The Arrow & The Huntsman [The 1st Installment of DC HEROES: CHAMPIONS OF EARTH]

[46] Divide and Conquer

That evening, Aaron stayed late at a boxing gym, attacking a punching bag with intense vigor. He was just about to land another punch on his lifeless opponent when a familiar voice called out to him saying, "Got something on your mind?" Aaron visibly tensed at the sound of his best friend's voice. "What do you want?" Aaron questioned without turning around. "To talk to my best friend," Dearden replied. "I miss you, man. I miss talking with you like the old days--" "Oh, shove off it, Dearden!" Aaron snapped. "I'm done playing games. If you were really that concerned with reconnecting, you would have called me the second you came back. You wouldn't have lied to me and tried to avoid me at every turn."

Dearden had the decency to lower his head in shame. "You're right. But I had my reasons for doing it. I had to protect my family," he answered. "However, that doesn't take away from our friendship. If anything it should be a chance for us to strengthen it; together, we can save this city and end all of its corruption. Don't you want that?" "God, of course, I want that Dean! I want Starling City to be a place I can be proud to live in. That I would be proud to raise a family in... But the way you and your brother are doing it is not the right way," Aaron exhaled, sagging his shoulders in exasperation.

"If that's true then, why didn't you turn us over to the cops?" Dearden shot back. Aaron opened his mouth to say something, but in the end, nothing came out and he closed his lips, eliciting a smirk from the vigilante.

* * *

Meanwhile across town, Oliver was with his bodyguard entering the Big Belly Burger where he found Diggle drowning his sorrows in chili cheese fries. Just then, he heard the bodyguard say, "Area secure sir." "Thank you very much, Rob," Oliver replied curtly. Then, he approached Diggle and his sister-in-law who was glaring at him suspiciously. "Hello, Diggle's sister-in-law Carly. I'm Oliver Queen," Oliver chimed, stretching out his hand. She shook it lazily before quickly going back to her original stance with her arms folded across her chest. "I know who you are," she stated.

"No, you really don't," Diggle cut in.

As expected, Carly took that as her cue to leave and Oliver slid into the booth across from Diggle. "Hello," Oliver greeted. "I couldn't help but notice a distinct lack of police cars at my house this morning. I knew you wouldn't drop a dime on me and my brother." Diggle scoffed dismissively but kept his gaze lowered to the table. "So have you considered our offer?" Oliver questioned.

"Your offer?" Diggle raised an eyebrow. "That's one way to put it."

"It is an offer. It's a chance to do the kind of good that compelled you to join the military," Oliver explained. "Please," Diggle waved off, "you and Dearden we're born with platinum spoons in your mouths. Then you guys spent 5 years on an island with no room service and suddenly you found religion?"

* * *

"Look, Dean, I get that you went through something traumatic, but that's not a good reason for you to dress up like Robin Hood and kill people," Aaron shouted. "It does if the people I'm killing are destroying our city and everything good in it!" Dearden yelled back. "People's lives are being destroyed by a criminal elite who don't care who they hurt as long as they stay rich. And the worst part is that no one is doing anything to stop it." Aaron grimaced. The "except for me and my brother" was undoubtedly implied, but neither of them deigned to acknowledge it. "How did you get this way?" Aaron sighed. "What made you end up like this?"

* * *

Oliver took out the small book with the list of names of everyone who was tainting Star City for their own gain and handed it to Diggle. "This was my father's," he stated. "I found it on him when we buried him." Diggle's head shot up in disbelief. "I thought you said your father died when the boat went down," he hissed. "The three of us made it to a life raft, but there wasn't enough food and water for all of us so he shot himself in the head," Oliver confessed. "And as much as he was doing it to give us a chance to survive, I think he was also doing it to atone for his sins."

* * *

"I need to right the wrongs that were done by my family," Dearden declared. "Otherwise I risk making the same mistakes that ultimately cost my father his life."

* * *

"And I am offering you the chance to right the wrongs done to yours," Oliver implored. Diggle frowned inquisitively. "Oliver, what are you talking about?" "The police never caught your brother's shooter," Oliver said. "Hey, you leave Andy out of this!" Diggle snapped. "The bullets were laced with curare. That's Floyd Lawton's M.O," Oliver informed. "He is the sniper... that Dean stopped." Diggle leaned forward, a swell of hope expanding in his chest, and said, "Are you telling me that you and your brother took down Andy's killer?"

"I'm..." Oliver paused. "I'm giving you the chance-- a chance to help other people's families."

* * *

"Tell me something, Aaron, do you remember when the people in this city helped each other?" Dean queried. "They can't do that anymore because a group of people-- people who are just like my father was-- see nothing wrong with raising themselves up by stepping on other people's throats. It needs to stop."

* * *

"And if it's not gonna be the courts..."

* * *

"And it's not gonna be the cops..."

* * *

"Then it's gonna be us!" the brothers spoke in unison.

* * *

"And we hope the two of you," Oliver concluded, as he got up from the booth. "I gotta head to the washroom, Rob." Then he turned and left, escaping through the service exit unbeknownst to his bodyguard.

Back at the gym, Dearden was still sitting with his friend who was in shock from the onslaught of information that he had just been told. "So you're really serious about this then? This vigilante life?" Aaron huffed, as he sat down on the nearest bench. Dearden pulled his lips together tightly and nodded. "Listen, I know that this is a lot to deal with, and I don't expect you to understand it all overnight but I just wanted you to know the truth," he elaborated. "Why? I mean, I could have ratted you out to the police. Hell, I should have ratted you out to the police," Aaron groaned. "But you didn't... Because you trust me and my judgment, and whether you want to admit it or not, you know that this city needs saving-- by any means necessary," Dearden responded.

Then, he too got up and left his friend to his thoughts.