"Well, don't worry, your life is over." Laurel said, grinning coldly. She held up a small device for him to see- a signaling device. "Your life as a free man."
She pressed the button, and instantly the Task Force warmed into the office. They surrounded the vigilante, cutting off all avenues of escape. He drew an arrow and nocked it, turning slowly to face each of the cops- but there were always more at his back. He was completely surrounded.
"Put your weapon down." Laurel demanded.
Nathan looked around at the cops, then back to Laurel. "I'm not your enemy." He told her.
"Then put your weapon down." She said. Nearly ten seconds pass before Nathan comes to a decision.
"Okay, okay. I am putting down the bow." Nathan said as he slowly un-nocked his arrow, sticking it back in his quiver. He slowly knelt on one knee, setting the bow down on the ground.
"Hands behind your head!" One of the SWAT guys shouted. Nathan slowly raised his hands. They very nearly touched his head.
Then, a ball appeared in each hand. He slammed both hands down to the grounds filling the entire floor with thick smoke, so thick that you couldn't see your own hand if you held it to your face. Grabbing his bow and holstering it, Nathan began to savagely beat the entire Task Force to a pulp.
"Where is he?" One asked before a savage right hook knocked him out.
"Find him!" One yelled before Nathan grabbed his arm, punched him hard in the crotch, dropping him to the floor before knocking him out.
"I can't see anything!" before that one was silenced by a roundhouse kick.
"SOMEBODY HELP!" One yelled as he was hit in the back of the head.
After a minute, the smoke slowly faded and when it did, only Laurel and Nate were left standing. Every single task force member was on the floor, most unconscious and some groaning, but alive.
"Now, if I was really the murderer people accuse me of, then why would I be letting any of you live?" Nate pointed out.
A couple of them got back up and aimed their weapons at him.
And then suddenly a figure dropped through the skylight. She landed right in front of Nathan- who backed away in surprise- in a crouch, then withdrew a round device and activated it. A piercing sound emanated from it, making cops and Laurel cover their ears and shattering every pane of glass in the room, and causing his ear's to bleed. She turned it off and touched the slightly disoriented Nathan on the arm then turned and ran with him towards the shattered windows. They leapt out into the night as the few conscious cops regained their senses.
The woman led Prometheus to a side alley, and Nathan finally got a good look at her. She was a little shorter than him, dressed in black leather pants and halter top that enhanced her rather impressive cleavage, topped off with a short leather jacket. Her hair was long and blonde, and most of her face was hidden behind a mask. It was her eyes though, that seemed familiar.
She moved off on her own, now ignoring the other vigilante.
"Nice mask." He told her. "Why'd you help me?"
The woman looked over her shoulder, but then without saying a word effortlessly leapt up onto a fire escape, disappearing into the night.
Lair
Later
As Nathan walked in, Helena turned and sighed in relief. "Oh, thank God." She said as she hugged her lover.
"Police scanner's been blowing up for the past hour." Lyla told him as they shared a kiss. "Laurel called in half the force with that silent alarm."
"Yeah, because going after actual bad guys is apparently beneath them now." Helena added with some bite.
"To her, I am the bad guy." Nathan said as he hung up his bow.
"Since when?
"Her coming after me is just a way for her to deal with Tommy's death." Nathan said.
"How did you get out of there?" Lyla asked.
"I fought my way out. And I had help from a masked blonde woman in black." Nathan said as he pulled off his quiver.
"Another copycat vigilante?" Helena asked.
"No." Nathan said definitively. "She was different. Highly trained, and she used some sort of sonic device."
"Wait, what kind of device?" Lyla asked.
"She turned it on and the glass shattered. Not to mention, made my enhanced eardrums bleed."
She blinked. "Ok, well, who was she and why would she help you? And how did she know to help you?"
Nathan put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "All good questions." He told her. "I'm not sure I like the idea of a potentially rouge element in town."
"I'll see what I can find from Argus." Lyla promised.
"Babe, what I would like to know is what you're doing at Laurel's office in the first place." Helena pressed. "She makes you public enemy number one and you figure this is a good time to chat?"
"Because I wanted to try to dissuade her from the path she's on. And I wanted to see if we might be able to work together." Nathan replied. "Suffice to say, we can't. Laurel will always be someone I care for, but she is not my ally in this fight against corruption."
"And what about that hacker of yours?" Lyla asked as she was leaving. "You planning to pull another Felicity Smoak?"
"No," Nathan shook his head, "Felicity Smoak was a danger to the people and the Nation. This Daisy Johnson is just misguided. She can learn to use her talents with computer's for the greater good. I will make sure of it."
Flashback
The boys had dragged one of the skeletal bodies back to the fuselage, and they laid it down on top of a crate so that Shado could examine it.
"Wonderful." Slade said sarcastically. "Now we have a dead Japanese soldier in our home."
"A phrase I never thought I would ever hear." Nathan quipped.
"Those men on the island were looking for these corpses." Shado said as she examined the bones in better light. "Aren't you the least bit interested in why?"
"I'm more interested in how many more there are of them and where they're operating from." Slade replied, gathering some gear together. "They'll be coming for that, which means they'll be coming for us. And as we've already seen, they're not the friendliest bunch."
Nathan examined his unsheathed sword, noting that this blade, unlike the others, had no rust or wear on it and was still sharp as he ran his finger along it slightly.
"Where did you get that?" Slade asked.
"I took it off one of the dead soldiers. He didn't exactly need it." Nathan said.
Nathan looked at Shado as she continued to examine the body. "You seem to know what you're doing with that." He noted.
"Back in Xingjian, I was pre-med." She replied absently.
