The Starling Saviour

Chapter 46

During one of my shifts at the SCPD, Oliver had decided to pay me a visit.

'Hey,' Oliver approached me as I was analysing the blood on a knife Lance had found at a crime scene.

'I'm a bit busy at the moment, Oliver,' I informed him before he could get me caught up in conversation.

But as per usual, he didn't listen to me.

'Are you.. Okay?' He asked me with concern. 'I've hardly seen you this past month.'

'As you can see, I've got my hands full,' I repeated my point. 'I told you right at the start of the year that ever since The Hood has been on hiatus, the SCPD has been swamped.'

'It's not just that,' he frowned with concern, spotting my dark circles which were a result of late night training with Leyla.

He was right, of course, but I also hadn't been lying. Oliver not being the vigilante had made the crime levels in Starling sky-high, and so I was constantly trying to take look at and solve every piece of evidence given to me in a very tight schedule.

'I'm fine,' I rolled my eyes as I turned my back on him. 'But you need to listen to me. The Hood needs to listen to me. You have to to carry on with The List; it seemed to scare all the criminals away. I'm sure it's because they didn't want an arrow in their chest. And the guys The Hood faced were usually at the heart of a lot of the crime in this city.'

'You know I have a family I need to be there for,' Oliver challenged me. 'And a club to start up. Don't assume that you're the only one who's busy.'

'Fair enough,' I understood Oliver's reasoning. 'But please, at least try to get back into being The Hood. We need you, Ollie.'

'Have you been talking to Diggle?' Oliver seemed to sound amused. 'He was just telling me the same thing.'

'Then you should know that that's a sign,' I raised my eyebrows at him. 'Just, think about it. Please?'

'I will,' he smiled slightly.

I just desperately hoped he would.

---

'I think we're almost ready to fight Merlyn,' I grinned as Leyla reduced me to the floor in our next training session. 'You're good.'

'Not as good as you,' she complimented me indirectly. 'You're more than ready to face Merlyn, whereas I lack the capacity to do so.'

'I won't fight Merlyn without you,' I shook my head, not wanting to abandon my sister. 'I can't.'

'You have been trained in self-defence since you, regardless of choice, moved to America,' Leyla reminded me. 'I am already at the age of twenty five and I have only just taken up the skill, but you, my sister, have had ten years of practise.'

'Well, if you put it that way, I suppose I am the one who should pursue Merlyn,' I agreed. 'But you're not backing out of this, Leyla. You're still going to be involved.'

'Of course,' Leyla accepted our new arrangement. 'I'm not going to bail out on our crusade. I would have done that at the very start if I was going to just leave you on your own. And I want to see justice done, myself.'