Sapphire Ruby (Book Two, Arrow)

chapter 16 ⚔ Suicide Squad

There was a mattress in the foundry of the basement in Verdant, where Oliver and Jill were sleeping.

Oliver was sleeping.

Jill was watching him, standing, walking away, picking up her phone to make a call, sighing, speaking in Russian. "Mne nuzhno vstretit'sya svami."

⚔ 

Jill was at a warehouse district in the middle of the night, walking toward Alexi Leonov and his men from the Bratva station in Starling City. She managed a small, awkward smile. "Alexi. How are you, my friend?"

Alexi shook her hand. "What can I do for you? There's no Gulags here in Starling City.'

Jill chuckled. "Anatoly talks too much."

Alexi laughed. "Eto verno."

"I need you to find a man for me," Jill told him. "His name is Slade Wilson. He's rich, Australian, and he's missing an eye. I need to know where he sleeps."

"First, I need your assistance with my business," Alexi told her. "There is a man who owes me a substantial amount of money."

"I am not here to trade," Jill told him.

"You know how the Bratva works," Alexi told her. "I do a favor for you and you do one for me." 

"Put it on my tab, Alexi," Jill told him. "I don't have time for these games."

"Make time," Alexi told her. "My services are of no use to you unless yours are use to me."

Two men walked closer from behind Jill, prepared to draw their guns if necessary.

Jill gave Alexi a hard look. "Okay." She turned around, punching Man 1 in the face, taking his gun from him, kicking him in the face, making him fall to his knees. Man 2 tried to punch her. Jill ducked, taking his gun from his holster, backhand punching him in the face, spinning to kick him in the head, making him flip through the air and land on the ground, turning to aim one gun at Man 1, aiming the other gun at Alexi. "I know exactly how the this works, and right now, it works for me." She spoke in Russian. "Do we understand each other?"

⚔ 

Jill returned to the basement of Verdant in the morning.

Oliver was working out heavily, as tense as Jill was about Slade returning, shirtless, using the ladder as a pullup machine. He heard her approaching, jumping down. "I woke up and you were gone."

Jill nodded. "Yeah. I wasn't tired."

"You should be," Oliver told her. "When's the last time you actually slept?"

"Right before I found out that Slade Wilson is still alive," Jill answered. "Do you want to talk? I mean, I know neither one of us are very good about sharing our feelings, but... I mean, it's a lot. And, you know... it's okay if you're scared. I am, too."

"I'm not scared," Oliver told her. "Slade came back to Starling City with an agenda. First, he tries to mass produce the Mirakuru. Then he shows up... at my mother's house. So, he wants a fight? Fine. I'll give him a fight. And this time, when I kill him, I will make damn sure that he stays dead. I just need to find him."

"I'm working on it," Jill told him.

"What does that mean?" Oliver asked.

"It means I'm working on it," Jill answered. "You have enough to worry about with your family, Ollie. Let me worry about finding Slade."