Chapter 35
Confirmed Harem Members: Talia al Ghul, China White, Helena Bertinelli, Lyla, Sara Lance(eventually), Kara Danvers(eventually), Earth-0 Daisy Johnson(Eventually), Earth-0 Natasha Romanova(Eventually), Earth 0 Laurel, Lena Luthor,
Strong Likelyhood: Nyssa, Samantha Arias,
Maybe/Up for debate: Poison Ivy, McKenna Hall, Thea
Can't make up my bloody mind:
Not happening: Moira, Carrie Cutter, Amanda Waller, Eliza Danvers, Caitlin Snow, Isabel Rochev, Alex Danvers, Dinah Drake, Loise Lincoln aka Killer Frost, Earth 2 Laurel, Evelyn Sharp, Imra Ardeen/Saturn Girl, Indigo(After being reprogrammed), Wonder Woman, Older Nora, Harley Quinn, Lady Shiva
I need opinions on who should play Poison Ivy.
Start
Starling City
It was a pretty normal day in Star City. People were getting their morning coffee and parents were taking kids to school. At the main office for Kord Industries, office workers and scientists were just starting their day, expecting it to be a normal day. But it was not going to be a normal day.
Two men walked into Kord Industries, dressed like office worker's. They even had earpiece's to receive calls and keep walking to their destination. But the earpiece's these two wore had a sinister purpose.
"In 6 seconds, lobby security will undergo a shift change." A man spoke to the two men through the earpieces from another location. "When that happens, make for the elevator bay."
"Copy," One whispered as he and his partner stepped into the elevator, slipping past security.
At his computer desk, the man directing the two goons monitored everything going on at Kord Industries. "Remember what I told you. Timing is everything," the man said, showing that he was very meticulous and precise with what he did.
The two men stepped out of the elevator, having shed their suits and wearing janitorial clothes. They pushed their suits and briefcase into a nearby janitor cart, just as thier boss had been planned, and walked toward their destination.
They walked through a set of office cubicles as the man at the computer desk spoke. "Maintain a pace of 1.3 meters per second. 6 seconds to target."
The two men soon saw their targets. 3 men with one carrying a special briefcase. "Now is the time, gentleman." The two goons used knockout gas to quickly incapacitate the Kord Industry officials. They looked at the case containing the item they had been sent to get and immediately noticed a problem.
"It's a fingerprint reader, I can't crack it," the one goon said.
"I can," The man at the computer, William Tockman, said. A few keystrokes later, the fingerprint scanner appeared to read a fingerprint, even though none had been scanned, and opened, allowing the two goons to retrieve the device.
"You have 5.3 seconds to get down the east stairwell." Tockman said to his goons as they moved to get out of the building. Then Tockman saw a guard that would certainly intercept them if they were to continue moving via him being tapped into the security cameras and said, "Stop!"
"What the hell are we doing? We got what we came for." One goon said in panic, as their faces were in front of cameras.
"He said to wait." His partner said, who had more faith in the skills of Tockman than the first goon did.
"Out in the open? Forget this." The one goon said, moving down the hall, only to encounter the guard that Tockamn was trying to prevent from seeing them.
"Don't do it." The goon warned the guard when he saw him going for his gun.
"Don't do it!" The goon warned, but when he saw the guard draw his gun, he shot the man dead.
"Security clocked us!" The goon said to Tockman, while Tockman hit his desk in frustration as this was something he was trying to avoid. He steeled himself and began furiously typing away to track the SCPD and contain the situation. "They've alerted the SCPD. Exit the east lobby in 22 seconds."
Sirens could be heard as the police pull up. One of the officers is Officer Lance. As Walczak and his partner exit the building, they open fire on the officers, who took cover behind their cars.
"SCPD! Put your weapons down!" Lance shouted before he caught a glimpse of Walczak's face, recognizing him. "Delta Charlie 52 to search, I need back-up, downtown!" Lance ran after them, but the two goons manage to lose him when they insert themselves into a local mob of protester's, having ditched their clothes.
Arrow Cave
Down in the Arrow Cave, Naruto was training with Natasha, Helena, Lyla, and Sara using bamboo bow staffs. Skye was working on the computer. During their session, Helena swung too hard and hit Sara above the eye, causing her to swerve her head and groan.
"Sara, I'm so sorry." Helena apologized.
Sara groaned, but stood back up straight. "It's ok, I'm fine."
"Let me see." Naruto said as he moved her aside and saw that it was just a shallow cut. "She's bleeding, but it's not deep."
"Good, I can't take any more scars," Sara said. Her body had enough scars, she felt. "Speaking of, sniper round?"
"8 years ago, when I still worked for the KGB, I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran, somebody shot at my tires near Odessa. We lost control, went straight over a cliff. I pulled us out, but the guy who shot my tires was there. I was covering my engineer, so he shot him straight through me. Bye Bye, bikini's." Natasha said with her usual smirk as she showed a healed and faint scar on her stomach. "Good eye."
"I know my wounds." Sara said as she pointed at her ankle, "Grenade. Algiers."
"I've never been hit by a grenade." Naruto said.
"All those scars, you've never been hit by a grenade?" Natasha asked.
"Arrow, knife, knife. A lot of bullets, a lot more torture wounds, no grenades." Naruto said as he pointed to some of his scars.
Helena and Skye didn't really have scars so they weren't a part of the conversation.
"We should get going." Naruto said as he put the stick down, "You don't want to be late for your own welcome home party."
"You didn't have to throw me a party, Nate." Sara said as she walked over to him.
"Sara, when you come back from the dead, you get a party. It's a Queen family tradition." Nathan said with a smirk.
"I don't know how well that's going to work with the Lance family tradition of holding grudges forever." Sara pointed out.
"She'll come around. Just be patient," Nathan assured her.
"Maybe. And maybe we should keep what's going on between you, me and the others between us. For Laurel's sake." Sara said, as Laurel would probably not react well to Nate's little harem.
"I get that." Nathan said.
"I survived Lian Yu and Nanda Parbat, I guess I can handle a cocktail party." Sara said as she and Nate shared a kiss.
Later that night
Tockman's Lair
The two goons had delivered the device to Tockman, who was currently inspecting it, already imagining different ways to modify it to suit his needs.
"You left us sitting in front of the security camera." Walzcak accused Tockman, even though it was because of his arrogance and impatience that got him and his partner nearly caught in the first place. "Guards could have killed us."
When Tockman did not respond, Walzcak pressed him further, "Are you listening?"
