The Arrow and The Arachnid

An Innocent Man

        "Oliver? Jayden? You're the vigilantes?" Diggle asked standing up and taking a punch at Oliver who stepped out of the way causing the guard to stumble into the desk. "Easy, Dig. You were poisoned." Oliver tried to calm him down but Diggle only threw another punch as Oliver grabbed him and leaned him against the table he had woken up on.
        "We could have taken you anywhere, could have taken you home. We brought you here." Oliver said. "You really did lose your minds on that island," Diggle said. "Found a couple things along the way." Oliver nonchalantly told him. "Like what, archery classes?" Diggle scoffed. "Clarity. Starling City is dying." Oliver spoke.
        "Our city is being poisoned by a criminal elite who don't care who they hurt, as long as they maintain their wealth and power." Jayden spoke up. "What are you gonna do, take'em all down by your lonesome?" Diggle questioned. "No. Now, we want you to join us." Oliver told him and that only made the soldier angry.  "Special Forces out of Kandahar. It's perfect. You're a fellow soldier."
        "Oliver, you and Jayden aren't soldiers. You're criminals. And murderers." Diggle then turned and left out of the hideout. "Well that went well." Jayden scratched the back of his head sheepishly as they changed and headed to the Queen Manor.
Queen Manor
        "What are you doing here?" Jayden asked Laurel when they arrived. "I heard what happened at the party so I wanted to make sure you two were okay." She replied. "We're okay." Oliver reassured but Laurel interrupted him. "Oliver, your family was terrified."
        "After what happened, Laurel, we just needed some space." Jayden said as his sister held her gaze at Oliver. "You know, I've made peace with your selfishness but your family can't, they shouldn't have to deal with that." Laurel's words made her brother think for a moment knowing that some of it was directed at him too aside from Oliver.
        After a hug from Jayden Laurel soon left as the young man could only notice that this shook up Oliver a little bit more than the previous events. "That was harsh, you two okay?" Thea asked, concerned, snapping Jayden out of his thoughts as he focused on her. Oliver told her that they were fine as they made their way to their rooms for the night.
        Jayden couldn't sleep however his mind was restless and he decided to move into the living room where Oliver and Thea were sitting. "Bad dreams. Whatcha watching?" Jayden asked as Thea answered. "Peter Declan." Only making the duo more confused. "The guy who killed his wife in their baby's room, Psycho."
        "What was the bad dream about?" Thea asked. "Laurel/The Island." The duo answered as Jayden left the room allowing the siblings some privacy as he made his way to the garden. He took in the calming atmosphere before getting into a hand stand attempting to ease his nerves.
        After a while he could hear Thea's voice ask, "What are you doing out here." "I just couldn't fall back asleep so I came to relax." Jayden replied, getting out of the hand stand and into a sitting position. Thea had walked over and sat next to the young man resting her head on his shoulder.
        "You okay?" Jayden sighed before resting his head on top of hers' allowing himself to think for a moment. "It's just before the island everything was so much simpler now its just getting more and more complicated. On the island I had to be on my toes every second of everyday." Jayden said as Thea placed her hand on top of his.
        "It's going to be okay, I promise. You're safe Jay and you got me here with you to help 100% of the way." The young Queen sibling reassured as the two stayed out for a little while until Thea yawned as Jayden insisted that she headed to bed. She kissed him on the cheek as she left for bed, giving Jayden the opportunity to slip away into the city.
Starling City
        At a bank were three men attempting to rob a bank as the largest man was carrying two sacks of money. "Come on Ox, hurry up and load it, we gotta get out of here." The medium sized man said with a bit of a country accent as Ox tried to run only for the two sacks of money to get pulled from his hand.
        "You know if you wanted to cash that you probably should wait till the bank actually opens." The Arachnid joked hanging down from the ceiling. "It's the bug!" The smallest guy yelled, pulling out a machine gun and firing at Jayden who easily swung out of the way and shooting another webline swinging in the air.
