What would the Canary do?

It's been days.

She doesn't know how many. But if must have been days. There's been food, there's been the occasional sleep.

Not enough of either.

Dinah has told them... she can't remember right now quite what she has told them, but it feels like she's told them everything. Like there's nothing in her lefty to tell them. She'd tell them more, if they asked her.

She gave up trying to escape a long time ago. She gave up hoping for a rescue not long after.

Now she's just waiting, and hoping it ends soon.

Students:

Gryffindor:
7th Year:
Dinah Lance; Head Girl; serinusniger
Will Scarlet; Beater (C); will_scarlet
6th year:
Barbara Gordon; twiceahero


5th year:
Renee Montoya; Seeker; interrogoiterum
Raphael Hamato; (NPC)

4th year:
Kate Kane 2serve

3rd year:
Theo ostro_goth
Theo ostro_goth

1st Year:
Tyler Marlocke; tyler_marlocke
Julie Finster fiss84

Ravenclaw

7th Year:
Adrian (NPC)

6th year:
Niccolo Machiavelli; Quidditch commentator; auraofmystery
Angus Urquhart scots_wolf
Donatello Hamato (NPC)

Hufflepuff
6th year:
Alec Troven; Quidditch Seeker (C); alec_troven
Trudy Chacon; Beater; spanishnotlatin
Dick Grayson; Beater; greatestofease

5th year:
Michealangelo Hamato; mnt_mike

2nd year:
Aang; 12goingon113

Slytherin
7th year:
Aloysius Crumrin; Head Boy; atypicalwarlock

6th year:
Lorenzo de Medici; prefect; molto_magnifico
Leonardo Hamato; mnt_leo
5th year:
Silas; is_a_ghost;

1st year:
Kirika Yuumura; witchnotninja
Frankie Chacon (NPC)

Teachers:

Arithmancy: Sirona source_fairy (unaffiliated)
Care of Magical Creatures: Trever Delvar reincarnshamen (Gryffindor)
Defense Against the Dark Arts: Stephanie Brown nycterapuella (unaffiliated)
Flying: Kale Delvar reincarnshamen (Gryffindor)
History of Magic Leah Ross aim_blind (Gryffindor)
Muggle Studies: Rhys Owens fortunatestory (Ravenclaw)
Potions: Sokka Aquam scientiaeaquam (Ravenclaw)
Groundskeeper: Iroh leavsfrmthevine

Townies

Owner of The Three Broomsticks: Jo Harvelle veneficusvenato
Bookshop: Inara Serra veloxepistola
Teashop: Uji leavsfrmthevine

The sun is setting over the Hasaraguan rainforest, and Dinah's not going to regret the end of this day. She's been hit around the head, shot at,and is now running through the undergrowth with a British duchess and a knifethrower on her tail. Apparently setting alligators on them can only detract them for so long.

Now she's jumping down from a tree over the edge of the ravene onto a conveniently fallen branch, still worried about the from, but beginning to think about the to.

"I'm opento suggestions, Oracle," she hisses into her silent comm device. "Everywhere I look is jungle. I've got a crazy English babe and knife-obsessed midget on my rear.

"Oracle?

"You have to be there. You're my only pal. And it's getting Jurassic out here. Whistle up a superhero. Call in a killer widget. Access desperate rescues dot com. I could use a ha...






"Oh."

"Nothing wrong with a little shooting, as long as the right people get shot."
-Turk [Righteous Kill]

I'll never know how he knew. I've never even asked how he knew. All I cared about was that I was woken up in the middle of the night by a wet nose being pushed into my ear, and Tikki was keening on my pillow.

"They're in trouble," he kept saying, high and desperate and crying. "Oliver and Panya, Dinah, they're in trouble."

You have to understand the place I was in right then. Just after moving to Seattle I made a bad call and ended up in trouble of the worst kind. If it hadn't been for Ollie, I'd've died there. I wanted to die there. It's not a time I like to dwell on now, but I spent years dwelling on it afterwards. And it was in many ways the worst possible time for Ollie to go and get himself into the same kind of trouble.

There was a gang war brewing in Seattle at the time. Ollie cared about it. Tikki cared about it. I would have cared, but I had bigger things on my mind. I had him. And dammit - I was going to fight for him. Even if the only one who would give me any help at all was my polecat.

We're not known for using guns. None of us are. I think Bats' hatred of them infects us all at some point or other. They're too powerful, and it's a power you don't have to work for. You don't need years of sweat and discipline to learn to pull a trigger, and you don't have to earn that ability to kill. I have a weapon as powerful as any gun, but I didn't back then. Then, I only had my training and my determination and my love. I was all fired up to go after him with just those three, but Tikki was there to keep me grounded. Or rather, to bite me on the ear when he realised what I was doing.

"Are you crazy?" he squeaked. "We can't go in there unarmed. Not if we're all going to get out of there."

I'm not saying I didn't have a choice in the matter. I'm not excusing it, but I was tired of feeling helpless. When you're as used to being in control as I was, that feeling - it's like every moment is a betrayal of the woman you used to be, and if I let them do to Olli and Panya what they'd done to me and Tikki...

So yes, we took guns from the men standing guard. They didn't even know we were coming. I had two down within seconds, and Tikki had the other's daemon cowering in submission. It always surprises me how people are willing to underestimate the ability of a woman and her polecat.

So, yes, we had guns. And yes, we killed every single man and daemon inside that building -  I still remember what Tikki looked like with blood covering his mouth, I don't think I'll ever forget it, but I couldn't tell you what the daemons were he killed, because all I could see were the daemons of the men who hurt me.

 We took down all but one man, and one daemon. Panya was caged just as Tikki has been, Ollie strung up just like me. Tikki cut him down, I unlocked the cage. We didn't say it that day. We've never really said it out loud, but that day - Tikki and I saved each other - we rescued ourselves.

[Events taken from Green Arrow v2 Issue 32: The Canary is a Bird of Prey]