Down at the docks, four gangbangers armed with assault rifles were firing up at the roof where Prometheus stood. The vigilante fired back, shooting one in the chest before he was forced to move to seek cover.
"Over there!" one of them said.
"Where, man?!" another asked as he hosed the roof with bullets.
"There, man!"
Helena popped up from behind them and sliced off two of their heads with a machete she normally kept strapped at he side. Nathan jumped down and then activated his com-link as he let the fourth one run away. "Lyla. Took down three more gangbangers." He told his girlfriend. "They were all armed with fully automatic M4A1 assault rifles."
"M4A1s are military grade weapons." Lyla replied over the radio. "Stolen, most likely."
"Where could they have been stolen from?" Helena asked
"Well, we can look into that after your party."
2 hours later
Nate in his tux, was currently discussing things with Isabel, who was looking quite tasty in that red dress.
"So, at the moment, we've managed to get 73 more investors to, well, invest in QC." Nathan said to Isabel.
"Not the most impressive of numbers, Mr. Queen. Even though they were sizable donations." Isabel quipped.
"Hey I'll take what I can get. And for a guy a who managed to get 150 million more in investments from over 73 different investors, I'd call that something." Nathan responded.
It was then that he saw his girlfriend, Helena, in that stunning purple dress. "Excuse me." He said to Isabel, as he greeted his girlfriend.
"Hey there, handsome." Helena greeted her boyfriend, as she had been mingling with the guests.
"God, have I ever told you how ravishing you look in purple?" He whispered wistfully into her ear as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Many times," Helena smiled, "wait til later, and I'll remind how much better I look out of it."
"I look forward to it." Nathan said as he gave her a kiss.
"So what about those guns?" Helena asked.
"Guns?" they turned to see Sebastian Blood approach them with Laurel in tow. "We were just talking about guns."
"Mr. Blood." Nathan said in greeting.
"Nathan." Laurel said with a small smile.
"Hi, Laurel." He replied with more warmth.
"What's your interest in guns, Mr. Queen?" Blood asked.
"Never want one pointed at me." Nathan replied.
"The gun epidemic in the Glades has gotten increasingly out of control." Blood noted.
"Which is why the DEA's office has committed to ending gun violence." Laurel added.
"Well, I'm sure the police are doing whatever they can to catch whoever's bring the weapons into the city." Nathan said confidently, then frowned as Blood and Laurel laughed lowly. "What's so damn funny?" he asked, annoyed.
"They know who's been arming the gangs, Nathan." Laurel told him. "The Mayor."
Nathan looked at her with an eyebrow raised in confusion "Yeah, last time I checked, the mayor got used for target practice by Hoods' Gang. He's quite dead."
"Well, not the actual mayor." Blood said patronizingly. "A local gang lord calls himself the Mayor. Thinks he's the man to save our city."
"But that position has already been filled, hasn't it?" Laurel noted wryly.
Blood chuckled. "Now this mayor has only one goal- to create chaos so he can rule the Glades with the barrel of a gun."
Abandoned Strip Club
Glades
Inside this not-so abandoned strip club, The Mayor was trying out one of the M4's on a display mannequin set up on the stage. He laughed at the carnage as the bullets tore through the mannequin, but his smile faded as the last gangbanger from the docks walked in, his head down. "You are noticeably unarmed, son." He noted.
"Sorry, Mr. Mayor." The thugs said. "Um, we ran into the Vigilante, and, um, he ganked our weapons. And he killed the other 3 guys." He tried.
"Do you know who I was before the Glades almost went KABOOM?" The Mayor asked rhetorically.
"I was no one. I had no name. None that mattered, anyway. I was just another weak man waiting to get fired or evicted or killed." He stepped off of the bar and walked up to the boy. "But then the chaos came, and now I matter, because I know the guy with the biggest gun wins, and that's why I will rule the Glades." He lifted the M4 at the thug. "But there's no room at my table for weak ass punks like you."
"Mr. Mayor." Another man said from behind the terrified gangbanger. The other man stepped forward. "I want to ask for leniency. The kid's my cousin. I'm the one who brought him in." he explained.
"Oh, you did?" The Mayor adjusted his aim and let loose with a burst of automatic fire at the other man, killing him instantly. The Mayor then looked back at the gangbanger and thrust the now-empty M4 into his hands. "Now let's hope you do your family prouder than he did." He snarled, then turned and walked out with his protection.
The Party
Laurel was enjoying yet another glass of wine, to Nathan's concern. "Hey." He said.
Laurel paused in her drinking, and then turned around to face Nathan. "Please do not ask me if I'm ok, because I am sick to death of everyone asking me that!" she exclaimed.
"I would never do that." Nathan quickly assured her.
"Good." She said, satisfied.
A beat passed before he asked. "You ok?"
Laurel shot him a look. "The Doll Maker was just your garden variety traumatic experience." She said, moving closer to him. "I should be used to that by now."
"I've had a few of those." Nathan reminded her. "You never truly get used to them."
They heard footsteps and looked over to see Lyla standing there. "Excuse me, Nathan, may I talk to you for a second? It's urgent." She said.
"Yeah." Nathan agreed. Lyla paused, waiting for Laurel to leave. When she didn't, she added "I promise, this won't take long."
"Excuse us." Nathan said to Laurel, finally getting the message. Laurel gave them a pained smile, but moved off. Nathan shot Lyla a frustrated look that she ignored.
"I just realized something. What if our masked friend that keeps showing up everywhere you go-you know, her?" she said in a rush.
"What about her?" Nathan asked impatiently.
