Queen Manor
Laurel had immediately rushed over when she heard about the shooting, and after making sure that the Queen family was safe, she walked to the room of the one she was truly concerned about, and saw his door was open, and found him sitting on his bed, brooding.
"Nate", Laurel said. Nate looked up to see Laurel standing there in his doorway. He noticed the concern on her face and it touched him that she cared.
"Hey, Laurel," Nathan said, getting up, "What are ya doing here?"
"I heard about the shooting. I wanted to make sure you weren't hurt."
"Well, thanks for that." Nathan smiled sadly at her, "I wasn't sure you would."
"Why would you think that?" Laurel asked, a bit surprised by his revelation. Nate grew hesitant at her question, and seeing this, Laurel sat on his bed next to him, "Hey, it's okay, Nate. I promise, I won't judge you."
After a few more moments of hesitation, he looked at her, "Laurel, I spent 5 years on Lian Yu, that's the name of the island that I was on. I was alone over there. But the loneliness wasn't the worst thing that happened. I want to tell you about it. Out of everyone, I want to tell you, but I'm afraid that if I do, you'll-"
He hesitated again and Laurel said, "I'll…what, Nate?"
Finally, he relented, saying with a tortured look in his eyes, "That you'll look at me like I'm nothing more than damaged goods."
Laurel nodded as she placed her hand on Nathan's cheek and said to him, "Nate, I would never think that of you." There was a moment of silence between them before Nathan broke it.
"Listen about the other nig-mmhh!" Nathan began but was silenced when Laurel kissed him, unable to help herself, Nathan returned the kiss and brought her onto his lap, and squeezed her ass firmly, causing her to moan as she ran her hands through his hair, before he stood up and turned around tossing her down onto the bed, causing her to smile. As he crawled onto the bed, and the two began kissing, with light petting, and cuddled on the bed, before they dozed off.
Nathan awoke in the middle of the night to see that Laurel had left, causing him to sigh, before he stood up and walked downstairs to grab a snack, but paused when he saw Thea watching TV with a large bowl of chips, and decided to join her.
"There were no signs of forced entry or any evidence of a struggle but hours later, the police found the blood-stained kitchen knife - in the trunk of Peter Declan's car." the news report said
"Couldn't sleep either?" Thea asked as Nathan moved her feet, and sat down placing them in his lap
"No. What are you watching?" Nathan asked
"Peter Declan." Thea said getting a raised eyebrow from Nathan "Oh, a guy who killed his wife. This guy killed his wife in their baby's room. Psycho."
"Okay we were just shot at, not something I'm interested in at the moment." Nathan said taking the remote and turning to something called American Dad
"Hey! Give it back." Thea said as she tried to take the remote, but Nathan held it out of her reach before she found herself in his lap, struggling to get the remote back, as she leaned forward to take the remote before he chuckled and handed it back to her, causing her to get off of him and turned back to the news.
"Declan's execution is set for midnight two days from now. Camille Declan's former employer, Jason Brodeur released a statement saying, quote: "I hope this gives Camille the peace she deserves."
Nathan gained a dark look in his eyes, as Jason Brodeur was on the list, which meant he needed to look into this.
"So why can't you sleep?" Thea asked a blush still on her cheeks
"I can't sleep anymore." Nathan said, before looking at Thea's confused look, "Nightmares."
"About?" Thea asked.
"Laurel."
"So why don't you make a play? I mean, she did come over here just to make sure you didn't get shot."
"There are reasons." Nathan said.
"What are they? Besides Oliver sleeping with her sister and her sister dying and her father hating your guts,"
"Those are the top ones. Along with the fact Tommy is in love with her." Nathan said causing Thea to nod, before Nathan brought her closer to him and kissed her head "I know that it might not seem like it sometimes but I'm not the same person I used to be." he sighed laying his head onto of hers and she cuddled up to him.
"So show her. Be yourself. I mean, your new self." Thea said, causing Nathan to look thoughtful.
Morning
Foundry
Nathan was looking up all the info on the Declan case. How the husband, Peter, had no alibi, and all 'evidence' pointed to him killing his wife. Nathan didn't believe it for a second. Nathan knew that he was telling the truth, besides evidence could always be planted by the real killer. The man was going to need a good attorney.
