Abandoned Warehouse in the Glades
Nathan had begun his training of Roy the best way he knew how, considering Roy had that unstable Mirakuru in him. Roy stood sullenly behind a table, slapping water out of a large bowl as Prometheus paced around the room, lazily swinging a Singapore Cane.
"Again." Prometheus ordered.
"You know, I slapped water out of a bowl yesterday." Roy said crossly. "And I slapped water out of a bowl the day before."
"You must be getting pretty good at it." The vigilante joked.
"Yeah, well, I can't wait to get attacked by a dog dish." Roy said sarcastically.
"This is how an archer builds arm strength. It's also an exercise to help someone who's got superstength learn control so they can act normal," Nathan told him.
"I'm not sure if you've been paying attention, but strength isn't my problem." Roy replied shortly.
"Like I said, controlling it is. This exercise helps you learn that. I did the same thing to learn how to control my new strength." Nathan said. "Again."
Roy snarled at the vigilante, and then drove his fist down. He punched through the bowl and the table both with ease, and when he withdrew his hand, there wasn't a scratch on it.
"And that is how you nearly killed a guy you didn't mean to and put him in the hospital last week." Prometheus pointed out.
"How'd you know about that?" Roy demanded, looking at his trembling hand. He quickly shoved it into the pocket of his hoody. "It's none of your business."
"You made it my business when you agreed to let me help you." Nathan replied harshly, and then continued in a quieter voice. "I knew someone like you. Someone injected with the Mirakuru. He was my friend, like an older brother." He said painfully. "But it warped his mind to the point where I didn't even recognize him anymore. And he became my enemy."
"Who was this guy?" Roy asked. "How come I've never heard of him? Or that Mirakuru?" Silence. "Is there anything you can tell me about him?" Roy asked in frustration.
"Yeah. It got so bad that I had to put an arrow through his eye." Nathan said coldly.
Five years ago-
Nathan and Sara were slowly making their way through the forest, using the motion tracker to find Slade.
"If I'm reading this right, then Slade is back at the cave." Nathan said, looking at the display as he walked.
"Well, why would he go back to where the graves are?" Sara wondered.
"We'll find out when we find him." Nathan said tiredly.
"And when we do, you can't tell him." Sara reminded him.
"Tell him what?" Nathan asked.
"Don't talk to me like I'm other people." Sara said, reaching out and stopping Nathan. "You've got that look on your face. The one where you blame yourself for her death." She told him.
"Because I do, Sara." Nathan said solemnly. "It should have been me."
"Don't say that, it's not true." Sara protested. "And even if it was, nothing good comes from telling Slade that in the state he is in. He's getting his emotions confused. And that makes him dangerous." She reasoned.
Nathan looked at her, annoyed because he knew she was telling the truth and that it was a bad idea to tell Slade. Then the tracker beeped twice and died. Nathan shook it, then slapped it on the side a few times, but got nothing.
"Great." He sighed in aggravation.
"You still know how to get to the cave?" Sara asked.
"Yeah. It's this way." He said, leading her onwards.
Present
Moira was headed towards the door when she saw something she didn't see very often anymore. Thea, lounging on one of the couches in the den.
"Thea? What are you doing home?" she asked, stepping into the den. "I thought you were staying at Roy's."
"Just needed a little 'me' time." She replied, glancing at the nice outfit her mother had on. "What's with the fancy-fancy?"
"Oh, I'm- I'm going out to dinner." Moira said nervously. "With Walter." She added.
Thea perked up. "Like a date?" she asked.
"Like a dinner." Moira clarified. "Truly, I don't know what the evening holds." She looked at Thea in concern. "Are you all right?" she asked.
"Yeah. I'm fine." Thea sighed. "Mostly." she added. "Uh… It's Roy. He had some trouble last week, and I don't know how to help him." She confided.
"Do you want me to stay home?" Moira asked. "I can call Walter and we can reschedule."
"Absolutely not." Thea said sternly. "If you and Walter are going to patch things up," she noted her mother's wary look. "No pressure." Thea said with a smile. "But you're going."
"It may be nothing." Moira hedged.
