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veryrealimagination · 2 years ago

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Mia stopped in the middle of her stride when she saw the elaborate item sitting on the table. It had her full name, engraved in a shining black ink on an off white envelope. A part of her wondered if it was safe to open, but her hands answered for her. Opening it, there was a paper, off white as well to match.

“How the hell did that get in here?”

She looked over to Sara, who was staring at the item in her hand while holding a steaming mug. Seven months haven’t dulled the edge of her training, even if waddling isn’t a League of Assassin ideal.

“Don’t know. Just saw it,” she said, fully pulling it out.

“And you touched it without thinking,” she commented, looking at it with her. Mia rolled her eyes before reading.

As a noted member of the community,

We would be honored for you to join us

for a performance done by an artist

of highest regard to a priceless material.

The coordinates listed weren’t ones Mia was familiar with, but Sara quickly read them before sending the information to her wife. The time and date was also not equated to earth’s time, but someone had helpfully added one, listed for three days from the current timeline. There was also an arrow that pointed to the right. Confused, she checked and found more writing on the back, that didn’t match the elegance of the front.

Mia!

Wear a black masquerade mask and dress to maybe fight in. This place is an ‘art gallery’ for the sick and depraved. They torture kidnap victims and others as ‘art’. But, I’ve tracked down the most successful thread in the very important search, and he’s here.

I’m there in one of those black masks as well and a dark reddish-purplish dress. I didn’t want blood red, it would be a supremely bad taste. I know Aunt Sara’s looking over your shoulder. Aunt Sara, if you send anyone to accompanied her, it better be someone with med skills. I don’t know how we’ll find him.

PS, tell Mom and Dad I’m fine. And if Grandpa dares show his face, it better be to help out.

The other woman was amused at who had managed to leave the envelope on the ship without any alarms going off or anyone actually noticing. For a bunch of superheroes, and a League trained woman, and a former Agency agent, they were bad at picking up a child that shared too much with their parents. “I think Ava may be the only one suitable to go out, although she won’t be happy about it.” She rubbed her stomach, feeling the little one move in response.

Mia nodded. “Guess I better find something to wear and fight in,” she said, walking toward one of the wardrobes she was shown earlier.

“If you’re anything like your father, you can fight in formal and look good doing it,” Sara yelled.

“That’s isn’t as great as that sounds,” she reminded, shuddering over the knowledge of what her father did before the five years. Don’t you mean who? She sighed at that voice. “Not you, too.”

The place was hidden down an alleyway among a city rivaling that of Gotham. Mia thought she went to a couple of clubs this way as well. Although her club look for the Gotham visits were different than the current dress she had on. The mask she didn’t place on until she got to the edge of the staircase heading down. There was a purse, complete decoy as she likely wouldn’t be allowed to even have it beyond the entrance.

She noted the multiple cameras and wondered how many people were behind the screens while she waited for acknowledgment. The door had a screen on the front. Interesting. “Please hold up your invitation for verification,” she read. Pulling it out, she noticed that all the writing SM had scribbled on it was gone. Well, that was good. Holding up the front, the screen must have had a camera hidden on it. Either that, or it was a distraction to let someone look through the cameras on her.

The door opened to a humanoid alien that wasn’t too bad on the eyes. Unfortunately, Mia hadn’t been in the mood for romance for sometime. They did a second look at her invitation with their eyes before allowing her in. She was gestured to an area where she got a wrist band that matched her purse tag to place among other things brought by patrons. The only human type thing she could recognize was a coat with seven arms.

It was an art gallery, and Mia almost felt homesick before she saw some of the displays. Printed on canvas (she hoped), projected on the walls, and in light were images of abuse and straight out torture. Slicing, whipping, branding, bruising. The projections were either in shows that someone must have recorded to let others see, or someone’s home projects. The light ones were frozen pieces of time of their victims and injuries.

Someone tapped her outer wrist twice before standing alongside her. Mia turned to the other person, a woman older than her wearing a velvet burgundy dress and gold thread. Her black mask also had a hidden oil sheen to it. She rolled her eyes at the image she gave off. “Jesus, Two,” she muttered, trying not to get anyone’s attention.

The woman smirked, “Apparently, dramatic entrances is a family trait that I completely uphold and agree with.” There was a glass of something in her hand, but it might have been there just for show. Mia hopefully thought it was for show. “I’ve watched their reel of ‘talent’ and I think I’ve seen him featured a couple of times.”

That froze her, and she wanted to both look closer at everything to see if it was him and not because then she would have to face that what they put him through. “And tonight?” she asked.

“A live performance from a Ylxian army technician that was praised for doing this to a few humans that it captured. He kept his victims alive for days after doing this bit.”

She didn’t want Two to explain, but she did, she really did. “When are we getting him?” Mia demanded.

