Chapter 9: Raven Street Bridge
John was greeted by the smell of something warm and savory as he stepped into his house. Drawn forward by his nose like a cartoon dog, John ended up in the kitchen where he found Lyla washing up dishes next to the oven which exuded promises of a hot dinner.
"Oh damn, something smells good," John said appreciatively.
Lyla glanced over her shoulder. "Chicken tetrazzini should be ready in ten minutes. Do you need to wash up?"
"Cheesy pasta goodness," he mumbled opening the oven to appreciate the bubbling of bright gold cheddar cheese melting overtop of spaghetti noodles, chicken, and veggies.
A sound caught his notice. Sarah squealing with laughter from the living room, followed by a lilting female voice. John slowly pushed the oven door shut and turned to fix Lyla with a look.
Lyla casually added, as if John hadn't just heard their guest a room away, "Oh, and Thea's joining us."
John drily groused, "Figures the tetrazzini wasn't for me." Lyla seemed suspiciously focused on scrubbing a pot in the sink and didn't acknowledge his comment. "After all – tetrazzini is Thea's favorite."
"Is it?" Lyla asked with feigned interest.
"It is, and you know it," John said, light teasing in his voice. "I smell a conspiracy. Did you tempt her over here with the promise of pasta or is dinner just the icing on the cake after you offered up playtime with our daughter?"
"Fine," Lyla said, turning around at the sink, hands covered in suds and said in a low voice, seeking to be heard only by John. "I wanted to see Thea. And I wanted to make something she liked. Don't make it seem like there's anything so crazy about that, especially after this week."
John could immediately see from the brightness in his wife's eyes and the seriousness on her face that she was not in a place to be teased about her dinner choice or her need to see Thea at the moment. He shot her a look of understanding and nodded. "It's not crazy," he said. "It'll be good to have her."
John stepped away from the oven and stood in the doorway from the kitchen into the living room taking in the scene before him.
Sarah, newly two years old, was lying flat on her back on the carpeted floor while Thea, sitting with legs crisscrossed in front of her, was patting Sarah's tummy like a drum, singing in a whispy voice "Under the sea, under the sea. Darling, it's better, down where it's wetter, under the sea!" Sarah's eyes were fixed on Thea's face, completely entranced. Thea seemed to run out of lyrics and ended, singing "What do they got? A lot of sand? We got a hot crustacean band – under the sea!" and tip tapped out a quick drum roll with a final firm pat.
Sarah stayed frozen for a moment, awaiting more. Once the toddler grasped the song had ended, she crowed, " 'Gain, Tee!"
Thea smiled warmly down at the little girl, asking "Sarah wants Auntie Thee to do it again?"
Pleased her meaning was understood, Sarah threw two little pudgy hands in the air, affirming, " 'Gain!"
With a wide smile, Thea began to lightly pat out a waltzing beat and sang in a low, gravelly tone, "I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream." Sarah dropped her little arms back to the floor, allowing Thea space to tap out the song on her belly.
Even while a smile involuntarily grew on John's face watching the sweet tableau between his daughter and Thea, his heart was heavy.
Sarah loved Thea. There had been one day in the summer that John had taken Sarah out to the zoo and he had texted Thea to see if she wanted to meet them. John could still see in his mind the moment when Thea had turned around from looking into an enclosure at some red pandas and Sarah had recognized her. From 50 feet away, Sarah had pushed her way down from John's hold and had taken off running as fast as her little legs could carry her. She had crashed into Thea's arms as Thea had scooped her up and spun her in a circle, exclaiming, "Sarah bear!"
Because Thea also loved Sarah. Nothing quite warmed his fatherly heart like seeing someone who adored his little girl as much as he did, and he could see the adoration in the way Thea's face lit up at Sarah's excitement. In the way Thea relished Sarah choosing her over any other member of Team Arrow when they got together. In the way that Thea would sing until her voice gave out, pretend the invisible food Sarah served her was spicy fifty times in a row, or would read "Go Dog, Go", possibly the most boring book ever written, every time she was asked.
And that just made this hurt more. Because Oliver had told him that Thea would be lucky if she lived to twenty-five. Sarah would be just six years old. Too little to hold onto any more than a possible stray memory or two of the auntie she loved and who adored her.