"What if we've been going about this the wrong way?" Lyla continued. "We thought she was obsessed with you. I mean, she showed up in the D. A.'s office when you were there," Nathan thought back to her dropping through the skylight. "And in the chemical plant where the Doll Maker was holed up." He thought back to the blonde coming in on her aerial silk. "But who else was at both those places?" Lyla finished. With a start, he looked up to see Laurel mingling with the guests. "What if our masked friend isn't following you?"
He understood. "She's following Laurel." He said.
Later that night, Laurel walked back into her apartment. She tossed her purse onto the end table, then walked to her nightstand and tiredly started to take her earrings out. From across the way, The Canary watched over Laurel.
Suddenly, though, she sensed a presence. She turned around and took off running- just as an arrow embedded itself in the wall besides her. She took off over the rooftops, running on the edge of one before jumping down onto another. As she started across the room, she crossed the path of two pre-positioned crossbows, both loaded with bola arrows. The crossbows went off, ensnaring the Canary in their lines and holding her in place. She struggled briefly, and then looked up as Prometheus approached. Scared, she managed to pull out her canary cry device and activated it, then threw it down onto the ground in front of her. It went off with an ear-piercing sound, but Prometheus just kept calmly walking towards her.
"Can it get any louder?" he asked, tapping the side of his ear.
She huffed in annoyance, but remotely turned the device off. "Why are you following Laurel Lance?" he demanded.
"I could ask the same thing of you." She shot back. "I guess some things never change. You're always going to pick Laurel, always and forever."
Nathan stepped back, stunned. "Who are you?" he demanded.
"Once you know, your life will never be the same."
"I can take it."
"Not this time." She said, and then added "Nate."
His eyes widened as he realized she knew who he was, and then her voice registered in his memory. Hesitantly, he reached up towards her mask, pushing it off her face. Along with the mask came the platinum blonde hair wig, leaving her long locks of dirty blonde hair exposed. Nathan stepped back, stunned, and threw back his own hood as he took in the sight of a very alive Sara Lance.
Flashback
"Aah!"
Nate sprung up at the feminine scream and ran outside to see everyone running, as a red emergency light flashed repeatedly. Sprinting down the hallway he opened the door to see a pipe had fallen through Oliver's room and ran him through while Sara was on the ground sobbing.
"Sara! Come on, the ship is going down."
'"Ollie, he's dead!" Sara sobbed
"Sara, if we don't move we will be too, now come on!" Nate said just as the ship turned over causing him to fall over onto the wall and Sara fell through a window and water flooded the room, "Sara!"
He swam up to Oliver's body and closed his eyes looking at him sadly before he swam up breaching the surface "Sara! Sara!" he shouted looking around.
"Nathan! Nate!" Robert yelled in a lifeboat causing Nate to turn around and swim over and get in before he saw Sara wasn't inside.
"Sara!" Nathan turned and shouted about to jump back in to save his friend but Robert grabbed him "No! No! No, dad, she's out there!"
"She's not there." Robert yelled crying himself knowing that Oliver was dead.
"Sara!" Nathan yelled looking at the yacht as it went down.
"They're gone." Robert said sadly.
Flashback
Back in the present, Nathan looked at his ex-lover in shock. "Sara?"
"I'll give you some time to let it sink in." Sara said, and then activated the self-destruct on the canary cry device. It sounded once loudly, then exploded, sending Nathan crashing down to the roof. When he looked up again, she was gone.
The Lair
Later
"Sara Lance?" Chien said. "As in Laurel's younger sister?".
"Yeah." He said quietly.
"I thought she was dead?" she asked. "You told everyone that she died when 'The Gambit' went down, that she drowned."
Nathan raised his head, but he didn't look at them, He was looking past them, back to the Island.
"You lied." Lyla realized.
"When 'The Gambit' capsized, Sara was pulled under." Nathan said shakily. "It was so dark and cold. And I honestly thought she drowned." He sighed. "About year later, I saw her."
Lyla straightened. "She drifted to the island, too?"
"Not exactly." Nathan said evasively.
"Why didn't you tell the Lances that she didn't die in that boat?" Helena asked. "Lance blames your brother for it."
"Yeah, well, that it was his fault." Nathan said simply. "But what happened on the island was my fault."
"Well, where has she been all these years, Nathan?" Lyla asked.
"I don't know!" Nathan shot back. "Lyla, I swear to God. I was sure she was dead."
"Do you have any stories about the island that weren't filled with pain?" Helena wondered sadly as she stood next to her boyfriend rubbing his shoulders.
"None that I feel like talking about right now." Nathan said, rubbing his face tiredly as he leaned on the metal desk.
'Listen to them,' Nathan looked up to see the hallucination of his beloved Shado, leaning down on the table to meet him at eye level, 'pushing you to tell them about your worst time on the island. How rude.'
"Go away," Nathan whispered to himself. Lyla walked up behind Nathan and hugged him, letting him know he had her support.
"Do they deserve to know?" Lyla asked after a moment.
Nathan unwound himself from her arms. "I need to take care of some business at work." He said, evading the issue. "Where are we with the Mayor?"
Lyla sighed. "I'm in contact with some of my ARGUS sources." He told him. "Trying to get a line on how he's getting his illegal army weaponry. I'll keep you updated." Nathan walked past him. "Look Nate, somebody once told me that secrets have weight." Lyla said, stopping the younger man with his words. "The more you keep, the harder it is to keep moving."
Nathan looked back at him, the pain in his eyes evident. "You see how much I bench."
