Grey Arrow saw the gun aimed right at her, so she dodged to the right to get away. She had taken shelter behind a cheap wooden board and that was not going to protect her. The bullet had missed her once again as she hid behind a metal box, that looking over she saw the other three looking at her. 

How the hell were they going to get that close to him if Slade was trying to snipe Rory out the entire time? She wouldn't be able to get anywhere close to him, but maybe the others could? Grey Arrow didn't want to take that risk.

"Come on Aurora, I know you're here because you want your friend back right? Well, show your face and you can have him." Slade called out.

Well, that complicated things. 

The other three shook their heads at her, trying to get Grey Arrow to change her mind as she stood up and slowly walked out. She avoided Red Robin's look, knowing that he was probably freaking out under the mask. It was obviously a bad idea to put herself in that kind of situation, but she made a promise to get Jesse out. If sacrificing herself to save the people she cared about was how Rory was supposed to die, it wasn't such a bad idea.

As she stepped out, she held her hands up with her bow in her hands. "Alright, you got me, Slade, now let him go." Grey Arrow said, staring down the assassin with a glare.

"Arrow, what the hell are you doing?!" Arsenal snapped, the grip on his bow tightening. 

"What needs to be done to save our friend," she answered.

They watched as Slade pulled something out of his pocket and spoke into it, and minutes later Jesse showed up on his slide made of ice and stood at his side. He didn't look terrible, but the effects of the serum were obvious. Jesse's eyes were dull and lifeless, more so than when she saw him the night before and his posture slacked significantly. Deep down, Jesse was still in there but they had to get him out from Slade's control before they could take him down.

"Aren't you the noble one? Such a shame that I have to kill you, I've come to enjoy this little game of ours." he taunted.

"Yeah, I'm going to miss our time together. Let him go, Slade." she snapped.

"I'll release him once you are dead." he raised his gun and aimed it at her. "Put the bow on the floor now, no more surprises." 

Grey Arrow slowly leaned over and put her bow on the floor, she knew better than anyone that he was not going to let Jesse go once she was dead. Not with three witnesses there to try and stop him, that was why when her hand was lowered she slid the knife hidden in her sleeve down into her hand. "Last chance Slade, let him go," she called.

Slade cocked the gun, aiming it at Grey Arrow's heart. "Any last words?" he asked.

"Yeah, you're a fucking asshole!" she yelled and turned, throwing the knife at him. Grey Arrow watched as it soared through the air and hit the scope of the sniper rifle, shattering it into pieces. Taking this to her advantage, Grey Arrow grabbed her bow and grappled up to where he was hiding. 

The other three took this as their chance to follow her up and grappled up behind her. She rolled onto the roof and aimed another arrow at Slade. "You should really know me better by now, do you really think I wouldn't go down without a fight?" she grinned.

"You might not, but I'll make it worth your while." Slade looked at Jesse. "Take them out." 

The next thing they knew, Jesse darted towards them and began to shoot blasts of ice at them. Every single one of them managed to roll away in time, but it had cost them the chance to take down Slade. Looking around, Grey Arrow saw him running away towards the roller coaster.

"Hood, Arsenal try and subdue Jess! Red and I are going after Slade!" she hollered. They gave her a nod as Red Hood shot rubber bullets at his friend, Arsenal backing him up with fire arrows. Red Robin and Grey Arrow took off and rolled onto the ground and trailed after Slade.

"Just because I took out the scope, it doesn't mean he can't still shoot us from a distance," she called to Red Robin who ran at her side.

"Wherever you go, I'm going too, woman. Don't you dare think I am leaving you alone this time, we're doing this together." he chuckled as he wrapped an arm around her waist and aimed his grapple gun. Slade had begun to climb the roller coaster and they weren't going to catch him on foot. Before Red Robin pressed the button he looked at Grey Arrow.

He pressed a kiss to her lips, "I love you Rory if something happens to me I wanted to say it one more time." 

Grey Arrow hit him on the chest. "Don't you fucking talk like that, we are getting out of this alive Drake. Slade is going to be stopped," she said and held on tight as he pressed the button on his gun and propelled them both into the air to catch up with the assassin.

