Chapter 5: Shadow Stalker
As Thea launched herself from one rooftop to the next, she felt more in control and like herself than she had in the entire interminable last week. Three years ago, she never could have imagined this life – now, living as a highly-trained vigilante was the thing that centered her. She may exude confidence in her role as the owner and creative head of Queen's Jubilee, but the mastery over her body and mind in the shadows cast by the streetlamps was completely different. Cool air streamed past, stinging her cheeks as she leapt down a ten-foot drop from one roof level to a lower one, tucking into a roll and standing up out of it.
Thea stopped and stepped to the edge to look over her city. She took deep, slow breaths, giving herself a moment to slow her heart rate. While she would never put it into words, she knew that her energy level just wasn't what it had been even six months ago when she had run the streets in Speedy's red leathers. Giving herself the space to regain her breath was one thing – but the reason she needed to? She refused to let herself consider it.
"5th and Wabash," Sin's voice directed Thea over comms. "Brent and Casey Straub. Multiple police calls, no arrests. Skulker picked up sounds of a fight." Thea allowed herself a brief smile as Sin referred to "Skulker", the name Sin had dubbed their infrared minidrone. Sometimes Sin reminded Thea of Cisco and his villain-naming proclivities.
"Got it," Thea replied. She turned towards Sin's directions and set off.
Sin chattered as Thea ran. "If we were to create some sort of signal in the sky for people to use to call you for help, would it look like the Arae scales? Cuz that would actually be pretty sweet."
Thea sucked in a breath to respond, becoming winded from her run. "The bat signal works exclusively in Gotham because it's always cloudy on the east coast. We live in California. How would we even see the signal?"
"Eh, I'm sure we could ask Felicity to rig something up. She seems creative enough." Thea snorted in amusement. "Maybe she could build a cloud making machine and then we could shine the signal on that." Thea grinned.
Thea neared her destination and slowed down. "Where are the Straubs?"
"1270 Wabash Ave, unit 210." Thea peered over the side of the building, spying the balconies below. She noted the second-floor balcony. Then she carefully connected her safety belt and belayed down the four stories, softly landing on the balcony. Thea peered in through the window to see a man holding a woman against a wall, his hands on her throat. Thea tested the door to find it fast, but noted an open window no more than a few feet away from the balcony. Thea clambered onto the balcony's handrail and pushed off, easily grasping the window ledge and pulling herself up and through. She landed on the carpeted floor of a bedroom.
Knowing she had no seconds to waste, Thea darted from the bedroom and spied a red-faced Casey, no longer able to control her arms to fight back, being strangled by a screaming Brent, profanity spilling from his lips.
Thea ran the first few steps, then did a cartwheel between husband and wife, breaking Brent's grip with the entire force of her body weight pushing downwards through the flip. Casey slid down the wall, but Brent leapt back, arms lifted and prepared for a fight.
Thea stood several steps away, planning to draw Brent further from Casey. With a roar of rage, Brent sprang towards Thea, making a wild punch at her face. Thea dodged it, taking a step back. Brent followed, attempting two more sturdy but uncontrolled strikes. Thea avoided the first but solidly caught the second with her fist, taking great satisfaction at the shock on Brent's face.
Thea shoved him off and landed a jab square on Brent's chin. Brent's head snapped back and he stumbled. Brent stood up and his eyes had a hint of fear in them. He scrambled suddenly towards the couch and fell to his knees in front of it, thrusting his hand within the cushions. When he withdrew his hand, he held a gun. He aimed it at Thea. She leapt away as he fired a shot. Shit – she hoped the bullet was slowed down by the side of the building and hadn't gone into someone else's apartment.
Thea fled in front of Brent and he pursued her. Thea pulled open the balcony door and made as though she were debating if she should take her chances by jumping off the side. Brent, eager and thinking he had cornered his prey, didn't even hesitate to step out on the balcony behind her. He aimed the gun carefully at Thea.
Thea couldn't help the smile that spread slowly across her face that he had followed her right where she needed him. She spun around and her foot connected with his gun hand, sending the gun flying. Thea used the momentum of her kick to hook her leg behind his neck. She yanked her body into a roll and dragged Brent to the ground. Without giving him a moment to understand what had happened, Thea clicked a cuff on one hand and then clicked the other to the metal handrail.