"She's a woman of many talents." Slade said, throwing a pack to Nathan. "Come on."
"'Come on' where?" Nathan asked.
"To higher ground." Slade replied. "We need to get to a vantage point where we can establish the enemy's position."
"What about Shado?" Nathan asked, concerned about splitting up. It was probably cause he saw more than a few horror movies, but generally splitting up in a situation like this is not a good idea.
"I'll be fine here." She told him with a smile, trying to reassure the man she loved.
"We still shouldn't split up." Nathan said, conflicted.
"Let her play with her corpse." Slade said. "We'll be back before she knows it." Slade moved off. Nathan relented but not before giving Shado a quick kiss, and then turned to follow Slade.
Flashback End
The new Officer Lance was buying a hotdog from a street vendor.
"Here you go, Bud." The vendor said, handing him the dog. "On the house, Officer Lance."
"Hey, no, no, no," Lance objected, handing him the money for the food. "Here you go, a dog this delicious? I'd have to book myself for robbery." He said with a smile. "Take it."
"All right." The vendor said, reluctantly taking the money. "Take care."
Lance walked back to his cruiser, hot dog in hand. He heard the radio sound off and he reached in through his opened window and grabbed it off of the dash.
"All units, 10-78 at Second and Fletcher. Please respond."
Lance threw the hot dog into the trash as he climbed into his cruiser.
"Lance, patrol Delta Charlie 52, 10-60 Officer responding. Over."
"Negative, DC-52." Lance frowned at the radio. "Disregard 10-78 and resume patrol."
"According to whose orders?" Lance demanded.
"Lieutenant Pike." Lance put the radio down and let out a sigh.
Ten minutes later Lance had arrived at the crime scene. He hurried towards the tape, looking for a friendly cop. Finally, he found one- McKenna Hall, the rising star detective in SCPD.
"Excuse me." He said, getting Hall's attention. "Hall, what is going on here, huh? This is my beat. Why did Pike wave me off of this?" he demanded.
"Officer Lance, it's under control." Hall said, trying to stop him as he stormed past her.
"Excuse me, what is under control?" he asked, then stopped cold. There was a girl, in her late teens or early twenties, dead. More than that, she was strung up on a steel framework.
"That's Barton Mathis." Lance said in a raspy voice, memories of his previous victims coming back to Lance after years of being locked away in his memory.
"That seems to be what the M.O. indicates." Hall said.
"He's doing consecutive life sentences in Iron Heights." Lance snarled.
"Not anymore." Hall replied. "Mathis was declared criminally insane and was being transferred to Arhkam when he escaped after someone hit his convoy. The guards transporting him were completely slaughtered. The top brass wants to avoid a panic, so they're keeping it quiet." She explained.
"Are they keeping it quiet from me, too?" Lance demanded.
"Look, Lance." Hall said. "Pike knows what happened to you last time. The man got in your head."
"Yeah, and I caught him." Lance shot back. "And no one knows Mathis better."
"And I've got all your notes and your files." Hall replied. "Pike's order. If you go anywhere near this, he's going to have you arrested for obstruction."
Lance sighed in frustration, and then stalked off, pausing only to look at the latest victim.
Lair
One hour later
Nathan and Helena were sparing on the floor; wrestling on mats that Nathan had laid out in the center of the room while Lyla continued to search for information on the new vigilante.
"I found a number of police reports from the last few months that may involve our mystery girl." she said finally, drawing the other's attention. "They describe a masked woman in black attacking attackers." she spun her chair around to face them. "She permanently disabled five would-be rapists so far."
"Are you sure it's her?" Nathan asked, coming over to take a look.
"Broken limbs, shattered spines, ruptured ear drums. Your sonic device." Lyla pointed out.
"That's her." Nathan said, studying the data. "She's targeting criminals."
"Misogynist criminals." Lyla clarified.
"First the hoods, now her. Looks like you started a movement." Helena said.
"I don't want to start a movement, so we need to catch her." Nate said firmly. "I'm not letting the city get overrun with vigilantes."
One of Nate's phones began ringing. He looked down at it, then picked it up and answered it. "Hello, McKenna." He began as Lyla and Helena looked at him in surprise.
Rooftop
30 minutes later
Later that night, Detective Hall walked up onto the roof of the SCPD building. She looked around, and then found who she was looking for.
Nathan approached Hall. "I'm glad to hear from you, Detective. Congrats on that, by the way." McKenna nodded in thanks. "So, are you positive you want to work with me on the side? I know this was a bit of a thing of hesitance when it came to my former master."
"Let's just say I've had my eyes opened." Hall said finally. "This city, has been dying for nearly 30 years. You know, I honestly can't remember a time growing when I didn't think this city was slowly dying. And the police?" she sighed. "Before the Arrow, I used to think we didn't need to go outside of law to find justice. But then the Arrow shows up, and things started to actually get better. Sorry about him, by the way." Prometheus nodded, acknowledging the apology.
"He loved this city. He was more than happy to die in it's defense." Prometheus said.
"Now, I know you've been killing a lot of people since his death. I've did some digging of my own, and I know that none of these people are good."
She lifted the file she was carrying, and then set it down on top of an air duct. "Barton Mathis." she said as Prometheus picked up the file to look through it. "The media calls him the Doll Maker. Because he suffocates his victims with some sort of flexible polymer that he pours down their throats and then he dresses them up like dolls. " She said. "He was on his way to Arkham Asylum over in Gotham when someone hit his convoy, so now he's out and he's killing again."
Nathan looked at the photos of the previous victims, and then noticed the dates. "These are from six years ago." he said.
"That's his personal file. Officer Lance put him away about 3 months after the Queen's Gambit went down." Hall replied.
