The Archer's Canary

Eighteen

Dad had let us stay at his apartment, and Felicity had let Cisco and Caitlin stay at her apartment. Barry and I were getting ready for bed, I was going over a file Joe sent with Caitlin for me and he was changing. "I still want to talk about the way you handled things with Marcos," Barry said.

I sighed closing the file and putting it on my nightstand. "Barry, you want to know about the first man I ever tortured?" I asked. "It was before I was Eashiqa, and it was my first stand-alone mission, Nyssa had handled everything before, but I had to do it on my own"

"Is this going to be gruesome?" Barry asked.

"Yes," I said flatly. "He was a middle-aged man, around 38, the woman who had hired me, she was a mother, his mother. She hired me to kill her son, cause he was raping his 16-year-old stepdaughter" 

"My god," Barry sat down. "Wha-"

"Her mother wasn't doing anything," I said, "Just letting it happen, I arrived at the mansion just on time, he was throwing her onto his bed and I just managed to restrain him. I told the girl to hide in her room and she ran, I shoved him onto the bed, tied him up and put a knife in his knee, then I began cutting his arms and chest, and then he begged for me to kill him, so I slit his throat and let him bleed out"

"Avery-"

"When I left his room, his daughter hugged me," I said, "She cried and hugged me, she begged me to take her with me and I did. She became my student, I wasn't even named, and I had already taken in a student. She didn't start training until after I was named, but I made her into a warrior. She took up a specialty of killing rapists, she still does today. She was in Central City recently too, killed a rapist"

"Avery" Barry sighed.

"What I think of when I torture someone, is not the pain I'm inflicting, but the pain I'm releasing," I said. "That man, Klaus Marcos, Every asshole I've stopped since day one, Count fucking Vertigo, have inflicted more pain on others than the pain I inflicted on them!"

I grabbed the file, tossing it onto the bed at his side, "What is this?" He asked.

"A meta-human who tortured a security officer to get blueprints of National Bank," I said. "Turns out Central City is a lot like Starling"

I rolled over, turning out my light and covering myself. "Goodnight"

~

Barry had clearly been upset with me but was understanding my reasons. He brought me coffee as I woke up, "Hey" He said, "Your usual, your dad is making breakfast and Oliver wants to talk later"

"Thank you," I said, sitting up and taking the cup. 

"I wanted to say, I know Starling isn't like Central City, and that you've had to do things in the past, it's just I don't think like you and Oliver, I'm sorry" He sighed.

"Don't be sorry, Barr," I said, putting the cup down and leaning forward some more. "Oliver and I have seen a lot of darkness, its something we're not proud of, but in this city, sometimes darker"

"I love you, Avery Lance"

"I love you, Barry Allen"

~

"Were you able to talk him into our tactics?" Oliver asked as I walked into Verdant.

"No" I stated, "Cause I don't want to corrupt him like that, no more torture in front of him"

"Avery-" I cut him off.

"You said you wanted him to be better than you" I fought, "So don't try and train him like Slade trained us"

"Fine" Oliver said, "Felicity's almost done the decryption"

~

"Suit up!" Felicity announced, "I've found him"

I grabbed my mask and stood behind her as she began to explain, "Is that-?" Lyla questioned, walking up beside me.

"ARGUS spy satellite? Yea" Felicity smirked. "He's in a warehouse on the corner of Infantino and Adams. Thermographic imaging shows ten bodies inside"

"Harkness knows we're coming" Dig said.

"I can track the cell phones position with this" Cisco stepped up.

"Cisco, you're with Diggle and Roy" Oliver commanded, "Barry get Avery there"

"What about you?" I asked, putting my mask on.

"I'll race you there" 

~

The ice shattered on the ground and a couple of shards landed at my feet, "You've been a lot of trouble, haven't you?" Nyssa asked, kicking the ice bucket across the room floor.

"je ne sais pas où elle est" The man was already fearing for his life and Nyssa hadn't even started.

How we ended up in a small hotel in Paris with him, I haven't figured out, I just know that this guy ran off with some billionaires daughter and she's been missing for 2 weeks. "We both that's a lie," Nyssa said, "A beautiful raven-haired girl like her must be a breath of fresh air in a world full of blondes, no offence ramah"

"None taken" I sighed. "Look, you can fess up and save a few fingers or lose your ability to walk"

"I know who you are," The Frenchman said, "Avery Lance, Oliver Queen's mistress"

"I'm famous, how exciting" I sighed.

"You came here to Paris for your 18th birthday" He grinned, "Snuck into my bar with him and your friend, Thomas"

"Oh, so that's where I know you from" I leaned back, "You're the dickhead that narrowly got me arrested"

"Ramah" Nyssa stated. I bit my tongue and looked out the window. Nyssa began her process. I could barely hear my own thought over his screams.