The Mantle of the Canary: Watching Sara Lance

The Man Under the Hood (2x19) part 1

"This has been quite the journey" Cisco mused, "but can we go home now?!"

"I apologize Mr. Ramon," came the artificial British voice, "there is still more that I need to show you all."

"Come back right now!" Came a somewhat familiar voice, "Lo! You are NOT allowed to be playing with that and you know it!"

The door burst inwards and a flash ran by in the form of a young child - probably around four - wearing a jeans and light blue top reading 'Legend-In-Training' but more importantly was holding a knife and being chased by the brunette woman from before who was now dressed in black sweatpants and a cropped purple sweatshirt- the reason she was so far behind seeming to stem from the fuzzy purple socks on her feet.

"Laurel!" This caused the lawyers head to swivel toward the direction of the brunette who had called her name but was clearly not addressing her as she continued to attempt to negotiate with the young girl.

"What? Auntie Ally?" She asked innocently.

"Don't 'What?' me young lady," the brunette 'Ally' responded sassing back to the child, "Laurel Natalie Michela Lance II"

"Long name." Alex muttered.

Laurel's eyes seemed to be as big as saucers in both shock and confusion. At her full name being used the girl seemed to decide the fight was no longer worth it slumped over to the woman and handed her the knife which was slipped into a sheath and the tucked into her pocket.

"Your lucky your momma isn't here or we'd both be screwed." 'Ally' shook her head ruffling the girls blonde hair. She suddenly seemed to understand where she was and her eyes widened making eye contact with Laurel (adult Laurel) before scooping up the child and darting out of the room.

"I'll repeat 'What the hell was that?'" Thea asked confused as hell.

-

The memory set opened in the back of a van as Felicity fiddled with her ski mask. "I don't think my eye holes line up properly." She complained, pulling off the mask to try putting it on again.

As Diggle drove the van, Sara sat next to her while Oliver sat on the bench across from her. All were wearing black clothes with black leather jackets, backpacks, and ski masks. Tonight wasn't a job for vigilantes. Tonight they needed to be someone else. They needed to be something else. "Is anyone else having this problem?"

"Why am I out in the field?" Felicity wondered.

"Don't be nervous." Sara told her.

"I'm a lot nervous." Felicity said nervously. "This is a big move, even for us. And we've cornered the market on big moves."

"You do make questionable decisions." Laurel admitted to which Oliver snorted in agreement or indignation it was unclear.

"Slade didn't give us any choice." Oliver said quietly.

"Yeah, as far as plans go, this is not a good one." Felicity said sourly.

"Felicity. This was your plan." Oliver pointed out.

"I didn't think you'd actually say yes." She admitted. Oliver gave her a look that said 'Are you serious?'

Tommy, Laurel, Thea and Diggle laughed. Roy shook his head in amusement.

"I mean thats a valid defense." Winn admitted.

"We're here." Diggle announced as they pulled up to the Robert Queen Applied Sciences building. Leaving the van parked at the gate, the foursome ran to the gate and Diggle started cutting a hole in the wire mesh. Once inside, Oliver and Sara quietly made their way to the side door. As Oliver took out one guard with a sleeper, Sara moved behind the other and kicked his leg out from under his leg, sending him tumbling down the stairs hard.