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raywritesthings · 4 years ago

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Bird in a Storm 12/17

My Writing Fandom: Arrow Characters: Laurel Lance, Tommy Merlyn, Athena, Joanna de la Vega, Roy Harper Pairing: Laurel Lance/Oliver Queen Summary: The confrontation between the Hood and SWAT on the roof of the Winick Building goes differently, altering the course of Laurel’s career, relationships and efforts to save her city forever, the shockwaves of such an altered path making themselves felt throughout her family and friends. *Can be read on my AO3, link is in bio*

Athena was accustomed to deferring to those less skilled or worthy than her. The current Heir to the Demon was only one such example and was, in part, why she was here.

Simply put, the League was stagnating before her very eyes. She couldn’t say when it had begun. Perhaps shortly after she had joined the League when the schism between Ra’s and his eldest daughter had occurred. Or perhaps not until much later, when a girl had laughed in his face at a display of his power and he had not relieved her shoulders of her head but instead allowed her room, board, training and even his Heir’s body for her own pleasure.

Athena believed in her heart, however, that Ra’s decline had begun between those two points, with the departure of Al Sa-Her.

Never had she met a warrior so single-minded in his goal, yet all the more deadly for it. The lost man who had stumbled upon their secrets molded himself into a weapon and leader, rising through the ranks with greater speed than any before him.

But Ra’s had let his Horseman go, and had never truly recovered the loss. His leniency towards Nyssa’s dalliance with the disloyal girl in their ranks, his over-reliance on the Pit keeping him confined to Nanda Parbat more and more. Despite all appearances, he was an old man dragging them all to the end with him.

Athena had had no plans to strike against him, not until she had overheard the news on a mission to the Americas about the man the rest of the world called Malcolm Merlyn.

That such a man should fall to a poorly carried out stunt such as the news described was unconscionable to her. She could only assume he had been forced to act in a manner to protect his son, the man who now stood before her. The man she needed in order to achieve the plan that had begun forming in her head.

“Athena,” Thomas Merlyn echoed. “Is that your real name?”

“It is the only name I answer to. And before you check, you will not find me in any sort of search you might conduct on your devices.”

He grimaced but carried on. “How did my father meet someone like you?”

“His oaths would have kept him from sharing too many details of his time away, but we were part of the same League once. I served first as one of his trainers, then as a comrade-in-arms when he surpassed even me.”

“Comrade… in arms,” he repeated once again. She hoped he wasn’t truly this dim. “So you’re saying my father left me after my mom died to go train in some secret Fight Club?”

“He was preparing himself to enact justice upon the ones who took her from this world. From the intelligence I have gathered, he was very near his goal before the Triad’s contracted assassin mortally wounded him.”

The young man’s eyes narrowed at the mention of his father’s current state. “You said you can heal him. How? You don’t exactly look like a nurse.”

Athena withdrew a vial from her pocket. A vial she had taken great care in filling with a priceless elixir. “The contents of this vial will revive him. Slowly, I am afraid, but I could not secure more and remain undetected. You will need to introduce it into his system. I recommend the IVs replacing his fluids.”

Thomas’ eyes reflected a hunger as he reached out, but his arm paused midway. “How do I know you’re not lying? That this isn’t just more poison?”

Well, he wasn’t a naive idiot, at the least. “I am risking everything by changing my allegiance to your father and his kin. Should the man we both trained under discover my actions, I will be forcibly returned and executed for my disloyalty.” Thomas blanched, but she paid no heed. “Nevertheless, I believe in the cause Al Sa-Her was working towards. The evil of Starling City is too great, and must be eliminated. Surely you see that your city is slowly choking on the waste that wells up from the bottom?”

The look in his eyes hardened, and he took the vial. “How long will this take?”

“It is unclear. But in the meantime, you must lead in your father’s stead. There are others he would have recruited to his cause. We must find them out and see just where their loyalties now lie in his extended absence.”

“Wait, are you trying to say you can find out who set up the hit?”

“Of course I can.” She knew he had little reason to trust her abilities as of yet, but he would learn. And if he learned each piece in just the right order, she felt certain she could craft The Magician an Heir more loyal than Ra’s could dream of, if less adept with a weapon. But that, too, could be taught.

Athena retrieved a phone from her pocket that she slid across the desk towards him. “My number is the only contact programmed in. Attend to your father, then call me when you are ready to take up his work.”

While his gaze remained distracted by the phone, Athena slipped away as quickly and quietly as she had come, disturbing no one. Her next steps were already clear in her mind; discover the source of the contract on The Magician’s life, determine the timeline of his recovery and the completion of his plans and deliver his son to him as a dedicated disciple. All of this she was confident she could achieve.

Thomas Merlyn was less skilled and worthy than she, yes. But he held that same cold determination, that drive of his father’s. And history showed that could be molded.

---

Joanna sighed as she settled back in behind her old desk. It was earlier than her mom might have liked, but she was officially back to work.

She stared across at the empty space where her friend’s things used to be. No more Sara in her graduation cap, no more white board of targets. Laurel was well and truly gone from CNRI.

Well, not totally gone. Her protege approached Joanna scarcely after she’d sat down.

“Hey, Thea.”

“Hey. I’m so glad you’re back.” The younger girl hugged her. “How are you?”

“You know, pulling through. I guess you have experience with that.”

Thea nodded. “Yeah, well just don’t do what I did and you should be fine.”

Joanna laughed. “Alright, what have we got today? Think I read something about a deposition being filed?”

“Mm-hm.” In her work clothes and with a folder in her hand, Thea Queen looked truly different from the party girl she’d been only a few months ago. “It’s against Edward Rasmus. He stole the family’s savings, and they’re looking for restitution to help them get back on track. They lost everything in their son’s college fund because of this piece of crap.”

Okay, maybe Thea wasn’t totally different.

“Well, hopefully we can get it all back. Let me see the file so I have the details before they come in today.”

She was able to read up on the Moore’s file as well as a couple others before the family arrived. The couple had even brought their young son with them, who was adorable as he was shy. Joanna talked them through the deposition process and promised to have it submitted before the day was out.

It was the last time she spoke to either of the parents.

Joanna woke up early to a call from the police informing her that her clients had been killed in a home invasion gone wrong. Taylor had miraculously managed to escape the carnage out a window, so now she found herself playing social worker instead of lawyer as they tried to figure out where he would go in the immediate aftermath.

Eventually, they decided on a temporary placement with social services until his grandparents could return to the States. It still broke Joanna’s heart a little to watch Taylor being led away by the hand, and she resolved to check in on him at least once a day until all of this was over. Though she’d need to be careful about how to do it; she didn’t want a repeat attack. The timing of that ‘home invasion’ was a little too convenient for her liking.

She was glad to get a text from Laurel that day asking if she wanted to meet up. It really had been forever since her friend had bothered to reach out and that stung, but Joanna wasn’t going to turn her away when she actually did try.

It was still strange seeing her with shorter hair, Joanna reflected as she grabbed the barstool next to Laurel’s at the old place they’d gone to once or twice after work in the old days. “Hey.”

“Hey. My dad called and said you’d been at the station,” Laurel admitted. “I thought you could use a drink. I’m buying.”

“No, you shouldn’t—”

“I’m okay,” her friend insisted. “I’m just really sorry to hear what happened to your clients.”

Joanna blew out a breath. “So am I.” The whole thing stunk of the crap Thea had mentioned yesterday, but of course that was only a feeling she had. And she wasn’t about to bring that up with Laurel when her asking her to get the Hood’s help on Danny’s murder was what had led to her friend’s fall from grace to begin with.

Yet apparently she didn’t have to. “It was Rasmus,” Laurel said with conviction as their glasses were set down.

She nodded even as she said, “There’s no proof. And now there’s no case. I mean, the kid’s only six.”

“Where’s their son now?”

Joanna looked down. “Social services took him.”

Laurel turned on the barstool to face her. “He’s in the system? After just losing his parents?”

“It’s only for a little while. They’re having trouble getting in touch with his grandparents because they’re out of the country.”

“But the killer Rasmus hired is still out there, Jo,” Laurel argued. “He could get the information on where Taylor is.”

“I’m hoping he was only interested in stopping Mr. and Mrs. Moore. I mean, what else could I do, Laurel?” Joanna asked. “I’m still staying with my mom, and I couldn’t bring Taylor in there and put her at risk like that after everything. I talked to your dad specifically and had him put two squad cars outside.”

Laurel looked down. “I’m sorry. I know you’re trying to do what’s best for everybody, I just…”

“I’m worried, too. I’m going to make regular check-ins over the phone in case someone’s got their eyes on me, too.”

“That’s not out of the realm of possibility,” her friend agreed. They both sipped at their drinks for a while, neither in the mood for idle chitchat. So much for catching up.

Joanna left her things with Laurel while she went to the bathroom before they headed out. As she approached the bar, she noticed Laurel was hunched over her phone, though she straightened up as soon as Joanna got close.

“You ready to go?”

“Yeah. Listen, we should do this some other time when work isn’t so depressing, you know?” Joanna said.

Laurel nodded. “Definitely. Maybe next week or so? I’ve got some busy nights coming up.”

“How late is that shop open?”

“I’ve picked up a couple things. Just helps to keep myself occupied.” She went in for a hug, and Joanna couldn’t help noticing how solid Laurel felt. Not that her friend had ever been all that fragile before, but there was something different to her stance, to the security she seemed to give off just through a hug. Joanna gave her head a shake as she backed off.

“Everything okay?” Laurel asked.

“Yeah. Guess I’m just thinking about how so much has changed… you’re taking care of yourself, right?”

“Definitely.”

“Okay. Well, I’ll see you.”

Joanna went home and ate dinner with her mother before they both kicked back to watch some TV. Nothing was really catching their interest, so her mother started channel-surfing. A picture on the screen caught her eye, and Joanna sat straight up.

“Go back, go back!”

“What, to the news?” Her mother hit a couple buttons and Green, the nightly anchor, came back on.

“—Rasmus allegedly confessed to police after they responded to reports of the Hood being spotted at the businessman’s penthouse. The hired gunman who killed Eric and Nancy Moore remains at large, and police advise all in the Glades neighborhood to exercise caution.”

“That’s the case you were working on?” Her mother asked. When Joanna nodded, her mom said, “Well, I hope you didn’t call him. Bad enough he got Laurel in trouble, I don’t need him sidling up to you.”

“It wasn’t me, mom,” Joanna assured her. But she was pretty sure she knew who it was, and she had to shake her head again. Laurel was never one to sit idle, was she?

With Rasmus in custody, Joanna decided to head to an early bed. No benefactor meant no additional hit, no additional hit meant no hitman.

Taylor would have to be safe now, right?

---

Mr. Blank had a job to finish. It hardly mattered that the target was a little boy. He had seen his face. That meant he couldn’t remain alive. It was nothing personal.

He’d already taken care of his former employer through posing as the man’s lawyer to gain access. Only one loose thread left, and he would be free to continue his business unhindered.

It had been a simple matter to get the information on young Taylor Moore’s current housing situation. He had simply called in pretending to be a representative of the boy’s grandparents seeking to confirm the child’s location for pickup. Sneaking a peek at the casefile number for Taylor had been another goal of his at the police precinct, and it aided his ruse.

A group home in the Glades was the boy’s temporary residence, and it would now be his final one. Mr. Blank parked his car on the next street over from the building, then walked along the sidewalk sure to keep his back to any and all CCTV cameras. There weren’t many in this neighborhood. Even better, he had overheard at the station that two officers that had been stationed outside had been recalled only last night thanks to Rasmus’ capture. That left him free and clear to take care of matters.

As he drew up to the steps of the building, he noticed a young woman sitting with her back against the wall of the home, head bent and blonde locks hanging in her face. A potential witness. How irritating.

Mr. Blank sighed and reached for the gun in his trench coat pocket. In the same instance, she stood up in one fluid motion and looked him right in the eye, revealing her own face was hidden partially behind a mask. Interesting.

“Somehow I had a feeling someone like you would show up.”

“I assure you, there’s no one else like me,” he told her. “But I would have expected the Hood after his intervention with Rasmus.”

“Sorry to disappoint you.” Her fists were balled and she had no weapons. This would be easy.

Yet as he retrieved his gun, she lunged, one hand closing around his wrist and twisting hard. Mr. Blank hissed and pulled back, the gun clattering to the ground. She kicked it further to the side and moved in closer. So it was to be a brawl.

He feinted to her left and was just barely blocked by her arm when he tried to strike her right. He grabbed her arm and yanked it to force her forward, ramming a knee into her gut.

She wheezed but barreled forward to take him with her, crashing him into the wall outside the home. Mr. Blank tasted blood when he bit down. He just barely got his guard up when she went for a punch to his face. He twisted her arm behind her back and relished the cry that left her as he closed in, the fingers of his other hand reaching for her mask.

“You’ve seen my face. Don’t you think it’s only fair I see yours?”

Her head jerked back, colliding with his chin. His grip reflexively loosened, and she spun out of his hold.

What she lacked in finesse, she made up for in sheer enthusiasm. This was a brawler, and she lived for the fight just as much as he did. He thrilled at the blood pounding in his ears, the pain in his jaw.

They both eyed the gun lying a few feet away. He dove for it. She dove for him.

Mr. Blank’s fingers grappled for purchase on the weapon as her weight fell upon him. He turned and was met with two hands forcing his arm away, just as he squeezed the trigger.

Bang!

---

He was walking home from another shift at the club when he heard a noise not altogether uncommon in the Glades: a person’s pained and heavy breathing. In the past, he might have kept on walking. But ever since his life had been saved by the Hood, he’d been trying to find some reason for it to have happened. Some reason he’d been worth it.

So Roy cautiously approached the alley he could hear the sound coming from. In the dark, all he could make out was the disheveled blonde hair of a woman leaning against the wall as she slowly staggered forward. Her head was down. She had to be focusing solely on putting one foot in front of the other.

“Hey. Hey, lady,” he said, coming forward. She hissed and drew back, but as she did her hair sort of shifted, revealing it to be a wig. And he thought he recognized the real hair underneath, short as it now was.

“Laurel?”

“Roy?”

He shook his head. “You’re the Woman. Should have known it was you.” She’d roughed him up well enough just for stealing Thea’s purse.

“Well, I’d congratulate you on your detective work, but this one was kind of handed to you,” she said, strain in her voice. She was limping pretty bad, too.

“Hey, what happened to you?”

“Got shot. Just a graze, but it hurts more than you’d think.”

“Don’t have to guess,” he said. Roy came around to stand at her side and pulled her arm over his shoulder. “Here, give me the wig.” He stuffed that in the pocket of his hoodie. Hopefully, they didn’t come across any cop cars or someone who looked at them too closely. “How far do we have to go?”

“Just a couple more blocks.”

They traveled it mostly in silence, not wanting to draw more attention to themselves than necessary. She had a place about the same size as his, though he thought her street had a slightly better reputation. Everything was relative.

“You got any disinfectant?”

“Cabinet above the bathroom sink.” She hobbled over to a little basket that turned out to hold sewing supplies. Well, at least she knew what was going to have to happen.

Roy returned from the bathroom to find her with one leg out of her leggings. He kept his gaze on the floor.

“You ever do this before?”

It took a beat where he thought she was nodding before she realized she needed to answer verbally. “Yeah. On my arm.”

“Okay. This’ll probably hurt a little more.”

She hissed when the disinfectant made contact with her skin and flinched badly at the first poke of the sewing needle. Not that he could totally judge her for that kind of aversion.

“You said a little.”

“My bad.”

Once he had finished closing up the wound, she grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch to throw over her lap which brought him some comfort. Roy sat back, watching her. “So when did this start?”