        The smallest then lowered the gun before pressing a button on his boots allowing him to leap into the air and attempt to swing at The Arachnid who dodged out of the way landing on the ground. His spider senses went off as Jayden used his agility to flip over a charging Ox who was rushing behind.
        The Arachnid quickly shot some webbing wrapping around the larger criminal holding him in place before running and delivering a punch to the jaw rendering him unconscious. "Boss what are we gonna do?" The agile criminal questioned as the medium sized man pulled out a pistol and started unloading the clip.
        Jayden was nimble avoiding all the bullets, but he also was enjoying himself while this was occurring. "You are seriously a poor shot, you know that." He quipped, throwing a knife that knocked the gun out of his hand as the smaller guy from before charged at the young hero who prepared for his assault.
        A webline launched from his wrist as the smaller criminal was bound, unable to stop his momentum into The Arachnid's fist. 'Two down one to go.' Jayden thought turning to the southern criminal who charged towards him throwing punches that he dodged out of the way with ease.
        "Just stand still ya darn bug." He cursed as The Arachnid shot a web that restrained the final criminal. He then threw the criminals together and left a note for the police as he swung away to the hideout to do some research.
BOA
        Peter Declan killing his wife didn't exactly sit well with Jayden so he decided to do a little bit of his own investigation. "Camille was everything to me. I couldn't kill her anymore than I could kill myself." Peter Declan declared as Jayden began to work pulling up several files on Peter Declan. He continued to examine the video and even went as far as to check the police report. The knife that was used was from their kitchen set they'd gotten as a gift on their wedding day.
However the knife only had his prints on it and covered in her blood from head to toe. Jayden's face frowned before he thought about looking a little bit into his wife, not really finding much interesting information besides her boss, Jason Brodeur. 'His name is also on the list, so maybe everything isn't so cut and dry.'
          The math was starting to add up for the young Arachnid, a man with no sort of psychological issues listed killed his loving wife with no signs of ill will towards said wife just up and killed her. 'This gives a good chance that Brodeur was involved. I'll have to pay him a visit.' He thought as Oliver entered the room.
          "You're up early." The oldest Queen noted, taking a moment to glance at the computer. "Yeah, I just couldn't fall back asleep." He replied. "So you think this guy is innocent?" Oliver asked. "Has to be, the only thing is the police report says that the night of the murder they were having an argument. That and all the other evidence that is stacked against him doesn't help out."
          "What's our game plan?" Jayden questioned as Oliver grabbed his costume. "We get him a good lawyer."
Laurel's Apartment
          It was a bit later into the night as the two vigilante duo waited for Laurel to return home from work. The door opened as Laurel attempted to turn on the light but failed due to Jayden's meddling. She quickly pulled out a gun and made her way into the living room where the two stood. "Hello Laurel." The Arrow greeted.
          "Don't move!" She shouted pointing the gun towards them, however the duo didn't move. "We aren't going to hurt you." The Arachnid reassured but Laurel remained firm. "Stay back. My father's a cop." She cried but the duo still remained seemingly calm.
          "We aren't the people you think we are, and we need your help." The Arrow started. "Peter Declan is gonna be executed in 48 hours. We think he's innocent and Declan's wife was gonna blow the whistle on Jason Brodeur."
         "Brodeur had her murdered." The Arachnid finished. "There are a thousand lawyers in Starling City. Why me?" questioned Laurel who slowly lowered the gun. "We're just trying to help." The Arrow answered, which took Laurel back noticeably. "What makes you think I'm gonna help you?"
"Because I know that you'd do anything to save the life of an innocent man." The Arachnid said as he dropped a device that caused a flash giving them a chance to disappear.
