Chapter 7: World on Fire
Past – May 18, 2016 – 4 months ago
"I never thought Mommy and I would get a special day out together," Lonnie said chipperly as he led Thea through the web of tunnels under the Ark's neighborhood. Thea could feel her skin crawl every time he called her "Mommy". It was so unhinged and disturbingly personal. But what was at stake was bigger than her comfort – she was trying to save the world.
"Are you sure you know how to get a message out from here?" Thea asked, feeling wary that she had just made a deal with the devil.
"Oh, of course!" Lonnie said confidently. "I've already been down here a week and have a pretty good idea of what's where." He shrugged casually and said, "After torturing a handful of those hideous guards, it seems that Damien isn't even down here yet. Sending him a message is the best way to make sure he responds to my invitation to play!"
Thea despised Damien for what he had done to her city, his hit on Felicity which had ended in her paraplegia, and nearly killing Laurel during his prison break, so siccing Lonnie on him seemed like a solid plan. Somehow it still left Thea with a nervous feeling - a playful Lonnie was certainly not a stable Lonnie.
Lonnie suddenly stopped in front of Thea. "Here we are!" Lonnie crowed, obviously pleased. "Up, up, up!"
Thea looked up to find herself at a similar access chute to the one she had climbed down to reach Lonnie. Thea looked back at Lonnie in confusion.
"The control tower, Mommy!" Lonnie said excitedly. "The crow's nest! It's up, up, up! They control their world from the sky!"
"So, the command center with the ability to transmit messages out is up there?" Thea asked, wary of Lonnie's excitement and not entirely certain he wasn't walking her into a trap.
Lonnie grinned and nodded. Then he grandly gestured for her to go first. "Up you go!"
Thea looked up. With a deep breath, she pulled her SWAT helmet back on and mounted the ladder to begin her climb. A moment later, she felt the ladder vibrate and looked down to see Lonnie climbing up behind her, meeting her gaze with a smirk. Thea mentally groaned, but turned and kept climbing up.
Thea did her best to stay relaxed as she took the final step up and into the watch tower. She needed to appear as though she belonged here. She looked around from behind her helmet's face mask and identified four HIVE guards covering the room while Ruvé and little Nora Darhk sat relaxed on two captain's chairs. Thea made her way casually to stand between two guards.
The moment Lonnie emerged from the pipe, all hell broke loose.
All four guards began to make their way towards Lonnie. Thea struck the guard nearest to her with the butt of her gun and then fired off a shot which nicked the other guard in the shoulder. Lonnie whipped out his electrified baton and stabbed out at the guard nearest him, head-butting the other. Ruvé grabbed a screaming Nora by the hand and pulled her out of the line of fire and next to the window looking over the neighborhood below.
Thea knelt and quickly zip tied each of her two guards to the closest solid metal surfaces. Thea looked over to see that one of Lonnie's guards was clearly dead and he was happily torturing the second.
"Lonnie! Stop!" Thea called out, horrified.
Lonnie met her eyes, clearly unimpressed, hand unmoving from where he held his baton against the guard's arm. "Mommy doesn't know how to break a few eggs to make an omelet, does she?"
Thea shook her head wearily, "Tie him up – we need to contact my team."
She rushed over to the console. She did her best to navigate a wide range of options' menus and controls. Finally, she found a video call button and quickly input Felicity's cell phone number.
A moment later, Felicity's face appeared on the screen with the Bunker in the background. As soon as she was on the screen, Felicity's face almost instantaneously changed from hopeful to fearful. Felicity demanded in a gruff, angry voice, "Who are you? How did you know how to contact me?"
Thea was momentarily shocked by Felicity's cold response before remembering the helmet concealing her identity. Thea pulled the helmet off her head. "Felicity, it's me!"
Felicity's face changed again, this time to relief. "Oh thank god, Thea! Where are you? Are you okay? Your brother is out looking for you!"
"We don't have time for that, Felicity!" Thea cut her sister-in-law off in a panic. "I know what Darhk is planning – he is planning a nuclear holocaust -"
"Thea," Felicity cut Thea's ramblings off. "We're okay – we stopped it." Felicity reassured Thea quickly.
"You … it's … oh, thank god," Thea breathed out. "Ha, I thought it was the end of the world!"
"We did too!" Felicity admitted. "That's straightened out, we just need to get you. Look, let me patch the team in on your call. Green Arrow, do you copy?"