With Laurel
Laurel had spent the day at work trying to focus on her case, but he mind kept going back to her visit with Nathan yesterday. When she had woke up, she felt exactly like she had the first the two of them had slept together. Safe, but then guilt was felt right after, seeing as Tommy had said he was going to try to be a man she deserved and it felt like she was stringing him along. Because while she felt something for Tommy, she wasn't sure what it was, and what she felt for Nathan had only grown stronger since he returned to Starling and lord knows what her dad would try if she started dating the last male Queen.
With a sigh she stood up and began to pack up her stuff while her friend Joanna walked over "So I take it there's absolutely no point in asking if you'd like to grab a drink."
"I can't. I have to go over transcripts for the Fernands case." Laurel said putting on her bag
"You know, if you go somewhere that's not work or your home your odds of meeting someone increase by a gazillion percent." Joanna said as Laurel began to walk toward the door.
"That's not true. I could still get mugged on the way home." Laurel replied looking back to her friend who smiled.
"In that case, I hope he's cute and single." Joanna retorted.
"Good night, Joanna." Laurel smiled leaving.
30 Minutes Later
Laurel arrived home, and tried to turn on the lights, and frowned when they wouldn't come on, so cautiously she walked deeper into her apartment into her living room at her desk, and reached into her bottom door and pulled out the gun her father gave her, and turned around to see in the hallway was the hooded vigilante.
"Good Evening, Laurel." Nathan greeted.
"Don't move." Laurel ordered fear in her voice, and Nathan raised his hands showing that he didn't have a weapon in hand.
"Relax, I'm not gonna hurt you.' Nathan said advancing slowly.
"Stay back. My father is a cop. You are making a huge mistake." Laurel said as she watched the vigilante that he dad had been chasing.
"I'm not the person you think I am, and I need your help. Peter Declan is gonna be executed in 48 hours. I have reason to believe that the man's innocent. Declan's wife was gonna blow the whistle on Brodeur. Brodeur had her murdered." Nathan said now in front of Laurel whose gun was now pressed up against his chest.
"There are a thousand lawyers in Starling City. Why me?" Laurel asked.
"We're both trying to help." Nathan said.
"What makes you so sure I'm gonna help you?"
"Because I know you'd do anything to save the life of an innocent man." Nathan said as he walked around her toward the exit, but paused before he looked at her "Next time when there is an intruder, do not hesitate to pull the trigger."
Laurel turned to look at the vigilante only to see him gone.
Next Day
Iron Heights Prison
Laurel was in a room with Peter Declan who was looking at a photo of his daughter "Ajury has found you guilty, Mr. Declan." Laurel said.
"The evidence was stacked against me, but I didn't kill my wife. I didn't take my daughter's mother from her." Declan said leaning forward with the picture of his daughter.
"The murder weapon was a knife from your kitchen with your prints on it. It was found, along with Camille's blood in the trunk of your car. Your neighbors said they heard an argument that night." Laurel replied as Declan stood up and began to pace.
"We had a knockdown fight over Jason Brodeur. Camille worked for him and his company had been dumping toxic waste into the Glades. Camille told me she'd gone and told a supervisor about it. I was afraid for my family's safety. And we argued very loudly, Yes. Izzy started crying, so Camille went and stayed in her room." Declan explained before he sat back down "In the morning, I went to apologize and that's when I found her. So I just grabbed Izzy and I ran outside and I called 911. I'm innocent, Ms. Lance."
Later
SCPD
Laurel was looking at a photo of the vigilante when her dad walked up to her with a folder "Well, I wasn't the lead on this, but from what I recall we had fingerprints, we had blood, we got motive, everything."
"Brodeur seems like the type of guy with resources needed to frame someone." Laurel said, turning to face her dad and taking the folder before she began to look through it.
"Laurel, in 24 hours, Peter Declan is lying down with a needle in his arm, and not getting up. If I thought we didn't have the right guy you think I'd be doing anything now except get at what really happened?" Quentin asked.
"Declan said his wife went to her supervisor with allegations that Brodeur was dumping toxic waste." Laurel said, looking at a statement.