Flashback
One of the pirates approached Nathan's cell.
"You kill three of my crew." The pirate said without preamble. "How many others are with you on the island? What are your weapon capabilities?" Nathan just stared impassively at the man, not saying a word. "Did you find the graves?" Nathan said nothing. "Two things will happen- you will tell me everything I want to know, then I will kill you." The pirate said. "Or I will torture you until you tell me everything I want to know. And then I will kill you."
Nathan stared back, then slowly rose to his feet. He walked up to the bars. "Go fuck yourself." He said.
"Can't. Satan already did that." The pirate said. Then he fired the gun he was holding that Nathan hadn't even noticed. The bullet pierced his left abdomen and Nathan collapsed, screaming in pain.
Flashback End
Sara was in the old clock tower, staring at nothing as she thought about her meeting with Nathan earlier. Suddenly she sensed a presence behind her and spun around, her baton telescoping out-
And stopping right at the tip of Sin's nose.
Sin looked down at the point of the staff, then back up at the vigilante. Sara sighed and lowered the weapon. She saw the bag in her friends hand and smirked. "Told you. The Patty Shack on 5th and Brewer, best burgers in town."
"Well, Patty Shack's in the Mayor's territory, so I'll take a sub-par breakfast over a bullet." Sin said, sitting Indian style on the floor and pulling out a sandwich. She held it up to Sara, who just looked at it listlessly. "What's wrong?" Sin asked with a worried frown. "Look, I know I'm skinny, but I can eat two of these, and I will."
Sara leaned against a support pillar, and then slid down to the ground to join Sin. "Just ran into my oldest friend, the same guy that I've been in love with for half my life." She said. "I'm just worried that he might tell my family I'm back."
"You have family in Starling?" Sin asked.
"Yeah." Sara said. "My father, he's a- he's a policeman. And my sister, she's a lawyer."
"Well, they must be real proud of their masked delinquent." Sin said, taking a sip of her soda.
"Yeah, they think I'm dead." Sara admitted.
Sin paused for a moment, surprised by the revelation. Finally she gave Sara a wry smile. "Oh, cool. My folks think I'm dead, too." She said. "That or they wish I'd never been born. One of those."
Sara chuckled. Sin took another drink, and then asked "Why don't you want them to know that you're still alive?"
"'Cause I'm not what they remember." Sara said sadly.
"Good little daddy's girl?" Sin guessed.
Sara laughed again. "Actually far from it. I was a lot like you." She admitted.
Sin nodded. "Is that why you saved me from those guys that night?"
Sara looked at her with a serious expression, one bone from pain inflicted on her a long time ago. "No woman should ever suffer at the hands of men."
Queen Consolidated
Early Morning
Sebastian Blood was waiting in the QC boardroom with Isabel Rochev as Nathan walked in.
"Mr. Blood." He said with a polite smile. "I see you've met Miss Rochev. She's my—"
"Superior." She said instantly.
"Subordinate." Nathan corrected.
"On paper." She shot back coolly.
"Who owns 60% of this company again? Oh that's right. Me." Nathan said with a smartass tone, shutting Isabel up.
"Is that why you asked me to come down here, Mr. Queen, to mediate your job title?" Blood asked sarcastically.
Nathan chuckled. "You and I have gotten off on the wrong foot repeatedly." He admitted.
"Seems to be your super power." Blood quipped.
"I was inspired by what you said the other night about gun violence in the Glades." Nathan continued. "And I had an idea that might help."
"Really? Another party at your stately manor?" Blood asked dryly.
Nathan shook his head. "No. I'm in the business of sponsoring a cash-for-guns event under QC's name." He said. Isabel looked at him, startled. "I give you the money and you get your constituents to lay down their arms. Everybody wins."
"Especially you." Blood pointed out sourly. "Trying to puff up your family name by ridding the Glades of guns."
"I rarely do anything for free," Nathan said coldly.
Isabel went from startled to alarmed. "Mr. Queen, may I have a word with you?" she asked quickly.
"Let me think it over." Blood said, walking out.
As soon as he was gone, Isabel turned and glowered at Nathan. "You really want to sponsor that event." She stated at once.
"I assume you've heard recently about the violence going on in the Glades?" Nathan asked rhetorically. "Anyway, it's good PR for the company, and we received a 150 million in investments, so we have plenty of cash to burn. 1 or 2 million would be more than enough to cover the entire event."
"You realize though that if any goes wrong, it's come down on you." Isabel stated coolly as she got up and stalked out of the room.
"Trust me, I know." Nathan said to himself.
D.A.'s Office
Laurel was once again working late, listening to her iPod. She was startled when Donner walked out of his office and called to her, and turned her music down at once.
"I was going to order some takeout, you want in?" he asked.
"I appreciate the offer, Adam, but—"
"I've eaten takeout every night this week; I need a meal served on an actual plate. So do you."
Restaurant
Later
Laurel and Donner sat at a table, having enjoyed their meal and wine. Laurel was enjoying her second glass, finishing it off in one long pull, and then smiled at the waitress who brought her a fresh glass.
"I get it." Donner was saying. "It's easy to let the job become your life. I keep having to remind myself to go to the gym, see a movie, eat a good meal."
"That sounds dangerously like having a life." Laurel said slyly.
"What about you? You can't be all about work." Donner hedged.
"I'm the best me when I am working." Laurel said simply.
"And when you're not?"
"You don't want to meet her. She's not good company." She said, sipping her wine.
"I'd be willing to risk it." Donner offered.
Laurel choked a bit on her wine. "Excuse me. I have to go." She said suddenly, setting down the glass and grabbing her things.