"Is this personal for you?" Nathan pointed out.
"Mathis killed eight girls before Lance got him. I don't want any on my conscience if I can help it."
Prometheus paused before he asked. "So why don't you let the police do their job?"
Hall sighed and said, "I've had to learn the hard way that sometimes to get justice, and make this city safe, sometimes you have to go outside the law."
Later
Nathan constructed the file into computer text and pulled out of his blocked phones. "So, I got something for ya."
"Aww, and here I was beginning to think you had forgotten me." Daisy purred.
"No, I just been busy. You know, killing bad guys, saving the city, the usual." Nathan said, "Hey, do you mind if I call you Skye when we're talking like this? I mean, I know SkyeQuake is your hacker tag, but Skye just rolls of the tongue better."
"You can call me whatever you want." Daisy/ Skye said with a flirty tone. "So, what are you wearing?"
"Black full-body leather/ Kevlar-weave hybrid suit. Twin titanium steel alloy chokuto's."
"You really stink at this, don't you?" Skye said with a bit of disappointment.
"Look, normally I'd be more than happy to flirt with a beautiful woman like yourself," That brought the smile back to her face, "But right now I got a deranged serial killer on the loose in my city that's targeting young beautiful women. I need help finding him. Before he kills anybody else. Like you"
Downtown
Same time
Somewhere downtown, a young woman had just left a boutique. She walked briskly to her car, alone in the dark. She hit her keyfob to unlock the doors, and then paused as she felt someone watching her. She looked around nervously, but saw nothing. Shaking it off, she got into her car and shut the door, never seeing the man who was sitting in her back seat.
Barton Mathis shot forward, clamping his hand over the woman's mouth. "You have such beautiful skin." He told her.
Lair
Next day
Nathan walked back in from a quick patrol and immediately called Skye, putting phone on speaker. "Hall's file give you anything?" he asked Daisy.
"Last time the Doll Maker was active in Starling City, he ramped up to one kill every three days." Skye said.
"That gives us two to catch him." Nathan stated, putting the phone on speaker. "Can we connect the victims?"
Lyla pulled up photos of the victims on the digital board. They were all young and pretty. "Young. Pretty. According to Lance's file, he couldn't figure out how he chose them. As if porcelain dolls weren't creepy enough all on their own." Skye said, looking at the photos from her end.
"Barton Mathis also doesn't have any family or known acquaintances." Skye said. Nathan took up position at the third screen. "Lone wolves, I imagine, are harder for you to catch."
"But they all have the right to an attorney." Nathan noted. "Thanks for the help, Skye. We'll be in touch."
Nathan hung up and pulled out his normal phone. "I gotta call McKenna. Tell her to set up a meeting for tonight."
"Where?" Helena asked.
"At the office of whoever represented Barton Mathis."
"Smart, go to the one person that has a connection to Mathis." Lyla noted.
"So… I'm assuming this takes priority over finding out the identity of your secret admirer." Helena stated.
Nathan grabbed his bow. "I got that lead covered." He said.
Verdant
Back Alley
Night time
Roy was taking out the glass recyclables. He paused when he felt his special phone vibrate.
"Hey." Roy said as he answered. "I was wondering when I was going to hear from you again."
"There's someone new in town-a blonde woman dressed in black leather." The Prometheus said without preamble. "She's targeting men who target women."
"I know. I've seen her." He said, surprising Nathan.
"Find where she lays her head at night, but don't engage." He told the younger man. "You leave that to me." Roy nodded, and Nathan hung up.
Iron Heights
Same time
Thea hugged her mother as she came to visit. "Are you ok?" she asked.
"Oh, Thea, you have to stop asking me that every time you come to visit." Moira replied, as Thea lead her over to one of the visitor's tables.
"Ah, don't count on it." Thea replied.
"Well, then, I'm afraid you'll be asking me that for the next 25 to life." Moira quipped.
"Please don't talk like that." Thea asked sadly.
"Thea, there's not a lot of value in the power of positive thinking when you're being put on trial for attempted mass murder." Moira pointed out.
"Let's just try to take things one step at a time, ok?" Thea said, lifting up the clothes she had laid on the table and showing her mother.
"Well, I'd have to check with my lawyer, but I don't think retail therapy is a viable legal strategy." Moira noted wryly.
"Well, I spoke with her, and she said that you can wear regular clothes to your pre-trial hearing." Thea said, laying the clothes back on the table. "So I picked these."
"Hmm." Moira sighed. "I wish the fashion police was all I had to worry about." She said.
"Please don't joke." Thea pleaded.
"Thea, listen to me." Moira aid, placing her hands on Thea's shoulders. "I need you to understand what's happening here. Everyone in the Glades could have died, so there is a measure of guilt that is owed me. I'm ready to accept my punishment." Moira told her.
"Even if that means spending the rest of your life in here?" Thea asked.
"Yes." She said, and then embraced her daughter.
Daniels Office
1 hour later
It was late, and Tony had the lights off as he prepared to leave when Hall walked in.
"Tony Daniel?" Hall asked.
"Help you with something, Detective?" he replied as he continued to pack up his briefcase to head home for the day.
"Barton Mathis." Hall announced. "According to the D.A.'s office, you handled his post-trial appeals, and I'd like to know where he is."
"Iron Heights prison." Tony replied.
"He got out." Mckenna drawled.
"What? How?" he was either feigning it, or he was genuinely surprised.
"You spent hours with him. Where would he run?" McKenna glared.
Tony looked like he wanted to refuse but McKenna was a detective and he didn't want to be arrested for obstruction of justice, so he told her. "There-there is another place." He said finally. "He was always drawing it. Sketching. His cell walls were covered with the place."
