Chapter 10
AN1: THANK YOU SO MUCH TO Mocking_point who has helped me more than I can put into words.
AN2: IMPORTANT: So I do not know if people still care about this story, but I am trying to update it. I Have done a few chapters. Now, I am going away next weekend so I am going to spend the next week editing/writing as many chapters as possible (I am adding more as I go in than I have been) and I will update all those chapters in one go before I go, and then possibly write on the plane, updating what I've done when I get back. Now I cannot promise that I will get to new chapters anytime soon as my life is a bit of mess. So, please let me know if you want me to actually continue this otherwise I might just do it for myself. I'm posting this chapter just to see what people think.
About five minutes after she left the docks Laurel is standing on a particular rooftop, that has the best view of the entire area surrounding the docs, searching for a figure in the darkness. As she searches the darkness Laurel finally sees what she has been looking for, a flash of green, and the second she sees it, knowing exactly what she is seeing, Laurel starts running and jumps between rooftops and runs along connections until she is walking onto a different rooftop from one side just as the Hood, Oliver, walks on from the other.
"You again," Oliver says, as he sees Laurel, though honestly, he is glad to see the woman as it might just give him some insight into who she is underneath the mask.
"What, no thanks for saving your ass back there?" Laurel asks, already finding herself becoming annoyed with the Hood.
"I didn't need you to save me," Oliver says, honestly being rather insulted by that.
"Sure, you didn't," Laurel says with a smirk.
"Why did you go after Somers? That's not your MO," Oliver comments, feeling very confused about what she was doing.
"I heard about the hit he ordered tonight," Laurel, as the Woman in Black, says.
"What does that have to do with you?" Oliver asks, thinking that if this woman has some connection to Laurel then that should help him figure out who she is.
"Laurel Lance does a lot for this community, this is the least I could do for her," Laurel says, it being extremely odd for her to refer to herself in the third person, even though Bruce has advised her that it is something she should get used to. "Which is more than I can say for you. You're just killing people," Laurel says angrily.
"That's how I'm making things better, these people deserve to die," Oliver comments. "Can you honestly say that you have never killed anyone in the last six months?" Oliver asks.
"Yes, I can," Laurel says as she made sure of that because it's part of the code, she created for herself as she felt that was incredibly important, she felt that it would be something that would help her never forget why she started to do what she does.
"Then you have more control than I have," Oliver comments, slightly impressed by that.
"That. Is obvious," Laurel says. "This is my city, and I will not let you keep killing people in my neighbourhood," Laurel reveals, taking a step forward. "Stay out of the Glades," Laurel says, in a warning tone of voice.
"Are you going to make me?" Oliver asks, a little amused by the idea.
"Yes. This is your one warning," Laurel says.
"Who are you behind that mask?" Oliver asks curious, being pretty sure that she won't answer, but suspecting that what she does say will give him some clues.
"Who are you under that hood?" Laurel counters, and then before either of them can say anything a siren goes off, so, without another word, they both go running in different directions, both planning on following the other at some point, but not tonight as it is too much of a risk.
Over an hour after her conversation with The Hood Laurel, now dressed in jeans, and her riding gear with her WIB bag, is knocking on the door to Ted's apartment.
As Ted opens the door to his apartment Laurel can see that he is relieved to her in one piece, even though he attempts to hide it, and without a word Ted steps aside and lets Laurel into the apartment.
"Oh, thank god," Thea says relieved as she gets up from the couch she was sitting on and runs over to Laurel and hugs her.
"I'm okay," Laurel responds, as she returns the hug.
"Is Somers on his way to jail?" Ted asks curious.
"He should be, but he's not, and that's not because of me," Laurel explains.
"The Hood?" Ted asks, as that would make sense.
"Yeah, I saved his ass and then he left me to deal with Sommers men while he went after Somers and put a few hours in him," Laurel says angrily. "And then we both fought China White," Laurel explains to Ted and Thea as the three of them sit down on the couch. "Yes, that China White," Laurel adds, looking at Ted as he would know what she is talking about.
"Wait, you fought the leader of the Triad? Are you okay?" Ted asks concerned, as he knows how dangerous that would have been.
