Queen Consolidated
Applied Science building
As a storm brewed outside, two security guards were walking the floor. They were walking passed a loading bay door when it shook with a heavy impact. The two stopped and stared and soon the door was hit again. "What was that?" one of the guards asked the other. They watched as the door was struck again and again and, as it started to buckle, they drew their guns. One last hit sent one of the two doors to the ground and the guards opened fire.
Before them stood a man in a black, featureless mask. He ran forward, shrugging off bullets and punched one guard, sending the man flying into several barrels that toppled on top of him. The other guard tried to make a run for it but the man stopped him. He lifted the guard by his neck with one thick hand and squeezed, crushing his throat. Then he threw him head first into a heavy metal barrel, finishing him off. With no further resistance, the man walked on into the building, searching for his objective.
Next day
Nathan, Moira and Lyla exited the elevator on the executive floor and were greeted by Helena.
"Mrs. Queen, welcome back to the company. I was really glad when the jury acquitted you." She said happily.
"Thank you." Moira said graciously.
"We still on for tonight?" Helena asked her boyfriend.
"You bet." Nathan said as he kissed her deeply before they moved on.
Inside the boardroom, Isabel was going over the latest projections with the rest of the board. "We need to drill down on these numbers before the earnings call." She looked up in surprise to see Moira enter with Nathan right behind her. "Nathan. I didn't realize your mother was stopping by for a visit today." She said.
"Well, it's not a visit." Nathan said, pulling out the chair to the left of the head of the table for Moira, and then sitting down in the chair at the head, reminding everyone who was in charge. "She has a place in this company, too."
"Of course." Isabel turned to Moira. "How are you, Moira?" she asked with forced pleasantness.
"Back, Isabel." She said firmly.
Isabel paused, and then turned back to Nathan. "Mr. Queen, may I speak to you for a minute?"
"After the meeting," Nathan dismissed callously, causing Isabel to grind her teeth.
"Now then, what's the feedback from the police on our ICER tech", Nathan asked the board.
"The police love it, sir," One board member says, "They have nothing but good things to say, and they recommend selling them to all police."
"Excellent. We'll begin making plans to start selling the tech to every police station in California, and if that goes well, we'll branch out to all the US."
After the meeting, Nathan and Isabel were out in his office. "What sort of message does it send to the investment committee, to the city, if we hand Queen Consolidated right back to your mother?" Isabel argued.
"She was acquitted. Besides, having a place on the board is hardly the same as making her CEO." Nathan pointed out.
"By a jury. Not by the city." She shot back. "Mr. Queen. Stop thinking like a son and start thinking like a CEO."
Nathan gritted his teeth and gripped her arm as she tried to walked away. "And you need to remember who is in charge. If you ever call a meeting without my permission again, stock ownership or not, I will throw you out on the street like the rat you are." He whispered, causing her eyes to widen.
He let her go but before he could go to his office, Lyla came into the office.
"Nathan. There's been a break-in." she informed him.
Starling City Train Station
At the Starling City Train Station, a young man climbed off a train. He carried a heavy wheeled suitcase and tried to shield himself from the rain with the latest issue of Science Showcase that featured an article on the new particle accelerator. He looked at watch. "Damn!" he muttered, grasping the handle on his case and taking off at a brisk walk down the station.
Applied Sciences building
Lyla and Nathan were looking at the wrecked door as Helena, Natasha and Daisy stood behind them.
"This door was made of expanded reinforced titanium." Lyla noted. She turned to Officer McKenna, who was one of the cops working the scene. "What did they use to do this?"
"Not sure yet." McKenna said. "No sign of any explosives. Could have been a crane, maybe a forklift." She walked around the scene. "I'm guessing there was at least three of them, maybe four. And given how quick they got in and out of here- they were fast." She guessed.
Outside the train station, the young man tried to flag down a taxi, who took off anyway. "Whoa, hey, stop, wait!" he shouted after the cab. "You don't even have a fare!" He sighed and stated walking again, then stopped as another passing car sent up a large plume of water, drenching him.
Back at the Applied Sciences building, McKenna was started asking questions. "Any idea what these guys were so hot to break in here for?" she looked at Nathan.
"This is what we're able to pull off the security cameras." Kelton said, coming up to the group and pulling up the video on his tablet. The clip showed the man in the mask killing the two guards, and then the man picked up a box and flung it at the camera, taking it out. "He was the only guy we got on video. The rest of the crew must have come in after him."
Nathan stared at the video and muttered to himself as his eyes widened, "No, it couldn't be."
"Actually, it was only one guy." They all turned to see the young man from the train, who was examining the scene. "Ah, sorry I'm late. But actually, my train was late. Well, the second one. The first one I did miss, but that was my cab driver's fault. I've got this great traffic app, and… but he thought that he was right. I'm here now, though. So…." He babbled.
"Great." McKenna said dryly. "Who the are you?"
"It's okay," Nathan said as he walked over and shook Barry's hand. "He's a friend."
"It's good to see you, Nathan." Barry said as he turned to the rest of the people gathered.
"I'm Barry Allen." He said, pulling his ID out of his jacket and showing it to them. "I'm from the Central City police department." He explained. "I'm with the crime scene investigation unit. We're working on a case with some similar unexplained elements in Central City, so when the report of your robbery came over the wire, my captain sent me up here."
"And you think one guy ripped through this door like it was tin foil?" McKenna said skeptically.
'God, I really hope not. Because if it's not kryptonians, it's could only be that.' Nathan thought in apprehension.
"One very strong guy, yeah." Barry replied. Nathan looked off, suddenly lost in a memory. "Uh, it takes about 1,250 foot pounds of torque to break someone's neck." He pulled up the autopsy photos of one of the guard and showed it to them. It showed the man from the shoulders up, focusing on the bruising of the neck. "You see the marks on the guard's neck? The bruising pattern suggests the killer used only one hand. I'm guessing you don't know how hard it is to break someone's neck." He said to Nathan.
