Today was the day. I could still remember that day six months ago, just like I could remember the first time she had said it. I just hoped that things wouldn't end the same way. I had to do whatever I could to save my mother's life, even if it meant taking a bullet for her. I was pretty sure that I would heal from it. More likely would be me just fighting off Slade. I had dreamt about it and I was pretty sure that was how she survived in the modified timeline. There was no way I would let her die.
I sat in the car as I prepared to go into the courthouse. Iris came and let me out. Even though I was pretty sure that she would be fine, I was still nervous. I was fairly certain that she would get off, but I wasn't sure how. I also didn't know what would happen if Donner fell ill because Dinah wasn't a lawyer in this world. Part of me wondered if there would just be an incompetent who failed to make a case on why not only my mother broke the law, but also why she should be put to death.
We got out of the car and immediately, we were swarmed by reporters. I knew that giving a statement before the trial would be a bad idea because I didn't want to say anything that could be used against her.
The other thing that I was nervous about was The Count. I couldn't be sure that he had escaped from prison. I was pretty sure that Iron Heights or the police wouldn't say anything about any inmates escaping during the quake, so there was likely no way to confirm or deny it without hacking into prisoner logs.
Some of the questions the reporters were asking were very inappropriate, but I knew that I needed to ignore them. It was my best not to say anything. They were hoping for a story or some kind of truth bomb, but they wouldn't be getting anything from me or my family. At the moment, it was just me, Thea, Malcolm and Tommy. Emiko would be at the trial, but she wouldn't be sitting with us. Courtney was also going to be there since she had gotten permission from the school. Mia would not be there. Dinah would be sitting next to us. I had suggested Tommy hold off from proposing until after trial.
"Are you okay?" Iris asked us.
"I should be asking you that." Malcolm remarked. "Miss West, you like ill right now."
"Well I got a flu shot, so I don't think that's very likely." Iris commented. Okay, that pretty much confirmed it. The Count had escaped and it would be a hindrance to us. I just really hoped that I would be able to be there for the verdict, but I needed to do whatever I could to stop The Count. I would also need to where to find him. "I'm fine."
"You don't look fine. You shouldn't be working if you're sick." Tommy remarked. "You can consider this your doctor's note."
We walked into the courtroom without her. I couldn't help but wonder how long it would take for her to get over the withdrawal symptoms. I needed to make sure that she had plenty of water, but the unfortunate thing was that I wasn't able to take care of her at the moment.
I watched as Mom walked into the courtroom in handcuffs. I was pretty sure it wasn't necessary since she wasn't a threat, but I supposed it was standard procedure. They unlocked them as she sat down next to Barbara.
For starters, they played the video of the news conference.
"It worked. The Glades was destroyed and homes and businesses were destroyed and hundreds of lives were lost." Donner declared. "Sure she showed remorse, but on behalf of the 502 lives that were lost that day I say, Moira Queen, your remorse comes too late."
Barbara then played the video back.
"Why wouldn't Moira Queen be terrified. Her husband attempted to kill her daughter when she was only 11 years old, killed her friend Frank Chen, and abducted her second husband." Barbara stated. "Why wouldn't she be in fear for life, and the lives of her family? What would you do? As a mother myself, I know that I would whatever I could to protect my children from a madman like that."
I looked over at Courtney when she said that. It was later in the day when I got a text from Mia saying that Iris had collapsed. The thing was that I couldn't leave the trial until a recess was called. I really hated not being able to help my friend out. Fortunately, there was one and I spoke to Malcolm.
"So I just found out that Iris passed out. I need to go be with her. I don't have to testify today, so please let me go." I explained.
"I can come with you if you want." Tommy offered. It probably would be a good idea to have an actual doctor treat her. I quickly texted Courtney to come with us. Tommy drove us to the club because his license was no longer suspended. It was kind of ironic that he would be helping us with this vertigo stuff. I took Tommy downstairs.
"What are you doing here?" She asked. "I asked Mia not to call you."
"Yeah but that was before you were on the floor." Mia responded.
"Who are you again?" Tommy asked.
"Tommy, that's really not important right now." I pointed out.
"These symptoms look familiar. I think I've had them before." Tommy remarked. "Iris, I think you may be suffering from the effects of vertigo."
"But how would she get dosed with it?" Courtney asked. This was going to be kind of awkward to talk about, especially around Tommy. "You put The Count away. He's serving several life sentences."
"Mia, can you check prisoner logs at Iron Heights? See if anyone escaped during the quake." I instructed as she went over to the computer.