"Only one way to find out." Thea said with a grin.
Laurel's apartment
Quentin knocked on the door, and as soon as she opened it he barged right in.
"No, please, Dad, come right in." Laurel said sarcastically.
Quentin looked around at the messy apartment in dismay. "Well, I guess you're going for that lived-in look."
"Can't afford a housekeeper without a job." She said wryly.
Lance noted the many empty wine bottles lining the shelves. "Got enough beverage money, I see."
"I'm going to need to crack open another bottle if we're going to fight." Laurel said, sitting back down on her couch and picking up her book.
"I didn't come here to fight." Quentin said.
"Then why are you here?" she asked. "Because I'm fine, really. In fact, I have a job interview. At Joanna's new firm." She added.
"That's good. Good." Quentin said. "But the real reason I came here is—"
"Is because you realized that you didn't reach your weekly quota of reminding me of how much I'm ruining my life?" she said sarcastically.
"It's 'cause I miss you, Laurel." Quentin said, bringing her up short. He sat down across from her. "For a long time, it was just you and me. Whatever else was going on, no matter how bad either of us was doing, we didn't disappear on each other. Because you're my family. And I miss my family." He sighed. "So how about we have dinner?" he asked. "You and me, tonight."
Laurel was silent for a moment. "I already ate." She said finally.
"Yeah." He sighed. "How about tomorrow night?" he asked hopefully.
Laurel sighed. "Sure. Dinner tomorrow." She agreed.
"Thank you." Quentin said before showing himself out.
Lair
Nathan was working out on the salmon ladder as Lyla, Helena, Natasha, Chien, and Skye watched.
"How's it going with Roy?" Lyla asked.
"Could be going better," he lunged up another notch on the ladder.
"I don't know the kid that well, but he seems to be five kinds of angry." Skye noted.
"Understatement of the week." Nathan grunted, rising another rung. "Roy was pissed off at the world before he was injected with Mirakuru."
"You say you've seen this before?" Natasha asked.
"Slade Wilson." Nathan said, lunging up another notch. "He was my mentor and friend before he and I were injected."
"Troubling use of past tense there." Skye noted.
"I tried to help him. Let's just say he was already too far gone. But I know more now, and I'm not going to make the same mistake with Roy. And if it's too much for him, I'll find a way to cure him." Nathan said as he rose on the rung again.
Warehouse
Later
Prometheus demonstrated an exercise on a wing chun dummy as Roy watched, unimpressed. Prometheus finished and backed off. "Now you." He told his protégé. "Go slowly." Roy approached the dummy and started throwing punches at the center column. "Stop." the vigilante ordered. "This is not about learning to throw a punch. This is about learning to control your strength." He reminded Roy.
"First water slapping, now this." Roy said as he slowly started to mimic Nathan's movements. "When are you going to run out of ways to make me look stupid?!" Aggravated, he launched a devastating single punch at the dummy, knocking the top off clean. "All I'm learning is new ways to get pissed off." He said, glaring at Nathan. "And in case you haven't noticed, I'm already pretty good at that."
"There's nothing wrong with anger, Roy. Anger can be useful. But you need to learn to channel it and control it. Otherwise, it's only a weakness," Prometheus reminded him calmly.
"Like putting the hurt on guys going after the city. Let me try hitting something that'll actually hit back." Roy asked.
"Too soon." Nathan replied warily.
"Get me out there with you. One night." He begged. "All this, it would be a lot easier to take." Prometheus remained silent, considering. But Nathan ultimately shook his head, making Roy feel dejected.
"Look kid, I get where you're coming from. All the strength makes you feel invincible, that you can take on any threat that comes your way. But that isn't how it works. You can still die. And right now, your rage controls you. Until you can somewhat control it, I can't trust that you won't end up hurting innocent people that you are trying to protect." Prometheus said.
"Trust is a two-way street." Roy said, dejected and Nathan pondered what his next move concerning Roy should be.
Chinese restaurant
Downtown
Moira was led over to the table where Walter was sitting, and she smiled at her ex-husband.
