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Shawn had waited until every had left, this was it. The grave marker with her name on it. He was hiding behind his hood, he pushed his hands into the pockets of the hoodie. His eyes read the name, it was her. It was real this time, he didn't know what he was supposed to feel right now. He had gone through this about six years ago, the first time she had 'died' this time she was gone forever. He knelt down and ran his hand over her name, something he had done so many times before. Sara Lance a name that he would never forget.
She had been the one person who had never looked at him like he was a monster. Jumping from roof-to-roof, trying to save everyone. It was who he had become, he put on this hood because of her. The wind blew and he stood back up, he swore he heard someone walk up behind him. The sound of leaves crunching under one's foot. He realized it was the leaves under his feet.
Sara had always balanced him out – when he'd start going to that dark place, she'd bring him back to the light. Where was that light? Buried in the ground. Where was he? He should have been there to help her. If he had went out with her on patrol, she would be alive. He could feel a presence nearby, he had always had a six sense about when people were around. He pulled a shot of jack daniels out of his pocket and drank it down. It wasn't going to help the pain. Everything that had happened, Slade, Starling City falling apart. This was just the icing on that shit cake. He would do whatever he needed to to find that killer.
"Were you a friend of Sara's?" Laurel asked, she had approached the male. She had been watching him for a few minutes. Oliver, Felicity, Roy and Diggle had went ahead without her. She wanted to spend a few more minutes with her sister.
"Yes." Shawn said, he nodded his head. He kept his back turned to Laurel. He didn't want her to know who he was, gladly the hood shielded most of his face. If she saw him here, how was he going to explain this? He hasn't seen Laurel since Sara 'Died' the first time. He had all but disappeared from the public's eye. It was like that he died too.
Laurel walked closer to the man. "Who are you? Your voice sounds familiar." Laurel asked.
"I told you, a friend." Shawn replied, he stepped away from Sara's grave and walked away. The Arrow wasn't the only one looking to avenge Sara. He was going to avenge Sara as well, he didn't want her to see what he had become, but she knew. The deep dark place that he went to. He knew Sara was afraid that if he stayed in the dark place, he would be lost forever. He is lost.
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Letting go had always been hard for him and losing your best friend always tore you apart. He lit a cigarette and put in his mouth, The Glades were a dangerous place. He welcomed that danger, maybe it would make him feel alive once again. He blamed himself for her death, he closed his eyes as he puffed on the cigarette. He blew the smoke out of his mouth and pulled his hood up over his head, he stood under a street light that was flickering on and off. He continued to blow the smoke out of his mouth as he looked over the area. No one screaming, no sound of cop cars or ambulances. For once it was a calm night.
A woman had walked by him, she looked cold. He didn't pay much attention to her. He continued to smoke his cigarette. He finished and threw it on the ground. He noticed three other men walking behind the guy, they looked like thugs. They were dressed in torn jeans, they were a bit tight. Hoods up, two of them looked to have knives in their hands and he wasn't so sure about the third. If this woman was in the glades, she must know how to take care of herself.
Could these punks be pushers or someone working for a drug lord. He waited for them to walk a few feet in front of him, he saw something on the ground and picked it up. He blinked when he saw what was in his hands, it was a metal pipe that was about the size of Sara's bo-staff. What were the chances of that happening? He watched the three men approach the woman. It looked like they were talking and it was getting quite heated. He thought he heard one of them utter 'Queen'.
Before they could do anything else, Shawn acted. He twirled the people in his fingers and took out the thugs with a few hits from the pipe. He looked towards the girl and give her a smile from under his hood. She wouldn't be able to see it, the hood shielded most of his face. He saw more of them coming his way and he turned to the woman.
“Run!” He commanded, he watched the rest of them coming towards him. What a fun night, just a routine night in the glades. A routine night for him.
The woman did what she was told to do and ran, he was stuck with an onslaught of thugs. He fended them off with the lead-pipe in his hand. They all fell with the smack of the mighty pipe. They fell all around him, the woman had only ran a few feet away from him. He smiled to her once again
Was he trying to flirt? He didn't really know, he glanced over at the woman and watched her dust off the jacket that she had on. She glared towards Shawn, a frown on her face. It looked like she wanted to bite his head off.
“I could have handled those guys by myself.” She sneered.
“Looked like it.” Shawn replied.
“Hmph!” She scoffed and turned away.
“What's your name, girl?” Shawn asked.
“Mia.” She replied, her back turned to Shawn.
“Mia, huh? I'm Shawn. You might wanna stay out of these parts, a bit dangerous at night.” Shawn said, he threw the lead pipe down on the ground and walked passed the woman. He needed to get home, he looked behind him. To his surprise, Mia was following him. It was cute, he didn't know why she was tailing him.