Red Speed Force lightning danced across Jack Kadere's body, wrapping both him and Thea Queen in a cocoon that shielded their clothes and skin from the friction of super speed. Thea had her arms hooked around his neck, head tilted forward, eyes wide open and locked dead ahead—determined to actually see how this worked. She hadn't blinked. She was certain she hadn't blinked. But the world around them switched like slides in a projector, one image replacing the next with no transition in between.
Then it stopped. A shop she half-recognized. Racks of clothing on every side. The smell of new fabric and perfume samples.
Thea stared, mouth open, completely blank.
"Planning to get down anytime soon?" Jack shifted her weight in his arms, amused.
"Oh—" She unhooked her arms and dropped to her feet.
Thea moved through the racks immediately, fingertips dragging across hangers, silk, cotton, sequins—until she stopped in front of a black strapless bodycon dress. She pulled it out and held it up. "This one. What do you think?"
Jack glanced at it. "Nice dress. Doesn't suit you, though."
"Why not?" The smile dropped.
"You can't fill it out."
Thea's eyes narrowed. "Are you saying my tits are too small?"
She was already shrugging off her blazer before the sentence finished. "You planning to look away?"
"If you're brave enough to strip, I'm brave enough to watch."
Thea snorted. "You think I won't?"
She didn't hesitate. The blazer hit a display table. She pulled the dress off the hanger and changed right there in the middle of the store, tugging the strapless neckline into place and turning to face the full-length mirror.
Silence.
"Fine." She peeled the dress back off, jaw tight. "I don't like it after all." She pulled her original clothes back on and smoothed her hair. "What's next?"
"By now the police station has definitely noticed you're gone," Jack said. "So the next step is a kidnapping photo. Something to send your family—let them know the situation."
"How do we do that?"
"Follow me."
---
Jack carried her out of the shop and across the city in another burst of red lightning, depositing her in a spot that looked sufficiently grim—bare concrete walls, rusted pipes, the kind of place that photographed like a hostage situation should. He bound her wrists and ankles with rope, stuffed a strip of black cloth between her teeth as a gag, and stepped back with the camera.
"Fear," he said, framing the shot. "I need fear. Your eyes are supposed to look terrified, not excited."
Thea tried. She widened her eyes, furrowed her brow, pulled against the ropes. The result looked like a Halloween costume ad.
"I'm not an actress," she said around the gag, the words muffled into nonsense.
"Alright—blindfold it is." Jack crossed over and tied another strip of cloth across her eyes. He stepped back, checked the frame. "There we go. That works."
Click.
The shutter snapped. Jack set the camera down and walked over to untie her, loosening the knots with quick fingers.
"Let me see." Thea grabbed the camera the moment her hands were free and studied the photo. Bound, blindfolded, pouting beneath the cloth, lying on filthy concrete in what could have been an abandoned warehouse. Convincing enough. "What are they going to do when they see this?"
"Panic. Worry. Get angry." Jack dropped onto the ground beside her, legs stretched out. "Having second thoughts?"
"N-no, I just—" She trailed off. She was, a little. The image of her mother's face when she saw this photo flickered through her mind—genuine fear, genuine grief. That hadn't been part of the thrill.
"They've all been lying to you, you know." Jack said it casually, like a weather observation.
Thea turned to look at him. "What?"
"Robert Queen isn't your biological father."
Thea's face went flat. "That's a stupid lie."
Jack chuckled. "He really isn't. And the man who is your father could be considered responsible for Robert's death." He let that settle for half a beat before continuing. "As for Oliver—he's got a second identity. Goes by Green Arrow. He came to Central City looking for a fight with me, so I came to Starling City to return the favor."
Thea searched his face. Half of her wanted to laugh it off. The other half couldn't find the joke. "You're serious?"
"Wait here." Jack stood. Red lightning crackled once, and he was gone.
Thea stared at the empty space where he'd been. The wind from his departure ruffled her hair and settled. Concrete dust drifted in the silence.
---
Queen Consolidated — CEO's Office
Moira Queen's phone buzzed against the mahogany desk. She picked up on the second ring.
Quentin Lance's voice, stiff and uncomfortable, told her that Thea had vanished from her detention cell. Simply gone. No footage of her leaving. No sign of forced entry. The cell door hadn't been opened.
Moira's fingers whitened around the phone.
"Detective Lance." Her voice was ice pressed into syllables. "You're asking me to believe that my daughter evaporated from a locked cell inside a police station. I'm aware of your feelings toward Oliver. I'm aware you have no love for this family. But you are a police officer, and I expect a baseline of professional competence. I'm on my way now. I suggest you find her before I arrive."
She hung up and pushed back from the desk, already turning toward the door to call for Diggle—
The photograph was sitting in the center of her desk.
It hadn't been there ten seconds ago.
Moira snatched it up. Thea—wrists bound, ankles tied, blindfolded, mouth gagged, lying on bare concrete in what looked like an industrial ruin. Her lips pressed into a pout beneath the cloth.
Her daughter had been kidnapped.
Lance wasn't lying. Someone had actually pulled Thea out of a police station holding cell. But how had this photo appeared on her desk? She'd been sitting here. She'd been looking at the desk. It was not there, and then it was.
"Moira Queen."
She spun. A man was sitting on the reception sofa across the office—legs crossed, arm draped over the back, watching her with the easy posture of someone who'd been there for hours. He hadn't made a sound coming in. The office door was still closed.
"How did you get in here?" Moira's voice held steady through force of will alone. "This photo—where is Thea?"
"I'm not going to tell you where Thea is." Jack Kadere smiled—warm, pleasant, the kind of smile that made the threat underneath it worse. "But if you answer my questions honestly, I guarantee you'll see her again."
See her again. The implication coiled around Moira's chest like a wire. If she didn't answer honestly, she'd see Thea too—just not the way she wanted to.
"Don't hurt her." The composure cracked. "Please—don't hurt Thea. I'll give you whatever you want. Money, access, anything."
"She's very pretty," Jack said softly.
Moira's stomach dropped. "She's—don't. Don't hurt her. She's so young."
"She is pretty." Jack uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "But she wasn't born to you and Robert, was she? Her real father is someone else."
The color drained from Moira's face faster than any threat of violence could have managed. "What—what are you talking about? Of course she's—"
"Think very carefully about what comes out of your mouth next." Jack's smile didn't waver. "This is about her life."
Moira's lips parted, then closed.
"Don't ask me who I am. Don't ask how I know. Don't ask what I want. If your next sentence isn't the answer we both already know is true, you understand what happens."
Moira stood behind her desk, one hand pressed flat against the wood to keep herself upright. Her mind churned through calculations at a speed that had nothing to do with the Speed Force—if this got out, if he found out, the consequences would be catastrophic. The secret had held for Thea's entire life. Even the other party didn't know.
But Thea was somewhere in a concrete room with her hands tied, and the man sitting on her sofa had appeared inside a locked office without opening the door.
"Thea..." Moira's voice came out thin, scraped raw. "She isn't Robert's biological child."
The sentence took everything out of her. Her knees buckled half an inch, and she gripped the edge of the desk to keep from swaying.
BANG.
The office door flew open.