"Yes, he escaped and it seems that the prison and the police are covering up his escape just like they did with the Dollmaker." Mia explained. "We need to find out where he is hiding."
At that point, I grabbed an arrow. I was admittedly frustrated. I knew that I would probably have to kill him again.
"So one of the few criminals that you didn't kill is back now." Tommy remarked.
"It was still the right choice not to kill him and I'm going to do everything that I can not to kill him now." I responded. "Do we have any information that could help us find him?"
At that point, I took out a needle and filled it with my blood.
"This should help counteract the effects of vertigo, but I can't guarantee that it will fully heal her or how long it will take." I stated as I handled the syringe to Tommy. "I need to get back to the trial. Can you stay with her and give me any updates on her or if you find anything out about The Count."
I made it back in time for Thea to testify.
"When was the first time that you heard about this so-called Undertaking?" Donner asked her. Since I was a minor, I couldn't be called as a witness for the prosecution. I could be cross-examined if called as a witness for the defense though.
"When everyone else did. When my mother gave the press conference." Thea answered.
"It doesn't seem like you took it too well." Donner commented. "Iron Heights records show that you didn't see her until nearly five months after the quake. Why did you wait so long?"
"Are you okay?" Thea asked as he slumped over.
"An answer please." He demanded. "Why did it take you so long to visit your mother?"
"Objection." Barbara interjected.
"Overruled." The judge replied. "I need to hear this."
"I needed time. I was…" Thea replied.
"Angry?" He interrupted. "So angry that it took you five months to forgive her?"
"It was complicated." Thea argued.
"No, it's very simple. You blamed your mother for what you've done. So why shouldn't the jury?" Donner asked. Well that did not go well. "Your honor, we have no more questions for the…"
With that, he also collapsed. Part of me wondered how often there were emergencies in the courtroom. Now I really wondered who was going to take over. I couldn't help but wonder what it was going to take to convince the jury. So far things weren't looking good for us. I could tell that we would have a little bit more time as they tried to figure out who was going to be taking over as prosecutor. The Count really was an evil son of a bitch for what he had done. Who would poison flu shots. I hoped that the anti-vaccination people wouldn't find out about this because it would give them even more conspiracies to go off of. At least they were small. Hopefully there would never be a widespread resistance to vaccines because I wasn't sure if the world could handle something like that.
They had to call 911 to take him away. It was also not a good time for there not to be a doctor in the courtroom, but I was pretty sure that there wouldn't be any way for Tommy to treat him there even if he had been there.
"Hey, are you okay?" I asked Thea.
"Yeah I'm fine." She replied.
I then followed my mother into the room that the defense used. I didn't know the actual name for it.
"Well that could have gone better." Barbara commented. "We were hoping that Thea's testimony would help but it actually hurt us. We're going to have another route. We are going to need Olivia to testify."
"You know the things that the prosecution has. I don't know if it would be a good idea to let that stuff get out." Mom commented.
"Whether they're talking to you or they're talking to Olivia, it's going to come out because it's one of their secrets." Barbara responded. You know I didn't know how mine or Emiko's parentage was supposed to help the prosecution. It actually seemed like it would hurt their case by showing less loyalty between her and Robert. Maybe it was supposed to show some of the secrets that the family kept or something.
"Can you give us a minute?" Malcolm requested as Barbara left the room.
"You know this information could destroy our family and our reputation." Mom pointed out. She seemed not to get the bigger picture.
"The prosecution is going to find some way to get this out." I pointed out. "We can't keep this a secret anymore. Secrets are what put you in this situation. It's time to give the truth its day."
I went back to the club. We weren't open because I didn't want to send the wrong message. I was still making sure that everyone was paid though. I went downstairs and found that Iris was shaking.
"How are you feeling?" I asked.
"I'm not sure how well it worked." Iris commented. "I still feel jumpy."
"You said that it took you a few hours to recover from it. Maybe it takes longer for someone without accelerated healing." Mia proposed.
"I heard about what happened with Thea and with Donner." Iris commented. "How is she?"
"She's going to be fine." I replied. I was also glad that she wasn't Malcolm's daughter and that wasn't a secret.
At that point, the news broadcast was interrupted.
"Hey, Star City. Did you miss me?" The Count asked. "Many of you have realized that you're not quite feeling like yourselves."
"He's taken over all of the local station feeds." Mia explained.
"Can you track him?" I questioned.
"I have the district attorney here. You might recognize him from his work in the ongoing Moira Queen trial. Hi Adam." He continued.