Thea stood up looking down at the man sporting a swollen jaw and a look of shock slowly morphing into fury. Brent began shouting "Let me go, you fucking bitch!" Thea's eyebrow lifted up as if she were no more than bemused by his profanity. "Do you know who I am?"
Thea asked in a bored voice, "Should I?"
"Do you know what this is?" he asked, gesturing with his head towards his left arm where a tattoo peeked out from under his shirt sleeve. Thea couldn't see the entire thing, but she could identify bird talons. "I'm in the Crimson Brethren. And we aren't about to fucking forget you, you fucking cunt!"
"Well thanks for that – now I'll know to keep an eye out for other dirty business from your little club," Thea said smoothly. "Cops are on their way. And," Thea hit a small button on her watch and a small SanDisk popped out. Thea placed it into an equally miniscule plastic case and pulled out a business card sized note that read "evidence" with a little arrow. Thea placed it just out of Brent's reach and laid the SanDisk at the tip of the arrow. "There. Fixed you up with a little bow."
She gave a pleasant wave and then gripped onto her belaying rope, reattaching it to her belt. She pushed a button on the belt and felt her feet leave the ground as she was propelled upwards towards the roof.
As she reached the top she watched the police below as they entered the front complex doors. She took a moment to breathe, waiting for the weariness to abate so she could move.
"Ever the picture of class, Arae," Sin said through the comms, laughter in her voice. "Misogynistic creep. There's honestly nothing better than watching these little mama's boys getting their asses handed to them by a 5'6" girl." Thea grinned at her friend's hyping. "And I know you're not telling me where that watch and camera combo came from, but whoever made that for you, that thing is a game changer. I'd hate to leave Casey in the position of deciding whether or not to press charges. The video of Brent strangling her should ensure the state presses their own charges."
"That's the idea," Thea agreed pleasantly, grateful that she was beginning to feel her strength coming back. Thea took a few steps, preparing to make her way towards the Overlook, when Sin's words arrested her:
"Wait, Arae – Skulker's getting something." Thea waited, a creeping feeling going up her spine at the seriousness in Sin's tone. "Skulker's picking up a human figure in the dark in Shadow Stalker's hunting grounds."
Thea's heart rate picked up. For the past month, Thea and Sin had nightly sent Skulker with its heat vision to the identified hunting grounds of a suspected serial rapist who had escalated into a serial killer. Sin had dubbed their perp "Shadow Stalker" due to his proclivity for remaining completely hidden in the shadows of the city before striking out at his victims. Thus far, Skulker hadn't picked up on anything. Until now.
"Where?" Thea asked sharply.
"Arae, maybe we should get some back-up on this one." Sin suggested nervously. "Or maybe even make an anonymous police report. You know, get the cops to check him out."
"This is our first possible sighting," Thea returned. "I'm not letting this go. He has destroyed too many lives. If this is him, we're not letting him fade back into the night."
Sin was silent as though she were considering the situation. Thea shook her head in frustration and pulled up her sleeve, revealing her smartwatch. She poked at it and pulled up Skulker's tracker. With her destination set, Thea ran across the roof and flung herself into the night.
Minutes later, Thea found herself above a dark alleyway drawing in breaths through her nose and releasing them through her mouth, trying to regain control of her heart rate. She peered into the alley below, noting that this was the perfect place for someone to hide. The alley was enclosed by five and six story, windowless buildings on three sides and there were no streetlights anywhere near its entrance. Thea couldn't see anything, much less anything out of place. Thea pulled up her watch and changed from the GPS function that had led her to Skulker and switched the view to see a small view of Skulker's heat-sensing cameras.
As soon as the image came up, Thea felt her heart falter. Clear as if he were lit up by a floodlight, was the figure of a man silhouetted by red light. He was several feet inside the alley, not even hidden behind any objects – the sheer darkness of the alley was enough cover.
Thea looked up from the watch and tried to focus on the same area that Skulker indicated their perp was. Thea's heart pounded. She could see nothing there with her own eyes. She would have to rely entirely on Skulker. Thea whispered, "He's here." She took a deep breath, calming her nerves. She had an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. Maybe Sin was right – maybe she should call for back-up.