"What's the place?" Hall demanded. "Was it in Starling City?"
"Yeah." Tony replied. "The Bisque Museum. He said the building reminded him of Germany. Where porcelain dolls were invented."
Glades
20 minutes later
Just down the road was a two-story brick apartment house, advertising rooms for rent. Inside the building Hall and the Prometheus moved cautiously down the hall.
"The lady at the desk said a guy matching Mathis' description checked in last week, room 52." Hall told her new 'partner'. "And he paid in cash. Now listen," she added, "just so we're clear, when we go through that door, we're here to arrest Mathis, ok, not to kill him."
"You asked for my help." Prometheus said.
"Yeah, and that wasn't easy, and neither is aiding and abetting." Hall said "And I am still a cop."
"Do you want to stop this guy or not?" The Prometheus asked.
Hall let out a long breath, then drew her sidearm. "Let's go." She said, leading the way. She reached the door and kicked it open, leading the way with her gun. She scanned the room, finding it empty of occupants- save for a small porcelain doll set up in front of a small table. On the front of the doll was an article clipped from an old Starling City Star newspaper with the headline 'Dollmaker Captured' over a photo of a younger Lance bringing Mathis in. On the table was a small tv and a remote that had a not saying, "Turn me on".
Hall stared at the remote for several moments before finally picking it up.
"Detective Hall." Barton's face said as it appeared on the screen. "Pleasure to finally meet you."
Nathan activated his com-link, activating a separate channel so he could speak with Skye directly. "Skye, trace that signal." He said quietly.
"On it." She said.
"Barton Mathis," Hall said at the screen.
"I was hoping for Detective Lance. He and I are due for a reckoning, but I'll settle for you right now," Mathis said with a smile in his voice. "I must say, fresh air agrees with me."
"Yeah, well, don't get too used to it." Hall said. "You've been caught before. It's just a matter of time before I catch you."
"Fair enough." The insane man replied. "In the meantime, however, I have someone who'd like to say hello to you. Say hello, dear." Hall heard a girl shrieking and crying onto the screen, and she grimaced. "She's a little inarticulate." Mathis said by way of an apology.
"She's done nothing to you. Don't hurt her, just let her go." Hall requested.
"And allow her to wither away in a mediocre and forgettable life?" Mathis stated/ asked. "No. No, no, no, no, no. She deserves so much better." In the factory where he had set himself up, he walked over to table and picked up a large plastic container of the liquefied polymer uses on his victims. "She deserves to see her beauty preserved." He continued as he walked back to the girl. She was strapped upright to a table, her arms held out to her sides. In her mouth was a plastic tube that was attached to a small, empty reservoir at the other end.
"Pristine. Forever. Don't worry. I will turn her into something special." He stepped up onto a stool and poured the polymer in to the tank, and it slowly worked its way down the tube towards its inevitable destination. "Pay close attention, Detective." Mathis taunted as Hall watched on helplessly on the other end. "What comes next is really quite exquisite. The sound of an esophagus slowly hardening." He heard the girl shrieking in the background. "Like a symphony."
Nate heard the panicked screeching and activated his com link. "Skye!" he urged.
"I'm trying, but he's somehow blocking the trace." She told him.
"Barton, don't do it." McKenna pleaded. "I'm begging you, ok? Is that what you want? I am begging you. Stop!"
In the factory, Mathis pulled out the tub and moved the stand with the tank away. "It's for the world to enjoy. After all, everyone loves a pretty doll." He said, admiring his work. In the apartment, Hall threw the remote at the wall in defeat.
Sometime later that night, Hall rolled up to Mathis' new crime scene. She got out of her cruiser and stared at the victim sadly.
Lair
In the Lair, Nathan finally returned and Helena updated him. "The police found her body an hour ago." She said.
"Does the new victim give us any forensics we can use?" Nathan asked.
"CSI did a complete forensics work-up, but they sent everything out to a private lab. Granger Labs." Lyla said.
One Hour later
"Can it be hacked? I already tried but I haven't had much luck on my end." Nathan asked Skye.
"No." Skye said, still feeling dejected about not catching Mathis. "They keep their system's offline. It's a precaution against hacking."
"Then we'll have to do this old school." Nathan decided.
Granger Labs
Next Night
A security guard was making the rounds when suddenly he was hit with a tranq dart. He dropped to the ground within seconds. As soon as he was out, Prometheus and Huntess rounded the corner with McKenna in tow.
"So glad you invited me to tag along." The cop said, stepping over the guard's body as they entered the main lab.
"Tranq dart." Nathan told him. "He'll be out for about an hour."
Prometheus plugged a device into the mainframe, then stepped back and activate his com-link. "You're up, Skye."
"So, this is what a typical night's like for you two?" Hall asked. "Just a little breaking and entering."
"All right, I got toxicology first." Skye said. In the lab, the results also came up on the screens there.
Hall looked at them in confusion. "What are all these?" she asked.
"Chemical ingredients of all the make-up found on the victims- skin cream, nail polish, lipstick." Helena explained.
Hall spotted something familiar suddenly. "Wait, wait, wait, stop." She ordered. "Scroll back. Scroll back." Skye did so, and Hall pointed at the screen, despite the fact that she couldn't see. "This one." She said one the one she had highlighted. "Ethyl paraben. Sodium laureth sulphate. I think I've seen this before." She said.
"It's skin cream." Skye explained. "Forensics found traces of it on her fingers. Probably something she used before he grabbed her."
"Skin cream." McKenna racked her brain. "Mermaid something. One of the victims from his last run, she had this in her purse and Lance had the lab analyze it, and it's the same formula." She said.
