Starling City Heliport
A helicopter was landing on a pad at the Starling City Heliport.
Less than five minutes away, a phalanx of police cruisers sped towards the heliport, while McKenna Hall talked angrily into her phone in one of the speeding cars.
"What do you mean the chopper's about to touch down? The flight log doesn't have them due for another 20 minutes!" she said furiously. She listened to the reply and growled. "Then lock down the heliport!"
At the pad, a well-dressed man climbed out of the chopper. He took his phone out and quickly dialed his contact. "I've just landed in Starling City." He said in heavily accented English.
"We agreed- half on arrival, the other half when the job is done." He looked down at his phone, and his banking app showed a wire transfer in progress. As it finished, he lifted the phone back up to his ear. "Gracias." He said with a smile. "Don't worry. The man's as good as—"
His conversation was cut short as the phone was knocked out of his hand by an arrow. He looked over in disbelief at the Arrow, who stood just a few feet away.
"Guillermo Barrera. You have failed this city." The Arrow growled.
"You've built quite a reputation in this city, Arrow." Barrera said.
"And you should have stayed overseas in Europe." The vigilante said.
"I thought about it," Barrera replied with a thoughtful expression, "but then I remembered- I've got a reputation, too."
Two throwing knives slipped into his hands from his sleeves. The Arrow shot another arrow, which Barrera blocked with the knives, which he then threw the knives at the Arrow, who sidestepped to dodge.
Barrera swung at Nate's head, intent on stabbing him, who ducked under the attack, and used his other arm to parry Barrera's other stab strike. Nathan then delivered a hard jab to Barrera's face, breaking his nose and causing him to stumble underneath the tail of the helicopter, and the Arrow followed him.
They continued to fight furiously as the Arrow parried away all of Barrera's attacks. Barrera was getting frustrated and kicked the Arrow in the leg, causing him to kneel. Barrera pulled out two more knives and tried to stab the rising vigilante, who parried away both strikes, before pulling out his sword and pivot spinning on his foot, and slicing Barrera's neck wide open.
"So much for that reputation." Nate sarcastically quipped. He grabbed the dead man's phone as he walked off, heedless of the cops who pulled up, surrounding the pad. And by the time McKenna had gotten out and found the remains of an arrow near Barrera's body, he was gone.
Foundry
A few minutes Later
The sound of shouts, grunts, and the clash of wooden swords could be heard as Lyla and Helena were sparring with Talia with wooden swords. Having finished their league hand-to-hand training, they moved onto to swordsmanship, though since they were new to swords, they were starting off with wooden Bokken.
Talia blocked a few strikes from Helena before Talia swept Helena off of her feet with the bokken, causing her causing her to fall and land on her butt. Talia parried several of Lyla's strikes before disarming her and holding both swords at her neck.
"You have a decent foundation, Lyla, but your moves are too rigid. With swordplay, your movements need to flow naturally, similar to how a river flows. Let it happen naturally, don't force it." Talia handed Lyla her sword back before turning to Helena. "Helena, your foundation is lacking. Let the power of your attack come not from the strength of your arms but from the ground that holds your feet." Talia extended a hand and Helena took it, pulling herself.
"It's harder than I thought. You make it look easy." Helena mildly complained.
"Some swordsmen have a certain natural talent. However, most have to spend countless hours of training and dedication to become masterful swordsmen. It will take some time before you attain that skill level." Talia complimented.
"Was it hard for Nathan to learn?" Lyla asked.
"Our beloved already had prior training in several different styles before I started with him, so he already had a solid foundation to work with." Talia's mouth formed into a mischievous smirk, "But just between us girls, the two of you are learning the League's way faster than he did." They shared a laugh.
"Haha, very funny, Talia." Nate's voice could be heard, but they could tell he was amused, not upset. They looked up to see Nathan walk in, spinning his bow. "How'd it go?" Lyla asked.
"Badly for him." Nathan replied, setting his bow on another table.
"Who was it you went after tonight?" Helena asked, mildly curious.
"An assassin for hire with an affinity for knives. His name was Guillermo Barrera." He said as he crossed the man's name off of the list.
"So we can't ask him about his intended target?" Lyla noted.
Nathan took a breath. "No." he said, turning to face the two. He pulled Barrera's phone from his pocket and placed on the desk "Which is why I need to hack his phone." He said as he quickly created a clone and had said clone get to work. "Barrera's a world class assassin. He only kills high profile targets. And whatever job he was hired for isn't finished. We need to figure out who he was here to kill, and fast. They are probably still in danger."
While his clone got to work on hacking the phone, the real Nathan sat in another chair, pulling out a spare laptop and once it turned on, began looking through some documents. Lyla and Helena, curious as to what he was looking at, peeked over his shoulder. The two ladies saw an article-'Rebecca Merlyn: Brutally Murdered in a Glades Alley'. "Is that your friend Tommy's mother?" Helena asked for confirmation.
"Yeah," Nathan said wistfully, remembering her sweet demeanor and angelic smile, "When Ollie, Tommy, and I were young, we'd sometimes have play over at Tommy's home. Back when Mrs. Merlyn was still alive, Malcolm was a pretty great guy. He once performed a few magic tricks on my 7th birthday. I used to call him 'Uncle' and Rebecca 'Aunt' because before her death, they were the aunt and uncle I never had. But then Rebecca was murdered on May 5th 1993, and Malcolm went away for two years, leaving Tommy alone, and when he came back, he was a cold son of a bitch." Nathan had his back turned to Talia, so he didn't see her eyes widen in realization, then narrow.
