A multitude of paramedics and police officers crowded inside of the apartment like worker bees in a hive, all assigned to do their own specific jobs. The police arrived shortly after Diggle cleared the apartment. He stepped off to the side to inform the head detective about what happened with occasional glances thrown in our direction before he waved Oliver over to explain the rest, followed by a short interaction with Chase.

A strong look of concern resided on Oliver's face each time he glimpsed back to where Laurel and I stood with our backs against the backside of the couch, frozen by our own thoughts. My peripheral vision caught the lingering looks while my eyes remained glued to the hardwood floors where the rug in the dining room ended.

Oliver's eyes barely wavered away from my figure after he witnessed my unfortunate breakdown in Chase's arms. He gazed down at me with a distraught expression as he reluctantly realized he was incapable of comforting me in the way he wanted. He glumly watched as Chase centered and calmed me down instead.

Chase refused to leave my side after the tears subsided and a numbness replaced my emotions. The feelings of defeat and disappointment overwhelmed my senses to the point of being unable to process the situation at hand.

All those years of intense training led me to ultimately fail at a similar situation to my kidnapping. Those years of becoming stronger mentally and physically were for nothing. That night and those men still held me in a chokehold with the trauma they inflicted upon me. I was weak.

Chase's large hands cupped my cheeks as he watched the change begin; a girl emotionally triggered by the events transformed into someone completely immobilized and dejected.

The panic was evident in his green eyes. He scoured the living room until he found a throw blanket and draped the thin material over my shoulders for an added layer of comfort along with his hands covered over my shaking ones. The years of him as my bodyguard showed him plenty of heart-wrenching moments in my time of healing and adapting.

This was much worse.

There was a nearly unreadable expression on his facial features as he stood next to me against the couch. The others wouldn't be able to read his body language the way I learned how to do after years of friendship and him working as my bodyguard. A part of me was certain Chase partially blamed himself for not being here to protect me when the intruders broke in.

His jaw was taut with his arms folded over his chest. His gaze continuously shifted from the chaos happening around us to my side profile every few minutes, like he expected me to break out of the mental trance I found myself in soon.

The concept of knowing all the growth I made over the years wasn't enough to free myself from the confinements of the broken girl I used to be— the girl everyone in Starling City believed I still was. She never left like I thought she had, simply hid away within the crevices of my mind.

"Where the hell is my daughter?"

A disembodied voice aggressively demanded over the bustling crowd inside the apartment. The familiar voice grabbed my attention. My head slowly raised and twisted on my neck with a glimmer of hope growing in my eyes. Everyone else in our group turned to follow the voice.

"Dad?" I breathed.

My father rushed through the entryway and pushed his way past a few other officers circled around one of the dead bodies on a stretcher. He wore a black suit as if he hadn't changed after a long day at the office. His dark eyes scanned the apartment before they spotted where I stood in the living room with Chase and Laurel on either side of me.

Relief flooded through his serious facial features.

The blanket flew off of my shoulders when I abruptly sprung away from the couch. The walls surrounding us blurred together as I threw myself into my father's arms, grateful he arrived shortly after Chase called him.

We stood at the entrance of the living room with our arms wrapped around each other. Tears gathered in my eyes for the second time that night. The back of my head burned warm as if I knew all of my friends, including Diggle, were watching us embrace.

Our relationship had grown exponentially stronger over the past four years. All of the aggressive lessons and training he pushed me through strengthened our bond as father and daughter, despite the overwhelming amount of breakdowns I experienced.

No matter how many years and days I placed into becoming the highly skilled person I was today didn't stop the fact that I was still my father's little girl like when I was a child. My father never stopped making me feel the safest when he was around, especially now that I knew what he was fully capable of.

"Tommy's on his way," he whispered in my ear before he spoke at a normal volume. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," I answered him, quietly.

The side of my face brushed across his suit jacket before I withdrew myself from his arms, relieved I was truly safe after the horrendous night. No one was capable of harming me when Chase and my father were nearby. They would never allow anyone to lay a hand on me.

I was untouchable.

"Sir," Chase tentatively spoke as he approached us. "I am so sorry for not getting to her fast enough, I—"

"Daddy!" Laurel gasped.

She raced past the three of us to greet her father in the hallway. Lance entered his daughter's apartment in a hurry. His eyes glimpsed over the coroners as they wheeled out the first dead body, concealed in a body bag. He wore a similar black suit without his detective badged attached to his belt. He quickly enveloped his daughter into his arms.

"Oh, thank God," Lance breathed. "Thank God. Are you all right?"

"I'm okay," Laurel answered with a nod.

My dad angled his head in Lance's direction, jaw taut with displeasure. He glowered.

"I thought you had police detail on your daughter," he commented with a rude undertone. "This never should have happened."

"I did," Lance replied, curtly.

Laurel's eyes widened when she remembered the officers her father assigned to follow her during the Martin Somers case. She glanced back and forth between both of our dads, deeply concerned.

