Green Arrow #15: "Fortunate Son" Pt. 3

For anyone who could look out at the skyline of Star City on the evening that Green Arrow would become a fugitive from the law, it would-be a breath taking site. The moon was not only full, but seemed to hang low over the city, giving observers below the feeling that they could reach right out and touch it. It illuminated the entire city, bathing the skyscrapers in an incandescent glow and deepening the shadows in the bowels of the city.

One such little girl, perched at her bedroom window from her parents' fourteenth flour apartment, stared dreamily at the site. She marveled at how distinct the craters appeared when she saw the silhouette of a man wearing some kind of hat and carrying a bow in his one hand. He leaped between two buildings across the street, and she immediately recognized Star City’s own hero: Green Arrow.

She watched with eyes wide as he ran across the rooftop, never breaking stride as he jumped off the building; in a matter of moments he had drawn and arrow from his quiver, nocked it and fired.. She watched as the arrow-head made contact with a building down the street and suddenly Green Arrow was swinging away like Tarzan of the jungle.

As she watched him swing away down the street and into the night she couldn’t help be amazed. A single thought ran through her innocent little mind. How does his hat stay on?

*******

Green Arrow had been making his way downtown when the report had come across the radio. It was official: he was now a wanted man by the United States government. He had been hoping for a bit more lead time than that. He had places to be, it wasn’t like he could just hold up in a cave somewhere for the rest of his life.

He had ditched the car as soon as he had entered the city limits, opting to travel over the rooftops until he got to his destination, Star General Hospital. Agent Gertz was his only lead to find out where the C.I.A. agents had taken Connor, Eddie and Mia. Now, it was going to be next to impossible to get in there. They would be expecting him.

As he swung across the rooftops, two plans began to formulate in his mind. The first, he dismissed right away since he wasn’t about to shave nor put on a nurses costume for anyone. He had to be crazy to even consider it. There was, however, a variation on that plan that might just work. He hated the idea of going in disguise, but there was no other way.

For a second he wished Bruce was back from wherever he was. The stealth stuff was more up his alley and he could have used the help.

Two blocks from the hospital, he landed gently on the roof of the General Life Insurance building and pulled a small but powerful pair of binoculars from a compartment underneath his quiver. He searched the rooftops around him, disheartened immediately by what he saw. There were people stationed on the top of every building that surrounded the hospital.

As he continued to scan, contemplating if he should try to take control of one of the roofs, and if he would be seen doing it, he caught a small movement coming from the top of the building directly a head of him. He brought the binoculars quickly back to the spot, but there was nothing there. He watched the two agents as they spoke on their radio for a moment before they returned to the edge of the building.

He was about to dismiss what he though he had seen when one of the agents suddenly fell over; an arrow shaft sticking out of his back. The other one had just enough time to begin turning around when a second arrow struck him in the side of the neck. He grabbed at it and Ollie watched in horror as blood began to spurt out of the wound.

Green Arrow shot an arrow across two alleys and flung himself towards the two agents who had just been struck down. He was only a few feet from the edge when he heard the familiar sound of an arrow being released through the air, then through his rope.

“Awww shi...” he started, but his curse was cut short as gravity worked its magic and he began to plunge toward the ground. He reached back for another specialty arrow, only to find that he had just used the last one. This time he finished the word.



When Connor came too, he found himself in a metal room of four walls, no windows, and one cot. They had injected him with some kind of drug to render him unconscious as they transported him, Eddie, and Mia to wherever their location was. His memory was fuzzy, he had awakened at some point to hear voices, but he couldn’t tell where they had come from or who they were.

He stood up and studied the room; walking along the walls, tapping on them to check for density. He did note the camera located in the corner of the ceiling that seemed to follow his every movement. There was one door that he could see; no handle or knob on his end.

It was also apparent that the room was sound proof as he had strained for any kind of noise, but the only sound he heard was the low hum of the camera as it tracked him. There was only one thing he could think to do at that moment, and he took advantage of it.

