"Mom, are you okay?"
Oliver Queen burst through the office doors, immediately moving to shield Moira while his eyes locked on the intruder. His voice was sharp, demanding. "What do you want?"
"He's the one who kidnapped Thea," Moira said quickly, fear evident in her tone.
Oliver's heart dropped. He had just returned to Starling City after being delayed on a lead. When Diggle told him Thea had been picked up by the police, Oliver had actually felt a measure of relief. Surely she would be safe there—no one would dare to snatch her from police custody. He had rushed back to Queen Consolidated to check on his mother, thinking Jack Kadere wouldn't risk a direct move. But he was too late.
Jack leaned back casually, as if the entire situation amused him. His lips curled into a faint smirk. "Meddling in other people's business comes at a price, Oliver. Don't worry—we'll have plenty of time to explore that." He tapped a finger against the coffee table once, deliberately, almost playfully. Then, in the blink of an eye, he vanished, leaving behind only the echo of a faint laugh.
"Get down!" Oliver shouted suddenly.
He pulled Moira with him just as the coffee table erupted in a deafening boom. Shards of glass and splinters of wood exploded outward like shrapnel. Oliver instinctively shielded his mother with his body.
"Oliver!" Moira cried, her voice breaking when she saw several jagged shards lodged in his back.
He gritted his teeth, groaning from the pain, but forced himself to steady her. "I'm fine. I'll get Thea back, Mom. I promise."
Moira stared at the smoking ruin of the table, then at the empty space where Jack had been sitting moments before. Her lips trembled, but no words came out.
...
Elsewhere, a streak of crimson lightning tore through the city and stopped in front of Thea Queen.
She blinked rapidly, still dazed. "Where did you go?" she asked, her voice betraying both irritation and curiosity.
Jack's smirk returned. "I dropped off the photos with your mother and brother. And in return…" he tapped the camera he carried, "I got the truth."
"The truth?" Thea frowned.
Jack didn't answer immediately. Instead, he raised the camera again, adjusting the focus as if she were nothing more than a subject for his collection. His obsession with capturing moments—whether twisted or genuine—had grown in recent days.
But when Thea saw the expression on her mother's face in those pictures, something cracked inside her. A heavy pit of guilt and regret stirred in her stomach. And when Jack repeated what Moira had admitted, the floor seemed to fall out from beneath her.
"This… this is true?" she whispered, staring at him, desperately searching for denial in his eyes.
Jack's tone was flat, unwavering. "It's true."
"Why?!" Thea suddenly screamed, her voice echoing across the empty space. She hurled the camera across the room, shattering it against the wall. "Why would you tell me this? Why is this happening to me?!"
Her anger poured out like a storm, breaking into sobs. Jack didn't interrupt. He simply watched as she collapsed, her mascara streaking across her cheeks, her breath ragged with grief.
Finally, her cries quieted into a hoarse murmur. "Why…?" She looked up at him with bloodshot eyes. "I want to drink."
Jack extended his hand. Without hesitation, she took it.
In an instant, red lightning swallowed them both, and they reappeared inside a dimly lit hotel room. Bottles of liquor were stacked across the floor, scattered like trophies of indulgence.
"Will that be enough?" Jack asked coolly.
Thea didn't answer. She grabbed the nearest bottle, twisted off the cap, and began drinking straight from it.
People drink for many reasons—sometimes to numb the pain, sometimes to bury it. For Thea, it was both. She drank fast, recklessly, until the burn in her throat became stronger than the ache in her chest.
It didn't take long before the alcohol overwhelmed her. After only a few bottles, her head lolled and the room spun. Within minutes, Thea Queen was out cold.
...
When she awoke the next day, her skull felt like it was splitting in two. Her mouth was dry, her throat raw, and every inch of her body ached. Slowly she opened her eyes, squinting against the dim light. Empty bottles surrounded her like a fallen fortress.
"This… ugh…" Her voice was hoarse, her words barely audible.
She forced herself to sit up, glancing around the room. On the bed nearby, Jack Kadere was stretched out, apparently sleeping without a care in the world.
Thea's memories hit her in fragments—the revelation, the screaming, the drinking. She winced, pressing a hand to her forehead. "He actually let me pass out on the floor like some stray?" she muttered bitterly.
Groaning, she stumbled to her feet, her legs unsteady, and half-dragged herself toward the bathroom.
Bang!
The bathroom light flickered on, followed quickly by the rush of water.
Over half an hour later, Thea emerged, wrapped in a towel, her damp hair clinging to her shoulders. Her face was pale, her expression heavy with fatigue and regret. She marched straight to the bed and gave Jack a rough push.
"Hey. Wake up. Is there anything to eat?"
When he didn't answer, she pushed harder. "Come on, I'm starving. Do you have food here?"
Jack finally cracked an eye open, his voice groggy. "What's with all the noise? Do you have any idea how late I went to sleep? Why do you need to eat in the middle of the night?" He smirked faintly. "How about I give you… something else to eat?"
Thea froze. "What? …You mean, like… noodles? Can the hotel even make that?"
"Why not? Isn't that what hotels are for?" he murmured, already turning over.
"This isn't a restaurant, genius," Thea shot back, annoyed. He was clearly still half-asleep.
Frustrated, she searched the room but found nothing except more bottles of alcohol and bottled water. With a resigned sigh, she downed one of the waters, feeling a little relief as the cool liquid hit her throat. She then returned to the bed and, despite her irritation, lay down on the far side.
The instant she did, Jack shifted and pulled her into his arms. Thea struggled for a moment, muttering complaints, but his grip was too strong. Exhausted and half-dazed, she eventually gave up and drifted back to sleep.
...
While they slept soundly, the rest of Starling City was anything but quiet.
Oliver Queen sat alone, carefully studying the photos Jack had left behind. Each detail was scrutinized—the bound figure of Thea, the desolate setting, the background elements. He paused when he noticed something unusual: a chair in the photo, one that looked like it belonged to a police station.
His eyes narrowed. Jack had taken Thea straight out of police custody and then left behind a clue at his own villa? Why? To mock them? To show he could do it whenever he pleased? The thought burned Oliver's nerves raw.
Even with his resources, Oliver couldn't pin down the exact location from the photos. They seemed deliberately vague, like Jack wanted him to search in the wrong places.
At the same time, Moira Queen and Quentin Lance had nearly the entire police department working overtime. Officers scoured every lead, every corner of the city, but they came up empty-handed.
The sudden large-scale police operation rattled the city. Crime bosses whispered nervously in their clubs, politicians checked over their shoulders, and the wealthy doubled their security. Even ordinary citizens felt the tension in the air, and by midnight, Starling City was a city that refused to sleep.
A day and a night passed. Still no leads.
The police doubled their efforts, but Oliver realized he needed outside help. He began to weigh his options—Helena Bertinelli, the Huntress, or maybe even reaching out to the Birds of Prey. He had kept his distance from them before, but for his sister, he'd cross that line.
Just as he was about to leave, Moira's voice stopped him. She looked weary, her usual composure shaken, but her eyes were firm. "Oliver. We need to talk."
"Now?" he asked, tense.
"Yes. Right now."
Though impatient, Oliver forced himself to listen. "Alright. What is it?"
"The one who took Thea… he isn't just some ordinary criminal," Moira said in a low, serious tone. "He told me that meddling comes at a price. Oliver… don't you think you should explain what that means?"
Her words cut into him like a blade. Secrets he had fought to keep buried were now threatening to surface, and with Thea's life hanging in the balance, the pressure mounted.
PS: In the comics, Thea Queen has taken on the code names Speedy and Red Arrow.