Donner rose to his feet. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"
"No, it's ok." Laurel said with a tight smile. "It's fine. I just have to go."
"Good night." He told her as she rushed past.
"Good night." Laurel said as she left.
Laurel climbed into her car and began to drive home.
She was halfway home when a patrol car got behind her, then flashed its lights in warning.
Dutifully, Laurel pulled over.
"Crap." She muttered as the patrol officer got out of his car and walked up to her window, which she rolled down.
"License and registration?" he asked.
"Is there a problem, Officer?" Laurel asked, squinting as the officer shined his light into the car.
"Have you had anything to drink tonight, ma'am?" he asked.
Crap indeed. "I'm Laurel Lance. I'm an assistant district attorney." She tried.
"I'm sorry, Miss Lance, but I'm going to have to ask you to step out of the car, please." The officer said, not impressed. Laurel sagged slightly, now officially worried.
Lair
At the same time
"I need some good news." Nathan said as he came down the stairs to see Chien and Lyla. Helena was busy with her company and wouldn't be making it today.
"The bad news first." Lyla replied. "Somehow the Mayor did get his hands on a crate of military-grade weapons from Camp Kirby." She told Nathan
"The good news?"
"If he kept the crate, Ms. Daisy might be able to find where he's hiding." Lyla said, rising from her chair and moving over to her workstation. On her desk, hooked into her computer, was a white plastic device with a black box inset into the middle of it, encased in a clear plastic cover.
The edges of the black box glowed green. "This is the same make and model of a tracking system the army installs on all of its weapons crates. If they lose a crate, they send out a remote signal that activates the beacon." She tapped in the sample code, and the green light turned red.
"The Mayor's clever." Lyla continued. "He deactivated his beacon. Send a signal, nothing comes back."
"You need to work on your definition of good news." Nathan ground out.
"Alright." Chien grinned. "How's this- guess which company designed the tracking system the army uses? I'll give you a hint- their CEO? He's a god in between the sheets."
Nathan smiled back. "Nice."
"I pulled up a copy of the original plans from QC." She told him, showing him the schematics. "Turns out there's a design flaw. The beacon is still susceptible to a sub form wave even if it's been deactivated."
"The Mayor turned it off, Nathan." Chien said. "But it can be turned back on."
Several minutes later
"So, how did this Not-Mayor get his hands on military assault weapons, and nobody heard about it?"
"Oh, you know how this works. Government likes to cover stuff like this up to avoid a panic." Nate said into the phone.
About a minute later, his phone received the location of the crates. "I believe you ordered a case of stolen military weapons, Boss?" Skye said excitedly at her job well done.
"Indeed I did. Well done, Skye." Nate said as he got his gear.
Glades
Not-so Abandoned club
Several minutes later at the club, the Mayor noticed the red blinking light in the crate. Hurriedly he jumped off the stage and ran over to the crate.
"I thought you deactivated the tracker!" he demanded of one of his thugs before smashing the tracking device with the butt of his rifle. Suddenly he heard the whistle of a flying object, and saw one of his men topple over with a kunai in his head.
They all looked up to see Prometheus standing on the second level, threw a shuriken that killed another of their number before they returned fire. He moved quickly, hopping down the levels behind cover and dodging their fire even as he returned the favor, dropping 3 more men with three arrows. But there were too many men, and they all bolted for the exit as Nathan dropped down to the floor. He aimed a shot at the Mayor, but he disappeared through the door before he could fire. Frowning, he walked over to the crate of assault rifles, placed explosive disks inside each one, then tapped his com link. "Weapons are secure." He told his team.
"And the Mayor?" Lyla asked. Nathan walked out of the club.
Nathan smirked. "Still in office," He pulled out a detonator. He pressed the button, causing the crates of guns to explode the flames nearly reaching him as he walked out, not turning around. "For the moment."
With Laurel
Quentin was just pulling up. He got out of his patrol car and gave a tired nod to his fellow officer.
"Thanks for the heads up, Officer Daily." He said.
"Just fyi- she blew 6 miles past the legal limit." Daily replied, handing her keys to him.
"Thank you." Quentin replied again. Daily got back into his squad car and pulled off, leaving the Lance's alone.
"He didn't need to call you." Laurel said sullenly.
"No. But you're lucky he did." He said. "You could have lost your job. You could have lost your life, and you could have killed somebody!"
"I had a few too many glasses of wine at dinner." Laurel protested. "It was an accident!"
"An accident. Well, I guess those happen." Quentin said sarcastically.
Laurel narrowed her eyes at her father. "Was I not supposed to notice that tone?" she asked.
"The two of us," Quentin started. "You got a lot from me, Laurel. Maybe you got this, too."
"You can hardly compare my one mistake to your drinking problem." Laurel shot back.
"So long as it is only one mistake." Quentin said.
"I don't know if you've noticed," she ground out, "But I've had a little bit of a hard time lately. I was kidnapped, nearly murdered by a psychopath, and my boyfriend died. So, I don't know, maybe cut me some slack."
"You know, when I started having a hard time, I wish people had not cut me slack." Quentin said. "Leave your car here, I'm driving you home."
"I'll take a cab." Laurel spat, turning and walking away.
"Laurel… Laurel!" Quentin called out futilely. Then he sighed in resignation as he watched her walk off into the night.
Verdant
Next Morning
The next morning, Nathan pulled up to Verdant on his bike. He left his helmet on the seat and was walking up to the doors when he sensed a presence behind him. He turned around to see Sara standing there in civilian clothes.