"Yes, I'm here." Oliver's voice came through the screen and Thea felt like she could melt with relief. "Felicity, what's going on?"
"Green Arrow, I've got Thea on the line. Thea, where are you?"
Thea said, "I'm in the Ark. It's this massive compound sixty feet underground. There's thousands of civilians in here, all followers of Damien Darhk."
"Hello!" Lonnie said cheerily, stepping into the frame and waving at Felicity.
Felicity's eyes went wide. "Um, Thea? Is that … Lonnie Machin?"
"We're having Mommy and me time!" Lonnie said with a pleasant grin. "Mommy is a real ball buster. She's hot as hell."
"Lonnie," Thea said, doing her best to keep the disgust out of her voice and pointedly ignoring the horrified look on Felicity's face. "Why don't you just check on Ruvé and Nora." She turned back to the screen. "We're combining our efforts. Lonnie is actually the one who helped me find the watchtower to get this call out."
"I've been able to triangulate your call – I can send the team to your location." Felicity said, clearly focusing on typing something into her computer. Felicity relayed, "Thea's signal is coming from the intersection of Berkely and Childress."
"On it," Oliver said over comms.
"Ohhh Mommy!" Lonnie said, a wildness in his sing-song tone. "Look what Damien's girl-toy has." Lonnie tossed Thea a cell phone that he pulled from Ruvé's pocket. "Looks like we're gonna die anyway," he said, beginning to laugh as if the thought tickled him.
Thea glanced at the screen.
Bring Nora. Meet at Carey Point. We'll burn the Ark and start again.
"Shit, Felicity!" Thea said, looking up. "It's Darhk! His next move is to destroy the Ark with everyone still in it!"
Oliver said quickly, "He's going to absorb the power and then move on!"
"I wouldn't be so sure – after all, his lady and spawn aren't going anywhere," Lonnie noted, running a knife blade next to Ruvé's throat. "Give me the phone," he directed Thea. Thea tossed it back. Lonnie took a selfie with Ruvé and Nora, and then shot off a text to Darhk. "I think he'll come now." Lonnie said pleasantly.
"Umm, I think it's too late …" Thea said nervously, looking at the control screen in front of her. A count-down of twenty minutes lit up the screen. "Hey Felicity – you just stopped some big bombs. Do you think you can stop one more?"
Diggle pushed the gas on the SUV as he raced towards Childress and Berkely with Oliver, Laurel, and Lance in tow. "Felicity," Oliver asked, voice sharp with determination. "Any luck disarming the bomb in the Ark?"
"No," Felicity said, her voice low and tense with nerves. "I'm getting nothing – I have no idea how Darhk armed it from outside of the Ark. It doesn't look like there is any connection to the web or to an external point!"
"There are thousands of people in here, Felicity," Thea's voice noted over Oliver's comm. Oliver could hear the sound of his sister madly clicking on the computer on her end. "A bunch of them are kids and nearly all of them are civilians. We're at five minutes and counting - we can't let this bomb detonate!"
"I understand, but the pressure is not helping!" Felicity snapped.
As soon as Digg stopped the car, Oliver leapt out the door and scanned his surroundings. "Felicity, there's nothing here!" Oliver shouted, seeing nothing but buildings ahead and clear lots to either side of him.
"I don't know what to tell you, that's where Thea's signal originated from!"
Laurel stepped up to survey the area alongside Oliver. "You said the Nexus Chamber was accessible through a secret door. Maybe we just aren't looking at this the right way. Thea said the Ark is sixty feet underground – we're not looking for an Ark – we're looking for an access point."
Oliver nodded, spinning again to look for something smaller, but out of place.
"Shit, it's Darhk," Thea's fearful voice said over comms. Oliver felt helpless as he stood by listening to the drama playing out through his headset. The sounds were muffled, but intense: voices shouted, followed by gunshots. A child screamed. Then the speaker burst with a loud noise followed by deep silence.
Oliver felt the ground shudder underneath his feet – he raised his arms out in the air to steady himself as the world trembled. As the shaking stopped, so did Oliver's heart.
Felicity's voice broke through Oliver's shock, chanting emotionally. "No. Oh no. No no no -"
Oliver tried to push aside the pit that had formed in his stomach and asked Felicity harshly, "Felicity, what was that?"
