Dedicated to @CamrynKissel, @NewYorkDoll, and NoraXSWest-AllenFam for their kind comments on my Arrowverse work :)

"I can't believe I was stupid enough to let Willy talk me into just abandoning him!" Thought Mia, tensely as she quietly crawled through the Deathstroke's vastly gigantic ventilation system, her lean body pressed tightly against the ceiling with each step forward.

They'd been so close to breaking out of their disheveled room of a prison (I wonder if we would've beat dad's best record? Nevermind, we probably wouldn't have with how long he's been doing this), but of course, their captor had to come back just as she was trying to free William. Mia wanted to stay and fight more than anything, to protect her brother until her very last breath, yet for some dumb reason she'd actually listened to his command and left without him to find their father.

See, this is why I should just do what dad does and never listen to what anyone says. Then maybe I'd actually get things done...

Mia felt the slick, cool surface of the vent quickly pass by the palms of her hands as she headed to the left, her knees nearly buckling beneath her chest under the immense pressure of the escape. The whole system was completely pitch black, washing a cold feeling of anxiety through the usually confident fighter as she made her way towards what she hoped would be somewhere of her extreme interest.

I mean, how does he even expect me to find dad when I can't see what's in front of me?!

Though, that thought was one of the only things that she could answer about the current problem at hand.

He didn't intend for her to find Oliver, or rather, he didn't know if she could find him through the intricate mess that lay behind the thick metal door blockading the prison's entrance. It was all a secret ploy to keep his little sister safe from whatever danger the two Deathstrokes threatened to harm them with. And it must've been a pretty good one too since he actually got Mia to fall for it. But it was still an enigmatic mystery as to why she'd even listened to him in the first place because it's not like she cared about his opinion. She didn't care about anyone's opinions.

What is it going to take for him to finally realize that he's the one that needs protecting, not me!

I was the one who trained my entire life with Nyssa and mom for missions exactly like this one!

I literally jumped off of an exploding tower to stop Archer just months ago. Meanwhile, he screams when he gets pushed down a few steps in the Arrow Bunker by his own sister! And I wouldn't doubt if the thought has never come to his mind, but maybe I want him to live long enough to actually get to be my brother.

She suddenly froze in place, her breathing slowing to a near stop as she overheard Grant's rough voice from below the vent she lay within. She quietly moved her gaze towards the tiny patch of holes that were engraved in the metal system's flooring, allowing a perfect opportunity for spying.

"Yeah, I get it. I know our plan's not full proof considering we're signing up to fight thee Green Arrow, but it doesn't matter as long as we get to give our dad the true gift he deserves," stated Grant, exasperatedly as he pushed past the armed man his brother had so graciously offered to hire for security purposes.

Simply put, Grant wasn't a fan of how much power his older brother seemed to have gained over the course of his years spent on the depths of Russian soil.

So, dad isn't here. Well, I guess that's one problem I don't have to worry about.

But as she listened closer to what the young Deathstroke was saying to his men, a thought occurred in the forefront of her mind stronger than the rushing waves of people who flood into stores during extreme shopping sales (or should I say, mom at the holidays).

If dad's not here and I'm free then, that means they're going to be focusing their full attention on Willy which makes it even more likely that he'll get hurt.

"I know, I'm just warnin ya that we already lost Queen's daughter and who knows how powerful she is," remarked the man, a large pistol gripped patiently in his right hand.

At least, they got one thing right.

"Which is exactly why we have men stationed around Queen's other kid full time now," replied Grant, gruffly.

The younger of the Wilson brothers had clearly adopted their father's distaste of senseless questions, especially when it came to someone insulting their superior.

"I know, I just don't wanna be the one who's got to remind you who your father is," commented the man, brashly.

He had guts, Mia would give him that, but even she could tell where this conversation was going from a mile away.

Grant angrily slammed the burly man against the metal wall, the impact echoing throughout the base's halls like a chiming bell as his gun slid across the concrete ground.

"Don't you ever talk about my father in my presence!" Boomed Grant as he stabbed a small knife into the man's stomach, his arm still pressed firmly against the latter's neck.

"Okay, got it," breathed the man as he struggled to push the much stronger fighter off of his subdued body with zero success.

"Oh, I'm sure you do, but I don't care," spat Grant before plunging the knife deeper into the man's lower chest, a look of pure anger consuming his face with each second that passed his pained minion by.

Mia closed her eyes for a brief moment, unable to bring herself to watch the look of agony that must've covered the idiotic man's face as the life slowly left his strong body. His voice rang around the vents as Grant let go of the dying man, dropping his blood-smeared gloves next to the fallen traitor.

"Teach you to mess with a Deathstroke," he stated as he triumphantly left the room, his knives returned to their rightful places in his black armor's lower pockets.

Mia instantly pulled her attention away from the body that lay below her, her eyes locking onto a patch of grim on the left side of the vent. Her heart seemed to be beating at an immeasurably fast rate, its drum practically sounding a call to arms of the panic that was filling her gut with each second that ticked by.

She may talk a big game to her friends and family about all the gore she'd seen throughout her life, but that was all just said to make her look cooler. To help her fit in with the much more trained fighters such as Roy and Laurel.

I know that I haven't always been a hero, but that type of thing is always going to be wrong. No matter how bad of a person they are.

She took several more seconds of harsh breaths until her heart rate finally slowed down, her hands no longer shaking against the cold metal beneath her.

If Dad never got caught in the first place then, he must still be out there looking for us because Willy said that he'd never abandon us.

It's not that Mia didn't agree with her brother's statement, only that she wasn't so quick to jump to such a specific conclusion without proof that their father actually cared. And so far, he hadn't given her much more than some pancakes and a nice speech to work off of.

But if he's not even here yet, then I'm not leaving. I can't leave.

A part of her would always want to run away from attachment, to keep true connection at arm's length to avoid the guaranteed pain that loving someone eventually brought. But she'd failed her mission. She was no longer the young woman she'd been when she first joined her brother's band of misfits because she actually cared about someone. She cared about William.

He would never just leave me alone when I needed him. Especially when he could so easily get killed. Like Zoe. So, I'm sorry, Willy, but I'm not listening to you this time...

Mia wiped a few tears from her emerald eyes, letting the full feeling of her love crash down on her battered body before finally turning herself around and heading back the way she came, only this time she was moving with much fiercer determination. This time, she was going to save her teammate. She was going to save her brother. And nothing was going to stop her.