She shrugged. “A month or so back, officially. But it’s been coming.”

He thought he knew what she meant by that. The slow simmering of anger waiting to boil over into outrage at just how much everything here sucked. How unfair it was, how impossible it was for most people to escape.

“And the guy that shot you?”

Her head bowed for a moment. “He shot himself, in a way. I was trying to get the gun off him. It grazed me, but…”

She didn’t have to finish.

Roy shrugged. “Then he got what he deserved.”

“What he deserved was to be tried for his crimes,” Laurel maintained, though her shoulders slumped and she lost the haughty look. “But I can’t say I’m devastated he’s gone. It’ll keep Taylor safe, at least.”

“Who’s Taylor?”

“A kid. His parents were trying to sue a man called Rasmus for losing their savings, and he hired a hitman to take care of the problem. The hitman killed the Moores a couple of nights ago, then came back to try and finish the job.”

Roy’s fists clenched at the thought. What kind of sick person targeted a little boy for something he wasn’t really even a part of? “How’d you hear about all this? I mean, was it the Hood or…?”

She shook her head. “The Hood has his own operation going on. I’m just doing my part where I can.”

“But you know him, right?” Roy couldn’t quite keep the eagerness out of his voice. “Or you know how to get in touch. I’ve been looking for him since he saved my life.”

Laurel said nothing, only studied him.

“Do you know if, I don’t know, I could help him somehow? I know how to fight.”

“The Hood’s mission is a personal one. I’m not sure that he’d be willing to risk someone else getting hurt,” Laurel said, smirking as she added, “There’s a reason I’m on my own.”

Roy looked down. So she thought it would be a no.

“He has a team.”

The unexpected words caused Roy’s head to jerk up sharply.

“I could see if he’s in need of anyone else to provide support. That’s the best I can promise you.”

It was better than he’d had. “I could help you fight out there.”

Laurel considered him. “You have a lot of good instincts, but they’re not honed. It’s going to take some training for you to be able to do more damage to them than they do to you.”

“That’s not a no.”

“It’s a we’ll see. Find yourself a way to train first. I’d recommend a guy except I think he’d kill me for sending another vigilante to his doorstep,” she remarked with enough lightness in her tone to make him think she was probably joking. “But for now, you shouldn’t be out there looking for trouble.”

He rolled his eyes. “Okay, mom.”

Laurel shook her head. “I am not old enough or financially and materially stable enough to be a mother.”

“Yeah, neither were my parents,” said Roy. He thought he caught her smirking at that in spite of herself. “I guess I should let you sleep the pain off.”

“That would help. I’ve got work tomorrow.” She stood with a low groan, wrapping the blanket around her waist like a skirt. “That’s not gonna be a fun walk.”

“You ever think about getting a bike?” He asked. “It’d get you around faster at night. Be easier to avoid the cops.”

She frowned. “Couldn’t afford it.”

“I know a guy who sells them cheap. They don’t have all the parts, but we could fix them up probably. Or I could.” He shrugged. “Support stuff, right?”

When he chanced a glance up, Laurel was smiling at him. “That’s not a bad idea. Tell me when we can see your guy.”

Roy felt his hope reignite, and he nodded. “Yeah, could probably get us in by the end of the week. But, uh, I guess you need my number.” He grabbed a pen off her counter and scribbled it on a to-go menu. Laurel grabbed it up with her free hand, nodding to herself.

“Okay. I’ll message you so you have mine, and I’ll let you know when I’m available.”

“Daytime would be best. I’ve got this new job. A real one, at the Verdant.”

For some reason, she smirked at that. “Good for you. You should stick around there.”

“Okay.” Roy backed up towards the door. “I’ll see you. Uh, what do you go by?”

“Laurel?” She said skeptically.

He snorted. “I meant like your vigilante persona. Everybody’s got different names floating out there. The Woman, Lady in Black, Angel, stuff like that.”

“And some less flattering monikers, I’m sure.” Laurel looked off into some kind of middle distance. “I don’t know. I hadn’t given it much thought.”

“Maybe you should.” He shrugged one shoulder and headed out the door. Once it shut behind him, he couldn’t resist pumping his fist.

He was in with the vigilantes. Well, one of them at least. And he’d make sure Laurel felt he was indispensable so that she’d have to agree he made the cut. And then someday, she might even introduce him to the Hood, and he could repay the man who had saved his life and shown him this new path.

He was finally going to make a difference.

#lauriver #laurel x oliver #laurel lance #oliver queen #arrow #green arrow #black canary #my writing #bird in a storm

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douxreviews · 6 years ago

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Gotham - ‘They Did What?’ Review

Gordon: "For Gotham!"

When FOX kicks the support beams out from under you and says that the narrative you had planned to normally span across a twenty-two episode season now has to be condensed down to ten episodes, I guess it makes sense that your last few episodes are going to feel more like a paint-by-numbers project as you struggle to quickly wrap up character arcs so that those characters in question can resemble their comic counterparts.

Any remaining characteristic that Gotham hasn't shown the genesis for is abruptly wrapped up here in 'They Did What?' - Oswald loses an eye and gets his monocle, Bruce summons a colony of bats, Gordon's daughter is named 'Barbara,' and Gordon gets his promotion to Commissioner. And there's really no weight behind any of these developments, they just sort of happen because... they need to happen. Last year, in Thomas Ijon Tichy's review of 'The Sinking Ship, The Grand Applause,' he mentioned how there wasn't much of a thread that connected the plot points or character moments of that episode, "Things Just Happen." And that's mostly how I feel about this sudden conclusion to 'They Did What?', things just happen and there's no rhythm or flow to a lot of them.

Nyssa abducts Barbara instead of just killing her like she said she was going to do, and wants to raise Barbara's child as her own. Barbara manages to stab her in the gut but she still walks it off. Nyssa locks Gordon and Barbara in a room so she can make her escape. Gordon is able to kick the door down anyway. Bane's invasion overpowers and takes over the GCPD but instead of killing Gordon and Bruce like he said he was going to do, he takes a detour just so he can ambush Bruce and Selina in an alleyway. Bruce saves Selina by summoning a colony of bats because of course he just happens to acquire at the last-minute sonar equipment. The terrified refugees of Gotham City attempting to flee underground return to the surface anyway so they can stare down Bane and a firing squad. Nyssa escapes in Oswald's submarine alone even though it was stated two people are needed to pilot that thing.

For once, I don't know if the cobbled-together writing here can be blamed solely on the showrunners though because simply we just don't know if their intended 'vision' for Season 5 was meant to last an entire year before FOX cut their air time down to size.

If there is a highlight though for this episode (and there are several, mind you), it begins with where we began this year. The sequence of Gordon, Bullock, Oswald and Nygma suiting up and taking the stand against Bane's army in a dire effort to protect the GCPD I confess had me energized and eyes glued to the screen, and even if it's incredibly jarring that for some reason this sequence occurs in daylight while the standoff shown in 'Year Zero' was happening at nightfall, it's an absolutely energizing scene. Never mind the fact that Bane's army, which supposedly outnumbered the GCPD six-hundred to thirty-one, has the firing accuracy of an Imperial Stormtrooper, this scene had wit, it had rapport, it even had a little bit of heart (turns out Oswald loses his eye while defending Nygma), and it's oddly enough a nice depiction too of an incredibly dysfunctional group willing to set aside past grudges to defend in any way they can the city that is a part of them, that has had a hand in each of their upbringings.

I was a little skeptical at first of why Oswald would be wiling to come back and put his life on the line for Gotham City after going through so much trouble to leave it behind and start life anew elsewhere. But of course, Robin Lord Taylor's performance in the office-sequence across from Gordon completely convinced me, and as much as I love his chemistry with Cory Michael Smith, Taylor and Ben McKenzie are also a phenomenal pair when they get scenes like this one. In many ways, their portrayals of Penguin and Gordon have shown they can at times be inverted versions of the same individual, and by now have established this nice ebb-and-flow of knowing when to work together, and when they can be at each other's throats.

It's unfortunate that so late in the game Gotham is somewhat hinting at a redemption arc for Barbara because she's so endearing and likable when she's anything but a psychotic mob boss. I liked her character just fine enough for the first half of Season 1, and even though as a character, she's been through the grinder time and time again, but Erin Richards, like Taylor and Smith, just has that charm to her that makes her enjoyable to watch when she's spirited and vibrant as opposed to being so full of anger, venom and angst.

Shippers of Oswald and Nygma will probably seethe at the resolution to their arc until they're blue in the face, but I personally enjoyed it nonetheless. At the end of it all, Nygma's decided that he felt nothing, no hint of triumph, joy or euphoria, even when Gotham City is rejoicing for their salvation. The very city he put his life on the line to defend. Because it sickens him just knowing he had to associate himself with the civilian population that he considers intellectually inferior to him. Nygma relapsing into his megalomaniac egotistical persona is such a 'Riddler' thing of him to do, and it inspires Oswald to agree with his notion that they shouldn't have to ever think about changing who they are to please everyone else - they're criminal masterminds and if that's what fate has planned for them, then so be it. And as amusing as an on-screen visual it was, I don't think Nygma and Oswald secretly pulling blades on each other with the intention of double-crossing the other adds anything to this ending, simply because the scene succeeds in getting across anyway the notion that they're brothers-in-arms, and will be for the time being - blades or no blades.

Something I've been dreading for a while has finally reared its ugly head in this episode, and because we now know the series finale is actually a time-jump, there's no room at all left for Gotham to resolve it: the very reason Batman even exists in the first place. In the five years we have journeyed with Bruce Wayne on his quest to rise one day as Gotham's caped crusader, Gotham has forgotten to address two core aspects to what makes Batman... well, Batman. And those are why does Bruce Wayne/Batman need to work outside the law and why is Bruce's motif bats?

Rather than deliver on the indication that Bruce was going to be infiltrating and dissolving gang factions throughout the city this year, Bruce instead spends much of this season assisting the GCPD, and by the end of this season, not only is Gordon's lineup of cops shown to be capable of holding off Bane's army of grunts, but it is a mob of ordinary civilians that is able to coerce Bane's army into standing down and turning on Bane himself. In the end, we can't help but wonder then 'why would this city even need a lawless vigilante?' What has shown Bruce that the municipal government of the city is incapable of enforcing proper law and order?

And then there's the bat motif. "But Aaron, Bruce had a vision of bats and Batman back in Season 4!" I understand that, but that isn't enough. That silhouette with the signature bat ears poking up in Bruce's vision still needs a point of origin. In response to that argument, Batman cannot create himself. Otherwise, what is stopping Bruce from fashioning his cowl and armor to resemble just about anything he wants? The design and appearance of Batman is tied in many renditions of the character to Bruce's fear of bats themselves. Several times in the past it has been hinted by David Mazouz among others that Bruce's fear of bats would be a plot point explored in this series, but ultimately, that never came to pass. Yes, Lucius gives Bruce some tech that utilizes sonar which just happens to have a side effect of attracting certain animals, but at this point in the series, when we're so close to the finish line, this feels more than anything else like an afterthought as opposed to a development that will leave an impact on Bruce and something he feels is necessary to incorporate into his campaign of vigilantism.

I almost feel like my energy could be best utilized in other departments then commenting on what a trainwreck Gotham's interpretation of Nyssa Al Ghul is. Almost. For goodness' sake, the series itself seems to even have no concept of this character's identity because literally any quote delivered by a character concerning Nyssa contains what we already know - that she wants Bruce and Barbara dead, and she wants to destroy Gotham. Over and over again, that's spoon-fed to the viewer, like they're fussy children and Gotham is the mother trying to get them to eat their peas. For all her bluster that she is an 'Al Ghul' and that stronger people than Gordon and Barbara have tried and failed to kill her, in the end, she scampers off with her tail between her legs (unknowingly dog-napping Edward the bulldog in the process. That absolutely hurt me.), marking her as the final of many quite forgettable antagonists Gotham has had to offer. Do I even need to comment on the low blow that is this character threatening a defenseless infant with a dagger?

So in the end, Gotham City earns its salvation, Gordon gets his promotion, and Bruce pulls the "Dear John" letter trope from Season 3's finale and uses it to tell Selina that he's leaving Gotham City for...reasons. The real kicker here was knowing though that Camren Bicondova has evidently been recast as an older Selina Kyle for Gotham's series finale, which genuinely saddens me now knowing that a scene containing her realizing Bruce has also essentially walked out on her life is the last moment we have with this actress.

Aaron Studer loves spending his time reading, writing and defending the existence of cryptids because they can’t do it themselves.

#Gotham #Batman #James Gordon #Bruce Wayne #Oswald Cobblepot #Edward Nygma #Selina Kyle #Gotham Reviews #Doux Reviews #TV Reviews

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agentmarymargaretskitz · 6 years ago

Text

Only Love Can Truly Save The World

Belated birthday fic for @stillthewordgirl. Sorry it’s so late, but I hope it’s worth it.

AO3

“I used to want to save the world, this beautiful place. But I knew so little then. It is a land of magic and wonder worth cherishing in every way. But the closer you get the more you see the great darkness simmering within….”

Sara Lance had only just entered her office at the Louvre when the two men entered with a briefcase. She had figured that they were coming for her as soon as she saw the logo on the armored car near the museum’s entrance. Raatko Industries had never been in contact with many museums regarding art. Besides, she did happen to know how Nyssa Raatko spent her nights in Gotham City.

“Merci,” Sara said as she received the briefcase from the men.

The pair left without a word. Once they were gone, Sara undid the catches on the case and opened it up. Inside was a photographic plate with a familiar group of people. A scrap of paper was placed above it. Sara moved that to the side to gaze at the faces on the plate for a brief moment. Then her attention returned to the note that had come with it.

Found the original after some digging. I hope one day I shall hear your story.

Despite the lack of signature, Sara knew that Nyssa had been the author. A small smile touched her lips momentarily before she looked back to the negative. She looked at herself standing between Leonard and Jax. The woman on that plate had known so little then of the world and herself.

Despite her best efforts, Sara felt herself sink back into the past.

“Let’s get you back to your lessons before another tutor quits.”

“Why?” Sara asked her mother as Dinah urged her horse onwards. “Don’t you think it’s time for me to start my training? Laurel is starting hers.”

“I did not want her to,” Dinah sighed. “Your sister is stubborn, not to mention she is older. But she will never need to fight, and neither will you.”

“Why not?” Sara whined as they came up towards a group of Amazon warriors with a familiar face at the front. “Shado thinks I’m ready.”

The Amazon Queen raised an eyebrow at her general.

“I can begin showing her a thing or two,” Shado said casually. “Sara should at least be able to defend herself.”

“And who would she need to defend herself from?”

“In the case that Themyscira is invaded.”

“But isn’t that the reason I have the greatest warrior in our history leading an entire army of Amazons, General Shado?”

Shado smiled. “While I hope a day never comes that calls upon her to fight, a scorpion must know how to sting if it is threatened.”

“Sara is still a child, Shado. She and Laurel are the only ones. Please let them be that way.”

“Mother-”

“Enough,” Dinah commanded, ending the conversation as they arrived back to the tutor.

That night, after Dinah had told her the story of the gods, Ares, and the Amazons, Sara waited until she was certain her sister was asleep before slipping out from her blanket.

“Sara?”

The blonde whirled around to see her older sister sitting up in bed, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

“Go back to sleep, Laurel,” Sara whispered as she put on her cloak.

“I know you’re going to meet Shado,” Laurel yawned. “She’s been training you a little.”

“Because Mother won’t let me,” Sara reminded her. “I want to fight, Laurel.”