"I've been looking into her murder on the side since I got back, because it's one of the biggest unsolved cases in SCPD history and because it's personal to me." Nathan said as he pulled up some more files and looked at them. "The murder weapon was a .45 caliber bullet shot from a M1911 pistol. This was the detail of her murder that stuck out, because there have been at least 14 other murders afterwards, the bullets having the exact same grooves from the barrel, which means it's the exact same gun. After I cross-referenced numerous sources and purchase records about who might own the gun, I finally managed to link it to this guy."
Another document is pulled up, "Daniel "Danny" Brickwell. He's a notorious mobster in who operates in the Glades. His grandfather was Loyd Brickwell, a member of the Us Army during WW2, who kept his service pistol and handed it down to his son Richard, who handed it down to Daniel. He started rising through prominence in the criminal underworld rather quickly after Rebecca's death. Either Daniel is so arrogant that he thought nobody would ever make the connection, or he's just really stupid. Either way, his name's on the list and I'm gonna kill him."
"May I suggest you hold off on that, Beloved?" Talia requested, getting her Beloved's attention.
"Why?" He asked, noticing her slightly uneasy expression. Most wouldn't be able to tell with Talia, but given how long he has known her, he could tell, "Talia, what is it?"
Talia sighed and walked over to his display board, which had articles and evidence of all the sightings concerning the rogue Leaguer he was looking for. "When you mentioned when Mr. Merlyn disappeared, it reminded of something my father mentioned. He was very tightlipped about Al-sah Her's original name, but he did tell me he served as my father's Horseman and joined the League for 2 years before he was released in 1995, near the summer. When you said the Malcolm Merlyn vanished in 1993 and reappeared in 1995, it finally made sense. What if you've been looking at this all wrong?" Talia said as she drew two small parallel timelines.
"What if it's not a rogue member of the League? What if it was a former Horseman that was released? My point is, what if Merlyn is the one you've been looking for the whole time?"
Flashback
Nathan was in the fuselage was doing a set of pullups. He finished his set and dropped to the ground.
Slade looked at him from across the downed plane, unimpressed. "Seven." He tallied.
"Well, it's better than the 4 I was getting last week." Nathan complained.
Slade just gave him a look, then walked over to the bar, jumped up, and started doing pull-ups with his legs extended out straight in front of him. Nathan sighed. "Why the sudden desire to work out?" he asked.
"What else is there to do?" Slade countered, still doing pull-ups.
"Well, we can try to think of another way off the island." Nathan offered.
"There is no other way." Slade said, still doing pull-ups. "If there was, I would have found it."
"We can't just sit here and wait for Fyers to come and kill us." Nathan complained hotly.
Slade finally dropped down from the bar. "I did have one idea." He said. "If you go into the forest and gather as much bamboo as you can find…"
"Yeah?" Nathan asked hopefully.
"We could build ourselves a boat, like they did on 'Gilligan's Island'." Slade finished sarcastically.
Nathan shook his head. Then out the corner of his eye, he noticed something- a radio. Interested, he moved over to examine it. "That's broken." Slade advised. "It got busted during the crash."
"Did you try to get it to work?" Nathan asked.
"I'm better at pulling things apart." The soldier replied.
Nathan moved to the back of the radio and began examining the wires. "My father was a pilot and he used to do his own maintenance." He said.
"So you're hoping aircraft maintenance is genetic?" Slade said incredulously.
"No," Nathan replied, annoyed. "I used to help him and I liked it. Then I got pretty good at it. So maybe I can make the radio work."
"You should be training for the inevitable fight that's looming." Slade argued, going back to the pull-up bar and resuming his workout.
"I'll do that and see if I can't get this radio to work." He replied, getting to work.
Flashback end
The Starling Cemetery
Next morning
Nathan was walking to one of the graves with a bouquet of flowers. He stopped at a grave. It read 'Rebecca Merlyn'. The next line read 'Loving Mother and Treasured Wife'. The final line read 'April 4th, 1963 – May 5th ,1993'.
"Hey, Aunt Rebecca," He said to himself as he placed the flowers at the base of her grave. He had a sad smile on his face, "I know it's been awhile since I visited last. I was away, kinda got lost along the way, but I'm back."
"I went through a lot of crap during my five years away. Honestly, the things I've done, and what I still have to do would have horrified you. You were always so innocent and pure," Nathan laughed a little to himself as he continued sadly, "If there was ever one person in my young life who I thought was an angel, it was definitely you."
His sad expression hardened as he stared at the grave, "I'm gonna have do something I really don't want to do. So, I'm gonna make you a promise right now. I won't go after Malcolm, not until I know for certain he is either this Dark Archer, or the one behind whatever this Undertaking is."
Laurel's Apartment
7 Pm that Evening
Helena was leaning against the wall in her purple dress, putting on her shoe when Nathan walked up.
"Hey." He said with a smile. "Sorry I'm late."
"No, I am." Helena replied. "I just got caught up at the office managing my bastard Father's company."
"I have a similar problem." Nathan quipped, looking her over. "Mm. You look so hot in that dress." He kissed her.
"Ooh." She said as they broke apart. "We should go inside."
"We should." He agreed, kissing her again and pulling her closer.
"We don't seem to be going inside." Helena quipped as they kissed again. Finally, they broke apart and headed to Laurel's apartment. Nathan knocked, and Tommy opened the door.
"Welcome." Tommy said happily.
"Happy Birthday, buddy." Nathan replied, giving his best friend a hug.
"Thank you." He replied, taking the gift bag Nathan handed him. "Oh, this feels like a Chateauneuf de Pape."