"It can't be …" Felicity said, voice thick, stunned. "Oh god, it went off. The bomb went off. Oliver, the Ark…" Felicity drifted off, unable to finish.
Oliver shook his head staring ahead. "No …" His mind went blank. It couldn't be. He was just talking with her. They were so close to finding her. Not when they were so close. Thea ….
Numbly, Oliver turned to see Laurel in her Black Canary uniform. As he watched, two tears drifted down Laurel's cheeks. Oliver shook his head at Laurel, denying her reaction.
Laurel said heartbrokenly, her voice catching, "Ollie…"
"No," Oliver said, rejecting Laurel's pity - her grief. He turned away, unable to stand looking at the sorrow in her eyes. "No!"
Laurel walked into Oliver's space and pulled him into a grief-filled hug. Oliver felt his eyes start to fill, but he still shook his head no. He couldn't believe it. He wouldn't. Thea had to be fine … she just had to.
Oliver numbly looked around him. While he and Laurel had shut down, Diggle and Lance hadn't stopped searching for an entrance to the Ark. Oliver saw them inspecting some kind of sewer main cover which Lance was busy prying.
Suddenly the cover flew off and Lance stepped back. Flowing out, one at a time, panicked people in gray jumpsuits began streaming out of the hole, coughing and screaming for each other. Heat and smoke poured out of the hole along with the men, women, and children.
"What the hell?" Digg asked in awe.
Oliver pulled out of Laurel's hug and made his way towards the cover. He had to push his way past the building crowd of gray jumpsuits.
As he watched, Malcolm Merlyn emerged, face covered in soot. His eyes were clear and his expression was managed in the midst of the hysteria around him.
Merlyn hadn't even gotten his foot firmly on the earth when Oliver gripped his collar and pulled Merlyn to face him. Through grit teeth, Oliver demanded, "Where is she, you psychopath?" Merlyn sputtered, clearly not expecting to be immediately assaulted after surviving the flames below.
"Ollie," a thin voice called out, cut off by wild coughing. Oliver felt his heart stop again. Still gripping onto Merlyn he slowly turned.
There, wearing SWAT gear covered in dark soot and being held up by Laurel for support, was Thea. Alive. "I'm here," Thea said gently to her brother.
Dropping his grip on Merlyn, Oliver covered the ground in a heartbeat and had Thea in his arms.
"You're okay," he said, voice rough with emotion. He pulled back to look at her face. "You are okay?" he asked.
Thea smiled tremulously, "I'm fine. Darhk's dead."
"What happened?" Oliver asked.
Thea glanced back to lock eyes with Merlyn.
Fifteen Minutes Ago
"There are thousands of people in here, Felicity," Thea noted, hoping the lives at stake would inspire her sister-in-law to pull off a miracle. Even while she spoke, Thea was clicking everywhere she could on the screen, seeking any way she could disarm Darhk's bomb. Thea added, "A bunch of them are kids and nearly all of them are civilians. We're at five minutes and counting - we can't let this bomb detonate!"
Felicity's anxious voice responded, "I understand, but the pressure is not helping!"
There was a sudden shift in the room's atmosphere, as if an unnatural stillness had fallen. Thea turned around. Damien Darhk stood at the top of the entrance shaft. "Shit, it's Darhk," Thea told her team. She was surprised to see how still Darhk stood, while the expression on his face was one of … fear?
Thea turned and discovered why. Lonnie Machin was gripping little Nora Darhk to himself like a shield while he jammed a gun against Nora's head. Nora had tears streaming down her cheeks. "Well, well, well …" Lonnie said contentedly. "It looks like you finally have an idea of who really has value here, huh? If only you'd known what you were losing when you threw me away like trash!"
Thea left the computer screen, praying that Felicity had the bomb disarming in hand. She began to slowly approach Lonnie where he held Nora tight to him while Ruvé stood terrified five or so paces away.
Darhk pled softly, "Leave her. Be a man and come at me."
Thea took another step, just out of reach of Nora.
"Eh," Lonnie responded casually. The overly calm tone set Thea's heart-racing. "I don't think so."
Just as Lonnie gripped down to discharge the gun, Thea leapt and gripped the barrel with her hand. As the gun fired, Thea yanked it to aim past Nora.
Her hand suddenly felt like it was on fire. Before she could look down to see why, she heard Ruvé scream and charge at her and Lonnie with a piece of pipe held above her head. As suddenly as her charge started, Ruvé stopped in her tracks, eyes wide, and fell to the ground. Two arrows were lodged into her back.
