Ch. 5 Role models

One of Snart and Rory's hideouts, Central city, 2005

Sage and Mick were watching old martial arts movies at their hideout, while waiting on Snart to come with his latest plan.

"Hahahaha! That Bruce lee is a freaking badass! He was all hwaaaa! Watatatatata!" Young Sage exclaimed trying to replicate a combo he'd watched in a movie, even going as far as to wipe his nose with his thumb when he finished.

"He's no ninja, but he's pretty cool." Mick agreed chugging a beer.

"Hey, did you hear he could light flying matches with his nunchakus!?" Sage asked excitedly.

"Mmmm that is badass… Bet you a hundred bucks you can't do it." Mick said.

"You're on!" Sage said grabbing a set of homemade nunchakus off of a nearby table. He started swinging them around and thought he got the hang of it until he hit himself in the face when Mick threw the first match.

"Pay up," Mick laughed.

"Hold on I got this," Sage tried a few more times and each time he hurt a different body part. His shoulder, his knee, his face again, but he finally admitted defeat when he hit himself in the manhood.

"Hahahaha! That's five hundred monkey. Maybe you should pick a new weapon."

"(I recommend a change of weapon as well host,) Great sage chided in.

"Sh-shut up," Sage said weakly from the floor.

.........

Laurel's House, Starling City

"aurel…Laurel….Laurel!"

"Sara leave me alone for just a few more minutes," Laurel Lance rolled over in her bed.

"I need you to wake up now Laurel. There's something important we have to talk about."

Laurel sat up groggily until the sight of an unknown figure standing next to her bedside startled her wide awake. She rolled off the far side of the bed popping up with a baseball bat. "Who- who's there!?" She asked ready to defend herself.

"I'm hurt, you forgot about me already?" The voice said sarcastically. "And here I was thinking you were one of my few friends."

"R-Regis?" She asked lowering the bat after finally realizing who it was. Regis suddenly left two years ago, without so much as a goodbye, after his parent's untimely death and the destruction of his home. Her father was a detective on the case, but he never gave her many details beyond there being a freak accident at the Pendragon estate. He couldn't even tell her what happened to Regis. "You're ok?" A wave of relief washed over her as she started fighting back tears of joy. "I'm so glad you're ok." As relieved as she was, she also had a lot of questions for him. "Where-"

Regis could tell where her mind was going and he just put a hand up before she got started. "Relax, I'm not really here. I'm using an astral projection spell to speak with you," He explained waving his hand at her nightstand and it went straight through. "I'll explain everything to you soon. For now, there is something I need you to do for me."

......

Starling City Courthouse

Later that morning Laurel was at the Starling city courthouse. She stood in front of the building surveying her surroundings and then looked at her watch. "(This is crazy, that had to be a dream last night. Astral projection? Magic? No that stuff can't be real… Still, here I am waiting…)" Laurel was deep in thought when someone tapped her shoulder. She spun around and was shocked at who she saw.

"Morning love, I was starting to think you stood me up." Regis himself stood behind her with an uncharacteristically cool smirk on his face. "You-"

Laurel immediately hugged him tight then held him at arm's length to look him over. He seemed perfectly fine, she could tell he had become more toned over the couple of years, as the boy was fairly solid now especially for an eleven-year-old. It went without saying his appearance was as neatly kept as always, his lush golden hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, and he wore a long mink coat over his shoulders and a Gucci suit underneath.

"It's really you, she said fighting back tears. I've been so worried about you."

"Well, I'm all aces," Regis answered smugly while he shrugged.

"All aces?"

"It means-"

"I know what it means Regis!" She said shaking him "If you were 'all aces' why couldn't you have let me know?! A call, a letter, anything would have been fine! Do you even know how I felt just going off of 'he'll be back?!' You're like my little brother!"

"I had a helluva journey over the last two years love, I'll be sure to tell you all about it. But business first, you said I was like your little brother, right?"

"Yes." Laurel answered wiping away tears.

"It's not like you to ask dumb questions Regis. What's up?"