Nathan realized that Hall was on to something. "Skye." He urged.
"Already on it." She said, going back to Hall's digitalized file. After five seconds, she pulled up the label of the skin cream, and displayed it at the lab. Hall looked at it in stunned amazement.
"How does she do that?" she wondered. Under his hood, Nathan smiled amused.
"Ethyl paraben and sodium laureth sulphate is Mermaiden's proprietary formula." Skye explained.
"Two victims with the same taste in skin cream." Huntress said. "That's no coincidence."
"Lance could never figure out how he chose his victims." Hall said as the realization struck her. It had already stuck Prometheus.
"I think you just did." He told the cop.
Flashback
Nathan and Slade were still heading for higher ground, but Nathan was still worried about Shado.
"We shouldn't have split up." He said, voicing his well-known opinion.
"Well, it's her life. It's her choice." Slade replied tiredly as they continued up the hill. "You should listen to my advice."
"What advice?" Nathan asked.
"To avoid attachment." Slade reiterated.
"Yeah. Because that's such great advice." Nathan replied sarcastically.
"But it will save your life." Slade said.
"Maybe, but that not a life worth living." Nathan countered.
"Yeah, well, maybe you're an idiot." Slade said.
"And maybe you need to look in the mirror." Nathan snarked causing Slade to turn around to face him.
"What was that?" Slade asked with a dangerous tone.
"You heard me." Nathan growled at Slade. "Let me set the record straight since we are finally alone. I am not blind to the fact you've been flirting with her for the last few months. Shado may not care or honestly doesn't see that you're into her, but news flash. You're not her boyfriend."
"You're old enough to be her father. Maybe if I wasn't here, she'd go for you. God knows that girls' an angel with a heart of gold. But she loves me and I love her in return. And you need to bury this jealousy towards me before it gets one of us killed."
"Me? Jealous?" Slade scoffed.
"Did you think I didn't see you in the tree line earlier?" Nathan asked rhetorically, to Slade's mild surprise.
"You're letting your affection for her blind you to our goal; to get off this bloody island." Slade retorted.
"I am not the one who's letting my affection for the woman that I love hinder my ability to think clearly." Nathan countered, "We are trying to figure out who the hell these mercenaries are, and we have no idea what kind of weapons they have or how many of them there are. For all we know, it's the same guy who hired Fyers sending in more people to get the job done. What happens if they find the plane and decide to blow it up? It's a stupid idea to split up when we have no fucking clue who we are dealing with."
"And for the record," Nathan finished, "Only a weak man avoids attachment. A real man embraces it."
"I was wrong about you." Slade said, once he had gotten over the shock of hearing that Shado loved the kid. "You're definitely an idiot." He finished with a smirk.
"Then that's who I am." Nathan stated plainly. Slade scoffed and turned to continue climbing. "I'm not changing just because that bothers you." He continued.
Slade took another step, and then slipped on some loose rocks. He let out a surprised "Ohh!" as he slipped over the edge of the very steep, very sheer cliff. Nathan dropped down immediately and grasped the older man's hands, preventing him from falling to his death.
"What was that about avoiding attachment again?" Nathan stated rhetorically, grunting as he began to pull Slade back up to solid ground. Slowly but surely, he did.
Flashback end
Glades
Daytime
Roy, carrying a small crate with a couple of bottles of wine pilfered from Verdant, walked up to a bazar of sorts, where looters and burglars from all over Starling made their way there to fence their stolen goods. The owner, Louis, looked up and smiled as Roy walked over to him.
"Harper." He said pleasantly. "It's been a while, hoss."
"I've been busy." Roy said, hefting the crate slightly.
"I can see that." Louis looked over the wine. "I'll give you a hundred."
"Four." Roy countered.
"Two-five." Louis said.
Roy looked at the man. "Done." He said, handing over the liquor. "If you throw in some information." Louis scoffed, but Roy pressed on. "Come on, man, you've got your finger on the pulse." Roy said as Louis put the wine in the back of his van. "I'm looking for someone. A blonde, likes black leather."
"Sounds like your type." Louis said.
"And beats the crap out of guys with a bow staff." Roy finished.
Louis chuckled. "That still sounds like your type."
"But I want to put eyes on her. What do you know?" Roy asked.
Louis pulled a wad of cash from his pocket and climbed out of the van. "Not much." He admitted. "You know Cindy? Folks call her 'Sin'. She's got short, spiky hair." Roy shook his head. "Yeah, I've seen her a couple times hanging around with your black leather girlfriend."
"So where can I find Sin?" he asked.
"Well, she hangs out over at Fifth and Boyton." Louis said, handing Roy his money. "And that is what I know." Roy smiled in appreciation, and then took off.
Lair
Same time
The gang was going over what they knew about the Mathis case.
"So this is it." Helena said. "Skin cream, that's our lead?"
"It's at least something." Nathan said. "What do we know about the product?"
"It's made from crushed mother of pearl and it's very high-end." Lyla said. "Only carried in a handful of boutiques and it's marketed for women with extremely delicate complexions."
"He picks his victims for their skin. He uses the cream to find them." Nathan summarized.
"Only four stores in the city carry it and three have surveillance systems. I've ran facial recognition through all of them looking for Mathis, but come up empty." Lyla informed him. "He must be staking out the stores from the outside."
"Fine. So we'll do the same." Helena suggested.
Nathan shook his head. "That could take days we don't have." He noted. "He's probably out there right now looking for another girl."
"So that's what we give him." Nathan and Lyla looked at Helena. "I'll go to the stores that carry Mermaiden, and buy it in each one to cover our bases." She offered.