Nora screamed for her mother, in absolute terror. Malcolm stepped out from the shadows, aiming an arrow at Damien. "It's over, Darhk," he said evenly, stepping over Ruvé's body. "I've spent the day relocating your 'doomsday' devices to the basement. When that clock hits '0', all air scrubbers and life-support will be destroyed. But don't worry about your followers. They are already being led out by your 'HIVE'. See, your soldiers felt some kind of way after they discovered your back-up plan for if your nukes failed. They had the realization that they would never get a slice of your little paradise. They'd just end up dead."
Darhk hollered in grief and anger and made to charge at Malcolm. A single gunshot rang through the air. Darhk's face slacked as a small red dot appeared on his forehead with a trickle of blood. Thea turned to see Lonnie holding his gun steadily aimed at Darhk. With a burst of speed, Lonnie ran forward and shoved Damien backwards. Damien seemed to hover in place for a moment – then he plunged into the shaft.
From deep below, the world began to rumble and flames flickered up through the shaft.
"Come on," Malcolm ordered.
Thea reached out and grabbed Nora's hand and Lonnie followed behind as they pursued Malcolm, winding through passages under flickering emergency lights. As they walked, the air became harder to breath. "The scrubbers are out," Malcolm said, glancing back at the group as they struggled to get a deep breath. "The air is filling with Co2."
As they moved further, they discovered an inferno blocking their path. Flames flickered and ate at the tunnel in front of them. Thea could feel her heart stop. Where would they go now? The world was on fire and they were quickly losing air.
Malcolm looked around and then fired several arrows into the ceiling. Tiles from the ceiling, already destabilized from the fire, came lose and fell to the ground, temporarily making a path through the flame and kicking up black ash. "Come on, we have to move!" Malcolm called, tamping over the path. Thea fixed her courage and tugged Nora across the tiles, feeling the heat through her shoes.
They trudged along for several more minutes, not finding further fire damage. Finally, they came to a junction filled with fleeing followers of Darhk. Malcom shoved his way through the crowd of people and clambered up the ladder to the daylight above. Thea urged Nora to climb the ladder, and, as she went to mount it, finally Thea's attention was drawn back to her hand.
Thea was horrified to find that, where she had redirected Lonnie's gun, her left thumb was completely taken off. She was also bewildered to see how slowly it was bleeding. It must be due to being gunked up by soot, she thought. Thea's stomach lurched, but she pushed the pain aside and, tugging her sleeve over her hand, climbed with her remaining fingers as best as she could.
She lifted her right hand out of the mouth of the hole and felt a hand grab hers. The helping hand tugged and gave her extra momentum as she climbed out. Thea stumbled as her feet hit solid ground and her body rebelled at the feeling of clean air by forcing her to cough wildly. A solid body clung on to her, holding her upright as she coughed.
When her coughing stopped, she looked over to find she was supported by none other than Black Canary. Relief flowed through Thea's body – she had fought so hard for two days and she was finally safe. She had never been happier to see her roommate and dear friend.
Tears swam in Laurel's eyes and she said softly, "I am so glad to see you."
Then Laurel looked away, attention pulled by something happening nearby. Thea followed Laurel's gaze with her own and saw Green Arrow clutching Merlyn by his collar, demanding in a gruff, furious voice, "Where is she, you psychopath?"
Thea didn't think about Oliver's secret identity – even with the mask on, she only saw her brother. Thea called out, "Ollie." She was discomfited to find how weak her voice was and even saying so little caused her to cough again.
Thea watched as her brother turned to look at her, releasing Malcolm, who stumbled back, gripping his throat. "I'm here," Thea reassured.
In an instant, Oliver had Thea in his arms, as if trying to reassure himself and her that she was safe and solid. Thea watched over Ollie's shoulder as some ambulance workers coaxed Nora Darhk to sit in the back of an ambulance. Thea's eyes filled with tears, hurting for the little orphaned girl who had just witnessed her parents' deaths. Thea remembered all too well what that felt like. Oliver's hold stabilized her and she pushed the sorrow out of her mind to enjoy the feeling of being safe.
Oliver pulled back, glancing over Thea to see how she was. She must have passed his inspection, because in the next breath, Ollie demanded to hear what had happened in the Ark. Thea explained to Oliver and Laurel, now joined by Diggle and Lance, "Darhk showed up and things were going sideways, when," Thea sighed, hating to admit it, " Malcolm showed up. He killed Ruvé and Lonnie killed Darhk."
