Chapter Text
One bad decision after another. Even before the change, Dinah's life had been messy, but she was happy.
After all that time trying to find her own way, Dinah still ended up working under another "savior". She was always grateful that someone would be there to pull her out of the rubble from her past mistakes, but she was tired of fighting every single day. There weren't very many heroes where she was from and the ones that were there left a bad taste. Still, every time she fought the archer and his crew, she hoped someone would see how much she was hurting.
Dinah never got to really grieve. Her mother was cursed and ran off to find a cure, her father and her family died, and the only people that wanted to give her a chance were the ones on the wrong side. What's a girl to do when the person who saves you turns out to be a villain? She makes a choice to survive or be cast down like everyone else in her life, and Dinah Laurel Lance was not going to be left behind or forgotten.
Still, just her luck that the stupid explosion in Central City gave her the same powers that made her mother run away. The night she got them, Dinah hiked out to the middle of no where in the dead of night and just screamed. She screamed and cried until there wasn't anything left in her, letting out all her anger and frustration. Dinah was all alone with no one to turn to and a constant remind of all the things she lost in her life.
Which is how she ended up on Earth One, fighting the man who looked like her lost love and her father.
"Ms. Lance, I'm afraid our time together has come to an end. I'd thank you for your service, but you've grown weak and that weakness has sabotaged our plans." Cayden James wasn't the most intimidating person Dinah had come across in her life, but he had so many people under him that would jump at the chance to become his right hand. No one is ever safe in a criminal organization.
Dinah banged on the door to the room she was being kept in. It was empty save for a bed and a speaker on the wall. "No, you can't do this to me! I've been loyal to you since the beginning and this is how you treat me? Open the door, please," she yelled. When her words wouldn't work, she tried to sonic scream her way out, but nothing would come out.
Cayden rolled his eyes at her attempts to escape, clearly hoping she would be smarter than this. "You always were the brawns, my dear. Don't bother screaming or trying to escape. There's a power dampener in the room and it's soundproof." He took his hand off of the speaker's button and began to walk away without looking back.
She froze at his words and once he was gone, she made her way towards the bed. Dinah sat down and began to cry, just like she did all those years ago. This would be the last place she would ever see, because she knew that no one was going to rescue her this time. Horrible thoughts about her fate began to cross her mind and Dinah hoped that at least her death would be quick and that she would see her family again. Which afterlife do you go to if you're on a parallel world? Dinah laid back and closed her eyes, wishing that this would all be over soon.
Some time passed and just as Dinah was falling asleep, the door slid open. She sat up quickly but kept her eyes on the ground. It was probably just one of Cayden's men to finish the job. There wasn't any point in fighting this or trying to fight for her life. Dinah had nothing left. Everything was silent and she hadn't heard any weapons being withdrawn or fired.
When she glanced towards the door, Dinah knew that she must be dreaming. Ollie was gone, and yet somehow he was standing right there in front of her. She got up slowly and walked towards him. As she drew closer, she noticed that he was in the Green Arrow's costume. Dinah frowned and shook her head to try and clear thoughts of her love out of her head.
"What are you doing here? Is it time for the big battle already?" she asked mockingly, trying to buy some time so she could figure out how to escape. "I would have broken out the good leather if I had known. Oh well, guess I'll have to hurt you in this old thing."
Neither of them made any move towards each other. Oliver looked at her strangely for a moment before replying, "It's done Laurel. The fight is over, unless you plan on resisting again."
"So what? No team to back you up? No voices in their ears giving the kill signal? If this is a trick, you'll regret it."
"No tricks. I figured you'd like to see my face more than anyone else's."
He grabbed her arm and began to lead her out of the room as she contemplated what to do next. On the one hand, he did just save her and her old team betrayed her, but on the other, they were on opposite teams. Dinah figured she'd just have to bite the bullet.
"You know, you saved me. Cayden left me for dead and locked me in that room because I let Larry go. He was going to let me rot in that room for the rest of my life and you just took me out of there."
"Guess it's about time a good guy saved you, but now that means you owe me one. You told me once that you felt like you owed something to the people that saved you, and trust me I plan to collect."
Dinah sighed in feigned annoyance. She figured he would remember that conversation. If only she had saved herself, and maybe she wouldn't be in this mess.
The two walked for a while and made their way through the seemingly endless corridors before meeting up with the rest of Oliver's team. When they arrived, the team looked at Dinah with surprise and disgust. Some instinctively put a hand on their weapons in case Dinah was going to attack them. One of them asked what he was doing with her unrestrained and without a dampener.
"Oh shut up. Honestly, if I was going to kill you, I would have done so already. The fact is, I owe Oliver and until he decides to collect or put me somewhere, you kiddos are stuck with me."
"Wait a minute! Oliver you can't be serious, she's evil dude."
Oliver stared at his teammates until they quieted down enough to listen to him speak. Dinah, however, tuned out since she really didn't care what the rest of the team thought of her. She knew she couldn't change their minds even if she wanted to. Soon enough, they all moved out and began to head back to their base of operations. She looked around and felt slightly proud that she recognized all the new equipment. They had to replace a lot when she blew her cover and revealed herself as Dinah Laurel. Blondie wasn't happy to see her, but she'd let Oliver deal with the domestic problems.
She wasn't surprised when Oliver led her to her old cell in the back corner of the cave. He would be a fool to think he could trust her, even if she was in his debt. Dinah laid back on the bed in her cell and began to think of all the possible things Oliver Queen could want from her.