A/N: A special thanks to Ray_Writes for inspiring me to write the final scene of the fic, and to Okori for beta reading this chapter.

Laurel had driven Flag's ARGUS issued car to the destination. Right now, all that mattered was that Cindy was entertained by a handheld gaming device that she had found in the house, and had been fed, bathed, was hydrated and had a few hours sleep in the car. She was also safe in the armored car, at least until they were going to be shot repeatedly, and she also had her doubts if the bulletproof windows could stop an arrow.

She waited there for almost an hour as the sun was beginning to rise. It was at that moment that she watched the assassin climb down from the building like some sort of Olympic gymnast. Her long coat fluttered in the breeze.

Laurel gently patted Cindy on her knee before telling her to stay there in the car. Before Laurel left the safe confines of the car, she exhaled and closed her eyes. Praying that this parlay would work.

She exited the car and hobbled towards the older woman, who like Laurel looked like she was favoring one leg over the other. "Cindy speaks highly of you, Shiva. She says that you are a woman of honor, a woman to trust." Laurel had to ensure that everything would work and had to ensure that this Assassin would be able to cooperate with her,

"The girl is intelligent, and I am. As are you, Songbird."

"It's Laurel, and right now, all I care about is that we get the girl out of Kahndaq and into The States. I already have a way out, but I need help to get there." Laurel hesitated as she looked at the woman, who was noticeably unarmed. Not that it meant much to her.

"And you will pay your debt to me by helping me with my problems."

Laurel sighed, "I don't want to kill anymore. I want to be better. I am better than that."

Shiva clicked her tongue, "A shame, you would be a proficient assassin. Nevertheless, I still require your assistance, and I shall add two incentives. One, that you can completely dismantle the Society of Shadows, stop Mother and her current second in command, David Cain. Second, I shall teach you more fighting techniques to add to your arsenal. The latter comes at a small price. The name of your mentors."

"My Dad taught me how to defend myself since I was a girl. My second teacher was an Australian Special Forces Soldier, Slade Wilson. He's dead. My third was Ted Grant, and I don't think he, nor my father would enjoy speaking to a killer. No offense."

"Fair enough, and none taken," Shiva said casually. "It was to sate my curiosity. Why do you want to send the girl to The United States?"

"Cause, I do."

"You love her," Shiva said with a small smile. "You do this for love. For honor. As did I. I was sent to retrieve Cindy." Shiva said the girl's new name as if it was a strange thing to wrap her tongue around. "Or Mother was going to kill my sister and daughter. That will be our mission after we save Cindy."

"ARGUS will have their people ready at the south end of Teth-Adam Plateau. We have a couple of roadblocks between here and there. I'll do my best to ensure that they will be distracted by me. You better not betray me."

Shiva sniffed, looking up at the sky. "I will not, you have my word." She then gestured to Laurel's vest. "And how is it that you plan to do this with only a handgun? Your concussive weapon?"

"I have my ways," Laurel said evasively. She had her pistol, but she would only use that to get their attention initially, and had several magazines so she could wound her foes if they all came towards her.

Cindy ran towards her crying. "You said that you wouldn't leave me!?" She sobbed.

Laurel felt her heart pang at the guilt. She knelt down to Cindy's level. "I promise that we will meet each other again, sometimes different roads lead to the same place. I'm making sure that no one knows where you are. So you can go to America, When I eventually get back home, you can meet my dad, my mom, and my sister Sara."

Cindy held out her pinky finger, "Promise?"

Laurel wrapped her small finger around the girl's finger. "I promise." She then looked up at Shiva, you better keep your promise, or I'll be coming for you."

"You will have no quarrel with me, Songbird."

Laurel kissed Cindy on the cheek, before giving her a small hug. She got up and walked through the alleyways of the area to get to a good vantage spot. Laurel climbed on to a wall, before getting onto a balcony.

She looked down to see the ARGUS car down the road, Laurel turned towards the police blockade, remembering how these men were dirty cops, cops influenced by the death cult. Laurel inhaled as much as she could before using her cry.

SCREEEEEEEE

Laurel watched as the police jeeps catapulted into the air and watched as the cops scattered, the debris sometimes catching the cops and forcing them to the ground. Laurel looked to her left to see the ARGUS car bobbing and weaving through the wreckage, while Laurel unleashed another cry to keep their eyes off of the car.

Laurel's eyes widened as she watched the cops aim a missile launcher. She vaulted over a couple of tables and hid in the adjoining room as it exploded. Her ears rang, and couldn't see anything except dust.

Before the dust settled, she heard the cops rush into the room, Laurel grabbing the first cops' rifle, releasing the magazine, and removing the bullet from the chamber before snatching it off him, and using the butt of the rifle as a weapon.

Laurel hid under a table as two cops ran past her and she followed silently, kicking one behind his knees before knocking him out and shooting the other in the kneecap and kicking the gun away. She then moved towards the stairs and waited until the reinforcements got up the first flight of stairs before using her cry again, knocking them down.

Her body ached as she ran down the stairs. It wasn't until she heard gunfire, did she feel her left side felt like it was on fire. She ran around the corner and used the walls to walk towards the final roadblock while holding her side.

::-:-:-::-:-:-::

Shiva drove the girl through the barricades as she heard the destruction and the high-pitched screams of the young woman that she had just taken as a student and a partner. She had encountered many strange things during her time traveling the world. Magic, mystical healing waters, immortals, and time travelers, but she had never anticipated seeing, or rather hearing the screams of a woman that could sweep someone off their feet, or potentially kill them. A person with an enhanced body.