As they rose into the air, Grey Arrow watched as Slade continued to climb the coaster quickly. Once they got to the top, they stepped carefully. One wrong move and the boards underneath them would fall and they would plummet to their deaths. Slade ran up and glared at Grey Arrow, the three of them were at the highest point of the coaster and only one of them was going to come down.

"I see you dragged your little boyfriend along with you. I thought you knew better than to flaunt your weaknesses, but then again your escapades across town were anything but that. The two of you live a very high profile life, it's how I was able to track you down." Slade said, unsheathing one of his swords.

Grey Arrow took a deep breath. "He isn't a weakness, Red Robin makes me stronger and you know it. It's why you followed us both, you wanted to know how we worked together and if it was going to be a problem," she answered, gripping her bow. "You know that you can't take us both, it's why you always attacked when I was alone, left unprotected. If you could unhinge me just enough, then you could go in for the kill." 

Slade's face didn't change. He was impressed, but it did not show. "Very good, you really are as smart as they say, dear Aurora. You're right, when you left Star City I thought that I would finally get my chance but then I saw who you stayed with. I watched your every move, waiting for my chance to strike, and believe me there were many." 

Her face began to go a shade of red as she tightened her grip so hard that her knuckles went white. "You want to kill me? Go ahead and try." she snarled and aimed three arrows and shot them at his feet, as they exploded on contact.

With the explosion, the coaster teetered where it stood. Grey Arrow made a mental note to not shoot any more of those. Slade dodged away from the explosions and aimed his handgun at her. Red Robin was quick and covered them both with his cape, stopping the bullets from hitting them. 

"What's the plan?" he asked as he threw batarangs at the assassin as Grey Arrow fired more arrows at him. 

"We need to get close enough to incapacitate him. It ends here and now," she answered and rolled away and fired more arrows. Slade dodged them all and fired his gun, the bullets missing her as she dropped to her chest. Looking up, she saw a sign and fired arrows at it. 

Red Robin saw what she was doing and used his grapple to pull it over onto Slade, watching as it collapsed on him. Grey Arrow took this as her chance and charged at him as he pushed the wooden slabs off of him. She was lucky he was caught off guard, or she would probably have been stabbed again. 

He raised his sword that she blocked with her bow, Red Robin stood behind Slade as he used his bo staff to knock the handgun out of his hand. Slade grabbed his second sword and fought them both off as Red Robin tried to land more hits and Grey Arrow tried to get a clear shot to stop him. 

They were so caught up in their battle that they didn't notice the one going on below them. Jesse had managed to chase Red Hood and Arsenal towards the coaster, as he fired sheets of ice at them, covering anything it hit. "No offense, but why was it Jesse he took? You would be way easier to take down, especially with him on my side."

"Wow, Hood! We're fighting my mind-controlled boyfriend and that's what you have to say to me?" Arsenal laughed. "Those two better get that communications device before he turns us into human popsicles." 

"At least the others are on the way okay, I managed to get the message out before he froze the comm in my helmet." Red Hood laughed and fired more bullets at Jesse, who they seemed to just bounce off of as he protected himself with a sheet of ice.

As he fired the ice, the support beams to the coaster were frozen and became even more fragile. Grey Arrow and Red Robin felt it above as the coaster began to wobble and sway beneath them. "We need to get off this thing now!" she called.

Red Robin grabbed his grapple gun, only for Slade to shoot it out of his hand and then fired another shot into his side. Grey Arrow watched as Red Robin fell to his knees, holding his side.

"Tim!" she turned and kicked the sword out of his hand, it falling to the ice-covered floor below. "You'll fucking pay for hurting him!" Grey Arrow was relentless with her attacks, she had been right when she said that Red Robin was her strength. Seeing him hurt, brought a whole new rush of adrenaline into her and she used it to land hit after hit on Slade Wilson, hoping to wipe that stupid smug grin right off his face.

Using her bow, she knocked his feet out from under him. and aimed an arrow at his chest. "You won't kill me. Besides, if you shoot me now your boyfriend falls to his death. Take your pick, revenge, or love?"

Grey Arrow frowned and let out a growl. "Damn it!" The coaster was losing balance and was beginning to fall out from under them. Hopefully Red Hood and Arsenal were out from under it. Grey Arrow urged her feet to go faster, needing to get to Tim. She watched as he got to his feet and began to run towards her, his hand gripping his side tightly.

