Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.


"I have no idea what are you talking about, Oliver because as far as I know, Roy Harper was killed in a prison riot…"

"Save it." Oliver interrupted Waller. "If the SCPD knew that Roy was alive, the law enforcement would be all over me by now and you're one of the few people I know who have that kind of pull. So cut the crap and tell me what the hell is going on and what kind of mess is Roy flying in."

Waller smirked. "Well, since you asked so nicely…"


"Where's John?" Oliver asked as Felicity, Thea and Laurel entered.

"Someone needs to look after the city." Laurel explained as Oliver nodded.

Oliver, Felicity, Thea and Laurel were at the briefing room, waiting until Waller entered and Thea shot up from the desk. "Tell me where is Roy or I swear I'm gonna…"

"Thea, easy." Oliver held her arm as Waller smirked.

"I see your sister takes after you, Oliver." She pressed the remote as on the screen showed Roy's apartment in Hub City. "Last month, your friend Roy Harper, or should I say, Jason Anderson, was approached by Jade Nguyen. She's one of the most wanted in A.R.G.U.S. and in at least four countries for assassination, extortion, counter-espionage, you name it." She showed them a surveillance footage.

"What did she want with Roy?" Thea asked.

"I cannot tell you that for certain but what I do know is that your friend was kind of in desperate situation, bills for maintenance, typical lonely life in a rundown apartment." Waller summed up.

"Why didn't he just call us?" Felicity asked. "We could have…"

"I cannot answer that question either but this..." Waller showed another photo. "Was taken last week in Russia."

On the screen was a surveillance footage of a small group of men with guns bursting in with Roy among the assailants.

"Oh, my God…" Laurel whispered.

"What the hell is he doing?" Oliver demanded.

"They were there after a diplomat, who we suspect is… well, was linked to drug and human trafficking and other dirty business, a man named Valentin Lesovsky. A smuggler and weapons dealer, who got his hands an experimental EMP device that they might be after." Waller explained. "Blind a soldier for a split second in the battle, he dies. Blind an entire city for just one hour…"

"Casualties could be catastrophic." Oliver nodded.

"These people attacked and killed six of FSB agents and the Russians want blood. Fortunately, I was able to get in touch with an old friend of yours and convince him to keep the whole thing on the lid. For now." Waller explained.

"Anatoly." Oliver realized as she nodded.

"Who?" Thea asked.

"An old Russian friend of Oliver's with ties to Bratva." Felicity explained. "John told me about him, when we went to Russia two years ago to save Lyla and Deadshot."

"Roy would never go with this." Thea protested.

"Unless they have some kind of leverage on him." Oliver realized. "Where is he now?"

Waller sighed. "As far as we know, they haven't left Moscow."

"So, what are we waiting for?" Thea got up from the desk.

"I never said that you could go after him or that you could use our resources." Waller stopped Thea, who glowered. "A.R.G.U.S. will contain the situation, quick, clean and precise." She said as the final sentence made it obvious how would she handle it.

"It's Roy we're talking about! I won't abandon him if he's in trouble!" Thea snapped and the phrase 'if looks could kill' came to mind as she glared at Waller.

"You will let us get to Roy. Unless you want the president to find out what really happened in Hong Kong and who covered up the mess." Oliver sneered as Waller glowered.


Later, Moscow

"Are you sure Diggle can handle it on his own?" Oliver asked as he, Thea and Laurel left the airport.

"Ollie, we got by without you for two months and before that, you and Diggle and Felicity were on your own for almost two years, I'm sure he can get by for a few weeks at least." Laurel said optimistically. "You said you have a friend here in Russia?"

"He didn't reach out when I contacted him." Oliver said before they saw Anatoly approach them with two of his bodyguards.

"Oliver Queen." Anatoly smiled, stretching his arms as Oliver stretched his arms, smiling back as well.

"Anatoly…"

Suddenly, Anatoly slugged him in the face as Oliver held his jaw and Laurel and Thea gapped. "You never should have come back to Russia."

"Anatoly…" Oliver scowled, not understanding.

"Alexi Leonov. You remember him, yes? He was one of your brothers…" Anatoly said.

"I can explain…"

"You asked favor of him. He asked favor in return and you pull gun on him instead?" Anatoly glared.

"These were… complicated times." Oliver said. "If you knew, you would understand."

"Then uncomplicate it." Anatoly sneered. "Give me a good reason I should welcome you back with open arms as a brother."