“Didn’t you remember what Mother told us about fighting? That it doesn’t make you a hero and that you can lose people because of it? She doesn’t want to lose us, we’re-”

“The most precious things to her,” Sara finished. “She sculpted you out of clay first and Zeus gave you life. Then Mother did it again with me because she couldn’t bear for a woman not to have a sister in the world, and Zeus gave me life.”

“And she also told us war is nothing to hope for,” Laurel added. “That’s why you lose people. Sara, you don’t have to fight. We’re safe here on Themyscira.��

“I know,” Sara nodded. “But I don’t want to be the only one here who can’t fight.”

With that, she slipped out of their room and into the palace grounds to meet Shado.

Shado continued to train Sara in secret for a few more years until Dinah and some of the soldiers came across them one day. Sara thought it would be the end of her training days, yet it was the only the beginning. Dinah ordered her to be trained harder than any Amazon before so she could take care of herself in any circumstance. While Laurel eventually stopped being a solider and joined the senate once she was grown, Sara continued to train and fight with the rest of the Amazons.

After many years, the young child who used to run off from tutors’ lessons grew into a formidable woman. Shado and the other Amazons had trained her well. When her mother came to watch one day, Sara fought back all the obstacles thrown her way until she was faced with Shado. She thought she had her, but the general fought dirty, shouting at her to never let her guard down, that she couldn’t assume every enemy would stop once they were down.

Sara had crossed her bracelets in front of her to deflect Shado’s strike, not expecting the wave of energy that came off of them. It had knocked Amazons off their feet and injured Shado, something she’d never meant to do. Those who went to check on the general told her to stay back, so she left the valley and ran out toward the cliffs of the island. She was confused by what had happened and why it had occurred as she stared out at the ocean before her.

A strange buzzing plucked her from her thoughts. Sara looked towards the sky to see a strange craft slowly falling down to splash in the sea. Themyscira never had anything come in through it’s barrier. The island’s protections had always warded away the outside world of men. But something had gotten through it now. Stepping back a few paces, Sara ran forward off the cliff to dive into the sea below.

She reached the craft as it spilt apart into two and the upper half sank into the watery depths. Sara gazed down to see a person struggling to get free as they went down. Without hesitation, she dove in after them. By the time she reached the upper half of the craft and dislodged the sword blocking the escape attempt, Sara realized it was an unconscious man. She swam him up to the surface, keeping in mind to have his head above water, and brought him to the shores of the island.

The man was still unconscious when she laid him out on the beach. Sara took in his appearance once they were both out of the water. Right now, he was sopping wet in a leather coat and trousers. His hair was cut short, but she could make out that it was dark with bits of grey mixed into it. She could feel stubble bristle against her hand as she reached a hand out and traced his jaw.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and he began to cough. Sara pulled back as he rolled over to the side and coughed up water. When he turned back over, he stared up at her. Intelligence gleamed in his blue eyes as the man tilted his head at her.

“Wow,” he murmured softly.

Sara smirked a little. “You’re a man.”

“Yeah,” the man replied, sitting upright. “Where am I?”

“Themyscira.”

The man frowned. “Never heard of it. I thought there were no islands in my flight path. There shouldn’t be.”

“Who are you?”

A great groaning noise came from behind her. Sara stood back up and looked behind her to see a fleet of ships, including a massive one ready to tilt over into the sea, sailing right for Themyscira.

“I’m someone on your side,” the man said. “Those guys, on the other hand, are not. They’re Germans.”

“Germans?”

“We need to get out of here.”

“Sara!”

Sara looked back up towards the top of the cliffs. Her mother and sister were on their horses. Amazons took positions beside them, bows nocked.

“Ready your bows!” Dinah ordered.

“Who are they?” the man asked.

Sara didn’t answer. Her attention was focused on the cliff and the warriors on it.

“Fire!”

A good portion of Germans had been taken out by the arrows, but many still made it to the beach where Sara and the man were on. Shado arrived with the Amazon army on the beach as those on the cliff fired arrows with ropes into the cliff face and swung down to the ground on those. However, the Germans’ weapons fired metal projectiles that could kill instantly if they struck the right place. Sara watched as one of the warriors’ bodies went slack as she swung down as soon as the object struck her in the chest.

For a few moments, Sara watched her mother, Laurel, Shado, and the other Amazons battle the Germans in awe. The man ran towards the Germans and began to fight them too. Then Sara snapped out of her daze, picked up a sword, and joined in the battle. When almost all the opposition had been taken out, a shot rang out behind Sara. As she turned around, she watched Shado fall to the ground, bleeding.

Sara screamed and ran over to the general, but there was nothing she could do. In her last breaths, Shado told her she needed to go and murmured the word ‘Godkiller’ before succumbing to the wound. Her mother and Laurel joined her by Shado’s body before the attention returned to the man. Sara reminded them that he had fought with them against the Germans instead of at their side. However, he refused to tell them any information about himself, not even his name. Laurel suggested they interrogate him in the senate hall, which the others agreed with. His fate would be decided once they had what they needed to know.

The injuries were tended to and the dead were wrapped in shrouds instead of being left on the beach before the interrogation. Sara stood beside her mother as Laurel brought out the lasso of Hestia and wrapped it around the man. He didn’t say a word as he was brought in. However, Sara noticed that he was observing everything around him, as if trying to remember it.

“Who are you?” Laurel demanded once he was in the lasso.

“My name is Captain Leonard Snart,” the man said. “I’m a pilot with the American Expeditionary Forces. My serial number is eight-one-four-one-nine…two-one. I’m assigned to British Intelligence- okay, what the hell is this? Is there a reason it’s heating up?”

“The lasso of Hestia compels you to tell the truth,” Laurel explained. “Resistance is useless. What is your mission?”

“I’m still not clear on who you are, but you have no idea the amount of danger you’re in.”

“Tell us your mission,” Dinah commanded.

Leonard eventually admitted he was a spy who had been sent to observe the leader of the German army, a Vandal Savage, during a visit to a military installation in the Ottoman Empire. The original information on the Germans was that they had nothing left, but Leonard had discovered that Savage was having the Ottomans build weapons for them. Said weapons had been developed by a scientist Savage had recruited, Valentina Vostak. Leonard had stolen her journal with formulas for poison gas and superweapons to set back her progress, but Vostak had noticed the theft and ordered him to be captured. In his escape from the outpost, Leonard had managed to destroy it, but Savage and Vostak fled the scene before that happened and sent an order to the naval forces to watch out for him.

“You need to let me free so I can get the journal back to British Intelligence in time,” Leonard told them. “If I get it to my superiors, it could stop hundreds of deaths from happening. It could even stop the war.”

The Amazons stared at him with puzzled expressions as he said this.

“War?” Sara asked. “What war are you talking about?”

Leonard was equally puzzled by their lack of knowledge about the war to end all wars that had been going on for four years. Horror started to grip Sara as she heard how many soldiers and civilians had been killed in the conflict. How innocent people were slaughtered and their villages looted and burned once they were no longer there to protect them. She knew he was genuinely distraught by all of it given he was wrapped in the lasso. Hearing about it made her think back to the stories she had been told about the gods as a child, how one of them had been struck down to Earth from the heavens.

This war had to be Ares’s doing.

The senate was unsure of what to do with the man they now had on the island and planned to discuss his fate more in the following day. Sara tried to make a case that Ares was behind the war Leonard had told them about. However, Dinah denied it and reminded Sara how it was only a story. When Sara volunteered to go out into the world of men with Leonard, Dinah refused to allow it, reminded her that she was not an Amazon, just the daughter of one.

After a visit to the healer and finding out Leonard said she’d saved his life, Sara decided to go visit him in the caves where he was being held. He’d only just emerged from the baths and was putting on his clothes when she entered. Once he saw her, Leonard quickly pulled his shirt on, but not before Sara caught sight of the scars that marred his torso. By the reaction he’d had to her seeing them, she decided not to ask about them.

“Didn’t hear you come in,” Leonard said, turned back to her once he’d buttoned his shirt up.

Sara thought about the stories she knew of the world of men. “Are you a typical representation of your sex?”

“Depends on what exactly you mean by that. But I’m going to say yes.”

He picked up a circular object with a glass face.

Sara stepped closer to him. “What’s that?”

“A watch,” Leonard said. “A gift from my grandfather before he died.”

“What do you use it for?”

“Telling time. Figure out when you wake up, when you eat, when you need to meet someone.”

“Sounds like it controls you.”

“You’re not wrong,” Leonard smirked and shook his head. “Now, since you asked me some questions, can I ask some of my own?”

“Go ahead.”

“I know you’ve told me I’m on Themyscira, but where is it? What is this island exactly? Is it close enough to England? Is that how you know English?”

“English is just one of the hundreds of languages I know,” Sara explained. “Themyscira is the bridge to a world of greater understanding. It is the home of the Amazons.”

“The Amazons?” Leonard raised an eyebrow. “I thought they were just a myth.”

“Do we look like a myth to you?”

He snorted with a shake of his head. “That reminds me, I owe you a thank you. You saved my life pulling me out of that plane.”

“You were in trouble,” Sara said. “And thank you for what you did for us on the beach.”

“I wish I could have done more, maybe saved your general,” he replied. “Am I free to leave the island though? Now that I’ve told you all I know.”

“They’re still deciding your fate. I tried to see if the senate would let me accompany you out to the rest of the world, but my proposal was rejected. I thought it was our duty to defend the world. However, it seems that the others need more time to decide whether to intervene or not.”

“But you’re on board.”

“I am, but my mother is against me going. My sister doesn’t seem to approve either.”

“I can’t really blame her,” Leonard shrugged. “Your mother seems to care a lot about you. I told my sister not to become a nurse so she wouldn’t have to face as many horrors of the war as I do.”

“And you’re still going back to deliver a journal,” Sara reminded him.

“It’s not so much wanting to as making an attempt to. My grandfather told me that if you see something wrong happening, you can do nothing or you can do something. I grew up seeing people do nothing, and I don’t want to follow that example when something could do a world of difference.”

Leonard had no idea, but he had reminded her of what she needed to hear. She might not be an Amazon according to her mother, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t fulfill their duty to the world.

“I’ll be back at nightfall,” she told him. “Be ready to leave.”

The first thing from the tower that Sara took was a shield. Then the lasso of Hestia followed it. It would come in handy to help lead her and Leonard to Ares’s location. However, if she was to end this war, she would need to end the god of war with the Godkiller.

“The gods gave us many gifts,” Dinah told her daughters. “One day you’ll know them all. We keep them in this great tower.”

Sara and Laurel followed her inside. The younger of the two sisters eagerly took in everything around her before running forward toward a sword in the center of the tower.

“The Godkiller,” Laurel murmured as she came up beside her sister, remembering Dinah’s story.

“It’s beautiful,” Sara said. “Who would wield it?”

Dinah looked down at her two daughters. “I pray that no one will never need to call it to arms. Only the fiercest among us could.”

Laurel and Sara looked at each other.

“That is not you, Sara,” Dinah continued. “Nor you, Laurel. We are safe here. Neither of you should concern yourself about fighting or war.’

But Sara continued to stare at the sword, vowing to one day become worthy of it.

Sara stopped short when she saw the sword missing from the mount it normally rested upon. This wasn’t right. Unless someone had expected her to come and taken it ahead of time, it should have been there.

“You should take this.”

Sara whirled around to see her sister emerging from the shadows. In her hands was the Godkiller itself.

“Laurel?” Sara frowned. “What are you doing here?”

“I knew you’d never agree with the decision not to help the man,” her sister explained. “I figured you’d go seek out Ares and destroy him yourself. You never have been one to back away from a challenge.”

She passed the Godkiller to Sara. “Whatever you do, make sure you win.”

“Then come with me,” Sara offered. “We can make it our mission to find Ares and put an end to him.”

Her sister shook her head. “No.”

“No?”

“No,” Laurel repeated, smiling sadly. “This is your fight, Sara, not mine. I know you want to stop the war, and I believe that you can.”

Sara reached out and hugged her sister. “Thank you.”

Laurel embraced her tightly. “Sara.”

“What is it?”

“Make sure you end Ares once and for all.”

“I will.”

Sara turned to leave the vault. However, she stopped at the sight of red and blue armor in one of the cases.

Laurel came up behind her and smiled. “Take it too. You’ll need it if you’re going to battle in a war against Ares.”

Sara watched as Themyscira transformed into fog once she and Leonard passed through the protective barrier. In her hands was the tiara that Shado had worn into every battle. Her mother had caught her before she left the island and bestowed it upon her. She admitted that she knew that she could not stop Sara in her quest, but warned her that leaving the island meant the possibility that she would never return. Even with the risk of never seeing her or Laurel ever again, Sara could not stand by while innocents died, and Ares lived on.

“Be careful in the world of men, Sara,” Dinah warned her before she left. “They do not deserve you.”

With Themyscira behind her, Sara decided to start setting her sights on what was ahead of her. Ares would no doubt be where the fighting was heaviest. Leonard seemed hesitant to believe her about Ares and told her there was only so much two people could do in such a massive conflict. Sara assured him that she could do it before engaging in a short debate about sleeping arrangements that ended with Leonard lying at the front of the boat beside her.

“Most people tend to wait until marriage before sleeping with someone,” Leonard said as he settled against a sack.

Sara turned towards him. “Marriage?”

“Themyscira doesn’t have that?” he raised an eyebrow. “You go before a judge with someone, swear to love, honor, and cherish each other until death do you part. For some people, it works out. My parents were not among them.”

“Then why would they do it if it didn’t work out?”

“They might have loved each other once. I never really saw it though. But at least I got a sister from them.”

“Sisters are a gift,” Sara murmured, her thoughts returning to Laurel for a moment.

“I’m sorry you had to leave yours behind.”

“Me too. But the world of men needs me more than Themyscira does at this time.”

“Am I really the first man you’ve ever met?”

Sara nodded. “You are. I’ve never seen one before.”

“Not even your father? Your sister had to have at least seen him or met him?”

“We had no father. Our mother sculpted Laurel out of clay first and Zeus gave her life. But she couldn’t bear for her to be alone in the world without a sister, so I was made from clay next. Zeus gave me life too.”

If the story had surprised him, Leonard wasn’t showing it. “Well, that’s differently than how babies are made out here.”

“You mean procreation and reproductive biology?”

“Yes.”

“I know about that,” Sara told him. “And the pleasures of the flesh. The libraries on Themyscira house all twelve volumes of Clio’s treatises on bodily pleasures. I’ve read all of them. The conclusion was that men may be essential for procreation, but unnecessary when it comes to pleasure.”

“Well then.”

London was nothing like Themyscira when Sara first glimpsed it. While her birthplace was bright and sunny, London was grey and smoggy. Even though it wasn’t pretty, it was still fascinating for Sara to see a city outside Themyscira. She stared around at everything in her path with wonder, asking Leonard questions as they walked through the streets. The war was not unfortunately in London, as Leonard had to deliver Dr. Vostak’s journal to his superiors before he could get her to the front. Sara made him swear again to take her to the war as soon as he brought the journal in. Before any of that could occur, Leonard stepped into a small booth and emerged from it a few minutes later to take her to meet someone.

Once they walked into the lobby of what Sara assumed was an enormous store, Leonard brought her over towards a woman seated in a chair. She locked eyes with Leonard and grinned broadly, rising out of her seat. Her clothing was similar to what other women Sara has seen wearing, colored dark green with golden trim. She ran over and nearly knocked Leonard off his feet with a hug.

“About time you got here,” the woman scolded, but there was a teasing note in her voice. “Here I thought you’d gone and died on me.”

“Not a chance, sis,” Leonard smiled. “After all, I’m a survivor. You know that.”