"If you had simply waited for five more seconds, like you were told, no one would have died." Tockman coldly and rightly pointed out.
"Sorry. I wasn't going to bet ten to twenty up in Iron Heights on your skills with a stopwatch." Walzcak said sarcastically.
"The strongest of all warriors are these two- time and patience." Tockman quoted Tolstoy's War and Peace.
"What?" Walzcak asked as Tockman coughed a bit.
"It's from "War and Peace." 1,440 pages. It takes a while, but it's worth a read. Tolstoy knew that patience was the epitome of strength. It takes fortitude to stand still." Tockman said as he glared at Walzcak, since he very nearly botched the job, Just as it is a sign of weakness or cowardice to move when you should not!"
Walzcak did not appreciate that tone and approached Tockman with his hand on his gun, "Look. We did the job. You owe me."
Tockman smiled fakely and made it look like he was going to acquiesce but then he picked up a minute hand from his desk and said lowly, "The dead are owed nothing." He then suddenly stabbed Walzcak in the chest several times, killing him almost instantly. Tockman coughed a little and wiped off the blood on his glasses, having put fear in his other goon, who already listened to orders and definitely would not make the same mistake that Walzcak made.
Party at the Queens
Nate opened the door to see Sara with her parents standing there. He was a bit disappointed that Laurel did not come, but he had expected it, since the two sisters still had not patched things up yet. Thea was standing next to Nate. Sadly, Helena could not be here since she had work tonight at her company.
"Come in, come in." He greeted them warmly before he gave her a hug, "Welcome home, Sara."
"I'm so happy you're here." Thea said as she hooked her arm around Sara's and dragged her along.
Roy and Sin came into view at that point. When Sin saw Sara, she could not contain her happiness and gave her a hug, surprising Sara and Thea.
"Oh, Sara, this is Sin." Thea said with a raised eyebrow. Sin stopped hugging Sara at that point.
"Wait, do you two know each other?" Roy asked.
"Uh, no. We don't." Sara lied, subtly telling Sin to tell a quick lie about it. They didn't need to know about her being a vigilante.
"Right. Uh...I just, I love when people come back from the dead. You know. Juices my zombie fetish." Sin said, acting like a tough girl again.
"Hmm." Roy hummed, not believing it.
"Um, Roy." Roy said, introducing himself, for the sake of Thea, since as far as she knew, Sara and him had never met.
"Sara." She said, 'officially' meeting for the first time, before she was dragged off by Thea.
Nate called up Laurel who was laying on her couch, not drinking alcohol right now but also not in the mood to go to a party for a sister she was still mad at.
"Laurel, it's Nate," He said, "I hoped you were coming to the party. I heard that you were still a little mad at Sara, and I...she's your sister, and-and you only get one. Look, just please don't stay mad at her forever. Bye." As he hug up, Lance walked up to him.
"Hey." Nate greeted.
"Laurel is not coming." Lance told him.
"Well, maybe she just needs time." Nathan said, as honestly, with some honest help, that was what she needed.
"Yeah. Yeah, I needed time, too," Lance said, not that it had helped him stay off the bottle, "When you got back, I...Well, I was pretty harsh on you.
"Look, Lance, you don't have to—" Nate said as by now, he was basically over it, but Lance wouldn't hear it.
"Oh, I do. When you, your brother, and Sara went off on your dad's boat, you were just a kid, all of you were. And whether she came back, or...I was way out of line. You're not a killer, Nathan." Lance apologized, extending his hand to shake. Nate supposed that he could live with Lance believing he was not a killer. Even though it wasn't true, it's not like he needed to know. They then walked back to the party.
Back at the party, Moira was talking to Dinah.
"I'm so happy for you, Dinah." Moira said to her. "Those five years that Nathan was gone, was...like a piece of me was missing."
"I know just what you mean." Dinah said as Nate walked up to speak with his mother.
"Oh, excuse me." Dinah excused herself as she realized Nathan wanted to talk to his mom.
"Hey mom, I didn't think you'd be here." Nathan said to his mom.
"This is my house." Moira said as she looked at him, "And if you don't want to be around me, then don't throw parties in my home."
"It's actually my house, mom." Nathan said as he turned his head to look at her, "While you were in prison, I bought the deed to the land and mansion. So, I can technically do whatever I want in myhouse."
Nathan sighed as he turned his whole body to face her, "Look mom, I'm still mad about you hiding the existence of my daughter from me. Like I said before, I just need some time to…cool off, I guess." Moira turned from him with a sigh, as he did have a right to be angry at her, but that didn't mean she had to like it either. So, she walked away. Thea saw this and walked over.
"Mom? Is everything ok with you and Nate?" Thea asked.
"Yes, of course." Moira lied as she continued walking away.
Nate was then very glad when Skye gave him a call about a strange homicide so he could slip away.
At the Crime Scene
Lance was at the crime scene as Nate and Sara showed up in their alter egos.
Lance asked, "What, you guys just show up to every crime scene now?"
"I saw you leave." Sara said.
"CSU just pulled this out of a skel I know named Eddie Walczak." Lance said as he handed them the evidence bag.
"I've never seen a knife life this." Sara noted.
"It's not a knife, it's a minute hand. Like from a clock." Lance explained, "I popped Walczak for b&e a few years back. This morning, he and an accomplice were involved in a robbery homicide."
"What'd they steal?" Nate asked.
"Some high-tech gizmo. Kord rep called it a, um, skeleton key." Lance said.
"Son of a bitch, not that damn thing" Prometheus muttered, getting Lance's attention.
"What? You know what it is?" Lance asked.
"It was intended as a military tool to aid in code breaking on foreign intelligence targets. Queen Consolidated was working on something similar... but Nathaniel Queen shut it down once he realized what it could be used for."Prometheus said.
"What?" Lance asked.
"It could be modified to open a bank vault. Any bank vault."Prometheus said.
"Ok, listen...Walczak's small-time on a good day. I mean, I doubt he'd even know how to use this thing, let alone break into a place like Kord and steal it on his own.
"Walczak was just a pawn." Sara said, "We need to find the brain."
One of Starling Cities Banks
Next night
"Device is hot. 3.2 seconds." Tockman commented over his encrypted signal to his goons as they successfully break in to the vault. Unfortunately, he had to wait a whole extra day because he had to find another goon to replace the one he killed. He breathes a sigh of relief as this will be all the money he needs, "Extract as much money as you can in 90 seconds."
The grunts began to extract the money when Tockman said 70 seconds later, "Stop! Get out of there!"
