Felicity and John came in behind her. She looked across the room to see Quentin, Thea, and the two women with the same face.
"This isn't weird at all." Ari muttered.
"No it's totally weird." Felicity said and the teen looked over to her.
Ari's not surprised the woman was haggling for an exit out of the city and away from Dinah.
"Listen, Dinah's just got her scared, all right?" Quentin said. "And for good reason. She needs our protection. Which is why you should let me go with you." Laurel looked over to her father with wide eyes. "I'll make sure you get out of the country safely, and then we can start your new life together."
"Are you listening to yourself?!" Laurel angrily snapped and Quentin looked over to her. "No, seriously dad, do you hear what you are saying to the woman who is not your daughter." she walked around to stand in front of him. "Would you really leave, to go off with her, and just what—leave me, leave your grandchild."
"Honey, you've made it perfectly clear that you don't need me anymore. And have absolutely no problem leaving me."
"So this is about us going to Metropolis. Well dad, if you're giving me an ultimatum, then fine, we'll stay, but you're not leaving with her."
"I'm sorry sweetheart, but that's not your choice. She needs help and I'm going to help her."
"Well, well, well." Black Siren said. "That was quite the performance, but now that I know that it was only about the money, hard pass."
"Actually, Thea had it right earlier." Quentin replied. "I was more focused on getting through to you than the money, but I believe that if you'd had someone in your world to support you when things got bad, you wouldn't be a criminal." he looked over to the woman who met his eyes. "This is our chance to find out if I'm right. If, after a while, you decide that you don't want me there, I'll leave." he nods. "I promise. This time around, everything's down to you."
"Pack your sun block." the woman said after a moment. "I've always wanted to live somewhere tropical."
Laurel shook her head before storming out of the cabin. She only took a few steps outside, before she stopped and brought her hands to her face and just started crying.
"Laurel." Thea hurried after the woman, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Laurel, I'm sorry."
Laurel didn't say anything before turning, and Thea pulled her into a hug.
Back in the cabin, all eyes were on Quentin.
"Quentin The minute that she is out of the country, you get added to the list of people she's killed." Oliver said.
Quentin turned back to Black Siren.
"I'm betting otherwise." Quentin said, and the woman smiled over to him.
"And you trust her enough to risk yourself, to risk the city?" Oliver replied. "Tell me now."
"I do."
"Then so do I."
"I beg your fucking pardon?!" Ari asked and Oliver turned to her. "You can not be serious. The whole evil doppelganger thing is a trip, but that woman is absolutely going to deepest darkest cell ARGUS has to offer." Ari took a step forward, but Oliver grabbed her arm and pulled her back, into the hall by the door. "You're seriously doing this?"
"Ari, right now I have to prioritize what's more important. And that is getting this money back to the City."
"And to do that, you're going to help her evade being punished for her crimes?" Ari asked.
Oliver dropped his head, because this was the part of this whole thing he didn't want her to see. He didn't want to show her the downsides of what they did and that sometimes they had to make deals with the devil for the greater good.
"Ari, I'm all out of options. The city needs this money, and if I have to make this deal, then yes, that's what I'm going to do." he said and the disappointment in her eyes was like a kick to the gut. "Ari-" he took a step toward her, but she backed away.
They both turned at the sound of John crying out in pain. When they returned to the room they saw the man on the floor holding his arm.
"It's his arm." Oliver said, looking over to Felicity.
"Someone's hacking it remotely to broadcast our location." Felicity said looking over to Oliver and then to John.
"It's not "someone. " It's Curtis." Oliver replied. "They know where we are. Can you fix John?"
"I'm rebooting the chip now." Felicity walked over to crouch down beside John. "It's gonna be a while before you have full functionality. You're gonna be dealing with your post-injury symptoms for a bit."
"I'm aware." John groaned as he rubbed his arm.
Oliver let out a sigh, before turning, and realizing that Ari was gone.
"Ari?!" he said taking a step, but she was gone. He groaned before turning to Felicity. "How long do we have?"
"Based on the amount of time that's passed since we last lost them and now that they've attacked John, not long." Felicity replied.
Ari didn't know where she was going. She was in the middle of nowhere, on foot, just angry and sad and just plain disappointed.