“Yes, of course,” the woman rolled her eyes before turning to Sara. “So this is the woman you told me about over the phone? The one who saved your life?”

“She is. Lisa, this is Sara. Sara, this is my sister, Lisa. She’s my secretary.”

“Only because Lenny wouldn’t let me be a nurse,” Lisa added. “Becoming his secretary was a compromise so I could still do my part for the war effort.”

“And a secretary is?”

“I’ll tell you later,” Leonard interrupted as a mischievous glint appeared in Lisa’s eyes. “Lisa, did you bring the clothes?”

“Right here,” Lisa passed a cloth bag to Sara. “My brother told me to keep it down to no frills. Just a regular outfit that wouldn’t draw any attention.”

Sara accepted the bag from Leonard’s sister as Lisa lead her to a dressing room. Even though she was already wearing clothing, it was still chilly in London. Having these clothes would allow her to blend in better with the crowds of the city, not to mention provide some extra warmth. All Sara hoped was that she would still be able to fight in the clothing.

Sara emerged from the dressing room. When Leonard saw her, he stared at her for a long minute. It took an elbow to the ribs from Lisa to make him snap out of it and thank her for getting to together on such short notice.

“Now, let’s go to wherever you need to get to, then the war,” Sara stated, picking up the Godkiller and the shield.

“Actually, you might want to pass the sword and shield off to Lisa,” Leonard advised. “She’ll get it back to my office, and we can get it back once we meet with my superiors.”

“Trust me, you don’t want to be running around London with that,” Lisa said. “I promise I’ll keep them safe.”

Sara thought it over before deciding that she would allow herself to trust Lisa.

“Guard these with your life,” she instructed as she passed over the shield and the Godkiller.

“I will,” Lisa told her. “You and Lenny go off and make sure you get the bigwigs to listen to whatever he has to say.”

“Lenny?” Sara bit back her smile as she and Leonard left Lisa and headed out of the building.

“Her nickname for me,” Leonard sighed, walking down the street. “Now, we’ve had enough good luck so far, so let’s get moving before it runs out.”

Leonard had spoken too soon, as the duo ended up being followed by spies of Savage who cornered them in an alley looking for Dr. Vostak’s notebook. Had it not been for Sara’s bracelets, Leonard probably would have been bleeding out on the cobblestones instead of helping her fight the men. Lisa arrived to cut off one’s escape, although a cyanide pill prevented them from getting any information out of him.

Once they finally reached the headquarters, Leonard entered a room and told her to wait outside for a minute. Sara, curious as she was about the world of men, entered to find dozens of them arguing loudly about how to proceed with the war. However, the presence of a woman silenced the group as one man managed to get up and speak, advocating for an armistice after pausing when he saw Sara. A man who Leonard was talking urged the both of them to get out.

After the meeting disbanded, Leonard’s superior came striding out and berated him for interrupting and bringing a woman into the chambers. He countered that he had managed to retrieve Vostak’s notebook and that it needed to be taken to cryptography. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to satisfy the man, who continued to shout at him. Leonard’s eyes darkened and Sara could tell he was getting ready to argue with the man. Fortunately, this never came to pass.

“Captain Snart,” a voice rang out as the man who had spoken for peace approached them. “I’d been told you’d been lost on your last mission. Yet here you stand, alive and well, not to mention with a new friend.”

“Sir, I am very sorry about this-” the general began.

“No, there was no harm done,” the newcomer said, turning his gaze to Sara. “If it weren’t for this woman, the room would have never quieted down for me to get a single word in. Sir Zaman Druce, at your service.”

Sara smiled. “Sara, pri-”

“Sara Lance,” Leonard said quickly. “This is Sara Lance. We’ve started working together. It’s because of her that I managed to survive so you could get Valentina Vostak’s notebook. I have a feeling in the information inside it could alter the way the war is going.”

“You stole this from Vostak?” Druce murmured, taking the notebook in his hands. “General, I think this should go to cryptography immediately, don’t you?”

“Yes, yes, of course,” the general nodded. “I’ll call a meeting of this immediately. Snart, bring Ms. Lance with you.”

“We’ll be there.”

As the general and Druce left, Sara turned to Leonard. “Sara Lance?”

“Best I could come up with on short notice. You’d get more questions if you said princess of Themyscira.”

“Sara Lance,” Sara repeated. “It’s not bad.”

“Sara! Sara, wait!”

Sara ignored Leonard as she made her way down the staircase. The generals hadn’t been able to crack the writing in the journal until Sara realized it was in two different languages that she could read. There was a formula for a gas that was hydrogen-based, which Leonard pointed out would render gas masks useless. It went on to say that the gas would be released at the front, but the officers refused to send in any help to stop it. Sara had exploded at them, calling them all cowards and scolding them with their plans to keep sending in troops to fight rather than trying to stop something that could have massive consequences and prolong the war.

“Sara!” Leonard caught up to her. “I-”

“Those are your leaders?” she snapped at him, stopping on the stairwell. “They hide in their offices like cowards. How can they say things like that and believe them?”

“I don’t know if I even want to get in their heads, but-”

“You told me delivering the journal to them could change things, stop the war even! But you didn’t even fight for that against them.”

“It was a losing battle!” Leonard insisted. “I couldn’t change their minds about this, but that doesn’t matter. We’re going anyways.”

“You lied to them?”

“It’s what spies do,” he shrugged casually.

“If that’s what spies do,” Sara crossed her arms. “How do I know you’re not lying to me right now?”

“Where’s the truth-telling lasso?”

Sara looked around before opening her long coat to reveal it belted to her side. Leonard took the end of it and wrapped it around his wrist.

“I am taking you to the front, Sara. We are probably going to die doing this. This is a-”

Sara pulled it off his wrist before he could go on. “So what do we need to do now?”

“First off, we’re going to need reinforcements.”

When they entered the bar, Sara had not been sure what Leonard was thinking when he said they’d get their reinforcements here. Soon, she was introduced to Francisco Ramon (“Call me, Cisco,” he’d said, giving her hand a shake), who Leonard said was a brilliant undercover operative that also possessed a genius for getting almost anything to work. Leonard slipped off somewhere else for a few moments, giving Sara the chance to talk to Cisco some more. During their conversation, she discovered that Cisco was together with Leonard’s sister.

A brawl broke out on the other side of the bar, only to be broken up by Leonard. Moments later, he brought over one of the men who’d been involved in the fight. He was introduced to them as Mick Rory, an expert marksman, tough fighter, and Leonard’s oldest friends. Sara shook his hand as Leonard ordered a round of drinks for them all and explained his plan. Cisco and Mick weren’t entirely pleased to learn that they wouldn’t be getting paid and more stunned that they were going to take Sara to the front.

Their stunned expressions turned to awed surprise when the man Mick had been fighting with came at them with a gun and Sara threw him across the room.

When Sara returned to the table, Lisa was entering with Druce. Leonard and Mick had their faces schooled into neutral expressions, although Cisco seemed a little more nervous. Druce explained to them that he’d had a feeling Leonard was going to disobey orders and plan a mission all on his own. Sara glanced over at Leonard, wondering how he was going to handle this new curveball.

“Have you come to stop us?” Leonard asked calmly.

Druce shook his head. “Here to aid you, in fact. This is a very honorable thing you’d decided to do, Captain Snart. So I’m come, unofficially, to offer you help. I’m familiar with how you operate, so I assume you’ve already formulated your first plan.”

“If Savage has another weapons facility, we’ll find it and destroy it. Same thing goes for Savage or Vostak. That’s the basics for now.”

“Well, your sister can work out of my office in order for suspicions to be lessened regarding this,” Druce offered, looked to Lisa.

Lisa gave a nod. “I think I could work with that.”

“I also believe you might require some financing,” Druce slid an envelope to Leonard. “This should last you a few days.”

Leonard opened the envelope as Sara peered over his shoulder. Inside was a stack of bills Sara recognized as the currency she’d seen around London.

“Thank you, sir,” Leonard nodded to Druce. “Glad you can see our side of things.”

Druce smiled. “Don’t thank me until you get back, Captain. And best of luck to you all.”

It took a day for the team to get their gear ready and travel towards the front. Sara watched around her as soldiers said farewells to their loved ones and prepared to go off into war. She also saw the ones who were coming back wounded from it, all looking broken down and exhausted. Her mother’s words about never hoping for war came back to mind as Leonard told her those men were the lucky ones since they would be able to make it back home.

After a train and a boat, they walked until nightfall, when they reached a campfire with someone next to it.

“Jax!” Leonard called out.

A young black man turned around from the fire he was tending. “You’re late.”

“It took a while to get things assembled,” Cisco explained, giving him a hug. “It’s been a while.”

“Definitely.”

“How have you been?”

“Not too bad,” Jax looked around them. “I see you’ve got Mick here too.”

“Nice to see you again, kid,” Mick nodded as he took a seat on one of the logs around the fire.

Jax’s eyes fell on Sara. “This?”

“I’m Sara.”

“Jefferson Jackson,” he said, stepping closer and Sara realized how young he was. “I go by Jax.”

“You’re the smuggler Leonard told me about.”

“That I am. Snart, where did you find her?”

“She was the one who found me.”

“His plane crashed and he was about to drown. So I plucked him out of the sea,” Sara watched as Leonard opened a sack. “What’s that?”

“Goods for each side,” Leonard explained. “Tea for one, beer for the other, and books for all. Also, some guns for both too. Jax, how’d you get your hands on these?”

“A truck carrying them might have had some engine trouble,” Jax grinned. “While repairs were happening, I helped myself.”

Leonard gave an impressed nod. “Nice work, kid.”

Sara raised her eyebrows.

After a while of catching up with Jax, the men fell asleep. Sara remained awake though, thinking about what tomorrow could possibly bring her. She was going right up to the fighting, which meant she was getting closer to Ares. Her hand wrapped around the hilt of the Godkiller as she remembered her promise to her sister to end him once and for all. If she was never going to see Laurel again, the least she could do was see that promise through.

Sounds like thunder echoed in the distance, making Sara sit up.

“German 77s,” Jax’s voice said behind her. “They’re some big guns.”

She turned around to see him no longer asleep but sitting upright and tending to the fire.

“There’s no sleep out on the front,” he went on. “Nothing seems to be able to stop the hate there.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Sara murmured. “You smuggle things to both sides. Who are you fighting for in this war?”

“I was born in America,” Jax explained, poking at the fire with a stick. “The British are allies with them, so I’d be happiest if they come out on top. But I don’t really fight in this war.”

“So you’re here for profit?”

“Everyone needs something right now. It’s not like there’s less hate for me back home.”

“You seem nice enough to me. How could someone hate you?”

“Most people just see the color of my skin and assume a mindset. Everyone who looks like me knows at least someone who got killed because of it.”

“How could someone do that to another human?”

“Hate runs deep,” Jax answered. “Some of us are able to escape it more than others. Snart’s one of the luckier ones.”

Sara looked over at where Leonard was sleeping.

“You should get some sleep,” Jax advised. “We’re going to need all the rest we can before we get to the front.”

Their team were the only people heading towards the fighting aside from a few soldiers ahead of them. Everyone else seemed to be fleeing it. Most of them were civilians, dragging along crying children or whipping animals to try and make them go fasters. There were wounded soldiers too, one of whom was missing his legs and screaming on the hill to his fellow men as they passed by. The closer they got, the more shelling they had to dodge. Finally, Jax lead them down a ladder by a destroyed home to a network of trenches dug into the ground.

“You wanted me to take you to the war,” Leonard said to Sara as they walked through the muddy pathways. “Here you are.”

“Then where are the Germans?”

“A couple a’ hundred yards across the field,” Mick answered. “Get down!”

Sara ducked as a spray of dirt rained over her. As she was bending down, a hand grabbed her arm. She turned to see a woman pleaded for help. A baby was cradled in her arms as she explained that the Germans had everything and enslaved those who couldn’t run. The woman seemed ready to break down in tears as she wept it all to Sara.

“Where is this happening?”

“Veld,” the woman told her. “On the other side of No Man’s Land.”

“I’ll help them,” Sara promised before standing up and scanning for Leonard.

When she finally found and approached him, he and Jax had just finished talking with a couple soldiers.

“They say the new safe passage is at least a day away,” Jax told her once she arrived.

Sara shook her head. “We need to go now. There are people enslaved on the other side, their homes and food taken away from them.”

“Sara, we have to stay on mission,” Leonard said. “I know you want to help, but-”

“Innocent people dying and that’s not enough for you to try and cross.”

“This is No Man’s Land,” he explained, ducking down as another shell rained dirt on them. “It means that no man can cross it. These men have been here nearly a year and barely have made progress. Even if they try to cross, there are German soldiers pointing machine guns and ready to open fire at any second. I’m not even sure to where to begin on how to cross it.”

“So we just ignore the suffering?”

“Choices have to made in war, Sara. They’re not always good ones. We came here to stop Savage, and that takes priority over this. I’m sorry.”

Sara looked him dead in the eye. “You said no man can cross it.”

“Not without getting shot to pieces.”

“Then it’s a good thing I am not a man,” Sara smirked before schooling her face into a seriousness. “I came with you to stop Savage and defeat Ares. But I will not walk away from this town, not when these people need help.”

From the coat she wore, Sara withdrew Shado’s tiara. Taking a deep breath, she pushed it into her hair. She would do all she could to make Shado and her mother and Laurel proud. Despite the threat of Ares and Savage and Vostak, this was something she had to do.

She shed her cloak and climbed the ladder up out of the trench.

“Sara!” Leonard shouted.

“What the hell?” Cisco shrieked. “You’re gonna get yourself killed!”

Sara ignored them and stepped onto the land above the trenches. She began to walk forward, watching as a bullet sailed her way from the German side of the trenches. Raising her bracelets, the princess of the Amazons deflected it away from her, doing the same with the next ones that came at her. She kept walking and deflecting, her confidence growing even more with every step that she took.

“Holy shit,” she heard Mick yell from the trenches.

More Germans began to fire at her. Sara picked up her pace from a walk to a run, still deflecting bullets. A shell sailed her way, so she whipped out her shield and used it to knock the projectile far away from her. When she turned back, nearly to the other side, a stream of bullets, probably from the machine gun Leonard was talking about, were being shot right at her. She held the shield up again, bracing herself against the gunfire. Gunshots closer to her rang out and she turned to her left to see Leonard and Mick firing at the Germans in the trench. To her right, Cisco and Jax were doing the very same.

A large explosion in the German trenches sent up a shower of dirt and flame. The gunfire stopped hitting her shield. Sara stood back up and took a running leap into the trenches while the soldiers from the side she had started on came out and ran across the battle field. In the trenches, she continued to fight the German soldiers with Leonard taking out some with his gun. When Sara looked up, she could see what had to be the town of Veld in the distance.

“Leonard!” she called out. When he looked at her, she nodded toward the town with her head. “Let’s go.”

“I’m right behind you!”

Sara made her way through the German soldiers that were in her path, running across buildings until she reached the town square. Leonard, Cisco, Mick, and Jax were close behind her, taking out the soldiers on the ground where they could until they caught up with her. Altogether, they fought all the Germans on the ground until there were no more around. Sara thought the battle was over until a shot rang out and a young villager fell down dead.

“Sniper!” Cisco shouted as dirt sprayed up at Sara’s feet.

“Get everyone back inside,” Leonard shouted. “Mick, bell tower!”

“On it, boss!”

Sara continued to get the rest of the villagers back inside so they wouldn’t be hit by the sniper. She could hear Leonard encouraging Mick to take the shot, but she never heard any come from his gun. Sooner or later, they were going to have to stop the sniper. Otherwise, who knew how many more lives he would take up there.