"It's too dangerous." Lyla said at once.
"Plus, CEO of Bertinelli Construction's a little too obvious. I have someone better in mind." Nathan said.
Flashback
Nathan and Slade had almost reached the highest point.
"There are only two ways onto this island- by sea, and by air." Slade reminded Nathan.
"So what, you're going to steal whatever they use to get onto the island?" Nathan quipped.
"Well, I'm tired of living here, aren't you?" Slade said as he raised his binoculars. Nathan did the same, and they began to sweep the coast of the island. Almost immediately, they spotted it- a ship.
"Oh, my God." Nathan said.
"It appears to be two or three clicks offshore." Slade noted with some excitement.
Suddenly there were a series of explosions that startled the men.
"What the hell?" Nathan asked as the explosions continued.
Slade lifted his glasses again and scanned the ship. Though it was too far away to see any detail, he couldn't miss the tell-tale signature smoke trails of missiles being fired from the deck of the ship. "It's firing off its location." He said.
Nathan's eyes widened in realization. "The plane!" he exclaimed.
"They must have found it." Slade realized.
"This is why I told you it was a bad idea to split up!" Nathan exclaimed, and then took off running back to the camp.
"Kid!" Slade called out helplessly, then cursed and took off after him.
flashback end
Skye was leaving a boutique with a bag of skin cream.
"Left the last store." She said into her com link. "You're going to reimburse me for these, right? I saved my receipts."
"Look we'll talk about paying you back later, just go to the rendezvous point." Nathan's voice said exasperated. On a roof above her, he kept his eyes on her as she walked down the street. She walked past a parked car that contained Lyla, and continued on. "Stay in open."
Milling around on the street, Hall kept her eyes open. "Just for the record, I'm not a huge fan of dangling helpless girls in front of psychopaths like meat." She said darkly.
"Neither am I but it's the only way to draw him out. Also, she volunteered". Nathan reminded the cop.
"Someone's coming." Skye said over the radio. Nathan changed positions to get a better view.
"I have the shot." He told her as he nocked an arrow.
"Ok, I'm going to admit to being seriously wigged out right now." Skye said.
A moment later, she breathed a sigh of relief as the man entered a restaurant. "False alarm, but next time I offer to be serial killer bait, please turn me down." She said, looking behind to see if anyone was following. Not seeing anything, she looked back ahead, seeing nothing.
Next Day
Morning
The next day, Nathan was walking to the courthouse as Skye updated him on his phone. "So the police arrested Officer Quentin Lance the other night for looking into the Dollmaker case. They're charging Lance with obstruction." She was saying. "He's in custody."
"Mathis isn't. He didn't even take the bait." Nathan noted sourly. "He must looking for another type of target. And that concerns me, because I currently got nothing on my end right now."
"I hacked Mermaiden and sent out an email blast from their servers telling stores the product was defective." She told him. "That will slow him down if he decides to go back to his usual target."
"Good Thinking" Nathan said.
"What do you want to about Officer Lance?" Skye asked.
"Nothing for right now. I gotta go, call me back at 5" He replied as he hung up.
Courtroom
A bit later, Nathan entered the courtroom and walked over to his mother, placing his hand on her arm and letting her know he was there.
"Docket ending 4587, State versus Queen." The bailiff announced as he took his seat next to Thea.
"All right, I'll hear your motions, ladies first." The judge said, looking at Moira's lawyer, Jean Loring.
"Your Honor, we would like to be heard once again on the issue of bail." She said. "Ms. Queen has languished in the Iron Heights prison now for five months."
"And in those five months, did the 15000 people she's charged with conspiring to kill miraculously become cool with it?" the Judge asked. "If not, I'm a little unclear on how the passage of time is relevant."
"Might I remind the court that the defendant is presumed innocent?" Jean asked.
"No need. I want to law school. It's where I learned that bail, once denied, cannot be set in the absence of change of circumstance." The judge informed her.
He looked to the prosecutor's table. "Mr. Donner, what do you have for me?"
Donner stood. "Your Honor, the State has no pre-trial motions to make at this time." He said. Then looked over at Jean. "But we would like to serve notice to the defense pursuant to rule of criminal procedure 15."
Jean leapt to her feet. "Your Honor, I would like to conference with the district attorney." She said heatedly.
"There's really no need, nor any obligation." Donner said smugly.
"What about professional courtesy?" Jean shot back. "I would like to have a conversation with you before you seek the death penalty." The crowd gasped and Thea grasped her brother's arm. Moira felt fear, then resignation as she realized how this trial would go.
"Your client aided and abetted an attempt of mass murder." Donner said to Jean. "15000 conversations wouldn't convince me that Moira Queen shouldn't die for her crimes."
The crowd started murmuring loudly, and Nathan leaned forward, placing his hand on Moira's shoulder. "Mom, we are going to fight this." He told her. "No one is going to take you from us. We won't let it happen."
Flashback
Back at the island, Nathan ran into the clearing that housed the downed plane, heedless of the missiles as they rained down all around him.
"Nathan!" Slade called out in vain, but then a missile struck right in front of him, sending the soldier flying.
"Shado!" Nathan screamed just as a missile detonated behind him, sending him flying as well. Slowly he regained his senses, siting up and looking at the devastated airplane as his ears rang heavily. He looked up to see Slade, half his body on fire, before he collapsed into unconsciousness, thinking about how he had let his emotions get the better of him and what it had just cost his friend.
Flashback End
Glades
Roy was walking around trying to spot the girl Louis had mentioned. Finally he spotted her coming out of a building, finishing off a bottle of beer before throwing the glass bottle to the ground.
