As Helena and the other woman journeyed further into the room, I spotted a small gun being pressed into Helena's back. And I could do nothing to stop them, not yet.
I hadn't seen Helena in what felt like an age, and yet she was being held at gunpoint right in front of me, all because of me. This wasn't the reunion I was quite hoping for.
'I hear you and Helena Cadent were good friends, for a while,' Vanch commented as Helena trembled with fear. 'But dear Helena here couldn't cope with being a vigilante anymore, after Isaac died.'
Helena started to tremble even more as the woman whispered something in her ear, something hurtful. But what had she said that had made Helena so afraid? Vanch's friend was just as bad as him, it seemed.
'Don't kill her!' I shouted at once. 'Please, don't. She isn't involved in any of this. It's about me, not Helena.'
'Do not talk to Vivian that way,' Vanch ordered me, defending this Vivian. 'She is only helping me, there's no need to be rude.'
Well, Cyrus Vanch was certainly something.
'Let Helena go,' I snarled this time, not letting Vanch make me weak any more.
'I can't until you tell me something about Oliver Queen!' Vanch shouted, losing his cool.
'Why is this so important to you?' I tried to figure out Vanch's game. 'What's Oliver ever done to you?'
'Nothing, really,' Vanch informed me. 'But he has upset many other people. Really, I'm doing you both a favour; there are some out there who would do much worse to you and Oliver if they were the ones in my position.'
Vivian pushed Helena closer towards us, the gun still pressed into her back.
'And I don't think you'll want to see your friend here die because you wouldn't comply, now?' Vanch merely muttered, my attention fully on him.
And I knew Vanch wasn't bluffing; he was a notorious killer who would do anything to get what he wanted.
'What do you want to know?' I asked him monotonously.
'I heard a lot of traffic on the SCPD radio,' Vanch smirked at his triumph. 'The police are interrupting a meeting with The Hood tonight, aren't they?'
I gulped, trying not to answer Vanch's accusations.
'Tell me or Helena is dead!'
'Fine,' I confirmed his conclusions, clenching my jaw. 'You're right, of course you are.'
'And who is the lucky person he's meeting?' Vanch carried on, making me regret everything.
I couldn't get Laurel involved in this. I couldn't.
'No answer, no Helena!' He shouted, invading my personal space.
'No,' I stood my ground.
'No?' Vanch laughed at my choice of word. 'You're going to be very sorry, Aria.'
I looked back at Helena to see if she was okay, if Vivian had pulled the trigger, but instead of the fear on her face I had anticipated, she looked determined and inspired. I could sense she was planning something, and I guessed right.
Nodding to each other, I elbowed Vanch in the face and punched him with both of my tied-together hands, my aim surprisingly accurate. Helena had already dealt with Vivian, the gun now in her hand, and I ran to join her in the next room.
'I'm so sorry we had to see each other again in this way,' I quickly apologised as she tried to set me free from my ties, but it was no use, for they were too tough.
'Why won't these break?' She breathed while desperately attempting to untangle me. 'And honestly, it's okay, I know what kind of life you lead. I heard that a certain vigilante is back.'
'I need to work on dodging security cameras if even you've heard about my one recent return,' I shook my head, but received a hug.
'I'm so glad I've seen you again,' Helena smiled. 'It would have been... Better in different circumstances, but I've missed you so much.'
'As have I,' I smiled back, but our joy was cut short by the sound of Vanch running towards us.
'I can't get you free!' Helena panicked, the sound of more footsteps coming our way.
'Go!' I exclaimed at once. 'You need to get out of here.'
'I can't leave you!' She protested, but I sent her a look to tell her to run.
And she did, while I was taken away yet again by Vanch and his henchmen.
---
'How could I be so stupid?' Vanch asked sarcastically as one of his men secured me tighter to the seat I had previously been sitting on, tying some sort of cord around my chest and the back of the chair. 'She was one of your vigilante friends, wasn't she? Back when The Hood was merely an idea.'
'I'm not going to tell you anything,' I spouted angrily, my breathing feeling restricted as I could barely move my lungs under the cord. 'I'm not afraid of death. It would be a sense of relief to finally leave this city and my friends in it to safety; without me, people like you wouldn't need to torture or hurt them any longer. So do it, give it all you've got. I deserve to suffer.'
'Tempting, but no,' Vanch started to laugh. 'I had a feeling you'd react like this. Death would be liberating for you. No, no, I think I have a better idea.'
Vivian handed Vanch a syringe, much like the Vertigo-filled one The Count had injected into Oliver just a few weeks before.