“Sara!”

She turned to see the men pressed against a large metal door that had come off the tank she’d thrown into the corner of the square. They were moving it upwards now though.

“Shield!” Leonard yelled out.

Of course. She’s learned this strategy on Themyscira from Shado and practiced it often enough with Laurel. Leonard must have seen it used during the battle of the beach. If this was done right, she could get the boost to the bell tower and take out the sniper there.

Sara ran towards the door as fast as she could and leapt up onto it. When she prepared to jump again, she felt herself get boosted upward and soared towards the bell toward with her shield in front of her. As she slammed into the stone, it collapsed around her. Dust filled the air and she had to move a piece of stone off her foot before she could stand back up and walk to the edge of the building. Below, the villagers had now emerged from their houses and were cheering below. They looked so happy that it managed to bring a smile to her own face.

When she got back down, people crowded around her, shaking her hand and thanking her so much for what she had done for them. An elderly gentleman asked to take a photograph of the heroes who had saved Veld from the Germans. Leonard offered a brief explanation of what it was and Sara agreed to join him and the other men of their little team. They had her stand at the center with the other four flanking her.

“Thank you so much,” the man said once it had been taken. “It has been a great honor.”

Once he left, Leonard turned to her. “So, now you’re officially a hero.”

“We all are,” Sara told him.

“Maybe,” Leonard shrugged. “But you’re the one who decided to go save the village. Everyone else would have tried to keep on moving. You’re better than the rest of us, Sara.”

Leonard managed to find a phone in the small town and made a call to Lisa and Druce. Sara listened beside him to everything that was being said. Lisa informed them that she had located Savage at the German High Command a few miles away from Veld and that he was hosting a gala the next day before the armistice was signed. In addition to Savage, Valentina Vostak was also going to be there, so they could stop both of them at once. Unfortunately, that was when Druce ordered them to stay away from the gala to prevent jeopardization of the armistice.

“Well, if we don’t stop Savage from bombing the front lines with Vostak’s gas, there’s not really going to be an armistice happening,” Leonard snarked back.

“Ares would never let that peace happen though,” Sara told Leonard just as something suddenly clicked. She should have figured it out sooner given all Leonard had told her.

“Sara? What is it?”

“I get it now,” she murmured. “Ares developed a weapon. One of the worst ever devised.”

“Ares,” Leonard said slowly. “You mean Savage?”

She shook her head. “He’s Ares. Savage is Ares.”

“Leonard, come on.”

“Thanks but no thanks,” Leonard shook his head. “I need to figure out what we’re going to do tomorrow to get into that gala.”

Cisco dipped his head in a nod. “All right, I’ll leave the architect to his design. But in case you change your mind.”

He placed two mugs of beer on the empty fountain that Leonard and Sara were sitting on before heading back into the tavern to join the villagers’ celebration of the victory.

“A plan will come,” Sara told him, picking up the mug.

Even before Sara realized Savage was Ares, Leonard was still determined to get in and stop him from releasing the gas. However, Druce remained firm that they were to go nowhere near the castle where it was being held. Leonard responded by hanging up on him without another word. They were on their own even more than ever to get into the castle and stop Savage and Vostak. With less than a full day to figure out their plan, they were going to need something soon.

“I hope it does,” Leonard replied, taking his mug and clinking it with hers. “You were incredible out there.”

“Of course I was,” she smirked, taking a sip of the drink while watching the couples sway to music in the square.

“The reason they’re out here right now, laughing instead of hiding away, it’s because of you.”

“It was a combined effort of all of us.”

Leonard noticed she was watching the people now. “Does Themyscira have dancing?”

“It does,” she told him. “This isn’t dancing though. It’s swaying.”

“Swaying, huh? Well, if you’re going into battle with the god of war tomorrow, then I can at least show you how to dance.”

“You mean to sway.”

“In the world of men, this is what dancing is,” he smirked, offering his hand to her. “Shall we?”

“Guess I should know if I’m going to that gala,” Sara agreed, taking his hand.

“Are you sure you want to?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” she scoffed as he led her out among the other swayers.

“You don’t know how to dance.”

“I know how to dance. These people don’t.”

“Then humor me,” he said. “Now put your hand in mine.”

Soon enough, they were swaying together in the square. Sara felt a slight flush start to creep in her cheeks. She was closer to Leonard than she’d ever been before. Yet she didn’t mind the lack of distance between them. If anything, she would say that she liked it.

Someone was singing far behind them. Both turned to see Mick leaning against a piano, providing vocal accompaniment to the man who was playing.

“Unbelievable,” Leonard murmured. “It’s been years since I heard him sing.”

Sara opened her mouth to ask when he’d last heard Mick sing but was distracted by something white falling from the sky. She gazed up as more and more white flakes descended down to the Earth. They stuck to her hair and cloak. The ones that hit her skin gently felt cold.

“It’s snow,” Leonard told her.

Themyscira never had anything like this. It was almost always sunny and warm there. Sometimes there were days when there would be rain, or the morning would bring a cold air that chilled her skin. Sara smiled as she remembered those chilly mornings where she and Laurel would see how many steps they could take across the floor to get to their cloaks. The one who took the fewer steps was the winner between them.

However, seeing snow, something cold and beautiful that never came to the island, felt magical.

“It is, isn’t it?” Leonard said, making Sara realize she’d spoken aloud.

“This we don’t have on the island,” she laughed. “Is this swaying what people do when there aren’t wars?”

“Sometimes. There’s other stuff. They read the paper, they have a breakfast, they go to work. Some of them get married, have some babies, grow old together. I’m pretty sure that’s what they do. I’m not the expert.”

“I wonder what it’s like,” Sara murmured.

Leonard nodded. “Sometimes I do too.”

More snow was falling from the sky now. Leonard reached out and pushed a strand that had caught several flakes back behind her ear. Sara leaned forward a little as he did, now even closer to him. She could feel his breath on her lips before she brushed them against his. Then she found herself closing the distance to kiss him as the snow fell around them

A group of villagers in Veld gave them horses and supplies for their journey to the castle. When they arrived, Jax procured a car parked in a field for Leonard and Cisco to use in order to get in. Sara’s instructions were to wait outside and watch for Savage and Vostak in the event they escaped. But she needed to end Savage- Ares as soon as she saw him and before he could make a move to destroy the armistice. When she saw a woman walking from her car in the blue gown who was just her height, a new plan formulated and she made the decision to act on it.

The woman would be fine. Her head would hurt and she’d be a little cold when she woke up, but fine.

As Sara entered the room where all the attendees were, her eyes landed on Savage almost immediately. Leonard was talking with Vostak by a fireplace and stared at her once he caught sight of her. Sara ignored him and made her way towards Savage, reaching her hand behind her back to withdraw the sword she had placed there. As she did, Savage took a step forward, sweeping her up into a dance.

“Are you enjoying the party?” he asked her, leading her in the steps.

“Maybe, but I don’t know why we’re celebrating.”

“For the German victory, of course.”

“But I have heard peace is coming in the form of the armistice.”

Savage scowled. “The armistice will not last. We are in an endless war. Peace is nothing more than a name.”

Sara had read that before. “Plato.”

“You’re familiar with the ancient Greeks?” Savage sounded pleased. “They understood war, that he was a god. Such gods require human sacrifice, and in return men are given purpose. Men then have a chance to rise up from their petty little lives and be courageous and noble.”

“There are many gods, but only one of them believed that,” Sara said. “And he was wrong.”

Savage chuckled. “And what do you know of the gods?”

Just before she could show him, an aide came up and informed Savage that he was needed elsewhere. Savage gave her an oily smile and told her to enjoy the display before leaving. Sara made to move after him, her hand reaching back for her sword. Again, her hand was caught, and she was pulled into a dance. This time, it was Leonard who stopping her.

“Leonard!” she hissed.

“Sara, I want him dead as much as you do,” he whispered. “But we need Savage to find the gas. If we kill him without that information, then we have no idea where it will be or what he’s going to do with it.”

“It will stop anyways as soon as I kill Ares!” Sara snapped back.

Leonard sighed. “Sara, are you sure there is an Ares? Are you sure that it’s Savage?”

“Yes!” she insisted before something dawned on her. “But you don’t believe me, do you?”

“I want you to be sure you have the right guy before you do this.”

“What I do is not up to you,” Sara spat as she shoved him back and stormed towards the doors.

By the time she was out of the castle, the cannons had just started firing in the direction of Veld. Deep down, Sara knew that it was the gas that Vostak had developed. Leonard was shouting behind her, but she ignored him and made a run for one of the horses she’d ridden her. She shed the dress and mounted the horse, surprising Cisco, Mick, and Jax. No matter how fast she urged the animal on, Sara still arrived to see an orange fog covering the entire village.

Everyone was dead. A whole village she had saved yesterday, and now they were all dead.

When she stumbled out back to her horse, Leonard was coughing by her horse. “Sara?”

“They’re dead. All of them.”

“Shit,” Leonard shook his head. “Sara-”

“No, don’t!” she shook her head. “They would still be alive if you didn’t stop me from killing Ares!”

“Sara, they still would have shot-”

“Get back!” she ordered. She had trusted Leonard, grown closer to him. “It’s not just the Germans Ares corrupted. It’s everyone, even you! I have to end this. I have to kill Ares!”

She climbed back up on her horse when Leonard ran up. “Sara, look at the smoke!”

Her head swiveled to see black smoke rising in the distance.

“I had Cisco, Mick, and Jax follow Savage. The smoke’s coming from where he is. Follow it!”

Sara nodded. “Thank you.”

Savage only noticed her after she broke into the watchtower he was in and she threw one of his soldiers off the edge.

“The woman who knew her Greeks,” he smirked. “What a surprise. However, I have another matter to attend to.”

He quickly drew out his pistol and fired at her. Sara threw up her bracelet, deflecting the bullet right back into the chamber and surprising Savage.

“What…are you?” he growled, now angry.

“You will soon find out.”

He made a run for the window, turning his back to her. Sara ran after him and placed a hand on his shoulder just as he gave an inhuman roar. When he turned back around, there was rage in his eyes that had not been there before. As they fought, she was sure with the sudden strength he had and his attacks with a golden dagger that he had to be Ares. This was what the Amazons had been training her for all those years, yet she let down her guard for him to kick her to the floor.

“You might be magnificent,” Savage taunted, holding the sword over her. “But you are still no match for me.”

When he brought down the sword, Sara savored his shock as she caught it between her hands. “We’ll see about that.”

With that, she rose from the ground and battled harder, as if she was fighting Shado all over again. Even though Savage tried to make an escape on top of the tower, Sara followed him. She managed to throw the lasso around him as she jumped into the air before bringing him down onto the roof. He groaned, not getting up as Sara now towered over him.

“I am Sara of Themyscira, daughter of Dinah, queen of the Amazons. Your wrath upon this world is over. In the name of all that is good in this world, I hereby complete the mission of the Amazons as I rid this world of you forever.”

With that, she drove the sword into Savage’s chest. He tried to rise, but succumbed to the might of the Godkiller.

Sara stood back up.

When she looked back out, the fighting hadn’t stopped. Gas bombs were still being shuttled out towards planes.

“Sara!”

Leonard was standing on the platform below her, staring up at her.

“I killed him,” she murmured.

“I can see that.”

“I killed him and nothing stopped. That’s what was supposed to happen. You kill the god of war, the war ends.”

“We’re gonna do that,” Leonard told her as she jumped down. “We need to stop the gas from going up in those planes.”

Sara shook her head. “But it should have stopped. The fighting should have stopped. How come they’re still loading the planes and fighting?”

“I don’t know!” Leonard shouted. “Sara-”

“I killed Ares, people should stop fighting? I ended this, why are they still going?”

“Because people aren’t always good like you are!” he told her. “You think I’m good? I was a thief and a liar because life made me that way before the war. I’m not the only one. Ares or no Ares, that’s who they are. But there are people who see good and change for the better. That’s what happened to me and a lot of other people. And if we don’t stop this gas, then there’s going to be a lot of people who might never get the chance to be the best version of themselves. Come on, let’s go find the others.”

Sara shook her head. “You go.”

“Sara-”

“I have seen people killing each other because they belong to another side. It’s not right. Before I left Themyscira, my mother told me the world of men does not deserve me. It’s only now I see that she was right.”

Leonard shook his head. “It’s not about who deserves help. Maybe your mom is right and we don’t. After everything I’ve seen in this war, it’s not so much about who deserves what. What matters is that you believe in what you’re fighting for. I want a better world for Lisa and Cisco and Mick and Jax. You have no idea how much I wish it was one guy who I could end and make everything okay, but it’s not one person. We’re all to blame. Everyone has caused misery on someone else whether they know it or not. I know I have.”

“But you’re trying to stop the war.”

“Maybe I am, but it can’t take back all the things I’ve done that hurt people,” he replied. “You bring out the best in people, and you brought out the best in me. If you believe this war should stop, come with us and help stop it. Thousands can be saved if we do this right now.”

Sara gave a ghost of a smile and repeated her words from earlier. “You go.”

Leonard looked disappointed, but turned to climb down the ladder to the ground.

“Whatever you do next, good luck,” he told her before disappearing.

Sara watched him leave with the others and closed her eyes. She had thought had everything worked out. Now she knew she had rushed into this. But she had been so sure it was Savage who was Ares.

Wind brushed her hair and Sara whirled around. Through the window of the booth, she saw a man standing by a desk.

“Who’s there?”

“You’re right, Sara,” a familiar voice chuckled. “The humans don’t deserve our help. They only deserve destruction.”

Sara froze as she stared at Druce. Leonard had asked if she had been certain that Savage was Ares, and she had been. Now she realized that she had been so, so wrong.

“You,” she said. “You’re Ares.”

A cold smile confirmed it. “Indeed I am.”

Sara leaped up and pulled the Godkiller from Savage’s body. When she came leap back down, Ares was in the same place he had been.

“There’s no need for that, Sara,” he sighed. “I am not your enemy. If anything, I’m the only one who truly knows you and knows what the human race is really like. You see it now, but they have always been this way. Weak, cruel, selfish, capable of great atrocities against each other.”

She ran into the room, but no one was there anymore. As Sara walked in further, Ares spoke behind her again.

“The only thing I ever wanted was for the other gods to see how evil my father’s creation was-”

“I am Sara of Themyscira.”

“When they didn’t, I had to destroy them.”

“Daughter of Dinah, and I am here to complete the mission of the Amazons!”

She turned and thrust the Godkiller forward. Ares simply raised his hand as the blade touched it. As she pushed the sword forward, the blade shattered against his hand. Stunned, Sara drew back the useless hilt. This didn’t make sense. It should have killed Ares where he stood.

“How…”

“Oh, you naïve child. The sword is not the Godkiller. You are.”

No.

“Only a god can kill another god,” Ares continued. “The Amazon queen made one daughter out of clay. But Zeus left the child he conceived with her as a weapon to be used against me.”

Sara shook her head. That meant her mother had lied to her and her sister since they were children. However, this was Ares talking. She pulled out the lasso and threw the end around him.

“I command you to tell me the truth,” she ordered.

The god didn’t look fazed. “I am.”

Since his fall, Ares had been lingering about the mortal world for centuries. He spent all that time showing them ideas and providing inspiration for all kinds of things to create war, but the humans had made the choice to start the wars on their own. His role as Zaman Druce had been to set up the armistice since he knew Savage’s attack would break it and keep the war going on and on.