"We've still got 20 seconds." The one goon said.
"No, you don't." Tockman said as he saw through the camera's in the building that Prometheus was stalking menacingly towards their location.
"They're already gone!" Nate said when he and Sara arrive in the vault.
"I think I have an idea where. The skeleton key operates on an OFDM wireless signal. I'm picking up a transmission signal in the alley next to the bank." Skye said.
"But you won't be heading there." Tockman's voice came over their radio.
"What the-? Did he just hack us?" Nate asked as he started to see that he couldn't let someone with those skills get away.
"He's hacked our transmission." Skye confirmed.
"My associates may be headed to the alley, but the 9:10 bus from Crescent Circle is about to collide with the Starlight Freight Express." Tockman told them.
"Oh, my God, he's right, the 9:10's headed for the track at Amherst." Skye said in horror as she furiously typed away to try to stop it, but Tockman had her locked out.
"By my calculations, you can't be in two places at once." Tockman said.
"He doesn't know there's more of us." Nate said to Sara as he hopped through a portal that he quickly made.
With Tockman
Tockman's goons were running toward him with the money as he popped out of his stolen truck.
"Come on! Come on!" He shouted at them to hurry up as Sara was right behind them. He fired a few shots at her but each bullet missed. He didn't get to fire off any more as a crossbow bolt from Helena, who was positioned on the roof above him, pierced his throat. Tockman gurgled and struggled to breath as he watched his two goons get shot down as well while he quickly bled out.
"He's in the transit department network! He's-he's hacked the signaling system. I-I can't get the crossing barriers down!" Skye said frantically typing away, seemingly in vain to stop it.
"Those buses have radios. Can you break in, wave them off?" Nate said as he ran behind the bus.
"No, he's locked me out." Skye said. With that said, he ran even faster, getting in front of the bus, and forcing the driver to stop just shy of the tracks as the train went by and they narrowly avoided being T-boned.
"Where are we at on the skeleton key?" Nate asked as he removed himself from the bus and opened a portal.
"Secured. And the hacker and his grunts are all dead," Helena said as she held it in her hands and was hopping out of the truck.
"Sit tight. I'll pick you two up and we will head back to base."Nate said as he stepped through the portal.
Verdant
Nate, Sara and Helena walked into his bar to find Thea talking on the phone sounding very annoyed.
"How can I run a bar without any bartenders? For that matter, how can you quit without giving me notice? No, one hour before opening is not notice, Mandy." Thea said on the phone as she hug up and sighed before she spotted Nathan and stared at him. "Can I talk to you for a second?"
"I'm going to go use the little blonde's room." Sara said as she could see this was a private conversation and Helena basically did the same.
"Everything ok?" Nate asked as he leaned on the bar.
"You tell me. Other than the party, I haven't seen you very much." Thea pointed out.
"I've been busy. Being a CEO doesn't leave me a lot of free time. Besides, you know that I live in my loft uptown." Nate pointed out, not ready to tell her about his nocturnal activities quite yet.
"Yeah, looks to me a whole lot like you're avoiding mom." Thea pointed out.
"Look, I will admit that mom and I are in a bit of a fight right now, but I just need some time to cool off. Everything will be fine." Nate said with a smile.
"You know, it's secrets that pushed this family apart in the first place, Nate." Thea said as she got back to work, prepping the bar for later tonight.
"Speedy, Speedy. Really. Everything will be fine." Nate said as he kissed her forehead and Thea sighed in response.
Cave
"What do we have?" Nate asked as he headed down stairs to the lair.
"He hacked into our frequency, somehow gained remote access, but I'm upgrading our firewall and hardware. Now the next guy will need a bazooka to hack into our network. You know... computer science-wise." Skye said as she was inside one of the servers, adding better hardware into it.
"Very Good, Skye." Nate said with a smile, causing her to smile back. "I am a little curious though, as to who this guy was. Far as I can tell, he wasn't on the List."
"I think I have something that might help us track him down." Helena said as she held up the crossbow bolt she pulled out of Tockman's throat.
"May I?" Sara asked and Helena gave the bolt to her as she some of the blood off to view it under a microscope.
"You're pretty handy with the microscope." Natasha noted as she walked by, helping Skye with the hardware upgrades.
"I spent a year on the freighter studying genetic blood anomalies. I kind of know my way around a microscope," Sara said as she took a look and immediately saw something that stood out, "There's some significant cell damage and the platelet count is extremely low."
Sara moved over to the computer and typed away as Nate took a look and noted the same thing.
"Macgregor's Syndrome. It's a genetic defect that creates fluid build-up in the lungs, which leads to oxygen deprivation and multi system organ failure. It's terminal." Sara said.
"That hardly matters, seeing as he's been terminated." Helena quipped, causing Nathan to smirk.
"People with Macgregor's are extremely rare, and people with Macgregor's and a degree in computer science are even more rare. Could be a away to identify him," Nate said he typed it up and got a match. "William Tockman. Former encryption engineer at Kord Enterprises."
"What was the point? He would have been dead before he can spend all the money anyway." Helena wondered.
"He was probably stealing it for his family. His sister, specifically. She's got cystic fibrosis and needs a lung transplant." Nate said as he realized that while the man was not innocent, he did everything mainly to save his sister's life. He did regret it a bit, but not a whole lot, as he had a rep to uphold. But he would see about making up for it by paying for the woman's treatment.
Nate then looked at the time, "Oh look at the time. Only an hour left before your dinner with Laurel, Sara."
"Right. Dinner at Laurel's." Sara said as she grew uncomfortable. Her dad had organized the whole thing so they could try to start being a family again, "This is more important."
"I have all the help I need here, Sara. You at least still have a family. You shouldn't ignore them." Skye said to her while she was working on installing new hardware into the serves.
"Yeah." Sara sighed.
"You should go." Nate said, as this could help start to repair the relationship between the sisters.
"Will you go with me?" Sara asked suddenly.
"What?" Nate asked.
"I know I've wanted us all to get together for a while now. It's just, now that it's actually here, I'm nervous. I mean, last time I saw Laurel, it...didn't go very well, and... It'd be helpful to not have to go alone." Sara stammered a bit.
"I'll take you up there, but I really should not go in. It's meant to be just the family." Nate said, as while he wanted to support Sara, he was still trying to help Laurel and she started getting off the alcohol and drugs. He didn't want Laurel to suffer a relapse. Naruto gave her a passionate kiss and Skye looked away so she didn't seem jealous but Natasha caught it.