The idea of this sweet connection between Thea and Sarah being lost through death and forgotten because of his daughter's young age was a sharp pain. It wasn't fair. It wasn't right.
Sarah, suddenly distracted by a new idea, flipped from her back to her stomach and stood up with her legs in a wide stance, finding her balance. She turned towards Thea and threw herself into Thea's arms. Sarah squealed with delight as a very surprised Thea struggled for stability at the sudden weight, tipping back into the couch behind her.
John stepped forward and said in a gentle, firm tone, "Sarah, be gentle with auntie 'Tee'."
Thea turned to grin at John, saying, "Hey! I didn't hear you come in!"
John gave her a warm smile back. "Just enjoying watching you ladies play," he said lightly, watching as his daughter pulled herself out of Thea's arms and flopped again onto her back on the floor.
Sarah reached up to grab one of Thea's hands and directed it over her stomach, saying " 'Gain!"
Thea was looking towards Digg and had her mouth open to say something, but the insistent toddler, demanding attention, tugged harder at Thea's hand and said, "Tee! 'Gain!"
"Dinner's ready," Lyla announced, walking to the entryway. "Come, little monster," she added to Sarah, holding her hands out for Sarah to come to her. Sarah hopped up and ran with wide steps to her mother, who scooped her up to go wash her hands.
As John's family and Thea sat at the dining room table, Thea said around her first bite of pasta, "Oh my god, this is so good!"
Lyla said in an even voice with the barest hint of a smile, "I'm so glad you like it," as if she hadn't purposefully cooked this meal for her guest. John had to fight against the urge to snort into his food as he saw through his wife like she was a newly cleaned window.
Lyla directed Sarah to put a little of the cut up pasta on her tiny, dull toddler fork and asked Thea, "How is your head doing? I heard from Felicity that you fractured your skull."
That was news to John, and he turned towards Thea for her answer. Thea smiled wryly and said, "Turns out I've got a hard head!" Lyla raised an eyebrow at the answer and Thea added, "It's healing. I'm still not supposed to spend time looking at screens and I still have headaches, but nothing an ibuprofen or two can't handle."
Thea seemed to read John's silent confusion in his expression. Thea glanced between Lyla and John and asked, "Um – do you guys know I'm Arae?"
John couldn't help the amused look he shot across the table to his wife. Like they hadn't tied together that Thea retired from Team Arrow and a few months later, a vigilante with a sword and a penchant for foiling assaults and locking up wife-beaters appeared in the Glades? It had become a running joke between them to read the news, and, when mentions of the newest costumed hero came up, would call out to the other, "Hey look! Thea's in the paper!"
Thea noted the look and rolled her eyes, iterating their unspoken answer, "So you guys know I'm Arae." John gave her a wide grin. "Okay, so Sin, my partner, and I have been tracking this guy – we call him 'Shadow Stalker'. He's a serial rapist who has escalated into serial killing. We caught his trail Monday night and I stopped him from assaulting a woman – turns out he had an accomplice. And that accomplice had a pipe."
John winced at the description. John asked, "Do you have any leads on who this guy is?"
"Nope," Thea said. "We've been keeping an eye out on his hunting grounds for the past month and this was our first sighting."
"Have you considered making a behavioral profile?" Lyla suggested. "See if you can identify the man behind the mask."
Thea said, "That sounds good, but we don't have a lot of resources: there's just Sin and I, the tech Felicity gave us, and old-fashioned patrolling."
"Sounds like you could use more eyes on the case," John noted.
"Yeah," Thea admitted. "Ollie agreed to help. I just need to run it by Sin."
Sarah, deciding she was finished with eating her dinner, joyfully tossed her fork into the air and watched it as it fell to the ground. John reached down, picking up the fork and setting it on the table out of Sarah's reach. Sarah stretched as far as she could to grab it, then squealed in displeasure. John noted drily, "You better be planning to stay to read Sarah her bedtime story – otherwise, I think Lyla and I are in for a full mutiny."