"Moira." Walter said pleasantly as he rose. Moira walked faster towards him, but stopped when another man rose as well.
"Ah. I didn't realize we'd have company." She said warily.
"This is Mark Frances." Walter introduced. "Mark's CFO at Kardak Holdings. We've been putting in some hours with the party's election steering committee."
"Oh." Moira said.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Mark said, shaking her hand.
"Those are words I'm not accustomed to hearing these days." Moira said with a wry smile as she took off her coat. Walter hung it on a nearby rack as she took her seat next to him.
"Oh, well." Mark was saying. "You were a lioness doing what she had to do to protect her cubs. You know, I'm not the only person in Starling who sees it that way."
"That's a comfort." Moira said.
"It's the truth. Please." He told her as they all sat down.
"Thank you." Moira said politely, then glanced over at Walter. "Well, it's unlike you to show such an interest in politics, Walter." She noted.
"It's part of my new position at the Starling National Bank." Walter said. "My Board of Directors is very concerned about the trajectory of the city."
"You mean Sebastian Blood." Moira surmised.
"Yeah." Mark agreed. "We believe that his policies will bankrupt Starling within the next eight months. Not that the average voter cares. They're all caught up in his charisma." He groused.
"And he's not running against a viable opponent." Moira noted, taking a sip of water.
"Blood's trounced every potential candidate we've focus-tested." Walter revealed.
"But we believe that he's vulnerable on regulation." Mark added.
"Even if he is, it hardly matters." Moira stated. "Banking regulations are an SEC issue. Starling City needs to use the means at a city's disposal."
Mark chuckled. "Walter said you were smart."
Moira looked at him, realization dawning over her face. "But you didn't invite me to dinner to hear my opinions. You want to hear my positions." She realized. "You want me to run against Sebastian Blood." She realized.
Glades
Quentin led Laurel to their 'dinner' destination.
"I'm starving." Laurel said before she asked, "Where are we going?"
"It's little hole in the wall right here." Quentin said, leading her to the door. He opened it for her and she walked in, but stopped dead at what she saw.
It wasn't a restaurant at all, it was an A.A. meeting.
A circle of chairs had been formed and several people were already in the space, either sitting down and conversing or grabbing some snacks off the small table that had been set up. Laurel scoffed, then turned and walked right back out.
"Laurel, wait." Lance said, reaching for her arm.
Laurel yanked it away. "Don't touch me." She snarled. "I can't believe you would do something like this." She said once they were both outside.
"Well, you wouldn't have come otherwise." Lance said.
"Well, you got that right." She shot back.
"Laurel, you need help." Quentin tried.
"Not from them." She snapped. "There is not one person in that room who knows what I have been through."
"Yeah, you're right. Some of them, they've been through worse." Lance noted. "But for better or worse, everyone in that room needs to be there, and you need to be there. You think you're the only person, who ever got fired, who ever got their lives into a mess?" he asked. "You think again, kiddo, because you're not. Now, look, we're here now. So why don't you just stay for a bit?" he pleaded quietly. "You don't have to share or talk. You just listen."
Laurel looked around for a moment, thinking. For a moment, Quentin thought she might actually stay. "I thought I made myself clear." She said finally. "I'm hungry. And now I think I'll eat alone." She said, turning and stalking off into the night as Lance watched, helpless.
Five years ago
Nathan and Sara walked into the cave, still populated with the skeletons of dead Japanese Imperial soldiers. That was all that was populating it, however, and Nathan sighed in frustration.
"He's not here." He growled.
"Where else could he be?" Sara wondered. "We already checked the plane."
"I don't know." Nathan looked around helplessly, but then something caught his attention. There were drawings on the cave wall, and they looked somewhat familiar to him. "Do you remember seeing these before?" Nathan asked her.
Sara glanced at the drawings. "I didn't really look around." She said.
"They look familiar." Nathan said, continuing to stare.
"This could be Lian Yu." Sara guessed.
"No, I mean the calculations. I've seen those before." Nathan said, wracking his brains.
"Maybe the first time you were in the cave." Sara guessed.
"I don't think so." He said. Suddenly it clicked. "Fyer's launcher."
