Dear Ollie,
I'm tired, so very tired. I'm tired of the pain, I'm tired of the tears and most of all, I'm tired of missing you. My current position, is compromising, but maybe it's time I let you in on a little secret. Not like you're going to tell anyone anyway.
Lately, there has been a woman in disguise roaming our streets. She emerges from the shadows and melts into them just as quickly. She takes down the criminals and people that are rotting this city. She removes them from our city permanently. The call her the shadow.
I am this woman.
- Mia xx
--
Amelia lay on the couch with Tommy and Laurel watching a movie when the doorbell rang.
"Not getting it. Not my house." Amelia announced, her head lying on Tommy's shoulder.
Laurel rolled her eyes and stood up to answer the door. In entered Joanne, who sat on the coffee table. Amelia sat up and paused the movie, looking at Joanne.
"I don't think what happened to Danny was an accident." She said, her voice breaking.
Amelia looked at her, gesturing for her to continue. "I think he might have been murdered."
"Jo, do you remember when Sarah died?" Laurel spoke. "I did all this research to try and explain why the boat went down. I needed to know that it wasn't just and accident, we both did." She said and reached for Amelia's hand who nodded in agreement.
"That is not what I am doing." Joanne argued. "I once handled a cars for a Clark in the coroners office." She told them, pulling a file out of her bag. "He passed me a copy of the incident report."
Amelia picked up the pick and opened it as Laurel and Tommy gazed over her shoulder.
"It said that Danny's turnout coat was doused in turpentine, but I checked and the plan owner said that there wasn't any in the factory. A turnout is supposed to be able to handle temperatures over five hundred degrees, but the coroner said that the fire didn't exceed to over a hundred and fifty. How did my brother burn hotter than the fire that supposedly killed him?"
Joanne left soon after the conversation after Laurel and Amelia told her that they would look into it. Tommy left for a while, leaving on Laurel and Amelia to talk.
"I think she might be right. It doesn't add up, and there are too many differences for it to just be a coincidence." Amelia told Laurel.
"Agreed, so what can we do?"
"We can talk to your dad tomorrow. We need to find out the truth one way or another Laurel."
--
"A fireman died fighting a fire, I'm not sure that this is a crime." Quentin said, walking away from his desk.
Amelia and Laurel followed, determined to get their point across. "We did some digging. Last week another firefighter - Leo Barnes - was killed in action, same circumstances. You can't say that isn't suspicious Quentin."
"Traces of turpentine and ignition temperatures hotter than the actual fire. You think you could talk to the fire marshal? Persuade him to look into this further?" Laurel added.
"Well, the fire department has its own investigation unit. They don't answer to the police." Quentin shrugged.
A man in his forties, with thinning hair walked over to Quentin and handed him an old iPhone. "Sorry it took so long." He apologised. "With the detectives, it's been really backed up."
He questioned the man about prints and tracing but to no avail. "Another case?" She questioned.
"The vigilante. The phone belongs to him." Quentin answered.
That explained a lot. Of course Oliver had something to do with this.
"Look I feel for Jo and her family, I really do. But there's nothing I can do kiddos. Sorry." He gave them each a quick hug and gulped down the last of his coffee.
"Right, let's go." Laurel said.
"I'll be there in a minute. I think I left something." Amelia lied.
Laurel nodded and left. Once out of sight, Amelia snagged the phone and quickly rushed out of the building. This was the perfect thing to do. She could contact Oliver when he was the vigilante without being the shadow and without him knowing that she was aware that he was the vigilante. Basically, it meant that Amelia had the upper hand. She may be speaking to Oliver again, but that didn't mean that she still wasn't furious at him.
"Hello." She said, once he had answered the phone. Of course he didn't reply, not that Amelia gave him much time to do so. "I need your help."
--
The lights flickered off in Amelia's apartment, and she knew that Oliver was here. Confidently, Felicity had just left for a night shift down in the IT department. Oliver must have been waiting until Amelia was alone. That was slightly creepy. He walked in and turned his back to Amelia.