"Yeah, but that supervisor, he said that never happened." Quentin replied, taking the folder "Let me see. What was his name? Here you go. Istook, Matt lstook. He said he didn't even see Camille that day. Happy now?"
"Yes." Laurel smiled before he stood up and began to leave.
"I thought it'd be cold day in hell before you started defending criminals." Quentin said, looking to his daughter who turned to him.
"I'm not convinced that Declan is a criminal. Like you said, he's on a clock. Can't leave any stone unturned." Laurel said, before he left as Quentin frowned.
Elsewhere
Thea, and her friends were leaving school, talking and laughing before Thea noticed Nathan leaning on a matte black Koenigsegg Agera R "What're you doing here?" Thea asked, walking over and ignoring how her friends were looking at Nathan.
"I thought I'd hang with my little sister for a bit." Nathan smiled which she returned.
"Whose car is that?" Thea asked.
"Mine." Nathan said walking around to the driver seat.
"All those years on an island hasn't dulled your love for fast cars I see. So how fast is this one?" Thea asked looking it over.
"0–62 mph in 2.8 second." Nathan smiled getting in and when Thea closed the door he sped off.
With Laurel
While Nathan, and Thea were out on the town, Laurel was busy looking over files on the Declan case, while Joanna walked over "You really are putting a lot of hours into this Declan thing. You actually think he's innocent?"
"Someone does." Laurel said, still looking at the files.
"So you said, but you didn't say was who." Joanna replied causing Laurel to bite her bottom lip, and look around before she walked up to her friend and smiled.
"A guardian angel."
Joanna blinked and crossed her arms over her chest "The guy in the hood? Wha? You're kidding."
"He tracked me down, asked me to look into the case." Laurel said.
"But you've met him?" Joanna asked causing Laurel to nod.
"But he goes against everything that I was ever taught to believe in. He breaks the law and God knows what else." Laurel said.
"How are you not afraid he won't do "God knows what" to you?' Joanna asked worried for her friends safety.
"He won't. I don't know, I can feel it." Laurel said assuredly.
"When I told you to meet someone, this is far, far away from what I meant." Joanna sighed.
Later
Laurel was now on a rooftop, looking over the city, and saw the vigilante standing on ledge overlooking the city "I got your message." she said "Is there a reason we can't do this face to face?"
"Your dad is a cop." Nathan said as if that explained everything, "You've met with Peter Declan."
"You were right. He might be innocent. Declan said his wife blew whistle on Brodeur the day she was murdered." Laurel said.
"Then we need to get whoever she told about Brodeur to testify." Nathan replied.
"He already has. Matt lstook, Camille's supervisor. Only he says that she didn't say a word to him." Laurel reported.
"He's probably lying."
"Well, if he is, then he's very convincing. He had the jury and police believing him." Laurel said.
"He hasn't been questioned by me." Nathan said turning to leave.
"Hey, I didn't become a lawyer to break the law or hurt anybody." Laurel said, causing Nathan to stop and look at her over his shoulder.
"I do whatever is necessary to protect the people of Starling City. I am what people like Peter Declan need." Nathan said.
"If what you're doing isn't wrong then why are you hiding your face with a mask?" Laurel asked.
"To protect the ones I care about, from the enemies I make." Nathan said.
"That sounds lonely." Laurel noted.
"It can be." Nathan said jumping off the roof, causing Laurel to gasp before she ran over to the ledge only to see he was gone.
Elsewhere
Matt Istook was walking to his brand new Porshe, putting his suitcase in, before he got in himself, he started his car, but jumped in fear when he saw a black hood in his back seat before darkness was all he knew.
Moments Later
Matt groaned and blinked, before he screamed in fear, as he found himself dangling off the side of the building he was exciting "Oh my god!" he yelled before he looked to his legs to see his ankle being held by the hood man that attacked him.
"Matt lstook. You have failed this city," Nathan said, his blood red eyes and slit pupils glowing in the dark with his new lower face mask(AN: His costume is still the same as the one from chapter 1, but I changed the lower face mask to be the same as Bucky Barnes Winter Soldier without the goggles.).
"What're you doing! I've done nothing wrong!"
"Peter Declan. Your lies have put him on death row. Now, either it's time to tell me the truth, or I drop you 30 stories to your death." Nathan said.