"Hmm?" he looked up, his mind having been in the past briefly. "No. No idea." He lied.
"Uh, we're going to need a list of the entire inventory here to figure out exactly what was stolen." Kelton began.
"Actually, I think I know what was stolen." Barry put in. "A centrifuge. An industrial centrifuge. Probably the Cord Enterprises 2BX 900. Maybe the six series." He led them to a concrete base, on which something had been attached and was no longer. "Both have a three column base. Here, you can see the three sets of broken bolts where the thief just ripped it out of the ground."
"And what exactly is a centrifuge?" Kelton asked.
"It separates liquids." Nathan explained.
"The centripetal acceleration causes denser substances to separate out along the radial direction." Daisy added, causing her friends to look at her. "What? I took chemistry in college."
"And lighter objects move to the top." Barry added.
Daisy smiled at the scientist. "What did you say your name was again?"
"Barry. Allen."
"Daisy. Johnson." She said, introducing herself.
Nathan gave the younger man a look, so he continued with his analysis. "Um, you can see the cracks heading towards the door." He stated, pointing to the footprints embedded in the floor. "Footsteps. One guy." He stood. "Anyway, it's just a theory. One backed by a lot of evidence." He added.
"There has to be another explanation." McKenna protested.
"Yeah. I'm sure you're right." Barry said to placate the cop.
As Nathan knelt down besides the base to examine it more closely, his mind traveled to past.
Five years ago
The four castaways trudged through the forest, moving towards the coordinates on the Hozen. Shado took point, Sara brought up the rear, and Nathan helped the injured Slade move down the steep incline they were on.
"We need to change directions." Slade said with a groan.
"You need to rest." Nathan countered.
"If Ivo and any of his men survived that blast, they'll be tracking us. We keep moving." Slade said determinedly. Then he stepped over a tree branch and dropped several inches. The impact, slight as it was, hurt him tremendously. "Five minutes." He gasped reluctantly.
Nathan helped him sit on a rotted stump. "You watch him, please." He asked of Sara.
"Of course." She said.
Nathan walked over to Shado, holding her close to him as they rested their foreheads against each other. "Do you believe them?" she asked of him. "That this Hosen will lead us to a wrecked Japanese sub?"
"That bastard Ivo seemed to believe it," Nathan pointed out. "I just hope whatever miracle serum they're after is actually onboard." He looked back at Slade. "For his sake."
"Listen," Nathan said as he and Shado stared into each others eyes. "I know you're probably not that comfortable with Sara around. But I could NOT leave her. I saw how much Ivo had brainwashed her and I just couldn't leave her to whatever sick twisted thing he was planning."
"Thank you for your concern, my love, but I am alright." She said as they shared a tender kiss. Slade and Sara looked uncomfortable at the display. "I know you are not as your brother was. And you are better than you were when you crashed here. I trust you."
"I'm glad to here it." He said as he drew her back in and they kissed again.
Slade staggered over, rested enough of the moment. "I feel like taking a walk." He said with forced levity, throwing an arm over Shado's shoulders to help support himself. "Anyone care to join me?"
The two started walking again. Sara paused next to Nathan. "I guess a lot's happened in the last year." She noted before following.
Present
In Queen Consolidated, Nathan was staring out of the window as the rain fell, his mind deep in thought.
Helena walked up behind him and hugged him. "Babe, are you alright?"
"A little better, now that you're here." He admitted, making her smile. "I'm just really concerned about this. It will be bad if it's Kryptonians and if it's not, I can only think of one other thing."
"Nathan." He looked over to see Lyla and Daisy coming into his office. He slipped out of Helena's arms. "Got the final inventory from applied sciences." Lyla said. "That CSI friend of yours from Central City was right. The only thing missing is a centrifuge." She handed him the inventory.
"You need to see this." Natasha said a moment later. She walked over and showed her tablet to them. "I pulled up CC traffic camera footage from across the street of applied sciences. This is three minutes after the alarm went off." She played the video, and they watched as the mask man carried the two-ton centrifuge on his shoulder to a waiting van.
They noticed Nathan gripping the desk, and said desk was beginning to crack. The other's noticed and were wary.
Nathan looked up to see Barry Allen out in the waiting area, ripping off a part of his desk without realizing it. "Hey, man. Need something?" he asked.
"Yeah uh, where should I set up my equipment?" he asked. He then noticed Nathan was holding a piece of his desk. "You need a new desk?"
"Hmm?" Nate asked only to then realize he had ripped off a piece of his desk as he tossed it behind him. "Oh yeah, it's falling apart at the seems."
Nathan looked at Daisy and she got the message. "I'll show you." Daisy offered.
"What's going on?" Lyla asked, thoroughly confused.
"Nate said that he preferred to keep the investigation in house, so I cleared it with my captain to give him a hand." Barry explained.
Nathan smiled at the man, but was taken by the elbow by Lyla and Natasha and led him closer to the window. "What are you doing?" Lyla asked him quietly.
"We need to find this intruder." He said. "While I'm good as far as forensic science goes, he's better, so I'd say we need him." he added.
Natasha had a blank look on her face. "I just hope he doesn't accidently discover your identity."
"Not by looking around here, he won't. It's not like I keep my mask in my desk." Nathan said dryly.
Daisy smiled, and then walked over to Barry. "I'll show you around." She offered.
"Why am I getting the feeling you know more about this than your friend?" Lyla asked after the other two had left.
"Pray I'm wrong." He said simply.
Queen Manor
Nightime
Moira was in the parlor, looking at a picture of a younger Thea when Nathan walked in.
"Hi." He said. "I'm sorry about what happened at the office this morning."
"There are a lot of people who think I got away with murder, Nathan." Moira noted, putting the picture back. "Maybe I did."
"Mom, the trial, the Undertaking, Malcolm Merlyn, all of that is behind us now." Nathan told her. "And we need everyone to see that."
"How are we going to do that?" she asked skeptically.
"We throw a party." He said decisively.