"Call me if you guys need anything." Nate said as he and Sara walked up the stairs.
Skye went back to working on the hardware while Natasha helped. "You wanna talk about it?" Nat asked.
"About what?" Skye asked her.
"I know we haven't talked about this, but it's probably not easy being one of the only girls down here that isn't in a relationship and then having to see that all the time." Natasha said, hitting the mark as Skye put the tools down.
"I don't want to seem jealous but I can't help it. Ever since I discovered the whole harem thing, I can't help but feel a little left out. Especially since I have feelings for him. I don't know what to do, because I don't know if I want to be a part of that yet." Skye admitted sadly. She liked Nate a lot, but the harem thing was not something she would ever have to consider when it came to the guy she liked.
"I wish I could give you some good advice, but truthfully, I'm dealing with the same thing." Natasha said from her crouched position. After all, despite his own issues, Natasha could not help but like the guy. He had very desirable qualities, both personality-wise and physically, as a partner. She and Skye stilled remembered that time from their trip to the other universe where Nate had a mishap with his new powers and accidentally left his clothes behind when experimenting with his portals. She had discovered her own primal instincts, likely intensified by her receiving spider powers of her own, calling out for her to claim him as her mate.
Shaking her head and clearing away those lust filled thoughts that she would need to do something about soon, Natasha decided to start training Skye, both as a way to take thier minds off Nate for now, and because she would need more than her powers if she would ever be able to defend herself.
Next Day
As Nate found out when he brought Sara home to the loft to join him and Helena for the night, it turned out that not going inside with Sara for her family dinner was the right decision. Without him there, Laurel did not get mad and accuse Sara of sleeping with Nathan, which allowed her and Sara to have a good heart to heart where they started repairing their relationship. That morning, Nathan picked up Laurel and took her to her first AA meeting. He wasn't about to let her off the hook after she nearly killed herself with her addiction. So, here he was, standing with Laurel outside of the AA meeting room.
"Thanks for giving me a ride," Laurel said to Nathan.
"I promised to help you through this, didn't I? Past mistakes this year aside, I still stand by that." Nathan said with a smile, getting a smile from her as he kissed her forehead, before he motioned with his head for her to head on in. "I'll be out here if you need me."
She was greeted with the site of her father in the room before she slowly walked in a took a seat across from him. Lance was glad his daughter was finally opening up and getting the help she needed to deal with her drug and alcohol problem.
Nate then got a SOS text from Thea, saying he needed to come to the mansion. Nate made a clone to stay with Laurel while he headed over to the mansion.
Later at the Queen Mansion
"Thea!" Nathan called out as he walked into the mansion.
"Nathan, "Moira walked up behind him, "What's wrong, is everything alright?"
"I don't know. Thea texted me that there was an emergency at the house." Nathan said as he faced his mother.
"Well there isn't. I'm in a meeting and Thea's not even here." Moira explained.
"Then why would she...I can't believe she would do this." Nathan groaned as put it together.
"Do what?" Moira asked.
"She's trying to force us to talk because she knows there's tension between us." Nathan explained.
"And what did you tell her?" Moira asked.
"Nothing. Our issues don't really have anything to do with her. She doesn't need to know." Nathan said dryly.
"Mrs. Queen, is everything okay?" A voice called out.
"Yes, my son just dropped by," Moira said as she led Nathan into the sitting room, "Nathan, I'd like you to meet Slade Wilson."
Nathan's blood ran cold. Slade stood up and faced Nathan and Nathan could see the eye patch on his former brother in arms as he walked over to him.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Slade dropped the smile once Moira could no longer see his face, "Mr. Queen." Nathan could only glare at his former brother-in-arms, turned hated enemy.
Chapter 36 – The Promise
Last Time
"Thea!" Nathan called out as he walked into the mansion.
"Nathan, "Moira walked up behind him, "What's wrong, is everything alright?"
"I don't know. Thea texted me that there was an emergency at the house." Nathan said as he faced his mother.
"Well there isn't. I'm in a meeting and Thea's not even here." Moira explained.
"Then why would she...I can't believe she would do this." Nathan groaned as put it together.
"Do what?" Moira asked.
"She's trying to force us to talk because she knows there's tension between us." Nathan explained.
"And what did you tell her?" Moira asked.
"Nothing. Our issues don't really have anything to do with her. She doesn't need to know." Nathan said dryly.
"Mrs. Queen, is everything okay?" A voice called out.
"Yes, my son just dropped by," Moira said as she led Nathan into the sitting room, "Nathan, I'd like you to meet Slade Wilson."
Nathan's blood ran cold. Slade stood up and faced Nathan and Nathan could see the eye patch on his former brother in arms as he walked over to him.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Slade dropped the smile once Moira could no longer see his face, "Mr. Queen." Nathan could only glare at his former brother-in-arms, turned hated enemy.
Start
"Uh…heh heh, what is the occasion, Mr. Wilson?" Nathan asked as he chuckled a little and contained himself, while mentally chanting a mantra to not blow up in front of his mother.
"Mr. Wilson just made a sizable contribution to my campaign." Moira said as she walked over to them.
"That's very generous of him." Nathan said neutrally.
"Well, it was the least I could do. What this city needs is a pro-business mayor like Moira to spread growth through urban investment." Slade said with a smile that was supposed to be charming but Nathan could only see it as menacing.
"And we were just discussing how to combat the rising wage gap." Moira explained.
"And the answer to that lies in your budget proposal." Slade said as he walked away from Nathan.
Slade walked over to Moira and put an arm around her shoulders. Nathan had to fight his every instinct to just walk over and rip Slade to shreds.
"When I think about everything your mother went through after the quake, all I can say is that she and I have something in common." Slade said as he removed his arm from Moira.
"What's that?" Moira asked curiously.
"That I know what it's like to pick yourself back up when people have written you off." Slade told her.
"Indeed." Moira said as she looked over at Nathan pointedly.
"Is something wrong Mr. Queen, you look a little piqued?" Slade said with feigned concern.
"I'm alright, thank you." Nathan said, doing his best to maintain his composure.
"Oh, thank you dear," Moira called out as the maid wheeled in a food cart, "Nathan, Mr. Wilson was kind enough to bring a bottle of authentic Australian rum."
As Nathan turned towards the food cart, he was struck by a strong sense of déjà vu. The rum was the same stuff Slade had served to him and Sara during his 2nd year away on the island, right before they assaulted the ship.
"Will you join us for a drink?" Moira asked Nathan.