Wordlessly he turned back and opened the door, holding it open for her to walk through first.
She walked inside and looked around, taking in the club but not really seeing it. Finally, she turned back to Nathan. "Did you tell my family that I'm alive?" she asked.
"No." Nathan replied at once. She turned away from him. "Sara." He walked around her so that he was facing her once more. "I saw you die." He started.
"Not the first time that's happened, right?" she said ironically. "And I feared you were dead, too. What happened to Slade?" she asked.
"Where have you been?" he countered, ignoring her question.
"Everywhere." She said simply.
"That's not an answer." Nathan replied.
"Well, it's the one you're getting." She shot back. She sighed and started pacing aimlessly.
"About a year ago, I started hearing tales of the Starling City vigilante." She continued. "The man in the black hood. The Arrow. I knew it was you."
"I had never known you as much of a fighter. Where did you pick that up?" He asked.
"I met some rough people." She said cryptically. "Thought I should get rougher, too."
"Sara." Nathan moved in closer. "Why did you come back?"
"The Undertaking and I heard you were dead. I quickly figured that wasn't the case when you were still walking around but the Arrow wasn't and that you had staged your persona's death." She said.
"But you're still here, watching over them. Protecting them." He surmised. He looked her in the eyes. "So, did you come here to make sure I didn't tell them? Or because you were hoping I had?" he asked.
Before she could answer, there was a knock on the door. Nathan sighed. "I'll get rid of them." Nathan walked past Sara and unlocked the door. He opened in and leaned out- to see Quentin Lance standing there.
"Mr. Lance?" he said loudly so that Sara would know who it was. Sara turned around, shock and terror on her face.
"Hi." Lance said awkwardly.
Nathan slipped out the door and closed it, hiding Sara from the detective. "Something I can help you with?" he asked.
"I'm here about my daughter." Quentin said. Nathan's breath stilled. "Laurel." Lance continued.
Nathan let out a small breath. "Is she ok?" he asked at once.
Inside the club, Sara moved up to the door, staring out the window at her father.
"Yeah." Quentin started. "Well, no, she's not. She got pulled over for a DUI last night. I tried talking to her about it, but…" he sighed. "She wasn't hearing me."
"I…I saw her a few nights ago." Nathan said. "She… didn't seem like herself."
"No, I know. She seems like me." Quentin chuckled humorlessly. "I don't know if you know, but when you, your brother, and Sara disappeared, I hit the bottle pretty hard." He began as Sara watched on tearfully. "Look, I don't like you, and considering how much of an ass I was to you last year, you probably don't like me. But I know the two of you are old friends. And she needs a friend. Maybe she'll listen to you." He asked of him.
"Sure." Nathan said at once.
Nathan ran back into the club, but Sara was gone.
Flashback
Nathan was groaning in pain from the bullet wound. He looked around helplessly, and then he spotted it- a small surgical dish with everything he'd need to remove the bullet and stitch himself back up. Nathan looked at in in confusion "Why would they do this?" he asked of the man in the cell next to him, then groaned again in pain.
"They make all of us do this." The man replied with a heavy Russian accent. "Supposed to show prochnost." He lifted his shirt to show the scar from his own bullet wound. The man in the opposite cell did the same. "It's Russian. For strength."
"They-they did it to see if I'm strong?!" Nathan asked incredulously.
"They're doing this to see if you survive." The Russian clarified. "Living is not for the weak."
Nathan looked at the man, then reached through the bars and grabbed the tray. Then he proceeded to dig the bullet out, even as he shouted in pain.
Flashback End
Laurel's Apartment
Laurel came out to go to work to see Nathan standing on the sidewalk in front of her door.
"Nathan." She said with a tight smile.
"Hi." He replied.
"What are you doing here?" she asked. "Is everything ok?"
"I don't know. Is everything ok?" he replied.
Laurel sighed in exasperation. "You've got to be kidding me. My dad went to you?" she rolled her eyes, and then walked past Nathan down the sidewalk. "He spent the last six years cursing your name, you sued him until he lost his detective rank, and now you're what, gossip buddies?" she asked sarcastically.
"Laurel. He's worried about you." He said in a calm tone of voice.
Laurel stopped. "Perfect." She spun around to glare at him. "A recovering alcoholic and former party boy turned CEO trying to tell me how to live my life. Don't you see the hypocrisy there?"
"What I see is somebody that both of us love for having a rough go of it." Nathan tried.
"Do you know how many times I've had to pull my dad out of a bar?" she asked. "Or how many nights I've had to drive him home where he's passed out in my backseat? He's the one with the problem." She said. "Not me. Just because he can't cope with losing Sara doesn't mean I can't handle my life. Feel free to tell him that during the next chit chat." Laurel finished as she turned and walked off.
Flashback
Nathan lay on the floor of his cell having stitched up his wound. The Pirate came over and kneeled down, inspecting the work from outside the cage. "Sewing is not your strong suit." He noted. Nathan held up the bullet, then let it drop to the floor. The pirate nodded. "Now we can talk." He said.
"For two years my crew and I have been looking for grave site. Did you find the graves?" he asked. Nathan pulled himself up, but didn't answer the man. He just stared.
"Were the bodies odd? The bones misshapen?" the pirate asked. Nathan said nothing, but his defiance told the pirate what he wanted to know. He stood and pulled out his radio. "This is the right island." He said into the device as he walked off.
Flashback End
Glades
QC's Gun-buyback Event
Roy was there, dropping off his arsenal.