Connor Hawke sat, crossed leg, in the center of the room and began to meditate.



Ice cold water hit his face, causing Eddie to gasp as it woke him suddenly. He sat up to find three men standing in the room, surrounding him. His eyes instantly swept the room, noting the small table and chair, the cot that he laid on, the mirror that was obviously two-way, and the fact that two of the men he saw looked more than familiar to him. They were CIA agents, like he was.

“Morning, Eddie. Welcome back to the land of the living.”

“Brouse. Agent Brouse. I remember you.” Eddie did remember him; the man was nasty, cruel, and always in trouble with the superiors. They had worked together several times, but that, he couldn’t remember.

“We’ve been looking for you for a while now.”

“What do you want?” Eddie asked, his mind whirling as he tried to figure out the best way to handle a situation that he had obviously gotten himself into, but, for the life of him, couldn’t remember.

“Time to come home, Fyers.” Agent Brouse sneered. “You’ve been a pain in the ass for too long now, and the powers that be want an end to it.”

“What did you do with the others?” He desperately needed to change the subject.

“Oh, worried about them now? You didn’t seem so worried when you stuck them in the middle of this to begin with. Not only did you cross the boss, but you crossed Asad and Count Werner. Not good, pal, but then I warned them. I told everyone that’d listen that you didn’t understand. You didn’t have the heart or the stomach to do what has to be done to keep this country secure. Just a bleedin’ heart liberal with a badge – bad combination.”

Eddie gave up. “I don’t even know what the hell you’re talking about. Didn’t you hear? I got shot in the head. My memory is a little shaky. You want to fill me in on why I was a bad soldier?”

Brouse’s eyes narrowed. “We heard you were injured, but faking amnesia isn’t going to fly, traitor.”

“I’m not... you know what, let me talk to someone who’s important around here,” Eddie said.

The agent’s eyes burned with hatred as the back of his hand struck Eddie's face.

Eddie grinned as he touched the corner of his bleeding mouth. “Hey, I still remember how inadequate you feel; points for the traitor”



As Green Arrow plummeted toward the ground, he couldn’t help but be a little impressed; his hat was still on. However, he decided, that wouldn’t be the most impressive thing people would notice when his body went splat on the ground.

There’s always a way out. You just have to take a second to think. Use whatever is around you. Bruce’s words entered his mind.

He turned his body around so that he could see the ground coming up to greet him, and saw exactly what could help him; a well placed flagpole. Still, he thought, I need to slow down as much as possible.

Gritting his teeth, he grabbed at the side of the brick building with his gloved hands. In seconds his gloves were shredded, two of his fingers nails tore off and it took everything he had not to cry out in pain, but it also helped. Not much, but his descent had slowed. By the time he reached out to the flagpole, he was in little danger of damaging his arm anymore than it already was. His hands, however, now looked like shredded beef. The outer layer of skin had been torn from several fingers and were bleeding badly.

He hung onto the flagpole with both hands, biting his lip so hard it also began to bleed. He didn’t have time to consider the damage he had done, though, as he heard the familiar sound of a small whistling noise coming rapidly from behind him.

Ollie rocked his legs forward, hoping to flip himself up and away from the incoming shaft, but he wasn’t quick enough and felt it pierce the lower calf of his left leg. This time he did cry out as he lost his grip from the flagpole and fell the remaining thirty feet to the ground.

Cursing under his breath, he grabbed the arrow and pulled it from the back of his leg. He tore off a piece of his uniform and used it as a make-shift bandage. He could hear footsteps coming up the street. Great, he thought, I got seen... or heard. Had to be some kind of government officials this close to the hospital.

He pulled himself up and headed toward the nearest alley, limping, his hands bloody, and his shoulder throbbing with pain. It's official, he thought, this was now one of the worst days ever.

Green Arrow entered the alley spying exactly what he needed. There was a side door on the building to his right. He stumbled toward it, praying he had time to break the lock and slip inside. When he found that the lock had already been broken, his stomach dropped. Still, it was the only out for him. He quietly opened the door only as far as he needed to, then slipped in, shutting it quickly behind him.