Lonnie approached and, clearly having listened in, noted, "Mommy is squeamish – she wouldn't let me kill Darhk's demon spawn. But it's cool -" Lonnie said cooly with a shrug. "Now Mommy has a mark from me too!"
Oliver looked confused and ran his eyes over Thea, his gaze finally settling on her hand. He went to grab her arm, but Thea took a small step back. Oliver refused to be dodged, and grabbed at her arm, pulling her hand up to look at it. "Thea, your hand …" Oliver said, distressed.
The sight of her hand made Thea feel a little queasy, but she wasn't about to give Lonnie the satisfaction of seeing it. In the daylight it was clear that the strike of Lonnie's bullet had amputated over half of her thumb and taken an additional chunk out of her hand. Blood was mixed with soot pressed deep into the wounds, which had ragged edges. It wasn't actively bleeding, but it made Thea antsy to have it uncovered.
"It's fine," Thea minimized quickly, sensing her brother's agitation. "I'll get it stitched up."
Lance said matter-of-factly, "That's gonna need more than stitches, kid. An amputation like that's gonna take a specialist."
Thea gave Lonnie a pointed look, saying, "It was worth it. That little girl didn't deserve to get shot in the head!" Lonnie just grinned, cocking his head sidewise as he stared at her. Thea said slowly, "I am grateful for your help, so I'm not going to stop you. But if you harm anyone, and I mean anyone, know I will find you."
"Super hot," Lonnie commented emphatically with a smirk. He began to back away and gave a little wave. "See you around, Mommy!" He vanished into the crowded streets which were now filled with Darhk's followers, police cruiser and officers, and ambulances with medical teams.
Thea saw Merlyn standing outside of their group, eyeing them with disdain. "Malcolm," Thea called. Malcolm walked up as Digg stepped away to avoid him. Malcolm stood, hand against his bow like a staff and looked at Thea expectantly. Thea mused that in the span of a day, Malcolm had gone from a Darhk disciple to leader of the coup.
Out loud, Thea stated, "You changed your mind."
Malcolm placidly said, "I found out my daughter would not survive the apocalypse: the math changed." They met eyes, and Thea understood. Malcolm was ready to let the world burn … but he was not willing to let her burn with it. Thea squinted her eyes, studying him. Then she nodded.
Suddenly Thea's eyes went wide. "The guards! I tied them up- " Her stomach dropped, remembering the men who she zip-tied in the suburban mansion in which Malcolm had imprisoned her. The life-support systems were no longer scrubbing the CO2 from the air and the fire was consuming the idyllic neighborhood below – if they were not already dead, the guards would be soon. Thea made to move back towards the entrance to the Ark.
Malcolm held a hand out to stop Thea's mad rush, chuckling. "I found them and released them. I should have known better than to leave you with anything other than the best. Those men never stood a chance of containing you." Malcolm gave a bemused grin down at her hand, "Guess your brother's hand is safe. Consider us even." Malcolm raised his prosthetic hand into Thea's view and wiggled the fingers at her. Malcolm turned and disappeared into the crowd.
Thea watched as people streamed around her. She could hear Felicity tinnily through the hanging headset that Oliver had rested on his shoulder saying that Darhk's followers were being reported as coming out of exits all over the city in the thousands.
It was bewildering to consider - if it wasn't for Malcolm – if it wasn't for Lonnie – all of these people would be dead. She had fought for two long days to free herself and to help save the world and in the end, the day had been saved by two of the most unhinged men in existence.
She was suddenly overwhelmed. It was as if all of the emotions from the past two days caught up with her now that she was safe. She remembered what it felt like to be alone and with the weight of the survival of the world on her shoulders. The fear that a single wrong move could mean the world ended in a nuclear Armageddon. Even as she willed herself to stop, tears began streaming down her cheeks and she let out an unintentional sob. She turned to avoid the eyes of her teammates.
"Thea, come here," she heard her brother say and felt a gentle hand on her shoulder, turning her around and back into his arms. She rested her head against his chest and couldn't hold back. She sobbed, tears flowing unchecked.
"You rescued yourself," Oliver said, pride in his voice. "And every one of these people." Thea let out another watery sob, not feeling like a hero. "You did a great job, Speedy."