"It tastes like one, too." Nathan replied, closing the door as Tommy led Helena into the apartment.
"You are a true friend. Thank you."
"Tommy, you remember Helena Bertinelli." He introduced.
Tommy smiled. "That's right, we met during the Christmas party." He noted.
"And so we meet again." She joked. They chuckled as they moved into the dining room, where Laurel was lighting the candles at the table.
"Nate." She said happily." HI."
"Hey, Laurel." He replied. The two ex-lovers hugged each other non-awkwardly. "Laurel, this is Helena Bertinelli, my girlfriend."
"We know each other from the court house. I helped her file the lawsuit to get control of her fathers company" She said, moving back to Tommy's side.
"How are you, counselor?" Helena joked, easing the tension.
"I'm well, mobster." She replied glibly.
"I'm going to go crack this open." Tommy said, hefting the wind bottle.
"Come in." Laurel invited. Helena moved deeper into the apartment, taking it in.
"This a very nice apartment." She complimented. She noticed a picture and picked it up to examine it. The picture showed a young, brown-haired girl with a younger-looking Quentin as they happily observed a black canary in a cage. "Oh, this is so cute. How old are you here?" she asked.
Laurel looked at the picture with a tinge of sadness. "That's actually my sister Sara." She said.
Helena was slightly embarrassed. "Oh, I am so sorry." She apologized.
"No, no, it's ok." Laurel assured the woman, and then looked back at the picture. "I don't know why my father bought her that canary. That thing chirped night and day." She laughed lightly. "Drove us all nuts."
"A toast." Tommy said as he came back into the room, loaded down with wine glasses. He passed them out, and then held up his own. "To the first birthday that I have enjoyed in a long time." He looked at Nathan. "I got one of my best friends back." He turned to Laurel. "And I have finally figured out why poets have been in business for the last few thousand years."
"Happy Birthday, baby." Laurel said, giving him a kiss.
"Thank you." He replied with a smile.
"Cheers." Nathan said. They all replied the same and clinked glasses. As they were sipping their wine, there was a knock on the door.
"I think that's the food." Laurel said, handing Tommy her glass and going to the door.
After she left the room, Nathan sighed in relief. "Oh, thank God you didn't let her cook."
"Amen, brother." Tommy agreed.
Laurel opened the door to find not the food delivery, but Malcolm Merlyn. "Mr. Merlyn." She said in surprise after a moment.
"Laurel." He greeted with a smile. "Can I come in?" Laurel moved aside, allowing the elder Merlyn in. Malcolm walked towards the small group with a smile that no one else returned. "Nathan." He greeted.
"Mr. Merlyn." Nathan replied politely. Their once chummy relationship had taken a severe nosedive after Merlyn came back and acted like a cold hearted ass.
Malcolm turned to Tommy. "I've been trying to get in touch with you."
"What are you doing here, Dad?" he asked without preamble.
Malcolm produced a small box. "Happy Birthday, Tommy."
Tommy just stared at him for a moment, and then turned to Laurel. "Just give us a second."
"Of course." Laurel replied. Tommy motioned for his father to follow him out into the hall. Malcolm tossed the present to Nathan and obligingly followed.
"We're about to eat." Tommy said as soon as they were in the hall.
"I can't stay."
"Well, that works out because you weren't invited."
Malcolm smiled tightly, then withdrew and invitation from his jacket. "I'm being honored by the Starling City Municipal Group. They're bestowing me with their annual Humanitarian Award."
"What, they ran out of actual humans to give it to?" Tommy asked sarcastically.
"I would like you to be there, if you could." He asked hopefully.
"I am 100% certain that I'll be busy." Tommy tried to walk back into the apartment, but Malcolm grasped his arm tightly, stopping him cold. Tommy looked down at his father's hand, than back up.
"You might not believe this, but all I ever wanted for you was happiness." Malcolm told his son. "If it will allay this tension between us, I'll turn the switch back on." He tried.
"Save your money, Dad." Tommy replied. "I don't need it anymore."
"I'd still like you to come to the event." He pressed the invitation into Tommy's hand. "It would mean a lot to me." He started to walk off, but his son's voice stopped him cold.
"You know what, Dad?" Malcolm smirked and turned around, and Tommy walked up to him. "Sometimes the people that you want there the most- Aren't" he pressed the invitation to his father's jacket over his heart. "You taught me that. Multiple times." Tommy turned and walked back into the apartment. Malcolm stood there for a moment, watching as the invitation fluttered to the floor, then turned and walked off.
SCPD Police Station
While the party was happening
McKenna was at her desk, going over files concerning the Arrow, trying to figure out how to catch him. She was pulled from her thoughts when the lights went out. Seeing as she was the only one still in the office, she pulled out her gun. "Who's there?" She called out, not showing any fear.
"I am", the modulated voice said. McKenna whirled around to see it was the Arrow, though his bow was holstered.
McKenna went for her radio to call backup, but all she got was static. "Please allay any thoughts towards calling for backup. I've already jammed all radio signals coming out of this building."
"What the hell do you want?" She demanded, her gun still trained on him.
"I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to help you." The Arrow said, tossing a stuffed folder onto her desk. She eyed it warily. "It's not a bomb, if that's what you are wondering."
She carefully pulled the tab open to see a bunch of files and papers in it, as well as a black phone, "Rebecca Merlyn was murdered nearly two decades ago. The Police never found out who did it. I did. Inside there, you'll find everything you need to arrest him. Though I should warn you, bring a few SWAT teams when you go to apprehend him."
Nathan turned to leave when McKenna wondered out loud, "Why are you giving this to me? You could easily go after him yourself."
