Arrow ~ Collision Course ~ Part Two

***

Oliver opened the door to the loft he knew Slade, Malcolm, and Laurel were using, and almost immediately swerved to the side to avoid the knife aimed right at his eye. It stuck in the doorframe behind him, and Oliver sighed, reaching out and taking the knife. "Guess I should've knocked first."

"You think?" Malcolm's retort was the first to come as he lowered the knife he had just picked up.

"A little warning would have been nice," Laurel agreed as Oliver handed her the knife back.

"I figured unannounced would be better for this," Oliver shook his head.

Laurel frowned in confusion, but Oliver stepped to the side, and Evelyn smiled shyly as she stepped into view. Laurel's face drained of color, the knife clattering to the floor. "Siren?" Slade frowned, unable to see from where he was.

Laurel just burst forward, and Evelyn moved at the same time, both women hugging each other tightly. "Oh, my God," Laurel gasped in relief. "You're OK!"

"I'm fine," Evelyn nodded, clinging tightly to Laurel as the other two moved into her line of sight. "I'm OK."

"Guess it's a good thing I knocked and not you," Oliver scratched the back of his head.

"I forgive you because it's Evelyn," Laurel declared, pulling back to look Evelyn over for any injuries. "Why were you in Corto Maltese?"

"Getting the money," Evelyn said like it was obvious.

"We already had someone from City Hall in the process of retrieving it," Oliver told her, closing the door as Laurel led Evelyn inside.

Evelyn blushed sheepishly. "Oops?"

Oliver sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Evelyn . . . "

"I thought it would be a good peace offering if you still weren't sure about me," Evelyn mumbled, plopping down on the couch, bringing her legs up to her chest. "I figured, show I was ready to turn myself around."

"Crystal Sparrow, though?" Oliver couldn't help but grin.

Evelyn blushed redder. "I figured one of you would make the connection."

"Clever," Oliver told her, sitting down across from her. "But security footage showed exactly who you are, even with the wig."

Evelyn swallowed hard, ducking her head. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Hey, you got to the money before someone else affiliated with Cayden did," Oliver hastened to tell her. "That good."

"And not that I'm not happy that you're safe," Slade walked forward to stand behind Oliver, "but also very reckless. You have a target on your back because of Vincent. Dinah and her team have to know you're back in the city by now."

Evelyn's face froze. "Oh, God."

"Well, she'll have to get through me first," Laurel scowled.

"Make it two," Malcolm held up a hand.

"It's pretty safe to say there's at least five people she'll have to get through," Oliver told Evelyn. "And one of them is my fiancée, who I would quite frankly like to see her try and get through since she doesn't have any Kryptonite."

Evelyn giggled, then quickly put a hand over her mouth to stop laughing. "Besides," Laurel leaned forward and smirked. "It's been proven that my scream is better than hers."

Malcolm grimaced, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Did you have to put it like that, Siren?"

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Malcolm," Laurel retorted without even looking at him.

Oliver heard Slade sigh behind him and bit back a smirk. "The point, Evelyn, is that you're safe with us," he told the dark-haired girl, bringing her attention back to him.

Evelyn swallowed, then smiled shyly. "Thank you, Oliver." She looked around at everyone. "All of you," she added.

"Any time," Laurel smiled.

***

Kara walked across the roof of one of the buildings in Star City, her eyes locked on where she could see Oliver with her surrogate siblings and Evelyn. When Oliver had asked her to cover the night shift for Star City that evening in place of Slade and Laurel and had given the reason why, she had jumped at the opportunity. Laurel was the one who believed in Evelyn first, and now that she was in Star City and wanted to stay, she was the best person for Evelyn to stay with.

Footsteps approached from behind, and Kara closed her eyes, not sure whether to be annoyed that the trio wasn't bothering to hide their footsteps or to be happy they didn't try to hide them. "Can I help you?" she asked sarcastically.

"Where's Evelyn?" Dinah asked bluntly.

Kara raised an eyebrow, counting down from five before turning around to face the other team. "Hi, Supergirl, nice to see you, Supergirl," she folded her arms. "Can you help us out, Supergirl?"

"Didn't think you'd be in the mood for small talk," Rene told her.

"Then what makes you think I'm in the mood for telling you anything?" Kara countered.

"So you know where she is?" Dinah smirked triumphantly. Kara hummed noncommittedly, tilting her head to look up at the night sky. "Kara!"

"I'm sorry," Kara blinked innocently, looking at her. "What were you demanding?"

"Star City needs that money," Curtis told her.

"I know," Kara nodded. "I'm the mayor's fiancée. I know he's been nagged night and day about getting it back. I know how important that money is to the city, so don't use that on me."

"Evelyn has it," Dinah scowled. "We need to know where she is."

"And you think you can get it from her?" Kara raised an eyebrow. "Through what means?"

"Any means necessary," Dinah answered confidently.

Kara's other eyebrow joined the first, and she snorted. "Because that makes me much more likely to help you."

"You think to her is just going to make her magically give it to you?" Rene frowned.

"Oh, but it's Supergirl, Rene," Dinah scoffed. "She thinks appealing to someone's better angels will always make things magically better."

Kara rolled her eyes. "You want me to punch you in the face, don't you, Dinah?"

"Kara," Curtis sighed.

"Say I knew where she was," Kara took a step forward and folded her arms. "What would you do when you were done getting the money's location from her? Or would you even do that, Dinah? Would you kill her? A teenage girl who kept throwing her lots in with the wrong people just because she was trying to find the lesser of evils? That money could be lost forever."