The smirk turned into a frown. “It’s going to have to be after. I’ve studied their routines for the last three months, watched them ‘perform’ on enough humans to know how they take care of the ones they want surviving.” She actually watched her drink a fair amount out of the glass. This isn’t going to be good. “I ended up watching the last time they did this to him.”

“You saw-”

She snapped to Mia. “I was by myself. No backup, no idea what was happening. Once I realized, I patiently waited until they announced him as their next ‘performance’ and what they were planning before getting you here. It’s gonna take both of us.” She swept the room for another figure. “I figured even Aunt Ava would have came in.”

Sara pointed out that the invitation didn’t include guests. It was likely a single person only invite. She concluded they were right with the guard at the door. “They’re going to wait until the actual breakout. Invitation was single guest only.”

That had her nodding at the idea. “Right, no plus ones. Stupid me, smart them. Great idea.”

Someone announced over the intercom in a dialect that wasn’t being translated automatically. Thankfully, the second line was English. If incredibly deep. “Performance will start in ten minutes,” a voice croaked out.

Mia and Two walked along with the others. Minor amounts of small talk they picked up was nothing more than literally shop talk. A few were business owners. Three were government, not all from the city. Or possibly the country. Several from the ‘normal’ art industry and a few more may have been famous actors.

There were a small section of chairs, nicer than any from an earth function. If one wasn’t accustomed to the language being said, there was an intercom one could place on. Two took it, and placed it near her bracelet, and Mia did the same as she realized what it would do. The women chose a couple of seats that would work for them, watching as an alien with seven arms wrap around a chair that held them a little tightly. The stage was a foot off the ground, ensuring their sight to the ‘material’. The artist was double checking their tools on a table alongside. They couldn’t see the victim, covered by a sheet. More advanced than humans and they can’t cover their surprises with something better than a bedsheet.

Once everyone was seated and sated, the artist turned to the crowd and bowed. Most nodded deeply back. Two and Mia nodded lightly, blending in. “I have heard rave reviews about the expressiveness of this material, and how well this human holds up,” the artist said, the words taking a minute to come through. Both of their watches quickly typed out the translated speech. “And how well they break down.”

With that, the sheet came off.

Mia swallowed her gasp before it came out.

William Clayton technically looked healthy, as if nothing had happened since the day they were standing at their Father’s statue and talking about how they all thought he was the new Green Arrow. Only, Mia saw. His wasn’t just sit in front of his computer pale, he was sick after a week pale. His muscle, as much as she mocked it was all for show, had been whittled down a fair bit. They pretty much stated he had been tortured before, but his skin was unnaturally smooth. Tampered, as he had been shaved and waxed as well. Perhaps permanently.

Mia wanted to catch his attention, let him know that they were there. There was a light behind them lighting the figures up on the stage and she knew he wouldn’t be able to see out. He was strapped down with metal on his wrists, ankles, and cruelly on his neck. A ring gag, likely something they found on earth, was in place to allow them to hear his moans and screams.

The artist picked up a small rod, sharpened to a point at both ends. Tracing a line with their hand, they chose a part of the thigh that was still relatively meaty, and slowly drove the piece in. William let out a moan, painfully feeling it go through skin, muscle, fat, and possibly hitting bone. Ze was only making sure to avoid the femoral artery.

That was only the beginning.

The artist had dozens of long stakes and posts to stab and impale him with. Bamboo that they shoved through the hands. They smiled when William shook his head and mumbled and pleaded while it was done. Then his arms had several, going through the space between his bone with such grace that Mia wanted to puke. At some point, he had started crying at the pain, and whimpering. Several of the spectators were cooing and smiling at the sight. She wanted to rip through all of them.

Two placed a hand on her arm and squeezed carefully. I get it. I know. She made herself focus on the stage, so she wouldn’t fly into a rage as well.

Then came the large pieces. His other leg was speared with a bamboo stick, and he screamed as it wasn’t just shoved in carefully, but jammed four times with a harshness they hadn’t displayed before. The last two items were flat, wide metal pieces. Carefully, carefully positioning it, they had a sweet spot they were aiming for. Mia still didn’t like what they were doing.

“Now, if I have learned the human body correctly, I have the perfect shot at passing this through without hitting anything vital,” they said.

“Oh dear God,” Mia mumbled. Two squeezed.

The metal slat was shoved in, clean as the sides and the point had been sharpened comparable to the edge of a katana. William howled in pain, trying not to move but clearly wanting. Many of the people applauded as there was only a trail of blood running down. Demonstrating his talent clear as day.

The second one, they had to go around to the ‘material’s’ back. Again, lining it up carefully to not hit anything life threatening, and to not hit the first large slat into any of the organs, they counted down. The other voyeurs joined him. Mia switched so she was grasping Two’s arm.