"Yeah, the fight didn't last long, police came so we went in three different directions," Laurel explains. "A little while after that The Hood and I met up and we had a little talk," Laurel explains.
"How'd that go?" Thea asks curious.
"I told him to stay out of the Glades," Laurel comments.
"Good, we don't need someone like that," Ted says, completely meaning that.
"That we don't," Laurel confirms. "Thank you," Laurel says to Ted.
"No need," Ted responds. "And you're both staying here tonight. I've already got my spare bedroom ready," Ted explains.
"Thanks Ted," Laurel and Thea both say and Ted just brush them off.
"So, what did you and the Hood teaming up against the head off the triad look like?" Thea asks curious and Laurel starts to explain everything that happened.
About forty-five minutes later Thea has headed to bed, but Laurel and Ted are still up, walking over to his friend Ted sits down next to her on his couch and hands her a drink.
"So, you were with Oliver when you were visited by the triad," Ted comments, a few seconds later.
"I was waiting for you to mention that," Laurel says, sounding a little amused, as she is honestly a little surprised that it took him so long to mention it.
"Wasn't it just yesterday that you were breaking stuff in my Gym because of him?" Ted asks curious, trying to make sense of things.
"Ted," Laurel says, in an annoyed tone of voice, as she really doesn't want to talk about this.
"I'm just saying, how does Oliver get you to go from breaking stuff to sharing ice cream in your apartment?" Ted asks curious and Laurel just gives him an, 'how do you know that?' look. "Thea mentioned what you were doing when the Tried paid their visits. How does he achieve that and how do I learn that skill?" Ted asks curious.
"I need new friends," Laurel says, taking a drink, being pretty sure that she is going to get a call from Bruce, who will ask similar questions, too.
"Yeah? And between your day job, your night job, everything extra you do for CNRI and looking after Thea how exactly are you going to manage that?' Ted asks curious. "Let's face it, D, you're good at a lot of things, having a social life isn't one of them," he comments.
"I hate you," Laurel says with a pout, making it clear that she doesn't actually mean that.
"No, you don't," Ted responds with a grin, knowing that Laurel is just teasing as he puts his arm around his friends' shoulders in a brotherly way, as the two of them drift into silence.
"I saw a look in his eyes tonight. He's not going to stop until he finishes whatever it is that he thinks he's doing," Laurel reveals, breaking the silence after a few moments. "I think he believes that he is doing the right thing, and in so ways, he is, but the bodies he's leaving in the process isn't okay," Laurel says.
"No, it's not," Ted confirms. "You're going to try and stop him from leaving too many bodies, aren't you?" Ted asks, as that's what he suspects.
"I'm going to try, but I don't think it'll be enough," Laurel admits, and then takes a deep breath as she knows things are getting into sensitive territory. "Do you ever miss it?" Laurel asks as she knows about Ted's own history of being a vigilante, and she knows a few details about why he stopped, but not everything.
"I can't help you, D. I still don't trust myself," Ted tells his best friend, realising what she is actually asking. "But I do trust you, and I know that with your stubbornness you have a chance of getting him to stop doing things the way he is," Ted explains.
"How do you have so much faith in me?" Laurel asks curious.
"You're my best friend, that's how," Ted comments.
"And you're mine," Laurel says as she tries, and fails, to keep a yawn in.
"How much sleep you working on?" Ted asks curious.
"I don't even know anymore," Laurel admits.
"Go get some sleep," Ted suggests. "I'll wake you with coffee in the morning," Ted assures Laurel.
"My hero," Laurel says with a grin. "Night T," Laurel says, placing a kiss on her best friends cheek.
"Night D," Ted responds and Laurel heads to Ted's spare room, a room she has slept in before, and just she walks into the room her phone starts to vibrate, looking down at it Laurel sees that it is Bruce on her caller ID and so she quickly heads to the fire escape so that she doesn't wake up Thea.
"Hey," Laurel answers, as she climbs onto the fire escape and slowly closes the window.
"The Triad?" Bruce asks.
"Do you have google alerts on for me or something?" Laurel asks, feeling more surprised than she should be that he already heard about what happened.