He was sweating profusely, as he stood still, not wanting to pull out the pen light he had stored in his belt. Instead he chose to wait until his vision became accustomed to the darkness. His heart was sinking as the reality of the situation really hit him. There was no way he was going to get to Agent Gertz at this point. The best he could do now was to try and make it back to his broken down apartment and regroup. He didn’t like the options that now lay before him, but he couldn’t see any way around it. He needed help. And now that Green Arrow was wanted by the United States Government, there weren’t that many people he could turn to.

Basically, he realized, he was screwed.



The one called Shado watched as the archer plummeted towards the ground, only to catch himself on the flagpole. She couldn’t help but be impressed with his ingenuity, but she also knew that he had to go. He was a liability that she had been warned about.

As she watched Green Arrow cling to the pole on the side of the building, she leapt across the roof she was on, landing on the emergency fire escape so softly that there was not even a single ringing note from the metal.

She quickly shimmied down the drainpipe next to the staircase and ran across the street, doing well to stay in the shadows as much as possible. She saw the guards surrounding the hospital, avoided them as she ducked and weaved between buildings. Star City was a jungle like any other; the trick being to know how to avoid the pitfalls as well as the man-made dangers.

Shado was a highly intelligent assassin, or else she wouldn’t be paid the exorbitant amount that she demanded. She surmised that Green Arrow’s first order of business would be to get somewhere safe... somewhere out of the line of fire. She kept one eye on him as she passed silently underneath him, and then into the nearest alley. Scanning it, she saw a door that appeared to lead into some kind of abandoned furniture store. She quickly broke the lock and slipped inside.

He would come this way... her instincts were never wrong. She found a dark corner, underneath a set of stairs, and perched there... waiting...



He no sooner shut the door behind him, then Ollie sensed that he was not alone. Everything was still; quiet as a mouse you could say, but he hadn’t survived as long as he had without listening to his instincts, and right now they were telling him that somebody was in there with him.

Green Arrow forced himself to grip an arrow and pull it from his quiver, the pain in his hands practically unbearable. In fact, they were shaking, something that made him nervous on many levels. All he had left were regular arrow-heads, and with the way he was feeling, he couldn’t be sure that any shot he made would be on target. Still, if it was the assassin, he had to try.

As the archer made his way through the store, limping and sore, the hair on the back of his neck began to stand up. The assassin was near, he could feel it. Had his head been turned a little more to the left, he would not have caught the quick movement to his right. As it was, he barely saw the quick and silent movement. He dove to the floor, rolling away from the shaft that was flying past him.

Green Arrow came back up on one knee, his arrow already nocked into the bow. He fired somewhat blindly, aiming in the direction of his attacker, but knowing he was too late even before he heard the arrowhead strike a wall.

“I have heard of you. You are the American hero called Green Arrow.” The voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. The voice, Ollie also noted, was also female.

“To coin a phrase, it seems you have me at a disadvantage,” he called back, listening carefully for any sounds at all.

“I have you at several disadvantages. My quarrel is not with you, emerald archer. Leave here and let me finish my job, and you will live.”

Ollie couldn’t help himself when he chuckled. “Many have said that same words to me, sweetheart, and I’m still around.”

“They were not Shado.”

“Oh, so you do have a name. Why don’t you come out where I can see you and...” he let out a cry of pain as the shaft pierced his body just below, and behind the lower part of his leg. He fell to the floor.

“That was your only warning,” Shado replied.

“Well that’s one hell of a warning,” Green Arrow shouted out, but there was nothing in the darkness. She was gone. “What the hell do you have against my legs, anyway?” he grumbled.



Mia’s head was pounding as she began to regain consciousness. They had given her a shot of something to knock her out. The medicine had adverse side effects on her stomach now that she was coming to.

When she was finished, she looked around the room to find that she was lying on a cot in a square concrete room, with a sink, and a toilet. One door in the far corner was the only way out.