"Slade Wilson." Oliver said simply as Anatoly gapped. "Remember him? He almost killed you, me and Sara on Lian Yu and he killed my mother and almost burned my city to the ground. When I found out he was alive, I was… very desperate and there were almost no lines I would not cross to take him down once and for all. So, the thing with Leonov was… at best, unfortunate."

"Bozhe moi…" Anatoly whispered. "Why didn't you tell me that this was because of that monster?"

"What good would it have done?" Oliver reasoned as he sighed. "Anatoly, all I can say is I'm sorry for what happened but I need your help. My friend might be in trouble. Very big trouble."

Anatoly wiped his face. "If you had told me, maybe this would be easier but… I won't lie, my friend, not everyone in Bratva is happy to see you back. I'll have some explaining to do. I can't make any guarantees but I'll see what I can do. I'll let you know."

"Thank you." Oliver said, shaking his hand with Anatoly. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Please, just help us find Roy." Thea begged as Anatoly turned to her, as if he had noticed her just now as he smiled.

"Oh, you must be Thea. Oliver's little sister. He told me a lot about you."

"And Ollie told me that you two are good friends or at least were… please, if you two really were that close, for the sake of that friendship, help us." Thea begged.

Anatoly nodded. "I'll see what can be done. You're talking about that Roy Harper boy, right? The one, who said he was the Arrow?" Oliver nodded. "When I found out, an… acquaintance of mine managed to grease some palms and fool the identification process in the wanted list for a while until I got to the bottom of this. But I must warn you, your friend's time is running short."

"How much time do we have?" Thea asked.

"Days. A week max." Anatoly admitted.


Later, hotel

"So, what was that about back at the airport?" Laurel asked as they accommodated themselves in a hotel room. "Why did he punch you?"

Oliver sighed. "Last year I used a Bratva contact when I was tracking Slade. He asked me for something in exchange…"

"And you said 'no'." Laurel realized as he nodded.

"And Slade killed him." Oliver said grimly as Thea gapped.

"Oh. I wonder what did Roy get himself into." Thea muttered.

Then, Oliver's phone rang. "Anatoly, tell me you have something."


Later

Oliver, Thea and Laurel entered a nightclub with Anatoly as they approached a young man with short blonde hair at a table as he smiled at him and shook hand. "Leonid."

"Anatoly." The man smiled. "This is the legendary Kapiushon?"

"Yes." Oliver nodded as he shook his hand with the man and Oliver grinned. "Oh, you have a strong grip."

"I take after my father. You met him." The man smiled as Oliver scowled.

"Oliver, this is…" Anatoly stopped himself as Oliver turned to him warily. "Leonid Kovar. Konstantin's son."

"Kovar?" Oliver tensed.

"Don't worry, I'm not my father, Mr. Queen. He was a giant mudak." Leonid said. ("Asshole" in Russian) "As you Americans might say, I hated his guts." Oliver nodded in understanding. "You did me a great favor. Just tell me, was it painful, when he died?"

Oliver sighed. "The first time I pounded him to a pulp and thought I stabbed him in the heart but I guess I missed. The second time I snapped his neck and made sure he was dead."

Leonid smirked as he rolled up his sleeve, showing burns on his arms. "When I was younger, whenever I did a job wrong, whenever I came too late with my men, or did not acquire enough drugs or weapons or if I could not… confiscate enough goods, my father would burn my arm as a reminded that failure cannot be tolerated. That I need to be more fierce, more ruthless. "With ruthlessness comes respect", he used to say. And where did that get him?" He smirked.

"Leonid knows of everything that comes inside and outside the city." Anatoly explained.

"Where's Roy Harper?" Oliver demanded.

"Oh, the Strelka. The Arrow." Leonid laughed. "You know, a clever man would figure out that Mr. Harper is too small to be Kapiushon, no offense to him. You're a legend in this city, Mr. Queen."

"Where is he?" Thea demanded, running out of patience as she slammed the table.

"Thea, easy." Oliver tried to soothe her as he held her arm.

"The "where", I don't know. But "with who", I do know." Leonid said.

"With Jade Nguyen, we've heard." Oliver interrupted him.

"But you don't know who she is with." Leonid said. "She's working with a group of dangerous people. They call themselves the Longbow Hunters."

Oliver and Anatoly gapped. "I thought those were a myth." Anatoly said.

"Who are the Longbow Hunters?" Thea scowled.