Grabbing a grapple arrow, she slid it onto her bow and reached him right as the coaster began to collapse. "Grab on!" Red Robin wrapped an arm around her waist she fired the arrow, it catching onto a building across the way. Not wanting to waste another moment, she pushed off of the coaster and glided through the air, the coaster collapsing completely as their feet left it.

They hit the ground with a thud, Grey Arrow crawling over to check Red Robin's injury. "You alright?" she asked, cupping his face. Taking his hand, she moved it off the wound and saw that it wasn't deep. The bullet had gone in and out, leaving minimal damage to his side.

Red Robin let out a small groan. "Yeah, I'll be alright as long as you have my back Songbird." he smiled.

"I'll always have your back." she got to her feet to help him up when she was grabbed from behind, feeling a cold grip on her throat. It seemed that Jesse had caught up with her, as he held Grey Arrow tight against his chest.

She let out a small whimper, feeling the cold crawl up her wrist that he held behind her back. Red Robin, Red Hood, and Arsenal stood in shock not sure what to do. Protecting her was their first priority, but she had gotten caught anyway.

Slade appeared out of the cloud of dust and grinned. "Good job kid, I'd offer you a job if you weren't under my control." 

At the sight of him, Red Hood and Arsenal aimed their weapons at him. "Let them go, Slade!" Arsenal called.

He looked between the three heroes, then at Jesse who held Grey Arrow captive as the ice slowly crept up her arm and began to spread across her throat. "That wasn't part of the deal, only one of you needs to die tonight. I don't want unnecessary bloodshed, it's not a good look on an assassin." 

"No one is dying on my watch!" Grey Arrow cried as she hooked her foot behind Jesse's ankle and sent him to his knees. She twisted in his hold and wrapped her legs around his head and punched him hard enough that he was out in one hit. Rolling to her feet, she stood next to the other three.

"I keep underestimating you Aurora, you never cease to surprise me. But that all ends, you are going to die at my hand tonight and my job will be done." he taunted, pulling out the sword he still had on him.

"Get the device he controls Jesse with! If we destroy it, he won't be under his control!" she called and fired arrows at his pockets, wanting to bring it to the floor. As she did that, Red Hood fired bullets at him and Arsenal did the same as Grey Arrow. Red Robin stayed back and watched, waiting for his chance to dive in and grab it.

It happened once Arsenal got the right pocket and the control box fell to the floor with a clatter. "I'll grab it!" with a wince, Red Robin dove into the action missing all the flying arrows and bullets to grab it and run. 

Jesse had woken up from the punch Rory gave him and saw Red Robin run with the box. "Go get that device!" Slade ordered. He gave Slade a nod and took off after Red Robin, catching up with him quickly.

"Give that back!"

Red Robin looked back and urged his feet to go faster. Just dropping this in the ocean would short it out and Jesse would be safe, but he didn't get that far before his feet were caught in the ice and forced to stop running. 

Quickly he held it up and began to tinker with it, trying to find the cancel switch or something that could help save Jesse. "The buttons should be labeled on this fucking thing," he muttered before he began to smash it against the ice holding him down. 

Spark shot out and Jesse stopped dead in his tracks, the look in his eyes changing from dull to the normal lively brown they were. Red Robin watched as Jesse took a look around, confused at his surroundings.

"Hey Red, how the hell did I get here? Did I do that to you?" he asked, melting it away.

Red Robin chuckled and gave him a nod. "Yeah, you also did that." he pointed to the collapsed coaster, and Jesse's eyes widened.

"Holy shit, I didn't hurt anyone did I?" he asked.

Red Robin was about to answer when a gunshot rang across the area, silencing them all. They looked at Grey Arrow to make sure she was still alive, but it wasn't her Slade aimed at. The looked and saw that it was Jesse he had shot instead.

It was Arsenal who reacted first, he darted towards Jesse and caught him before he could collapse gripping his ice-cold hand in his own. "Jesse, look at me baby please." he cried. Red Robin knelt beside them trying to find where the bullet had hit him, seeing if he would survive. Jesse's once white shirt was stained red as the blood seeped through on his chest. 

Red Hood and Grey Arrow ran over hovered over them. "Jesse, come on speak to me," she muttered.