Before she could say no, two more people joined them. "Thea. Roy." She said, greeting them in turn.
"Did I hear you guys say something about a party?" Thea asked.
"A welcome back to Queen Consolidated party for mom." Nathan said.
"I don't think so." Moira started to protest.
"If things are going to get back to normal, then we need to start acting normal." Nathan argued. "Normal for us is a lavish party."
Roy's phone beeped, so he pulled it out to look at it. He sighed. "Oh. I'm sorry, Mrs. Queen, I can't stay for brunch." He apologized.
"I guess we got to go." Thea said, kissing her mother on the cheek. "Bye." The two walked out under Nathan's watchful eye. After they had gone, he looked back at his mother and smiled.
"I'll take care of everything." He promised.
Applied Sciences Building
Barry was setting up a ring of ultraviolet lights around the base of the stolen centrifuge as Daisy and Natasha looked on.
"What exactly are you looking for?" Daisy asked.
"Your thief's shoes touched the ground, which means he tracked in dozens of clues as to where he's been the past few days." He explained from the floor as he examined the footprint from all angles. He smiled and pulled out a pair of tweezers. "Got ya." He said. He snagged the small pit of evidence with the tweezers and stood, walking over to the mass spectrum analyzer. He grinned at Daisy as he put the evidence in the machine and closed the tray. "Shouldn't take long." He told her.
Daisy moved over to the monitor to watch as the picture of the evidence started to appear on the screen, along with the chemical makeup.
"So you've seen him, right?" Barry asked Natasha. "The vigilante they call Prometheus? I read that he might have come after you." He said offhandedly. "What was he like?"
Natasha shrugged and said, "He's dark, wears all black, and modulates his voice."
"Black." Barry said excitedly. "Black is better for stealth, and urban camouflage. And the voice modulation definitely works for protecting his identity."
"Though I have to wonder, why the arrows? Me, personally," he continued as Daisy did her best not to make eye contact, "I think that he trained in some sort of like forest or jungle environment, and his weapon of choice is a nod to that."
"I don't give the vigilante much thought." She said, walking around the table and turning off the UV lights. Natasha walked over to her and whispered, "Deep Breathes, it'll slow your heart rate". Daisy a took a deep breath try to calm down.
"Police reports show that he uses carbon arrows, but if he switched to an aluminum carbon composite, he would have far better penetration." Barry continued, oblivious to Daisy's nervousness.
"I have feeling he thinks his arrow's penetration is just fine, given all the bodies he's dropped." Natasha quipped.
"Do you want to know something else?" Barry asked. "I think that he has partners. Definitely someone with a background in computer sciences."
"Yeah." Daisy moved back in front of the computer. She looked at him askance. "Why are you so interested in Prometheus?" she asked.
Barry exhaled heavily, his excitement gone in a flash. "When I was 11, my mom was murdered."
"I'm so sorry." Daisy and Natasha said at once.
"They never caught the guy who did it." Barry said, having told this story to Nathan, and he was probably the only one who believed him. "Maybe he would have." The computer beeped, snapping Barry back into scientist mode. He stared at the results on the screen. "The soil…there's a crystalline structure in it." He squinted. "That's weird." He said after a moment.
"What's weird?" she asked.
"It's sugar." Barry stated curiously.
Verdant
Later
It was already night by the time Roy and Thea were finally able to meet up with Sin.
"Sin, you said this was an emergency." Roy started.
Sin looked askew at Thea. "No offense, but Thea, you shouldn't be here." She said bluntly.
"In the alleyway of the club I own?" Thea replied sarcastically.
Sin sighed. "It's my friend Max." she began. "He's missing. I haven't seen him for a week, no one has. Something happened to him." She looked at him significantly. "I figured you knew someone who could help." She said.
Roy was frozen, he most DEFINITELY couldn't reveal to Thea that he was informing for Prometheus. Fortunately, Thea saved him.
"Roy can help you." She said confidently.
He glanced over at his girlfriend, puzzled. "I thought you wanted me to stay out of trouble." He said pointedly.
"I kind of like that you never turn away from someone who needs help." She said, clapping him on the shoulder. "I'll just get someone to cover the club." She said, heading towards the back entrance.
"What do you mean?" Roy said at once.
She glanced back at him. "Oh, I'm coming with you." She said, smirking.
She headed back into the club, and Roy gave Sin a look. The other girl just shrugged her shoulders.
Applied Sciences
Later
"You found something?" Nathan asked as he, Helena, and Lyla walked in.
"We found something." Daisy clarified, looking to Barry.
"There were trace amounts of sucrose and a spec of dirt the killer dragged in here on his boot." Barry revealed.
"Which got me thinking." Daisy continued. "There is a sugar refinery two miles from here. The land around it is suffused in waste sugar. So I checked. They had a delivery truck stolen a few days ago."
"Their truck matches the make and model of the truck the thief used to steal the centrifuge." Barry added.
"Can you track the vehicle?" Nathan asked.
"We've been trying." Daisy started, but was cut off when her computer beeped. She looked at it in astonishment.
"What was that?" Nathan asked.
"You're not going to believe this." Daisy said. "That truck, it was just used to rob a blood bank."
The feeling of dread in Nathan's stomach grew. "What? Are you sure?" he asked.
"Yeah." Natasha confirmed. "Our guy just made off with 30,000 cc's of O-negative."
"We should give this information to the local police." Barry said, slightly confused by the dynamic in play.
"I'll take care of that." Nathan said. He gave Barry a look. "Did you say that you were working a similar case in Central City, Barry?"
Barry blanched slightly. "Oh, yeah, um…" he stammered. "Yeah, you know, it's similar. Has similar elements. A lot of similarities. Right. Yeah." He finished lamely.
Nathan smiled at him, then his face turned to a glare after he left and grabbed his stuff.
"Stay here!" He ordered the women in the room.