She lay back on the cot, trying to regain her bearings. The CIA had captured them all but Ollie, had taken them into a van, driving off with them. At first she had struggled, even though Connor and Eddie had tried to stop her. In the end, however, it was one of the G-Men that had done it – with drugs.

The door to the cell opened, causing her to leap to her feet, only to find herself swaying on wobbling legs. She steadied herself against the wall as she watched someone come into the room. A short man, slightly balding, attired in a very neat business suit.

“Who are you? What am I doing here?”

“My name is not important, Ms. Dearden. And you are here so that you may help your country, as you had been doing before you were taken away by your father and his friends, and brought back here to America.”

Mia stared at him, incomprehension all over her face as she felt her legs get stronger. “What in the hell are you talking about, you Costanza wanna be.”

This time it was he who seemed momentarily confused, then broke out into a polite little laugh. “Ahh, a Seinfeld reference. You’re right though, I’ve been compared to him before. Not very original, actually. I just thought I’d stop by to prepare you for your journey back.”

“What journey back? I ain’t going no where.”

“That is where you are mistaken,” the voice of Kemel Asad echoed in the room as he stepped into it. “You were mine, on loan to Count Vertigo, before you were rudely stolen from me. I’m just glad that your government was able to find you so that I could bring take you home.”

Mia’s face turned white as she faced the man that had bought her not that long ago. The man who had done things to her that she had not told anyone, wanting only to block out the memories. Seeing his face, though, brought them all back to the forefront with a vengeance.

“I’ll die before I go back with you,” she spat out in anger.

“We were afraid you would feel that way,” the government official said with a sigh. “Some are just not as patriotic as others, I’m afraid. However, Mr. Asad wants you both alive and unharmed. He assures me that you will be well taken care of. So since there is no way I can convince you to go back with him of your own free will, I give you a simple choice. You can live a happy and content life knowing that you are helping to serve your country, or you can have the death of your friend, the young blond man, rest upon your conscience for the rest of your life. It’s your choice.”

Her faced turned white for a second time as she realized what he was saying. “You wouldn’t dare!”

Both men chuckled as the Jason Alexander look-a-like spoke. “Of course we would, Mia. We’re the most powerful government in the world; we can do what we want. But please be assured that you would not only be doing this for the life of your friend, but also for the continuation of global peace.”

“You keep saying that! What the hell are you talking about?”

Kemel stepped forward. “That, little girl, is on a need to know basis, and women like you do not need to know. You will give us your answer in one hour. You come back with me voluntarily, or your friend meets with an unfortunate accident, and you will end up coming back with me anyway.”

Both men stepped out of the room, whispering to each other, and the loud, echoing sound of the door slamming caused Mia to jump. She once again found herself alone in the room. Where was her father? Where was Ollie? Dear God she needed some help right now. If she ever got out of this, she was going to make sure somebody started training her with some kind of weapon.



Ollie had lost a lot of blood, but the arrow had missed any main arteries. He had ripped off more cloth and tied it around his leg to stop the bleeding.

His shredded fingers, wounded leg, and damaged shoulder made him question why he got into the business in the first place. He was going to go get help, that had been his goal only a few minutes ago; now, however, he realized that he just didn’t have time. Agent Gertz’s life was in danger, and this Shado lady was obviously too dangerous for any agents guarding Gertz. He had to get into the hospital now.

What should have been a three-minute walk to the hospital turned into much longer as he staggered and limped his way towards the medical center. He kept to the shadows as much as possible, his eyes blurring occasionally while trying to spot agents.

He finally found himself across the street from Star General and caught his first break when he watched a doctor hurriedly coming his way. He did not see Ollie waiting for him until it was too late. The young doctor found himself being yanked into the alley and heard a brief apology before he was knocked unconscious.

Ollie quickly threw on the man’s clothes over his costume, removed his domino mask and stuffed into a pocket, before realizing the one little flaw in his plan. There was no way to get into that place with his bow and quiver. Even hidden under the white lab coat, it was abundantly apparent that it was there.