"The cops you put on me..." She trailed off.

"They—"

"I went outside to ask for a light and they were both dead in the squad car," Diggle answered, solemnly.

Everyone turned their attention to where he stood a few feet back in the living room next to Oliver. Laurel's face fell at the shocking news. She shakily raised her hand over her parted mouth as her eyes glistened with fresh tears.

I stepped around my dad and placed a comforting hand on Laurel's shoulder. My heart ached for my best friend. This wasn't something I would ever wish upon anyone, especially Laurel. She had been through enough already. She didn't deserve to experience this. A hint of anger simmered behind my chest for the people who caused this to happen.

"Hensley?"

Dad stepped to the side when he heard Tommy call out from behind him. My hand retracted from Laurel's shoulder. My brother appeared in a frantic state as he darted through the entryway and into the hallway. A sigh of relief flitted from his mouth when he saw me standing between Chase and Laurel.

The closer he walked, the more I noticed the redness in the whites of his eyes. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me into a tight hug. I could only imagine the fear Tommy and Dad felt when Chase called to inform them there had been in a break in and attack at Laurel's apartment.

"I was so worried," he murmured in my ear.

"And where were you?" Lance demanded in an icy tone.

A heavy tension filled the room when he shot a heated glare at Chase across the makeshift circle we unintentionally formed. Lance gestured toward me with a wave of his hand.

"I thought you were always glued to her side," he clipped.

My arms unraveled from Tommy's torso at the unnecessary snide comment. I shifted on my feet as I moved to stand between Chase and my brother. The glimmer of irritation within my body grew stronger as I gawked at Lance's brave choice to verbally attack my bodyguard.

Chase remained stoic as he folded his arms over his chest and kept a steady gaze on Lance without a sliver of intimidation felt toward the older man. His chin jutted forward. I peered up at him, unfazed by calm exterior.

"I was doing a perimeter check," he answered, calmly.

Lance scoffed. He looked around the officers that remained in the apartment. A few held cameras in their hands while they moved around to snap pictures of the entire apartment that potentially classified as evidence. His focus turned back to Chase, forced to tilt his head back at the taller man to meet his eyes.

"And a lousy job you did, considering my daughter's apartment was broken into," Lance sneered.

"Dad—" Laurel gasped, taken aback by the harsh words.

My nostrils flared at his growing attitude. The man's vendetta against my family and all those associated with us was enough to raise my blood pressure. Lance believed he was superior on the high horse he placed himself upon and, ultimately, allowed to talk down to everyone while he pranced around Starling City with his detective badge as if the shiny metal granted him permission for his uncalled actions.

Chase gently placed his right hand on my shoulder nearest to him. He hadn't glanced in my direction, yet he knew from my subtle body language in his peripheral vision that I was simply seconds away from rudely responding.

"Actually," Chase spoke in an eerily calm voice. "One's dead one the roof and one's dead in the stairwell. I found them as lookout when I was on my way back from the perimeter check and realized something was wrong when I saw they had guns."

Laurel released a shaky breath. My eyebrows rose at the new information. He hadn't mentioned where he wandered off to after he fled the scene when Oliver arrived earlier. The redness of his knuckles with hints of speckled blood proved he ran into his own trouble on the way back to the apartment.

"And, in case you missed it on your way into your daughter's apartment, there was one with my black tie wrapped around his neck right in front of the broken door and I would really like that back, Detective. It's Calvin Klein," Chase finished, smugly.

The two intently stared at each other in silence. Lance's chest heaved as he took in the new details, more than likely realized he was deeply wrong for accusing Chase of not protecting us. His lips momentarily pursed before he shifted his gaze onto Diggle of to the side.

"Thank you, Mr. Diggle— both of you," he said, glancing back to Chase. "Feel free to run as many red lights in the city as you want."

"I was just doing my job, sir," Diggle responded.

Lance kept his eyes locked on Diggle as he walked past Chase and approached the other bodyguard. He bobbed his head in Oliver's direction over Diggle's shoulder, eyes narrowed.

"No, your job is protecting him," he countered.

Chase dropped his hand from my shoulder once he was certain the attention was fully removed from him. He knew how much I despised Lance and the way he treated all of us. The ones closest to me knew I wasn't the kind of person to let my loved ones be treated poorly by others.

Lance sidestepped around Diggle as he quickly advanced toward Oliver. He stopped in front of him. His breathing still came out labored after his rush to his daughter's apartment to make sure she was okay. The red and blue lights from the first responders outside flickered against the side of his body through the closest window.

"It seems like whenever you're with one of my daughters, people die. You stay away from Laurel, or I swear the next time you disappear, it will be permanent," Lance threatened in a steady voice.

"Dad!"

Laurel gawked at the back of her father's head, mouth left opened in shock. I deeply inhaled through my nose at the unfortunate amount of sincerity I heard laced in Lance's voice. The way he spoke proved his words weren't just a threat, but a promise as well— something that did not sit well with me. My blood began to boil as my hands clenched into tight fists down by my sides. A red warmth of wrath spread throughout my body.