"What do you want?" Donner questioned.
"I want you want: for you to feel better." The Count explained.
"Go to hell." Donner told him.
"I do think you want the pain to end and I can do that with Vertigo." The Count stated. "It's what all of your bodies crave. Fortunately the cure is right here and all you have to do is go to your friendly neighborhood Vertigo dealer and request the cure. Now tell me you want this and all of that pain will simply disappear. Say it. Say you want it."
"I…I want it." Donner stammered. I expected him to inject it into him, but he didn't.
"You see: a simple solution." The Count remarked. "I'm Count Vertigo and I approve this high."
"So what do we do now?" Courtney asked.
"We find him and we shut him down." I replied. I knew that it would be a little weird saving the guy who wanted to give the death penalty to my mother, but that was what being a hero was. You couldn't only save the people that you liked.
"He bounced the signal off of a STAR Labs satellite." Mia remarked. "He could be anywhere."
"He could be but he isn't." I pointed out. "He's somewhere nearby because he wants to watch what happens. We need to do whatever we can to find him."
I then went upstairs because I knew that Emiko was there.
"So this trial is going to get pretty intense." She commented.
"How do you know?" I asked.
"Because the DA's office asked my mom to testify." She stated. "They know the truth about our parents."
"I'm sorry that you had to be dragged into this." I explained.
"I knew that someone would probably find out about it as you told me." She stated. "You can't be the secret lovechild of a high-profile billionaire and expect that to stay a secret forever."
"I know." I remarked. "It's why I'm going to testify. At least if I'm the one doing it, it will be my side of the story that gets out. I hate that I have to out myself as being a bastard, but I think that I can do a lot to help my mom."
"Do you think that she's going to get through this?" She asked.
"I do." I answered. "Don't ask me how, but I have a feeling that she's going to be found not guilty and we're just going to be able to move on from this trial. I know that she probably won't be able to come here without heavy protection, but I think she's going to get off. My mom isn't the one who killed those people and she probably saved more people than the number of people who died. Why doesn't anyone care about that?"
"Because no one cares about the people who survived a tragedy," She explained. "They haven't done anything for the survivors. They just want someone to blame."
I then went back downstairs.
"I found something. They're at the Starling Municipal Records Department. It's been abandoned since the city went digital." Mia explained.
"So I need someone to stay here with Iris." I remarked.
"You're really going to give me a babysitter?" Iris asked.
"I'll do it." Mia volunteered. "We need someone who can fight her if she starts to lose her mind. Hopefully this blood transfusion is going to work."
When we got there, we found that he was ordering around his employees. The first thing that I did was cut Donner free.
"Get him out of here and to a hospital." I told Courtney. She took him away leaving me with The Count. He decided immediately to use some his workers as human shields. I couldn't help but wonder who they were, but I was betting that their participation wasn't completely willing. It wouldn't surprise me if he had kidnapped people to produce his drug for him. I aimed my bow at him. "Get away from them right now."
"I've heard that you've developed an allergy to killing." He commented. "Just think where we would be right now if you hadn't let me live. Go ahead. Shoot me right in the chest. I'll even point to my heart to give you the perfect shot, but I don't think that you're going to take it."
"I knew that would be a lot easier if I did just kill him, but I knew that was what he wanted me to do. He wanted me to be like him and kill him in cold blood. I was also pretty sure that he was a bulletproof vest. He wanted me to take the shot, but I was pretty sure that he would be smart enough to make sure that it didn't actually kill him.
I decided that the best thing that I could do would be to destroy the supply. If there wasn't any Vertigo, not he, nor anyone else would be able to supply it. I would at least provide a temporary solution, even though I knew that he would be back for more.
"You're really on the no-killing wagon, aren't you?" He challenged. "It's a shame that you're letting one of life's greatest pleasures pass you by. You're such a bore now."
I kind of hoped that I would be able to avoid killing him later. Maybe I would because previously he had kidnapped Felicity. The thing was that every member of my team was capable of defending themselves, except for maybe Iris in her current state and there was no way that I was going to leave her alone to be captured by him.
The following morning, I was with my family in the meeting room. I could tell that tensions were high and I was pretty sure that Thea felt bad about her testimony.
"So she has to testify now because I fucked up my testimony." Thea responded.
"No, this is not your fault." Mom assured her. "We're here because of what I did. What did in the past and what I did with the Undertaking. The prosecution knows about my affair and I'm pretty sure that they are going to use it. If we beat them to the punch, we can have the upper hand."