"Excuse me." He called out to get her attention.
"Step off, Abercrombie." Sin replied.
"Cindy? Sin?" he asked, though he knew it was her.
"What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?" she asked sarcastically.
"I'm looking for a friend of yours." Roy said. "Blonde. Black leather, head to toe." Sin looked him over, then gave a small smirk before she took off running. Roy sighed. "So I guess that's a yes." He said to himself before taking off after her.
Sin took an early lead, running towards a fenced-in parking lot. She jumped up, grabbing the top of the fence and planting her foot in the mesh, then boosted herself over and dropped to the ground. Roy followed a moment later, hoping the fence just as easily. The two dodged in between parked cars, and Sin looked back to see Roy starting to gain on her. She ran out of the lot and into a side alley, and then slid down the railings of a set of short steps. Roy followed close behind, slipping through the railing and dropping the few feet to the ground. Sin ducked into a building- the old Clock tower on the edge of the Glades. Roy ran in right behind her, and trailed behind her as she raced to the top. He saw her scramble through the trapdoor and hurried to follow.
Roy clambered up through the trap door, and was surprised to see- nothing. He looked around, trying to spot the elusive girl-
And then he was hit on the back of the head by a metal rod. Roy fell to the floor, unconscious.
SCPD
That Night
Lance was wearily walking though the garage towards his car, ready to go home and rest, since his daughter had managed to get him out of going to jail. A sound drew his attention, and he walked towards it. He saw a man in a tattered coat leaning up against the side of one of the SUVs. "He said he would go inside… That's what he said. He said he would go inside." He was muttering to himself.
Lance walked over. "You all right, pal? Need a doctor or something?" he put a hand on the man's shoulder-
Then the man spun around. One hand clamped on the back of his neck, the other planted a taser in his chest. Lance gasped in pain, and then collapsed.
"No." Barton Mathis said. "I'm fine, thanks." Mathis quickly bound his hands with zip ties and threw him into the back of his van. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was Laurel, similarly bound next to him.
Verdant
A bit later
Thea was on the phone with one of her vendors. "I checked the order and you shorted us half a case of champagne." She complained into the phone. "I'm not paying for booze I didn't get." She sighed in annoyance and hung up, tossing her phone down onto the bar. She looked at one of the bottles of booze, half of which she was missing, and picked it up.
"That won't help. Trust me." Nathan said as he came into the club.
Thea sighed and set the bottle back down. "Yeah, well, neither is yelling at my vendors, but I want to yell at someone right now."
"Mom's going to be ok." Nathan promised. "Because we are going to help her fight this. As a family."
"They want to kill her." Thea reiterated.
"I won't let them." He replied firmly. He felt a buzzing in his pocket and pulled out Skye's phone. He looked at the screen to see a text from Skye
52 News. Now.
"Thea, can you turn to channel 52, please?" he asked his sister. She grabbed the remote and changed the channel on the news. 'Officer Quentin Lance and his daughter Laurel were abducted earlier today.' The broadcaster was saying as Thea and Nathan looked on in alarm. 'No ransom has been demanded. SCPD are urging anyone with information regarding their whereabouts…'
Nathan slipped away from Thea and headed downstairs. Helena and Lyla were already there, and Helena was pulling up camera images to search for her friend. "How did he get them?" Nathan demanded.
"I don't know about Laurel. Detective Lance was abducted from the precinct parking lot." Lyla pulled up the video for him to see. "Mathis shot a guard on the way out, which sounded the alarm. I pulled up the department's security camera footage, and a van from Metamorpho Chemical caught my eye."
"Metamorpho was condemned after the quake." Lyla informed him. "Perfect place to make some dolls."
"Not tonight." Nathan said, moving quickly towards the case with his uniform.
"Cops will use tracers, Nathan, same as we did." Lyla warned.
"They won't make it in time." He said.
Clock Tower
Same Time
Sin leaned over Roy, now bound at the wrists, and slapped his face lightly a few times. "Hey." She said as he started to come around. "Wake up, Abercrombie."
Roy shook his head, willing his vision to clear, and saw a smirking Sin standing over him. Then he heard someone else walking around, and turned his head to see a pair of black leather boots come to a stop next to him on the other side. He looked up to see the Canary standing there, half of her bo staff resting on her shoulder.
"Did they send you?" she asked.
Roy managed to bring himself to a sitting position. "Did who what?" he asked in confusion. She quickly brought the half-staff around, whipping him on the side of his face. He groaned in pain. "Not my face!" he argued weakly. "I have a disapproving girlfriend."
"Are you one of them?" she demanded.
"One of who?" She brought the staff up again, but he was literally saved by the bell (or buzzer) as his phone vibrated. "That's mine." He said needlessly as the blonde woman reached into his pocket and withdrew the phone. She looked at it, then tossed it into his lap.
"Let him go." She told Sin, and then took off at a run, jumping up and scaling several pieces of scaffolding as she made her exit to the roof. Confused, Roy fumbled for the phone and looked at it. On the screen was a text from Thea.
Where R U? Laurel kidnapped. Need you!
Metamorpho Chemicals
A few minutes later
Laurel was strapped onto the table that the last victim had been secured in, the tube already secured in her mouth. She struggled helplessly as her father looked on. Lance was tied to a metal pole not far from her.
"Isn't this nice?" Mathis said as he prepped the polymer. "All of us here together. It's like Thanksgiving."
"Laurel, just stay calm." Lance called out to his daughter. "Stay calm. Barton, I'm sorry." He said to the insane man as he walked past towards Laurel. "I know you hate me. I know you hate me, ok, and I understand that. But you hate me. So please let my daughter go." He begged desperately.
