These Prison Walls (An Arrow: Season 7 Fanfiction)

Chapter 19: The Documentary Continues

'I've been on more than one side of the law. I was a vigilante, and now I'm the district attorney. So I think it's pretty safe to say that I'm qualified to talk about whether vigilantes can operate within the bounds of the law. They can't. They shouldn't. I know that, and guess what - they know it too. Because if what they were doing was right, they wouldn't hide behind a mask.'

- Laurel Lance

'Yeah, and I stopped hiding behind a mask. But I didn't stop doing good because people need help. It's just that simple. Is that all?'

- Rory Regan "Ragman"

'I keep going out there because I love my city and I'd do anything to help. To me, I'm risking more sitting on my hands doing nothing, just letting the world get worse. Yeah, the mayor, the politicians, they might care about the city, but they don't seem to give a crap about the people in it. So, are you so surprised when people decide to do something about it?'

- Rene Ramirez "Wild Dog"

'Um - Oliver and Evelyn are complicated people. You know, we haven't always seen eye to eye. They're no saints. But they don't have to be for what they do, for who they are. Those are heroes.'

- Curtis Holt

'Oliver is an interesting guy. Evelyn's an interesting girl. Um... unbelievably damaged. I hope they don't mind me saying that. I don't mean - well, all I meant by that was just that they're... they've lived through a lot of darkness. And all they care about is trying to make sure nobody else has to go through what they've gone through. No, no, no, I didn't know they were the Green Arrow and Athena until they turned themselves in, I mean, and - you know. Whoa, big surprise. I mean, you think you know a guy and a girl.' 

- Barry Allen 

Several hours later... 

Dinah walked into Mayor Pollard's office and placed her badge on the desk. 

'What's this?' Pollard asked, gesturing to the badge. 

'My resignation. I won't captain a department that arrests my friends.' 

'I made you captain because I believe in you, Dinah. And yesterday I learned that you've been lying to me all along.' Just then Oliver and Evelyn walked into the room. 'Oh, it's a party. To what do I owe the pleasure, Mr and Ms Queen?' 

'After speaking with my family, we're here to turn ourselves in,' Oliver said. 'If you're gonna send our friends to prison, you're gonna have to send us, too.' 

'That's funny because Captain Drake just stopped by to offer her resignation. Your team sticks together, huh?' 

'Yes, we do,' I chimed in confidently. Mayor Pollard stood. 

'I had no idea you were one of them,' the mayor said, turning her attention solely on Dinah. 'Black Canary, huh?' 

'That's right.' 

'And I suppose because you saved my life, it's supposed to melt my cold heart, but I wouldn't go that far, exactly.' 

'Well, how far would you go?' Dinah asked.

'The Anti-Vigilante Law is still in effect,' Mayor Pollard replied, 'but the district attorney's office will not be pressing charges on your friends. And tomorrow, you will issue one of these to each of them.' She picked up the badge and handed it back to Dinah. 'They'll each be deputized like Mr and Ms Queen.' 

'So you're changing your mind?' I asked. 

'I am not,' she snapped. 'As I said, I believe in you,' she added, turning her attention to Dinah again. 'I expect results. And as much as it pains me to admit it, we couldn't have made it through yesterday without the help of vigilantes.' She walked out of the room with an armful of files but stopped midway through the door. 'Consider this your chance to prove me right.' 

At the abandoned Arrow bunker... 

The camera crew, along with Pedowitz, Oliver and I walked through the debris on the floor of the old Arrow bunker. 

'Just watch your step, please, guys,' Oliver warned. 'There's still glass on the ground.' He and I both stepped up to the main platform. 

'What happened here?' Pedowitz asked. 

'Ricardo Diaz and his crew happened here. They couldn't stop us. We're coming back here,' Oliver said.

'We will rebuild,' I chimed in. 'Gonna do it better this time.' 

Star City. 2040. 

'Sounds like you two have regrets about how you did it before,' Pedowitz said over the video feed. 

'Too many to name.' The camera panned as he turned around. 'A friend of mine recently told me that's why they're called mistakes. You learn from them, move forward... be better.' The girl watching the screen turned the video feed off as a young man came around the corner. 

'Where did you get that?' he asked. 

'I stole it,' Blackstar replied. 

'Yeah, Mia, that much I figured, but wasn't this documentary banned?' he asked, walking up closer to her. 'I thought every copy was destroyed years ago.' 

'Not this one,' she replied. She got up and went over, grabbing a flashlight and stuffing it in her bag. 'It's total pro-vigilante garbage, but even garbage can be useful.' 

'Useful for what? A break-in? You know what? The less I know about that, the better.' 

'Trust me, Connor. You are going to want to come with.' She walked out of the room, pack in hand, Connor running after her. 

'So you found this place by watching that documentary?' Connor asked as he and Mia picked their way through the remains of the Arrow bunker. She coughed. 

'Oliver told them not to reveal the location, but there are always clues.' She coughed again. 'God, it's dusty down here.' 

'Yeah, well, that's what happens when the place sits empty for a while,' Connor replied. The two stopped in front of the main platform. 

'Okay. This is pretty amazing. It almost feels haunted.' Connor stepped up onto the main platform. 

'It probably is,' Mia said, then followed him. 'Vigilantes were the death of Star City. And they got exactly what they deserved.'