Chapter 45
After securing Tigress in one of their holding cells and handing her gear to Luke for analysis and decoding for any intel about Moira, the rest of Team Arrow was gathering around the conference table to discuss what to do about Tigress's one demand.
"So, how are we going to protect Tigress's daughter? Who is she anyway?" John asked as Agent Jake Gamble walked in with a file in his hand.
"This is Argus's file on Tigress, aka Paula Crock, since it looks like she was one of Waller's potential recruits for Task Force X." Gamble said.
"Her Suicide Squad." Oliver said and Jake nodded as he put the file on the table and slid it to Oliver.
"Paula Crock, formerly known as Paula Nyugen, also known as Tigress, wife of Lawrence Crock, aka Sportsmaster and mother of Jade Nyugen, an assassin known as Cheshire who's suspected of having ties to the league of shadows and her other daughter, Artemis Crock, is the only member of the family who doesn't have a criminal record." Oliver said.
"Sounds like Paula wants to make sure that Artemis doesn't join in the family business, which I support and respect." Laurel said, wondering if Paula would accept her as her lawyer.
"We all do. But what else does the file say about her?" Helena asked, since she felt a bit of sympathy for Artemis.
"She's 16 years old and by all indication has no idea about what her family really does for a living. She's the only one who still has her innocence. She's actually a lot like my own daughter Amelia, since she just turned 16 herself." Jake said.
"Still, what else does the file say about Artemis?" Laurel asked.
"She's got a 4.0 gpa and she's the youngest cheerleading captain in the history of Star City High School. She's a star athlete and several colleges are already scouting her and she's not even done with her sophomore year yet." Oliver read out loud from the file.
"And all that while her parents are criminals is impressive." Laurel said.
"And something tells me that Paula's employer won't be happy when they find out that Paula was captured and betrayed them. We need to figure out how to protect Artemis from whatever wrath that employer will have. The only question is how." Oliver said.
"Actually, I think there's only one option that would allow us to not only ensure Artemis's safety, but also make sure that learning the truth about her family doesn't send her down the wrong path." Laurel said.
"What do you mean?" Oliver asked, though he had an idea, but he wasn't sure how he felt about it.
"You know what I'm talking about Ollie. You and I do for Artemis what Batman did for Nightwing and for Robin." Laurel said, using their codenames.
"I'm not sure if we should bring Artemis into this life." Oliver said.
"She's already in it, Ollie. Whether she knows it or not. The only way we can ensure that Artemis is protected is to bring her into our home and teach her to protect herself, since her life's gonna be uprooted enough when she finds out that her parents are criminals, with her mother in prison and her father on the run. She doesn't deserve to have to live in hiding and lose contact with all her friends, her whole life." Laurel said.
"She's right Oliver. I know you don't want to put a child in danger, but Artemis is already in danger because of the choices her parents made. This is the only way to keep her safe." John said and Oliver nodded, since he knew they were right.
"Are you sure about this? Once we take Artemis in, once we bring her into this life, there's no going back." Oliver said to his fiance.
"I'm sure. Besides, Jasmine's always wanted a sister and it'll be nice to know we have another babysitter around the house and it's not like we don't have the room." Laurel said, since their penthouse had plenty of spare bedrooms.
"Do you have someone you trust who can write up the paperwork?" Oliver asked, since he knew that this was the right call to make for Artemis, but since fostering wasn't really Laurel's area of expertise, they needed a lawyer who did specialize in this kind of thing.
"Yeah, I have a friend from law school who can handle it." Laurel assured him.
"We'll escort Paula to SCPD custody, since we need a reason to uproot Artemis." John said and Oliver nodded.
"I'll call Raisa and tell her to get a room ready for Artemis." Oliver said, knowing that this would be a big adjustment for all of them, but for Artemis more than any of them.
"I'll handle that. You make sure Paula survives the trip to Iron Heights, since she's not talking until we uphold our end of the bargain." Laurel said and Oliver nodded.
"Luke, I want you to upgrade the security system at the penthouse to make sure that Sportsmaster or whoever he's working for can't get in, since I get the feeling that Sportsmaster doesn't feel the same parental affection for his kids that Tigress does." Oliver said and Luke nodded as Abby joined them.
"Where the hell have you been?" Laurel asked.
"Hell." Abby said.
"What?" Oliver asked.
"It was one last trick to attempt to find your mom. I spoke to one contact of mine I prefer to use as a last resort. Though it turns out a trip to hell was unnecessary since he's now living in LA as a nightclub owner." Abby said.
"Who?" Oliver asked.
"Lucifer Morningstar." Abby said casually.
"Wait, as in the devil?" John asked in shock and Abby shrugged.
"He's not as a bad a guy as the bible makes him out to be, but he is crazy and I try to limit contact with him, but he was only option and it paid off." Abby said.
"What do you have?" Oliver asked.
"The Devil confirmed that the reason the magic hiding Moira is so old is because it's angelic in nature. It conceals her even from other angels, but fortunately, angel magic gives off a distinct signature that can be traced, even if it's being used to cloak something else. Some times covering one trail can create another. I just need some time to prepare magic powerful to track it." Abby said.
"Do it. Let me know when you have a location." Oliver said and Abby nodded.
"One more thing, I did get a lead on our enemy's magic user's name. They call themselves Arcane, but that's all I know. All my mystic contacts are looking into it, trying to find a lead." Abby said.
"This is the closest we've gotten to finding my mother. Good work. Keep at it." Oliver said.
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