"Oh, god, okay, okay I'll tell you anything you want to know." Matt nodded.
"Quickly now, my arm is getting tired." Nathan said.
"Okay. Okay. Brodeur paid me to say that Camille never spoke to me. But I didn't have anything to do with her death. Oh, God. Please get me down. I'll do anything." Matt pleaded only for Nathan to hold him out further "You can have the file."
"What file?" Nathan asked.
"Camille gave me a file of evidence against Jason Brodeur. Let me go, and I'll tell you." Matt said only to nearly lose his shit, when Nathan tossed him up and caught his ankle again.
"Hurry up, my arm is really tired." Nathan yawned.
"Okay, okay, it's in my desk! The file, it's in my desk at the office! You can have it!" Matt said before Nathan tossed him onto the roof and Matt breathed heavily before he looked back only to see that he was alone.
With Laurel
Laurel was alone at her office, working in her case when the lights went out, causing her to stand up and look around before she jumped when a folder was dropped on her desk "Compliments of Matt lstook." Nathan said causing her to face him.
"What's in here?" Laurel asked.
"Leverage on Jason Brodeur." Nathan answered as Laurel looked through the file, before she smiled at him "Should be enough to save Peter Declan's life."
"As an attorney, I never would've gotten a file like this." Laurel said amazed as she looked at Nathan "I always thought the law was sacred. It fixed everything. Now I feel like there's too many people in this city who only care about themselves. People who are selfish. I think they need someone who cares about the lives of other people. Someone like you."
"Let's hope not. What I do Laurel, while it gets results, it's still dark and crosses a lot of lines. I do what I do to protect the innocents of this city, and sometimes that means soiling my hands in blood."
"All in the pursuit to help others." Laurel said.
"Hmm, have a nice night Laurel." Nathan said leaving as the lights turned back on, while Laurel smiled and sat down biting her bottom lip.
Later
After going home to sleep, and take a shower, Laurel immediately went back to work upon waking up, currently she was at her desk, when her dad walked up "Hey, you look busy. Is that the Declan case? There was a funny development on that." Quentin said sitting on her desk as she looked up to him "Matt lstook, he, uh, filed a police report. He said the Hood harassed him last night. And that's funny, because I gave my daughter lstook's name."
"Dad, I-" Laurel began but Quentin leaned forward angrily.
"He's a vigilante. He's a damn criminal, and you working with him. That makes you an accessory." Quentin interrupted.
"I'm trying to save an innocent man's life." Laurel defended standing up.
"No, you're breaking the law." Quentin retorted standing up as well.
"I wouldn't have to go outside the law if the police had done their damn job right in the first place!" Laurel snapped causing Quentin to frown as he paused.
"I asked you how you got this case. You lied to me straight to my face. Eh? I thought you and I didn't do that. Guess I was wrong." Quentin said before he stormed off while Laurel watched.
Later
Courthouse
Laurel was with the judge, who was looking through the file "Your Honor, the mere existence of the file proves that Mr. Istook perjured himself for Jason Brodeur's benefit." Laurel said.
"That's slander." the two women turned to see a lawyer, Jason Brodeur, and a big Russian walk in "Jared Swanstrom, Your Honor. I represent Jason Brodeur and Brodeur Chemical."
"The interests of justice requires you to stay the defendant's execution pending exploration of the newly discovered evidence." Laurel said looking to the judge.
"Ours isn't a court of justice. It's a court of law. And under the law, your evidence is insufficient to warrant a stay of execution. Your motion for habeas corpus is denied." the judge said causing Laurel to frown before she walked toward the exit but stopped in front of the smirking millionaire.
"This isn't over. I've got the loose end now. And no matter what happens, I'll pull on it until your whole world unravels." Laurel said before she walked off, roughly pushing past the man.
Later
With Jason
Jason was pacing in his office, freaking out "Declan's lawyer is pulling me into this. I'm gonna go to prison, if not for murder, then this dumping thing!" he said to his lawyer and body guard.
"That won't happen. There are steps we can take." His bodyguard Ankov said.
"You saw her. She's going after me!" Jason yelled panicking.
"She'll wanna meet with her client after what happened in court today. We have friends up in Iron Heights. Prison can be a dangerous place." Ankov said causing Jason to nod.