"Of course." Nathan said.
"Wonderful." Slade said cheerfully.
Slade poured three glasses and everyone picked one up.
"What should we drink to?" Moira asked.
"To friendship." Slade toasted with a pointed look at Nathan that Moira missed.
Slade took a drink with Moira and, now sure it wasn't poisoned, Nathan followed suit.
"Delicious." Moira said as she lowered her glass.
"This here is a beautiful piece," Slade as he walked over to a model sail boat, "Tell me, does your family spend much time on the water?"
"Not since my late husband." Moira said sadly.
"I'm sorry Moira, forgive me. I do remember reading about that accident in the paper," Slade said as he turned away from the model and looked at Nathan, "You was a brave soul."
"It's not exactly something I like reiterating." Nathan said blankly, as his eyes caught a very small camera that Slade his on the model.
"I can understand that. It must have been hell for the two of you." Slade said as he walked over.
Lian Yu
Five years ago
"Ivo's freighter is here," Slade said as he laid out a map on one of the cases, "From what you learned from your Russian friend, he keeps eight men on deck. Three on the starboard, three on the port and two up in the brig. But our main concern are these GP twenty-five grenade launchers that they're carrying around at all times."
"And we have no way of knowing for sure if they have night-vision." Nathan noted and Slade nodded.
Nathan turned and walked away from Slade and over towards Sara. She was mashing up something in a bowl and Nathan turned his head away as he caught a whiff.
"That smells terrible." Nathan said.
"It'll taste even worse." Sara told him.
"And it'll work?" Nathan said skeptically.
"I spent a year with Ivo, I know how he thinks. It'll work." Sara said hopefully. Nate didn't really like the whole 'let Ivo capture him' plan, but they would never make it onto the ship with a direct assault.
Nathan and Sara then walked out of the fuselage to have a private conversation.
"What about the Mirakuru?" Nathan asked as they reached outside.
"What about it?" Sara asked curiously.
"Maybe it's a miracle cure. I mean, it saved me and Slade from certain death…but it's also something else. Something far too dangerous to fall into the wrong hands, hands like Ivo's." Nathan pointed out and Sara nodded in agreement.
"Slade might not let us." Sara pointed out.
"Let you do what?" The man in question asked as he appeared in the doorway.
"If this thing doesn't go our way…we can't let anyone else have the Mirakuru." Nathan said carefully.
"You think we should destroy it. You're right. We should burn it." Slade agreed.
Later at night, Sara and Nathan stood in front a fire as the box containing the Mirakuru burned.
"Do you have any idea why Ivo wanted this so bad?" Nathan asked.
"He said he wanted to save the world." Sara said and Nathan nodded.
"We need to talk about tomorrow," Sara said and Nathan looked over at her, "Slade wants to kill Ivo."
"And? I wanna kill him too." Nathan said but Sara shook her head.
"No, he wants to kill Ivo for Shado. I know him, Nate. If Ivo gets the chance, he's gonna twist it around, blame us for Shado dying. And Slade will believe him because the Mirakuru is screwing with his head. You can't give Ivo that chance." Sara said and Nathan looked at her not sure about Slade.
"Sara-"
"I know, I know," Sara sighed, "its Slade. You and him are still close, and I don't feel good about suggesting it. But right now, Slade is unstable. I mean, he already threatened to kill you once. I'm afraid that he will kill us without thinking twice about it, especially if he somehow gets it in his twisted mind that we are responsible for Shado's death. You have to get to Ivo first. You have to kill him." Sara told him.
"…I already planned on it. He took the love of my life from me. He's mine and mine alone to kill." Nathan said with a hardened look.
Later in the fuselage, Nathan and Sara were stocking their weapons for tomorrow when the sound of metal touching glass sounded. They both looked up to see Slade holding bottle of rum, a knife on its tip.
"Who's thirsty?" Slade grinned.
"Where'd you find that?" Nathan asked surprised.
"Who cares? Let's drink it." Sara grinned as she grabbed three tin cups.
"This was one of the few precious pieces of cargo to survive the crash. Billy Wintergreen and I were saving this for a rainy day, but considering, god willing, this is our last night on the island…" Slade trailed off as he filled all three cups.
"To taking the freighter." Sara toasted.
"To getting off this island forever. To Shado," Nathan raised his glass.
"To Shado." Slade toasted.
The three clanged glasses before they each took a deep drink. Once they all lowered their glasses from their mouths, Nathan spoke up.
"If something happens to me tomorrow-"
"You can't think like that." Slade said firmly as he walked pasted them.
"If something happens to me…can you tell my family that I wasn't that stupid kid that got on that boat?" Sara nodded.
"If I don't make it…tell my family I died on the Gambit." Sara said and Nathan was confused.
"Why?" Nathan asked.
"Let them remember me the way that I was." Sara explained simply and Nathan reluctantly nodded.
"We should all get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow. Slade said as he lied down on a bunk.
Nathan awoke the next morning after a night of restless sleep, plagued by nightmares about Shado dying. Seeing that Sara and Slade were already up, Nathan stood up and walked over to a wooden crate the size of a small box. Nathan opened it to reveal the hood that had once belonged to Yao-Fei and Shado. Nathan took it out slowly, starting at it for a moment before putting it on. Tying the straps around his neck, Nathan pulled the hood over his face. Nathan looked over and saw Sara gearing up some batons and knives while Slade took out his mask.
Later, the trio were hiking over the edge of the mountain where The Amazo was clearly visible. Nathan walked over to the ledge and took out a pair of binoculars, taking a closer look at the freighter. Nathan set them down before taking out an arrow, coating the tip with tar, and then lighting it on fire. Nathan took aim, noting the breeze in the air and fired. His aim struck true, and the pyre exploded. Nathan grinned as Sara took out the binoculars.
"They're coming. Two men, armed." Sara said after a moment.
"You know, when we first tried to get off this island, it was as strangers. Now it's as brothers." Slade noted to Nathan.
"See you on the freighter." Nathan said before he turned and walked off.
Nathan was waiting on the shore as the two men reached the island. It didn't take them long to spot Nathan, who quickly took off running. He didn't get very far as he 'tripped' over a root. He fell to the ground and the two men grabbed him.
"You're lucky Ivo wants you alive." One sneered as they dragged him towards the boat.
The Amazo
Later
Nathan was shoved into his cell and the guards slammed the door closed.
"Looks like I'm back." Nathan said as he lied on his back.
"Fantastic. We're saved." Anatoly said sarcastically.
