Black Canary (2) • boyxboy | Arrow

16

Arrow Bunker
Drake Lance

I stand in the bunker alone crossing my arms as I stare at Ollie's The Hood suit. I breathe calmly and try to think how this could've happened. How could he still be alive? I saw that plane explode and they found all the pieces of the plane in the ocean. There is no way he could've survived that.

I stop looking at the suit and walk over to the liquor cabinet in the bunker that Ollie and Diggle keep for celebration. I dig through it pull out a bottle of whiskey and glass. I've never been a drinker but this would drown out the thoughts of it. "So this is what its come to huh?" I hear Adrian Chase's voice and I turn around seeing him stand behind me dressed in his prometheus armor.

"You're not real." I say as I'm seeing things and ignore him. I turn back around and pour myself a glass of the whiskey and grab it in my hands.

"I guess the apple didn't fall too far from the tree." He mocks me as he walks around the bunker and I grab it and chug it all. My throat burns a little but it's nothing that I can handle. "This is all your fault you know? That man is a killing zombie and it's all because you wouldn't get on that plane yourself." Adrian says and I don't give him any eye contact trying to ignore him and get him out of here.

"It's not my fault... -It's not my fault." I repeat it over and over again and maybe if I do, I'll actually believe it. I hear Adrian chuckle and I turn around and throw the cup of glass at him. "Get out of my head!" I scream in rage and Adrian disappears as the glass shatters hitting the gray cement wall. I'm losing it.

I rub my head feeling a small headache and the elevator of the bunker opens up. Felicity, Diggle, Curtis, Rene and Slade walk out and they spot me walking towards me. Slade pushes everyone out of the way walking towards me fast and takes the alcohol away from me knowing the history with my family. Adrian was right.

"You alright?" Felicity asks as she holds my hands to calm me and the team stands around me. I stare at her holding my hands and feel the pain coming in. I can't take this anymore.

"It was him." I say as my voice breaks and Felicity looks at me confused. She scrunches her eyebrows together not fully understanding me. "Ollie."

"Drake... Oliver is dead. There's no way he could survive that bomb!" Felicity says trying to make me think realistically. I shake my head closing my eyes remembering what I saw. The mask fell off and it was him under that hood.

"-I know what I saw, and that was my Ollie. I-I don't know how they did it, but I saw him." I say breathing heavy and she shakes her head and then looks over at everyone else as they begin to believe it.

"Maybe they found a new source for the Lazarus pit and dumped him in there?" Diggle says crossing his arms stating what could be a possibility. "After all, he is working with the League... again." Diggle says and as I look at Diggle I see the bandages where his bullet wound is at and I begin to feel guilty.

"He's the Ghost Archer, the one we've been all looking for." Slade speaks up and Felicity sighs finally believing it.

"This is all my fault." I say knowing that Ollie isn't the same man as he is. "I should've gotten on that plane and done what I had to do." I kept wishing he would come back and here he is, a murdering zombie.

"This isn't your fault D." Rene says and I look over at him. "Oliver took that decision, so that you could live your life. To be the hero he wanted you to be."

"To lead us." Diggle says and I look over at him knowing what he's asking of me.

"What?" I say confused and shake my head. "I mean I get you can't keep doing this forever Diggle, but... you're asking me to-"

"-To be the new version of The Black Canary." Felicity says as she's seen this mantle passed everywhere and I've accepted this mantle already. Taking on the leader mantle from Ollie and Diggle, they knew what they were always doing. I didn't and it caused Ollie's death.

"... You're asking me to lead a team of people that might not have a chance to come back." I say softly and look at them Rene gets angry. "You're putting unwanted blood on my hands."

"Why? Because of your guilt?" Rene snaps at me and I look over at him clenching my jaw. "We all lost him Drake. This isn't just about you, we all moved on from it and you still dwell on it." He says starting an argument with me and I won't take it from an amateur.

"You know, I thought for someone who accidentally shot their wife would understand this the most, but I guess not." I say getting close to him and everyone watches avoiding to anger me. "Because you're just another guy from the Glades who knows it all right? You think you can just drag me out of MY life, and force me to clean up all this shit that I could give a rat's ass about! Forcing me to relive my pain that I've been trying to repress so hard!" I say getting angry as I walk up to Rene getting close. "You don't get to that. So you take your goddamn problems, and you clean it up yourself asshole." I say as I'm done venting getting very close to him. I turn looking at all of them as they look away and they know I'm right.

"Did Batman tell you that?" He says getting personal with me and I quickly punch him against the wall hard as it knocks things over near it. He slams against the wall and everyone stands up staring at me as I'm out of control. I take back the whiskey that Slade hid from me and walk out of the bunker with it.

"Solve your own shit, I don't care. I'm out." I say angered and leave through the garage entering the alley. I take the cap of the bottle off and throw it on to the street and begin drinking. As I walk I hear footsteps catching up to me and I choose to ignore it.

"Didn't know you had that in you." I hear Adrian and I look over at him and drown myself in more whiskey as it doesn't burn. We both walk through the alley together and I have no clue where I am going. I have nowhere to go.

"You don't know shit about me." I respond and he chuckles with a grin on his face.

"So where to now?" He asks and I have a bar in mind.