Something woke Oliver. He couldn't tell if it had been the throbbing in his temple or the frantic pounding noise that had roused him.

The last thing he remembered was dropping into an alleyway and then a bright flash of light. He had been patrolling the club district for any signs of the new Count Vertigo.

This new version of The Count, was selling an especially nasty inhibition reducing narcotic, called 2SHY. Needless to say, the side effects of the drug reached far and wide. Not only were recreational drug users buying it, but so was the darker criminal underbelly of Starling City.

Oliver quickly opened his eyes to see the back of a tall, dark haired man pounding his fists against the door.

"Scully! Scully, can you hear me? Open this door! Whoever is out there, you've kidnapped two FBI agents. Open the door! " The man was yelling.

Oliver's slight movement must have caught the man's attention because he quickly turned to Oliver with wild, anxious eyes. "Can you stand?" He asked. "We need to find a way out of here. They have my partner."

"Yeah, I think so." Oliver responded as he began to sit up. His mask and hood were surprisingly still in place as he raised his hand to his head. His bow and earpiece were not.

"Your identity isn't important to me, if that's what you're worried about. Finding my partner is. I need to find her." the man said as he rushed over to help Oliver stand. A raised hand stopped him. "I got it." Oliver replied as he found his equilibrium.

"You may not want to know, but it's odd that the person who took us…. didn't. Do you know what happened or where we are?" Oliver asked as he made his way closer to the door.

"We were drugged. It must have been released through the explosive device that was thrown at us in the alley. Scully and I are working a serial killer case. We found a possible link between the killer and the use of the drug, 2SHY, to subdue victims. We trailed a dealer to the alley. We weren't expecting the Arrow to show up."

"The Arrow wasn't expecting you either." Oliver replied with a smirk.

We both got to work on trying to get the door open. We pummeled the door using our bodies, hands, even our feet. It was just too thick. Exhaustion and frustration begun to set in. Oliver's fingers twitched for his bow.

"My partners will be able to locate us through the tracker in my boot." Oliver said as he dropped his hands to his side. "They'll be here soon."

"What's your name, Agent….?" Oliver asked.

"Mulder." The agent replied abruptly. "Just, Mulder."

Turning away from Oliver, Mulder walked to the opposite corner of the dingy room. He slowly slid down the wall to rest by a small crumpled jacket. He lifted it towards his face as his eyes slowly shut. He quietly said, "They have Scully. I don't know what they're doing to her or how much time she has."

"My team is good, the best even. They'll find us. All of us." Oliver said attempting to reassure him.

Mulder continued to hold the fabric of Scully's jacket in a vice like grip. "If they've hurt her…..." His voice trailing off.

"You two are….close." Oliver asks hesitantly.

"You can say that." Mulder replied.

After a moment, he looked directly at Oliver and asked, "Have you ever had someone believe in you so much that it made you want to be a better man?…..Who knew you weren't damaged beyond repair, beyond hope? We've been through so much darkness and she's always been my friend, my beacon, my touchstone."

Oliver swallowed his emotions, because he could honestly answer those questions with a resounding, yes.

Yes, he did.

Mulder looked up from her jacket and with a grimace and a laugh said, "apparently…a side effect of this drug is to tell a complete stranger, your deepest feelings."

Before Oliver could respond, gunshots rang out. The sound of people running and shouts of chaos became louder and louder.