"Of course not, I've hacked into the SCPD radio, and several frequencies used by organized crimes," Bruce explains, in a tone like he thinks it should be obvious.
"Of course, what was I thinking," Laurel says, shaking her head at him even though Bruce can't see her.
"Are you okay?" Bruce asks concerned.
"Yeah, I'm okay," Laurel confirms. "Can I ask you something?" Laurel asks.
"Of course, you can always ask me anything," Bruce says, knowing that it is unusual for Laurel to actually ask before she asks something.
"I need some advice, have you ever had someone who does what you do but does it in a way that is completely against your code?" Laurel asks curious.
"You're talking about the New Hooded Vigilante?" Bruce asks, as that's what he assumes.
"Yeah," Laurel confirms. "We had a run-in tonight, I was going to take Sommers to the police he killed him," Laurel explains. "Tonight, I saw the look in his eyes, he believes that what he has to do, but he's leaving bodies… that's not okay," Laurel says.
"No, it's not," Bruce confirms. "Dinah you can't take his sins onto yourself, I've learnt that the hard way," Bruce explains, wanting to prevent Laurel from making the same mistakes he has.
"I'm not saying i'm going to take on his sins," Laurel admits. "I know that I will do what I can to stop him from leaving bodies, but I'm wondering if there's a chance, I could convince him that there's another way," Laurel admits.
"I can't give you the answer to that," Bruce admits. "What I've done in the past might not work for you," Bruce explains. "What I can say is that if there was anyone who could convince someone that there is another way to do what we do it would be you, Dinah," Bruce tells Laurel
"Thanks Bruce," Laurel says. "I should head to bed, I have work in the morning," Laurel explains.
"Okay, goodnight, Dinah," Bruce says.
"Goodnight Bruce," Laurel says, and she heads back inside and falls asleep in Ted's spare bed, while Ted himself is checking to make sure all doors and windows are locked.
The following afternoon, after witnessing Oliver's speech in front of the new Queen Consolidated Applied science building, which is named after Robert Queen, a speech that Oliver apologised to Thea for before he gave it, Laurel has headed to the Queen Mansion. While it may not have been obvious to others to Laurel it was clear that Oliver made the speech he did for two reasons, to make the board believe that he wouldn't be a good option to take over the company, and to push away everyone who cares about him. As she arrives at the house Laurel hers Oliver's speech to Walter, which confirms what she suspected.
"Nice Speech," Laurel says, walking into the room as Walter leaves.
"Thanks, I took your advice, I showed them the person I wanted them to see me as," Oliver explains.
"No, you didn't," Laurel says as she walks over to Oliver.
"What do you mean?" Oliver asks, realising that he should have realised that Laurel would see through the act, as she has always been able to see him even when no one else could.
"I've known you for most of my life, Oliver, and while that speech was an amazing effort to piss everyone off, and keep Thea, and your friends, at arm's length, I could tell," Laurel reveals. "I could see that it was an effort," Laurel informs him. "So, when you're done keeping secrets, and when you're done trying to push everyone away, or when you just want someone to listen to the hell you've been through that's when you should show up at my place with ice cream," Laurel tells Oliver as she walks away. "Oh, and make it Rocky Road next time," Laurel says as she walks out of the room. As he watches Laurel go Oliver has to admit that it is going to be harder to keep his secret when Laurel knows him so well, but he has to try as he believes it is the best way to protect her.
After leaving the Queen Mansion Laurel heads to Ted's, having sent a message to Thea on her week telling the young woman to meet her there.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't my favourite client," Ted says as Laurel walks into the gym. "Are you here to break more of my things?" Ted asks curious, knowing that he has prepared just in case that is the case.
"Not today," Laurel says with a grin. "I was thinking that it's been a while since I've been in the ring with my best friend, you interested?" Laurel asks curious.
"Always," Ted responds. "Weapons or no weapons today?" Ted asks curious.
"Let's do both," Laurel responds.
"Done, meet you in the ring in five," Ted says, as they both have to get changed, Laurel nods, and the two of them go in their separate directions to get ready.