I then went into the courtroom because I knew that it was my time to testify. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of questions they were going to ask me.
"Please state your name." The bailiff told me.
"Olivia Hastings Queen." I answered.
"Do you swear that everyone you are about is truthful under the penalty of perjury?" He asked.
"I do." I stated.
"Now, Olivia, I understand that you've done your share of charity work after the Undertaking. Is it true that you were the mysterious benefactor in the Cash for Guns program?" Barbara asked me.
"Yes, ma'am." I answered.
It was then that I found out who the new prosecutor was. It was Joanna. Dinah was probably disappointed in her, but I hoped that she understood that she had to do her job.
"Why did you feel the need to do this?" She questioned. "Was it because you felt the guilt for what your mother had done?"
"No. It was because I felt the guilt for the man who raised me. The one who was truly responsible. The one who should be on trial. In fact I feel that if he was still alive, we wouldn't be here right now." I stated. I wasn't sure if shaming the fact that they were using my mother as a scapegoat was the best idea, but maybe I could use it to plant some doubt in the jury's minds. Ever since my own trial, I had gotten better at this stuff.
"What do you mean by the one who raised you?" Joanna questioned.
"Robert Queen isn't my father." I stated as there were collective gasps around the courtroom. "Malcolm Merlyn is. That's why he planted the bomb on the Queen's Gambit. It wasn't only to fake his own death. He wanted to get rid of my mother's secret and he didn't care who else died in the process. He's the one who wanted to destroy the Glades."
"Let me ask you this. Why should the jury believe anything that you say?" Joanna asked. "I can't see how someone like you would a believer in the legal system. I mean after all, you yourself were arrested a little over a year ago after being accused of the Star City Vigilante and your not stepbrother, but half-brother Tommy Merlyn was arrested for driving under the influence."
"Those were both false accusations." I pointed out.
"And I'm betting you think that this is too." She commented. I couldn't help but wonder why we were on this tangent.
"What the hell does that have to do with this case?" I challenged. "Yes, I was arrested before and yes, Tommy was arrested but none of this is relevant to whether or not you're only after my mother because you can't put the real culprit on trial. My mother did not activate the machine that started the Undertaking, nor did she give the orders to, and she should not be on trial for the murder of the people who died because she is not guilty."
"Do you have any more questions for the witness, Miss de la Vega?" The judge asked Joanna. Joanna looked a little bit caught off-guard.
"No, your honor." She answered.
"Then you may leave the stand, Miss Queen." He stated before I got up.
After I was done on the stand, we met again in the office.
"Wow." Barbara responded. "That is some of the best testimony that I have seen in all of my years as a defense attorney. I think that our scapegoat defense is going to plant some doubt in the jury's mind."
"Do you think that there could still be some obstacles?" I challenged. "Emiko told me that her mother agreed to testify."
"Then I think that I need to testify as well." Mom declared.
We went back to the courtroom, knowing that they would have some questions for Mom. They had been planning on her to testify and hoping to use whatever she said against her.
"Mrs. Queen, tell us when you first found out that your ex-husband was alive." Joanna asked.
"It was a little before Christmas." Mom explained.
"And why did you not tell anyone that he was planning the Undertaking until the day it happened?" Joanna questioned.
"Because I was afraid that he would go after Malcolm or my children." Mom answered.
"Well if he knew Olivia was alive, why didn't he try to kill her again?" Joanna challenged.
"Probably because he was too focused on his mission." Mom replied.
"And why didn't he kill Malcolm?" Joanna asked.
"Because I asked him not to." Mom responded.
"Then how are we to believed that you were under duress if he was not interested in killing your husband or your children?" Joanna asked. Okay, that did not go quite as well. "If you could just ask him not to kill them, why couldn't you ask him not to do the Undertaking? The prosecution rests."
Well that was a question that I didn't expect. I was a bit surprised. They seemed to be better prepared to handle that defense, but I still didn't feel that they had appropriately addressed whether or not she was being used as a scapegoat. Of course, it was possible that none of this stuff even mattered. I wouldn't be surprised if Robert had been the one who had bribed the jury. It was possible that my testimony could sway them. I didn't know how long it would take me to figure out how she had gotten off.
I went back to the club because I needed to figure out how we were going to cure everyone of their withdrawal symptoms. I couldn't use my blood for that. Maybe it would just go away on its own. I also needed to figure out the best path for justice.
"So why don't you tell him how he did this before because it'll be the key to curing these people?" Mia suggested.