"I just wanted to be sure because I feel the same way. You're the closest thing to a sibling I know…that's why I want you to be my legal guardian. I can take care of any-"

"I'll do it." Laurel agreed immediately. Regis was ready to offer a financial proposition and everything, but she didn't need any incentive to take him in. She saw him as family, and he really only needed supervision legally. The boy was more than capable of taking care of himself. "Come on I know someone in here who can help us get all the paperwork done today."

"(That was easier than I thought…)"

"Oh and by the way, what's with that English accent you were going for?" Laurel asked him.

"You noticed? Well my parents are actually from the UK…but I figured it would make me more charismatic if I spoke less formally. Do you think Thea will think it's cool?"

"Ehh it's alright, but I think she'd rather you just be yourself."

"(Dammit Constantine I can't take your word for anything…)" Regis thought cursing the magic man under his breath as they walked up the steps to the courthouse.

"Speaking of Thea, I have to call the Queens and let them know you're back. They'll be happy to hear the news."

"Don't bother with that. It'll be far more entertaining to surprise them, don't you think?" Regis said slyly. The idea of seeing their surprised faces again brought a smile to his own. "Do you mind if I change my outfit before we go to the Queen's though?"

"Sure Regis," Laurel rolled her eyes. His vanity hadn't faded in the slightest, but she was just happy he was ok.

......

Central City Bank, Central City

"Thanks dollface." Snart said as a bank teller handed Rory and himself briefcases filled with money. "You know what to do monkey."

A third much smaller criminal wearing a smiling monkey mask walked up to the teller.

"It's just business as usual, you never saw anything out of the ordinary today. You don't know why the security cameras went out, nor do you know where the money went…but you did hear your manager talking about how easy this place would be to rob. Capiche?"

The teller nodded approval, her eyes were glazed over and she seemed out of it. In fact everyone in the bank was stood locked in a stupor "Anything else?"

"No that'll do perfectly. Let's get out of here." Snart responded.

"Hahahaha another easy score!" Sage lost focus for a second and a security guard woke up.

"Hey sto- aaaaaahhhhhh!" Before the guard could do anything Mick's flamethrower burned him to a crisp.

"Dammit, why'd you do that?" Snart snapped.

"Since when do you care if I roast a pig?" Rory barked back.

"Never have and never will, but I prefer my jobs to go as smoothly as possible. We could've gotten out without a trace," he said to Rory. "And you stay focused, he wouldn't have had to burn him if you didn't let him escape your telepathy." Snart's attention shifted to Sage.

"Sorry about that heheh." Sage tried to laugh it off. His mask hid his embarrassment, mind numbing people was supposed to be child's play for him by now.

Snart just sighed walking towards the exit.

"Don't be sorry, be careful kid. Make sure no one even remembers so much as walking in here and let's split."

.......

Queen's Residence, Starling City

At the Queen's residence Moira was watching the news. A series of banks, jewelers, and other high-end business in Central city inexplicably lost hundreds of thousands in both cash and merchandise over the last few months. Almost every employee questioned about the whereabouts of the stolen goods had no recollection of anything out of the ordinary happening. Most security footage of the targeted business was destroyed, and the ones that did still have footage only incriminated employees who were simply taking the goods and giving them to unknown assailants. Though when the employees were questioned, they all had a normal day at work, none of them had any idea they did such a thing. Several officers who were somehow incinerated in the line of duty were memorialized on the news reel as well.

"Robert! Robert! Are you seeing this? Maybe it's time we start pulling out of investments in Central city. These robberies could start costing us soon too."

Robert was watching while pouring himself and his wife a drink before sitting next to her

"I was just about to say the same thing. It's one thing for one or two business to get hit, criminal organizations are getting to be a dime a dozen these days, but the entire town seems to be robbing itself blind! How can there be this little information on so many thefts enacted the same way? "

"Who could be pulling the strings behind something like this? At this rate they'll have to arrest half of the city before they get any real answers."

"What is the possibility that these people are actually victims who truly don't know what they've done." Robert theorized. "After what happened with Regis two years ago it might not be too absurd a notion for some someone with powerful abilities to be at work again…"

"Let's just hope this trend doesn't start in Starling city or our accounts may really be in trouble." Moira said taking a drink. "Speaking of Regis, I wonder how he's doing?"