"Now why would I do that?" Mathis said. "Look at her. She's so lovely. Maybe a little too much melanin in the skin, but it's the imperfections that make art sublime." He said, running a finger over her cheek.
"I am the one who put you away." Quentin pleaded. "She had nothing to do with it!"
"She had everything to do with it!" he roared. "She's your world, she's your very soul." He danced past him and grabbed the container of liquefied polymer. "You know, I could kill you, I could maim you, I could slice you up into a thousand pieces, but if your soul remains intact, what have I wrought? Huh?" he asked rhetorically. "Nothing."
"I will kill you, you son of a bitch!" Lance screamed as Mathis poured the liquid into the reservoir. "I will kill you! You son of a bitch!"
Laurel groaned, tears streaming down her face as the liquid traveled through the tube. Lance stared at her desperately. "Laurel, sweetheart… Close your eyes." He begged her as she watched the liquid, terrified out of her mind. "I'm here. I'm here, honey."
"If you struggle, it will take longer." Mathis said as the liquid reaching closer her mouth.
It was then that a shuriken came out of no where and sliced through the tube, allowing the polymer to spill harmlessly on the floor. Prometheus and Huntress were there. He landed on top of Mathis' workstation and fired an arrow that knocked over the reservoir, allowing the rest of the liquid to drain out.
He drew another arrow, but Mathis ducked behind Laurel. Nathan looked for a shot, but there was none. He fired anyway, the arrow embedding into a shelf behind Mathis, and the man took off, desperate to escape. Nathan ran after Mathis while Helena cut Lance free, cutting him loose before pausing to look at Laurel to make sure she was okay.
Farther into the factory, Mathis was beginning to think he had made a clean getaway. He didn't notice a figure with blonde hair and dressed in black leather drop from the ceiling behind him on aerial silk.
The Canary landed in a crouch, then withdrew the two halves of her bo staff. She connected them just as Mathis turned and swung it, sweeping his legs and sending the insane man to the ground. He got up, just to get the staff across the face. She swung low, sweeping his legs again, and hit him hard in the back, sending him to the ground once more. Mathis crawled forward, trying to get away. He grabbed a fallen pipe and swung it at her, but she dodged, then blocked his follow up shot and sent him to the ground once again. Mathis looked around wildly, and noticed a chain. He yanked on it hard, releasing several pipes that had been set in a rack above. The pipes dropped onto the Canary, knocking her down and pinning her to the floor.
Mathis got up and stalked towards the fallen vigilante. "Let's take a better look at this face of yours." He said menacingly. "You have such lovely skin." He started to bend down, but then was thrown back when a pair of what looked like tranq arrows pierced both of his shoulders. He fell back against some aluminum pipes. He looked up to see Prometheus drop down in front of him.
Nathan fired another arrow into his stomach. As the white liquid inside the arrows seeped into Mathis, he shouted in pain. "I bet that hurts, doesn't it?" Prometheus asked rhetorically. "You feel as though your arteries are turning to stone. Like your stomach is weighed down by a ton of steel."
Nathan pulled out one more arrow and fired it into Mathis chest, forever preserving him in a doll-like state. "It's not so fun to have a taste of your own medicine, huh?"
Iron Heights
One Hour Later
"Moira." Jean said, leading her client to a table. "I know how hard this day has been for you."
"Yes. And believe it or not, I've actually been in worse situations." Moira said wryly.
"Listen to me. Donner knows how strong our defense is. Don't let him scare you with that little death penalty stunt of his." Jean advised.
"Oh, I'm not afraid of dying, Jean." Moira told her lawyer. "I've made my peace with this world a long time ago."
"Then its win the case in the courtroom." Jean continued. "The trial is going to reveal that you were living under Malcolm Merlyn's thumb. It's going to reveal everything."
Moira sighed. "Yes. And that's what I'm afraid of." Moira said resignedly.
Jean sat back in her chair and regarded her client. "Moira, what don't I know?" she asked. "Don't you do this. You need to tell me. I am your lawyer, and I am also your friend."
"Thea and Nathan." Moira said simply. "I'm finally in a good place with my children again, Jean. I have my family back. But there are some things that must never be spoken of." She told Jean.
Clock Tower
Same Time
The Canary entered as she had left it, via the roof. She moved down several exposed poles before dropping lightly to the floor. She was about to take her mask off when she sensed a presence behind her. Turning, she saw the Dark Archer standing there.
"You shouldn't have come here." She told him.
"I had no choice." He replied. "Ra's Al Ghul has ordered your return." The Dark Archer removed his black hood to reveal not Malcolm Merlyn, but younger Asian man.
"I'm not going back." The Canary said. "I can't."
"That is not your decision." The other assassin said.
"Tell them that you couldn't find me." The blonde begged, moving in closer. "Tell them I ran."
The assassin pulled a knife from his belt. "I won't lie for you." He said.
"Fine." She said simply. Then she deftly grabbed his hand with the knife, spun the man around, and jammed the knife into his throat. "Don't tell them anything." She finished, allowing the body to drop to the floor.
The Lair
Same Time
"Something's going on with this woman." Lyla said. "She keeps following you around, helping you out."
"We've got to find her." Nathan said.
"To stop her; or to send her a thank you note?" Helena asked in a teasing manner.
"That depends." Nathan replied.
"On what?" she asked.
"On who's side she's on."
Flashback
Nathan woke up suddenly, and then pulled himself to his feet. He moved to the barred door and looked out at the cellblock, though he could tell by the way the floor was moving that he was on a ship.
And in the bay of Lian Yu, The Amazo steamed, circling the island once more.