Then Thea remembered the images of the two deceased victims and the six who were still alive. Crimes that spanned the past four years. Five victims were all from when Sara had been investigating Shadow Stalker on her own – one living victim and two dead had all happened in the past four months. Not only had he escalated in timing, he also had escalated in lethality. No – Thea couldn't let him get away.
"Arae, I have a bed feeling about this," Sin said through comms, vocalizing the same foreboding Thea had. "I think you should pull back."
Thea said quietly, "I'm not letting him kill again. Stand by." Thea attached her line to the end of the building and prayed that Shadow Stalker's vision wasn't any better in the dark than hers was. Trying not to make a sound, Thea began to belay down five stories into the alleyway with her target.
She landed lightly on the ground and unhooked her line, leaving it dangling as an escape route. Thea pulled herself back against a wall and remained still, hoping that if any part of her descent had attracted attention, that Shadow Stalker would be soothed by the lack of further movement. She was counting on the fact that he was closer to a light source than she was to keep her hidden from his sight.
After a few minutes had passed in quiet stillness, Thea pulled up her watch and noted that the figure remained near the mouth of the alley. Thea covered her watch, then took methodical, soft steps closer to the place Skulker told her she would find her man.
Thea stilled as she watched a masculine figure quickly stride past the alley's entrance. Thea took a breath. She willed her eyes to adjust to allow her to see Shadow Stalker. In the abject darkness, Thea thought she could see maybe the hint of an outline. She may not be able to see much, but she could tell this – the outline she could see belonged to someone large. Thea remembered that the early victims had described him as a huge man, over 6 feet tall and muscled.
Thea was just finding herself lulled into complacency by the still figure, when another figure crossed the sidewalk in front of the alley. The dark figure sprang with shocking agility and raw power, grasping the woman by her mouth with one hand and neck with the other.
"He's got a girl," Thea hissed out. "Call the cops!" Thea started to run towards them as the man tugged the defenseless woman into the alley.
"Shit, Arae!" Sin called out in a panic.
Shadow Stalker had yet to knock the woman in his grasp unconscious, but Thea knew that was the next step of his MO. Thea's feet carried her close to the two figures and she flashed her whip out. It wound precisely around Shadow Stalker's wrist. Contact made, Thea yanked with all her strength, pulling the arm off of the woman's neck.
Shadow Stalker stepped back from his prey. The woman, now free, immediately scrambled off of the ground and ran away screaming in terror. Shadow Stalker's form took a step back up and squared off towards Thea. With the weak light coming from the alley's mouth, Thea could see just how large this man was. He was garbed in all black, including wearing some sort of mask and head covering which left only a slit open by his eyes – glittering, beady eyes were the only thing revealing that the form before her was human.
Shadow Stalker suddenly turned his hand around to grip Thea's whip in his grasp and with a powerful yank, tore it from Thea's hand. Thea was awed by the amount of strength she could feel coursing up her arm from that one movement.
Shadow Stalker charged at Thea and as he neared, he aimed a punch at her face. Thea was prepared and brought both arms up into a cross to block. The force of the strike pushed Thea's feet back across the pavement. Her arms vibrated with the power of the strike – another blow like that in the wrong place and Thea knew that the power alone would shatter bone. As he approached her again, Thea spun around, building momentum, and kicked at his face, feeling her foot make contact. As Thea landed, the figure seemed to barely flinch.
Thea quickly sprang away, needing to keep away from his blows. While her hand-to-hand combat skills were well above average, she was aware that she would never make up the difference of sheer muscle mass and power behind Shadow Stalker's hits. Thea drew her sword and charged.
Thea brought her sword down from above to strike at Shadow Stalker's head. She was shocked when he raised his arm and blocked the blow. Thea recognized that he had to be wearing some type of gauntlet on his wrists. The detail shook Thea – it was almost like Shadow Stalker had been prepared to defend against her weapon of choice. A prickle of warning shocked Thea's system again, telling her she was in very real danger.
Then Thea stopped and saw Malcolm in her mind's eye. "You have a will of iron," he told her. "The fight is in your blood. When you harness that spirit, you cannot lose."
Thea met Shadow Stalker's sparkling eyes peering at her in the dark. This was life or death. Only one of them was walking away from this fight tonight. And that one person was going to be Thea.