"HE'S BACK!" Moira and Robert were so startled they both spit out their drinks when Thea who had been quietly watching the yard from the open window all day while sketching, suddenly sprang to life and ran for the door.

"What is it Thea?!" Robert asked as he followed her to the door.

"I knew it wasn't a dream, he really came back!" Thea exclaimed watching the driveway.

"WHO?" Moira asked. Then she looked at the picture she had drawn, it was a detailed picture of Regis in a white V neck shirt and with a gold chain and bracelets. He looked slightly older than he did when they last saw him, his hair flowing freely in a gentle breeze as small birds fluttered around him. The peaceful smile she portrayed actually looked natural and inviting this time.

"Don't tell me…" She happened to look at the T.V. again, and the story had switched to one much more uplifting. After two years, the child of the late Uther and Igraine Pendragon had returned to Starling city after a mysterious disappearance. He refused to speak on the details of his disappearance though, only stating he was ok. Not only that family friend Laurel Lance, who was attending Star University agreed to take him in as his legal guardian. "Oh my…" she dropped her glass in shock as the car that entered the driveway was none other than Laurel's. In the passenger seat was actually Regis Pendragon, and most shockingly he appeared just as he did in Thea's drawing. She went out to welcome Regis back with the others. No one noticed the birds that flew around Regis as he approached the house emerged from Thea's drawing.

The doors flew open and Regis was nearly knocked off his feet when Thea greeted him with a big hug. "I'm happy to see you too." He said returning her embrace. Robert and Moira weren't far behind her, but he paid them no mind holding Thea tight.

"Ahem" Robert cleared his throat to get Regis' attention. He wondered how the boy could have changed since then, but Regis looked at him the same way he always did.

"Mr. and Mrs. Queen Greetings, it's good to see you guys again." Regis said.

"I'm glad to see you're looking well" Robert responded as it became a family hug.

"I imagine you must be tired from your journey home, let's go inside." Moira said.

.......

Central City Junkyard, Central City

In the depths of the Central City junk yard sage was exercising "One thousand Nine hundred ninety-eight…one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine! T-two-"

"I thought I told you about overexerting yourself Sage." Snart said kicking Sage from his handstand pushups. As he fell and his focus was lost ten junk cars which he was lifting with his psychic power dropped at the same time.

"Ow… what gives Snart!" Sage jumped up ready to fight him.

"I told you working yourself too hard can do more damage than good." Snart repeated a warning he'd given many times to little Sage in the past few years. "That mind of yours is like a muscle too. Too much pressure and it can break."

"I knew what I was doing! I'm not an idiot." Sage protested.

"Sure says the idiot with a bloody nose" Snart said handing him a rag to wipe it with. "We can't have our trump card break himself before our biggest score ever kiddo. Just because you're strong, doesn't mean you don't have be smart."

"Don't worry, I'll be ready for it…especially since you've spent over a year and counting making plans for the damned thing."

"Like I just said it's our biggest job yet, I haven't even seen some of the security systems they're using before. Everything has to go off without a hitch, or we'll be in deep shit. Even with your powers it's a big risk."

"They got it like that?" Sage asked looking shocked, but it quickly returned to excitement. "Maybe it'll be challenging for once."

"Watch it getting cocky Sage, that's why you slipped up last time." Snart reminded him.

"I think we've earned the right to be a little cocky. We've robbed the city blind, and they have no clue what hit em. We could probably get matching islands at this point." Sage said.

"That's why we're expanding our area of operations for this one to Starling City.

There's a whole new market for us to get into, but we'll only have to pull off one gig. After that, we'll be set for life."

"Who is it?!?" Sage asked more enthused, Snart was making this seem like an actual heist. It might be a chance to test his limits somewhere other than the junkyard. He salivated at the challenge before him. Plus, set for life sounded nice too. The suspense was killing him, and since he decided not to read the minds of the only two people who he's ever trusted he had to wait on Snart to reveal it.

"Eager as always," Snart laughed. "Our target is Pendragon Inc. They're in disarray with that kid showing up changing everything. Time to strike while the iron is hot."