Now, he wanted Sara to join him in driving the humans into extinction. While he explained he first wanted to kill her in London, Ares now saw that the combination of their powers could bring the world back to what it once was. A paradise without mortals to ruin it. It would their ultimate victory, and the Amazons would no longer have to hide themselves on an island.

Sara refused to ally herself with him. Ares tried to persuade her again, but she denied him once more. So the words soon turned to violence between them as he used the lasso to blast the watchtower to pieces. Sara hit the ground hard, but she got right back up to face him. Unfortunately, Ares was prepared, throwing everything and anything in her path. The fight with Savage has been sparring compared to this.

Sara finally managed to run forward and land a punch, sending him sprawling back. When Ares got back up, his fingertips crackled with electricity and a maniacal look was on his face. He was loving this fight, she realized as she threw a case of shells at him. However, he sent them right back at her and quick thinking made her toss a larger shell at the incoming ones. The blast blew her back into the air, a weightless feeling taking over her before she slammed into the ground.

“Sara!” she heard through the ringing of her ears. “Are you alright?”

Leonard was leaning down beside her. She took his hand as he helped her up. He said something that was lost in the ringing.

“What was that?”

He glanced at a plane nearby them. “I have to go.”

“What?” Sara frowned. “What do you mean? Whatever is it, let me come with you.”

“No, I have to bring down the plane. Alone”

The way he said it made her stomach drop. “No. I can do it. Let me do it.”

“It has to be me, Sara. I can save today, but you can save the world.”

Sara shook her head.

“You know, I had a dream last night, about what the future could hold for me…and you…and me and you,” Leonard forced a smile. “Guess it’s going to stay a dream. Too bad we couldn’t get more time.”

“No.”

He slipped his watch into her hand.

“I love you.”

Sara gazed down at it. When she lifted her head, she watched him run towards the plane. “LEONARD!”

He looked back once, but kept running before jumping up onto the plane’s wing as it was still going across the runway. Sara watched as he disappeared into an opening. Seconds later, a soldier toppled out onto the ground and the plane slowly rose into the air. Sara didn’t want to stop watching, but her eyes turned back to the flaming inferno where Ares had been, except there was now an armored figure walking out of it.

Sara started to run at him. She had promised Laurel that she would end Ares and she couldn’t break it now. However, she was now dealing with the swords he sculpted from the shell metal along with everything else around them. Ares formed chains and used them as his own lassos, slamming her into cars with them. Whatever she was dealt with, Sara kept telling herself to get back up and fight. Whether it was hand to hand or using the lasso, she didn’t give in.

Ares lunged at her, wrapping his hand around her throat and flying them into the air. “Is that ALL you have to offer? I thought the Amazons were warriors!”

He brought them down to the ground slamming them into a tank. Sara rolled away from him, but as soon as she got up, two thick bands of metal wrapped around her and threw her down in the ground. They seemed to be coiling tighter and tighter around her. She struggled to free herself as Ares loomed over her.

“My dear, it’s futile to imagine you can win,” he taunted. “Give up now, Sara. Perhaps I shall spare you then.”

Sara turned away from them, only to spot Cisco, Jax, and Mick in the distance. They were exchanging fire with German soldiers from behind a stack of crates but had ran out of ammo. None of them had anything left as the Germans advanced on them. Jax took Cisco’s hand while Mick put himself in front of the two, prepared to take the bullets meant for them.

Unable to watch her friends die, Sara gazed up at the sky where the plane Leonard was on gained more and more altitude.

“Leonard,” she whispered.

Seconds ticked by. Then the plane was engulfed in a fiery explosion that lit up the whole sky.

Sara screamed, pain filling her entire body. Anger followed that, and she found the strength to break out of the metal binding her on the ground. Germans began to fire on her, but Sara deflected the bullets before sprinting towards them. She tore through them, rage over Leonard’s sacrifice fueling her fight.

“Yes, Sara, embrace it,” Ares bellowed as she stood before the flames. “Look at this world. See how ugly mankind have made it. They are ugly with so much hatred, and they are weak like your Captain Snart. He tried to be a hero, but he could never escape being a thief. He deserved what he got.”

“STOP!” Sara roared, running and beating upon him. He didn’t deserve to speak his name. She wanted Ares to feel all pain in the world now.

Ares tossed her off before swiping a hand forward. A car tumbled over itself towards them, spilling out a woman with a mask on half of her face. Sara recognized her as Valentina Vostak. A powerful force ripped the pieces of the mask from her face. Underneath, the skin was melted and twisted, part of the nose deformed, and a sightless eye stared up at her.

“Look at her,” Ares said. “Dr. Vostak is the perfect example of the human evil. She made the gas your captain died to destroy. Now you can end her, Sara. She deserves it, just like every one of them.”

Sara lifted the tank next to her, raising it above Vostak. The scientist stared up at her but did not make a move to run. Ares was right, her gas had set off a reaction that led to Leonard dying. Right now, she could drop this tank on her and kill Vostak. It would be so easy to do it.

“DO IT!” Ares yelled.

Suddenly, Sara thought back to Shado, who put herself between Sara and a bullet so Sara could defeat Ares. She remembered her mother and sister, all the way back on Themyscira. How she had been raised to be good and just, even with her rebellious spirit. Closing her eyes, she remembered the past few days with Leonard, the first man she had met. Fighting side by side, him explaining things to her patiently, dancing in the square, and now saying goodbye.

“I can save today, but you can save the world.” That’s what he had told her.

She couldn’t become a monster like Ares. Maybe Leonard had once been a thief, but he died as a hero. He had died a good man, and there had to be others like him.

“No,” she threw the tank away from Vostak. “You’re wrong about them.

Vostak finally climbed to her feet and fled. Sara didn’t pursue her, instead striding towards Ares.

“They are everything you’ve said,” she told Ares. “But they’re also more than that. And they can change.”

“Lies!” Ares sent a wave of metal spears towards her before leaping at her.

The spears disintegrated before her, as though she was surrounded by some kind of field. When Ares was closer, Sara crossed her bracelets and sent him sprawling back.

Ares now summoned lightning from the sky and threw it at her. “Fool! They don’t deserve your protection!”

“It’s not about who deserves help,” Sara caught the lighting on her bracelets, smiling as it coursed around the metal. “You have to believe in what you’re fighting for. And I don’t believe in fighting for destruction of man. I believe in love.”

“Then I will destroy you, sister!”

More lighting was summoned from the sky and thrown at her. Sara crossed her arms before her, bracing herself as the surge pushed her back. When she straightened up, more lighting was curling around her wrists. It was enough to kill a god.

“Goodbye, brother,” Sara told Ares.

She leapt into the air, hovering there for a second. Closing her eyes, she channeled her collected lighting at the god of war. The warmth of the blast radiated over her as she lowered herself back to the ground. Opening her eyes, she saw a burnt scorch where Ares had been standing as the first rays of light signaled the arrival of dawn.

Turning around, Sara saw Cisco, Mick, and Jax all still alive. German soldiers were getting up from the ground, looking in awe at the pink and red streaked sky. They all looked relieved to be alive, and all started to celebrate their survival. There wasn’t an ounce of the hate she had seen earlier between them. Just joy and happiness.

It was a shame that Leonard hadn’t been able to witness it.

Not too long after the battle with Ares, Sara was back in London. The war was officially over and people were celebrating its end. However, it was a bittersweet occasion for many whose loved ones weren’t coming back. Lisa had been having an especially rough time with it, although Cisco did everything to make sure she knew she wasn’t the only one grieving.

Their little group met up in Trafalgar Square amongst waving flags and happy reunions. Cisco, Mick, Jax, and Lisa were all happy to be together with her, but they were there for a different reason from most people. A board had been put up with pictures and letters of those who lost their lives. Lisa moved forward to tack up a photograph of Leonard in uniform.

Sara gazed at it for a minute, remembering once more their short time together. Her hand reached out to brush the printed face.

He should have been here with them.

She slipped away from the others and moved through the crowd until she reached the edge of the street and stared at the grey clouds above.

Now that the war was over, what was she going to do?

Sara smiled at the photographic plate one more. Then she set it back inside the case and opened her desk drawer. Reaching in, she pulled out Leonard’s watch, running a finger over its face. Years ago, she had worn it, but then decided to keep it tucked away safely so it wouldn’t get damaged. It was the only thing she had left to remind her of him and the first World War, although she knew there was a child, some grandchildren, and also great-grandchildren of Cisco and Lisa out there in the world.

Pulling over her tablet, Sara opened an email to Nyssa.

Thank you for bringing him back to me. Maybe I can tell you my story next time we met.

#legends of tomorrow #captain canary #sara lance #leonard snart #dinah lance #laurel lance #shado fei #lisa snart #zaman druce #vandal savage #valentina vostak #cisco ramon #mick rory #jefferson jackson #wonder woman #au #stillthewordgirl

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dagenspear · 7 years ago

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The “Let’s Save Laurel Lance Fanfic Series”, Part 4: Saving Laurel Lance

Barbara laid the false Dinah face on the table in the batcave, showing Bruce and Dick the evidence of her and Nyssa’s discovery. “Look familiar?”

Bruce closely examined the residue of the face, understanding that the face wasn’t made of human tissue. “Clayface.” “What?” Dick questioned, not understanding. Bruce explained, “It was one of my first cases. Before you were here.” Bruce swiftly moved over to the batcomputer, typing in the info, sifting through his computer files. Barbara continued the explanation. “Dad investigated the case. An actor named Basil Karlo was a hired impersonator by Roland Dagget to steal secrets from competing companies. He paid Karlo in his experimental face cream, which covered his aging, so he could continue to perform as an actor. But Dagget didn’t inform him that extended use caused degradation of the skin underneath. His face was decayed and he was fired by the studio. He snapped, stole Dagget’s cream and used it to impersonate multiple people, including Batman, as he killed the studio’s highest acclaimed actors.” Bruce continued typing, finishing, “I stopped him when he eventually went after Dagget and got them both caught. But in the past few years, Dagget’s cream has been sold by the scientist that made it on the streets. Practically a drug. I’ve been looking into it, pinpointing the location of the seller, based on various accounts of the buyers. If we can find the scientist…” “He might be able to tell us where the person that bought it is.” Dick stated. Barbara then stated, “I’ll call Nyssa. Tell her to be ready.” ————————————- “Please don’t hurt me!” The scientist yelled out, after he’d just witnessed Batman, Batgirl and Robin smash through the windows of his apartment. Barbara confronted him first, intensely making the issue known. “You sold your facial to a someone around the date of April 8th of this past year! Where are they?!” The man went for a knife in his side pocket and Barbara quickly grabbed his arm, twisting it around to his back, slamming him face down onto his kitchen table. Barbara took a moment to take in a deep breath, calming herself, then speaking in the calmest voice possible, “Tell me now or I break your wrist.” The scientist wailed out, “How should I know?! I don’t keep tabs on everyone who buys from me!” Barbara began to twist his wrist. “What about a woman? She would be early to mid 20’s likely. Possibly dark hair. Asian.” The man began to scream as the pain in his wrist increased. “Batgirl.” Bruce sternly protested. But Barbara persisted. She knew what she was doing. Twisting ever so slightly. Finally, the scientist gave in. “I think I know who you’re talking about! She had me deliver it to an address in Keystone! I still remember it!” Barbara released his wrist. “Grab a pen and pad. Write it down.” She stated intently. He did as he was told and gave the address to Barbara, who took it. Bruce walked up to the scientist, asking, “Where’s your lab?” The scientist, holding his hurt wrist, said, “In my spare bedroom. Over there.” He nodded to the door in the corner. Bruce signaled Dick, who took a look, and found the lab. Bruce then told Dick, “Call Gordon, tell him we found the dealer of Roland Dagget’s face cream.” “Let’s go.” Barbara stated, as Bruce cuffed the scientist to his radiator and Dick called Gordon with his communicator. Bruce stepped over to Barbara, asking, “Don’t you think this seems convenient? You get a call from Dinah out of nowhere and the buyer is dumb enough to have the cream delivered to them personally.” Barbara attempted to defend, “She could’ve gotten free long enough to call and there’s any number of reasons the buyer could’ve wanted it delivered.” Bruce corrected with, “Not someone whose detail oriented enough to pull this off without anyone discovering it.” Barbara stated, “Even you mess up sometimes. She made a mistake and we can use it.” Bruce stated again, “Maybe. But we can’t rush in with maybe. Too many variables. Give us time to map the area and we’ll do it tomorrow.” Bruce extended his hand for the paper with the address on it. Barbara knew better than to argue with him, so she agreed. “Fine.” And handed him the paper, before exiting the residence. ——————————————— Barbara landed across the street from the address. Bruce never took her eidetic memory into account. Nyssa landed behind her. “Where are the others?” She asked. Barb responded with, “Batman insisted that we wait, that it might be trap and required more examination. But I don’t want her to be held longer. Who knows why they took her and what they’ve been doing to her?” Babs turned around. “You’re the only backup I have now.” Nyssa gave her a questioning look, before replying. “I can’t fight.” Now it was Barbara’s turn to question. “What?” “I made an oath in Laurel’s name against violence.” Nyssa stated. Barb snapped back with, “Even to save her?! Violence is at its worst when used for the worst reasons. You can’t hide from what you can do. To do better, you use it for what’s right.” Nyssa took a moment. “Maybe Batman was right that we wait. If it’s a trap. Can you honestly tell me that… Dinah, alive or dead, would want you to get yourself killed trying to save her?” Barbara turned away from Nyssa, her back to her, letting the words sink in. “If she’s being hurt, I can’t just do nothing.” Nyssa spoke calmly. “Maybe you have to, to save her.” Barbara bowed her head, her voice raw. “When my mom died, I blamed myself, because she died in a car accident picking me up. My dad blamed himself because he thought she’d been a victim of the dirty cops in the city trying to send a message, so he avoided me out of shame. I felt alone. I thought he hated me.” Barb tried to blink back the tears that began to flow from her eyes. “I was lost. Dinah was the one who showed me that hope existed. That I could be more… She helped me talk with my dad. Helped us grieve together… She helps people.” Babs wiped her tears away, choking up in her voice, then becoming more stern. “And she has a family that uses her to make themselves feel better when they break and need help. But when she breaks and needs it, she’s demonized. Her whole family has given up on her.” Barbara turned back to face Nyssa, face stone cold with resolve. “I won’t. She’s not disposable, or replaceable, or forgettable to me. She’s my hero. She’s always been the Black Canary to me.” Barb stepped up closer to Nyssa, staring into her eyes. “Think about that and tell me that I should let her be hurt more.” Nyssa’s eyes reflected the understanding of Barbara’s words and simply nodded in it, then saying, “We still need to be smart though. We get in, quietly, no violence and get her out. The siblings of silk are proficient fighters. We can’t risk engaging in a battle, regardless of my vow.” Nyssa takes in a breath, with the words, “It’s times like this when I wish I hadn’t disbanded the League. An army of ninjas would be beneficial at a moment like this.” Nyssa gave a small smirk to Barbara, who returned it. “I’ll scan the area for all entrances-” Barbara immediately registered the situation as Nyssa grabbed her neck for the tranq dart. Barb quickly pulled her batarang in preparation for a fight. But they got her too. Just under her chin. The only cleanly bare skin of her body in the suit. As she passed out, the thought occurred to Barbara that it wasn’t very tactical to keep half of your face bare when fighting crime now that she thought about it. ——————————————————– Barbara awakened, the fortune of a splitting headache making her regret it. A male voice echoed, “She’s awake, Sister.” Barbara’s vision cleared just in time to see an asian woman bring a samurai sword under her chin. Barb could feel that her cowl was still on. But not for long, as the male speaker, Brother, pulled it back, off of her face. The Sister registered her face for a brief second, then spoke, “You’re not Sara Lance.” Barbara cocked an eyebrow, mockingly saying, “I’m not? That’s a relief.” She let out a faux exasperated breath. Sister then pressed the sword slightly into her neck, just barely drawing blood. Barb flinched in pain, but kept her face stern. Sister continued, intensely saying, “The trap was meant for her. You’re with Nyssa Al Ghul, why is Sara Lance not with you?” Barbara took in a breath, understanding that Bruce was right. It had been a trap. But even if she’d known, she’d still have done something. It didn’t matter much at the end of the day. Just with the execution. The thought registered with Barbara that maybe this had all been a convoluted con. So, she decided to figure out the truth: “Why would Sara be here?” Sister stared at her for a second, then responding, “I instructed her sister Dinah Laurel Lance to contact her. It took months of hypnosis and brainwashing to get her to comply to that much. But she broke eventually. Everyone does.” Barbara blinked back a swelling of emotions from that statement, from more than a few things: The anger at the brainwashing. the relief that Dinah was alive and the question of why she called her. With a stare of determination, Barbara asked, “Where is Dinah? Why’d you fake her death, just to have her phone Sara?” Sister turned Barbara’s head with her sword to look into the corner of the room, where she saw Dinah chained up, conscious, but completely unresponsive. Barbara turned her head away back up to Sister. “ Let her go!” Barb yelled out in anger. Sister dropped the sword away from Barbara. “It was really as simple as waiting for the right moment to take her. After that, Ms. Lance was very stubborn. It took a yellow pill that we acquired from the remnants of Hive to make her compliant. Even then she insisted that Sara was time traveling under the name White Canary. I was concerned that her mind had fractured under the drug, hypnosis and torture, so I told her to call her sister. But you’re not Sara.” Barbara seethed as she looked back over at Dinah, recognizing the eyes of her friend nearly dead to the world. Glaring up at Sister, Barbara, continuing the questioning, “So you tortured Dinah just to what?! Kill Sara?! Dinah did nothing to you!” Sister smirked. “Are all Americans so simplistic in their revenge?” Sister walked over to Dinah chained to the wall. “After the yellow pill made Ms. Lance malleable, she was easily trained.” Sister unhooked the chains from around Dinah’s wrists. “I made her into an instrument of death, like me and my brothers. Sara was supposed to be here and would’ve been forced to battle her sister who was trying to kill her. Making it so she either kills her sister herself or the last thing she sees is her face as she’s killed. If she’d lived, she’d practically beg me to kill her. And I’d be merciful. But you caused a hiccup in my plan. It doesn’t matter.” Sister handed her samurai sword to Dinah, who took it. “I’ll find her. But there’s no harm in making certain she can finish Sara off if the time comes. We haven’t had her kill anyone yet.” Sister looks to Dinah. “Dinah Laurel Lance. Kill her.” Dinah immediately responded to Sister’s voice, lifting the sword, as she approached Barbara. She paused when her eyes fully landed on her uncowled face, a glisten appearing in her eyes. Barbara saw it. She saw Dinah register her. She saw her. “Dinah? It’s me. I’m here. I came to save you.” Dinah snapped out of the emotion she was feeling, brushing off the distinct control of herself trying to claw back into control. And she brought the sword to Barbara’s throat. Barbara held her breath, trying to choke back the tears that were coming to her eyes. “Please don’t do this! The drugs are just chemical suggestion! You can break it. I know you don’t wanna be this. You’re strong enough to fight it.” Tears began to run down Barb’s cheeks, as she forced herself to look back into Dinah’s eyes, despite the fear of not seeing her best friend in there. “I don’t want my best friend to kill me. Please…” She pleaded, her voice choking, as she stared into Dinah’s eyes. Dinah eye’s caught hers and she stared back for just a second. Barbara saw the tears flow from Dinah’s eyes, as she blinked them back, shaking her head only slightly… Dinah’s face straightened, as she took in a deep breath of relief and looked right back into Barbara’s eyes, her best friend’s eyes, and showed her with a small smile that she was her again. Barbara knew it and returned the small smile as subtley as she could. Sister spoke from behind Dinah, coming up directly behind her, angry at the holding off of her order. “Kill. Her. Now.” Dinah’s eyes shifted down to Barbara’s hands bound to the chair. Barbara calmly closed her eyes in response, understanding the meaning. Dinah lifted the samurai sword and brought it down by Barbara’s hand slicing right through her bonds. And just as quickly brought the butt of the sword into Sister’s face. As Barb threw her elbow behind her to hit the Brother in the stomach. Dinah swiped the sword into the above head light bulb, smashing it, dropping darkness over the room. It gave Barbara time to unstrap her other hand and legs. She felt her hand be taken, knowing it was Dinah and let her lead her out of the room, closing the door to the room, just as they saw Sister recognize them escaping. Dinah locking it from the outside. Barbara turned to face Dinah and hugged her, as tight as she possibly could, burying her face into her shoulder, blinking back tears of joy, thanking God so much for this. “You’re actually alive.” Dinah patted her on the back, holding her as well, smiling. “I won’t be for very long with how you’re hugging me.” Barbara chuckled and let go, stepping back. “I’ve really missed you.” Dinah took in a breath of the whole situation, before simply saying, “I missed you too.” Babs took a look back and forth through the hallway they now stood in, then looking back to Dinah. “Do you happen to know where they’re holding Nyssa?” Dinah did a double take. “What? Nyssa’s here?” Barbara nodded. “No then.” Dinah thought for a moment. “I have an idea. The indoctrination room. That’s what they called where they’d pump me with… those… pills to keep me compliant.” Dinah looked down, almost feeling shame at being force fed pills. Barbara read her face, understanding her conflict, saying, “We’ll talk about it when we’re out of here.” She took Dinah’s hand, comfortingly. Dinah nodded, then switching gears into determination. “We need to save Nyssa first.”