"What?"
"Oh, there were soldiers on the island last year, and they had a missile launcher." Nathan said off-handedly."I saw one of these on the display. They're firing calculations…" then it fully dawned on him what he was seeing. "He's going to blow it up."
"Blow what up?"
"The freighter." Nathan said, bolting out of the cave. Sara followed right behind him.
Present
Verdant
Roy walked in, looking around and sighing in relief when Thea walked down the stairs towards him.
"Oh, thank God you're here, I need your help—" she started, but Roy interrupted her.
"I have to talk to you. It's important." He said urgently.
"Ok." She replied slowly. "You look stressed out, is everything ok?" she asked, worried.
"You have to leave town." He told her. "Grab your mother and your brother, if you can, and leave. It's just for a few days."
"A reason would be nice." Thea said, startled by his behavior.
"I need you to trust me, Thea." Roy said in a slightly panicked tone.
"I do." She assured him. "I just- I can't up and leave with my family without a reason." She argued reasonably.
"No, you have to." Roy said urgently.
"Roy, you're not making any sense right now." Thea said worriedly. "Would you just tell me what's going on?"
Roy grasped her by her upper arm. "Why aren't you listening to me?" he asked angrily, squeezing. "I need you to listen to me!"
Thea gasped in pain. "Roy, you're hurting me!" she exclaimed.
Roy let go like she was a piece of red-hot steel. He looked at his trembling hand in fear. "I didn't…I didn't… I didn't mean to." He stuttered as Thea looked at him in concern. "I'm sorry." He said.
"I know!" Thea called out, but Roy had already bolted out of the door.
Queen Manor
Nighttime
Walter had come to pay Moira a visit after there talk.
"Can I fix you a drink?" she asked him.
"Whatever you're having." He replied. Moira fixed him a small tumbler of scotch. "It was good to see you the other night, Moira." He began.
"It was lovely. It's been a while since I've had such a good laugh." Moira replied lightly,
"It was no joke, Moira." Water said. "Mark was telling the truth. A significant number of people in Starling City feel that your actions with Malcolm Merlyn were justified to protect your family. 43.6%, in fact." He revealed.
"You polled people about me?" Moira asked in surprised.
"Prudent course of action when vetting a potential candidate, yes." Walter noted blithely.
"1,500,000 in Starling City. I'd think you could find someone not responsible for nearly destroying it with an earthquake machine." Moira quipped.
"Not with your name recognition." Walter returned with a grin. "We need a game change candidate, Moira. And there's no one in Starling with a higher profile than you."
"Charles Manson is rather well-known, and no one is going to vote for him." Moira pointed out.
"True." Walter agreed. "Equally true, voters like redemption stories. Bill Clinton, Elliot Spitzer, Martha Stewart."
"Oh, I don't believe she ran for office." Moira said.
"But if she had, she would have won." Walter replied with a smile.
"Would have won what?"
Walter looked behind him and smiled. "Ah, Thea." He said happily, rising from his seat and giving her a hug.
"Mmm, what's going on?" Thea asked, joining them.
"I'm just convincing your mother to run for mayor." Walter told her.
Thea blinked. "Of what?"
"You see?" Moira said with a chuckle. She looked at Thea in concern. "Sweetheart, are you all right?"
Thea rolled her eyes. "You really need to stop asking that." She said, taking a seat on the love seat. "Are you serious?" she asked Walter.
"It's hard to believe, I know." Moira started.
Thea shook her head. "No. No, it's not." She said, surprising both of the adults. "Look, this is actually the first election I can vote in, and…vas a newly minted voter, I don't think it sounds that crazy."
"From out of the mouths of babes." Walter said to Moira, who actually started to consider the idea for the first time.
Glades Warehouse
Roy walked in as Prometheus knelt in the middle of the room.
"You're late." He noted.
"I tried to get my girlfriend to leave town." Roy said. Nathan's eyes widened, and he glanced over his shoulder at the teen behind him. "But she won't."
The vigilante rose. "You cannot bring her into this." He told Roy.