Thea charged a second time, swinging her sword at Shadow Stalker's neck. He dropped below the trajectory of the sword and kicked out Thea's legs from under her. Thea channeled the motion into a roll and found her feet again on the pavement.
Despite her quick reflexes, Shadow Stalker took the opening and was immediately on her, grabbing her from behind and winding powerful forearms around her neck. A thrill of fear coursed through Thea as she felt Shadow Stalker position himself to be able to snap her neck. With all her strength, Thea stabbed behind her, catching Shadow Stalker in the leg. Thea dug the sword in deeper, hearing the whisper of slicing flesh. Thea took a breath of relief as she was released.
Thea turned around and found Shadow Stalker peering at her. Thea thought about Ollie – she couldn't die here. He would never forgive her for dying like this.
Thea raised her sword and took a step towards Shadow Stalker when she felt a jolt of searing pain to her head. Then nothing more.
The next thing Thea was aware of were soft voices floating around her head.
"I shouldn't be surprised – I mean, you are a Lance. I'm not even mad about you using Sara's identity, especially now that I know she's still alive. If you were some rando posing as the Black Canary it would be different."
"Thea must really trust you if you know all that – clearly so did Sara."
Thea's eyes shot open, her heart pounding in her chest. She recognized the familiar surroundings of the Overlook and that she was lying on Sin's bedroll. Her jacket was still on, but open revealing her tank top underneath.
"Nice of you to join us," Sin said cheerfully, sitting on a worn down armchair next to Laurel, enthroned within a drooping, bright red camp chair.
Thea pulled herself up until she was sitting as her vision flared out for a moment, before throbbing back with flashes. "OW!" she said emphatically, reaching her hand to grope at the throbbing at the back of her head. The spot was tender and swollen. She brought her hand down to inspect it and found it clean of blood. "What happened?" Thea demanded.
Sin looked sheepish. "It turns out Shadow Stalker has an accomplice." Sin rubbed her hands together in agitation. "When he struck you down, I really thought he'd killed you."
Thea stared at Laurel, not entirely certain that she really was there. Her head was killing her. "Laurel?" she asked warily. "What are you doing here?"
"She saved your life, Queen!" Sin rebuked. "I'd be a little more respectful."
Thea just scrunched her eyebrows and started to shake her head that she wasn't following, but even the hint of motion made her head throb and her stomach roil with nausea. She let out the smallest whisp of a groan. She slammed her eyes shut, pulled her knees up, and buried her head in her arms, resting on her knees. She felt a hand on her back and instantly knew from the comfortable touch that it was Laurel.
"Sin tells me that that man is a suspected serial killer?" Laurel asked, keeping her voice low so as not to aggravate Thea's head.
Thea gulped, trying to still the churning of her stomach. She raised her head off her arms, squinting against the light while answering Laurel. "Yeah – tonight was our first contact." Thea gave a derisive laugh. "Turns out he's a little stronger than anticipated. And we definitely didn't have intel that there were two of them." It crossed Thea's mind that she had no idea what had happened. Thea opened her eyes narrowly, avoiding the light. She looked back at Laurel who was slowly rubbing Thea's back. "Wait – did you get them?"
Laurel shook her head as she explained in a firm tone of voice, "They're in the wind. And honestly, I don't super care that they are right now. Do you understand how close we were to losing you?" Thea grimaced, not actually knowing, but pretty sure it wasn't good. "Thea, that man, that … that serial killer had you over his shoulder and was leaving the alley when I reached you. If I hadn't tracked you tonight …"
Despite knowing that Laurel's invasiveness had saved her life, Thea felt a prickle of annoyance. She hissed out, "Why were you tracking me?"
The movement of Laurel's hand on her back never wavered while Laurel hesitated to respond. Finally Laurel said, "What you said earlier got me thinking. That Ollie was already worried about you being out there on your own, without backup."
Sin interjected, clearly startled, "Wait … Oliver Queen knows your Arae?" Thea shot Sin an unimpressed look, communicating they would discuss this later.
Laurel continued as if Sin hadn't spoken. "I just … had a bad feeling. Like I had to be out there tonight." Laurel's voice was a little distant, like she couldn't entirely understand it herself.