A week passed since John had initially heard about Shadow Stalker – a name he was loath to use, but had been adopted by Sin, Felicity, and Thea. Laurel had been willing to meet with the team while they created a rough profile from her and Thea's descriptions, combined with the reports of the other Shadow Stalker victims.
So far, they were seeking a man, 6'4" or 6'5", well-built, and an accomplice who was slim and 5'8" or 5'9". Thea's description of his fighting capabilities led them to believe Shadow Stalker had some type of fighting experience – maybe military, or MMA, boxing, or other disciplined sparring. And finally, their perp had either a hatred for women, or at least a disregard for their personhood in relation to his own desires.
Thea and Sin had continued sending their minidrone to Shadow Stalker's hunting grounds, even while Thea was out of commission for patrolling due to her concussion. Oliver wasn't happy about it, but agreed that, so long as they were in communication about any sightings, that it was worth monitoring the area to ensure no more women were killed.
Tonight, the minidrone got a hit – a figure, cloaked in darkness, unmoving, located within Shadow Stalker's hunting grounds. Although Oliver and Thea had argued, Thea had geared up as Arae. Thea was taking a position on a nearby roof while Oliver as Green Arrow and John as Spartan carefully surrounded the location at street level.
As John pulled around a side road, bringing his motorcycle to a stop, he could hear Felicity and Sin chatting back in the Bunker over his comm:
"I don't even know if you understand just how cool you are," Sin enthused to Felicity. "Like, you're this badass tech genius with brains I can't even touch and you single-handedly pull together research, maps, and tech support to keep the frickin' Green Arrow fighting! Like, I've been trying to do this for the past few months and it's tough as shit. And you do it all wearing dresses and heels."
Felicity, clearly gratified but doing her best to humbly sidestep the compliment, said, "Please, I am not all that."
"And you helped design this place?" Sin asked, voice filled with awe. "Like, how do you even start to plan a secret lair layout?"
Thea's voice chirped drily, "Guys – a) your comms are open, and b) … Sin – be cool!"
Felicity replied quickly, "Er, yep, copy, Arae." John snorted in amusement.
Oliver asked, "Are you seeing any sign of the Stalker's partner on your readouts, Overwatch?"
"Um," Felicity paused, likely viewing her screens. "Nothing is showing up – not obviously anyways."
"That's fine," Thea noted softly. "Today is just rousting Shadow Stalker from his hunt and tagging him. Even if the partner is here, we've got three on two."
"That's great and all, but don't forget" Felicity advised seriously, "the tracer nanites won't adhere to Shadow Stalker unless you can pierce skin. You won't have to get the syringe needle in far, but it does have to go in."
John positioned himself an alley away from where his readout indicated the Stalker was. Oliver would fire a nanite arrow from the mouth of the alley to tag their perp and Thea was positioned on the next rooftop, only set to get involved if the situation called for it. "In position," John reported quietly, his response echoed by Thea.
"On my count," Oliver said. "One. Two." John heard the unspoken three and knew Oliver had stepped out of hiding and had let lose his nanite arrow. Only a moment later, the plan went sideways.
"Shit!" Thea called out. "Green Arrow's down! Stalker's on the move coming your way, Spartan. I'm in pursuit."
John glanced up and could see Thea running atop the roofline, headed in his direction. John took a step closer to the mouth of the alley, awaiting their perp.
"What kind of 'down'?" Felicity asked in a panicked tone.
Thea said, "It looked like some kind of taser, or electricity – when he stepped into the alley, it triggered something."
In a clenched voice, Oliver garbled, "I'm okay."
John marked the sound of footsteps pounding on pavement, coming his way. John employed his baton, and when he heard the footfalls right outside of his hiding spot, he thrust the stick out at lower leg level. Instead of striking the baton and stumbling, the large figure before John leapt over it, only brushing it with the bottom of one foot.
"He's still on the move," John reported. He glanced up to see Thea glide overhead, from one rooftop to the far side, and continue running.
"It looks like he's headed towards the decommissioned Raven Street Bridge!" Felicity relayed.
"That thing is barely standing," Sin advised. "Ever since the earthquake, it's only connected to the Glades – the side that used to reach the rest of Starling is completely gone."