"But how am I supposed to lie to her and protect her at the same time?" Roy asked. "How do you do it? How do you keep secrets from people in your life?" he demanded.
"By remembering it's the only way to keep them safe." Nathan said.
"No, keeping them safe is what keeps them safe." Roy shot back. "Telling people the truth. But you, you won't tell me anything. Not about the Mirakuru, and this other guy. And you got me slapping water and hitting dummies instead being out there, putting the hurt on the people that deserve it!"
"Roy, calm down. Everything that I've done has had a reason." Prometheus said coldly.
"No." Roy argued. "I need to protect Thea." He turned to walk off, but Prometheus grabbed him by the arm.
"She's in danger from you." Nathan reminded him. "I think you've done enough."
"Let go of me." Roy said tersely.
"Roy…"
"I said let go of me!"
"Get a grip." Prometheus ordered. "If not for yourself, then do it for Thea."
Roy yanked his arm free. "What the hell do you know about Thea?" he demanded. "Don't you talk about her!" Roy took a wild swing that Nathan easily sidestepped. Roy went staggering away from the vigilante, but quickly came back. Nathan ducked around the wild swings, grabbing the neck of his hoodie and twisting it, then spinning around so that he was behind Roy. He held him still for several moments, cutting off his air, before he relaxed his grip slightly.
"Are you done?" Prometheus demanded. Roy took a moment, appearing to calm himself down. But then suddenly he spun and lashed out, striking out at Nathan's chest, but Nathan caught the blow and held him there with his superior strength. Nathan then got inside Roy's guard and tripped him, causing Roy to hit the cement on his back. Roy frantically got up only to see Prometheus was gone.
"Behind you." Came a voice that Roy, in his red haze, did not immediately recognize. He turned around a punch the Vigilante in the face. Only for the vigilante to move his head to the side a bit, completely uninjured. It was then that the red haze faded and Roy noticed the mask of Prometheus being held at his side. Roy's eyes moved back up to the face of Prometheus to see the face of Nathaniel Queen.
Roy stared at him in amazement. "You're…"
"Yep." Nathan said. "I know I've been somewhat of a hardass…"
"Somewhat?" Roy scoffed.
Nathan shrugged, "Okay fine, a really big hardass. Look, the last time I tried to help someone in your condition, it didn't go very well. I thought maybe some training to control that strength would be to your benefit," Nathan stepped closer to Roy, "But something you said the other day clicked with me. Perhaps a little trust would be the better alternative for helping you."
"Last year, you saved my life." Roy told him. "And I don't mean from the guy who kidnapped me. I mean, you… you saved me. You gave me purpose." He said, gratefully. He held out his hand.
Nathan took his hand and shook it. "And if you still want in, we're just getting started."
Five years ago
Nathan and Sara ran through the forest towards the wreckage of Fyers camp. They had almost made it when they reached a small clearing.
"Slade?" Nathan called out, looking around.
But it was Sara who spotted him first. "Nate!"
Just ahead of them was Slade, who was busily reprograming the missile launcher. "Slade!"
"Get back!" he ordered.
"We know you're targeting the boat." Nathan said.
"I'm going to send that son of a bitch to the bottom of the ocean." Slade growled.
"You're going to destroy our only way off of the island! We may not get another chance!" Nathan argued.
"As long as Ivo is dead, it's worth it." Slade said manically.
"I can't let you do it." Nathan said as his eyes turned red.
Slade heard and pulled his gun. He held it on Nathan with a crazy gleam in his eyes. "Get back, or so help me, I will put you down!"
Nathan swatted the gun out of Slade's hands and pushed him up against launcher, holding him there.
"Think about Shado!" Nathan shouted.
"I am thinking about her!" Slade roared.
"There's something I have to tell you about Shado." Nathan said as Sara looked on, horrified. "It's something you deserve to know. She loved you, Slade." He continued, to Sara's relief and Slade's anguish.
"I know, it was not the way that you wanted her to, but she loved you. And she wanted you to make it home. She wanted you to see Joe again. She wanted you to hug your son." He said as Slade started to sob. Nathan slowly rose to his feet. "I know you're angry. And I know you want revenge. So do I, but if you destroy Ivo's freighter, Shado will have died for nothing."