Elsewhere
Nathan was on the roof, with Laurel who filled him in on what happened "It appears we're not done yet." Nathan said.
"I'm an attorney. Trust me, we're done." Laurel said causing Nathan to sigh.
"What do you need to free Peter Declan?" Nathan asked after a moment.
"At this point, nothing short of a signed confession from Brodeur." Laurel said, causing Nathan to shrug and walk off "Where are you going?"
"To get to get you that confession."
Later
Jason's Office
Jason was against the wall, in his office, as Nathan stood in front of him "Jason Brodeur, you have failed this city."
"What do you want?" Jason asked taking deep breaths.
"You'll confess you arranged to have Peter Declan's wife murdered." Nathan stated simply.
"What, so I can take his place in prison?" Jason asked.
"So you can avoid the death penalty." Nathan said before Jason smirked.
"Except if I'm dead, well, then you got no one to pin Camille's murder on. You need me to exonerate Peter Declan."
"You are a naïve fool." Nathan said, pulling out a kunai.
"Listen, maybe you could try to force me to sign a confession or something-ahh!" Jason screamed as Nathan stabbed him through the shoulder.
"That might be difficult." Nathan said ripping his knife free before he grabbed Jason and slammed him onto the ground and stomped on his wounded shoulder before he kneeled down forcing his foot down causing the man to scream before tears of pain were seen by Nathan "Are you crying? Buck up Mr. Brodeur, you're in for a long night. Now choose, fingers or teeth?"
"Okay! Okay fine, I did it! I ordered the hit on Declan's wife, please just stop!" Brodeur, cried out, unaware that he was being recorded.
Jason's phone began to ring, causing Nathan to sigh, and he pulled the man's phone out, and held it to his mouth "What?"
Jason looked up in shock when his voice came from the man stepping on him "It's Ankov. It's going down. One hour."
Nathan crushed the phone and tossed it away before he looked down at Jason "What's going down in an hour?"
Jason looked away, but shouted and began to cry when Nathan stuck his finger in his shoulder wound "Alright.. we made a plan..."
"What plan?' Nathan asked as the man sobbed under him and forced his finger deeper into the wound "Start talking!"
"Were going to stage a riot in Iron Heights and in the confusion Peter, and his bitch lawyer will be dead!" Jason yelled, before he was knocked unconscious.
"Laurel." Nathan said in worry, rushing off.
Iron Heights
Peter was scared and frustrated as Laurel tried to talk to him "Okay, you have to listen to me. We still have a shot. You remember the friend I mentioned? The one who believes in you? He's working on something."
Outside
A guard on duty was keeping his eye on the perimeter but didn't see the figure that sped across the field and jumped over the gate, before it sped into the prison.
Inside
"No, I told you, Jason Brodeur is powerful. I've been here before. These lawyers holding out these little nuggets of hope." Peter said just as the lights went out and alarms blared as cells were opened.
Laurel stood up and looked around to see guards were running to respond "What? What the- ? "
"The warden is setting up a secure perimeter in C block. Stay here, ." the guard with her and Peter said before he left.
"Wait!" Laurel yelled looking outside to see the officer get grabbed before 4 inmates began to kick the cap out of him.
All throughout the cell block the inmates that were out of their cells attacked the nearest guard and Laurel happened upon a young looking guard get stomped on by a big guy who looked up and smiled at her, while the other inmates still in cells cheered and leered at her as they pulled the unconscious guard to the cell to grab his keys
The inmate began to advance on her before a arrow found its way into his heart and Laurel, and Peter turned to see Nathan dressed as a security guard with a ski mask "Let's go." he said just as the cell opened and he stayed back to let Laurel, and Peter get out first, and punched the first inmate sending him flying back into his cell mates and they all fell, as Nathan ran over and grabbed Laurel's hand and lead her and Peter away, before he saw a door while guards with shields were coming.
"Come on." Nathan said leading Laurel and Peter to safety before he was in the back of the head with an aluminum bat by Ankov, who grabbed Laurel and threw her into a fence before he knocked her to the ground and began to strangle her.