She'd been on two teams tonight and neither were the people she thought they were. The mission, the point of it all was so clear to her. They do the right thing, every time. Maybe she was as naive as they thought. Just a kid who didn't know anything about the world. But what she did know was that, for her, this job, being a hero, meant doing just that.
Ari stopped walking at the sound of an explosion behind her. She turned and saw the distant flames, and sighed, because she figures at this point the other team had found them and there was probably some ridiculous fight happening right now.
She tells herself to keep walking. To find a road, call Katie and just go home, and yet, she feels that maybe this was her role in both the groups. Maybe she could be the one to stop this before they did something they couldn't take back.
Ari sighed, before taking off toward the fight. She arrived in time to see Rene firing off shots at someone. She sees Felicity running to block him and Ari's eyes go wide before she runs to stop the woman.
Felicity is about to jump in front of Rene's gun, hoping to get him to stop, before she's suddenly knocked to the ground. She lifts her head up to see Ari now standing in front of Rene, holding her hand.
"Ari!" Felicity screams.
"Are you crazy?!" Rene yelled at the girl, quickly lowering his gun.
"No, you are, you idiot?! Stop this!" Ari said looking back to the man who didn't say anything.
"Go help Curtis!" Dinah said to Rene as she ran past them.
Ari turned to see where she was running and figured she was going after Black Siren. She turned to see Rene running, and groaned before turning and following after Dinah.
Ari found Dinah, just as the woman swung her staff across the face of Black Siren who was lying on the ground injured and unarmed.
The teen growled, before reaching behind her and grabbing her two steel escrima sticks. She ran forward, and made it in time to block another swing from the woman.
"Funny running into you here." Ari said before throwing a kick and then another swing of her sticks, making Dinah stumble back. "I told you I'd meet you at this moment, didn't I?"
"Ari, you don't want to do this!' Dinah growled angrily. "I told you not to get in my way." the woman spun her staff. "I'm going to give one chance. Now move, so I can finish it."
"I can't let you do that, Dinah." Ari said giving her sticks a swing as well. "I'm not going to let you kill her. So if you got to fight a teenager to do that, then I guess we're doing it."
"I warned you, and now—now, I'm going show you that you should probably stay in a child's place."
And with that, Dinah swung her staff, and Ari blocked them before, before spinning to block another swing. The two seemed, the match each other's blow for blow, tossing in a kick every once in while, before Dinah swung her staff, knocking one of Ari's escrima sticks from her hand.
"You don't get it. I have to do this. I have to get justice for Vince."
"Where do you see justice, Dinah?" Ari asked. "You know I've been a part of two teams tonight, and I haven't seen an ounce of justice, or heroism. All I see are a bunch of adults running around hurting people because they're hurting."
The two women circled, each waiting for the other to make the next move.
"You made an oath when you picked up that badge!" Ari said looking over to the woman. "To protect and serve. That is not something you can take off and put back on when you feel like it. Dinah, I told you I wouldn't let you do this, because I know what happens after."
Ari glanced over to see Black Siren sitting up and sent a kick to her back.
"Stay down!" she huffed before turning back to Dinah. "Taking someone's life no matter how much you hate them, shouldn't be so easy. It shouldn't be something you do when you're grieving. Because once you do it, you can't take it back."
"She killed Vince." Dinah let out, trying to catch her breath.
"And killing her won't bring him back and it won't make you feel better." Ari replied. "The bitch who killed my mother is rotting away in some ARGUS prison right now. And I absolutely know that if I put my mind to it, I could find her, and I could put a bullet in her head, just like she did my mom. But my dad you know, he used to say, sweetie you always got to think ten steps ahead with any decision you make." Ari sighed. "Think ten steps ahead right now Dinah. You're not getting past me. I'm stopping you, because I believe in you, and I believe in the team we created away from Oliver. We promised we would be better. So be better." Ari gripped the stick in her hand. "And I promise you, that if I take you down, I will never let you forget it."
Ari watched Dinah for a moment, unsure what the woman was going to do, but after a moment, Dinah's grasp relented and she lowered her staff.
"I will not be put back in that cage!" Black Siren yelled before jumping to her feet and sending a sonic cry that sent Ari and Dinah flying back.
"That bitch!" Ari muttered before jumping to her feet.
"C'mon, we can still catch her." Dinah said as they prepared to run, only to stop when Oliver and John moved to block them.
"No, you can't." Oliver said before pulling an arrow from his quiver and shooting it toward Dinah.
