Reflections

Cisco Ramón shook his head in disgust as he surveyed the damage. "You know, your secret lair isn't really a secret lair anymore if a former stooge for the League of Assassins can come and go as he pleases," he said, looking over his shoulder. "How many times did he have the keys?"

Oliver Queen stepped past him onto the computer platform. "Felicity is scrounging up most of what you need right now but if you can get at least one of our stations up, we can take it from there."

Cisco's open hand shot up to cover his mouth. "Do you think that I will let the new mayor of Star City run off of some two-bit half synced system dedicated to the safety and security of these lonesome streets?"

A tired look from Oliver forced Cisco to fall silent for a second.

A second.

"I can get you completely back up and running in four days. A week at the latest." Cisco checked the back of one of the computer monitors on the table. "The damage is mostly hardware. Easy to replace. Monitors, hard drives and servers. Caitlin is working on a biometric keyless entry for you guys but it will take some time."

"Barry doesn't need you at S.T.A.R. Labs?"

Cisco was hesitant in his answer, causing Oliver to look over the railing at him. "With us dealing with Darhk and you with Zoom, we all have been busy fighting … and grieving. I was sorry I missed his father's funeral."

"No, Oliver, don't go there." Cisco jabbed a finger in his direction. "The threat of a nuclear holocaust trumps anything. Barry more than understood. We all did. We were sorry we missed Laurel's. Especially me."

The two men fell silent for a moment until Cisco cleared his throat. "But Zoom is gone so … trust me when I say anywhere besides Central City is probably not gonna have any metahumans running around."

Oliver nodded. "Nope. Weirdest thing we've gotten was a cross between a Mirakuru-enhanced madman and the head - sorry, three heads of the League of Assassins tearing up the city so … I hope you enjoy your stay."

Cisco sighed and picked up his satchel. "I believe I have these monitors up in the van. I'll go up and check and bring my goods down."

He stepped off the platform and walked over to the elevator. The doors opened before he could hit the button. A petite blonde dressed in custom ripped pants and black jacket with a white shirt stepped off. She looked up at him a little defensively. "Uhhh, hi."

Cisco sighed and looked back at Oliver who was disconnecting bullet-riddled monitors from exposed wiring. "You see? Anyone can get down here like they feel like it. Malcolm Merlyn, Damien Darhk, the Ghosts? Who else? Little Black Canary wannabes?'

He grabbed the woman by the elbow and was gifted with a hip toss a second later that landed him flat on his back. His wrist was twisted in an unorthodox angle while a booted heel was planted against his throat. "What the hell?! Help!"

His eyes focused on Oliver as he laid a hand on the woman's shoulder and she quickly released Cisco. He laid on the floor rubbing his wrist as Oliver chuckled.

"I don't know about a wannabe but I think the very first Black Canary is more than welcome. Cisco Ramón? Meet Sara Lance."

Cisco's eyes bulged out like saucers as the pain was quickly forgotten. "The original Black Canary?! Here?!"

"Looks like you managed to make a new fan."

Sara looked over her shoulder at Cisco as the doors closed behind him on the elevator. "And I thought being on a supposedly deserted island was enough for me. Instead I roll through time with a scientist and auto mechanic who can merge into one nuclear human being, two four thousand-year-old reincarnated souls -"

Oliver walked over with two beer bottles. He handed one to Sara and gestured over to the conference table. "I'm still not over that one."

"Two criminals, and a billionaire tech genius who can shrink to the size of a skin cell," finished Sara. She sat down beside Oliver. "Like I had a chance to meet a Cisco Ramón. Actually I never even met … the Flash, is it?"

"Well, in your defense, you were a little … "

"Dead," finished Sara. "You can say it, Ollie. I was dead." Sara leaned forward in her chair with her untouched beer in her hand. "It's taken some time but I've grown accustomed to the whole thing."

At that remark Oliver looked down at his beer, unsure of what to say. He set the beer on the table and held his hands wide in a gesture of defeat. "Sara, I did everything I could to protect Laurel. Darhk's magic was … it was powerful. It took everything we had to defeat him."

Sara reached over and grasped his hand. "You would be the last person I would blame, Ollie. I spoke to my dad before I came here. He told me what you did that night."

She leaned closer to look into his eyes. "I also know you to a fault and that the decision you made to end him was not an easy one. About killing him."