'Recognise it?' He grinned sadistically, holding it up in front of my face like it was his prized possession. 'It's a very similar poison to the one my friend The Count gave Oliver. Only this time, I added my own special ingredient to the mix; sodium pentothal, or truth serum, as it is more commonly known.'
'I thought you didn't want to kill me,' I commented. 'Vertigo in its purest form probably will.'
'Not if I only inject a little,' Vanch contested impishly. 'It will only... Torture you.'
Great. Now Vanch would be able to find out about anybody he wanted through me and torture them too.
'Please, don't,' I tried to plead, but why would Vanch listen to me?
I felt the needle pierce my skin, the drugs surging and coarsing through my veins. Vertigo itself was a calming drug if it was given in tablet form, but it was supposed to be truly awful in its purest. However, I did not feel the effects I was anticipating, as I immediately relaxed, becoming less tense each second it was in my bloodstream.
Maybe this was what the truth serum had done.
I was free from pain and worry again, like the drugs Count Vertigo had given me. Nothing mattered now but the pretty lights that were swirling around me, my feet feeling as if they were floating upon thin air. My mind was relieved, and my eyes slowly darted to and fro Cyrus Vanch and the rest of the room, his face breaking into a friendly smile.
'Now, tell me, Aria,' Vanch finally spoke after what seemed like a lifetime. 'We're friends here, you and I. You know all I want is the safety of this city, just like you do.'
'Yes,' I replied whimsically, nodding briefly.
'So, Aria, who is Ollie meeting up with now?' Vanch asked, what I thought was a reassuring look plastered on his face. 'Remember, Aria, you can tell me anything. Your secret's safe with me.'
'She's my friend,' I smiled obliviously during my strange high. 'Laurel.'
'Laurel Lance?' Vanch confirmed her name, I again nodding my head as if I was in some dream world.
And then I received a blow to the head.
---
I woke to the sound of my phone ringing, it vibrating on the worktop in front of me. My whole body shivered, my heart feeling as though it was jolting.
'That phone's been ringing all day,' Vanch chuckled from behind me, I still wrapped in cord. 'And all night, and all day again. Especially some guy named Tommy Merlyn? He also sent some rather doting text messages about wanting to talk to you. Oh, and some calls from Oliver, of course. All these guys concerned for you, yet little Aria feels so lonely all the time.'
'You don't really know anything about my life,' I tried to stay tough, but an excruciating pain began to surge through my chest. 'What did you do to me? I've been out for more than a day?'
'Well, it's easier when you can't fight, and when you're asleep, you can't fight,' Vanch explained. 'And, the Vertigo is wearing off, for now. You may be experiencing some pain because the truth serum isn't counteracting the Vertigo any more.'
'That's... Just... Great,' I managed to say, but my body didn't feel like it could hold up for much longer.
'I estimate about... Five minutes until the Vertigo is completely out of your system,' he grinned scarily. 'But for now, we must welcome our newest guest.'
Muffled screams grew closer to us as Vanch's men dragged a distressed brunette into the room.
Laurel.
'She's been here for a day or so, and yet The Hood hasn't shown up to save her,' Vanch continued with a faux pitiful voice.
'If you hurt her as much as you did me, I will not rest until you end up six feet underground!' I shouted at once between Laurel's cries.
'Oh, don't worry about that, I will only hurt her if you-know-who doesn't show up,' he smirked. 'I can't imagine how Oliver feels right now; the two women he loves in the firing line.'
'Oliver doesn't love me,' I defied Vanch's claims.
'What's Ollie got to do with anything?' Laurel cried, more tears streaming down her face.
Vanch laughed at Laurel's naïvety whilst she turned to me, realising I was beside her.
'Aria?' she babbled. 'Aria?'
'It's going to be okay, Laurel,' I tried to reassure her, yet I knew that if Oliver didn't make it I time, we would both be dead.
'Don't be so optimistic,' Vanch leered, leaning directly over Laurel to intimidate her. 'Time's running out, and still no visit from your friend. I might have overestimated his fondness for you.'
He pulled Laurel's head back by her hair as she tried to close her eyes to block everything out. As she cried again, Vanch took a knife from behind his back at rested it against Laurel's throat.
'You said you wouldn't harm her!' I yelled, feeling myself become teary.
'Why would you ever trust anything I told you?' Vanch raised his brows, pretending to be perplexed by my thoughts.
'Assault with intent, and kidnapping,' Laurel started, doing her best to frighten him. 'You're gonna rot in prison for life this time.'
For some reason, Vanch found Laurel's comments funny, for he chuckled for a solid second.
'That's assuming your hooded BFF saves you, and his chances of survival are... Not so great.'
He finally let go of Laurel, my heart rate slowing down slightly as I sighed thankfully.