Queen Manor Next Day
Oliver and Jayden had gotten into a vehicle with Oliver's new bodyguard, Rob Scott as the younger of the duo sized him up. "Diggle quit." Oliver spoke as Jayden laid back in the seat. "How is the new guy?" "Still learning." The duo then took a trip to BIg Belly Burger where they thought Diggle would be.
Rob had stopped the two before doing a perimeter check of the area," Area is secured sirs." Rob declared earning a thank you from Oliver who entered the establishment with Jayden following. The duo spotted Diggle and his sister-in-law so they decided to make their way to them.
"Hello, Diggle's sister-in-law Carly. I'm Oliver Queen and this is my friend Jayden Lance." He introduced as Carly turned to them. "I know who you are." "No, you really don't." Diggle murmured from his seat as she smiled before walking away.
"Hello. I couldn't help but notice a distinct lack of police cars when we got home. I knew you wouldn't drop a dime on us. Have you considered the offer?" Oliver asked him. "Offer. That's one hell of a way to put it." Diggle scoffed.
"It is an offer. It's a chance to do the kind of good that compelled you to join the military." Jayden chimed in. "Please. You were born with platinum spoons in your mouths, Queen and you spent your whole life with these people. What, you two spent 5 years on an island with no room service, and suddenly you found religion?" Diggle questioned scoffing again before Oliver took out the book with the list and showed it to Diggle.
"This was my father's. I found it when we buried him." "I thought you said your father died when the boat went down." Diggle said, remembering the lie that the two told the press. "We all 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." Jayden sighed recalling the moment.
"As much as he was doing it to give us a chance to survive, I believe that he was also atoning for his sins. I need to right the wrongs done by my family, and we're offering you the chance to right the wrongs done to yours." Oliver said.
"Oliver, what are you talking about?" Diggle asked not wanting to believe the duo. "The police never caught your brother's shooter, did they?" Jayden asked as Diggle's face changed to that of anger. "Hey, you leave Andy out of this." He warned.
"The bullets were laced with curare which is Floyd Lawton's M.O. He is the sniper that we stopped at the exchange building." Jayden said. "Are you trying to tell me that you took down Andy's killer?" Diggle asked the duo.
"We're-" Oliver paused long enough for a waitress to pass by before continuing. "We're giving you a chance to help other people's families.Do you remember when the people in this city helped each other?"
"They can't do that anymore, because a group of people, people like Oliver's father, they see nothing wrong with raising themselves up by stepping on other people's throats. It needs to stop and if it isn't going to be the courts and its not going to be the cops then it will be us." Jayden said motioning to himself and Oliver.
"And, we hope, you" Oliver started before Rob joined the trio at the table. "I'm gonna go to the washroom, Rob." Oliver said leaving as Jayden struggled to contain his laughter. "Oh, that boy's long gone, man." Diggle told the bodyguard as the young Lance sibling snickered.
"Don't worry Rob, you'll be able to catch up with him just let me finish my conversation with Mr. Diggle and I'll be right out." Jayden said, wiping a tear from his eye as Rob nodded and walked out of the restaurant. Jayden could feel his phone vibrate as he took a moment to glance at it seeing it was a message from Oliver. Laurel wants to meet. Suit up.
"We're really trying to do some good Diggle. I can't force you to do anything, but give it a little bit of thought if you get the chance." Jayden said with a smile before sneaking out and swinging to the Steel Factory to put on his costume and meet up with Oliver.
The duo made their way to the rooftop and waited for a couple of moments before the sounds of heels clicking caught their attention. "I got your message." Oliver's voice boomed with distortion. "Is there a reason we can't do this face to face?" She asked. "You've met with Peter Declan," Jayden chimed in, already knowing the answer.
"You were right. He might be innocent. Declan said his wife blew the whistle on Brodeur the day she was murdered." Laurel informed the duo as Oliver began to walk past her. "Then we need to get whoever she told about Brodeur to testify."