As night fell and Nathan lied in his cell, talking with his fellow prisoners, the guards opened Nathan's cell door and dragged him out. They led him into Ivo's lab and Nathan was strapped down to a chair.
"Welcome back Nathan," Ivo said as he walked over to him, "my men are still searching the beach for your friends. They have the Mirakuru. So, where are they?"
"You can burn to hell." Nathan sneered.
"You may want to rethink that." Ivo said as he tore open part of Nathan's sleeve.
"Ivo, you can torture me all you want, I am never gonna tell you where they are." Nathan told him.
"No, not willingly." Ivo agreed as he took out a syringe.
"Wait, what is that?" Nathan asked.
"Oh this? You see this, Sodium Pentothal. It's more colloquial, yet very descriptive name, is truth serum." Ivo said as he neared Nathan.
"Wait wait don't I'll tell you anything!" Nathan shouted, seemingly in a panic.
Ivo injected into him and Nathan seemed to relax.
"Now, let's begin." Ivo said calmly.
Queen Mansion, present
Night
"Tell me; is there anyone special in your life Mr. Wilson? Wife or children?" Moira inquired as the three of them sat in a sitting room.
"Sadly no. There was someone special once but she passed away a few years ago." Slade said sadly.
"I'm sorry Mr. Wilson." Moira said regretfully.
"My mother and I have had to deal with a lot of loss unfortunately. And eventually, we learned that you just have to find a way to move on." Nathan said as he gave Slade a pointed look.
"I don't believe that," Slade said as he gave Nathan a mocking smile, "you know, I heard that your family has an affinity for the fine arts."
"Yes," Moira said as the three of them walked out of the room, "my husband amassed quite the collection of nineteenth century American landscaping."
"I'd love to see them." Slade said as he turned around.
"Let me just have my staff open up the rest of the house. "Moira said as she walked out of the room.
"Thank you." Slade said politely.
Once she was out of the room, Slade turned around and was greeted with the sight of Nate grabbing him by the throat and holding him up above his head, his red eyes and slit pupils letting Slade know that Nate was using his powers.
"You might not want to do that, kid." Slade smirked at him.
"Give me a reason why," Nate growled.
"Because your mother has a bomb inside of her." Slade smirked, as Nate racked his brain for how he could have possibly slipped a bomb into her. They'd been here for hours and…Suddenly, Nate realized.
"The glass," He muttered, realizing Slade must've slipped it into Moria's glass when he was pouring Mom that drink and Nate wasn't looking.
"If I don't make it back to my base after I'm done here, the bomb goes off and your mother will be in two pieces. Of course, if I do, it will pass out of her within the day," Slade grunted out, and Nathan contemplated risking it and killing him, evidenced by him tightening his grip on Slade's throat. But Nate calmed himself enough to think rationally. He couldn't take the risk that Slade might be telling the truth. It was his mom, he just couldn't risk it. So with a growl, Nate let him down and turned off his powers.
"Mom? Nate?" Thea's voice called out and Nathan looked over in alarm.
"Not yet kid, I'm still going to meet the rest of your family." Slade said with a cruel grin on his face. "Don't worry, I'm not killing any of them today."
"Hello? Thea called as she walked into the room, "Nate, have you and mom talked yet? This whole not speaking thing-"
"Thea, this is not really a good time." Nathan said firmly.
"Who's your friend?" Thea smiled politely at Slade.
"Slade Wilson," Slade said with a charming smile as he took her hand, "it's a pleasure to meet you, I've heard such wonderful things about you from your mother."
"About me?" Thea said in disbelief.
"Thea, good to see you," Moira said as she walked in, "This is Slade Wilson and I-"
'Don't kill him, don't kill him,…', Nate repeated in his head to prevent himself from going ballistic.
"Was just about to show him our art collection," Moira said, "but you're far better suited."
The three of them walked out of the room and Nathan reluctantly followed.
The Amazo, five years ago
Night
"Nathan, what's your name?" Ivo said as he shined a light in Nathan's eyes.
"Nathaniel Queen." Nathan said dazed.
"Nathan where were you born." Ivo said as he put the pen away.
"Starling City." Nathan answered.
"What'd you build a bonfire on the beach?" Ivo demanded.
"So you'd see it." Nathan answered.
"I told you." Ivo's man sneered.
"Was the bonfire a trap?" Ivo demanded.
"Not a trap, a distraction." Nathan said a little dazed.
"Why was the bonfire a distraction? Where are Sara and Slade right now? Where are they?!" Ivo demanded when Nathan tried to fight it.
"They're on the freighter." Nathan told him.
"Where on the freighter?" Ivo demanded.
"Under the engine room because we have a raft." Nathan said still sounding dazed.
"One last thing. I could've sworn you died from being shot when you protected Shado. How are you still alive, do you have the Mirakuru?" Ivo said. He was smart, but he was not sure. It had been very dark that night, and in the chaos that ensued when he tried to shoot Nathan, he could not see what happened, and he didn't stay too long to verify.
"No, it was just a shoulder wound. Slade was the only one with the Mirakuru in him." Nathan said in a daze, still 'under the effects' of the serum.
As Ivo shouted orders, Nathan was led by two guards towards the cells. As the alarms blared, Nathan suddenly attacked the two guards. He turned around and snapped one's neck while he punched a hole in the others chest. Nathan then grabbed the keys from the unconscious guard.
Lian Yu
Same time
"They're clearing the deck, half the ships empty." Sara said as she lowered her binoculars.
"Are you ready?!" Slade asked over the roar of the winds as he let the parachute out.
"You really don't want an honest answer to that. But you've done this before, right?" Sara asked.
"Nobody's done this before!" Slade shouted as he grabbed Sara and jumped off the cliff.
They sailed through the air on the parachute down to the deck of the freighter. Nathan came on deck seconds later and Sara handed him his bow and quiver.
"Here, I think these belong to you." Sara said as he took them.
"We're on a clock and she needs to free the rest of the prisoners." Slade said as they moved out.
"Ivo's men are down in the engine room, just like we planned." Nathan told them.
"More convenient for me to take them out," Slade said as he pulled his mask on over his head, "Find Ivo but don't kill him. That son of a bitch is mine." Nate had no intention of keeping that promise, because Ivo was HIS to kill.
Queen Mansion, present
Night
As Thea was giving a tour to Slade, Nathan discreetly dialed a number on his phone.
"This was one of dad's favorites, wasn't it Nate?" Thea said as she gave her brother a pointed look.
"Yes it was. He really loved that one." Nathan said as he looked over at Moira.