10 minutes later
A speeding sugar deliver truck that was loaded down with stolen blood and missing the driver's side door was driving down through the street. The man was wearing a mask and saw something was running toward him. Too late did he realize it was Prometheus as the dark vigilante unleashed a double flying kick that broke through the windshield, kicking Cyrus Gold through the back end of the truck and onto the pavement, the truck skidding to a stop. Prometheus rolled to a landing on one knee and looked up slowly, watching Cyrus gold struggle to get up as he walked around him in circle, like a wolf stalking his prey.
Cyrus eventually got up and rushed Prometheus, throwing a punch that Prometheus caught, holding him there. Prometheus confirmed that this guy definitely had Mirakuru, as Kryptonians hit much harder. "Who gave you Mirakuru? WHO!?"
Cyrus did not answer and tried to hit him again. Nathan pulled out his chokuto and in a flourish of swordplay, sever Cyrus's achilles tendon, and chop off both his arms. Cyrus dropped to his knees and Nathan appeared behind him, sword placed against Cyrus's throat. "I'm gonna ask one more time. WHO GAVE YOU MIRAKURU!?"
"I'm not talking!" Cyrus gasped out.
"Fine, you can talk to the Reaper." Nathan said as he gripped the sword and pulled it toward him, cutting off Cyrus's head in the process. Nathan gathered up the body parts and threw them in a bag. He didn't want Waller getting her hands on this.
Before he left though he dumped all the stolen blood into the sewer and fired an explosive arrow at the truck, blowing it up. He didn't want to do that, but this way, whoever was did steal the blood, couldn't steal it again.
Lair
Afterward
Nathan walked into the Arrow lair with the body bag and dropped it on the table. "Um, what is that?" Daisy asked.
"It's probably the body of our mystery super-human." Natasha guessed.
Daisy touched the bag and felt a squishy feeling. Realizing what it was, she recoiled in disgust. "Ew!"
Nathan pulled his mask off and leaned on the table. Helena squeezed his hand gently which he appreciated.
He let out a breath. "I have not been completely honest. I know much more about this than I was letting on." Nathan admitted to Skye. "I've seen men with abilities like that before."
"You have?" Daisy asked. "Where?"
"The island." He said tiredly. "My second year marooned there, we- I came across the remains of a Japanese World War II military project." Nathan explained. "It was a serum designed to create Super Soldiers."
"Super Soldiers." Daisy said. "My God, what's next, aliens?" Nathan gave her a pointed look. "Seriously!? There are aliens too?"
"This is real, Skye." Nathan said sharply. "Those five years that I was away, I came across things that just defy explanation." He sighed. "There's a doctor, his name is Ivo, and he came to the island to test the serum on people. The ones that survived, their endurance, reflexes and strength were all enhanced."
"You think Ivo's in Starling City?" Lyla asked.
"He's 100% dead. I would know. I killed him myself." Nathan said confidently. "And so is everyone that he injected with the serum. The last of which I burned."
"You think someone found the recipe and is trying to replicate it." Natasha surmised.
"The centrifuge and a large supply of blood would have been a dead give-away." Helena stated. "Someone wants to make more."
Daisy sighed sadly. "Why couldn't you have been marooned on Aruba?" she muttered.
"Well, probably a good thing I wasn't." Nathan said as he walked over a stand-alone concrete wall he used for target practice. "Otherwise I wouldn't be able to do this." He punched right the concrete and pulled his arm out, uninjured.
He picked up a brick and held it in his hands, "The same stuff that this guy had in his system, runs in mine." He said, looking back at them with his Kyuubified eyes, as he crushed the brick into dust.
Daisy was shocked as she had no idea Nathan had these powers. Natasha masked her shock well and filed it away for later. Now she understood why Waller thought she couldn't kill him if push came to shove.
Nathan walked up to the bag and stuck a needle in Cyrus's severed neck, causing Skye to cringe in disgust. He put the blood in a vial and handed it to Skye. "I need you to figure out who this is so I can figure out if there are anymore running around."
"Barry and I will get right on it." Daisy said, walking off.
"I think our Miss Johnson is smitten." Lyla noted.
"That's good. Barry needs a girlfriend that isn't his adoptive sister." Nathan said with a smile.
Five years ago-
The four continued their trek through the wilderness. As they came down a steep incline, Shado looked back at Slade with concern.
"How are you holding up?" she asked, noting his labored breathing.
"I could do with a better looking crutch." He joked, referring to Nathan.
They started moving again.
"We're here." Shado announced suddenly. They stopped at the top of a steep cliff. Down below was a lagoon that must have fed into the ocean- because sitting near the middle up against a rocky outcropping was an ancient Japanese submarine.
Flashback end
Present
In the Applied Science's building, Barry was climbing the shelves looking at the setup in horror. "They have nitric acid next to hydrazine? Permanganates on top of acetone? This is the definition of dangerous." He exclaimed.
"If it's so dangerous, maybe you shouldn't be touching them." Daisy noted. Thunder cracked overhead, and Barry glanced up at the ceiling. "Barry." She said, getting his attention back. "I managed to get a sample of the perpetrator's blood from the police department. We need to isolate a sedative in the blood." She told him a she prepped the blood. "It could lead us to the thief."
"How did the police get it?" Barry asked.
"Apparently Prometheus shot him and he bleed all over the pavement." Daisy said offhandedly.
"You're kidding." He climbed down from the shelves and ran back over to the examination table. "You know what this means, right?" he asked excitedly. "This means Prometheus is working the same case we are! Heh." He chuckled. "Go figure. How did you get it?" he asked her.
"Nathan has a lot of connections." Daisy replied casually.
Barry chuckled again. "Wow. Pays to work for a billionaire." He noted.
"Actually, I'm IT, so my take home's nothing special." Daisy said. "Especially given I am rarely at home, since I'm with him every night."
"Ah." Barry deflated slightly. "Well, I didn't realize you and he were…"
"Oh, no. I didn't mean like that." she quickly denied. "Work. He and I are not, no," she shook her head. "I do not like him like that." She said firmly.