“Nothing’s ever easy,” he grumbled as he shoved his equipment behind a dumpster. He turned to leave, then turned back, removing two arrowheads and stuffing them in his pocket.

Gritting his teeth from the pain, shoving his bloodied hands in his pocket, he slowly made his way to the emergency room entrance, as he fought the impulse to limp. He knew that if this hare-brained idea didn’t work, he had a good chance of losing any hope he had of finding his son and his friends.



As was usual for people who were to maintain a low profile in a public place, they were always the easiest to find, Green Arrow noted. A wing all to themselves, at the far end, with two guards diligently keeping watch outside the room, couldn’t be more conspicuous if they had actually tried.

He had passed several other possible agents on the main floor when he had entered the building. Ollie had been in the business long enough to be able to spot them. They were the ones sitting in a corner reading newspapers from a week ago, or in absurd attire that never seemed to fit them, jogging suits seemed to be one of them.

His first pass by the near empty corridor was quick, as not to attract any attention. He noted the two standard issue guards and moved along quickly. His legs felt like jelly, his hands and shoulder crying out in pain. Ollie found it ironic that his original plan to shake down the CIA agent had now turned into a rescue mission.

Oliver Queen leaned against the wall, his eyes closed as he brought a picture of the hallway into the front of his mind. No exterior windows at the end of it, no staircases on either side, or elevators for that matter. Which meant that if Shado was going to go after this guy, it would have to be through the front door. He was going to have to get in there first.

He saw a couple of nurses at the station, watching him with curiosity. He flashed the grin, walked up to them and leaned against the counter.

“Hello, ladies.”

“Doctor,” one of them acknowledged. The other one, much younger and much prettier, just smiled shyly as he gave her a little wink.

“I’m Dr. Bombay and I’ve been called in from Metropolis Medical Center to examine our special patient. I was supposed to meet your head of Neurology here, but I haven’t seen him.”

The older nurse frowned slightly. “Dr. Bombay? Why does that name sound familiar.”

Ollie’s grin widened. “Well, I don’t want to blow my own horn, but I’ve been in several major medical journals and have lectured at Star City University on several occasions; I’m sure you’ve heard of me.”

The nurse shook her head. “No, I don’t pay much attention to any of that stuff... it’s something else...”

“I was on Oprah.”

“That must be it!” She exclaimed with sudden delight, as if she had just recognized a well known movie star. “I’m so pleased to meet you in person. Dr. Florentine isn’t here yet. Would you like me to get you something to drink while you’re waiting?”

“Oh no, please don’t bother. I’ll just wait for him in the room. Give me a chance to examine the patient a bit, first.”

For the first time, the younger nurse spoke up. “But you’re not on the list, Doctor. I don’t think we can let you go down there without...”

“Oh he’s fine, Carrie!” the other one said as she shooed her co-worker away. “He’s been on Oprah, for Heaven's sake. Now that I’ve got a good look at you, I remember you on there. You gave such great advice, doctor.”

“Why thank you.” Ollie said with exaggerated humility. “Perhaps you’d like me to get you a pair of tickets to her show?”

It was as if the elder nurse had just unwrapped the greatest Christmas gift she could have ever received. She squealed with delight, shooting straight out of her chair and jumping up and down. “Oh my word, that would be wonderful!”

He gave her a wink, a smile, and patted her hand. “Consider it done. Now if you could just hand me one of those security passes, I’ll be on my way.”

She said nothing else, unable to speak, but picked up the special pass and handed it to him. He nodded to both of them and walked down the hall towards the room.

Both guards saw him coming, but he immediately flashed the special medical security pass at them. They nodded as they saw it.

“One of us has to come in with you, Doctor,” one of the agents said, almost apologetically.

“By all means,” Ollie said, never losing his stride as he opened the door to the hospital room. He heard the guard behind him gasp before all hell broke loose. Four arrows were flying straight at them.