First, I'd like to thank highlander348 who helped me so much with the planning stage of this story! Also I'd like to thank my friend who edits the many, many grammar mistakes. They're awesome!

I don't own Arrow; Sara would have survived "The Calm" if I did.

Fledglings: Prey

Starling City was a beautiful city. While it lacked in the traditional coastline beauty of a beach area or the cozy feeling of a mountain area, it was far from a homely city. Courtesy of some dedicated architects, the stunning skyscrapers gave Starling an urban beauty. However, it seemed to take the saying "beauty is only skin deep" way too seriously. Also, the statement was past tense. [1]

If anyone wanted to see Starling's true nature, all they had to do was take a quick stroll to the heart of the city: The Glades.

Sure, cracks in Starling's mask were always visible, but for the most part, the cracks were mere hairlines. Maybe an astoundingly, observant person might suspect something was amiss, but overall they too would be fooled, unless they'd witnessed true darkness prior. Otherwise, The Glades was just another lie plastered over a dying land. Now even the densest person could identify Starling's true nature.

The foundation was already laid. A nice and shiny cover couldn't change what was inside. It couldn't change the truth. Beneath all the smiles and sunshine was every corruption known to man… you name it, Starling has it. For years the problems were on a slow boil, but it only took one second for everything to boil over.

In one brief moment, disaster stuck, an earthquake. Now make no mistake, despite earthquakes typically being defined or at least associated with natural disasters, it was anything but. It was all a product of one of Starling's very elite, Malcolm Merlyn, or as the media seems to prefer: The Dark Archer.

By his own admission, Malcolm saw his earthquake similar to the flood in the story of Noah. His vision was to destroy The Glades, the most corrupt part of the city. After a phoenix rose from the ashes, a new and more ideal city could rise. But to do so he was willing to sacrifice hundreds of innocent lives to punish the crimes of a few. Just as every story needs a villain, every story also needs a hero. The hero that night was Starling's guardian archer: The Hood. In an epic battle to decide the fate of The Glades, The Hood was victorious and his opponent was left bleeding out. But despite his efforts, 503 people were still lost.

But this isn't The Hood's or the Dark Archer's story.

If one was curious, this story starts on a rooftop.

And it's not just one person's story.

- BIRDS OF PREY -

The funny thing about one's home: it's not a place.

It's cliché but true, home is simply where the heart is and the heart is with those one loves.

Some spend a lifetime searching for a place to call home. Others have homes and will always return, especially in times of crises. Just ask the birds. Every year birds fly south for the winter, but every single one of them returns to the same nest as soon as the weather heats up again.

The Canary was no exception.

The only problem was someone else had a similar idea.

Her name was Helena Bertinelli, or as she preferred now, The Huntress.

As her name implied, she was a hunter. Her prey was none other than her own father, Frank Bertinelli.

It was strange what humans could get used to, but most are creatures of habit anyways. So to The Huntress, hunting her father felt so natural. Helena was stubborn, very stubborn, as she was just fixated on one thing; the rest of the world was none of her concern.

So Helena found it even stranger to find a different prey to be fixated on.

Her prey was now a bird.

It had started about a few days after the earthquake. They were at a constant game of hunter and prey… the only question was, who was the hunter and who was the prey?

Once again, Helena became accustomed to a different routine.

If she was ever out and running around in her mask and leather, she knew now, the bird was watching. Unlike most songbirds, this one was quiet; she didn't appear unless Helena was on the losing side of a battle. Which she shamefully admits was a couple times in the past week. She also claims it's because she was distracted by said bird and normally she would have been just fine on her own.

A few times though, The Huntress did try to follow the bird after her fight ended, for the night at least.

Most of the time the bird managed to give her the slip; she just seemed to vanish like a ghost.

The few times she managed to follow the bird, she always joined in on the bird's fight. After all, a girl has to get her exercise.

But once the battle was over, the bird vanished once again.