Barry smiled and turned back to the shelves. "Um, I was invited to a work function." She continued nervously, causing him to turn back to her. "It's a party. And I don't have a plus-one. I was thinking you would make a really good plus one." She asked.
He smiled warmly at her, and then looked momentarily panicked. "There's not going to be dancing, is there?" he asked worriedly. "I'm not just not too good on my feet."
Daisy just smiled.
Glades
Next Day
Sin let herself, Roy and Thea into her friends' small apartment.
"Ohh." Thea gagged, covering her nose. "It reeks in here." She looked around at the dozens of paintings- on the floor, on the wall, some still on easels. All of them showed an eerily familiar interpretation of Brother Blood's skull mask.
"I guess your friend wasn't too into painting seascapes." She quipped.
Sin picked up a pizza box with a few fuzzy pieces still in it. She grimaced and put the box back down, closing the lid.
Roy looked around, scouting for clues. Looking down on a chair, he noticed an advert for a blood drive sponsored by Sebastian Blood.
"Max is like any starving artist- starving." Sin said. "But I could always crash here when I didn't have a place to stay."
"Hey, this blood drive was a week ago." Roy said, holding up the pamphlet. "When did you say he went missing?"
Sin looked at the ad. "That day." She said.
Outside, Officer Daily was seated in his police cruiser, parked just down the street that faced the building. He noted with interest as the three left the building. He picked up his phone and hit the number one speed dial. "It's Daily. Someone's looking for Maxwell Stanton." He said into the phone.
"And they should find him." Blood replied.
"Yes, Brother Blood." Daily said, and then hung up.
Turning off the phone, Sebastian was having a mental breakdown. "NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He shouted as he starting breaking and destroying his stuff. Cyrus Gold was dead. His best friend from the orphanage and his first successful test subject in recreating the Mirakuru. His body also wasn't found and the blood Cyrus stole had been dumped into the sewer, making it completely unusable.
After calming down, Sebastian got a call. Looking at his phone, his skin turned ghost white as he saw who it was. "Hello?" he said as he picked it up.
"You disappoint me, Mr. Blood," came the Aussie voice on the other end. "you let your only successful test subject be killed by Prometheus and lost the blood to make more."
"Y-Yes, and I'm sorry for that Mr. Slade, but I have th-the-" Sebastien tried to explain but was interrupted.
"Do not fucking attempt lie." Slade warned. "Fortunately for you, I have sent some additional backup and sample of O-Negative for you. They should be there right now."
Sebastien looked behind him to see six men, one of them holding a blood bag. "Let's see how Prometheus handles 6 Super Soldiers." Slade said as Sebastien smirked darkly.
QC
Daisy and Barry were at her desk watching the latest news report about the particle accelerator.
'…Central City is just a day away from making history when the controversial S.T.A.R. Lab's particle accelerator is finally turned on.'
"Pretty cool, right?" Barry asked excitedly.
"You know there's been a hundred percent increase in earthquakes since they've turned on the Large Hadron Collider." Daisy teased.
"That data is misleading." Barry started to argue.
"Oh, do tell." Daisy said with a laugh.
"Hey Barry," They both turned to the doorway to see Nathan leaning on the door. "I need to speak with you for a moment. I promise, this will only take a minute."
"Guess I'll be back in a bit." Daisy said to Barry, who smiled, as she walked out door.
"Hey man, what's up?" Barry asked and Nate looked at him.
"Do you have it?" He asked and Barry got a serious look in his face.
"Yeah, I got it right here." Barry said as he pulled out a manilla envelope. Nate took it in his hands, holding it very lightly. This was the favor he had asked of Barry a few weeks back.
"Thanks man," Nate said as he walked away and let Daisy come back in.
Nate's Apartment
That night
Nate was standing by his counter in his dress suit while Helena and Lyla ready. He was staring at the packet that Barry it contained the favor he asked him to do. He picked it picked and flipped it over. His hand gingerly broke the seal and opened it part way.
Before he stopped and put it back on the counter. He closed his eyes a took an unsteady breath.
"No," He muttered as he put it in his kitchen drawer. "I can't look at that right now."
Queen Manor
The three Queens walked down the stairs into through the foyer an into—
The almost empty parlor.
There was a three string orchestra playing classical music, there was a bar set up to serve drinks, and there was about six people in the large room.
"I guess these days; I only draw a crowd when I'm on trial for murder." Moira said glibly.
Thea's face fell; Nathan's was set in stone. Thea put a hand on her mother's arm. "Mom, you don't have to—"
"We have guests." Moira said, smiling determinedly. "However, few of them there are." She walked in and began to greet the few people who had arrived.
Thea stepped over to her brother. "This is not your fault, Nate." She whispered to him as she walked into the room. She saw Roy, once again dressed in a sharp suit, and moved over to him.
"How's your mom doing?" he asked.
She forced a smile. "Oh, you know us Queen women- nothing gets to us." She said.
"You must take after your dad." Roy quipped, and Thea chuckled.
He frowned as his phone rang. "Sorry." He said to Thea as he answered the phone. "Sin. What's up?"
Down in the Glades, Sin was looking at the ground in front of a chain linked fence. "I found Max."
Back at the party, Roy frowned. "Where?" he asked. His frown deepened. "I'm on my way." He hung up.
"They find Max?" Thea asked.
"Um, no." he lied. "She just wants me to stop by."
"I can come with you." Thea offered hopefully.
"You should stay here. Your mom needs you." He told her truthfully. He kissed her on the cheek. "Ok, I'll call you later." Thea sighed as he walked off, and then moved on to mingle.
Nathan walked up to Helena. "May I have this dance?" He offered.
"You may, lover boy," Helena said as she offered her hand and he guided her onto the dance floor.
Daisy was just standing there, trying to not looked bored for Nathan's sake. Daisy turned around, and was surprised to see Barry Allen standing there.
"Hi." Barry said as he came up to her.
"Hi." She said with a smile.
"I was serious about not being able to dance." He told her. "But I'll hold your hands and sway."