While Laurel has gone to Ted's after her conversation with Oliver, Oliver has gone to the foundry. After what happened a couple of days ago Oliver knows that he cannot keep his research on, or look into, The Woman in Black at home anymore, so instead he has taken all his research to the Foundry and is putting all of it on one of his spare tables so that he can look at it all objectively.
"I'll find you, I'll figure you out," Oliver says to the police sketch of the Woman in Black.
About an hour after she got the message from Laurel suggesting they meet at Ted's Thea, along with Roy and Sin, walk into Wildcat Gym where they find Ted and Laurel sparing.
"Okay, I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that looks like foreplay," Sin comments, as she has been wondering for a while if there is something going on between Laurel and Ted.
"Gross," Thea comments, and Roy laughs.
"Thea's right, I think Laurel and Ted are best friends, nothing more," Roy comments, though he knows their have been times where he has wondered.
"Do you really think so?" Sin asks, sounding surprised, because to her it seems like Laurel and Ted are more than just best friends.
"Yeah, I do," Roy responds.
"Okay, can we please stop talking about my guardian's love life," Ted requests, not wanting to voice who she actually wants Laurel with.
"Come on, you have to have an opinion," Sin says, wanting Thea to agree with her.
"I agree with Roy," Thea comments, to Sin's annoyance. "I don't think either of them have romantic feelings for each other," Thea explains, being pretty sure Laurel is currently dealing with her rather complicated feelings for Oliver.
"Yeah?" Sin asks curious.
"Yeah," Thea confirms.
"Huh," Sin says as the three of them drift into silence while they watch Laurel and Ted spare with each other.
For the next half an hour Thea, Roy, and Sin watch Laurel and Ted. As the trio watch it is clear that both Laurel and Ted are enjoying every second of their fight.
"Are either of you keeping count on how many times they've knocked each other on their asses?" Roy asks Thea and Sin curious.
"Nope," Thea and Sin say together.
"We really should keep count of those things," Thea realises.
"Yep," Sin and Roy say together.
"Think they're gonna stop anytime soon?" Thea asks curious as while she know what she thinks she is incredibly curious about what Roy and Sin think.
"Nope," Sin and Roy say together.
"Well, I'm getting hungry so I'm gonna put an end to this," Thea says before jumping down from the mats that she, Roy and Sin are sitting on, and walking over to the ring.
"Hey! You two!" Thea calls just as Laurel knocks Ted to the ground. "As fun as it is to watch you two pound on each other we're getting hungry. Sooooo do you two plan on stopping anytime soon?" Thea asks curious, and at Thea's question both Laurel and Ted look at each other.
"One more round?" Laurel asks, looking at Ted.
"Sure D, if you think you're up for it," Ted says with a smirk.
"You're forgetting Ted, you're older than me, you sure you have the stamina to keep up?" Laurel asks with a grin.
"Is that a challenge Lance?" Ted asks, giving her a challenging look.
"Did I not make that obvious enough, Grant?" Laurel responds and then without warning Laurel and Ted both start to attack each other, causing Thea to roll her eyes as she walks back over to Roy and Sin.
"They said one more round," Thea explains.
"And you don't believe that," Roy realises, knowing that because he doesn't believe that either.
"It's Laurel and Ted, who knows," Thea comments and the three of them drift into silence as they watch Ted and Laurel continue to fight and this time Laurel gets knocked to the mat but then she quickly gets up, preparing to fight.
"Hey! What happened to one more round?" Thea calls and after once more exchanging looks Laurel and Ted climb out of the ring.
"So, where are you thinking for dinner?" Laurel asks the teens as Ted throws a towel at her.
"Anything," Ted requests. "And you're joining us, right Ted?" Thea asks curious.
"You should," Laurel comments.
"Sure," Ted responds.
"Give us five minutes to get changed, and while we're doing that you three decide on where we're eating," Laurel says before she heads over to changing room while Ted heads to his back room.
About fifteen minutes later Ted, Laurel, Thea, Sin and Roy walk into the local Big Belly Burger, something which isn't overly surprising as it is often where they end up.
"Why do we always seem to end up here?" Laurel asks.
"It's cheap," Roy answers.
"It's easy," Sin adds.
"It's quick," Thea adds.