Eventually, the crowds became too much, and Shiva grabbed the girl's hand and left the car behind, and started to make their way over the bridge, when a cop stopped them, asking for identification.

She kept walking with Sin until she had the gunmen on top of her. She grabbed a gun from the man, shooting one, grabbing the other, snapping his neck, and sending a knife blade strike to the final cop's throat, hearing him choke as she continued to make her way across the bridge.

Shiva practically pushed the girl behind the cover of a large truck and threw a knife at the police officers, before they heard The Canary's song. The officers took cover as the woman with the sonic scream joined them behind the truck. "Sin, honey, are you alright?"

Shiva watched as Laurel looked over at the girl as if she were somewhere between a young mother, and an elder sister looking after the young girl. "I'm fine." The girl then looked on the verge of crying as Sin noticed that Laurel was holding her side where she had been shot.

"I'll be alright, Sweetheart." It was a lie, they hadn't even made it halfway across the bridge, and they were pinned down by a hail of gunfire. It wasn't until they heard a helicopter and heard an explosion did they start weaving between the vehicles on the bridge, finally making it to the plateau.

Shiva watched with her keen eyes, as they all got onto the aircraft and ascended into the skies. A well dressed African American woman with harsh eyes looked at Laurel and the girl. "I must say that I am surprised you made it out of Kahndaq, Miss Lance. Even if it was narrowly?" She made a gesture towards Laurel's bruises, her cuts, her arm that had opened back up, and her bullet wound in her side.

"We shall ensure that you are prepared for surgery when we land on the aircraft carrier, The Theodore Roosevelt. Then you can return home with your… new acquaintance." She said, moving her dark eyes towards Cindy, who had fallen asleep with her head against Laurel. The young woman's arm was wrapped protectively around the girl.

"I'm not going home, Cindy is," Laurel said emphatically. "You will ensure that she is safe and happy in Richard Queen's boarding school. You will foot the bill if you don't want this mission to ever come to light."

Waller was about to say something until she looked at the hard glare Shiva was giving her. "She will need a surname, Miss Lance."

"Lance will be fine," Laurel said, kissing the girl's head.

Shiva looked at Laurel, "After you have recovered from your surgery, and said your farewells to the little one, you and I shall first visit a sacred temple on an island in the North China Sea to train before we shall hunt our prey."

Laurel closed her eyes, after she looked over the blue ocean, and felt uneasy. The sea didn't really bring her fond memories, but she was also silently apologizing to everyone she loved back home, and to Oliver, who could very well be heading home himself. Waller wasn't going to allow herself to be continually prodded for information or assistance, even with Shiva beside her. Laurel decided that wouldn't ask after Ollie, she just hoped that he was safe and happy.

::-:-:-::-:-:-::

Laurel was taken on a gurney and watched as Sin and Shiva followed her. Laurel held out her hand to the little girl as they waited for her surgical team to be ready. Laurel pulled off a ring from her finger, one that her parents had given to her for her eighteenth birthday. She looked at it before she gave it to Sin, Laurel took off her chain necklace and threaded the chain through the loop. "My Mom and Dad gave me this ring," Laurel said. "I'm going to give you this, and you have to take care of it because when we meet again I'll want it back."

Cindy clutched onto the necklace with the ring dangling from the golden chain. "I promise, sister.

Laurel leaned over to kiss her as Shiva walked the girl out and towards her ride back to the States. God, Laurel wished that she could have gone with the little girl. But she owed Lady Shiva a debt to help her escape Kahndaq.

"Ms. Lance, you have a visitor."

Laurel looked up as she saw Oliver standing in the opening of the door. "How?"

Oliver walked closer to her, and gently sat on the end of the bed. "Doesn't matter. You're hurt." He said as he eyed her shoulder, then to her side. "I should have swum out of the Amazo that night. I should have tried to find you."

"Ollie, I'm safe. I've been through hell, but we both have."

Oliver gave her a sad smile, before leaning over her to give her a small kiss. "At least after your surgery, you will be going home."

Laurel's eyes became misty-eyed, "I'm not headed home. I think I'm headed back to Lian Yu before I have to help someone save their family."

"I'll do it after I have honored my promise to my friend. I need to go to Russia first."

Laurel shook her head, just feeling Oliver next to her helped her relax, even if it was to end in them separating for god only knows how long, potentially permanently. Despite his sincere offer to take on her burden, this was her cross to bear. "I appreciate that Ollie, but I need to do this. Maybe we will meet each other after we have done everything we need to."

"Sometimes different roads lead to the same place, Pretty Bird." He then smiled, holding her hand, his other hand gently rubbing her leg. "Dinah Laurel Lance, always trying to save the world."

"So are you."

"I'm not."

"You are." She watched as Oliver huffed, and they sat there for a little bit in silence before she heard the nurse telling her that she was about to get ready for surgery soon.

"I'll stay until you recover, but once you wake up then I have to go. I love you, Pretty Bird." He then rolled up his sleeve, revealing a blackbird on his arm. "Wherever I go, you are always with me."

"I love you, and stay safe."

Oliver gave her a final kiss. "You too," He said before leaving the room. She smiled that she was going to see Oliver once more before she had to leave, but unlike him, she wasn't headed to Russia, she was instead headed back to Lian Yu, before heading back out into the world to stop Mother and her companion from killing Shiva's daughter.

A/N: I left the fic open-ended due to where it sits in the timeline of the show's universe. I currently don't have any intention of writing a sequel.