The arrow turned out to be a neck collar, that strapped around her neck to prevent the sonic cry.
"No more advantages!"
"You're going to shoot me too?!" Ari asked looking over to him. "Because I'm going after her, even if I have to go through the both of you."
Ari gripped her escrima stick, before bolting off after Black Siren.
Oliver let out a groan, before reaching in his quiver and turning to shoot a bolo arrow that wrapped around her ankles, knocking her off her feet.
Oliver turned back around to see Curtis now running over to stand beside Dinah.
"Bang up dad you are." Dinah said looking over to the man. "And for your information, I don't need any advantages against you two. Your daughter put up a better fight."
Curtis nudges his head toward John who is showing obvious signs of pain.
"He's still hurting." he says.
"Don't get soft now, Curtis."
They turn to see Rene, unsteadly walking over.
"We're just-" the man coughs. "Getting started."
They watch as Rene, drops to his knees and Curtis quickly runs over.
"Rene!" Curtis drops down beside him to see how badly beat up the man was.
"Dad!" Laurel and Thea run over to find Quentin lying unconscious on the ground.
Thea lifts her head to her brother, and then over to Dinah, Curtis and Rene before turning to see Ari and she quickly rushes over to the teen.
"Hey, are you ok?" Thea asked as Ari sat up, and grabbed the pocket knife from her boot to cut the bolo.
"We need to get him to a hospital!" Curtis yelled and they all turned to him. "Now!"
Ari, no longer able to look or speak to Oliver, ended up leaving with Dinah, Curtis and Rene. They got changed and took Rene to the hospital where he was whisked away into an exam room.
The three of them sat in the hall, in chairs outside of his room waiting for Ethan to come out and tell them if their friend was going to be ok.
Ari stood up from the chair and began pacing back and forth, before her eyes caught sight of a clock.
"That's not the time, is it?" Ari asked glancing over to Dinah and Curtis.
She turned her eyes back to the clock.
"Because if that really is the time, I should've been dragged kick and screaming by Katie like a couple of hours ago." she turned away, now suddenly nervous. "I have to get home." she looked over to them. "Call me if you get any news?"
"Yeah, of course." Curtis said.
Ari nods before turning and walking down the hall.
"Hey, Ari!" Dinah called and the teen stopped and turned to see her walking over. "About what happened-"
"You mean before when I kicked your ass?"
"I think it was a tie." Dinah said and Ari just laughed.
"You know we're not going to let her get away, right?" Ari asked. "Black Siren, we will find her, and we will arrest her. That's the justice we're going to get for Vince."
"Thank you for saying that." Dinah said. "If it wasn't for you, I would've—I would've done something I couldn't take back. That isn't justice." the woman sighed. "I'm—I'm grateful to you, you know, for knocking some sense into me."
"Yeah, well the speech worked because I have faith in you Dinah." Ari smiled. "Plus, you really weren't getting past me. I was actually taking it easy on you."
Ari laughed before turning and heading for the elevator.
When Ari walked into the house, it was dead silent. She glanced over into the living room, but didn't see anyone, but the television was on. She walked over to the couch, and glanced down to see Will lying there asleep. She looked down to him in confusion, before she heard a noise from the kitchen and went to check it out.
She pushed open the door, to find Katie standing at the sink, looking out the window to the backyard.
"So I know I'm coming in like way past curfew, but I have the greatest explanation." Ari said walking over and letting out a heavy sigh. "It was kind of a crazy night and I-"
"Go to bed, Ari." Katie suddenly said her voice eerily calm.
Ari looked over to the woman who still hadn't turned from the window, and she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.
"Look, I know you made the curfew rules, and I'm not supposed to be late or anything and I'm sorry, tonight, I just couldn't help it."
"Ari, I said, go to bed," Katie turned to her with piercing eyes. "Right now."
Ari nods as she backs away, before turning and running up the steps.
Katie stood there, feeling the tears as they pricked her eyes, and once again turned back to the window. She took a moment before walking out the back door.
Oliver returned home, with too much on his mind to find comfort in just being home. It was usually his safe space. The place he could go and find peace. Peace was the last thing he was finding. Black Siren was gone and with her, any chance of getting that money back. And in a couple of hours he was going to have to sit in front of a bunch of cameras to tell them how he failed.
