Promises

Brotherhood

Tires screeched as the van halted to a stop. I sped down the street trying to catch up. I could hear Laurel canary cry from a distance and knew the fight had started without me. I saw a ghost with a gun to Laurel's head. I sped up and knocked him with my motorcycle. "Thanks." She said. "Yeah no problem." Diggle showed up with the van. "The Ghosts, they're about to knocking over the armored cars." Laurel informed him. "Yeah, it's just like old times." He replied. I fired and arrow at three of the ghosts knocking them to the floor. I saw the driver. "There are guards in the back." He told me. I nodded. "We'll get 'em. Go!" I warned. I raced to the back of the truck to see a ghost throw a grenade into the truck. I blew and the smell of burning money filled the air. I shot him down. "They burned all the money." Thea noted. "They didn't need it. Federal government sent this to prop up Star City Bank." Oliver replied. "HIVE just wanted to make sure that didn't happen." I added.

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"I've heard of having money to burn, but stealing money to burn, that's new." Felicity said. I walked out from the bathroom and ran my hands through my hair. "Darhk's not kidding- he really wants this city to die." I said. "Yeah, but why? I mean, what does HIVE have to gain from any of this?" Thea asked. "A base of operations. They have to be able to operate out of somewhere. What better spot than a dead city?" Oliver pointed out. "With almost a dead police department." Laurel said. "Any luck from that tooth we got off the HIVE member that we took down?" Diggle asked. "Only that the deterioration of the DNA markers was most definitely not natural." "Which means it was caused by what?" Laurel and I asked simultaneously. I grinned at Laurel while she glared back. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Oliver grin at this. "Curtis and I have been trying to figure that out for the past month." "Maybe Ray will have better luck." Oliver suggested. "I will ask." Felicity replied walking away. I stood up from my seat and left. I followed Laurel. "Hey you got a second?" I asked her. She turned and nodded. "So um, I know its been a while but you want to go grab a few drinks-" "No." "Oh, well it was a stupid idea anyway..." I trailed off. "We can't go on like this. You were gone for seven years and you're acting like you were gone for a week." She stated. "Look. I'm trying to forget everything that happened to me while I was gone. And I made a huge mistake leaving you and running. That's why I'm trying to redeem-" "Lyam. I'm sorry. You aren't the same man I loved 7 years ago. I'm done. You can keep the ring." She told me and walked away. I stood there. Frozen. Trying to process what she had said. 'She was probably just mad. She didn't mean it right? Or did she?' I wondered.

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"Thank you." "Okay, tomorrow night, Patrolman's Benevolent Association gala. It's black tie, so you need a tux." Alex said walking into the campaign office. "Which one? He's got like 50." Thea joked. "Uh. Maybe back in the day. I don't have a tux." "Get a rental. Doesn't really matter. Every mayor in the history of Star City has attended the PBA. I secured a spot for you on the dais with the brass, but we need to make sure that your keynote is on point. Which means, we need to find a way to say that the police need our help without..." "Throwing them under the bus." Thea said. "Right." Alex said. "I thought you failed civics class." I asked her. "A D-minus, thank you. Alex has a way of making this interesting." Thea saw her phone ringing. "Carry on while I take this." She told us. "Um, moving on to Oliver's platform. I got your email about cleaning up Star City Bay." "Yes!" "You know, with everything this city's facing right now, a hippie, crunchy program like-" "A hippie, crunchy program that will add hundreds of jobs, help gentrify the surrounding neighborhoods, and encourage outside investment." "And put voters to sleep." I pointed out to Oliver. "We need to focus on crime and jobs." Oliver phone rang. He stood up. "Which this program will address." 'Hey, I will put out a press release tomorrow." Alex promised. "I got to take this." Oliver informed us. Alex and I shared an glance and Thea walked back into the room. She looked a bit shaken. "You good?" I asked her. "Yeah it was Malcolm." She replied. I sighed. "He wants to talk to you. Are you ignoring his calls?" She asked me. "It doesn't matter." I replied. Oliver walked back in. "Lyam. Thea. We've got to go." Oliver said. "Dental problem?" I asked. "Yeah." He replied. The three of us left leaving Alex confused.