"The Count previously poisoned flu shots and I think that he might have done it again. If we can get a dose of the vaccines that were used, we might be able to get it to a lab to create a cure." I proposed.
The court reporters were reporting that based on their interpretation that the case could go either way. I could see how they would think that because mine and my mom's testimonies went very differently. I then went back to the courthouse.
"Do we think we can call it a night?" Thea asked Barbara.
"The jury is signaling that they may have a verdict. The judge won't send them home because he wants to get this over with." She explained. I couldn't help but wonder why this trial was going so quickly. I was pretty sure that most trials weren't resolved in a matter of days.
"Is that quick of a verdict bad?" I questioned.
"Not necessarily." She pointed out. "They could have been as impressed by your testimony as I was."
At that point, my phone rang. It was Tommy. He was supposed to be at the hospital right now. I was pretty sure that he didn't know that they planned on delivering a verdict so soon.
"Tommy?" I answered.
"Not quite, Olivia." The Count responded. Okay, I did not see him kidnapping Tommy as a possibility. "Or should I call you Robyn instead? You see I was offered a deal to eliminate you and the recent revelation in the courtroom today brought me to a very important member of your family who was investigating the flu shots that contained my special vaccine. You tried to buy off of me last year just before the vigilante came after me."
I then hung up.
"Where are you going?" Thea asked.
"I need to go get Tommy. He needs to be here for this." I lied. Well none of that was a lie, but I wasn't saying how I was going to get him.
I headed to the hospital as fast as I could. I didn't really have time to get Courtney to come because I really wanted to this by myself. I made it up to the roof where he was holding Tommy. I couldn't help but wonder if he had disabled the cameras on the roof, if they just didn't have any. How he had managed to get there without anyone seeing him? It made a lot less sense than him getting into the office. Maybe he had temporarily disabled the cameras and used Tommy's badge for roof access. All I knew was I was having some flashbacks to the last time that I was high on a roof.
"You know I never would have guessed that the two of you are brother and sister." The Count declared as he held onto Tommy. It was too bad that Tommy had absolutely fitness or combat training because I was pretty sure that he would be big enough to handle someone as scrawny as The Count. "You know you can see all of the destruction that your mother caused from up here. It really is beautiful."
"What do you want?" I asked him.
"World peace and personal satisfaction, not necessarily in that order." He declared. "You poisoned me and put me in a hole. You have no idea how much I hated you for that. It turns out there's someone else who hates you to. He set me up with the means to draw you out."
He then started to take some shots at me and I started to dodge them.
"You know you're the only one who has ever been able to resist my blessing." He stated. "This probably won't even do anything. I should be using this on him instead."
He then pointed the gun at Tommy's head and I knew that I only had one shot. I fired a single arrow and hit him, causing him to fall off of the building.
From there, we made our escape and we quickly made our way to the courthouse. Apparently, no one knew that he was even up there. I didn't know how that was possible, but I didn't question it. Fortunately, the two of us made there right in time for the verdict. I was fully prepared for them to say that she was not guilty.
"In the case of Washington v. Moira Queen, the verdict is…not guilty on all charges." The foreman read. At that point, Thea and I went over and hugged our mother. I knew that I needed to find out later how she had managed to get off, but right now I could be happy that she had gotten off. It could potentially be a problem for later, but I didn't need to worry about that right now. I thought about taking her to the club for a party, but I was pretty sure that she would want to sleep.
"I love you all so much." She told us.
The news was reporting about the acquittal and also about the fact that I had killed the Count. I was pretty sure that Tommy wouldn't be upset at me since it was necessary in order to save his life. As we were preparing to leave, Barbara approached me.
"Thank you." I told her.
"I'm pretty sure that your mother has no one to thank for this but you. I can't be certain that it was your testimony that swayed the jury, but I think it would be mistake for you not to go to law school. You would make an excellent lawyer." She said. I knew that law school took a while and I never saw myself as a lawyer, but it was definitely something to think about.
At that point, Tommy came over to me.
"So I just want to apologize for putting into a position where you to make the choice to kill again." He stated.
"Tommy, he was going to hurt you. There was no choice." I remarked. "So are you still going to propose?"
"I think that it might be best to wait." He replied.
NO POV
"So the Count did what we wanted to do. He got her to kill him." A police officer told a mysterious man.
"What about the trial?" The man asked with an Australian accent.
"It went just as you planned Mr. Wilson: not guilty." The officer stated.
So it was Slade who was responsible for acquitting Moira, but are his plans as concrete as they were originally. Does he want revenge or something more? Please don't forget to review.