Oliver looked over at his friend and gave her a sad smile. "It was Laurel, Sara. The decision was easy enough."

"But it was one I wouldn't have asked of you. Just like I know Laurel wouldn't have asked it of you for her."

He squeezed her hand gently and smiled but Sara saw something in his eyes that she had seen several times and became familiar with. The Queen's Gambit was the first time she had seen that look.

A look of remorse.

She took in her surroundings and whistled. "It looks like this place took a hit. Where's the team? I would expect them to be down here helping out and preparing for the Rapture to come up."

"After … afterwards, everyone needed a break. It turns out I wasn't the only one with demons. Dig and Thea, they'll be back when they feel they're ready."

"And Felicity? How is she doing?"

"Well, we both have the unique distinction of being the only two Fortune 500 CEOs voted out by the board of directors of their respective companies who also fight crime at night."

"Ooooh, ouch."

"Yeah. She's looking into it to see if there's a loophole. She might even talk to Ray about though that would involve him coming back from the dead, but something tells me hes very involved with this time-traveling mission."

"Ray has done a lot of good for the team."

"I know, so at any rate it allows for more time to deal … with this," he said as he waved his hand over the lair.

Sara forced a smile. "So! My dad was quite the talker this afternoon! You have a son! And now you're the mayor? Is this the real Oliver Queen, four-time Ivy League dropout?"

Oliver took a swig of his beer and laughed. "It's still weird for me. Me? A father? I mean I want to have kids eventually but with my line of work … it wasn't practical for us to have any kind of life together."

Sara nodded to herself. "Okay. I'm inclined to say it was your idea but what about your engagement with Felicity?"

Oliver gave her a puzzled look. "Dad is a talker," she said with a laugh.

He chuckled. "William's mom said if I wanted to have any kind of relationship with him, then I couldn't tell anyone that he was my son. Even Felicity. I did that and Darhk somehow found out everything! Who I am, everything about Thea, Dig, the lair, everything!"

"Was it Merlyn?"

"I don't know." He played with his nearly empty bottle. "Because he's Thea's father, I made a promise to myself that if Malcolm's involved in anything, unless it's a matter of life or death, he walks with his head attached."

Sara sighed as she rose from her seat. Grabbing the beer bottles, she walked around the edge of the computer platform to the small break area behind the display cases. The glass doors were shattered, completely displaying the outfits of the Green Arrow, Spartan, Speedy, and Black Canary.

Sara hovered at Laurel's case for a minute, so lost in thought that she didn't hear Oliver's approach. "Darhk's wife was slamming Laurel in the press after she died," he said. "She was doing it not to disgrace Laurel but tarnish the legacy of the Black Canary. So when I spoke at the funeral, I … I outed her as the Canary."

Sara's eyes moistened. "That part Mom told me," she whispered.

Oliver stared up at the outfit for a second and walked back to the table, returning with a box. "When Cisco comes in, he can adjust the collar to your vocal frequency. The Canary may be gone here but there's no reason why she can't soar again in another time."

"Wait a minute." Sara turned around and noticed the box for the first time. "What are you doing?"

Oliver held the box between them. "Sara, you and Laurel brought honor and courage to that outfit. It's as much yours as it was hers. It's only right that you wear it again."

Sara glanced over her shoulder at the case and pursed her lips. "No," she said. She took the box from Oliver and set it down to the side. "When I returned home, I had so much darkness in me … I was conflicted on what I wanted to do, and what I needed to do at times. Like with Helena. With Roy. I wanted to kill them. You and Laurel saw something in them that I chose not to see at the time because of the darkness within me. Even that ritual you had done to merge my soul, the first few months were hell because of my bloodlust and the darkness before I died. Laurel recognized that. That's why she had the white suit made for me. To be proof that the shadows are gone and now there's only the light within me."

"If I take this down and wear it, I would be doing a disservice to Laurel's memory. She showed me I could be so much better."

Oliver nodded. "Are you absolutely sure?"

Sara smiled at the outfit again. "More than anything." She reached for Oliver and gave him a hug. He responded in kind.

"When are you going to come back?"

Sara stared up at him with a twinkle in her eyes. "Who knows? Maybe ten seconds ago."

They walked together to the elevator and entered. Sara looked over at Oliver with a mischievous grin as the doors closed.

"Do you want to know what you look like thirty years from now?"