"Looks like we got a Colt 1911, Jennings .32, and a K-frame revolver." The attendant said. "Um… We'll give you $250 for the lot."
"Keep it." Roy told the man.
"Do I even want to know where you got those guns?" Roy tuned around to see Thea standing there.
He sighed, but smiled tightly. "They're from the old days." He told her. "I told you. Look, no more being a criminal. No more being a hero. Just Roy Harper. Bus boy and boyfriend."
They drew close to each other, about to kiss…
"Yo, Abercrombie."
Roy blinked, the moment ruined. They turned around to see who had spoken, and Roy felt the bottom drop out of his stomach when he saw Sin standing there, her arms crossed and a smirk on her face.
"Where's your manners? She asked mockingly.
"Sin." His eyes narrowed at the other girl. "This is Thea. Thea, this is Sin."
"Thea Queen?" she gave her a brief look-over. "Look at you, rolling with royalty. By the way, the salad fork's the small one." She added sarcastically.
"It was good to see you again." Roy said coldly, a clear dismissal.
Sins' eyes lit up. She moved in close to Roy. "She doesn't know you're the Vigilante's delivery boy, does she?" she asked quietly. The tense look on his face told her everything she needed to know. Sin turned to Thea and gave her a mocking bow. "Nice to meet you, your highness."
"You, too." Thea replied dryly as Sin walked off.
Thea turned to Roy. "So how do you know her?"
"We both live in the Glades. We've ran into each other a few times." He answered vaguely.
Out on the fringes of the buy back, Nathan stood, observing the event. McKenna was standing next to him. "Your certain he'll show up?" McKenna asked.
"Positive. The so-called Mayor thinks of guns in the same way a king thinks of a crown and scepter. It would be the ultimate affront to his power amongst his base of supporters to have guns in the Glades being sold for cash. He will respond in kind, which is why I requested additional security for the event. Plus, it will give the SCPD a chance to test the I.C.E.R.'s in action." Nathan said, referring to the sharpshooters he had on every roof on the street, armed with ICER Sniper Rifles, while he had 20 cops in the crowd armed with ICER Pistols.
Sebastian Blood noticed him and walked over, whilst McKenna walked away.
"It's going well?" Nathan asked.
"Last check, we've taken in over 200 guns in only 2 hours." He noted the tight expression on his face. "Try not to look so happy about it."
"A lot on my mind, alderman." Nathan stated.
"My job is to help the people in this city with their problems." Blood said.
Nathan turned to face the alderman. He didn't like this guy, he didn't trust him, but he figured he could use someone to talk to. "Two people that are very important to me are having a rough time." Nathan began. "Sisters, actually. And neither one of them is making it very easy for me to help them."
"Sooner or later, we all go through a crucible." Blood replied. "I'm guessing yours was that island." Nathan nodded slightly. "For most, there are two types of people who go into a crucible- the ones who grow stronger from the experience and survive it, and the ones who die. But I believe there's a third type. The ones who learn to love the fire." He continued. "They choose to stay in their crucible because it's easier to embrace the pain when it's all you know anymore."
"That's why I'm on the clock to help this city. Before it becomes used to living like this."
"Living is not for the weak." Nathan said, thinking back to Anatoli on the ''Amazo''. "Old friend of mine once told me that."
"That's a wise friend." Blood said.
Suddenly the peace was ripped apart by gunfire.
The Mayor, riding in the back of one of 3 tricked out pickup trucks with a couple of goons with assault rifles smashed through the police barricades and sent the people scattering. The trucks skidded to a stop, and the Mayor, who was in the middle one, began speaking.
Nathan tapped his earpiece to notify the police sharpshooters he had on every roof on this street and police men. "The moment I give the signal, take them out."
"Roger that." McKenna's voice came.
"Listen up, people. This is your mayor speaking." He said. His goons aimed their rifles into the crowd. "Now I don't recall this here event being sanctioned." He continued. "What happens in the Glades only happens if I allow it."
"You're not the leader of this community!" Nathan shouted at the man, drawing everyone's attention. "Nobody voted for you! You were not democratically elected! You're just some worthless punk who thinks just because he has a gun in his hands that he can do whatever he wants! You don't speak for the good people of the Glades!"
"And neither do you." The Mayor replied, gesturing to his men. "Not anymore."
"Take them down!" McKenna shouted over the earpieces.
Just before the Mayor's men opened fire, every cop and sharpshooter on the roofs opened fire. The hail of dendrotoxin bullets knocked all the goons and the Mayor out cold. The two outside truck drivers got hit as well, but the driver for the truck that the Mayor was on had his windows up and sped away. The Mayor only managing to escape because he had been knocked onto his back by the force of the bullets, and was still in the back of the truck.
However, a few of the goons had managed to shoot a few rounds into the crowd, one of them hitting Sin.
Nathan sprinted over to Thea and Roy. "Hey! Are you ok?" he asked them. "Are either of you hit?"
Thea shook her head. "No." Nathan nodded, then got up.
Roy heard a groan, and looking up he saw Sin hunched over. "Sin, you all right?" he called out.
"All's good." She moaned, and then stared at shock at her hand as she pulled it away from her abdomen. It was covered in blood. She fell back and Roy ran over to her. "Thea, go get help!" Nathan told his sister as he used his jacket to apply pressure on Sins' wound. "Go!" she nodded and ran off to call the paramedics, leaving Roy and Nate holding Sin as she continued to bleed out.
Verdant
One hour later
Down in the basement, the gang were watching a news report on the shooting.