"And it tastes pretty good," Ted adds as they make their way over to a booth, which is actually the booth they usually sit in.
"Sounds about right," Laurel says, with a shrug, honestly wondering why she asked the question, and once they get to the booth Roy, Sin and Thea squeeze into one side while Laurel and Ted sit on the other.
"So, how many bruises do you two think you're gonna have to tomorrow?" Sin asks curious.
"A lot," Laurel and Ted say together causing all five of them to laugh and together they enjoy their meal, talking and laughing most of the time.
Unknown to the group of five not even ten minutes after they started to eat a figure clad in green leather lands on the rooftop across from the restaurant and just watches them.
As he sees Laurel and Thea so happy as they eat with their friends two thoughts cross Oliver's mind, the first is that he really wishes he could go join them, but he knows, and the last few days have proven, that it is better for everyone if he doesn't and the second is that he can't help but feel jealous.
He feels jealous of Ted, of the fact that he is clearly so important to Laurel and Thea, that they are so comfortable with him. As he watches he sees Laurel put her arm around Ted's shoulder and give him a teasing grin, a grin that Oliver has missed so much. Seeing that Oliver knows he can't watch anymore as it hurts so much. So, shooting an arrow, Oliver swings away as even though he is happy that Laurel and Thea are so happy he knows that he cannot be happy with them, and that hurts.
Hours after dinner Laurel and Thea are sitting together in their apartment just watching on TV while sitting on the couch and sharing a blanket. As they watch the TV Laurel can tell that something is off with Thea.
"You've been quiet, are you okay?" Laurel asks concerned as she doesn't think so.
"I'm fine," Thea lies.
"No, you're not," Laurel says, knowing that. "I'm here if you want to talk," Laurel says, clearly not pushing Thea but offering her a kind ear if she needs it.
"I just don't understand why he did that today," Thea reveals.
"Oliver," Laurel says, realising that she should have seen this coming.
"He apologised first, then he said all those horrible things, I just don't understand why," Thea admits. "I don't understand what's going on with him," Thea admits.
"I don't completely understand either," Laurel admits. "But I think he was trying to push us away,"
"Why would he do that?" Thea asks, not understanding.
"I don't know," Laurel admits, being blind to the obvious truth that Oliver acted a lot like how Bruce acts to hide the fact that he is Batman, putting her arm around Thea.
As she sees how much pain Thea is in Laurel can't help but cruse Oliver as this is now the second time that Oliver has hurt Thea since he's been back while Thea becomes determine to figure out what is going on with her brother.
Hours later, after she made sure Thea has gone to bed, Laurel has once more headed out as the Woman in Black. Having already stopped a couple of muggers Laurel is doing something she learnt from Bruce, standing on top of a building, not doing anything other than just watching over the city and reminding herself of what she is fighting for.
As she watches Laurel sees someone, she knows better than her own name walking through the streets, and against her better judgement Laurel follows along, going from rooftop to rooftops, watching Oliver as he walks home; wondering why he is in the Glades in the first place.
Down on the ground, Oliver, due to everything he has been through, realises that someone is watching him, and he quickly glances over his shoulder and he realises that he is being watched by the Woman in Black; and he can't help but wonder why she would be watching him.
Even though Oliver has a lot of questions for the Woman in Black he knows he can't ask them as Oliver Queen, so he just keeps walking, being very aware of what the Woman is doing as he does.
For over ten minutes Laurel follows Oliver, watching over him from above, doing her best to be unnoticeable, but then she spots two men coming from the other end of the alley, one pulling a gun and the other pulling a knife. Realising exactly what they are going to Laurel jumps down and lands directly in front of Oliver.
"What?" Oliver asks, sounding confused, as he was so focused on the Women In Black that he didn't realise what else was gong on, but after a couple of seconds everything becomes clear to him.
"Stay behind me," Laurel says with her modified voice and honestly Oliver almost laughs at the irony of the situation, and without a word Laurel runs towards the two men pulling both batons out as she does.
