She watched her parents die, taken by six monsters wearing human skin. She should have died too, but they kept her instead—an experiment, a pet, something to break but never destroy.
Years blurred, survival became instinct, pain became routine. She fought, even when she lost, until one day she was gone—not because they let her go, but because survival was the only thing left. Now she was in Star City, where no one knew what still lurked in the shadows, waiting.
She needed a car. She had scraped together enough to make it seem possible, but getting a loan with no history, no family, nothing except survival—it was harder than she thought. Worse, she didn’t know if they were still chasing her.
She never let herself believe she was free. Not completely.
She felt the shift before the first gunshot. Then came the shouting, the raised weapon, the fear. People sobbed, hands shook, panic spread—but she stayed still.
She had learned long ago that panic never saved anyone.
The robbers barked orders, the hostages obeyed. She followed suit, not out of fear, but because fighting back now wouldn’t help anyone.
She had seen worse men with worse ambitions.
Then the doors crashed open. Arrows flew, panic shifted. Oliver moved fast, ending the fight before it could escalate. Dinah’s Canary Cry rattled the walls, Diggle closed in. Rene disarmed them, Curtis locked down exits.
Felicity’s voice cut through comms. "You’ve got two more moving toward the back!"
She remained untouched, silent, watching. Dinah noticed. The only hostage who wasn’t crying. Who wasn’t panicking. Who wasn’t flinching.
And for the first time in years, she wasn’t sure if that was going to be a problem.
A struggling gunman grabbed Dinah’s arm, yanking hard. Her mask was gone before she could react. Silence fell, then someone gasped.
Oliver knocked the man out cold. Diggle scanned the crowd. Curtis pressed comms. "We have a problem."
They couldn’t let anyone leave. Not until Cisco arrived.
"You think I did this on purpose?" Dinah sighed.
"I mean," Rene shrugged, "kinda rookie mistake."
"You want me to knock your mask off next?"
Oliver cut in. "How fast can you get the neural scrubber?"
"Fifteen minutes," Cisco answered.
Curtis groaned. "Yeah, because that’s not gonna make things more awkward."
Dinah rolled her shoulder, ignoring lingering looks. Her gaze flickered to the girl sitting near the loan officer.
Still silent. Still composed. Still watching.
"You notice the weirdly calm one?" she muttered to Oliver.
Oliver did.
Curtis frowned. "Okay, but why isn’t she scared?"
Diggle studied her. "She’s not just calm—she’s aware."
Rene huffed. "Great. So we’ve got a hostage who might not actually be a hostage?"
Felicity chimed in. "I doubt she’s a random civilian, considering how unaffected she looks."
Oliver crossed his arms. "Let’s keep an eye on her."
Dinah nodded. "Agreed."
The girl didn’t react.
But Dinah had the distinct feeling she had already noticed them noticing her.