Nate turned to her and said, "Rebecca Merlyn left a strong impression on me a as child. Her killer needs to be brought to justice. And to answer your question, while I could easily kill him and move on to the next scumbag, her son and husband have been in a strained relationship ever since her death. This isn't about just making sure he can't tear another family apart, this is about getting them the closure they need. Don't do it for me. Do it for the families that this bastard has ruined."
Bludhaven Apartments
Exact Same time
A tall, lanky man lumbered up to the door of his apartment and walked in. He got a glass down, through a carton of cigarettes down on his table, then pulled out a bottle of bourbon and poured himself a drink.
"Hello, Lawton." A voice said from down the hall. "I see your edge has dulled."
"Oh, I knew you were there." Deadshot said, "I just didn't care if you killed me. What do you want?"
"My organization has been contracted to eliminate a certain high profile individual." China White said, coming into the light. "A very well-guarded target."
"Well, forget it." Lawton said. "Look, I'm retired."
"To drink and smoke your life away?"
Lawton shrugged. "We all got to die some time."
"I need someone to die at the right time." China White said. "And no one does it better than you."
Lawton moved himself into the light, highlighting his milky, dead left eye. "My vision ain't exactly what it used to be."
"No." China white lifted a small case and opened it, showing its contents to Lawton. "It's going to be better."
Floyd lifted the small, red eye device and looked it over with his one good eye. He smiled at the Triad leader. "So? Who needs two bullets in the chest?"
Merlyn Global
Next morning
Moira was hurriedly walking towards the conference room for a meeting with Tempest.
"Moira." Frank Chen called out, joining her. "Is it happening?"
"Yes." Moira confirmed. "The Humanitarian Award ceremony."
"Isn't that a little public?" Frank asked, concerned.
"No one will expect it." Moira said, then schooled her features and opened the doors to the conference room. She and Frank took their seats, joining the other two members at the table. Malcolm stood at the windows, looking out over his city.
"I have very welcome news to share with all of you." Malcolm said as he came to the head of the table. "Thanks to Queen Consolidated's Applied Sciences Division and their recent acquisition of Unidac Industries, the Undertaking which we set for ourselves is only months from fruition." He smiled. "There's hope on the horizon for everyone in Starling. We won't fail this city."
"And I think I speak for everyone here when I say we're all with you, Malcolm." Moira lied pleasantly.
TheLair
Same time
Nate was hard at work on Barrera's phone, with Lyla, Helena and Talia hovering around him.
"This guy was one paranoid assassin." Nathan complained. "Barrera's got cobalt-level encryption on his phone. The only thing I've managed to pull off this thing is the last number he dialed." he said, pulling up the info.
"Which was?" Helena asked.
"A restaurant in China town. Jade Dragon…Which would explain why Chien hasn't been returning my calls or showing up lately. She's involved in all of this and didn't want me involved." Nathan said as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
" Yeah, Jade Dragon is a front for the Triad." Lyla told her.
"I'm gonna call the restaurant; make a reservation for two for lunch." Nathan said as he left.
"I'm kind of in the mood for Chinese now." Helena noted.
"Hmm." Lyla agreed.
Jade Dragon
Lunchtime next day
Nathan and Tommy were seated at a table, joking quietly when the waiter came by and dropped off their meal- a whole fried fish on one large plate. The waiter smiled and left, leaving Tommy and Nathan to stare at the plate.
"That is…that is one big fried fish." Tommy said, and the two laughed quietly.
"I wasn't lying when I told you this was the most authentic Szechwan in town." Nathan told his friend. He shook his head. "I wanted to make sure that your birthday celebration got its due celebration. It was a bit tense last night."
"Well, trust my dad to run all the smiles out of the room." Tommy sighed, his mood darkening.
"I know the two of you have never been close, but it couldn't have been easy for him after your mom was killed."
"Yeah, I guess he forgot that there were two of us in that club." Tommy pointed out.
"I'm not trying to defend him, Tommy." Nathan sighed, showing a bit of sadness. "It's… with everything I've been through, people that I've lost, I know the kind of wound it leaves on you."
Tommy nodded pensively. "You probably don't remember this." He started. "Ahh… we were eight. But after her funeral, he left for like two years. And when he did come back, he was… he was so frickin' cold. We barely spoke. And that's why I spent so much time at your house with you and Oliver." Nathan nodded in understanding. "From the outside, it always looked like I had a father. He paid my bills, he lived in the house, and he bailed me out whenever I got into a rough patch. But your dad took me to my first hockey game." Tommy smiled. "Your dad taught me how to fly and fish. Your dad took us to our first R-rated movie."
"But he wasn't perfect, man." Nathan said, remembering the list. "My dad made a lot of mistakes. And…" he took a breath. "We haven't talked about this. But I have a bit of resentment towards him. But still, I would give anything to have him back, because… at the end of the day, your dad is… your dad. And nothing can ever change that."
Tommy sniffed, trying to keep his emotions in check. "I meant what I said last night, okay?" He told him. "I'm really glad that you're back."
Nathan smiled, and Tommy picked up his chopsticks to dig into the fish. Nathan was about to, but then he saw a large, burly Asian man with a tattoo on his neck walk past. "I got to hit the restroom real quick. I'll be back in a sec." He told his friend.
