Athena and the League of Assassins (An Arrow: Season 3 Fanfiction)

Chapter 2: Too Many Uncertainties

At Verdant (Evelyn Queen's POV)... 

Roy and Felicity were bickering about something as the four of us, Oliver included, walked through the main club room of Verdant to the hideout below. As we descended the steps, the bickering fell silent as we saw Laurel Lance, covered in blood up to her forearms, the front of her suit stained with the red liquid, and Sara Lance, laying on the luminescent table, three arrows in a tight grouping embedded deep in her chest. The room grew quiet. 

'Sara?' Oliver said. 

'I didn't know where else to take her,' Laurel said, her eyes bubbling with tears. I came closer, feeling her for a pulse. Anything. Any sign of life. Nothing. Her eyes were open and glassy, unfocused on anything. Vacant. Devoid. My hand came to my mouth as tears sprang to my eyes. Roy and Felicity came closer too. 

'Oh, my God!' Felicity exclaimed, already beginning to cry. 'What happened?' she added, gaining her composure long enough to ask Laurel the question. 

'I couldn't - I couldn't leave her,' Laurel stammered. 

'We have to - call, we can... take her to the hospital!' Felicity said through shuddering breaths, already beginning to sob as Roy pulled her into his embrace. Oliver was speechless as he walked slowly to the table.  

'Ollie. Ollie, it's not fair,' Laurel said, walking around the table, coming to stand beside Oliver. 'We just got her back. It's not fair!' He simply reached forward and closed Sara's eyes. I let out a shuddering breath, tears involuntarily spilling down my face. 

'Come here,' he said gently, pulling her into his embrace. 'I'm so sorry... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry.' 

Laurel was sitting on the steps to a high platform in the Verdant nightclub when Oliver walked in. 

'You know, Sara used to have a stuffed animal. It was this old, worn out shark that she got from the Starling Aquarium. Every time something awful would happen to her, I would always find her holding that stupid little shark close to her chest. And now that my sister's dead, again, the only thing that I can think about is finding that dumb stuffed animal and putting it in her arms.' She wiped her tears from her eyes. 'I'm sorry.' 

'You have nothing to apologise for. Hey, whoever did this, I'm going to find them.' 

'We're going to.' Oliver sighed in mild frustration, knowing where she was going with this. 

'When I thought that Sara died on the Gambit, the only thing that I could do was scream at the ocean. I had so much anger and rage, and I didn't know what to do with it. But I do now. And I'm going to help you catch whoever it is that did this.' Oliver grabbed a chair, and sat down. 

'You're already helping. Laurel... you told us where to look.'

'I'm supposed to just sit here and wait?'

'No. Now you take care of yourself and your family. Your father is going to need you.'

'Telling him now... it would kill him. At least now if we wait until we catch whoever did this, it'll be easier on him.' Oliver leaned back in his seat. 

'Okay.' Laurel stood to leave and began to walk out. 'Where are you going?' 

'I don't know. I don't know anything anymore. But I know that a bar is the last place I should be.' She walked away from him and out the door. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he dialled a number. 

'Come on, pick up,' he said impatiently. Then the answering machine rung and said in her voice: 

'You've reached Thea. Leave a message.' 

'Thea, it's Oliver. I know you're still travelling, but I just, I could really... I'd really like to hear your voice. So please call me back.' He hung up on the phone call and turned to see Felicity walking towards him. 

'What'd we get off the cameras?' 

'Place is a drug haven. They've all either been disabled or paint-balled by local dealers.' Oliver turned to walk away. 'Where are you going?' 

'Where it happened.' 

Oliver and I walked the length of the roof where Sara died. When I got to a certain spot, he put his arm in front of my chest to hold me back and knelt down, only to pick up a green glass-like shard of something. He held it up to the dim light, inspecting it, then stood again. Turning, he moved his hands as if he was aiming a bow. 

'Ollie, what is it?' I asked. He looked at me. 

'This is where she died.' 

'You think that - whoever killed her - stood there?' He nodded. Just then we heard the crunch of shoes on the dirt and gravel of the roof and whirled around, only to relax when we noticed it was Diggle.

'Felicity told me,' Diggle said softly, coming up to us. 'Are the two of you okay?' 

'Killer stood there,' Oliver replied, musing aloud about Sara's death, completely ignoring Diggle's question of concern. 'Loose gravel on the rooftop.' 

'Oliver...' I said sadly. 

'Sara was here,' he said, pointing to a spot, still trying to put together clues. 'Scuff marks back to the edge.' 

'You don't have to do this right now, man,' Diggle said comfortingly. 

'It's the only thing that I can do.' 

'Listen, I get it. Military training. Stay on task. Your friend gets shot, you keep fighting. But Oliver...' 

'I'm fine,' he replied, tears shining in his eyes.

'Well, I'm here for you just the same. How are you holding up, Evelyn?'

'I'm fine, Dig. Still processing. It's a little much right now.' 

'Listen,' Diggle said, turning back to Oliver, 'Sara was my friend too. And if you think you're going after the person who did this solo, you couldn't possibly be more wrong.' Just then my phone buzzed and I pulled it out, putting to my ear. 

'Yeah?' 

'Detective Lance called; says it's important. Think he knows about Sara?' I clicked off the call, meeting both Diggle and Oliver's eyes.