"No, Laurel—"

Lance barely glimpsed back over his shoulder at his daughter's attempt to end the unnecessary conversation. The tension in my jaw caused my teeth to clench to resist the urge to interject myself into the middle of it.

He looked back to Oliver with hard eyes. Dad subtly shook his head once when he noticed the way the tip of my tongue poked against the inside of my cheek. His eyes darted down to my fists like he knew my fingernails were digging crescent moons into my palms.

"It's okay," Oliver responded, softly. "I understand."

"Yeah..." Lance trailed off as he turned away.

"Are you kidding me?" I blurted, incredulously.

The loudness of my voice bounced off the walls. Several officers stopped in the middle of their investigations to sneak a peek at our group.

"Hensley—" Oliver sighed.

The tips of Chase's fingers brushed against the back of my wrist as he tried to prevent me from striding forward to intervene. His hand fell back to his side when I ignored his touch and moved to stand in front of Lance and Oliver.

"No, no," I told Oliver with a finger raised at him.

Chase crossed his arms when Lance shifted on his feet to angle his body to face everyone. My head swiveled on my neck to divert all of my attention onto Lance with my chin jutted out. A fiery look burned bright in my eyes, unable to hide the fury I felt about the threats thrown at Oliver.

"Oliver is the only reason why we are still alive right now," I pointed out, jabbing my finger in the air at him before I gestured to Laurel. "She didn't even hear the man on the fire escape. That five second head start Oliver gave us was just enough to keep us alive and, yet, you have the fucking audacity to blame him for this happening?"

Lance rolled his eyes before he lowered them to meet mine with a stoic expression. I stepped closer to him with roughly two feet between us. My arms moved to cross over my chest as I heavily glared up at him in an intimidating manner.

"You do realize that the only reason they even broke into the apartment was to go after your daughter, right?" I continued without letting him even attempt to get a word in. "Oliver has nothing to do with that. If anything, you should be thanking him for keeping your daughter alive because if he hadn't been here tonight, we would both be dead."

My words brought a silence upon our group. They weren't entirely truthful nor a lie. Everything about Oliver rang true. Dad and Chase were the only ones that knew if Laurel and I had been the only ones in the apartment during the attack, all of my years of training eventually would have kicked in, despite my ptsd being triggered.

"Maybe you should redirect your anger from Oliver to the people who actually tried to assassinate Laurel instead of the person who protected her," I suggested, wildly waved my hands in front of my body as I spoke.

Lance opened his mouth. I held up a hand in the space between us with my forefinger raised to prevent him from interjecting.

"I'm not done," I snapped. "Who the hell do you think you are to threaten him about disappearing again? I get it, you're still upset about Sara, but that does not give you the right to threaten him when it's not his fault she's gone. She went on that boat willingly, and, unfortunately, there was an accident. It's not his fault."

A furious expression formed on Lance's face as he pulled his jaw taut and narrowed his beady eyes on my face. He took a step closer with a dangerous look shining in his eyes like he was fully prepared to argue back with a vengeance. He froze in mid-step when he glimpsed over either side of my shoulders.

There wasn't a doubt in my mind that Dad and Chase protectively stood behind me. They always had my back. Perhaps, Lance didn't believe I was intimidating on my own, but the look in his eyes proved he was hesitant to go against the two of them.

"I think it's best if everyone heads home and gets some sleep," Diggle suggested from behind us. "It's been a rough night for everyone."

Lance took a step to the left and approached his daughter, who gazed at him with a wide-eyed look. He gestured at her with a small wave of his head.

"Let's go, sweetheart," he told her.

Everyone watched in silence as Laurel allowed her father to lead her away. Her faint voice near the entryway piped up as she pointed out she needed a few belongings before she could crash at his place for a few days.

My eyes momentarily closed as I breathed in deeply. I slowly turned to face Chase and my family without bothering to glance at Oliver. The exhaustion and aftermath of the night began to weigh on my shoulders. Chase and my dad stood directly behind me with their shoulders almost touching.

Tommy's eyes lingered on the back of Laurel's head until she disappeared into her own bedroom. His head swiveled back around to face my way. He locked eyes with me from behind Chase and Dad before he gently pushed his way between them and gently placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Come on," he whispered. "Let's get you home." 

XXXX

Hi hi. 

I've had this chapter mainly written for a few months now and kept thinking I already posted it until I would go to check and would then realize I actually hadn't. So, here I am, actually finishing the chapter and posting it. 

Things got a bit heated in this chapter. Hensley is not a fan of her friends being treated poorly as you can see. This night was really rough for her and you'll see how much it affected her in the next upcoming chapters. 

Also, maybe we'll get an Arrow and Code Black interaction soon. I have the next chapter planned out. Idk when I'll get around to writing it, though.

Question: How do you think the interaction between them will go?

So, yeah!