These Prison Walls (An Arrow: Season 7 Fanfiction)

Chapter 7: Released

Iron Heights Prison. Present-day. 

I walked through the halls with the guard, still bound hand and foot with the cuffs. The guard led me out into the prison courtyard, where I saw two very familiar faces standing there. Some distance from them, the guard unlocked my cuffs. I walked to them, and jumped into John's arms, wrapping my arms around his neck, sobbing happily. 

'I've missed you, John.' 

'I've missed you too, Evelyn.' I let go of him and wrapped Felicity in a hug, then pulled back after a while, surveying her. 

'Ugh, I have missed you, girl.' I hugged her, giving her a big squeeze. 

'You ready to go home?' John asked, coming up to the two of us. 

'Yeah,' I said, letting out a soft sigh. 'Let's go home.' 

Star City. 2040. 

The four walked through the halls of what remained of the former glory of Smoak Tech. 

'You two took out those cops,' William said, walking behind Dinah and Evelyn, with Roy taking up the rear. 

'They would have killed Roy for being a former vigilante just like they would have killed me.' 

'I don't understand,' Roy said as the four of them stopped in a room, William slinging his backpack to the ground. 'You were police captain. What happened?' Dinah took a deep breath. 

'That was a long time ago.' 

'There were police everywhere, and you dragged us through the sewer just to get here,' Roy snapped. 'What the hell happened to Star City?' 

'Star City fell when the Glades rose. They built a wall,' I (Evelyn) spoke up, causing the two of them to meet my eyes. 'They closed their borders. No one outside the Glades is allowed to enter. The SCPD are hired guns. They protect the Glades from what's outside their wall.' 

'I think maybe we should have stayed on Lian Yu,' Roy said. 

'But then we wouldn't have found this,' William said, reaching into the black pouch and pulling out a Rubik's cube. 

'This is a waste of time,' Roy said, the four of us looking at the Rubik's cube in William's hand. 'How much longer are we going to be trapped in here?' 

'You used to be a lot more patient,' Dinah remarked. 

'Damn right,' I muttered under my breath. Shouldn't be too much longer.' 

'Felicity told me that making a pattern on a Rubik's cube is like running an algorithm,' William said, holding the cube in both hands. 'My favourite was the cube within the cube because it's a puzzle within a puzzle.' 

'A cube in the cube. Still, no answers,' Roy snapped impatiently. Just then, a hologram popped out of the cube. 'Wait. What? What just happened? Is that some sort of map?' Just then there was a voice, as another female stepped into view. 

'It's the Glades.' 

'You two remember Zoe,' Dinah said. She removed her mask and walked forward. 

'Hi Roy, William.' 

'Wh-what are you doing here?' William asked in shock. 

'I'm with the Vigilante Resistance, one of the few left fighting to save Star City.' 

'Is your dad here too?' Roy asked. 

'My dad wouldn't be caught dead in Star City.' I leaned closer to see the map. 

'This map shows secret routes in and out of the Glades. Where did you get this?' I asked William. 

'Felicity. She's the one who sent us to Star City.' Dinah and I both looked at each other. 

'That's impossible,' I said, looking back at my nephew. 'William, I'm so sorry to be the one to tell you this, but Felicity Smoak is dead.' 

Star City. Present-day. 

I slung my bag to the ground, having changed into regular clothing after my release. Felicity had taken me to the ARGUS facility, and John was up to something else after. I sat in a chair next to my nephew, holding a Styrofoam cup full of coffee. 

'Hey, buddy, how are you?' I asked, taking a sip, nearly spitting it out at the taste. Instant coffee was trash. 

'I miss my dad.' I held out my arms to William, and he wrapped his arms around me, burying his head in my chest. 

'I know, kid. I know. I miss him too.' 

Star City. 2040. 

'I can't believe she's dead,' William said, standing at a desk littered with beakers and forgotten items from another timeline, it seemed. Dinah pulled out a small flask. 

'Here,' she said, offering it to him. He turned to her. 

'I don't drink.' 

'Well, I do,' Roy said, taking the flask and drinking it. 

'Here, gimme,' Evelyn snapped, pulling it away from him and guzzling it. William ignored their behaviour and turned back to Dinah. 

'So what happened? How did she die?' William asked her. 

'It was a few weeks ago. Give or take. She was murdered.' 

'Murdered?' William asked in shock. 

'Who would hurt Felicity?' Roy asked. 

'Roy, the Felicity you knew was very different than what she became,' I said. 'We wanted her to join us, but she cut ties. Instead, she went underground. She started calling herself the Calculator.' 

'Like her father?' Roy offered. 

'She ran in some dangerous circles. You walk that path long enough, sooner or later, it catches up to you,' I replied. 'I would know. That stunt you saw back there from me, that was my alternate self, Athena.' 

'But Athena was -' William said. 

'Yeah, I know. At first, she was just the alter ego. Then she became something else. She became a part of me that I couldn't shake. Someone who was highly dangerous. I can't control her as easily as I used to. Like Felicity, William, my past is catching up with me.' 

'I'm sorry, William,' Zoe said quietly from the back of the group. 

'However Felicity died, whatever the circumstances, she still sent me this signal, and I need to know why.' He walked over to a bench, Roy speaking. 

'You don't owe her anything, William.' 

'Yeah? Well, maybe she owed me.' He pulled out the Rubik's cube again and set it on the table. 'I noticed this before,' he said. 'See the colour variation?' he added, pointing out the map. 'I think Felicity was trying to lead us there.' 

'This is kind of crazy. You know that, right?' Zoe asked him. 

'All I know is I've come this far. I'm not stopping now,' William said.