"Malcolm never mentioned them?" Oliver asked as she shook her head. "A small group of assassins that even the League is afraid of. Or at least were, from what I've heard."

"I thought they died sixty years ago." Anatoly said, confused.

"Unless they have some successors." Oliver realized.

"Now, what I do know is that your friend helped them stole an experimental EMP. For what, I don't. But I can tell you this for sure. They're planning something big. Soon. And conveniently, a Markovian duke is visiting an opera Turandot in this city. So, if the Longbow Hunters would want to grab a big score, they have big chances there."


"Thea, don't do anything brash or stupid." Oliver warned as he and Anatoly in suits entered the theatre and Thea and Laurel were in dresses. Laurel was among the viewers, looking for anything unusual…

"I'll try to get into the security room, get the eyes and ears for you." Anatoly said as he bribed one of the guards to let him in as he was at the monitors. "If I see your friend or Jade, I'll let you know."


Oliver was at the lighting upstairs as Thea was scouring the backstage.


From the opposite side, Roy in black hood was notching an arrow with his bow…


Oliver saw a man with rifle on the lighting as Oliver jumped down from above, tackling him down as they both struggled, holding the weapon as they got up and Oliver just now noticed that the man was taller and more muscular than him. The man knocked Oliver down, choking him with the rifle, pinning it to his throat as Oliver noticed a contact lens in his eye with electronics… someone was keeping an eye on him, literally…

Oliver threw the rifle away as he fought the man, even though he was stronger and taller than Oliver. He threw Oliver off the platform but Oliver caught a rope and swung around, kicking the assassin off the platform down to his death.


Anatoly was looking at the CCTV before he noticed that in the lighting booth were dead workers and one man with a rifle…

"Thea, the lighting booth!"


Roy was waiting as the singer on stage was singing the high tune, that would prompt him to shoot…


Thea burst into the lighting booth, tackling the assassin and knocking away his rifle.


Oliver noticed Roy on the opposite balcony as he was thinking about what to do. Stop Roy from assassinating the duke, or saving Thea? He had one shot… In the end, Oliver hit the duke in the shoulder, causing for the bodyguards to evacuate him.


Thea was trading punches with the assassin but he was taller and bigger than her. Anatoly then rushed in, hitting the assassin in the head with fire extinguisher, knocking him out.

Thea then looked at the balcony and on instinct, as she saw he was about to shoot, she rushed to the lighting controls, blinding Roy as he let go of the bowstring, hitting the balcony seat as the bodyguards were evacuating the duke and he was forced to run.

"Roy, what are you doing?!" Thea exclaimed.


Anatoly, Oliver, Laurel and Thea met outside. "Is the duke alright?" Oliver asked.

"He's grazed but he'll be alright." Anatoly assured him as they turned to the ambulance.

"What about Roy?" Thea asked.

"We'll find him, Thea." Oliver promised.

But then, suddenly, the ambulance didn't even get across a block and Oliver, Laurel, Thea and Anatoly saw it go up in flames, blowing up in smithereens. "Oh, my God…"


Elsewhere

"You messed up, Harper." The man at the table told Roy, who glowered.

"I couldn't do the job because Oliver Queen was there." Roy sneered. "And you didn't tell me you were bringing more men. I thought you would give me a chance."

"Do you know how did they even find out about you? Did you reach out?" The man demanded as Roy shook his head.

"In case you have forgotten, we were all over the news." Roy snapped. "You can't blame me for Oliver trying to find me."

The man sighed. "Fine. You'll get off this time, Harper. But don't forget what happens to your friend or your… little bird if you disobey me."

"I haven't forgotten." Roy sneered. "Now, can I see Jade?"

"You had your chance today, Harper." The man said coldly as Roy glowered, leaving the room. "Someone talked." The man turned to his lackey.

"If I had to bet, it was Kovar's son." A lackey suggested.

"Send the jackals after him."


Leonid was pinned to the table as the thugs held him by his arms. "I didn't tell them anything, I swear I didn't!"

"Lying won't do you help." A man with an Australian accent said as he cut into his flesh. "What did you tell Oliver Queen?"

"Nothing. I said nothing." Leonid insisted.

"Well, in that case you're of no use to me." The man sneered as he slit Leonid's throat. "Well, Oliver Queen. Small world, isn't it?" He smirked. "Well, you shall taste my blade, like you tasted father's."


Author's Note:

So, what do you guys think? Is it good? Is it bad? Should I continue?

Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this.