JENSEN CARTER
"We need to discuss this," Dalton says as he stands beside Jensen, the two of them watching Clay and Yara drive away from his home.
"Where do we even start?! What a night!" Jensen comments in return as he shuts the door, heading into his living room.
Much to everyone's dismay, Jackson left without giving them any more information. No matter how hard they pushed the subject matter. He'd forced himself away from Clayton, escaping with one last threat - Warning them against interfering with his business. Leaving the four of them at Jensen's house with more questions than answers.
Soon after, Yara and Clay decided to leave as well - But only after Yara made Clay and himself agree on a place and time to talk about their situation.
Dalton heads to the kitchen, taking out two beers and grabbing the bottle opener. "This doesn't really change much you know," He says as he opens the drinks.
Jensen looks over to his friend questioningly.
Handing him a bottle, Dalton takes a seat as he goes on to explain his statement. "This Vincent guy, came to you to further his own agenda, yes. But, he didn't lie. He told you the truth while those two kept it a secret all these years, with no intention of ever telling you. And now, here comes the brother, with more secrets and possible lies. How could we truly trust either of them? Jackson could be switching up the narrative for all we know. Vincent could be the saint in all this. Or at least the lesser of two evils. The timing of everything is mighty suspicious."
Jensen lets out a heavy sigh, running his palm down his face. "I hear you, I do," He says as he thinks over his friend's words. Jensen saw the logic behind Dalton's accusations, finding himself agreeing.
"My advice, Jens," Dalton begins, "Don't get involved. You being friends with Clayton again, that's fine. You just have to be mindful of how much trust you put in him. But as far as that brother of his is concerned, you should stay far away from him. He's nothing but trouble, I can practically smell it on him."
"Jackson left us with more questions than answers. But you're right man. Should nip it in the bud before anything becomes of it," Jensen says with a nod, taking a sip of his drink. "Forget Jackson, forget Vincent and his ulterior motives. Make peace with Clayton and move on from all this."
"Exactly!" Dalton agrees, raising his bottle in the air. "Simple plan. Simple execution."
The two of them sit in silence as they finish their drinks - Jensen's thoughts traveling to his situation with Naomi. Anxious for answers and what those answers would mean for their future together
~
NAOMI REID
Naomi sighs heavily, her eyes trained on the stairs waiting for Kai to come down. Sparing a glance at her watch she sees it was almost noon. Sean and Avery left early in the morning, deciding it'll be best to give Kai his space and her, the chance to talk to him without distractions.
Avery had offered to contact John Freys' grandson, which Naomi was glad for - One less problem on her plate and one less thing for Kai to involve himself in.
Knowing what he was going through, Naomi didn't want to rush him but at the same time, the waiting made her uneasy. She knew she could put his mind at ease if he'd give her the chance.
As she sat there in her chair waiting for Kai to leave his room she regretted not trying harder to let him in on the Lycanthropy secrets. Naomi chided herself for it, especially considering all that went on in the city. Blaming herself for this outcome.
Hearing a door shut upstairs, she sits up straighter. She hears Kai's footsteps before she sees him coming down the stairs. His eyes were red with noticeable bags underneath them telling her he didn't get much sleep - If any.
"Kai-" Naomi begins, standing up and heading to her brother who made a b-line for the kitchen. Her throat was still hoarse and sore, not completely healed from the ordeal but Naomi spoke through the discomfort. Feeling that their conversation could not be delayed any longer.
"Kai?" Naomi calls out again softly following him. With his back still to her, Kai heads to the fridge. Instead of opening it, he stands there with his hand on the door, "You know...the last time I was here you asked me if I believed in the supernatural. If I thought werewolves could exist," Kai says with a humorless chuckle before turning to her.
"There's a lot to tell you, Kai," Naomi says sympathetically. "But I will tell you everything I promise!"
Kai lets out a heavy sigh, "I think I'm going to head out - I'll call Parker to come get me."
"What? No, Kai, we need to discuss this!" Naomi replies in shock as Kai began heading toward the stairs. Naomi moves around her kitchen counter to intercept his path, putting a palm to his chest.
"Naomi, I'd rather n-"
"I get it, you're mad! You're angry, betrayed, confused, scared! I get all of it! I was in this same position when I found out! But I promise you, it'll get better once I explain everything!" Naomi rushes out to Kai who wouldn't look her in the eye.