The second scream was somehow louder than the first.

Both of their faces went stone to avoid the sight of anger while the crowd oohed, awwed, and gasped excitedly at the spectacle. William really tried to not move, sobbing horribly as the second slat had hit a couple of small areas of nerve endings, paining him greatly. They hated both the audience and the technician performing. Mia hadn’t brought her bow and arrow set, unable to figure out a way to get it inside. Two could take them all out, but that would set off warnings across the criminal underworld about a metahuman attack.

The technician bowed, and a curtain went down. “Thank you for a pleasant audience. There are extra refreshments in the gallery as well as a file on tonight’s work,” the announcer said, “Other angles and more about what our artist used and the material’s background. Please pay the hostess if you would like a copy.”

Two whispered in Mia’s ear. “I have a Two point zero special ready to rip everything off their computer systems and send it to Gideon. We’ll destroy them after.” She took off the translator ear piece and placed it back in the holder. The woman followed.

Everyone had been talking about the technician’s proficiency. Mia took a glass and sipped at an alcohol masked as champagne but clearly had more alcohol added to it. “What did you enjoy?” a patron asked, seeing Mia stare at one of the pictures. She figured out it was one of William’s previous tortures, branding of companies from around the planetary system they were in. It made him look like a human billboard, or a car driver without a suit.

None of it. She tried coming up with something she could half lie about. “The threatening of his feet and legs,” she said, remembering when he poked a few times at his calves before starting on his arms. The only reason she could think of was the arms made a better sight to the audience.

‘He’ nodded. “Fear is always delectable in a human. Their expressive abilities make for a picture that many other species cannot do. The closest are Kryptonians and their cousins.”

She wanted to snap the alien’s neck. “Is that the reason they’re are so many featured? Considering humans aren’t the strongest of species,” she noted.

Laughing, ‘he’ said, “As long as the artist doesn’t go too far, a lot can be repaired. The fine Tholcks that run this establishment have regenerative science down to bring back humans and a couple of other exhibits back from the brink. The fine one they had tonight has been through this for five rotations.”

Five rotations? Isn’t that close to three years? “So they can invest in some decent victims and as long as no one goes too far…” she led.

“Precisely,” ‘he’ chuckled, “It’s kept the Green Lanterns and others off of our trail. We used to go through material every fourth of a rotation. Now, maybe on the tenth rotation they think about getting rid of someone. But this one, they may keep until it’s too old.”

Considering how well they’ve healed William, Mia knew that it would be several years before he was ‘too old’. And the Green Arrow’s legacy has spread through the universe. As soon as someone clicks that William is Dad’s oldest… “What’s considered old?”

When that conversation died off, Mia realized that the others had started dissipating an hour after. The light show and projector was shut down. Two came over again. “We have to leave the building. They have heavy duty monitoring in this part.”

“Where do they keep their victims?” Mia asked.

Two motioned, switching her wristband for a purse before waiting and walking out with Mia. The two took off their masks when they went up the stairs. Two brought out a SmoakTech Tablet and brought up building plans. “The so called apartment building right here has never had a vacancy, never gone public, and can’t be X-Rayed. Their submitted plans to the city hall equivalent is completely wrong. Energy usage is way too high, even when they try hiding it.”

“So that’s actually a series of prison cells,” Mia said.

“And offices, a medical wing. Science lab,” she listed, going through all of her notes on the side. “I’ve planned out a couple of entry points, but if they’re still healing William, I don’t know how easy it’s going to be getting him out.”

Well, it’s never been easy for Queens.

“Ava, did you get all that?” she asked, turning to where the woman was waiting with the rest of the Legends.

“Loud and clear.”

Sara Lance stared unamused by her niece, “Sara Merlyn, you get your butt over her and hug your aunt.”

The smile that brightened her face was at contrast with the seriousness. “Auntie Sara,” Two said, running over and carefully wrapping around the woman. “Mom said she wants to see you before you pop. And Grandma as well.”

“Ohh, I think we’ll be hitting Earth sooner than they want to think. Especially when we pull William out,” she said. Her wife and the team looked at her. “Obviously, I’m not going in.”

“Good,” they chimed.

“I’m just going to be waiting at my Captain’s chair when you guys run out with William in a wheelchair.”

“I don’t think they have wheelchairs here, Aunt Sara,” Two said.

Sara shook her head and smushed her niece’s cheeks. “You’re adorable when you don’t know.” She tilted her head in confusion. “All right, let’s suit up. Mia, your Arrow outfit’s here. Sara, grab yours as well.”

The woman was confused. “Grab my what?”

#arrow cw #mia smoak #mia queen #sara merlyn #william clayton #fic #there's a second part in the works #will likely end up on ao3 #when im done #sara is an oc

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