"Why are you so dramatic Robin?" She sighed. "I meant he flickering lights, the voice scrambler that's in your hand. Why don't you just pull down the hood?"
"My name isn't Robin." Was all that he replied.
"Oh I know that already." Amelia laughed.
"You said it was important."
"It is and you would already know about it if you weren't slacking. The shadow isn't slacking, but you are. Always knew girls were better than boys. Anyway, my friend Jo, her brother he died two days ago fighting fire." Amelia spoke. She picked up the file and walked around to where Oliver stood. "The police and fire department say that he died on the line of duty. But my friend thinks that he was murdered."
"So you're asking one killer to find another?" He spoke.
Amelia clenched her jaw. "We're all killers in someway. We all have are demons and we all have both light and darkness inside of us. Some actions can be justified more than others. This one, cannot be justified in anyway. Danny was a good man, and he did not deserve to die. You say that you protect this city, that you protect the innocent people that live here. Danny was one of those, and if what you say is true, if you feel remorse, then you need to help me bring his killer to justice."
She held out the file and slowly Oliver turned and took it out of her hands, his head bowed, though it made no difference. She knew the face beneath the hood.
"I'll look into it." He said.
"Thank you."
He turned to leave, and Amelia spoke just loud enough for him to hear.
"Your actions can be justified in a certain way. What you do, it's for the greater good. You give more than you take. But remember that this city still needs you. I know what you're going through, but what you're doing is important."
--
Amelia jumped in shock as Quentin spoke. "Where is it?" He asked bluntly.
Amelia knew exactly what he meant, but she played it cool as if she didn't have a clue what he was talking about. "Where is what?" She asked innocently.
"The phone."
Amelia squeezed her eyes shut and crinkled her nose. "Okay I'm sorry, I know I probably shouldn't have."
"That's stolen evidence, yeah you shouldn't have."
"I had to do something."
"That mans a killer." He sighed.
"So am I." Amelia retorted.
Quentin's eyes softened. "Mia, that's different. They were torturing you. It was self defence."
Amelia didn't comment, because that hadn't been what she was referring to. "Then why did he give you his phone?"
"Gimme the phone."
"He took it back." Amelia shrugged.
"You were with him?" Quentin asked, anger and disgust in his voice.
"Yes Quentin I was, and do you know what, I don't see what the big deal is. He's saving our city from itself. So I went to him and asked him for help. If he can help give Jo some closure, what's the problem? When Sarah died wouldn't you want someone to do that?"
"Not if it meant breaking the law and lying to the people closest to them, no." He told her and turned on his heel and walked away.
Amelia groaned in frustration and balled her fists. She didn't know how much longer she could keep this up. The lying, the double life, all of it. Maybe she should just tell him. If not that she was the shadow, that she knew he was the arrow. Maybe.
Her phone buzzed with information about the fire Amelia ran. She had a feeling that Oliver wouldn't be there. He hadn't been the arrow for the past six weeks, meaning she had to deal with it all. And tonight, she refused to let any of the firemen die.
--
Dressed in the shadow outfit, Amelia dropped to the ground from a beam above. She landed gracefully informs of the attacker, and he turned just in time to block her attack. He dodged her hit and kicked her in the stomach. Amelia stumbled backwards, but never had time to stand up as she was pushed hard and whacked her head off the metal ledge, falling to the ground. The attacker kicked her for good measure and stood back, pulling out an explosive of some sort.
And he did so, Amelia caught a glimpse of an insect tattooed on the front of his hand. A butterfly, maybe a beetle or a fly. No, a firefly. Amelia couldn't see clearly. He threw the explosive and fire blocked her path. Amelia felt consciousness slip away from her. A pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist and she went to attack when she heard a voice.
"Hey it's okay. It's me." The voice of Oliver Queen spoke.
She let herself relax as he carried her in his arms. "Where are you taking me?" She mumbled.
"You're bleeding, and I'm going to take care of you."
"The mask. Don't, don't -" Amelia stammered.
"Hush, I won't. Not until you want me to know who you are. I promise."