"Then you must never sell it. I believe that when we lose someone we love, we have the obligation to honor their memory." Slade said as he smiled at Thea.
Arrow lair
Same time
"You think eventually I'd hit something." Roy complained as he lowered his bow firing a shot off.
"Nate makes it look easy." Helena told him with a smile. She still vividly remembered when Nate first brought her down here to the Laid how he had shot the tennis ball out of her hand with such precision and grace. Aside from the sex they had down here, it was one of her fonder memories of this place.
"Is anyone going to get that?" Skye asked as she walked in with Lyla and Natasha to hear her phone going nuts, "guess not."
Skye sat down at the computers and answered her phone. She frowned as no one replied.
"Look's like AC butt-dialed us." Skye said as she put it on speaker phone.
"And here is a Joseph-Cooper from eighteen-ninety." Thea's voice spoke up and Roy looked up.
"Hey that's Thea." Roy noted.
"Looks gorgeous." A male voice spoke up and Sara's blood ran cold.
"It-it can't be." Sara said shocked and everyone looked over at her.
"Is everything okay?" Chien asked.
"I know that voice," Sara said as Slade spoke up again, "oh god no."
"Who is it Sara?" Lyla asked.
"His name is Slade Wilson…and if we don't stop him, he's gonna kill Nate's entire family." Sara announced.
"Wait, are you certain that was Slade?" Lyla said as everyone but Roy and Sara had been part of the conversation after Nate and Kara stopped Brother Bloods attempt to mass produce an army the first time that he suspected that Slade might still be alive, but to hear confirmation from someone who knew his voice was another thing entirely
"I'm certain. That's not a voice I'd ever forget," Sara said as she got out a knife.
"Lyla, what's the biggest gun you guys have got?" Lyla pulled out a Barrett M95 sniper rifle and set it on the table in its casing. Sara eyed it for a moment.
"That might work." Sara said causing Skye and Roy to look over at her stunned.
"Might?" Skye asked skeptically.
"Roy, do you remember the other person Nate knew with Mirakuru in his veins?" Sara asked.
"It was Wilson?" Roy asked and Sara nodded, "I have the Mirakuru in me as well. Let me help."
"You good?" Sara asked and he nodded.
"I have it under control." Roy assured her.
"Let's go," Sara said as she, Helena, Chien and Roy walked out of the lair, "Slade was a trained killer before he was injected. You get a shot; you take it, no hesitation."
The Amazo
Five years ago
Night
It was chaos as people ran out of the cages as Sara released them one by one.
"What are you doing?" Anatoly asked as Sara opened his cell.
"Do you wanna die or do you want to live?" Sara asked and Anatoly ran.
Sara continued to let prisoners out while, on the upper levels, Nathan searched for Ivo. After hearing from some men that Ivo was in his office, Nathan ran for it, taking out all the guards that stood in his way. After finding the bolted door, Nathan took out a grenade and threw it at the door. He took cover as it exploded and blew the door off. Notching an arrow, Nathan entered the room to find Ivo on his back.
"It's harder than it looks isn't it?" Ivo asked as Nathan stared, "killing an unarmed man."
"Seemed pretty easy when you had murdered Shado." Nathan sneered.
"I didn't murder her Nathan, you did." Ivo told him.
"I'm not listening to this," Nathan snarled as he let loose the arrow and shot Ivo in his left shoulder, causing a shout of pain, before pulling out another one and firing into Ivo's right leg, producing another cry of pain from Ivo. Nathan walked over to him, his eyes red and slit, burning with rage. Nathan gripped Ivo's good shoulder and gouged a hole in it with his super strength, causing more screams.
"Shado was the love of my life, and you took her away from me," Nathan whispered in deep emotional pain before twisting the arrow in Ivo's leg, causing shouts and screams from the dying man. At this point in his life, Nathan had not been trained in torture, but he was just doing what little bit he could to cause Ivo more pain and increase his suffering before he died.
Nathan then decided it was time to kill Ivo, but not before he made the bastard suffer just a little bit more. Nathan grabbed him and pulled him up before headbutting him, causing blood to fly. Nathan then pounded Ivo in the face with his fist several times before letting him fall to the ground and kicking his face. He then grabbed Ivo by the throat and smashed his face several times against the broken equipment before throwing him against a far wall. Ivo attempted to crawl away, now scared that he wasn't going to be able to turn this around for himself.
But he didn't get far, as Nate grabbed his legs and pulled him back to him before flipping Ivo over. Grabbing Ivo's head, Nate plunged his thumbs into Ivo's skull, gouging his eyes out and causing screams of terror and pain.
"You ripped out my heart, now I'm gonna return the favor!" Nathan shouted as he plunged his hand into Ivo's chest, gripped it and ripped it out. Nathan let the heart drop to the floor and stood up, to finish the job by smashing the dead bastards face to bits.
A pit of dread formed in his stomach though, as Nathan rose to see Slade standing in the doorway. Slade took off his mask and looked at Nathan, betrayal and pain on his face.
"Why?" Slade demanded and Nathan was silent, "it was supposed to me that killed him."
"Look, I know that the Mirakuru is still messing with your head, but try to remember. We made up. When you were dying, you admitted that you got your feelings for Shado mixed up. That she was the daughter you never got to have." Nathan attempted to reason with Slade. Slade seemed to become more calm and Nathan said something next that maybe he shouldn't have.
"She was mine. Mine to love, mine to mourn for, mine to avenge." Nathan said.
"You've been planning this." Slade said with a growl before pulling out his sword.
Nathan ducked as Slade attacked Slade swung it at him. Slade attacked Nathan with the intent to kill him. During the process, Slade kicked the steering wheel, making the ship take a sharp turn. Nathan fell down to the ground as everything crashed around him. Slade however, managed to keep his footing and grabbed Nathan around the neck, slamming Nathan against the wall.
"Slade, stop. We're still brothers, don't you turn against me like Ivo would have wanted!" Nathan gasped.
"He's dead. As dead to me as you are." Slade snarled.
The ship seemed to hit something and there was a crash as both of them fell to the ground. Nate pried his hand loose from Slade and punched him in the face with his Mirakuru powers, dazing him. Nathan stood up and saw an explosion on deck. Nathan sprinted from the room and onto the deck.
Sara was on the deck with Anatoly and a prisoner called Flynn, who was using glass as a mirror to get a look at their odds.
"How many?" Sara asked before a bullet shattered the glass.