'The shooting was committed by the gang leader known only as "The Mayor," who, until now, has never been seen in public.' The broadcaster was saying. ' Thankfully, thanks to the timely intervention of Mr. Nathaniel Queen and the Police at the event, there were only minor casualties and zero fatalities.'
Chien paused the broadcast and Skye, who was on the phone, began typing.
"So, looks like the Not-Mayor decided to show his face." Skye quipped.
"His vanity is going to cost him." Nathan noted.
"Alright FBI, cough up the goods." Skye aid as the program ran.
After a few moments, the program beeped and a profile was pulled up, sending it to him. "Got a match. Xavier Reed." She said, reading off the name on the profile.
"Did Mr. Reed serve in the military?" Nathan asked.
"No military history for himself. Not attempts to join either." She replied.
"Family members?"
Skye shook her head, not that he could see. "Reed was in and out of foster care his whole life." She frowned as she read on. "Here's something. In 1996, Reed spent three years with a foster family and their son, Ezra Barnes." She said. "Barnes served three tours in Iraq. He's stateside now."
"$20 bucks said he was stationed at Camp Kirby." Nathan said.
"Pay the man." Skye replied. "The Mayor's foster brother is assigned to a weapons convoy that carries SCAR 16s by truck. The convoy's scheduled to come through Starling City tonight."
"FN SCAR 16s are military assault weapons with grenade launchers." Lyla noted with concern. "The man gets a hold of these, Nathan, its game over."
Nathan scowled. "He won't." He put his ear to the phone and said "Thanks for the help Skye." he said, hanging up the phone, turning to gear up.
Starling General
Same time
Sin was sedated in a hospital bed, being checked over by the surgeon. He turned to Roy, who stood with him in the room. Thea waited outside the room, leaning against the far wall.
"The bullet penetrated her anterior abdomen." The doctor was telling Roy. "We were able to remove most of the fragments. We'll know more in a few hours."
Roy nodded, and the doctor walked out. Thea walked into the room. "Hey." He told her. "I'm going to stick around, in case she wakes up."
"Is it ok if I stick around with you?" she asked. Roy nodded, and Thea placed a warm hand on his shoulder. "I mean, you saved her life, Roy." She said, gently rubbing the shoulder. "I guess you can't stop being a hero, can you?" they both turned to look at the sleeping Sin.
Outside, The Canary watched on, sad for her friend's pain and angry that she couldn't prevent it. Suddenly an arrow struck the wall behind her. She turned to look at it, and saw a zip line attached. Without hesitation, she grasped the line and slid down to the adjoining rooftop, where Prometheus and Huntress waited.
"I'd like to see how you handle yourself in a real fight." He told her.
"Good." She said. "I was looking for a fight."
Glades
Later
The convoy rolled through the darkened streets, coming to a halt right in front of Xavier. His foster brother climbed out of the truck and walked up to Xavier, hugging him.
"They're with me." Ezra said, indicating the other men that had climbed out of the military vehicles. He then nodded at the open back of his truck. "He wasn't."
Xavier looked in to see a dead soldier.
He laughed and clapped his brother on the shoulder. "You're done being all you can be." He said.
Ezra held out his hand, and one of his men handed him a SCAR 16. He unfolded the stock and held it out for Xavier to look at.
"Ahh. You and I are going to own this town." He said with a grin. He hefted the gun. "Now let's see what this bad boy can do."
A sound grabbed everyone's attention, and they all turned to see The Canary standing there, her bo staff in hand. At once she attacked, expertly wielding the staff, taking out soldiers and gang members combined.
As the gang tried to regroup, Prometheus and Huntress joined in the fray, letting loose with a barrage of arrows and crossbow-bolts, killing everyone they hit.
The gang opened fire, but they were firing blind. Nathan dropped down, running behind cover, and then dropped down again behind the truck he came around and sliced off the head of a young gangbanger. He looked up at Sara, who had just finished beating up the last soldier.
"Behind you." She said. Nathan turned sharply, bow drawn with an arrow nocked to see Xavier standing about fifteen feet away, the SCAR in hand.
"Old school weapon." He called out. "Respect. But can your arrows do this?" he fired off the grenade. Nate let his arrow loose, the arrow hitting the grenade and detonating it.
The shockwave sent the three vigilantes to the ground. His ears ringing, he noted the rest of the gang members and soldiers that were still alive rushing up to attack, so he grasped the first weapon he saw on the ground- Sara's staff. He got up, spinning the staff around and wielding it like an expert, using it in conjunction with his Mirakuru strength to perform lethal takedowns. As the last of the gang members dropped to the ground, Ezra came out from behind one of the trucks, a SCAR in hand. He raised it to fire-
But was dropped by an arrow between the shoulder blades, courtesy of the Canary.
The two vigilantes walked up to one another and traded back their weapons, Nathan grinning at Sara under his mask, then they moved off after Xavier.
Xavier was sneaking around, his SCAR in hand, looking for the crime fighters. "Come on, where are you?" he muttered under his breath. He turned around-
But Huntress was there. She sliced off his one arm with Nathan's Chokuto and then the other arm. She kicked his legs out from under him, dropping him to his knees while she held the sword to his throat.
"You hurt a friend of mine." Sara hissed at him as she and Nate came up to them.
"What?" Xavier gasped through his pain. "Not man enough to kill me yourself so you have to have your slut do it?"
Not even a second later, Helena slit his throat from ear to ear. Xavier gurgled as he choked on his own life fluids and died.
"I really hate that word." She said as she gave Nathan's chokuto back to him.
They all heard a faint grunting sound as it turned out to be Ezra Barnes. He was trying to crawl away, which was hard with a arrow through his shoulder.