"Give me a chance to explain it, Kai!" Naomi begged, her voice croaking slightly at the end.
"Okay." Her brother says to her with a sigh.
Naomi lets out a short sigh of relief. "Okay. I'll start from the beginning then," She begins softly. "It started with the night I was attacked on shift."
~
ARROW BERLIN
The sounds of something banging harshly against metal jerks Arrow out of her sleep. She looks around confused, her mind in a daze from the abrupt awakening - Not recalling when she fell asleep. "Rise and shine!" A uniformed man shouts at her, hitting his baton against the bars of her cell.
His commotion earns him groans from the other people in nearby cells as he'd woken them too. Taking out a ring of keys, he begins to unlock Arrow's cell.
Seeing this, Arrow jumps up off the floor, fully alert now. "What's going on? Am I being taken for questioning" She asks, voice hoarse from sleep.
"No, follow me," The officer replies harshly not sparing her another glance. Doing as told, Arrow walks behind the man, keeping up with his brisk pace. Arrow realized that this was the next day as she squinted her eyes against the brightness of the natural light on the level they entered.
Uncertainty floods her as they walk through the main floor of the precinct, not understanding what was happening and not knowing what to expect.
"Her she is sir," The cop says to another before walking away. Realizing she wasn't meant to follow him anymore, Arrow stays put.
"You're free to go. He's outside waiting for you," The new cop says to her not even looking her way.
"What? Who is?" Arrow asks in shock.
"Door's over there." He responds turning his back to her.
Taking the hint, Arrow slowly walks toward the main doors of the precinct - Periodically glancing behind and around her, wondering if this was some sort of joke. "This must be a dream, it doesn't make any sense," She thought to herself as she reached the main lobby.
Walking to the door, she places a hand over her eyes to shield them against the sunlight. Blinking rapidly she looks around.
"There you are! Took them long enough to get you! Thought I was going to have to go back in there."
"Ezra?" Arrow asks in shock upon seeing him standing on the precinct stairs.
"Hey there, sunshine," He answers as she approached him.
"It was you? You got me out? How? How did you even know I was here?" Arrows questions.
"I stopped by your house this morning. Was going to offer you breakfast so we could discuss the keys. When I arrived, there were cop cars, tape boarding off the area, M.E.s. I thought you were the dead one for a second. Eventually, I got the story and made some calls right away. My dad has a lot of friends in Tares." Ezra explains.
"That's it? Just like that?" Arrow mumbles out softly.
"Yeah. When my dad heard about what was going on, he didn't hesitate to start calling around. How could he not? The kid of his old partner," Ezra replies. "I'm sure you want to get out of here, come on, I'll take you home." He says, placing a gentle hand along her back to guide her to his car.
"I can go back to my house? So soon?" Arrow asks in surprise.
"Like I said. My dad knows a lot of people," Ezra begins.
"So what? It's all swept under the rug? Gone? Those people who worked it, the report of gunshots that brought them there in the first place - All taken care of? Just like that?" Arrow asks in return.
"He's handling it, but essentially, yeah. When it's done it's done it's done. No records, nothing." Ezra replies.
"Seems unreal. How does that work? How could he be sure?"
"He's just that good. He knows how to work the system. There are a lot of hunters in the TCPD, you know that. I can't explain the details to you, I don't even know all the procedures. But I do know it's all going to be just fine. Like nothing ever happened. You're going to have to find your own cleaning crew though. His generosity stops at carpet replacement. "
"Generosity," Arrow echoes softly.
"Mmm. You'll just owe him one," Ezra jokes as they reach his car.
"What's your dad's name again?" Arrow asks softly.
"Vincent." Opening the passenger side door for her, Arrow enters the vehicle. Things were moving too fast for her to come to terms with everything. Each piece of information she received felt like it branched off into a million sub-points which she needed answers too.
"Hey," Ezra calls softly getting her attention
Eyes filled with sympathy, he rests his hand on top of her thigh reassuringly. "It's over and taken care of. I promise you everything is fine. Don't worry so much."
Arrow nods silently, turning to watch out the window. Ezra watches her a bit longer before starting the car and driving off.
~
They ride in silence for the majority of the trip, Arrow keeping her eyes cast outside. As they near her home a thought strikes her. "Am I correct in assuming you know who died in my house?" She asks softly.
"Yeah. Cops had already identified them. The Valentines. A pretty well-known name in our circles didn't realize it was them when we met at your house on those occasions," Ezra replies. "Weird to think they're dead now. Such a prominent name and then this, you know?"