Slade finally relaxed and Nathan stepped back, as Slade collapsed against the launcher. He moved the gun from his left hand to his right before setting it down on the base of the launcher. "What is happening to me?" he asked shakily, looking at his trembling hand.
Nathan took the gun and held it loosely at his side. "It's the Mirakuru, Slade. It's messing with your head." He admitted. "I am not going to let you go through it on your own." He vowed.
"The man who killed Shado is still out there." Slade said, trembling with emotion. "And whether that freighter's on the bottom of the ocean or not, we're still stuck on this island."
"Not for long." Nathan said. "Because we're going to take the freighter." He declared.
Arrow Lair
Night time
Skye was sitting at the desk while Nathan was doing one handed pushups without a shirt and Natasha was working the Salmon ladder as Lyla paced the room. Helena was out handling vigilante business for the night with Chien shadowing her.
"So…the secret society gets a new member." Natasha noted as she moved up a rung. "Where is he now?"
"Home." Nathan said as he finished his set. "He's processing."
"Speaking of processing, didn't this all start because you were worried that Roy's marble collection was on the short side?" Skye asked as she made a gesture with her fingers.
"She has a point, Nathan." Lyla said. "Roy's a loose cannon. Now he knows your secret."
"You're right, and it was risk." Nathan admitted. "On the island, Sara told me that love is the most powerful emotion. Well, Roy's emotional anchor seems to be Thea. Prometheus couldn't get Roy to think about Thea." He admitted. "But Nathaniel Queen can."
Queen Manor
Next night
Moira answered the door, welcoming Walter in.
"I was glad to receive your email." He said, stepping back into the house. "Does it portend what I'm hoping?" he asked.
"I'm going to run." She declared.
"What changed your mind?" he asked, then he realized. "Thea." he said simply.
"Hmm. She reminded me that I still owe this city." Moira said. "And I want to be remembered as something more than Malcolm Merlyn's pawn."
"As you should." Walter aid warmly.
"But you know there was another reason for my reticence." She added.
Walter nodded. "You're afraid the people will learn that Robert wasn't her biological father." He surmised.
"I managed to get through a criminal trial without the truth coming out, but political campaigns tend to be a bit more adept at extracting skeletons from closets."
"But no one else knows." Walter said.
"Someone does. My OB, Dr. Gill." She said. "There were complications when Thea was born, and I had to tell him that Robert wasn't her father. If we're going to move forward, we need to make certain that he won't be a problem for us." She said as Walter looked on in agreement.
Arrow Cave
Same Time
Nathan led Roy down to his secret base.
"Is this the part where you kill me 'cause I know your secret?" Roy asked, only half joking.
"Do you actually think that I'd kill my sister's boyfriend?" Nathan asked.
"Well, you did shoot me in the leg." Roy pointed out. "Forgiven, by the way."
Nathan paused and turned back to Roy. "Thea." He stated. "It's still better that she doesn't know about any of this."
"I get the feeling that if I did tell her, that would be when you kill me." Roy noted.
"You should trust that instinct." Nathan said with a creepy smile.
"Ok." Roy gulped slightly. "All right. How many people know what- who you are?" he asked.
"More than I would like." Nathan said. "But these are the ones that matter." He led him into his lair. Past the display cases and rows of arrows, Nathan's partners walked up to the pair.
"Lyla Michaels, Helena Bertinelli, Daisy Johnson, Natasha Romanova." Nathan introduced.
"Does this group have a name? Like team Arrow, or something?" Roy asked, slightly overwhelmed.
"We don't call ourselves that." Nathan said quickly.
"I do. Occasionally." Skye said.
"Stop it." Nathan told her, though he knew she was teasing.
"Whatever." Roy said with a grin.
Lyla held out her hand. "Welcome aboard." She said as they shook hands. Skye, Helena, and Natasha did the same.
Before it could continue, Nathan's phone rang. He answered it, "Yeah."
"Are you near the club?" Thea asked.
Nathan sat in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm pretty close." He said. "Why?"