However, for the past few nights, the bird was nowhere to be seen. [2]

Without the bird, Helena decided to return to her original hunt. As much as she'd hate to admit it, she had no clue where daddy dearest was hiding.

Helena hoped the earthquake would draw her father out, but the coward didn't dare make any appearances. Instead he just continued to hide in what ever rat hole he was calling home.

Another thing about Helena, she was impatient. Honestly, it was a miracle she managed to wait over a year for her father. She was the kind of person who was interested in results, how and why be damned. Impatient as Helena was, the extra time gave her a plan; the only problem was the reluctance outweighed everything else, until tonight where her patience's ran out.

She had a source, but that source had a guard dog. This wasn't the kind of dog who could be quieted by slipping it some steak either. What she needed was leverage, and Miss Laurel Lance fit the bill perfectly.

Helena assumed it be easy.

She landed on the rooftop with relative ease. The building she was on top of was the one directly across the street from Laurel's apartment. Using some binoculars to scan the prey's apartment, Helena made some observations:

1) Most lawyers in Starling have decent security, probably because of the number of enemies they make in a court room, on a daily bases

2) Laurel Lance was not one of those lawyers and her security sucked:

a) She only had one lock on her door that any second rate criminal could pick or break

b) The door wasn't sturdy either and could easily be smashed open if one was too lazy to pick the lock

c) Don't even get Helena started on the windows

However her analysis was cut short by a bō to her neck.

"What do you want with Laurel Lance?" It was a low whisper, but there was a threatening tone nonetheless.

That's when something clicked inside Helena's mind.

"Oliver must love dressing up his girls…" Helena muttered.

There was a slight hesitation before a little more pressure was applied to The Huntress's windpipe.

"What do you want with Laurel Lance?" The volume was the same, but unlike the last time, it wasn't a question but an order.

Not wanting to cause a scene, Helena motioned towards the staff. The pressure lessened but the staff was still pointed at her and gave The Huntress one quick and clear message: Explain, your life depends on it.

Before tonight, she never pegged the bird as a killer, but the icy blue eyes that stared into hers said otherwise.

"I wasn't planning to hurt her, I just needed some help."

"With?" The threatening tone was replaced with subtle curiosity.

"A hunt for justice." Helena chose her words very carefully, after all she didn't know if they would be her last.

More intrigued, the staff was lowered, but it was still pointed at Helena's chest. The Huntress took this as a signal of some sort, one that indicated while her life was no longer on the line, but she was still on oh so very thin ice. It also informed Helena she wasn't off the hook just yet with that short response.

Luckily for Helena a scream distracted both of them. The cry originated from Laurel Lance as she was being dragged in a truck by an old man in glasses.

Once again Helena took her eyes off the bird for a second and once again the bird's vanishing act occurred.

However there was a still small smirk of satisfaction, as The Huntress pulled out her phone. A digital map of Starling with two blimps appeared on the screen.

"I hate it when she does that."

- BIRDS OF PREY -

Click

The sound of a key turning in a lock rang throughout a small, but empty apartment. A door was lazily pushed open and through the door came Quentin Lance. He checked his watch; it read 3:52 AM; it was a late night, even for him. As a detective, he was normally home around 2:00 AM; there were a few days where he'd be home around 3:00.

But now karma was a bitch. As the only cop who listened to The Hood, he was responsible for the many lives saved during the night of the earthquake. However, this also made Quentin Lance the only known associate of a criminal/vigilante. Corrupt as Starling was, laws that were broken in broad daylight were still punished, even if the laws broken in the shadows never faced repercussions. Quentin was wondering if "no good deed goes unpunished" should be the title of his autobiography… if he ever wanted to write that kind of crap.

Quentin was also one of the few generally good men in Starling, maybe even the only one in the police station. Luckily, as a cop and a citizen of Starling City, he was a noble, fair, and strong person. It didn't matter how many times a gun was shoved in his face and his life was on the line, all that mattered to him was at the end of the night the city was safe and criminals were served justice. Lance was a fighter and he knew even before he put the badge on he would die wearing it some day.