Moving into place Laurel dodges a man who is trying to stab her while she uses her baton to knock the gun out of the others hand. Due to the position she gets into to knock out the gun Laurel gives the other man the opportunity to stab her with the knife in the side, and knowing that she cannot focus on that for second, even though she will need to fix it later, Laurel swings out with her baton, hitting the man who stabbed her on the back of the head, knocking him out, causing the fight to just be her and the guy who has once more picked up the gun.
"You can't protect Queen," The man informs Laurel.
"Sure, I can," Laurel responds, as she holsters both her batons.
"Why would you?" The man asks, becoming distracted, and Laurel is able to use that as her opening by grabbing the arm that isn't holding the gun, which she then uses to twist him around and slams his head down onto her knee in a way that Laurel knows will keep him unconscious for a little while.
"Are you okay, Mr Queen?" Laurel asks as she turns back around to face Oliver, being thankful that thanks to the fact that it is so late her face is mostly in shadows.
"Thanks to you," Oliver says, knowing he could have handled it on his own, but it would have given away who he really is, so it's good that she intervened.
"It's what I do," Laurel responds.
"You're hurt," Oliver notes.
"It's just a scratch," Laurel says, partly lying. "You should be more carful Mr Queen. This neighbourhood isn't safe," Laurel says before she does a parkour move it took Ted six weeks to teach her, and hurries up the fire escape and onto a roof which she uses to disappear; Oliver watching her go with an amazed look on his face.
"I'll figure you out," Oliver informs the Woman in Black as she goes, his voice being too quiet for Laurel to hear.
After making sure that she wasn't followed, because honestly, she wouldn't be surprised if Oliver wanted to follow a woman in leather that just saved his ass, Laurel headed home and once she has climbed into her window Laurel starts to remove the leather, which is now sticking to her skin thanks to the blood.
"I really need to get something stronger," Laurel mutters, wondering if Bruce could help her with that, because she knows that before long someone will question why she has so many scars.
After some difficulty Laurel finally manages to get the leather off, so that she is standing in her room wearing only her underwear and the tank top she wears when she goes out, and after pushing her WIB outfit under her bed Laurel walks over to where her medical supplies are. Pulling out everything she needs Laurel heads back over to her bed and pulls up her shirt so she can have a look at her latest wound; something she is only able to do thanks to the mirror she has strategically placed for situations like these.
Needing a clear view Laurel does her best to clear the blood away so that she can start to stich up the wound that is several inches long. Even though she has a lot of experience with patching up her own injuries Laurel still winches in pain every time she does a stich.
For about five minutes Laurel continues to watch her wound, winching as she does, until she hears a knock on her bedroom door.
"Laurel, you home?" Thea asks as she knocks.
"Yeah, I'm home Speedy," Laurel says, trying to make her voice sound as normal as possible, and as she responds the door starts to open. "Don't come in," Laurel quickly says and unsurprisingly the door opens.
"Oh God, what happened?" Thea asks, sounding terrified as she sees the blood on Laurel's side, and fearing the worse, that she is going to loose Laurel too.
"it looks worse than it is," Laurel assures her as she continues to patch herself up, hating that Thea is now seeing the very thing she has been trying to protect her from.
"You sure about that?" Thea asks worried. "Because that looks bad," Thea asks, wondering if there is a way she can ask Mary, who is already taking college pre-med classes, how bad this injury is without raising suspicion.
"I'll be okay," Laurel says as she continues to stich up her wound.
"How can you do that?" Thea asks surprised, and a little impressed, that Laurel is not only stitching up herself, but also barely reacting to that fact.
"I have to," Laurel says as she closes her eyes, and takes a deep breath, before continuing.
"What can I do?" Thea asks worried, feeling the need to do something to help.
"Leave, I don't want you to have to see this," Laurel informs Thea as she is trying to protect her.
"I'm not going anywhere," Thea says, putting her hand on Laurel's knee.
"Please Thea," Laurel requests, as she doesn't want Thea to see her like this.
"No, I'm not leaving," Thea says stubbornly.
"Fine," Laurel says, wishing that Thea would go and for the next ten minutes Thea watches as Laurel stiches herself up and as she does Thea decides that she is going to figure out a way to help Laurel be a bit safer when she is on the streets, fighting for the people in The Glades.