The Starling Saviour

Chapter 46

My phone buzzed with a message from Oliver, telling me I needed to join him at the Arrowcave.

'He's back,' I said happily to a confused Leyla. 'Ollie. He's training again.'

'That's brilliant,' Leyla joined in my celebration. 'But remember, don't forget about our crusade while you fight his.'

'I don't think I could,' I smiled at her. 'After all, I've been planning to finish the Dark Archer for years.'

Arriving at the nightclub-in-progress, I found Tommy busy at work, his brow creased in concentration. The club looked barer than it should be, the opening night supposedly extremely soon.

I tried to avoid Tommy's gaze so he wouldn't suspect why I was at the building, but I was not swift enough.

'Aria, what are you doing here?' Tommy looked up from his work untimely, surprised at my presence.

'She was looking for me,' Oliver appeared out of nowhere, saving the day. 'Hey.'

'Ollie,' I greeted him, feeling relieved he had stopped me from embarrassment before turning to Tommy. 'I came to... Take a look at the club. See how you're doing.'

'Well, there isn't much to see yet,' Tommy told me in dismay. 'Our contractor is absolutely useless.'

'I'm sure they'll soon pull their weight,' I said optimistically. 'And if they don't, why don't you tell them that you could just... Give the job to someone else?'

Every word I said to Tommy felt utterly painful as I felt my love for him trying to break through. But I had to hide them, Tommy looking as though he was doing the same by his facial expressions.

Quietly, Oliver and I made our way down to the Arrowcave, Tommy being none the wiser, and I saw that Diggle was also joining us.

'What made you want to get back in the swing of things?' I inquired as my eyes skimmed the room, it evident that Oliver had been using his equipment very recently.

'Laurel reached out to me about a case,' Oliver explained. 'She contacted me on the phone I gave to her father.'

'Isn't that the same phone that I had to analyse the other day?' I wondered aloud. 'Lance wanted to use it to track you, well, The Hood, but I just told him it was a dead end forensics-wise.'

'Laurel's desperate,' Oliver stated. 'She wants to help her friend at the CNRI, Joanna de la Vega, get justice her brother's death.'

'He died in a recent fire the Fire Department were trying to prevent,' Diggle added for my benefit.

'If I knew anything, I would tell you,' I started sadly. 'But the Starling City Police and Fire Departments try their best not to get involved with each other. I have no idea what happens at the SCFD.'

'Fortunately, Oliver, you can be very persuasive,' Diggle reminded him. 'I'm sure you can do some more digging.'

'Like I told you earlier, Diggle, this is in the police's hands,' Oliver argued. 'A reckless billionaire's son can only do so much.'

'I agree with Diggle,' I contested Oliver's ideas. 'You're Oliver Queen, the boy who managed to survive five years on an island. Well, that's what they thi-'

I stopped myself from spilling Oliver's secrets in front of Diggle. I wasn't even supposed to know about Oliver's history with Amanda Waller.

'I can find out for you who the right people to ask about the case are,' I changed the topic, logging onto the computer on the desk next to me and searching the Fire Department's database.

I found a link to their forum, an 'Updates' page live.

'It seems they have an online alert system,' I informed Oliver and Diggle, rather impressed with the SCFD's efficiency. 'There's a fire at a building downtown as of this second. Maybe you should go to get a feel for what situation Joanna's brother was in; put yourself in his shoes.'

'Laurel said there has been a few deaths in the department recently,' Oliver commented. 'Maybe the killer will be there tonight.'

'Perhaps you can stop this guy from killing anyone else,' Diggle suggested. 'This city needs The Hood, and now.'

---

Oliver returned in no time, a look of sheer disappointment on his face.

'Is everything okay?' Diggle asked him as he slammed his bow down.

'I wasn't fast enough,' he said quietly. 'I let a man burn in a fire.'

'You can't win every battle, Ollie,' I tried to comfort him. 'It was your first fight as the vigilante since you recovered from hospital. Don't be too hard on yourself.'

'Did you find anything out about the killer?' Diggle tried to let Oliver stay positive.

'He was fully covered, I couldn't see his face or get an idea of who he was,' Oliver told us sadly. 'The only thing I could see was a scar and a tattoo of a firefly on his wrist.'

'Firefly tattoo...' I repeated slowly. 'That rings a bell.'

I quickly typed on the computer keyboard, looking through the archives on the SCFD database.

'It looks like some of the firemen at the SCFD got themselves tattooed with fireflies on their wrists, just like you said the killer had,' I told Oliver as I found out about a particular SCFD unit. 'They called themselves The Fireflies. All eight men decided to get matching tatts.'

'How adorable,' Oliver commented sarcastically. 'I'll let Laurel know.'

'I hope you're not dragging her into something only The Hood should know about,' I said ambiguously. 'There's a reason you hide behind a hood in cases like these, but Laurel has nothing to hide behind from danger.'

'It's nice you still care about her, Aria, but I've got this,' Oliver told me definitely. 'Please, don't worry. Anyway, you better get back to your sister. You said you wanted to spend as much time as possible with her.'

Saying goodbye to both Oliver and Diggle, I headed out of the back doors of the club, Tommy luckily absent from the building. Starting to walk towards Leyla's fabulous underground den, a man in a long, brown coat made a beeline for me, his expression serious and driven. His appearance very much reminded me of some Doctor Who character, his outfit giving off a very futuristic vibe.

'Are you Aria Coleman?' He asked me in a British accent much posher than mine.

I nodded, confused as to how he knew who I was.

'You mustn't kill Malcolm Merlyn,' he told me with vigour. 'It is vital you do in order to preserve the timeline.'

'How can I trust you?' I challenged him, warily trying to back away, my hand hovering over the pocket where I carried my gun. 'I don't even know your name.'

'Rip Hunter,' he answered my queries. 'You better come with me, Miss Coleman. I think you may want to hear this.'