"I thought you were retired," Thea noted.
Laurel fixed Thea with the look of a scolding mother, rebutting, "And I thought you were being careful!"
Thea groaned, embarrassed that her one failure would be the only time Laurel would witness her out there as Arae. She insisted, "I was! We underestimated him, okay! We won't make that mistake again!"
"We can talk about that later," Laurel said, shutting down any debate about Thea's continuing work as Arae. "In the meantime, I grabbed you a change of clothes from your apartment. Get out of your suit so I can take you to the hospital."
Thea noticed for the first time that Laurel was absolutely wearing Thea's clothes. She must have changed out of her Black Canary suit and found something to wear. Thea grumbled unhappily, "Don't wanna go to the hospital" and buried her face back into the still darkness of her arms.
"Yeah, that's not an option," Laurel corrected firmly. "You are clearly concussed and I, for one, do not plan on finding you dead tomorrow morning from a brain hemorrhage."
"Laurel," Thea whined.
"I dragged you back here," Laurel noted. "Do you want to test me to see if I won't do it again while you're awake?"
Thea groaned, knowing she would get no peace until she gave in. "At least turn the lights down first."
Less than an hour later, Thea lay on a bed in Starling City General's emergency department. A nurse had, in an entirely too cheery manner, checked Thea's ears, eyes, and had asked her to stand with one foot behind the other to test her balance. As soon as Thea had stood up from the bed, the room spun and Thea quickly declined to complete the balance test. Now, Thea laid back, longing for her own bed and some quiet while feeling particularly annoyed that the nurse kept asking her stupid questions, like to repeat things back to the nurse or counting backwards by five. With every task, Thea felt her ire growing.
Finally, the nurse stepped back and told Thea that she would get the physician assistant in, but that he would likely want a CT scan. Thea barely bit back a groan of annoyance. Thea could tell Laurel was aware of her exasperation, as Laurel's hand gripped Thea's leg as if ordering her to play nice. "Thank you," Laurel told the nurse politely as the nurse excused herself.
As soon as the partition closed, Thea released a childish moan. Laurel stood up and dimmed the lights back down to the level they had been set to prior to the nurse's exam. "I could be in my very comfortable bed right now, sleeping," Thea grumbled, covering her eyes with one arm.
"And I wouldn't be getting any sleep wondering if you had a brain bleed," Laurel rejoined as she took her seat next to Thea's bed.
"How did you explain your absence to Josh?" Thea wondered aloud. "It's almost midnight."
"Josh is in Coast City visiting his parents," Laurel said.
Thea felt a little confused. "But aren't you guys serious? You didn't get an invite to see his parents?" Laurel was quiet for a moment. Thea dropped her arm from in front of her face and looked over to see Laurel staring at the curtain separating Thea's bed from the rest of the ED. "Laurel?"
Laurel sensed Thea's gaze on her and looked back. She said slowly, "I was in Coast City this weekend. Josh and I left for his parents' house on Saturday morning, after Felicity and Ollie's dinner party. But then Dad called and asked if we could catch up when I got back. He sounded serious and I knew something was wrong. So … I came home early."
Thea sighed deeply, guilt filling her chest. She said in a low, sad voice, "Laurel …"
"Don't apologize, Thea," Laurel said swiftly. "I wanted to know … I needed to know."
"Did you tell Josh?" Thea asked timidly.
"I did," Laurel said. "It was even his idea for me to come back when I did. I actually was going to try to stay for the rest of the visit we had planned, but he could tell I was anxious about it and told me I needed to come home. When I called him after Dad told me what was going on with you, Josh told me that he knew me coming home was the right thing to do." Laurel ran a gentle hand through Thea's hair. "He likes you. He was pretty upset."
Thea closed her eyes again, soothed by the carding motion of Laurel's fingers. "He's a nice guy. I like him too."
Laurel said softly, "He knows exactly what it meant to me to find out you were so sick." Thea could hear the emotion in Laurel's voice. "Thea … I can't lose you," Laurel said. "You're my family and I love you."
Thea murmured, "I love you too." Thea could hear a restrained sniff and worried that Laurel was crying. Thea couldn't take on Laurel's emotions at the moment – her head hurt too much. Instead she chose to keep her eyes closed.