Daisy chuckled. "Sold." She said, beaming. They awkwardly came together and started swaying to the music.
Then he stepped on her foot.
"Sorry." He said, and they both chuckled.
Nathan walked up to the bar after his dance to get a drink for himself and Helena, where he found Isabel, nursing a shot a vodka.
"I tried to warn you." She said.
"I ignored you." He replied. She drank her shot. Across the room, Moira watched them, concerned.
"I am sorry, Nathan." Isabel told him, sounding sincere as he got his drinks.
Nathan nodded. "Yeah." He turned and walked back out into the room to give Helena her drink, passing his mother as she headed towards the bar.
"Nathan threw you a lovely party." Isabel told her.
"Nathan's a good and dutiful son," Moira replied with a smile as she picked up a fresh glass of champagne. "If not the best judge of character." Her smile at Isabel could freeze fire. Isabel smiled back, absolutely predatory.
Sensing the tension, Nathan headed back over. "Is everything ok?" he asked.
Isabel's smile widened. "Everything's going perfectly." She said, turning to go back out onto the floor.
Five years ago-
The four castaways climbed down the sail into the interior of the sub. Shado and Nathan went in first. Slade made it halfway down, but his remaining strength finally failed him and he slid down the ladder and hit the deck hard. Nathan grabbed him and helped move him into the next compartment as Sara made her way down. Nathan helped Slade sit down as Shado and Sara started looking for the Mirakuru.
Shado looked at Slade in worry. "He doesn't have long." She said plaintively.
"If this miracle drug is onboard, then we need to find it now." Nathan said. He looked at his friend. "Slade, be back in a few minutes, ok?"
"I'll just get comfortable." Slade gasped.
"Come on." Nathan urged. The three made their way into the next compartment, but found nothing. They opened the hatch to the following compartment, entering what appeared to be a rudimentary sick bay. Shado shined her light around the compartment for a moment before the beam fell on a small wooden crate on the floor.
"There." She said. She dropped to the floor and opened the crate. Inside was sectioned off into several smaller compartments, and reaching in to one, she withdrew a syringe, its needle sealed with a cork, containing a greenish liquid.
"Mirakuru." She announced.
"I was never sure it was real." Sara admitted.
"What happens if we give it to Slade?" Nathan asked her.
"He needs a sedative in his bloodstream first." She said.
Shado jumped up and started going through the cabinets. "They might have potassium bromide or barbital." She said. She moved to the opposite cabinets and rooted around. "Ohh." She withdrew a broken glass bottle. "It's empty." She said, dejected.
"What happens if we give it to him without the sedative?" Nathan asked. "Sara!" he urged when she didn't reply immediately.
"He'll die, for sure." She said sadly.
"He's going to die anyway." Shado said. Shado then noticed a a syringe of Mirakuru that was red. She read the label and it said, "Miracle Version 2", when translated.
Suddenly there was a loud clanging sound. They all looked up in alarm. "What was that?" Shado asked. None of the other three saw Shado pocket away the upgraded Mirakuru.
"Ivo and his men." Sara said in dread. "They're on the sub."
Flashback End
Moira stood in the now empty ballroom, staring out at the grounds.
She turned just as Thea and Nathan walked in.
"Thank you for tonight, Nathan. It was a lovely party." She said warmly.
Nathan sighed. "I'm so sorry that I put you through that." He started. She cut him off.
"Oh, listen, I don't care what anyone else in this city thinks of me." Moira told them sincerely. "I only care what you two think."
Nathan's phone started to ring. He looked at the face and saw Daisy's picture. He smiled at his mother. "And I have to get back to the office." He said ruefully. "Excuse me." He walked off, answering the phone. Thea turned to follow him out when Moira's voice stopped her.
"Thea." Moira said, causing the younger girl to turn back. "There's something I need to tell you."
"Sure. What is it?" she asked.
Moira walked up to her daughter. She thought about telling her, she started to tell her- but in the end, she just couldn't. "I love you." She said instead, pulling her in for a hug.
Thea smiled at her. "I love you, too." she replied. She turned and walked out of the ballroom, leaving Moira alone with her thoughts.
Applied Sciences Building
Barry was on the phone with his furious boss, trying desperately not to be fired.
"Yes." He was saying as Daisy worked on the computer, looking up every few moments in concern. "Yes, sir. I- yes, director, I know that this is not the first time. Yes, sir, I do value my job, very much." He assured the man. "Look, I will be on the next train. Mm-hmm. I'll be back tonight. Ok. Thank—" the other man hung up first. Barry sighed. "Well, my boss found out I don't have food poisoning. I need to get back to Central City if I still want to be employed. Which I do." He grabbed his bag and threw the strap over his shoulder before grabbing the handle of the suitcase. "Tell the SCPD that the sedative in the thief, Cyrus Gold's, blood is Ketamine." He told Daisy. "It's a schedule three controlled substance. It shouldn't be too hard to track."
"Yeah, I'll make sure they get it." Daisy said. "Thank you."
"It was really nice—"Barry started.
"Thank you for—" Daisy said at the same time.
"- working with you." Barry finished after a moment.
"-everything, We couldn't have done it—" Daisy said at the same time again. She paused.
"Without you." She finished. They both chuckled.
Barry stared at Daisy for a few moments, and Daisy thought he would make a move. Instead, he smiled warmly at her. "Good-bye, Daisy." Barry said.
"Good-bye." She said, watching him walk out with a wistful smile.
Glades
Roy arrived as the cops were manhandling Sin, trying to force her behind the barricade.
"Max! Get off, let go!" she was screaming in anger. "Max! Get off of me!"
"Hey! Let her go." Roy demanded. "Cut it out!" The cops practically shoved her at him before stalking off.
"Stupid cops." Sin snarled. "They're saying Max OD'ed."she told Roy.
"Was he using?" he asked.
"No!" she said hotly. "He made extra cash donating blood. You really think the hospital would let him be a donor if he was an addict?" she asked.