That was just the kind of person he was.

However, as a father, Quentin was only human.

The death of his youngest crushed the poor man. It didn't matter who shoved a gun in his face because his soul was in his children. So when Sara died on the stupid boat, Quentin started to break. Things only got worse when his wife left him. The only one who stayed was his oldest daughter, Laurel.

While his daughter wasn't always there, she did motivate him to pick up the pieces and move on.

If one were to receive a call in the middle of the night with news of a loved on captured as a part of a personal vendetta against you, the police have no idea where she is, and to top it all off you were powerless to stop it, you'd understandably be pissed.

Quentin, however, was not pissed, no he was furious… but according to him there wasn't a word in the English language to accurately describe his fury, so he settled with several: "Have a nice evening officer… and by the way, GO TO HELL!"

As a detective, Quentin was firmly on the side of the law. Things were simple, there were two kinds of people: those who uphold the law and those who broke it.

The Hood was one of the latter categories in detective Quentin's mind. After all, even though The Hood was helping some of the less fortunate in the city, he was still a killer. The Hood seemed to make "the ends justify the means" mindset, which really made him no different than Merlyn with a similar MO. Probably the best example was the fact The Hood let the leaders of the operations live and killed a bunch of the underlings and in a city like this one, not all of them would know the true nature of their operations. [3]

At least Lance wasn't that stubborn, after all, he did work with The Hood during the night of the earthquake.

The only thing was he thought it was going to be a one-time deal, but that was before Laurel was abducted.

Most people have their parents, children, siblings, spouse, and maybe even their work on speed dial, and while Quentin had all of the above also had a certain blonde IT girl.

"Miss Smoak, do you know where our mutual friend is?"

There was some yawning in the background and a few seconds to register who was calling and a few more to register what he was saying, "Wait… friend? I'm sorry, but are you two friends, because I mean thanks for the help with the earthquake and all, but you guys don't really fit the idea of… Sorry, um he's on vacation?"

"He seems to be on vacation a lot as of late."

"Yah, well I don't think I should really be giving you his whereabouts since you've tried to arrest him… several times… no offense, I mean it's your job, but…"

"Never mind then, sorry for waking you up Miss Smoak."

Quickly hanging up, Lance accidentally dropped the phone and dialed another number:

Thankfully NOT My Son in Law/Oliver Queen

'Well, this going to be awkward' Quentin dreaded.

Luckily, it went straight to voice mail:

"My name is Oliver Queen. For five years, I was stranded on an island…"

- BIRDS OF PREY -

The Lance family must be cursed. If one were to consider the individual misfortunes each faced and totaled them up… well no one really has that kind of time…

Right now, Laurel would say tonight was somewhere in her top 3, even thought this night could possible be her last. To be fair she wasn't sure if the Gambit or the Undertaking was at the top of her top 3.

What also ran in the Lance family?

They were fighters.

Sadly, the leather bonds holding Laurel down didn't seem to care. But Laurel continued to struggle anyways. Any hopes of screaming for help were shot down by the plastic tube in her mouth, the same one that would soon deliver the highly flexible polymer down her throat.

"Stop struggling. After all, I'm doing you a favor. Beauty should be preserved not wither away."

Laurel's response was to knee him in the… special place.

A small amount of whimpering escaped before her captor muttered, "That was just rude! And uncalled for!"

It was the first time in the evening Laurel smirked a little, well as much as she could with the tube.

"You have such beautiful skin…" he said before pulling out a jar of a white, cloudy mixture.

A loud screech filled the air, which shattered the jar and The Dollmaker's glasses.

The Dollmaker made a wise decision and fled the area.

Unfortunately, he was an old and out of shape man, who needed to take a breather in ten seconds right before he left the area.