TO BE CONTINUED…

Please review!

#laurel lance #barbara gordon #anti arrow #nyssa al ghul #anti olicity

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bellabooks · 7 years ago

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National Coming Out Day: Happy coming out stories to warm your heart

Today is National Coming Out Day, where we celebrate the courage it takes to truly be oneself. Many of us have had difficult coming out experiences, but there is also a lot of joy to be had out there when you are embraced lovingly by friends and family. Here are some coming out stories that will give you hope, and put a smile on your face. “My name is Ariel and I am fairly fresh out of the closet. My journey began about two and a half years ago when I saw Sara Lance kiss Nyssa al-Ghul on Arrow. Before that point, I had been exceptionally good at convincing myself that I was straight, because in my mind, that was the safest bet. I know now that that had everything to do with the heavy dose of compulsory heterosexuality that I had been given when was growing up. My gym teacher in elementary school was a lesbian and by the way that my classmates talked about her, I got it in my head that I didn’t want to be like her because I didn’t want to be made fun of like that. Seeing this saddened me because I had been taught by my mom at an early age that love is love and it shouldn’t matter who you fall in love with. In school, I had to argue against gay marriage and it took everything in my not to burst into tears during the debate because everything that came out of my mouth was a lie. I got uncomfortable when my softball teammates would talk about how they couldn’t believe that people were gay and how wrong they thought it was. As a result, I stayed firmly in the closet for a very long time. I couldn’t bring myself to open up to a world that believed that I was wrong and gross. Every time I would make a move to step towards coming out, I would see or hear something that would send me right back in. Lexa dying destroyed me and all but made me lock the door from the inside. It took some time but slowly, I immersed myself in positive media, mostly bi and lesbian Youtubers, and I worked my way up to coming out to my mom, who long ago told me that she would love me no matter who I ended up loving (she definitely saw it coming before I did). I then told the rest of my family and a few peers of mine. At this point, I am comfortable with who I am, but I only tell people when they ask because I still can’t get past the hate that I saw early on.” – @RoseWilliams157 “I mustered up the courage to tell my mother that I was a lesbian over the Holidays when I was in college. I sat her down and told her expecting the crying and hugging that you see on all of the coming out stories on TV. Instead she said, “Oh I gotta tell Trish! She’s been saying you were a lesbian for years!” Trish is my mom’s best friend and apparently has impeccable gaydar.” – @ellieb2792 “The first family members I came out to were my three brothers. I knew that if I had them in my corner, I’d have the strength I needed to come out to my parents. (Which went surprisingly well.) All three brothers had different, but great reactions. The youngest one said, ‘Figures. You own a lot of flannel and listen to Melissa Etheridge, so, that’s cool.’ Second oldest was surprised, just because he never thought about my love life. He told me, ‘Anyone you want to bring over is welcome in our home.’ The oldest had thought about my love life, apparently, and said, ‘Yeah, I already guessed that, and I’m totally good with it. Thanks for telling me.’ No fuss. They basically just shrugged, told me we’re good, which was exactly how my brothers are, and how I needed them to be.” – @jerzeyredhead “I can’t really remember when I came out. On the one hand that makes sense, because coming out is something you do in stages, and you do it over and over again. I know I came out to my immediate family four separate times, but I only had to come out to my two best friends once. I believe I was twenty-three years old when I told them, which would have made the year 2009. Bestie M and I were walking around the local Borders Bookstore, one of our favorite ways to kill time. We liked to walk through the aisles and push the books back against the shelf so you could see the different size and shape of each spine. (Bestie M now works for the Library and she has since told me what an annoying thing that was for us to do to the employees, so I apologize.) She could sense that something was wrong. I wasn’t making eye contact, and anything she said to me was met with a monosyllabic response. When we got back to the car I told her that there was something I needed to say. What I remember most about that moment was the fear. I was so intensely afraid I would lose my best friend that even now, all these years later, my heart races just thinking about it. I told her I was gay and she said ‘Okay’. I know she told me she loved me, but I think I stopped forming memories the second I heard those four little words. She asked if she could hug me and I said ‘Okay.’ Bestie J and I were hanging out at the movie theater. We had a few people with us, killing time at the bar before or after the show. She and I were walking back from the bathroom. Despite my very positive experience with Bestie M, I was still terrified. I told her I was gay and she said something like “Gay? Not bisexual? Oh. Alright!”. But it was the fear in my eyes, not my admission that broke her stride. She grabbed my arm and looked me in the face. ‘Lara, you know this doesn’t change anything between us, right?” I didn’t know that, but I know it now. I knew it from that moment on.’ – Bella debut author, Lara Hayes “So I think first and foremost it should be said that I am a Baptist minister’s daughter with a very religious family from SC. However, we were never taught to hate anyone no matter their skin color, religion or sexuality. But when I accepted that I was a lesbian at the ripe old age of 17, I started to think that it was okay for everyone else to be gay, but not me. Fast forward a year to Sept. 15, 2006. I’ve graduated from high school earlier in the year and I’m dating my first girlfriend. My girlfriend and I had a wonderful evening together and sleep over. The next morning when we woke up around 2, I had a ton of missed texts and calls from my father. I had told him I was staying at my friend Jessie’s house because I assumed he did not know where she lived. Apparently he did. I also thought, ‘If I tell them I’m staying at Heather’s, they’ll know I’m gay.’ So I called my dad and continued to lie about where I was saying that Jessie and I had gone to brunch. He said, ‘Stop lying to me. You’re at Heather’s aren’t you?’ I immediately said yes and he told me to come home so we could talk about it. Heather was amazing about the whole thing and said, ‘If you get kicked out, you can come to me and if I don’t hear from you for a while, I’ll understand and will be waiting.’ I drove home and thus began hours of conversation about my sexuality. Am I gay, am I bi, it is a phase? Yada yada. My mom ignored me for a good portion of the day. My dad turned to me and said, ‘I’m not mad that you’re gay. I’m mad that you lied to me (about where I was).’ After my mother took a nap, she said she was going to go for a drive and my dad followed her. They ended up talking for hours outside. Now you might wondering why I remember the date so well. Well, the day I came out was also my mom’s birthday. Happy Birthday! I’m a huge homo! So I went to my car to get my mother’s birthday present and even though I’m sure it didn’t happen exactly this way, I just remember coming back in and my mom had done a 180. She was happy and excited and everything was back to normal. It has taken my mom a long time to come to terms with it and be happy for me. For a long time she said, “I’m just praying to G-d for guidance.” And even though a lot of people would roll their eyes at her for saying that, I knew that was how my mom was wrapping her head around it and accepting me. 10 years later, my mom and dad have both accepted me and my mother is a HUGE ally for the LGBTQIA community and I no longer feel awkward or weird to tell my parents I’m going on a date. Now I just gotta tell my sister…” – @kaitlynkrieg “Within six months of my falling in love with a woman for the first time, I had come out to my close friends and my sister. But it took me almost four years to come out to my parents. I initially decided I wouldn’t tell them until the topic became relevant, i.e. I was dating a woman and needed to explain. But my singleness lasted longer than my ability to keep that part of me secret. On New Years Eve of 2016, my parents and I were having dinner at an Italian restaurant. As I was staring at my plate, not registering how the food was tasting, I struggled to find the preamble I had rehearsed in my head. Finally, I brought up the woman I had fallen in love with years ago and that was my segue into blurting out that I date both men and women. I started bawling, not even caring that other customers or the wait staff may have been looking at me. My mom held my hand and told me she loved me. My dad kissed my cheek, rubbed my back, and told me everything was okay. They asked me if I had been wanting to tell them for a while and I said yes. They said that I didn’t have to tell them because they already knew. I corrected them by saying it was important for me to be able to finally tell them. I wiped my tear soaked face, we finished dinner, and then we welcomed 2017 with champagne.” – @nicclee “My first coming out occurred when I was 14. I was in a domestic science class when a classmate suddenly asked me about sexual orientations. I explained the differences and there was nothing more to it. Later that week when I was in church during a lunch break (the church was next door to the school and had “open doors” during our lunch breaks) another classmate, out of nowhere, asked me about my sexual orientation. I, who always felt welcomed in the church, answered and the youth leader, who overheard this, and embraced me with such warmth it made me feel so secure. So the church became my safe place and I have never ever met anything negative about me being not straight in church.” – @Lutter_Lappri “Alright, so I had been showing signs for most of my life but you know, I’m like 8. I don’t know why I admire Miley Cyrus so much. My brother also had a friend who was a girl and she was so pretty, and so nice and amazing. Totally a crush on her (I literally called her everyday, it was ridiculous). But crushes all around and mostly on girls. So right around the age of 12, like when the gay starts getting stronger and more relevant, I go on Facebook. I am just browsing and I get a message and its from one of my close friends at the time. She states that she has to tell me something important, and then tells me that she’s bisexual. I was confused as hell on what that could mean and then she tells me. My kind is blown. Literally. I am being honest with you. I didn’t know it was possible to like both girls and guys AT THE SAME TIME WOW. Anyways, I was like “wow this explains so much to me” so I go on knowing I’m bisexual, and experiment like everyone else does. My brother knew I liked girls, when I told him and he just didn’t really care. My mom however had to warm up to the thought but now she makes closet jokes whenever possible. I don’t think my dad knows but that’s because we aren’t very close but I feel like he would be fine with it.” – @silkythunder “Growing up in a conservative, religious family in a very rural area meant my parents had rigorous views of the world. Coming out was one of my biggest fears. While I knew from the time I was 12 that I liked women the way I was “supposed” to like men, I worked to keep my secret from everyone. I dated my first girlfriend for four years—all while hiding carefully in the closet. Over the years, I gradually told a few select people. By the time I hit my late twenties, all of my friends knew, and I knew it was time to talk to my parents. We had always been close and I knew how they viewed homosexuality, so I felt like I had a lot to lose. I visited my parents one October, right before my 27th birthday. I waited for an opportunity, continually finding excuses to stay silent. I knew I couldn’t tell my entire family at once. I didn’t feel strong enough to watch several people I love turn their backs on me in unison. I was terrified, but also very much in love and determined. One evening during my visit, I was finally alone with my mother. I knew it was time. I opened my mouth to speak, but words failed me. She pried, asking what was wrong. I shut my mouth and shook my head. After another round of questions, I blurted out that I had to tell her something. She sat down facing me and told me she had a hunch about what I might want to say. Calmly, she explained that she knew I was a lesbian and knew I was dating my ‘best friend.’ She then told me that it didn’t change anything and she poured us both a margarita. I cried, and she hugged me. Life went forward as normal that night, with her telling me she would tell my father and things would be okay. The celebration was short-lived, as my gayness became reality—instead of an assumption they had held for years. My mother’s acceptance, I later found out, was more shock than truth. Over the course of the next several months, there were difficulties, a lot of intense discussions, more than a few times when my calls went unanswered, some hurtful words, and even a period of time when we did not speak. My mother had always been my best friend, so the distance stung. One day, she called out of the blue to tell me she missed me. We talked with the closeness we had before I came out. Over time, we talked about the “difficult time” we had endured in that emotional distance, and we never returned to the ugly place of silence and judgment that had marked the previous months. After she took some time to sort out her feelings, the entire family came around and eventually asked to meet the love of my life. They love me unconditionally, and they welcome her into their home (and our family) with open arms. While they still say they don’t understand, they have made leaps and bounds in their willingness to let go of their narrow ideas of the world. My family is still making progress, and I know they are working on it. It was rocky, but it definitely has turned out to be a happy ending. Coming out and knowing that my family loves me—with full knowledge of who I am—was the best decision I ever made (well, aside from asking my lovely fiancée to marry me).” – Bella author Riley Scott “My coming out story starts with a note-to-self: don’t make jokes when you tell your mother you’re A: probably gay and B: definitely dating a woman. To sum it up: I made so many “let’s face it, it could have been way worse”-jokes when I came out to my mother at 28 that she was actually relieved when it turned out I was “just” dating a woman. She cried for about 3 mins and asked me not to tell my father. She lasted 12 hours before telling him herself. He called me and asked: “Is she hot?” I said yes. He answered “good” and then wondered if I had seen the last ep of his favourite English whodunnit. My father is a taciturn man. They’ve had a great journey. My now 75-year-old mother and father used to be openly and loudly homophobic. These days, they would happily walk in the “proud parents”-section at Pride. My father cried when my girlfriend dumped me. They’ve never been ashamed or hid that I was with a woman. Then again: we’re Swedish and Sweden isn’t a homophobic country anymore. Being a homophobe is considered very bad form. So the punchline probably is: people can change. Even nations can change. I think that’s a pretty happy coming out-story. – @ClillaryHinton1 “My story is actually kinda funny because when I was in 8th grade I started using Tumblr and my mom found out and asked to see my page which was very gay at the time but at the end of the night my mom, dad and I were all happy and they are still very supportive.” – @erin_tierney2 Photos via Pixabay http://dlvr.it/PtsLRf