The big man moved through kitchen to a back room where a smaller Asian man was counting the Triad's money. The big man pulled stacks of cash out of an envelope and handed it to the accountant, who was about to put it into an electronic cash counter when the light suddenly went out. They looked around, and the big man reached for a gun when suddenly Nathan leapt on top of him, slamming the man's head to the ground. Having taken the threat out of the equation, Nathan grasped a squeeze bottle of hot sauce and sprayed it into the accountant's eyes, effectively blinding him. The small man leapt up and tried to run out of the room, but Nathan was on top of him. He slammed him into the wall and held him there by his throat.
"The triad put a hit out on someone." Nathan growled in Mandarin. "I want to know who."
"I don't work for the triad!" The accountant protested in Mandarin.
"You're not exactly making Dim sum back here." Nathan quipped in Mandarin, then tightened his grip on the mans neck.
"I-I don't know who it is."
"But you do know something." Nathan surmised. "Tell me or I will break your neck."
"Tomorrow. Whatever it is, it's supposed to happen tomorrow." The man finally said.
Satisfied, Nathan let go and quickly slipped out of the room, just as the big man got back up.
"Who was it?" The Big man asked
"I don't know. But whoever he was, he spoke with a perfect accent. Definitely Chinese." The accountant said, trying to rub that hot sauce out of his eyes.
The big man ran out of the room and headed back into the dining room, looking for the guilty party. All the while Nathan sat at his table, and as the big man walked past.
"Mm," He muttered as he and Tommy dug into their meal, "That is some good fish."
Flashback
Nathan was diligently working on the radio when Slade came back into the plane, carrying al large boar on a pole over his back.
"I hope you like barbecue." He said. Nathan said nothing, not noticing Slade at all as he spliced wires together. "Well, don't fall over yourself thanking me for spending six hours up a tree so you can eat."
"What?" Nathan asked distractedly, finally looking over at the other man. "Great." He said, turning back to the radio. "I'll eat later."
"You've been on that for days. Give it a rest." Slade argued.
"It's because I can do this." Nathan shot back.
Slade scoffed. "Sure, kid. When pigs fly." Suddenly the lights on the radio lit up, and talking could begin to be heard. "You're kidding me." Slade tossed off the boar and ran over to Nathan. "Can you clean this up?" he asked excitedly.
"I don't know. I don't know how I got this far!" Nathan said happily.
'Continue approach. Big jet 365.' The radio squawked.
Slade picked up the mica and hit the button. "Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is wedgetail 325. Pilot and passenger down."
'Big jet 365, cleared to land. Runway 2-7 right, wind,' the radio continued. Slade frowned in confusion, so he hit the button again.
"I repeat-pilot and passenger down on the island of Lian Yu. Request immediate rescue."
'Cleared to land, runway 2-7 right. Big jet 365.' The radio continued, heedless of his calls.
Slade slammed the mic down in anger. "Damn! They can't hear us, and we can't call out." He sighed. "We're still trapped." Nathan stared at the radio, dejected and deep in thought.
Flashback End
Triad base by the Docks
Nighttime
China White was giving her men a briefing on the assassination. "There are five exit routes from the main floor that need to be cut off." She began, circling around her men. "Once the fire alarm goes off, we'll have less than 30 seconds to disable Merlyn's private security and force him outside with the others. Once he's outside the rest will be up to Mr. Lawton." She looked over to the sharpshooter, dressed in his traditional gear with the new artificial eye over his dead one.
"Roger that." Lawton smirked.
Afterwards, Chien was walking over to her car when she was slammed against it but not too hard. "Mm, playing rough today, lover?" She asked as she turned around, knowing it was Nathan.
"I'm not in the mood for this, Chien. Who's the hit on?" Chien looked uneasy for a moment before she relented. "It's Malcolm Merlyn."
"What!? Who the hell hired you to kill Malcolm?" Nathan asked.
"It was your mother, Nate. She paid us 5 million dollars to kill him. I didn't come to you about this because I know your relationship with her is strained right now and I didn't want to be the cause of any more pain between you two." She said sincerely.
Nathan nodded in understanding and said, "Okay. This hit on Malcolm, it can't happen."
"I'll pay the Triad 10 million to let this go, you'll tell them Moira suddenly changed her mind and the hit isn't happening, though you'll act like it is. I have someone I can call to take care of Lawton. Think you can convince them?"
"Well, if it's that, I certainly can." Chien said but then pulled his face closer, "But make no mistake babe, I want you all to myself for a day."
"Consider it done." He said. They shared a quick steamy kiss, and she left. Nathan then pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. A number he originally intended to never call, ever.
Finally, a woman picked the phone, "Yes, Mr. President?"
"Ah, you think too highly of me, Amanda." He said, addressing Waller. He could hear a sharp intake of breath on the end of the phone.
"Mr. Queen," She said in surprise, calming herself down, "I wasn't expecting to hear from you ever again. How did you get this number?"
"Oh, come on, Amanda. You know how resourceful I am. I never expected to call you either but things are different. However, I'd like to discuss business. How would you like to get your hands on Floyd Lawton aka Deadshot? For your little Task Force X?"
"Reports say that you killed him." She noted, testing him.
"So did I, but apparently he survived. Anyway, you interested?" He asked.
"Consider my interest peaked. What did you have in mind?" Nathan smirked as he told her the plan.
The Next Day in the morning
Unspecified location in the Glades
A gang was hauled up in a warehouse, drinking and having a good time. Then the lights went out. They jumped to their feet, looking around as they pulled out their guns. They heard the sirens and then they knew they were fucked.
"Freeze! SCPD!" McKenna and about 20 SWAT members entered the building and all had their guns pointed at Brickwell and his three guys. The three gangbangers dropped their guns in surrender but Brick was pissed.