Roy glanced around; all of the cops were busy elsewhere. He quickly slipped past the barricades and ran over to the body, taking out his phone and taking a quick picture. He noted the bloody tears running down his cheeks as he slipped his phone back into his pocket.
"Hey." A cop said as Roy moved back towards the barricade. "Can't be here, kid."
Roy grabbed Sin's arm. "Let's go. He said, placing his arm around her shoulder and leading her out of there quickly. Officer Daily stood there and watched them leave.
Lair
"They found trace amounts of Ketamine in the thief's blood. The man's name was Cyrus Gold." Daisy told Nathan, Helena, Natasha and Lyla as she walked in and headed for her computers. "It's a common surgical anesthesia derived from hydrochloric salt."
"Where was he hiding?" Nathan asked.
Daisy started running a search on the computer. "With the current concentration ratio in the blood sample, there's only one possible location with a large enough quality of the sedative that correlates with the amount of blood the stolen centrifuge can process." She pulled up an image on the screen.
Helena leaned in, frowning. "What is it? There's no sign." She said.
"A.R.G.U.S. doesn't like to advertise." Lyla said. "It's a disaster bunker. Right on the edge of the Glades. A.R.G.U.S. has them all over the country. They store relief supplies- food, clothing…"
"Medicine." Natasha finished.
"I'm on my way." Nathan said, walking over to the weapon's case and picking up his bow.
"Nathan," Natasha said. "I know you have powers, but whoever is trying to make more might be expecting you. It could be a trap."
A phone buzzed, and Lyla glanced at the table. "Nathan." She said. Nathan looked at the phone, which was the phone he gave to Roy.
"Stay here," He told them as he dressed quickly. Helena was not happy about being sidelined again.
"Nathan. You can't ask us to-" That was when she was interrupted.
"I SAID STAY HERE!" He yelled at them all as he rounded on them with his Kyuubified eyes, causing them all to step back, before quickly leaving.
Helena stood there in silence. "It's just like last year." She finally said.
"Last Year?" Natasha asked.
"When-" Helena stopped and took a moment to gather her thoughts before continuing, "When he discovered his mother might have been a part of his father death, he didn't think clearly and almost got discovered. But this time it's worse."
"How bad is it?" Daisy asked.
"Scale of 1 to 10. Last time was a 3. This time it's a 15." Helena said. The two newcomers absorbed the info before Helena made to grab her huntress suit.
"Helena, you heard what he said." Daisy said.
"I know what he said, but last time, he almost didn't walk away. I don't care if he's angry, he's going to have some back up." She said. Her tone leaving zero room for argument.
"Before you fly off the handle as well, let me make a call." Lyla said, pulling out her phone.
"What? Do you have another Super Soldier on speed dial?" Natasha asked.
"Someone better," Lyla said, and Helena realized who she was calling. "Yeah. Kara? It's Lyla. I think Nate's in trouble."
Flashback
Five years ago
As Sara battened down the hatches, Nathan and Shado knelt in front of Slade. Nathan held up the syringe. "Now thi-, it could save you; or it could kill you."
"By the looks on your faces, I'm going to die anyway." Slade gasped. He reached out and grasped both Shado's and Nathan's hands.
"Sorry." He rasped.
"For what?" she asked.
"For being jealous of you and Nate, and what you two have." He admitted, shocking Shado as she had no idea. "I-cough- was jealous of the fact that you two were so happy with one another, and I got my feelings mixed up."
"If I don't survive, I want you to know. Shado, you are, without a doubt, the daughter I always wanted to have." He admitted, Shado put her hand on her mouth to cover her shock.
"Nathaniel," Slade said, "You've come a long way from the kid that stumbled into my plane. I'm happy for you and Shado. And I'm-cough- happy, to have called you my brother."
"Slade," Nathan said sadly, unable to contain his sorrow at the heartfelt words of what might be Slade's final words.
He looked up at Nathan. "Do it." He ordered.
Nathan dropped down, pulled the cork off of the needle, and plunged it into Slade's leg. He injected the Mirakuru, and then withdrew the needle. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Then suddenly, Slade began to twitch, then spasm. He threw his head back and screamed in pain, and Nathan and Shado both tried to hold him down as bloody tears started to fall…
Flashback End
Present
Roy was pacing in the alley when Prometheus finally arrived. "What?" the vigilante growled shortly.
"I need your help." Roy said. "A friend of mine's friend, well, the cops think he OD'ed, but we think he was murdered."
"Why?"
"Well, he wasn't an addict, for starters." Roy said, and then showed him the picture on his phone- Max, dead on the street, with bloody tears. "And this… this doesn't look like any OD I've ever seen."
Nathan looked at the picture in horror. "Stay away from that." He ordered.
"You know something?" Roy asked. "What happened to him?" Prometheus remained silent, so Roy exploded. "You're the one who told me to be your eyes and ears on the streets. You know what, that is not good enough for me anymore!"
"Fine." Nathan ground out. "Then we're done altogether." He started to walk away.
"I don't need you! I have friends that can help me." He yelled at his back. "You can't stop us." Roy turned and started walking down the alley.
"Fool." Nathan growled. He spun, drew an arrow and fired, hitting Roy in the leg. He then turned and walked off, leaving Roy wounded and bleeding in the alley. "Trust me, kid. I'm saving your life."
The Depot
Nathan walked in, warily looking around. Hearing a noise, he glanced behind him- and barely dodged a large crate that was thrown into the shelves he had been standing in front of. He looked up and spotted a man and started shooting arrow at him. The man jumped down from the high catwalk, landing in front of Nathan. He swung with a wild haymaker that the vigilante ducked under. As Prometheus came up, he fired a cable arrow that wound a strong steel cable around The man's neck and the support pole behind him, binding the man and holding him there. Prometheus fired 3 more arrows into his gut.
"Who are you?" Prometheus demanded.
"Merely a follower." He replied.
"Of who?! "
"My brother." The man said.