Up in the club, Thea glanced over at the bar, where a VERY intoxicated Laurel was happily leaning as she downed another drink. "Laurel's here. She doesn't look good." Thea told her brother.
Downstairs, Nathan dialed into the security cameras to get a view of the bar. He stared sadly at the screen as the formerly powerful attorney continued her spiral downwards.
Then, he experienced another memory flash, gripping his head.
Memory Flash
"Just shut up for once. What the hell do you know about it? It's not like you ever had a family in first place!" Sasuke shouted at Naruto. "You were alone right from the beginning! What makes you think you know anything about it, huh!? I suffer now because I had those ties! How could someone like you ever understand what it's like to lose all of that!?" Sasuke then threw Naruto off of him and tackled him back into the lake.
"It's too late for me, Naruto," Sasuke said as he fastened his headband and prepared to kill his only friend. "I can't turn back. Not ever."
Memory Flash End
Nathan grit his teeth as he pulled out his cell phone and called Constantine. "Constantine, get your British smoking ass to Starling City in one week! I'm calling in one of those favors you owe. And DO NOT try to hide from me. I will hunt you down and drag you here myself if I must!" He turned off his phone and headed upstairs after switching to civilian clothes.
Up at the bar, Laurel drunkenly leaned over and waved her arm. "Ohh! Excuse me." She said, catching the bartender's attention. "Can I get something with olives? I don't care what it is, as long as there are a lot of olives." She asked.
Nathan moved up next to her and leaned in. "How about coffee?" he suggested quietly.
"Coffee and olives? Bad combination." Laurel said, stating the obvious.
"What are you doing?" he asked as Thea walked up and took position on the other side of her.
"This is where it's happening, right? The big club?" Laurel said jovially.
"Here you go, Martini, triple olives." The bartender said, handing the drink to Laurel.
"Thanks." She said, taking it and managing not to spill it.
Thea took the drink from her hand. "Laurel, go home." She said, placing the drink back on the bar.
Laurel stared at the girl for a moment, and then laughed. "Thea Queen, telling me enough is enough. Now that is rich." She said snidely.
She sneered at her. "Fine. Bar me from your bar. That's today's theme, right? Disbarment."
Nathan blinked in surprise. "Laurel, are you being disbarred?" he asked in shock.
"Yeah, looks like my law career's over." She said. Suddenly she was smiling again. "But you know what? Maybe Thea here can hire me as a waitress." She said sarcastically. Thea looked at her, unimpressed. Then Laurel turned to Nathan. "Or, Nate, I could come be your secretary."
"Okay, that's it, I'm taking you home." Nathan said as he swept Laurel off her feet and carried her out to his car.
Laurel's apartment
Nathan carried Laurel into her apartment. "Okay, let me down." Laurel demanded as he opened the door for her. He let her down and she immediately went for the booze and drugs. Nathan, still reeling from his memory flash closed the door behind him and marched after her, not noticing his eyes had become red with slit pupils.
Laurel reached a half full bottle of wine and was about to take a swig when Nathan took the bottle from her hand and threw it against the wall, shattering it and spilling what was left.
"What the hell, Nathan!? That bottle cost me 50 dollars!" Laurel drunkenly demanded, when he turned to her and she saw his unnatural eyes.
Nathan calmed down enough to turn his eyes back to normal and gripped Laurel's arms roughly and made her look him in eye. "This has gotten out of hand and it's time to stop. Laurel, I respected your wishes to grieve for Tommy alone and have some but if this is where it leads, I'm done with it!"
"Look at yourself!" Nathan said as he forced her look at the mirror. Her lips were thinning, her eyes were listless, and her hair was limp. She looked and felt dead inside. Nathan turned her back to him. "You are slowly killing yourself with this addiction! I'm sorry that I haven't been there for you. I should never have left you alone, but I'm here now. And I swear to god, you are going to get help and get over this, starting with the next AA meeting. You are going to it, even if I have to drag you there kicking and screaming!"
Laurel's world started to spin before she could respond and soon, the spinning became too much. She collapsed in his arms as he looked her over before calling and ambulance.