'He's going up against trained men with their fingers on the trigger of guns that fire up to six hundred rounds per minute,' Vanch carried on to tell us about his master plan. 'Now, I'm no Einstein, but that is a lot of bullets. And even if he were to take them out, I have two sharpshooters on the roof. And even if he were to get by them, what's he gonna do against the veritable army of sons of bitches I've got waiting for him? Now, as I said, I'm no Einstein, but I can count to twenty four, and in case you're wondering, I was, so I studied up on my news footage. Twenty four is the exact number of arrows he carries in his quiver and flechettes he carries around his forearm.'
As soon as Vanch had finished his piece, a rather familiar green-hooded man entered the room, a gunman behind him like Vivian had been with Helena. Vanch laughed at Oliver's defeat and empty quiver, while Laurel gasped in pure fear and I put my head in my hands in despair.
Unless Oliver had something else up his sleeve, we were screwed.
'Loose the bow, Merida,' Vanch smirked at Oliver, clearly enjoying himself a little too much. 'Ventilate him.'
All of a sudden, gunshots sounded from the room Oliver had come in through, and the gunman was down. Quentin Lance was here to save the day.
'My daughter!' He yelled at Vanch in absolute hatred as Oliver beat Vivian to the ground. 'My little girl!'
Lance stormed at Vanch, his gun leading the way, Vanch looking fearful for the first time. However, Oliver shot the gun out of Lance's hands, Vanch taking a breather in amazement.
'I'm the vigilante, you're the cop,' Oliver growled.
'Doesn't mean I have to read the bastard his rights, though,' Lance snarled, punching Vanch as hard as he could.
Oliver quickly bowed his head to me and took off, not wanting to get caught by any other SCPD members.
'Laurel, Aria, are you okay?' Lance checked as he cuffed Vanch.
'Yeah, I'm okay,' Laurel breathed heavily as her panic started to dwindle.
I nodded at Lance, not knowing what to say while I thought through everything that had happened in the past two days. I didn't know what I was going to do or what I was going to tell Oliver; a group of Starling's top criminals had far too much knowledge of Oliver and I, and I had no idea why. It was frightening to think that whatever I did could be monitored by the most evil, and I had thought that I was safe after my pact with Merlyn.
Clearly, there was much more to worry about other than the city assassin.
---
'How are you?' I asked Laurel as I passed her a mug of freshly brewed coffee, its smell immediately calming her.
'I'm okay now,' Laurel managed to crack a smile. 'We're okay now, now that Cyrus Vanch is being interrogated.'
Distant voices could be heard from the interrogation room, Hilton's especially loud.
'I'm glad you are okay,' I now smiled, reiterating what Laurel had said.
'Why are you acting so... Normal about all this?' Laurel questioned my cool behaviour. 'You were there longer than I was, and you're acting like anyone would after a victim turns up at the SCPD. There are officers who can do that, you don't have to.'
I couldn't tell her I had endured much worse on an island, or as a vigilante.
'It's my job,' I placed my hand on her upper arm in consolidation. 'I want to look after you. I've had to fight criminals before; everyone seems to know about that time when I fought that gang ages ago, the Culebra Gang?'
'Of course I know,' Laurel lightened up a bit at my comments. 'But it's okay for you to be upset too, just this once. You try to act all tough and professional, but I know that really, you feel the opposite.'
'I can't just break down in the middle of the SCPD,' I shook my head, disagreeing partially to what Laurel had said, but also agreeing with her. 'I have to stay calm in my place of work, I can't just bawl my eyes out in front of all my coworkers.'
'It's okay to be vulnerable sometimes,' Laurel attempted to comfort me whilst feeling traumatised herself.
'I know,' I responded, but I knew it was going to take some time before I would lose my thick skin.
'What did Vanch do to you?' Laurel wondered, trying to get more and more information out of me. 'He is a terrible man, and I know what he is capable of. You were there for two, three days, and I'm surprised he hadn't killed you by now.'
Laurel looked deeply into my eyes, as though she was determined to figure out what had happened. But she was right, of course; it was strange that Vanch had kept me alive, and soon everyone would realise that. The criminal had explicitly told me he wanted me dead, yet he never acted on his thoughts. Yes, he had said that death would have been a blessing for me, but why was he more bothered about hurting me than getting what he wanted? What had I ever done to him?
'I'm sorry, that was a bit insensitive,' Laurel apologised for her last comments. 'I should be giving you a cup of coffee and a hug instead.'
'I'm okay, honest-' I started to detest, but in no time Laurel had her arms around me, comforting me, telling me everything was going to be okay.
'Girls,' Lance awkwardly greeted us just after Laurel and I withdrew. 'How... Are you?'