"Did he give you the Mirakuru? Did he inject you with it?!" Nathan demanded hotly.
"No. He saved me with it. Just like they are about to." Nathan's eyes widened as he turned behind him, blocking with his bow, as a double axe-handle snapped it in two and caused him to skid away. As his skidded to a stop, he pulled out his chokuto as all five super soldiers appeared before him.
"I'll kill every last ONE OF YOU!" Prometheus roared, his anger and fury at what happened because of the Mirakuru blinding him with rage, as he charged the five super soldiers.
They charged him as well, but he had the Mirakuru for 5 years and they only had it for 5 days. He was faster and stronger and knocked the middle one flying into the rafters.
Nathan spun and slashed with all his might that he decapitated one of the four. He sliced the other three in the chest before stabbing one in the stomach. He tried to pull it out, but the Mirakuru super soldier grabbed the sword and broke it. Nathan was hit with a haymaker but did not feel it as he pulled out an arrow and stabbed him through the chest. He was shoulder tackled, knocking him to the ground. Nathan recovered as the 3 soldiers rushed him and he traded blows with all of them for a full minute.
He managed to maneuver away from them and get some distance before unleashing six shuriken in quick succession. The shuriken hit them, stopping them briefly. Nathan took the opportunity to throw a shuriken with all his might at one, which split his head wide open. He jumped up and pulled two of his kunai out and stabbed another one in the brain with both. He then grabbed the third's head with both of his hands and crushed his skull and brain as flat as a pancake with all of his superhuman might. He noticed that the one he sent flying away into the raftets was running at him again. He waited until he got close and grabbed his neck, flipping around in a marvelous display of acrobatics, before holding his neck and forcing him to bend backwards. With one mighty SNAP, Nathan separated head from body.
Nathan quickly rounded up the bodies and threw them in a pile. He stabbed four arrows into the pile. They sprayed a liquid on the bodies before a spark from each arrow lit the pole up in a ball of flame. It was an idea he had gotten from Garfield Lyns, outfitting his arrows with a special Turpentine cannister and spark plug to ignite the volatile substance, giving him a way to dispose of evidence if he ever needed to.
As he watched the body burn, his attention was taken by the sound of a shotgun firing and his back being filled with lead. He turned around, realizing in his anger, he had completely missed one, only to be blasted in the abdomen with three 8 gauge slugs, with the man finally jamming four self-injecting syringes into his body. Prometheus dropped to the ground.
The man gave him one last glance and walked off. Nathan tried to get up, to move, to do anything- but then he spotted two self-injecting syringes that had pieced his leg. All he could do was open his com link and say, "I need help." before passing out.
Flashback
Five years ago
Slade was still screaming, the blood was running down from his eyes like tiny rivers as Nathan separately tried to hold him still. He arched once more, gave one more scream, then a gasp, and then was still. Sara knelt down and felt for a pulse. She shook her head.
"No." Nathan said, pounding on Slade's chest. The two of them had finally settled their differences and now he had been cruelly taken from him. "Please. Please!" Shado pulled him up and away and embraced him as they both started to cry. "Please."
A moment later, the pirates and Ivo bust through the hatch with weapons drawn. "Put down your weapons!" the new Captain screamed as Nathan and Shado looked on, defeated.
Flashback End
Present
Lyla, Skye and Helena ran through the bunker, looking for their boyfriend/ leader.
"Nathan! Nathan!" Lyla was shouting, "Nathan!"
Helena spotted him first. "Nathan!" she screamed, running over to him. She dropped beside him and felt for a pulse.
"Is he alive?" Lyla asked.
"His pulse is weak, but it's there." Helena said shakily. "Nathan! Can you hear me?" she forced his eyelids up to look at his eyes. "His pupils are dilated!" she looked around, and then she spotted the four syringes stuck in his leg and chest. She yanked them out quickly and examined them.
"What the hell was that?" Lyla asked.
"I don't know, it's coded." Skye scrambled up and ran to the computer to pull up what it was. "Damn it." She cursed when she saw that the computer was destroyed. "Damn it! I can't break into the dispensary files. I have no idea what he was injected with! Poisoned with." She corrected herself tearfully.
All of a sudden, a whoosh was heard and Kara appeared as Supergirl. "Supergirl!?" Skye asked in shock.
"I got your call, Lyla. I got here as fast as I could." Kara apologized. She picked up Nathan and grabbed Lyla, Helena, and Skye. "Hold on tight."
She appeared a minute later by the hideout. Helena, Lyla and Skye led her down to the lair as she carried Nathan.
"DO any of you know what he was injected with?" Kara asked.
"No, we don't." Lyla admitted as they hurried.
Natasha cleared a table as she laid him down and opened up his costume.
"Start CPR, I need to figure out what's causing this." Kara said. Lyla rolled up her sleeves and began chest compression's.
"Stay with us, Nate" Kara muttered before she used her x-ray vision to see his skeletal and circulatory system. Several seconds later, she saw his blood was thick and barely moving.
"Got it. His blood is clotting unnaturally. It's as thick as maple syrup. I need something to thin his blood and get it moving so his healing factor can kick in." Kara informed.
Natasha, remembering they had a rat problem, looked and quickly found the box of rat poison.
"Supergirl!" She said, getting the Kryptonian's attention. She tossed the box and she caught it.
"Warfarin. A small amount should do the trick." She said and quickly mixed it with an injectable compound.
"That could kill him!" Daisy said as she held him down.
"He could die at this rate if we don't." Natasha argued.
"Do it!" Helena and Lyla said at the same time. Kara hurried over and injected it into his arm.
She checked again on his blood stream. "I can his blood thinning. It's circulating again."
Nathan was barely awake. Suddenly he heard Shado's voice in his head. "Let go, my love."
Nathan turned and saw a hallucination of his beloved Shado. "Don't fight anymore". The hallucination said.
"Stay with me." She said, reaching out to him. He reached out as well and finally unconscious, his friends and lovers cries to stay awake in the background.