Finally Home

Chapter 33

The past few weeks have been hell, training to get back to normal feels like a thousand knives stabbing into my sides. It's gotten better with time, but I'm nowhere near to where I used to be, because of that we've gone silent. The Hoods have been put on pause. Oliver and I have gone back to as normal as we can get. The same night we were brutally beaten by the archer, Walter disappeared. We've tried all of our contacts all of which come to the same conclusions, Walter's left of his own accord or he's dead. At the moment, Oliver and I were training in the base when Diggle walked in.

"How are you doing? Rehab going good?" Diggle asked me.

I gave him a nod, as Oliver asked his question.

"Any news on Walter?"

"My contact at the bureau struck out. Same with my guy at Interpol. They're both saying the same thing." Diggle sighed.

"Either my stepfather doesn't want to be found, or someone doesn't want him to be found."

"It's been six weeks, Oliver. No contact from the kidnappers, no ransom demand, no proof of life. I hate to sound-"

"Dig." I cut him off.

"We all know he's more than likely dead." Oliver said.

"What do you wanna do?" Diggle asked.

"I don't know. Even our contacts in the Bratva can't dig up a lead." Oliver sighed, his hope of finding his stepfather dwindling.

"I wasn't talking about Walter." Diggle looked at me, as he grabbed the list off the desk. "Back at fighting weight, looks like. Last I checked there were more than a few names to cross off in this book."

"Those people aren't going anywhere. With Walter missing, my family needs me right now." Oliver said, ending the conversation.

~~

Oliver and were in the bunker trying to find some sort of lead on Walter, when a phone buzzed. I looked over to the phone seeing it was the one given to Lance. Oliver meet my glance as I answered the phone, and put it on speaker.

"Hello?" A very familiar female voice said.

Oliver and I exchanged a glance as we stayed quiet. How did Laurel get the phone, and why would she contact us?

"I need your help." She said after a period of silence.

The line went dead. Oliver looked at me, trying to see were I stood. I gave a silent nod saying we should go. We suited up and headed to her apartment.

We cut the power as we walked into her apartment. She quikly stood from her seat.

"I didn't trust that you'd come." She asked. "No ones seen you two for a while. Where have you been?"

We clicked on the button for the voice changer.

"You said it was important." Oliver said.

"My best friends brother, he died two days ago fighting a fire. The police and Fire Department say that he died in the line of duty, but my friend, she thinks he was murdered."

"So, your asking two killers to find another?" I asked. "We heard what you said to your father about us, that we're killers, that we have no remorse."

"Do you?" She stepped closer to us. "Take a look at the file. If Danny De Las Vega was murdered then we have to bring his killer to justice."

I steped forward keeping my head down and taking the file from her hand.

"We'll look into it." Oliver answered.

Both of us left with that.

~~

We walked in on Diggle training with a dummy.

"Rotate your hips, Diggle. That's where the power comes from, it's not just your arms." I said.

"Even if they're the size of bowling balls." Oliver joked.

"Laurel reached out to the hoods last night." I added.

"Really?" Diggle said. "I thought the vigilantes spooked her pretty well last time."

"She thinks somebody's killing firemen." Oliver answered handing Diggle the file Laurel gave us.

"It looks all in the job. Seems pretty thin." Diggle said, reading though the file.

"We look into it?" I questioned.

"Yeah, I have a friend who has a friend in the Fire Investigations Department. I'll reach out." Diggle answered.

"If you get any leads, tip the police." Oliver said.

"The police?" I glanced at Oliver questionly.

"They just need something to jump start them." Oliver answered.

"Well, isn't the whole idea of being vigilantes is that you two do the police's job? You know, you two have been spending alot of time around here lately. I thought after six weeks you'd both be anxious to hood up. Hell, I even prepared the whole you gotta slow down speech."

The sound of a door opening upstairs, accompanied by my brother's voice cut Diggle short.

"Where the hell is everybody?"

"Let me go see whats going on upstairs in the club." Oliver said, leaving Diggle and I alone.

~~Hi, Fallen_Angel here. This chapters a little shorter than others, only because I thought this was a good place to stop. Anyway have a good day. Be good people.~~