'We're okay Quentin, don't worry,' I smiled, answering for both of us as I could see the anger towards her father build up within Laurel.
'Somebody's waiting for you outside,' Lance informed me hastily. 'Queen.'
'Oliver,' I grinned at Oliver as I joined him in the SCPD lobby. 'Why on earth did you come here? I could've just gone to the club.'
'I wanted to check up on you as soon as I could,' he said as he gave me half a hug. 'Cyrus Vanch had no right to take you there.'
'That's what criminals do, Ollie,' I shook my head at him, trying not to laugh at Oliver's sudden seriousness and concern for me. 'I've been in many situations like that before, you know that.'
'But I- I care about you,' Oliver protested, stopping himself from saying something else at first. 'And I don't want to see you get hurt.'
'We're vigilantes,' I pointed out. 'We have to get hurt sometimes.'
It was odd how much Oliver suddenly seemed to care for me, as he put it, now that I had nearly been staring death in the face. Had he gone soft?
'Vanch said something,' I remembered how the murderer had told me Oliver loved me. 'Something weird, and I'm sure he was wrong. I think he was trying to mess with my head.'
'What was it?'
'He told me that you... Loved me,' I repeated Vanch's words. 'And he was insinuating that you loved me, like, more than a friend. But we both know that he was just trying to throw me off-'
'He was right,' Oliver interrupted my babbling, his fingers intertwining with mine. 'I don't know how he found that out, but he wasn't lying.'
'Ollie...' I started, confused. 'I thought you liked Laurel, and Sara. McKenna even. But never me.'
'You're too modest,' Oliver shook his head at my disbelief. 'You never seem to be able to believe that people will love you, or want to associate themselves with you.'
'You're a vigilante, not a counsellor,' I rolled my eyes at Oliver's heartfelt words, not watching for his own feelings.
'But I am your... Friend,' Oliver corrected me hesitantly. 'And I want you to be happy.'
What on earth did Oliver mean in all of this? I was confused and toying with my own feelings. Did I love Oliver, or was I still hung up on Tommy?
'And I want you to be safe,' Oliver quickly finished what he was saying. 'What did Vanch do to you?'
'Standard abductor duties,' I joked, but Oliver remained serious. 'He didn't kill me, at least. Nor did he hurt me that much.'
I didn't want Oliver to worry about me more than he did in that moment.
'But, he knows too much about you,' I immediately told him. 'You need to be careful with every step you take and every person you meet. Somehow, Starling's lawbreakers are getting intel about us that could give them the upper hand.'
'There's more than one?' Oliver figured out I wasn't talking just about Vanch. 'Who else knows about our secrets apart from our newest acquaintance?'
'Count Vertigo did,' I remembered. 'And I think more than just he and Vanch do too.'
'Aria, you're here!' Diggle exclaimed joyously at my return.
I had been so wrapped up in talking to Oliver than I hadn't realised we were already at the Arrowcave.
'Yes, I'm okay,' I laughed at Diggle's out-of-character declaration of happiness. 'Thank you for helping with rescuing Laurel and I, I couldn't be more grateful.'
'I shouldn't be the one who you're thanking,' Diggle wouldn't except my thanks. 'Tommy Merlyn, however, is.'
'While John and I were... Distracted by our own dramas, Tommy reached out to me after he couldn't contact you,' Oliver explained at once. 'It was wrong that we hadn't realised, or gone searching for you.'
'It's fine, you had your mother's involvement with The List on your mind,' I acknowledged.
'Speaking of that,' Diggle started, nodding at Oliver as he took some sort of small recording device off from the worktop in front of us. 'We found out some more on Oliver's mother and the... Undertaking.'
'I made it clear to him persuasively that his plans endangered the Undertaking,' Moira's voice played from the device, the footage slightly crackly. 'I didn't have to make the usual threats.'
'Excellent,' Malcolm Merlyn's voice appeared on the recording suddenly.
'We also found out that the Queen's Gambit was sabotaged and salvaged, and his mother knew about it,' Diggle added, I faking a shocked reaction so I didn't seem suspicious.
'What's the Undertaking?' I quizzed my partners at once. 'How did the Gambit get sabotaged? And what has your mother and Malcolm Merlyn got to do with it?'
'We... Don't know,' Oliver informed me sadly. 'But I'm going to find out.'
I knew that this must have been what Isaac had nearly found out about Tempest, but I still couldn't figure out what their plans were on my own. I needed Oliver and Diggle to investigate it with me, while I covered up my previous knowledge of anything to do with Tempest.
'And how are you going to do that?' I asked with intrigue.
'I'm going to have a... Chat with my mom,' Oliver explained slowly. 'As The Hood.'