Nathan stalked over to Ezra, placing his foot on his back, stopping him from moving. Nate grasped the arrow and slowly twisted it, making Ezra grunt in pain before harshly pulling it out. Ignoring Ezra's scream of pain, Nate nocked the arrow and pointed it at Ezra's skull.
"You don't deserve to wear that uniform." He said as he let the arrow fly, watching as the tip came out the front of Ezra skull.
QC
Next day
Nathan was sitting in his office, sipping some coffee watching the news on his computer.
'Demonstrations opposing the construction of the new Star Lab's particle accelerator have reached a fever pitch with five more protestors being arrested.'
'In other news, despite the attack by the gang leader known as the Major, the recent cash for guns event sponsored by Queen Consolidated held in the Glades is credited for getting over 1000 weapons off the streets.' Nathan leaned down, looking at the screen. 'Many are giving thanks to Mr. Nathaniel Queen for making this City a little safer.' He switched it off.
Starling General
Same Time
Roy and Thea were dozing on a seat outside of Sin's room when the doctor came out.
"Mr. Harper?" he said, getting the boy's attention.
Roy started awake, alarmed. "What's wrong, is she ok?" he asked. The doctor merely nodded, then walked off. Roy jumped to his feet and ran into the room to see Sin, awake, sitting up in the bed.
"Hey." She said as he took a seat next to her bed. "You saved my life. I guess I have to keep your secret now, huh?" she looked past Roy to see Thea walking in. "You know you're dating a moron, right?' she told her.
Thea gave her a small grin. "It's my first and last thought of every day." She replied.
"Crap." Sin looked back to Roy. "I like her." The three chuckled.
Outside the room Sara looked in, making sure she was okay. Seeing that she was, she pulled the ball cap low and walked off. Down the hall she stopped as Nathan came up to her.
"The Girl." He said softly. "I took care of her medical expenses."
"Thank you." Sara replied. "Look, I don't want Thea to see me—"
"What's your plan, Sara?" Nathan asked. "Because right now, you just… well, you're whipping across rooftops and keeping watch over your family like some sort of ghost."
"We're both ghosts." Sara said sadly. "We died on that island."
"No, we didn't." Nathan shot back. "We both lived. And I get that you have been in pain so long that it probably just feels normal now. But you can let it go and come home." He pleaded. "I mean, I know that the Undertaking brought you here, but your family kept you here. You have to tell them, Sara. They need you." He emphasized.
"You told them that I died on 'The Gambit'." Sara pointed out. "If they know the truth—"
"They would never- they would never talk to me again." Nathan said, laughing humorlessly. "Not one of them. But it'd be worth it."
AA Meeting
Lance was speaking. "My daughter's in trouble." He was saying. "She's, uh, she's been through some really terrible things. And Instead of facing up to them, she's running away from them." At Laurels apartment, Laurel popped a couple of her father's Oxycodone, then downed it with a glass of red wine.
"She's losing herself in her work, and maybe even worse. She's my daughter, I just want her safe, I want to protect her." At the hospital, Nathan held out a hand to Sara, and hesitantly she took it. He led her down the hall and out of the hospital towards an uncertain future. "But I guess like we say in our meetings, more will be revealed."
Flashback
On the ''Amazo'', a pair of pirates opened Nathan's cell and dragged him out. He screamed slightly in pain. The leader looked at him with cold eyes. "Your days of screaming are just beginning." He promised cruelly. The pirates dragged him through the ship, dumping him in some sort of lab. They left, closing the door, and Nathan looked up to see a pair of black boots standing in front of him. He continued looking up following the legs to the torso, to finally the head-
Of Sara Lance.
He looked at her in confusion. "How?" he muttered as she stared back impassively.
Flashback end
A gangbanger named Joe Plumber was strapped to a chair with a bag over his head. Suddenly the bag was removed, and Joe looked up to see a young patrol officer who had arrested him standing there.
He looked around in confusion, squinting at the harsh light given off by a set of shop lights.
"What the hell is this?" he demanded. "This ain't the police station." The cop stepped aside, and a new man walked in. He was dressed in slacks, a red shirt, and a blue windbreaker with the collar popped up. But what was really distinctive was the mask. It was brown leather, shaped like a skull, and concealed the man's face entirely except for the eyes, which regarded Joe coldly. "Why are you wearing that mask?"
"This city is in chains, and I'm going to free it." The man in the skull mask said. He stepped aside so that another man, this one carrying a syringe filled with a green liquid, could approach the bound man. "But to do that, I need an army."
"Whoa, what's in that thing?!" Joe said in a panic as the third man injected the green serum into his arm. "Get that off me! Get that shitaway from me!" the injection finished, the man pulled the needle free and stepped back. Skull man stepped forward again.
"Are you ready to serve?" he asked. Joe tensed as the serum coursed through his veins, and then screamed out in pain. He screamed for several moments before he finally died, his head dropping to his chest, and crimson tears of blood running out of the corners of his eyes.
The man pulled off the mask, revealing the face of Sebastian Blood. An angry Sebastian Blood. The plans for Nathaniel Queen had so far not worked. Queen flat out didn't trust him and more or less refused to associate with him unless absolutely necessary. And he had secretly dropped the hint that to Xavier about that Gun buyback event so he could take a stand to look strong in front of many people to increase his prospects of becoming Mayor, but Queen had ripped that opportunity out from under him.
Blood sighed in disappointment. "Bring me another." He ordered the cop.
"Yes, Brother Blood." The cop replied.