"Nice to see you again Twinkle Toes, I'm glad I didn't hurt you..." he muttered.

Grey Arrow wiped her eyes, trying to stop the tears. "I'm okay, and you will be too. Batman is on his way and we will get you back to the cave, I promise you're going to be okay." she whimpered.

"I don't think I have much time left... take care of him for me will you?" he asked, gripping Grey Arrow and Arsenal's hands tightly in his own. Grey Arrow sniffed and gave him a nod, tears spilling from her eyes.

Jesse's gaze went to Jason and Tim, "Make sure she doesn't get herself killed. She needs the both of you." he wheezed. 

Jason held his friend's head in his lap and nodded. "You got it, Jess, I'll keep them both out of trouble," he said softly.

"I'll keep Jay out of trouble, Jess you don't have to worry about either of them," Tim said, tears pricking his eyes. Jesse gave him a grateful nod, his movements getting weaker as he looked to Roy, the love of his life.

"Take care of her, Rory needs you baby." his voice caught in his throat, as Roy choked back sobs.

"You can't leave me, Jess, I need you. I love you..." he whispered.

Jesse smiled one last time, tightening his grip on his friend's hands. "I love you too Roy Harper, never forget that." Roy leaned down and pressed his lips to his, as Jesse Thomas took his last breath.

Seeing that he was dead, Roy let out his sobs and pulled his limp body against his. Jason and Tim sat there in silence, grieving over their late friend. Rory watched the scene, her heart shattering into pieces at the sight of Roy crying over the lifeless body of his love.

Looking to her left, she saw the sword she had knocked out of Slade's hand earlier. She knew Slade was behind her, and he was going to pay for the murder of her best friend. Rory dashed for the sword and dove at Slade, the blade held tightly in her hand as she let out a cry of rage.

Slade blocked her attack and grinned, this was the Aurora Queen he wanted to see. The girl so overcome with rage, that she was ready to kill him at any cost. 

All Rory saw was red as she fought Slade with his own sword. "You killed him! You fucking killed him, and now I'll kill you!" Hot tears fell down her cheeks as she fought Slade with everything she had in her. 

Hearing her words Jason and Tim looked up, the blood draining from their faces. They got up and ran over to her, hoping to stop her before she did something she would regret. Watching her, Rory had a different look to her. A look neither of them had seen before, she was deadly and dangerous with every move she made. 

If he wasn't so worried about stopping her, Tim would have thought her as graceful, beautiful even. But Rory was revenge-driven and out for blood, Slade's blood to make up for the pain he had caused her. 

Her movements only got quicker, the angrier she got. Slade had unleashed something he wasn't prepared for and watched as Rory knocked the sword out of his hand and caught it before she kicked him onto his back. He watched as Rory stood above him, both swords in her hands as her hair swayed in the wind. Her chest rose and fell, each breath filled with rage and sorrow from the death of her best friend and she was going to make sure Slade felt everything she did.

"Rory, don't!" Tim called as he caught up and wrapped his arms around her, stopping her from making any more moves.

"Let go of me!" Rory let out a growl and flipped him off of her as he landed on the debris of the coaster, and held a sword up to Slade's throat. 

"You go through life, killing people; making them fear death. But tell me, Slade Wilson, do you fear death?" she glared. 

Slade didn't get the chance to answer before Jason came up and grabbed her from behind. "Rory, stop before you make me do something I don't want to do to you." he groaned. His words only made her fight harder to get out of his hold, Jason almost lost his grip on her twice before he activated the electric plates in his chest piece.

Rory let out a scream before she collapsed, unconscious in his arms. With a groan, Tim got up from the ground and walked over and took her out of Jason's arms. Tim held her close and watched as Jason pulled out a gun filled with live rounds and aimed it at Slade.

"Move one fucking muscle, and I'll blow your brains out," he growled.

Minuted later Batman and the others arrived at the scene, their eyes widening at what lay before them. The battle of Amusement Mile was not one they were not going to forget any time soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.............

I almost cried writing that part, but it was something I had planned from the beginning. His death will push their personal journeys forward and lead towards what happens in book 2, and it hurt me to kill him off. Rory snapped, and we'll get to see the repercussions of that as well in the next few chapters so be ready for all of that.

Until Next Time,