A silk scarf fell from the celling as a woman in black leather descended from it.

She quickly assembled her staff and whacked the guy in the back.

He stumbled over trying to regain his footing.

The vigilante wouldn't let him and swept him off his feet, literally with her staff.

Mathis landed by a steel poll, picking it up he decided to even the odds.

Two polls collided sending of a loud echo throughout the area, alerting the other two women of their whereabouts.

Watching the two, they were opposites. She was a graceful expert who landed on solid blow after another. He was a reckless novice whose blows were wild with excessive force, and only hit the other bō.

He was pushed into a corner; the only problem was: a cornered animal was also a very dangerous animal.

Yanking a nearby chain several thick steal polls landed on the woman, grounding the bird.

It was funny how quickly the hunter can become the hunted, as two arrows fired at his chest.

Light disappeared from his eyes.

The Huntress stepped out of the shadows, "There, we're even for all the nights you helped me."

However, the bird had already vanished from the pile of steel.

"That's just annoying."

- BIRDS OF PREY -

The bird was perched on top of the roof watching the streets below. [4]

A police car stopped to pick up Laurel. From the back seat, her father raced out with tears of joy streaming down his face. As the two embraced a small smile formed on the bird.

"You can come out, you know," the bird simply stated.

The other person on the roof stepped out of the shadows, "I was hoping to pull that ninja act on you."

"Sorry, but you're foot steps are too loud."

"Noted."

"By the way you can have this back." A small round object was tossed back to the Huntress.

Inspecting the object, Helena asked, "How'd you know I put a tracer on you?"

A more amused smile formed, "If I couldn't detect a tracer on myself, I'd already be dead."

"So you've been doing this for a while?"

For some reason, the bird's eyes went several shades darker, "I met some rough people, figured I should get rough too."

"I get it, survival, right?"

"Something like that. Let me guess your 'hunt for justice'?"

Helena gave a wry reply, "give the girl a prize…"

"You plan on killing your father to avenge Michael."

The Huntress blinked, "Let me guess, Oliver told you?"

"No."

"Then how…"

"Both of your secrets aren't very secret, Helena."

Rolling her eyes, Helena removed her mask, "Doesn't matter, you still don't approve, do you?"

"I'm not really in a position to lecture someone else about morality."

"So, what do we continue this dance for a while?" Helena asked referring to their nightly routine.

"Whatever you want, honestly, but I'm probably not going to be around for long."

"Rough people?"

"Something like that. Or…"

"Or?"

"I owe you for tonight and from a past experience I'd prefer to pay debts sooner rather than later."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"I'll help you on your hunt then I'll leave."

Helena gave a smirk, "That's nice, but how do I know I can trust you?"

The bird gave a small smile as she removed her mask and wig.

"My name is Sara Lance."

[1] I know I said Blüdhaven would be the setting, however that meant there wouldn't be very many Arrow characters for a while, so I thought I'd keep at least the first half of this story in Starling to avoid that problem. Blüdhaven will appear, either later in this story or as the setting for a sequel, depending on how this story pans out. highlander348 made an excellent point that helped me decide to make the story AU after season 1.

[2] When Sara stopped appearing at night so much it was because she met Sin. Sara's routine was to watch her sister and father in the morning and fight crime at night. However, now she hangs out with Sin in the morning, crime fights in the early evening, and watches her sister at night.

[3] This puzzled me constantly throughout season 1: Oliver kills the potentially innocent monks who were just doing their jobs, but lets the confirmed, corrupt leader live?

[4] I realized around here I was calling Sara "the bird" a lot. The characters don't know her as The Canary yet since Laurel hasn't given Sara the name and "blond vigilante" was a bit of a mouthful.

The Legends trailer is awesome; so excited for January 21, 2016! Also, Flarrow episode next week! Update schedule will be a little more flexible than last story: at least one update ever other weekend there might be more depending on how free I am.

Thank you for reading and please review!

11/28/15