"You fuckin' cowards!" He shouted as he shot all three of them, but he didn't get another shot off as he was hit with seven tranquilizer darts. McKenna put the cuffs on him and carried him away.
Laurel's Apartment
Late that night
As evening started to fall, Tommy was finishing putting on his tuxedo when Laurel walked into their room.
"You look handsome!" she said.
"I try not to. It just keeps happening." Tommy replied glibly.
"What's the occasion?" she asked.
"I decided to go to my dad's thing."
Laurel was surprised. "Really? Are you sure?"
"Oh, mostly." Tommy replied, putting on his jacket.
"Did you want me to go with you?" Laurel asked. Tommy shook his head.
"No, no, no, I know you have work to do. I promise I will be fine." He gave her a quick kiss. Laurel watched him as he walked out. She was distracted by her phone ringing. Picking it up, she saw the incoming call was her mother.
She looked at the phone worriedly, then quickly ignored the call and slammed her phone down on the table.
Merlyn Global
1 hour later
Moira was mingling with the crowd when a familiar voice stopped her cold.
"You look beautiful."
Composing herself, Moira turned to see Malcolm standing there, resplendent in his tuxedo. "Thank you." She said politely.
"If you're free, maybe after the ceremony, we could have dinner and talk like we used to." He offered with a friendly smile.
Moira smiled in return. "I'd like that." She lied. There was a bit of feedback through the speakers, and Malcolm chuckled.
"That's my cue." He said, then walked towards the stage.
"I've been trying to avoid him all evening." Frank Chen said, coming up to Moira.
"If we didn't show, it'd look suspicious." Moira said reasonably. She picked up two flutes of champagne and passed one to Frank.
"How can you talk to him that way?" he asked. "As if nothing's about to happen?"
"I've been living this life for five years. Five more minutes won't matter." She clinked their glasses and took a sip.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen." The speaker began, and the crowd quieted. "Now tonight's honoree needs very little introduction. It's neither his wealth nor his name that we celebrate here tonight. But it is his efforts in making Starling City a better and safer place to live. So please help me welcome Starling City's humanitarian of the year, Mr. Malcolm Merlyn." Applause broke out as a smiling Malcolm took the stage. He gratefully accepted the award and waved to the applauding crowd.
Through the crowd, China White strode confidently in her brunette wig, pausing to take a flute of champagne from a waiter- one of her men. She looked back to see another waiter—another of her gang members- moving about as well.
While this was happening, a young man with short slicked back brown hair and blue eyes walked in through the back. He was wearing a black baseball cap, black sunglasses, a dark grey longsleeved shirt, black jeans, brown belt and brown boots. He snuck closer to the control, avoiding all the camera's to make sure he wasn't seen. He found the control room and opened the door to find two guys monitoring security.
"Hey, you can't be i-" That was all the one guard got out before the young man reached out with his hand and wrapped it around the security guards throat before snapping his neck with a single hand.
"Ben!" The other security guard shouted as his friends was murderer right in front of him. He reached for his taser, but the murderer moved first, rushing the guard, placing both hands on the sides of his head and twisting violently to snap his neck.
As the guard fell dead, the guy in black pulled out a flash drive and plugged it into the servers in the room. Very quickly, a green LED light on the drive turned on, signally whatever he was downloading onto the server was done. He then got on the computer and quickly typed in a few keystrokes. Suddenly, 3 minutes of footage from the camera's that might have seen him were erased and replaced with looped feedback, showing no sign he was there. He then put 20 different camera's on looped feedback. He swiped the guards badges and keys and locked the door, sealing the security footage room.
He found the elevator, used their keys, and went up to the penthouse. He found the door to the penthouse and held out his watch covered wrist. The watch opened and out popped a holographic keyboard. He quickly began typing away. A second later, the light on the keypad to the room turned on and the door opened. Walking around, he planted numerous tiny video and audio surveillance devices, sticking them in places where Malcolm would never find or think to look.
He then saw the room, with another keypad. He walked over to it and hacked into the holo-keypad. He watched as the door opened to reveal the customized League of Assassin's suit. "Boss won't be happy about this." The guy said as he took several pictures and placed a few more recording devices where they wouldn't be seen. He stuck his flash drive into the USB slot on Malcolm's computer and after a few seconds, the algorithm was downloaded onto the laptop. He then exited the penthouse and began making his way out of the building, disposing of the dead guards along the way.
At the benefit, Malcolm began his speech. "The true humanitarian in the Merlyn family was my wife Rebecca." He said. "Many of you here knew her. She tirelessly devoted herself to helping those less fortunate in the Glades. I like to think that if the men who murdered her knew her; knew the work that she did, knew the person that she was. He would have helped her to her car, made sure she was safe, instead of stealing her purse and shooting her." He paused in his speech when he saw Tommy out in the audience. He gave him a small smile, then continued. "The truth is, I haven't done enough for this city. My city. I failed it. But I promise you- I am not finished yet."
Out in the crowd, Moira was listening to the speech when she spotted Tommy out of the corner of her eye. She looked at the young man, and her careful mask slipped as she realized that she was going to have his father murdered in front of his son.
"I promise you that this city will be better for all of us." Malcolm continued. "And on that day, I will look at this beautiful award and feel that I have earned it. I thank you."
The crowd began to applaud, and Malcolm made his way down to the crowd to begin shaking hands. He had just begun when the fire alarm suddenly went off. The speaker got back on the microphone and advised the crowed to head out in an orderly fashion. Malcolm looked around for his son and came up to him and they walked out together as Malcolm, surrounded by his security detail, had seen no assassin's.
