So I am now officially a college freshman. And I should be getting some sleep right now. And what am I doing? Updating.

To be fair, it's been a while, and today was extremely hectic. Well, you're in for a treat - the vigilantes get to kick Cadmus's ass. ;)

Enjoy chapter three!

*** 

Had the four not known which compound they were looking for, they would have thought Cadmus's complex was just a regular string of warehouses. When Lena tensely told them they had arrived, Oliver quickly hid the van they had borrowed past the tree line and led the three others. "Checkmate, what have you got?" he asked.

"The first building you're seeing is mostly for supplies," Lena answered. "My guess is you'll find a ton of Kryptonite in there. Bullets, bombs, liquid supply, chunks of rock, whatever. There are tons of electrical signatures just past that building. That might be the security hub. I can't get past that without getting into their security."

"Dark Archer, Black Siren, check the supplies," Oliver ordered. "If you see even a bit of Kryptonite, start setting charges. Deathstroke and I will get into security."

"Watch out for patrols," Lena warned. "That was something Kara mentioned the last time Mother had her."

"They won't be a problem," Slade shook his head.

"Go," Oliver ordered.

The group of four split up, with Malcolm and Laurel running for the first building, Oliver and Slade sprinting past them to the next one. When they caught sight of the first security guard, Malcolm drew back an arrow and fired at once, the man collapsing without a sound. Laurel hastily pulled him to the side, hiding him behind a few crates. Malcolm took out the two guards at the front as well, Laurel hiding them as he entered the building.

Crates were piled against the sides and in the middle, with a few guards with less weapons inside. Malcolm ran forward, using his bow like a staff, knocking two of the guards out with well-placed hits. The last guard went for his radio when Laurel slammed the hilt of one of her knives into his temple repeatedly. He fell to the ground, and she ran to the crate he was next to, prying it open with her knife. She opened it and immediately gasped. "Malcolm!"

He walked over and lifted the lid further, and he froze, narrowing his eyes. "Green Arrow," he said coldly.

"What did you find?" Oliver asked.

Malcolm and Laurel exchanged looks. "What did you say Kryptonite looked like?"

"Glowing green rock."

"What did you find?" Lena asked.

Malcolm looked down into the box. "Bars of that crap." He looked at a crate against one of the walls and pointed. "Get that one open."

Laurel ran over, opening the lid and peering in. "It's here, too."

Malcolm looked around at the dozens of crates in the building and ground his teeth together. "This needs to go."

"Start setting charges," Lena said. "Green Arrow, Deathstroke, you're approaching the building now. The biggest signals are coming from close to the right."

"Copy that," Oliver said.

Malcolm opened his bag on the ground, revealing the explosives he had brought with him. "Black Siren, set these up while I watch the doors," he told her.

She nodded and took a few charges, running around to start setting them up, picking out specific Kryptonite crates as Malcolm picked up his bow and found a hiding place, the door easily in sight.

***

Oliver and Slade took the stealthy route into the building, waiting for a lapse in guard rotations to move along. Oliver had no remorse for killing what soldiers they did run into. These . . . people, if he could even call them that, were holding Kara, the kindest woman he had ever met, someone he owed practically everything he had in his life to. It was because of her that his family and friends were alive, that his son had his mother, that the man he saw as a brother had a second chance, that Malcolm and Laurel had their second chances. No, he thought grimly as he shot down the last guard in the hall, Slade his silent shadow. If they were going to be monsters, he would return the favor.

"The room should be just off the right," Lena told them.

Oliver and Slade stood on either side of the door, then Slade took two of the guns he had, and Oliver kicked the door open. Slade was through in a second, aiming and shooting on instinct. All four technicians inside went down, the shots muffled by the silencers on his guns. Oliver went to the first monitor he saw, taking out Lena's flash drive. "Drive in," he reported as he put it into the computer.

***

Lena grinned when her screen lit up, showing cameras all over the complex, files downloading at a rapid speed. "Oh, checkmate indeed," she grinned. "I'm in!"

"Half the charges are set," Laurel said.

"No sign that they know we're here," Malcolm added.

"Good," Slade growled. "Let's keep it that way."

"OK," Lena typed away, sorting through security cameras. "The first three buildings are out. I don't see anything that says they're holding a prisoner there." She frowned when she found a few cameras that were showing only snow. "I've got three cameras that aren't giving me anything."

"Which building?" Oliver asked.

Lena bit her lip, checking. "Building six. The very center of the complex." She snorted. "Typical."

"Charges are set," Laurel said. "Heading your way."

"Good," Lena squinted, typing quickly. "I'll try and get the cameras online to check in with you." She turned her head quickly to check the files loading. "But I have enough here to say you need to find her, and quickly."

***

Oliver and Slade took down the two guards on the other side of the building and ran out, Malcolm and Laurel running along the side of it in the shadows. They crouched together behind the building, looking around the corner at the buildings in front of them. "There should be three buildings in front of you in a row," Lena said over the comms. "You need to get past them. I'll be the center building in the next row of three."

"OK," Oliver looked around the corner. "Any luck with the cameras?"

"They're grainy, and I don't have any clear pictures yet. But I see glowing green lights. Building six is definitely where she is with this much Kryptonite."

Oliver narrowed his eyes. "Let us know when you get an image."

"Copy."