John grabbed his bike and started it up, hoping that the extra speed would enable him to intercept their guy. As he rode, the figure of a large man in all black could be seen each time he went under a streetlight. Thea pursued, leaping from roof to roof. As Stalker turned abruptly onto the bridge, Thea fired a grappling hook which clung to an upper strut of the Raven Street Bridge and then gripped on, flying over the streets below, landing a few feet behind the Stalker. John revved his engine to clear the distance.
Before the quake, the Raven Street Bridge had been a way for wealthier citizens of Starling to pass over some of the roughest parts of the Glades without filthying their feet or seeing the struggling neighborhoods. It rose 50 feet over top of the Glades, running directly from the edge of downtown Star to the community center of the Glades.
Now, the bridge had large "Bridge Out!" signs and barricades to keep traffic from following the road. In the distance, the bridge ended with crumbled pavement overhanging 50 feet above the Glades.
As soon as John reached the bridge, he laid his bike down and began to pursue on foot, sprinting towards the still running figures of the Stalker and Thea. As the Stalker reached the edge of the bridge, he turned to square off with Thea. She paused and likewise primed herself in a ready stance. John pulled out his gun, training it on Stalker as he ran.
John was only twenty feet or so away when Stalker struck out at Thea with a sturdy swing towards her head. Thea dodged out of the way.
Suddenly, a crushing weight fell upon John, bringing him to the ground. As he rolled away, he made eye contact with a second, slimmer figure in black.
John announced to his comm, "Found the partner."
John stood up, aiming his gun and firing. The slim figure dropped to the ground to dodge and, from the ground, pulled out his own gun. He aimed and John stepped back to take cover behind a car abandoned the night of the Undertaking.
John peered from behind the car to see that his target had taken the time to find cover of his own, behind a thick bridge tower which connected to the bridge's cabling and suspenders. John fired shots and the figure ducked. John glanced back to the edge of the bridge to see Thea stepping back, trying to lead the Stalker away from the edge. Stalker stilled, standing his ground firmly, refusing to be moved.
Misgivings rose in John's chest. Just like John, Thea's only delivery system for the nanite tagger was a hand syringe. Thea, no longer able to use a bow, wouldn't be able to sink the tracker without getting close to the Stalker. Thea was a powerful fighter, but this man was an imposing figure to pit against the much slighter Thea in hand-to-hand combat.
"Green Arrow, are you up?" John demanded over comms, thinking their best hope was for backup from the Green Arrow.
"Barely on my feet," Oliver said, voice still slurred with the lack of muscle control from the taser. "Coming," he added. John grimaced. At this point backup from Oliver sounded doubtful.
It looked like getting support to Thea meant John needed to get rid of the little creep. Decision made, John pulled out a second clip to have ready and stood up, firing at the accomplice's hiding spot, providing his own cover. He ejected the empty clip and jammed the second in without slowing his pace.
John stepped around the tower and, face to face with the cowering perp, struck him across the face with his fist clenched around his pistol. The man fell to the side from the force of the blow. John grabbed the man from behind by the arms, preparing to secure him.
John glanced over and saw Thea looking down at the syringe in her hand, standing above Stalker, who lay on the ground before her. Had she done it? Why wasn't she pulling back?
"Arae, is it done?" John hissed over comms.
Thea's head swung to look across the bridge at him. Even from twenty feet away, John could read a strange confusion in Thea's body language.
Whatever decision that had held Thea in place was taken out of her hands when the Stalker suddenly reanimated, swinging his feet to sweep Thea's legs out from under her. Off balance from her fall, Thea was completely vulnerable to the mighty shove the Stalker gave. With one last horrified glance, Thea vanished over the side of the bridge.
"ARAE!" John shouted. He shoved Stalker's partner to the ground, releasing him, and ran towards the edge of the bridge, even as Stalker used the reprieve to flee in the other direction.
As he reached the crumbling pavement forming the bridge's cliff, John slid to a stop, looking horrified over the edge. His eyes darted around, realizing again just how high up they were. Decrepit houses tucked between trees dotted the landscape below and John realized quickly that he would likely have no way to see Thea's body through the foliage. He felt sick.
Suddenly a gasping voice said, "Spartan, help me!"