Meanwhile, outside on the roof of the opposite skyscraper, Deadshot waited patiently for his target.
"I'm surprised you're still alive." Lawton whirled his gun around but saw nothing. "I could have sworn I killed you."
"I was able to patch myself up before I bled out from the wounds you gave me. The cops never even found me." Lawton replied looking around the rooftop for the guy that had almost killed him many months back.
"Well, that's too bad," the voice came before an arrow pierced Lawton's shoulder, "Lucky for you, there's someone who wants to get their hands on you more than I want to kill you."
The taser device in the arrow activated, zapping Lawton into unconsciousness. 5 Argus agents came out the door moments later and scooped him up.
An Hour Later in Malcolm's Office
"So, what can I do for you Detective?" Malcolm asked curtly as he stared coldly at Quentin, knowing of the detective's feelings about his son. The detective had approached him asking to speak privately after the incident at the ceremony.
"I'm here to talk to you about your wife's murder. There's been a new development." Quentin said carefully and Malcolm tensed.
"What development?" Malcolm snarled, which Quentin decided to overlook.
"There's a rising star in SCPD. McKenna Hall, she used to go to school with your son and Queen's boys. Well, she was looking over some old police reports when she found something. The gun used in your wife's murder is the same one used by Daniel Brickwell, a local gang lord. He's used the same gun for years." Quentin said and stopped, seeing the enraged look on Malcolm's face.
"Thank you Detective. Is there anything else?" Malcolm asked in a clipped voice.
"Yeah, earlier today, Brickwell was arrested by McKenna and 2 SWAT Teams. He's being transferred to Iron Heights in a few hours while court sets a trial date for him." Quentin admitted and Malcolm nodded.
"If I could have some time alone Detective." Malcolm said and Quentin nodded in understand.
"We'll be in touch if there are any new developments." Quentin promised before walking out.
Once Quentin had closed the door, Malcolm pressed a button on his phone, getting him in touch with his secretary.
"Janet, cancel all my meetings and hold all my calls for tomorrow. Tell anyone but my son who needs me I'm unavailable." Malcolm ordered.
Malcolm then stood up and walked over to his secret room. Malcolm opened the door and walked inside, closing the door behind him. Malcolm walked over to his suit, staring at it. He thought he had killed the man who murdered Rebecca all those years ago, but he was wrong. It was time to rectify that mistake. Daniel Brickwell would pay for what he had done, Malcolm thought as a wicked smile spread across his face.
A few hours later
The cop van was transporting Brickwell to Iron Heights when two arrows pierced the windshield and driver and passenger were killed, causing the vehicle to crash into a nearby building. After a few seconds, the three cops in the back got out, only to fall one by one to arrows. Brickwell, who had lost his restraints in the crash, got out and made a run for it. He made it into an alleyway before he was shot with an arrow in the knee.
"Daniel Brickwell," The man in black said as he appeared and took a step towards Brick, "this is for Rebecca."
"What?" Brick asked before the archer grabbed him by his throat, lifting him into the air as he took off his hood.
"You don't even know her name, do you?" Malcolm snarled enraged as he pulled out the gun he had stolen from SCPD. "IS this the weapon you used to murder my wife?"
"Everybody I dropped was with that piece." Brick said with a sick grin.
"She was a good person. Decent! Kind! She ran a clinic right in The Glades!" Malcolm snarled and Brick laughed.
"Brunette. Yeah, now I remember. She was my first. My initiation into the Orchid Bay Butchers." Brick bragged.
"You murdered her because you wanted into a gang?" Malcolm demanded.
"No, because she was weak. Because she was crying, begging me not to kill her. But you won't get that from me. So go on, do it! Kill me!" Brick snarled.
"You murdered my wife," Malcolm said as he pressed the barrel of the gun to Brick's temple, "and now, I'm gonna make sure you can't do what you did to me and my son to anyone else…ever again."
Outside the alley, the thundering sound of a gunshot pierced the air.
Flashback
Nathan was sitting, dejected as Slade fiddled with the half-working radio.
"If they can't hear us, then what's the point?" he asked angrily.
Slade held up his hand, indicating he should be quiet. "Wait! You still might have done us some good." He told the boy as he scanned the frequencies. Finally he found what he was looking for.
'Final deployment is five by five.'
"That's Fyers!" Nathan exclaimed, jumping to his feet and running over.
"I'm tuned into the soldier's frequency." Slade told Nathan as they continued to listen.
'Scylla is in route. ETA 0600 hours. At the southwest bay. I'll call you when Scylla is in my possession. Fyers out.'
"Who was Fyers talking to?" Nathan wondered.
"I don't know." Slade admitted. "Sounds like someone off this island, maybe his benefactor. More importantly, who or what is Scylla?"
"The Scylla and Charibdis." Nathan explained. "It's 'The Odyssey', from one of the four nightmare chapters. Scylla was a multiple headed monster."
Slade slid his swords into their scabbards on his back. "I want to meet this monster." He said. He walked to the door and stopped, looking back at Nathan, who grabbed his knife and followed.
Flashback End
Nate's loft
1 hour later
Nathan was in his room, surfing the internet and having a glass of bourbon, when his cell rang. Seeing who it was, he answered, "So, I hope you like my present."
"I am most pleased to finally have Deadshot in my custody, Mr. Queen. If you ever need to relieve yourself of unnecessary burdens like Lawton ever again, just let me know." Amanda said promptly as she hung up.
He pocketed his phone when the same brown haired guy from Merlyn Global walked in. "Did you get them all implemented?"
"I did, boss." The guy said.