A peaceful stillness came over the room and Thea could feel herself starting to drift to sleep with the rhythmic feeling of Laurel stroking her head.
Suddenly the room's lights became bright – even with her eyes closed, sharp light pierced Thea's eyelids. Thea yelped and threw both arms over her eyes. "Sorry!" the nurse from earlier apologized easily, not sounding all that sorry. "I'm going to take you back to your CT. I brought a wheelchair."
"Just letting my brain bleed would be easier," Thea griped saucily as she struggled to sit upright.
"While you're gone, I'll give Ollie a call," Laurel said casually, as if she were mentioning something already agreed on.
Thea, who was halfway off the bed, stopped abruptly. "Laurel, no!" Thea cried out. "Ollie is already losing his mind! I am fine - there is no reason to aggravate him more!"
Laurel argued passionately, "Thea, he's your brother! He cares about you, and he would want to know you're in the hospital."
Thea sat down heavily in the wheelchair and looked back at Laurel, "Laurel, please, I am begging you to keep this quiet. I did what you wanted, okay? I'm here, getting checked out and getting a brain scan. Please don't do this today."
"Thea -" Laurel said.
As the nurse began to wheel Thea away, Thea shot one last warning at Laurel: "Laurel, don't!"
Laurel sat in the empty emergency room partition, listening to the chatter of voices, beeping of machines, and crying of children around her. Laurel let out a long breath.
She was exhausted, but still keyed up. The events of the last twenty-four hours were nearly incomprehensible and somehow didn't feel like her life, but some kind of terrible nightmare.
First, the interminable drive back from Coast City to find her dad pacing in her apartment waiting for her. The halting way he explained that he had been helping Thea since April to identify numerous men who had bought her for sex as a child. And that he had only just found out Thea was HIV positive and was in treatment failure. That she was really sick and he wasn't entirely certain how long she would be with them, but that it didn't sound good.
When her dad had left, her eyes had miraculously been dry; but that had immediately ended when Josh picked up the phone at his parents' home in Coast City. Josh's sympathetic voice and shock had sent Laurel into her own hysterics. Even with miles separating them, Josh had been so sweet and supportive. He had gently given her directions, recommending she call Felicity to verify what her dad had said and sending her a delivery of her favorite Thai food. He was ready to cut his trip short and drive home immediately, but Laurel, through waves of tears and a warbling voice managed to convince him that there was nothing he could do at home – after all, there wasn't anything for Laurel to do either.
Thea hadn't answered her phone for the rest of the day, but Felicity had and the two talked on the phone for a long time. Felicity sounded every bit as teary as Laurel, but Felicity had also gotten a lot more information directly from Thea than Laurel's dad had. Laurel wasn't entirely sure if the extra information had made her feel better or worse.
Laurel had already taken Monday and Tuesday off, planning to still be in Coast City with Josh and the Waverlys. She had moped around in the morning and then decided that she wouldn't let Thea withdraw from her friends – from Laurel. Laurel had quickly gotten dressed and had coaxed Thea out for lunch. While Thea had barely spoken about anything going on with her, Laurel hoped that at least their conversation had left Thea open to accepting help from Laurel and their friends.
After an evening touch-base with Josh, Laurel had tried to settle in to watch TV, but something kept poking at the back of her mind, refusing to let her settle. As she had started a third episode of Golden Girls, Laurel had a sudden vision of Thea, dressed as Arae, sitting atop a rooftop overlooking the city. The image was so real, Laurel felt like she was actually seeing it.
The unsettled feeling intensified as Laurel mused that Thea, clearly run down from her body fighting her disease, would be at a disadvantage in a fight. Laurel had rushed to the Bunker and was pleased when the area was empty and her suit was still displayed. Suiting up, Laurel took her old motorcycle and rode off towards the Glades.
Laurel had tracked Thea easily after listening in to the police scanner and hearing chatter about a DV situation where the guy had ended up cuffed to a handrail. As soon as she had eyes on Thea, she had followed, ensuring that Thea didn't mark her presence.
Despite the raw power in the fight she saw breakout below between Thea and the perp, Laurel had been fine staying back and observing, ready to offer support if needed. Then – out of the shadows, a third figure had appeared and brought a heavy piece of pipe directly down onto Thea's head. Thea collapsed like a puppet with cut strings.