John leaned further over the side and, slightly underneath the crumbling pavement, clung Thea, gripping onto a piece of bridge span. The metal she held onto was smooth and her fingers had no more purchase to cling onto than the sheer pressure she was pushing into the tips of her fingers. She looked like she was hanging on by willpower alone.
John grabbed his grappling hook and shot it downwards, knowing it had nothing to connect with below. He fished the rope towards where Thea clung, and waited, bracing himself while Thea gingerly dismounted from her perch and onto the lifeline. After ensuring Thea had a good grip on the rope, John punched the return button and felt his grapple gun slowly reeling the rope up. Thea's shoulders bumped against the edge of the bridge as she was pulled up and over. She didn't release her grip on the rope until most of her body was solidly on the road.
Thea lay on the pavement, closing her eyes and gasping in deep breaths.
"Next time," Felicity said sharply, "We should have someone check on the electrocuted team member!" She glanced over the portable EKG reading as Oliver sat unhappily on the Bunker's exam table.
John stood nearby giving Felicity an unimpressed look. He glanced next to him at Sin who watched the entire procedure with wide eyes.
Felicity finally admitted, "It looks like your heart is fine." Oliver immediately began pulling cords and stickers off to drop onto the table next to him as Felicity added to the collected team, "This time."
John turned to see Thea had accepted the news and was moving further into the Bunker away from them. Thea had been quiet since her confrontation on the bridge with Shadow Stalker.
"Hey," he called out, Thea's steps pausing. John asked, trying to keep judgement out of his voice, "What happened back there? You looked like you had him."
Thea crossed her arms tightly over her chest without turning to face him. Oliver stood up, pulling his shirt back on, and walked to stand next to John as Felicity wrapped up EKG wires.
Oliver clearly hadn't known just how close they had been to tagging Shadow Stalker and asked, voice tinged with confusion. "Thea?"
Thea turned towards them, eyes fixed on the floor. When she spoke, her voice was toneless. "When we were fighting, I pulled out the syringe. Pulled the cap off. He saw it. Probably thought it was something to knock him out, so – he fought harder. He nicked me with it." She turned away again and said, "Then to stick him with it … I just – I just couldn't."
Oh. Thea's hesitation as she stood over the Stalker with the needle primed – her confusion. It suddenly made sense.
A deep silence fell across the room. Felicity mumbled, "Oh, Thea."
Sin, on the other hand, seemed even more confused. "Wait – what does that mean?" Sin asked.
Thea slowly turned to Sin and said, "I have HIV." Addressing the rest of the room she said in a low voice, "I … I know he's evil, but – I'm sorry, I just … I couldn't."
Felicity, no longer winding cords, leaned against the exam table watching Thea and said in a low, emotional voice, "Thea – you don't ever have to be sorry for being a good person."
Sin declared in a sharp voice, "If anyone deserves to live with HIV, it's that son of a bitch." It was clear to John that, likely due to this being new information to Sin, she was not picking up on the cues from the rest of the team that Thea's diagnosis held so much weight.
Thea muttered, shifting her weight without looking up, "Don't say that, Sin."
Sin vehemently defended, "I'm just saying that the guy is a monster who rapes and kills women. Stick him with an STD and let him live with the consequences of his actions."
The comment seemed to strike a nerve with Thea and she spun to look at Sin. "And what if he's not our guy? Huh? We've been wrong before," Thea said gesturing over the team. She continued, stumbling with the heat of her words, "And, and what if he contracts HIV, we don't catch him, and he spreads it to other women? Because it doesn't have to be consensual for someone to contract it!" Thea shook her head, and then added more quietly, "And, honestly, the idea of giving somebody, anybody, this disease is just insane! I have spent nearly the last ten years living with the understanding that I need to protect the world from myself – from my blood, from having contact with guys – not sharing needles is like, HIV 101! I just – I just couldn't!"
Oliver raised his hands up in a placating gesture, trying to stop the torrent of stressed commentary. "It's okay, Speedy – no one is mad."
Thea turned quickly, eyes wide and teary to look at her brother, "I'm sorry – I should have been able to tag him."
"He knew we were coming," John noted. "We walked into a trap."
"And next time, he'll walk into ours," Oliver said firmly.