Nathan got up to look at the guy and the brown-haired man's forms shifted to an exact copy of Nathan's. "Good work, you are dismissed."
The clone then faded away in a red mist. Nathan walked over to his computer, placing his bourbon down, and began looking through images and videos of the past hour of Malcolm's office. He stopped playback when he saw the Dark Archer coming out of a room in his pent house. Frantically typing and going back farther, he switched to another angle to see Malcolm walking into the room with mannequin holding the League Armor and changing into it, causing Nate to snarl and throw his bourbon into a wall, the glass shattering on impact.
Flashback
Slade and Nathan stealthily approached Fyers camp. They took position behind some fallen trees, and Slade looked at the camp through his binoculars. What he saw caused him to take a sharp breath.
"What?" Nathan asked, noting the other man's tension. "What is it?"
"You were right." Slade breathed. "Scylla is a monster. A Russian-made S300 anti-aircraft missile launcher." He handed the binoculars to Nathan, who looked at the device. "It can simultaneously track up to a hundred targets while engaging with at least a dozen. I mean, from here, they could shoot down a commercial airliner, or start a war."
Flashback End
Merlyn Global
Morning
"And in other news, Local gang lord Daniel Brickwell, known better by his street name Brick, was found murdered on his way to Iron Heights, after being arrested for the murder of Rebecca Merlyn and 14 others. The cause of death has not yet been released, but it is known that arrows were at the crime scene. Whether this means the Arrow and the Huntress or the copycat from Christmas are suspects is not yet known." Malcolm watched the news at his office with a detached look on his face.
His phone rang. Without looking away from the news report, Malcolm pressed the button on it.
"Yes?" Malcolm said irritably.
"Mr. Merlyn, Mrs. Queen is here to see you." His receptionist said and Malcolm smiled a chilling smile.
"Send her in." Malcolm ordered.
A few minutes later, Malcolm was staring out his window, looking over the city as Moira walked in.
"How small the city looks from up here," Malcolm said as if to himself, "and how beautiful. You'd never know about all the corruption in the city from this glorious view."
"I heard about what happened from the news," Moira said as she shut the door behind her, "so, I assume you sent your enforcer to do your dirty work?"
"Did you expect anything less? This man killed my wife Moira." Malcolm asked coolly as he turned around to face him.
"And now that you've had your revenge, has this changed your plans at all with The Undertaking?" Moira asked, careful to keep the hopefulness out of her voice.
"Not in the slightest," Malcolm said immediately, "Daniel Brickwell is only a symptom, he is not the disease. There are dozens more just like him in The Glades right now, planning their next murder. The Glades can't be saved, because the people there don't want it to be saved. The Undertaking will proceed as planned. We will level it all down to the bedrock with the seismic generators once Unidac is done setting them up. Is that a problem Moira?"
"…No, not at all." Moira said with a blank face and tone, giving nothing away of the dread that filled her at the news.
Nathan's Loft
Same Time
"Daniel Brickwell is only a symptom, he is not the disease. There are dozens more just like him in The Glades right now, planning their next murder. The Glades can't be saved, because the people there don't want it to be saved. The Undertaking will proceed as planned. We will level it all with the seismic generators once Unidac is done setting them up. Is that a problem Moira?"
"…No, not at all." Moira said.
Nathan shut off the live feed as he finished half a bottle of Jack Daniels, not that he could stay drunk for more than a few minutes, thanks to his damn healing factor.
He looked at The List of names that his father had given him. In the very back page was a single name. 'Malcolm Merlyn'(1). He had hoped it had been a mistake when he had found it there last night. He had never looked at the very last page until now, always assuming it was blank. Part of him had wanted to fix his fractured relationship with his 'Uncle' Malcolm, but that could never happen now, because Malcolm wasn't just the Dark Archer, he was spearheading the very plan to destroy the Glades and kill everyone in it. He finished the rest of the bottle and ran his head through his hair, feeling sad and awful inside that he was going to have to kill his best friends father. He wished he didn't have to, but crime could not be tolerated. Criminals thrive on the indulgence and understanding of society. His sensei had taught him that.
He heard the door open and knew it was Chien. "Wow, you're drinking. That is not something you see everyday."
Nathan really wasn't in the mood for talking so he glared at her. Chien sighed and sat down next to him and slowly held him, enticing to lean over and place his head on her chest. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you might be having a hard time. You want to talk about it?"
"No," he muttered in sadness, "right now I'm sad, hurt, and in despair, because I'm gonna have to kill the guy that was once like an uncle to me, and deprive my best friend of his last remaining parent. So, ask me again if I'm okay."
"Well, it's a good thing I brought them, then." Chien said as Helena and Talia walked in and helped Chien comfort their beloved, being reminded that even as strong as he is, even the super soldier has his moments of weakness.
Laurel's apartment
Noon
The lawyer was talking on her phone, speaking with Tommy.
"Tommy, I just saw it all on the news." She was saying as she pulled on her coat, talking to her boyfriend who was with his father right now. "I'll be there as soon as I can. Bye." She hung up the phone and opened the door-
To see her mother walking up to the door.
"Hello, Laurel." Dinah said.
"Mom?" Laurel said, stunned. "What are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you." Dinah said.
"About what?"
"I know I've made mistakes." She started.
Laurel scoffed. "Yeah. Yes, you have." She sighed. "Look, I really don't have time for this. Why don't you send me an email or a postcard some time?"
"I have something important I need to discuss with you." Dinah pleaded.
"What could be so important after all this time?"
"It's about Sara."
"What about her?" Laurel asked cautiously.
Dinah smiled hopefully. "I think she may be alive."