Laurel was rushing towards the scene when she saw the larger of the two figures easily lift Thea to his shoulder and turn towards the mouth of the alley. Laurel's mind went white with rage and panic. She dropped to the ground behind the two figures and Thea and let out a canary cry. The three figures flew in opposite directions. As Thea lay, still, on the pavement, the other two figures scrambled to their feet and fled the alley.
Laurel closed her eyes and shook her head quickly, trying to shake loose the disturbing memory of Thea being easily lifted up, ready to vanish forever into the night with this evil pair. The thought made Laurel's stomach nauseous.
Laurel pulled her phone from her purse. She searched for Oliver's contact and called. "Hello?" Oliver's short voice demanded. The tone placed Laurel on edge.
"Ollie?" Laurel said. Laurel thought she knew the answer, but was worried something more had happened. She asked warily, "Are you okay?"
"What do you think, Laurel?" Oliver demanded, his voice edged with steel.
Laurel thought back to Thea's earlier comment – that Oliver was already on edge, and telling him about Thea's encounter with a serial killer as Arae was not going to make him any more pleased. What would happen if she did tell him? He would storm his way into the hospital and chew out Thea? Or, not wanting to upset his concussed sister, would take his anger out on Laurel? Laurel really hated that Thea was right.
"Stupid question," Laurel admitted, responding to Oliver's rhetorical question. "I'm sorry I bothered you – I just realized you and I hadn't spoken yet and – I know that Felicity is a great support, but – I'm here for both you and Thea too, okay?"
Oliver was quiet for a moment. Then he said sharply, "Thanks. Have a good night, Laurel." And hung up the phone.
Laurel sighed. Well, keeping secrets from Oliver was one of her fortes, she supposed. It looked like tonight's near-miss with a serial killer was going to be one of those secrets.
Laurel was pulled out of her thoughts by Thea being wheeled back from her CT scan. Thea dozed off as soon as she had crawled back onto the ED bed. Laurel scrolled mindlessly on her phone, waiting for someone to return with the scan results.
The curtain partition pulled back and a doctor stepped in, turning the light dimmer up slightly, leaving the room dark. He asked kindly if Laurel could wake Thea while he logged into a computer at the side of the room.
"Thea," Laurel called out, shaking Thea's shoulder. "Hey, the doctor's back. Can you wake up so he can give you your results?" Thea grumbled but opened her eyes to peer at the man in the doorway.
"It's no wonder you're so uncomfortable," the doctor began sympathetically. He turned the screen of his computer so Thea and Laurel could see. "You have some minor skull fracturing radiating out from where you were struck and, as you can see here on your brain imaging," he indicated to a section of light on the screen, "you have a minor epidural hematoma."
"My brain is bleeding?" Thea asked wearily. Laurel's heartrate increased.
"Yes, ma'am. I've run your scans by our on-call neurologist and he feels fairly confident that we won't need to start any major treatment and that your brain should be able to reabsorb any excess blood on its own. Our best course of action is to set you up for observation tonight so we can monitor you, then take you for another CT in the morning. If things are unchanged or improved, we can send you home tomorrow."
Thea asked, "What if I don't stay for observation? Can I just check out and go home?" Laurel spun to look at Thea, her eyes wide.
The doctor said, "We wouldn't recommend leaving. While the bleed seems minor now, more symptoms could emerge overnight and the bleed could grow instead of reducing in size. While you were sleeping, you wouldn't be aware of those changes. If that happens, you could require immediate surgical intervention or risk permanent brain damage or death."
"But I could check out," Thea stated pointedly.
"Thea, you are not checking out against medical advice," Laurel bit out, her heart pounding with a rush of anger and fear.
Thea turned to look at Laurel and said, "But he said I'm most likely fine and I don't want to sleep here!"
Laurel's eyes blazed in anger. "I didn't tell Ollie that I brought you here, but if you think you are going to walk out those doors when a doctor is telling you to stay, you had better believe I am going to call Ollie right now."
Thea groused and said, "Fine. But you owe me chicken nuggets tomorrow."
Laurel leaned back in her seat, frustrated but grateful Thea had given in. "Deal."