"He already has. Matt Istook, Camille's supervisor. Only, he says that she didn't say a word to him." She said. "He's lying." Jayden retorted, crossing his arms. "Well, if he is, then he's very convincing. He had the jury and police believing him." Laurel looked to Oliver who had turned to her.
"He hasn't been questioned by us." "I didn't become a lawyer to break the law or hurt anybody." She spoke as Jayden started to walk by Oliver. "We do what's necessary, what people like Peter Declan need," Oliver said.
"If what you're doing isn't wrong then why are you hiding your faces with hoods and masks?" Laurel questioned as her brother sighed. "To protect the ones we care about." He answered. "That sounds lonely." She told the duo as Jayden glanced at Oliver.
"It could be but we got each other." Oliver said before shooting an arrow into the side of a building as he swung to the next roof leaving Jayden and Laurel for a moment. "Till next time Ms. Lance." Jayden backflipped off the roof as he shot a webline from his wrist and followed Oliver to their next target, Matt Istook.
The Arachnid and Arrow found where Istook worked and waited for him to leave the building. When he went to unlock his lone car in the parking lot only to be hit in the back with a dart and falling unconscious soon after.
When Istook woke up he could just barely hear the train behind him as he looked to try to understand what was happening to him. "Matt Istook." He quickly sat up and looked at the duo. "You're them, the hooden guys. You're the pair that's been terrorizing the city." Ishtook groaned.
"Peter Declan," The Arrow began pressing him on the track he wanted him to be. "Your lies helped put him on death row. Now either it's time to tell us the truth, or it's time for the 10:15 to Bludhaven." The faint sound of the train could be heard coming closer.
"Ok, I- Broduer paid me to say that Camille never spoke to me, but I didn't have anything to do with her death. Oh God, please. I'll do anything. Y- you could have the file." He stammered as the train continued to come.
"What file?" The Arachnid questioned. "Camille gave me a file of evidence against Jason Brodeur." "Where is it?!" The Arrow shouted using more force as Istook whimpered. 'Let me go, and I'll tell you." He begged as The Arachnid started to get annoyed. "We don't make deals." The duo both turned and walked past him and out of the way as the lights of the train could be seen shining.
"Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Don't go! It's in my desk! The file!It's in my desk at the office! You can have it! Get me out of here!" He screamed as Oliver fired an arrow at the handcuffs freeing Istook who rolled out of the way of the oncoming train.
CNRI Office
Laurel was working another late night alone as the lights shut off and a file was dropped in front of her. "Compliments of Matt Istook." The Arrow's voice rang as she turned to the duo. "What's in here?" Laurel asked. "Leverage on Jason Brodeur, enough to helps save Peter Declain's life." He informed her..
"As an attorney, I never would have gotten a file like this. I always thought the law was sacred, I-it fixed everything." She stammered. "And now, Laurel? Now what do you think?" The Arachnid asked. "I think there's too many people in this city who only care about themselves, people who are selfish. I think they need someone who cares about the lives of other people." Laurel answered as the duo suddenly disappeared into the night.
CNRI- The Next Day
Jayden had woken up later than usual so he decided to swing by and check on his sister. "You know I'm sure the world won't end if you'd take a break." The young Lance sibling joked as Laurel turned to her brother with a smile. "Sorry Jay, raincheck I'm busy with a case it's urgent." She said as their father interrupted their conversation.
"You know it was a funny development on Matt Istook. He filed a police report and said that the men in hoods harassed him last night. And that's funny because I gave my daughter Istook's name." Quentin started as Laurel began to say something only for him to cut her off. "They are vigilantes, they are criminals and you working with that makes you an accessory."
"Come on dad, she's just trying to save an innocent man's life." Jayden intervened only for their father to scowl. "No Jay, she's breaking the law." "If the police would have done their job right then she wouldn't have to." Jayden retorted. This caused their father to glare and rush out not wanting to escalate the situation anymore. "Thanks Jay." Laurel thanked as her brother placed his hands behind his head.