"This one time, you can pray for me." Anatoly said before he grabbed a gun and jumped out.
Anatoly opened fired, taking out several of Ivo's men. However, his gun soon jammed as one of Ivo's men neared him. Thankfully, an arrow hit the man in the chest and he went down as Nathan approached.
"Behind you!" Anatoly called out.
Nathan whirled around and fired at the man, hitting him in the throat.
"Nate!" Sara called out as Nathan ducked for cover with them, "are you okay, where's Slade?"
"He's lost to us." Nathan said with some measure of sadness and Sara nodded, dismayed.
There was an explosion and Sara peaked over as Ivo's men started to regain control.
"We have to get off this ship." Sara announced.
Reluctantly, Nathan nodded. With Slade to worry about, there were too many goons to take on right now. Together, Nathan, Sara, and the prisoners ran and jumped over the side of the ship. Just as he jumped, Slade appeared, grabbing Nathan's leg and swinging him back onto the ship. Nathan was thrown back a few feet before he landed. Slade approached with his sword drawn as Nathan looked up.
"Slade, " Nathan was cut off as the blade pierced his stomach and stabbed through his spine, causing a shout of pain.
Queen Mansion, present
Night
"Slade is dangerous. No chances, no mistakes." Sara said over the comms as she walked over to the mansion.
"I'm in position. Slade comes out, he's dead." Chien assured her.
"Thermal imaging is coming up now; they're in the north-west hall." Skye told them.
Helena nodded as she jumped up, used the side of the house to boost her jump and grabbed onto a light post.
"Roy," Sara said as she walked into the house, "just get Moira and Thea away from Slade. Don't start a fight, you'll lose."
"Okay." Roy agreed as he walked inside.
"Thank you all for such a wonderful and exciting evening," Slade said as the four of them exited the hall, "you were a wonderful guide."
"Did you have a favorite?" Thea asked.
"I found The Promise to be particularly compelling." Slade noted.
"Thea, you home?" Roy called out.
"Roy?" Thea asked as he walked into the room, "I thought I was meeting you at Verdant?"
"Oh yeah." Roy acted clueless as he and Nathan exchanged a look.
"Oh, this is-" Moira began.
"I'm Roy Harper." Roy interrupted.
"Slade Wilson," Slade said as he walked over and the two shook hands, "It's a particularly firm handshake you have their son."
"Yeah, you too." Roy said evenly.
Sara was behind the wall in another room with her knife drawn. Nathan looked over and gave a slight shake of the head and Sara nodded as she put the knife away, another glance from Nathan telling her to stay hidden.
Helena walked into view from the staircase.
"Nate, there you are," Helena called out and Slade whipped his head around, surprised to see her.
"Helena, we didn't hear you come in." Moira said as she walked over to Nathan.
"I didn't want to interrupt the tour." Helena said as she looked over at Slade.
"Mr. Wilson, this is Helena, Nathan's girlfriend." Moira introduced as Slade and Helena locked eyes.
"Of course, Ms. Bertinelli, you're famous. I mean, it's hard to find that special someone who means everything to you. You're both very lucky." Slade smiled like a shark.
"What would you like to do now? Mr. Wilson?" Nathan asked coolly.
After taking a look around and measuring his odds, Slade spoke up. He wasn't going to kill any of them tonight anyway. Would take away from his fun, after all.
"I hate to break up the party, but I feel I must be going," Slade said as Moira led him to the door, "I hope to be seeing more of you Moira."
"Chien's got a shot lined up outside." Helena whispered so that only Nathan could hear.
"Mr. Wilson," Nathan called out and everyone looked over at him, "may I walk you to your car?"
"Certainly." Slade said.
Nathan and Slade exited the house and Nathan walked Slade to the car that Slade must have arrived in. Nate walked in front of Slade so Chien hopefully didn't shoot him. He needed Slade to live, at least for tonight.
"Cyrus Gold, Brother Blood, you know, I had feeling it was you. You and I were the only ones left with Mirakuru. They work for you." Nathan noted.
"I have my allies, just as you have yours. Chien Na Wei for example," Slade said and Nathan looked at him sharply, "I suppose you're wondering why she hasn't taken my head off yet. Don't worry. Like I told you, I'm not killing anyone you love. For now."
"Slade, what do you want?" Nathan demanded.
"Five years ago, I made you a promise. Do you remember? Well, I'm here to fulfill it." Naruto's only response was forcing Slade against his car, his red eyes shining in the darkness again.
"YOU. LEAVE. THEM. OUT OF THIS! This is between you and me! If you touch even one hair on their heads, all bets are off. And you will live only long enough, to regret it." Naruto warned him. He was willing to keep this feud between them, but if Slade hurt any of the people he loved, then all the boundaries were gone, all bets were off. There would be no quarter given, no mercy shown, no line…too great to cross.
Slade didn't respond, simply getting into his car. He rolled down the window and looked over at him. "See you around kid." Slade said before driving off, Nate glaring after him with hate.
Lian Yu, five years ago
Day
"We made it." One of the prisoners said as they sunk to the shore.
"Where's Nathan?" Anatoly asked and Sara whipped her head around, her gaze going to The Amazo
The Amazo
Same time
Nathan woke up as his cell door opened. He couldn't move because there were two knives in his spine to prevent him from moving his limbs. Slade stood over him, holding a knife.
"I'm assuming there's a reason your keeping me alive, old friend?" Nathan growled.
"You will not die…yet. You cannot die until you have suffered as I have suffered. You cannot die until you know complete despair," the crazed Slade said, towering over the currently paralyzed super soldier, "and you will know it. I promise."
Nathan and Sara's loft
Later
"Slade is alive, I don't believe it." Sara said as she, Nathan, Helena, Lyla, and Chien sat by the fireplace.
"He has to be stopped him." Nathan said firmly.
"We will be okay, you will." Helena assured him.
"We have to," Nathan corrected her, "because now, there is so much that we have to lose."
Suddenly, his phone went off. Picking it up, Nathan answered, "What do want, Waller?"
"Something's come up, Mr. Queen. I have a mission for you." Waller said.
"Are you fucking kidding me!? I am in the middle of a crisis! I don't have time for your bullshit right now, Waller!" Nathan growled.
"If you wish to keep your identity a secret, you'll do as I say." Amanda warned him and Nathan hung up in frustration, before throwing the phone at the wall, causing to explode upon contact. Amanda was starting to become a nuisance. For now he would do as she said, because of her leverage over him, but afterwards, maybe it was time to start thinking of getting rid of her, for good.