The four took off across the yard, their boots nearly silent on the asphalt. They met three guards on their way, but Oliver and Malcolm shot two of them down, Slade slicing through the third one with ease. "Save your screams for when we leave," Oliver advised Laurel. She nodded, and Oliver led the way into the building.

Immediately, green light flooded the halls, and Oliver growled when he saw them. "Kryptonite," he identified.

"Oh, she's definitely here," Malcolm narrowed his eyes, taking another arrow to draw back.

"I'm getting better pictures here," Lena reported. "Most of them look like laboratories of some kind." She sounded disgusted, too. "Avoid those at all costs."

"Then where are we headed?" Slade looked around.

As if on cue, a bloodcurdling scream came from further down the hall. All four vigilantes spun around, eyes wide. "That way," Oliver ran at once. The three others were right behind him. "Checkmate!"

"I'm working out a quicker route for you to get out of there," Lena responded. "If Kara's awake, I don't know if she can walk herself or if you need to carry her."

"If she's being tortured again, with Kryptonite injections, we'll need to carry her," Oliver growled, shooting down two guards that got in his way. He heard Slade stab them again for good measure behind him.

"Great," Lena muttered. "OK, the best I can tell you is that you'll need to run like hell back to your getaway vehicle. Blow the Kryptonite when you leave. They'll think you're trying to set up a distraction and will search the complex. They won't find you leaving."

Oliver went around the corner and stopped, seeing two people in lab coats emerge on the other end. They froze, eyes wide, and Oliver's eyes tunneled to the glowing green bracelets they wore. He brought his bow up at the same time as Malcolm, and they fired at the same time, killing both scientists, their Kryptonite bracelets shattering on the ground. Laurel stamped on them for good measure as the two archers ran to see where they had come from.

There were two guards in front of a door barred with a long glowing green rod. Oliver immediately had his bow up again, not giving the guards time to raise their guns. He shot the closest one first, then heard wind whistle. A second later, the second guard jerked and collapsed, one of Laurel's knives in his jugular. Malcolm and Slade were past him before he hit the floor, lifting the Kryptonite rod as Laurel bent down to check the machine guns the guards had. Glowing green bullets fell into the palm of her hand, and she snarled. "Monsters!"

Slade slammed the door open, Malcolm through a second later, bow raised. Oliver heard the telltale thud of bodies hitting the floor, refraining from smirking. It sounded like Malcolm had finally hit the point where he was past sparing the lucky one who got away. When he entered, he saw Malcolm had even taken down one of the scientists that had just gotten a single foot out the door.

Oliver didn't pity the man one bit, if the needle smashed on the floor was what he thought it had been.

"Kid," Slade whispered, sounding horrified.

Oliver turned around to see Slade had run to a cage with Kryptonite bars all the way to the ceiling. He was working on the lock, looking through the bars at the limp blonde lying in her own blood on the ground. "Kara," he breathed, running over.

"Holy shit," Laurel's eyes bugged wide.

"What the hell have they done to her?" Malcolm snarled, Slade's growls nearly loud enough to make him not be heard.

"Lena, we need the fastest way out from our position, now," Oliver ordered, crouching down to see if Kara was moving. She wasn't.

"Working on it now," Lena answered hurriedly.

"How do we get her out?" Malcolm asked.

Oliver narrowed his eyes, then turned to Laurel. "Sing, Siren," he ordered.

Laurel grinned, taking a deep breath as Oliver and Slade dove out of her way. A second later, she screamed, her voice breaking the lock on the door and splintering through the Kryptonite.

It also made the Kryptonian inside whimper in pain. "Kara," Oliver ran to her side, gently rolling her over. Her blue eyes, once so full of life, were glazed over with pain, barely seeing. Her blonde hair was stained with red, and Oliver could barely make out the S on her chest because of it all. "Damn them all," he hissed angrily.

"You carry her, kid," Slade narrowed his eye, drawing his sword once more. "Leave these monsters to us."

"Black Siren's scream set the facility on alert," Lena warned. "So far, it's just in your part of the complex, but you need to go, now."

Oliver bent and lifted Kara bridal style, swallowing hard when her head lolled back, shifting his grip so he supported her better. Malcolm and Laurel instantly moved to his sides protectively, Slade the first out the door. Very few soldiers made it past Slade and his swordsmanship; those who did were shot down by Malcolm or stabbed violently by Laurel. Lena calmly guided them through the building, the group leaving a trail of bodies in their wake.

When they made it out, Oliver sprinted for the tree line, Malcolm hurrying to catch up to him. The Dark Archer fired at the guards in their way, Slade and Laurel carving through the souls unfortunate enough to try and stop them. When they had nearly reached the van, Oliver ordered, "Blow it up, Checkmate."

As Slade leapt into the front, Oliver and Laurel in back attempting to stop the blood still seeping from Kara, the warehouse where Malcolm and Laurel had discovered the Kryptonite exploded into a massive fireball. Slade whipped the wheel around and roared off, Oliver squeezing Kara's hand and desperately hoping the Kryptonian would hang on until they found the help she needed, and hoping her sister came through.

***

No promises when the next chapter will be, guys. I have a four-day New Student Orientation to go through, followed by the first few days of classes. Don't expect me to update real soon while I try to adjust to this new phase of life.

Anyway, Alex will make her appearance next chapter, and a few others will finally appear as well. :)