He walked inside, glancing up the steps before turning at the glow of the television. He walked over, grabbing the remote and turning it off, before turning to see Will. He placed a hand on the boy's head before turning at the feel of cold air.
He glances over to the kitchen and heads inside, to see the back door open. When he walks over to the door, he lets out a sigh when he sees Katie standing out in the back yard.
Oliver walks over to stand beside her. He glanced over to her, but she didn't turn her gaze away from the large tree.
"Tonight shouldn't have happened. I should've called you to let you know what was going on so you didn't worry." he sighed. "You should be sleeping right now, not waiting up for us."
Katie let out a snort, that turned into a laugh as she turned to the man.
"I should be sleeping? Really?" she shook her head as she continued to laugh. "Right, I should be upstairs in our bed, peacefully sleeping while my husband and my daughter are-" she shook her head. "Oliver, you're unbelievable."
"Twinkie-"
"And I just let you. I take it easy on you. I don't put too much pressure on you to do the things you're supposed to do as husband or a father." she turned to him. "I let you define what those two things mean for you." Oliver dropped his head. "And I shouldn't do this right now, because I'm guessing your plan to find Black Siren and convince her to hand over the City's money didn't work. You're having a bad night, and I'm not supposed to make it worse."
Oliver lifted his eyes to Katie and just nods.
"Twinkie, I told you, you can say whatever you feel, when you feel it. Even now."
She didn't say anything as she looked at him, and everything she wanted to say was just on the tip of her tongue. And it was mean, and it was harsh, and cruel, and she doesn't think that she is programmed to be any of those things to him no matter how angry she was with him.
Katie shook her head before turning away, back to look over to that tree.
"Forgiveness to me, means that I believe that you've made mistakes,and that if given the chance, you would not make them again. The fact that you've been making the same mistakes over and over again-"she glanced over to Oliver. "That's why I can't forgive you."
"Katie?"
Katie and Oliver turned to see Will standing at the door. The boy hurried over to her, and Katie walked to meet and bringing her arms around him.
"Will, it's late, and I told you I'm fine." Katie said sliding her hands gently across his back.
"You weren't fine." Will said pulling back to look at the woman before looking over to his father. "And you hung up the phone."
Oliver suddenly remembered the phone call from Katie. He glanced from Katie to Will.
"Wait, that was you that called?"
"Yeah, and you didn't even let me talk before you hung up the phone!" Will said
"Hey, I'm ok." Katie said bringing a hand to his cheek. "I promise." she placed a kiss to the top of his head. "It's super late, go up to bed."
Will looked at her for a moment, a bit hesitant to leave, but he pulled away, casting one final look to his father, before heading back into the house.
"I'm sorry, I didn't-" Oliver said and Katie turned to him. "We had a lead on Black Siren when he called and I-" he sighed thinking back to that moment and how he directed all of his focus on Black Siren and the 70 million and realized that he actually hung up on a call from his son. "He's right, I hung up the phone." he lifted his eyes to Katie. "I'm so sorry, that will absolutely never happen again. Did—did something happen?"
"Yeah, it did. My little mental tricks to stop the panic attacks didn't work. And I had a really bad one tonight, and I probably scared him to death. After you hung up, I snapped out of it."
"Aw, Twinkie, I'm-" Oliver took a step, but she backed away. "You needed me. Will needed me, and I wasn't there."
"You know I think tonight we both learned that maybe we didn't need you." Katie said.
"Twinkie-"
Oliver's phone rang and he couldn't help once again feeling the tug of all of his responsibilities pulling at him all at once.
"There goes that bitch reality again, huh?" Katie said heading for the door. "You should get going. We'll be fine."
Author's Note:
Darn, it just feels like they take one step forward only to bw shoved ten stepa back.
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Sneak Peek
She dropped her eyes back to the phone. "I have to go, give Damian my love, and let him know I take personal offense to him not returning my call."
"Yeah, I'll uh—" Bruce paused when the door behind him opened and in walked Damian.
"Is that him?" Felicity asked pulling the phone closer. "What's that on your head?" the boy got closer, and that's when she realized it was a bandage. "What happened?"
Damian looked from the phone to Bruce, neither saying anything.
"Someone better start talking!" Felicity replied. Looking between the two, and all of a sudden it clicked. "Wait, wait, please don't tell me—" she shook her head. "You let him be Robin, didn't you?"