"Do you know if the police contacted their father?" Arrow asks, her stomach doing a flip as she awaited the answer. Ezra lets out a sigh, glancing at her briefly, "Mr. Valentine was found dead at his rental house. Lycan attack."
Arrow remains quiet, remembering how Bell showed up at her house mouth already bloody. She wondered how that scenario had played out. Did her father try to kill her first? Perhaps for turning. Or was it Bell who instigated the attack? Arrow found that the latter guess seemed more likely. She wondered if Bell's father fought against her or did he accept defeat at the hands of his daughter.
~
"Ezra pulls up to her home, the two of them sitting in the idling car for a couple of moments in silence. "Thanks, Ezra. For everything. Thank your dad for me as well, I'll have to thank him in person when we meet." She begins. "We'll talk another time, yeah? I just need some time to myself right now."
"Yeah, of course," Ezra replies. "Hold on," He says. Leaning in closer to Arrow, he reaches into the glove compartment, pulling out a pen. Digging around in his pocket he pulls out a piece of paper - a receipt, and scrawls his number onto it.
"Anytime. No matter how big or small. I mean it," He says as he hands it to Arrow.
Accepting the paper, Arrows thanks him again and exits the car. She heads into her home, not looking back at Ezra but listening to the sounds of his car driving away.
Walking straight past the mess of her living room, Arrow heads upstairs to her bedroom and into her adjoining shower.
~
Finally feeling like she'd scrubbed away all the grime and remnants from her time in the cell, Arrow exits her shower. She takes her time detangling and combing out her hair before dressing in a pair of comfy shorts and one of her oversized jerseys.
Exhausted, Arrows heads to her bedroom, climbing straight onto her
queen-sized bed. Crawling under her blanket, she ignores the rumbling of her stomach feeling tired to move.
Her eyes become heavy as she snuggles further into her pillow - A loud knocking sounds from her front door.
"GIVE ME A DAMN BREAK!" Arrow shouts out in frustration as the knocking continues.
Shoving her face into her pillow she lets out a scream before rolling herself off the bed. Grabbing her robe from her wardrobe she heads downstairs, her feet dragging with each step.
Not bothering to look through her peephole, Arrow flings the door wide open. "Uncle Elmaan?!" She says in shock.
"Hello dearest," Her uncle replies with a smile. The expression on his face resembled relief which made Arrow confused.
"May I come in?" He asks Arrow who was still processing his presence.
"What are you doing here?" She asks instead of responding to his question.
"Word travels fast my dear. Albeit, not as fat as I would like. If that were the case, I would've gotten you out of there myself."
"Out of..?" Arrow asks slightly confused though having an idea of what he was referring to.
"Don't play coy, Arrow," Elmaan begins, his tone sounding gentle. "I heard all about the Valentins and your arrest. Late this morning, the news reached me. By the time I heard, someone had already gotten you out. Who do I have to thank by the way? I wasn't able to get a name."
"How did you hear? How many people know?" Arrow rebuts ignoring his question once again. She half expected him to become annoyed with her for it but to her surprise, he didn't.
"Word travels fast you know that. I'd say at least half the community knows," Elmaan replies. "They're - They were a well-known family. The specific details are a mess, but you can clear that up for me later. I- "
"Listen, Uncle Elm. I'm exhausted," Arrow begins, interrupting her uncle and trying to close the door as she spoke.
"No, Arrow," Elmaan says sternly putting a hand to stop the door.
"I know you're tired and you don't want to deal with it but we need to discuss this."
"We don't. It was a situation that got out of hand and was handled. What's there to discuss?" Arrow replies.
"Look, Arrow," Elmaan begins. " I'm no fool. I know I will ask conversation, our last interaction was a mess. Things got out of hand, but at the end of the day, I am still your uncle. We are still family! Since your father's death, my dear, you have made some questionable decisions. Since his death, you have been on your own. I know your brother left, I know it's just you here. And I am worried for you!"
Elmaan pauses for a moment. Arrow stares at her uncle in shock, wondering if she heard wrong. This was a conversation she'd never seen coming.
"Arrow, I was there when you first started hunting. I helped train you! Something like this should have never happened. You, you Arrow! - You should have never let something like this happen. And I, I should not have been the last to know. What would your father think, hmm?! I believe you need to come back to the organization, Arrow."