"Laurel, you're my sister you know I'll always have your back no matter what. I'll let you get back to work though you got a job to do." He hugged his sister tightly before leaving out to grab Oliver and do a checkup on their deed.
A Few Hours Later
"We're not done yet." The Arrow angrily said to Laurel. "I'm an attorney. Trust me. We're done." She said as The Arachnid perked up. "What do you need to free Peter Declan?" "At this point, nothing short of a signed confession from Brodeur." The duo then started to leave the office. "Where are you going?" "To get a confession." The Arrow said as the vigilantes leapt into the night.
The duo snuck into Brodeur's office with ease before The Arachnid shot a web ball at his direction to catch his attention. "What do you want?" Brodeur asked as the duo closed in on their prey. "You're gonna confess that you arranged to have Peter Declan's wife murdered."
"What, so I can take his place in prison?" Brodeur asked. "So you can avoid the death penalty." The Arrow corrected. "Except if I'm dead,well, then you've got no one to pin Camille's murder on. You need me to exonerate Peter Declan. Maybe you could try to force me to sign a confession or something." Brodeur said before The Arrow shot an arrow into his hand.
"That might be difficult."  The Arachnid cracked as Brodeur's phone rang as he held it for the man to answer. "It's Ankov. It's going down, one hour." Jayden hung up the phone quickly and pulled out a knife and aimed it to his throat.
"What's going down in an hour?" The young vigilante questioned. "Peter Declan's execution is getting moved up." He smirked as Jayden cracked him the jaw knocking him unconscious.
"I don't have enough web fluid to make it in time." "I'll take care of it." Oliver said as Jayden nodded before swinging off to the hideout. "At least 5 federal, state, and local agencies are seeking millions of dollars in fines and environmental cleanup costs from Brodeur Chemical, new facts have come to light that Brodeur Chemical employee Camille Declan had discovered Brodeur was illegally disposing waste and had collected a file of evidence against her employer before her murder in 2007. Peter Declan, who was convicted of kill his wife, has been released, and the case has been reopened." A reporter said from the tv.
Queen Manor- Next Day
Jayden walked up to Oliver at his place as Rob stormed out. "He quit?" "He couldn't handle the job requirements," Oliver said as the duo entered the house to see Diggle staring out of the window.
"You here for the bodyguard position? Cause the new guy just quit." Oliver said as the veteran turned to them. "No, I'm not. I'm here about the other position. Just to be clear, I'm not signing on to be a sidekick. But you're right. Fighting for this city needs to be done, and you two are gonna do this with or without me." He said.
"Yeah." Oliver agreed. "But with me, there'll be fewer casualties, including the two of you." Diggle told them. "Diggle, I'm not looking for anybody to save me," Oliver started. "And I can handle it." Jayden finished.
"Maybe, but you both need someone just the same. You are fighting a war, except you two have no idea what war does to you, how it scrapes off little pieces of your soul. And you both need someone to remind you of who you are, not this thing you're becoming." Diggle told them. Oliver held out his hand as Diggle shook it.
"Welcome aboard." Jayden said, giving him a pat on shoulder. "Oliver Queen." The trio turned as Oliver's name was called as the door swung open. "What is this? You can't just barge in here." Walter's voice rang. "Yeah? Well, I got a badge and a gun that say different." Quentin said.
"Hey, what the hell's going on?! Detective Lance-" Oliver said as the trio walked into the entryway. "Oliver Queen and Jayden Lance, you two are under arrest on suspicion of obstruction of justice, aggravated assault." Quentin said while arresting the duo.
"What is going on?" Moira asked. "Walter, stop them!" Thea called from upstairs. "Trespassing, acting as a vigilante..." Detective Lance continued as Jayden glared. "You can't be serious what the hell dad."
"And murder. You two have the right to remain silent. Give up that right."  Quentin told the duo leaving the others standing in the entryway and leading them into the cruiser.
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