Nathan shook the cobwebs from his head, before he saw Laurel looking at him as she was being strangled and quickly he sprang up, grabbed Ankov by the back of his shirt, and flung him back. sending him through the gated fence.
Laurel coughed as she got up and saw Nathan unsheathe a kunai as he walked up to Ankov, who was clutching his head. Quickly she ran up and grabbed his arm and flinched when she saw him look at her, and gasped as his Kyuubi eyes bored into her. "Let's go." she said causing Nathan to look at her before he looked back to Ankov, and slowly nodded before they looked up when the guards entered.
"Open up the generator area! Ms. Lance, stay back. Area secured." the guards chattered as Laurel turned to see Nathan gone, while the guards took Peter who didn't put up a fight.
Later
Laurel was outside the prison, when she saw her dad "Laurel. Sweetie. What are you..?"
"I'm all right." Laurel said hugging her dad.
"You sure?" Quentin asked getting a nod from his daughter.
"I'm sorry about what I said to you." Laurel said.
"You were right. Brodeur's bodyguard confessed to Camille Declan's murder. We got the wrong guy. But listen to me. I'm right too, about him. He's dangerous. He's outside the law." Quentin said as Laurel only nodded.
"I'm sorry." she said causing Quentin to nod before he placed his jacket over her.
"Let's get you home, sweetie. How did he get into that prison anyway, huh? A grown man in an outfit, that kind of stands out a little, doesn't it?"
"I don't know." Laurel said before she got into the car, and sat back but looked put the window and saw Nathan standing on the rooftop looking at her, before he turned and walked away disappearing into the darkness.
Later
"Okay," Kelton said as he typed at his computer as Quentin and Hilton sat with him, "here's the security footage from the exchange building shooting, but I've already swept through it."
"Well, now you're gonna do it again," Quentin said irritated, "look, when you went through it before, you were looking for a guy in a black leather hood, right?"
"Yeah. What do you want me to look for now, a guy in a pink tutu?" Kelton asked sarcastically and the two cops looked at him unamused.
"Just look for anything out of the ordinary." Quentin ordered.
Sighing, Kelton did as he and Hilton exchanged exasperated looks. However, while they did, Quentin saw something.
"Whoa, wait wait wait, go back. Ten seconds." Quentin ordered.
Bewildered, Kelton did as he asked. The footage rewound to show Nathan Queen kneeling on the floor of a stair case, holding a duffel bag. Hilton and Kelton looked on in confusion as Quentin started to grin.
"Play that again." Quentin ordered.
Queen mansion
Same time
Nathan walked into the sitting room to see Laurel there. Surprised, Nathan walked over to her.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Nathan asked confused.
"I wanted to see that you were okay after…last night." Laurel said and Nathan nodded.
"I'm fine." Nathan said blankly and she nodded, although she didn't look like she believed him.
"Nate…I know it can't have been easy for you while you were away…but you can talk to me, if you want." Laurel said carefully.
"I appreciate that Laurel…but I have to handle this on my own before I can talk about it." Nathan assured her an she smiled slightly.
"The thing about having people who care about you, is that you don't have to. The people who love you are willing to share that burden with you." Laurel told him.
Suddenly, the front door burst open and the two whirled around to see Quentin and several other cops walking in.
"You can't just barge in here!" Walter protested as he got in Quentin's path.
"Yeah? I got a gun and a badge that says different." Quentin said arrogantly before moving passed Walter.
"What the hell is going on here?!" Nathan demanded as Quentin and the cops approached him.
"Dad?" Laurel asked, surprised this was happening and his eyes flashed as he saw her there before moving over to Nathan.
"Nathaniel Queen," Quentin said as, to Moira and Walter's shock, the police began putting Nathan in handcuffs, "you are under arrest for suspicion of obstruction of justice, aggravated assault-"
"Dad!" Laurel shouted but ignored her.
"Acting as a vigilante-"
"Have you lost your mind?!" Nathan demanded.
"And murder." Quentin finished a victorious, vindictive look in his eyes.
Quentin and Hilton grabbed Nathan and began leading him out of the room. Walter got out his phone and began dialing as Moira watch in shock while Laurel and Thea exchanged a look, wondering how this would go differently this time.
Nobody saw Nathan's dark smirk, as if everything was going exactly as he planned it.