#News #coming out #National Coming out Day

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dagenspear · 7 years ago

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The “Let’s Save Laurel Lance Fanfic Series”, Part 4: Saving Laurel

Barbara laid the false Dinah face on the table in the batcave, showing Bruce and Dick the evidence of her and Nyssa's discovery. "Look familiar?" Bruce closely examined the residue of the face, understanding that the face wasn't made of human tissue. "Clayface." "What?" Dick questioned, not understanding. Bruce explained, "It was one of my first cases. Before you were here." Bruce swiftly moved over to the batcomputer, typing in the info, sifting through his computer files. Barbara continued the explanation. "Dad investigated the case. An actor named Basil Karlo was a hired impersonator by Roland Dagget to steal secrets from competing companies. He paid Karlo in his experimental face cream, which covered his aging, so he could continue to perform as an actor. But Dagget didn't inform him that extended use caused degradation of the skin underneath. His face was decayed and he was fired by the studio. He snapped, stole Dagget's cream and used it to impersonate multiple people, including Batman, as he killed the studio's highest acclaimed actors." Bruce continued typing, finishing, "I stopped him when he eventually went after Dagget and got them both caught. But in the past few years, Dagget's cream has been sold by the scientist that made it on the streets. Practically a drug. I've been looking into it, pinpointing the location of the seller, based on various accounts of the buyers. If we can find the scientist..." "He might be able to tell us where the person that bought it is." Dick stated. Barbara then stated, "I'll call Nyssa. Tell her to be ready." ------------------------------------- "Please don't hurt me!" The scientist yelled out, after he'd just witnessed Batman, Batgirl and Robin smash through the windows of his apartment. Barbara confronted him first, intensely making the issue known. "You sold your facial to a someone around the date of April 8th of this past year! Where are they?!" The man went for a knife in his side pocket and Barbara quickly grabbed his arm, twisting it around to his back, slamming him face down onto his kitchen table. Barbara took a moment to take in a deep breath, calming herself, then speaking in the calmest voice possible, "Tell me now or I break your wrist." The scientist wailed out, "How should I know?! I don't keep tabs on everyone who buys from me!" Barbara began to twist his wrist. "What about a woman? She would be early to mid 20's likely. Possibly dark hair. Asian." The man began to scream as the pain in his wrist increased. "Batgirl." Bruce sternly protested. But Barbara persisted. She knew what she was doing. Twisting ever so slightly. Finally, the scientist gave in. "I think I know who you're talking about! She had me deliver it to an address in Keystone! I still remember it!" Barbara released his wrist. "Grab a pen and pad. Write it down." She stated intently. He did as he was told and gave the address to Barbara, who took it. Bruce walked up to the scientist, asking, "Where's your lab?" The scientist, holding his hurt wrist, said, "In my spare bedroom. Over there." He nodded to the door in the corner. Bruce signaled Dick, who took a look, and found the lab. Bruce then told Dick, "Call Gordon, tell him we found the dealer of Roland Dagget's face cream." "Let's go." Barbara stated, as Bruce cuffed the scientist to his radiator and Dick called Gordon with his communicator. Bruce stepped over to Barbara, asking, "Don't you think this seems convenient? You get a call from Dinah out of nowhere and the buyer is dumb enough to have the cream delivered to them personally." Barbara attempted to defend, "She could've gotten free long enough to call and there's any number of reasons the buyer could've wanted it delivered." Bruce corrected with, "Not someone whose detail oriented enough to pull this off without anyone discovering it." Barbara stated, "Even you mess up sometimes. She made a mistake and we can use it." Bruce stated again, "Maybe. But we can't rush in with maybe. Too many variables. Give us time to map the area and we'll do it tomorrow." Bruce extended his hand for the paper with the address on it. Barbara knew better than to argue with him, so she agreed. "Fine." And handed him the paper, before exiting the residence. --------------------------------------------- Barbara landed across the street from the address. Bruce never took her eidetic memory into account. Nyssa landed behind her. "Where are the others?" She asked. Barb responded with, "Batman insisted that we wait, that it might be trap and required more examination. But I don't want her to be held longer. Who knows why they took her and what they've been doing to her?" Babs turned around. "You're the only backup I have now." Nyssa gave her a questioning look, before replying. "I can't fight." Now it was Barbara's turn to question. "What?" "I made an oath in Laurel's name against violence." Nyssa stated. Barb snapped back with, "Even to save her?! Violence is at its worst when used for the worst reasons. You can't hide from what you can do. To do better, you use it for what's right." Nyssa took a moment. "Maybe Batman was right that we wait. If it's a trap. Can you honestly tell me that... Dinah, alive or dead, would want you to get yourself killed trying to save her?" Barbara turned away from Nyssa, her back to her, letting the words sink in. "If she's being hurt, I can't just do nothing." Nyssa spoke calmly. "Maybe you have to, to save her." Barbara bowed her head, her voice raw. "When my mom died, I blamed myself, because she died in a car accident picking me up. My dad blamed himself because he thought she'd been a victim of the dirty cops in the city trying to send a message, so he avoided me out of shame. I felt alone. I thought he hated me." Barb tried to blink back the tears that began to flow from her eyes. "I was lost. Dinah was the one who showed me that hope existed. That I could be more... She helped me talk with my dad. Helped us grieve together... She helps people." Babs wiped her tears away, choking up in her voice, then becoming more stern. "And she has a family that uses her to make themselves feel better when they break and need help. But when she breaks and needs it, she's demonized. Her whole family has given up on her." Barbara turned back to face Nyssa, face stone cold with resolve. "I won't. She's not disposable, or replaceable, or forgettable to me. She's my hero. She's always been the Black Canary to me." Barb stepped up closer to Nyssa, staring into her eyes. "Think about that and tell me that I should let her be hurt more." Nyssa's eyes reflected the understanding of Barbara's words and simply nodded in it, then saying, "We still need to be smart though. We get in, quietly, no violence and get her out. The siblings of silk are proficient fighters. We can't risk engaging in a battle, regardless of my vow." Nyssa takes in a breath, with the words, "It's times like this when I wish I hadn't disbanded the League. An army of ninjas would be beneficial at a moment like this." Nyssa gave a small smirk to Barbara, who returned it. "I'll scan the area for all entrances-" Barbara immediately registered the situation as Nyssa grabbed her neck for the tranq dart. Barb quickly pulled her batarang in preparation for a fight. But they got her too. Just under her chin. The only cleanly bare skin of her body in the suit. As she passed out, the thought occurred to Barbara that it wasn't very tactical to keep half of your face bare when fighting crime now that she thought about it. -------------------------------------------------------- Barbara awakened, the fortune of a splitting headache making her regret it. A male voice echoed, "She's awake, Sister." Barbara's vision cleared just in time to see an asian woman bring a samurai sword under her chin. Barb could feel that her cowl was still on. But not for long, as the male speaker, Brother, pulled it back, off of her face. The Sister registered her face for a brief second, then spoke, "You're not Sara Lance." Barbara cocked an eyebrow, mockingly saying, "I'm not? That's a relief." She let out a faux exasperated breath. Sister then pressed the sword slightly into her neck, just barely drawing blood. Barb flinched in pain, but kept her face stern. Sister continued, intensely saying, "The trap was meant for her. You're with Nyssa Al Ghul, why is Sara Lance not with you?" Barbara took in a breath, understanding that Bruce was right. It had been a trap. But even if she'd known, she'd still have done something. It didn't matter much at the end of the day. Just with the execution. The thought registered with Barbara that maybe this had all been a convoluted con. So, she decided to figure out the truth: "Why would Sara be here?" Sister stared at her for a second, then responding, "I instructed her sister Dinah Laurel Lance to contact her. It took months of hypnosis and brainwashing to get her to comply to that much. But she broke eventually. Everyone does." Barbara blinked back a swelling of emotions from that statement, from more than a few things: The anger at the brainwashing. the relief that Dinah was alive and the question of why she called her. With a stare of determination, Barbara asked, "Where is Dinah? Why'd you fake her death, just to have her phone Sara?" Sister turned Barbara's head with her sword to look into the corner of the room, where she saw Dinah chained up, conscious, but completely unresponsive. Barbara turned her head away back up to Sister. " Let her go!" Barb yelled out in anger. Sister dropped the sword away from Barbara. "It was really as simple as waiting for the right moment to take her. After that, Ms. Lance was very stubborn. It took a yellow pill that we acquired from the remnants of Hive to make her compliant. Even then she insisted that Sara was time traveling under the name White Canary. I was concerned that her mind had fractured under the drug, hypnosis and torture, so I told her to call her sister. But you're not Sara." Barbara seethed as she looked back over at Dinah, recognizing the eyes of her friend nearly dead to the world. Glaring up at Sister, Barbara, continuing the questioning, "So you tortured Dinah just to what?! Kill Sara?! Dinah did nothing to you!" Sister smirked. "Are all Americans so simplistic in their revenge?" Sister walked over to Dinah chained to the wall. "After the yellow pill made Ms. Lance malleable, she was easily trained." Sister unhooked the chains from around Dinah's wrists. "I made her into an instrument of death, like me and my brothers. Sara was supposed to be here and would've been forced to battle her sister who was trying to kill her. Making it so she either kills her sister herself or the last thing she sees is her face as she's killed. If she'd lived, she'd practically beg me to kill her. And I'd be merciful. But you caused a hiccup in my plan. It doesn't matter." Sister handed her samurai sword to Dinah, who took it. "I'll find her. But there's no harm in making certain she can finish Sara off if the time comes. We haven't had her kill anyone yet." Sister looks to Dinah. "Dinah Laurel Lance. Kill her." Dinah immediately responded to Sister's voice, lifting the sword, as she approached Barbara. She paused when her eyes fully landed on her uncowled face, a glisten appearing in her eyes. Barbara saw it. She saw Dinah register her. She saw her. "Dinah? It's me. I'm here. I came to save you." Dinah snapped out of the emotion she was feeling, brushing off the distinct control of herself trying to claw back into control. And she brought the sword to Barbara's throat. Barbara held her breath, trying to choke back the tears that were coming to her eyes. "Please don't do this! The drugs are just chemical suggestion! You can break it. I know you don't wanna be this. You're strong enough to fight it." Tears began to run down Barb's cheeks, as she forced herself to look back into Dinah's eyes, despite the fear of not seeing her best friend in there. "I don't want my best friend to kill me. Please..." She pleaded, her voice choking, as she stared into Dinah's eyes. Dinah eye's caught hers and she stared back for just a second. Barbara saw the tears flow from Dinah's eyes, as she blinked them back, shaking her head only slightly... Dinah's face straightened, as she took in a deep breath of relief and looked right back into Barbara's eyes, her best friend's eyes, and showed her with a small smile that she was her again. Barbara knew it and returned the small smile as subtley as she could. Sister spoke from behind Dinah, coming up directly behind her, angry at the holding off of her order. "Kill. Her. Now." Dinah's eyes shifted down to Barbara's hands bound to the chair. Barbara calmly closed her eyes in response, understanding the meaning. Dinah lifted the samurai sword and brought it down by Barbara's hand slicing right through her bonds. And just as quickly brought the butt of the sword into Sister's face. As Barb threw her elbow behind her to hit the Brother in the stomach. Dinah swiped the sword into the above head light bulb, smashing it, dropping darkness over the room. It gave Barbara time to unstrap her other hand and legs. She felt her hand be taken, knowing it was Dinah and let her lead her out of the room, closing the door to the room, just as they saw Sister recognize them escaping. Dinah locking it from the outside. Barbara turned to face Dinah and hugged her, as tight as she possibly could, burying her face into her shoulder, blinking back tears of joy, thanking God so much for this. "You're actually alive." Dinah patted her on the back, holding her as well, smiling. "I won't be for very long with how you're hugging me." Barbara chuckled and let go, stepping back. "I've really missed you." Dinah took in a breath of the whole situation, before simply saying, "I missed you too." Babs took a look back and forth through the hallway they now stood in, then looking back to Dinah. "Do you happen to know where they're holding Nyssa?" Dinah did a double take. "What? Nyssa's here?" Barbara nodded. "No then." Dinah thought for a moment. "I have an idea. The indoctrination room. That's what they called where they'd pump me with... those... pills to keep me compliant." Dinah looked down, almost feeling shame at being force fed pills. Barbara read her face, understanding her conflict, saying, "We'll talk about it when we're out of here." She took Dinah's hand, comfortingly. Dinah nodded, then switching gears into determination. "We need to save Nyssa first."

TO BE CONTINUED...

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#laurel lance #barbara gordon #anti arrow #anti oliver queen #anti olicity

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