Green Arrow & the Canaries

Two

Dinah was already in the apartment when Laurel and Mia appeared on the balcony, then stumbled inside. Laurel went directly to the bar, while Mia collapsed onto the couch, tossing back her hood and rubbing her eyes.

"Long night?" Dinah joked. She had already changed out of her Black Canary suit and was in loose-fitting jeans and a light t-shirt.

"Haha," Mia rolled her eyes, "They were good fighters, well trained, highly skilled."

Laurel took a sip of her whiskey, "No match for us, however."

Mia scoffed and got to her feet, "Really? Dinah just came out of retirement after being portaled to the future for some unknown reason: you're from the past and another earth: and the extent of my fighting is relying on skills from a whole other fracking universe!"

"I have been on this earth longer than you have!" Laurel challenged.

"Only by three years!"

"Hey!" Dinah got in between the two and put her hands up, "Stop it! Look, I know tension is running high, but that doesn't mean that we can be at each others' throats. Take a step back," both Mia and Laurel did as they were told. "Good. Take a breath. Now talk this out like normal human beings."

"We're not -"

"I know we're not normal humans!" Dinah cut Laurel off, "That doesn't, however, give us an excuse not to be civil!"

Mia glared at Laurel, then turned to Dinah, "I need to get going before JJ gets home from his meeting."

"That's it," Laurel muttered, "Run home to your homicidal maniac."

Quick as a whip, Mia had sent one of the flechettes on her thigh toward Laurel, who ducked, letting the dart hit the wall.

"Destruction of property - check," Dinah rolled her eyes.

Mia ignored her, "JJ isn't like that."

"And yet, you know he is."

"Maybe in another life, but he isn't in this one!"

Laurel raised her eyebrows and took a slow sip of her whiskey. Mia opened her mouth to say more, but her phone started buzzing from where she had left it on Dinah's kitchen table. Mia glared at Laurel once more, then went to answer it.

"Can't you be civil? At all?" Dinah asked once Mia had left the room.

Laurel rolled her eyes, "Listen, D, Mia needs to grow up. She's lived in a bubble all her life and her perfect little reality is going to be shattered when she realizes that sweet JJ isn't so sweet after all."

"Mia is apart of our team, Laurel," Dinah protested, "Which means, by extension, JJ is, too. We need to give him the benefit of the doubt."

"I'm not going to be on the same team as a murderer!" Laurel caught her words, then rolled her eyes, "Leave me alone. You know what I meant."

Dinah opened her mouth, but Mia re-entered the room, saving Laurel from another lecture.

"That was JJ," Mia waved her phone as if it were proof, "Don't worry - he hasn't killed anyone. He was just wondering where I was. I should probably get going, however. See you guys tomorrow?"

"Definitely," Dinah nodded, smiling, "See you tomorrow." She elbowed Laurel, who managed a soft,

"Night."

Mia left Dinah's apartment, taking the backdoor out of the weird, little, hippie bar downstairs.

Star City was mostly quiet. To be fair, Dinah did live in more of a residential area and the deeper a person got into the city, the busier it became.

As she walked, Mia passed the park where the statue of her father stood. It was also the park where William had been kidnapped. She had only been back once since and that was only to search for any clues that might reveal her brother's captors. JJ's apartment was just on the other side.

Much to her distaste, Mia cut through the park. She avoided her father's statue and kept her head down. It was late so there weren't too many people out who would care that she was Mia Queen, but she didn't want to have to explain over and over to paparazzi or anyone why she was out at 12:30 at night.

The other side of the park spit Mia out a block from JJ's apartment building where he occupied a home on the fourth of five floors. Mia knew the complex like the back of her hand so, even in the dark, she had no trouble finding JJ's apartment.

"Hey," Mia's fiancé embraced her when he opened the door, "Where were you?"

Mia shrugged and took off her coat as JJ closed the door behind her, "Out. I was on a walk."

JJ's eyebrows knitted together in worry, "You've been walking a lot recently. Is everything okay?"

Mia forced a laugh, "Of course, why wouldn't it be?"

"I don't know," JJ admitted, "But you're sure you're okay?"

Mia smiled and clasped her hands around JJ's neck, "I couldn't be better."

"Even with William?"

Mia's smile faded, "Let's not talk about William, okay? I just need to think about something else?"

JJ smiled and picked her up, "I think we can manage that."

"Who is the Green Arrow!"

William spat the blood that had gathered in his mouth onto the floor, "I-I don't know!"

The hooded figure punched him again, "Who. Is. The. Green. Arrow?"

"I swear - I don't know!"

"Your father was the Green Arrow! How could you not know who his successor is?"

William growled, "If you don't remember, my father died when I was thirteen! He could've had a cult and I wouldn't have been the wiser!"

"We'll leave you here a few more days, then see if you know anything."

"I don't!" William shouted as the hooded figure slammed the heavy iron door behind him.

William bent his head and looked down at his bloodied clothes. It felt like years ago when he was standing beneath his father's statue with Mia. Mia, who still had their family's hozen from when he gave it to her to look at.

His captors had the hozen inscription tattooed onto their wrists, and William could only imagine what that meant. He just hoped that he lived to find out.