As it turns out, vigilantism on a single dad's schedule is pretty difficult. Oliver has to be around to put Conner to bed at night and be there to wake him for school in the morning, slipping out of the house only in the hours between. He's thankful that the boy isn't plagued by the nightmares that children his age are prone to, because if he wandered into Oliver's room in search of his father, he probably wouldn't find him. It doesn't help matters when his mother hires a bodyguard, a war veteran named John Diggle, after he and Tommy are lifted off the streets by armed kidnappers. Diggle's presence makes it even harder to get away unnoticed. Progress on the List is agonizingly slow going.

Adam Hunt is the first to fall. Oliver dispatches his men with ease, reveling in the way his blood sings in his veins. For the first time since he's been home, he truly feels in his element. Forty million dollars is returned to its rightful owners, even though he has to humiliate Detective Lance to get away with it. He reminds himself that the mission comes first and that he's going to be doing good, but it doesn't assuage the guilt he feels. Oliver bears the weight of Lance's harsh accusations and hopes that it's good enough. It's the closest thing to an apology he can manage.

Next comes Martin Somers, a crook with ties to the Chinese Triad. Somers, too, fails to heed his warnings—believes himself above the Vigilante's threats. Then he does the unthinkable, and goes after Laurel.

Oliver hadn't planned to find himself at Laurel's doorstep, a gallon of mint chip held in one arm and his son in the other. But after Moira and Walter tried to spring the company on him and Thea chewed him after seeing his scars, he needed to spend some time away from the house. Connor had been more than happy to accompany him with the promise of ice cream.

Their conversation is jilted and awkward at first, blame and too much time apart making their once easy comradery rough around the edges. Having Connor there helps, his presence keeping Laurel from sharing the less savory thoughts potentially on her mind. Things do settle down, though, the words starting to flow with ease by the time Oliver explains his conflict with Moira about the company. As always, Laurel has good advice—she's well versed in the world of disapproving parents.

Connor has fallen asleep in Oliver's lap, a half-eaten bowl of ice cream hanging precariously in his grip, when Oliver hears it. Footsteps on the fire escape. He takes the bowl and scoops Connor up in one arm, grabbing a kitchen knife that lay nearby with his free hand. He urges Laurel to follow when the window shatters, a gunman making his way into the apartment, but the door is kicked in when they reach it and they're forced to retreat further into the house.

Oliver stands between Chin Nao Wei and Laurel, who had taken the crying Connor from him somewhere along the way, and sees the recognition flicker in her eyes. It doesn't matter that he's got nicer clothes and a haircut, he's still Oliver Queen. He's still spent too much time in her presence, foiled too many of her plans, for her to not recognize him.

"I thought the bioweapon killed you in Hong Kong," she says in Mandarin instead of English. Small mercies. "I'm glad it didn't. Now I have the chance to pay you back for your meddling."

Diggle choses that moment to arrive, taking out the gunmen and launching himself at China. He's outmatched in that fight, and Oliver desperately searches for the right angle at which to launch his knife. He finally finds it, right as China is raising her own to deliver a killing blow. The blade is knocked from her hand, and she flees out the shattered window right before the police arrive. Which unfortunately leads to another awkward confrontation with the Detective. Oliver doesn't rise to the man's baiting, just takes his son from Laurel and goes. Later Diggle will thank him for the knife, and he'll tell some weak lie that only raises the man's suspicions, but when Connor finally falls asleep, he sneaks out of the house to deal with Somers all the same.

Slade Wilson doesn't hate his job, not really. It pays well and he's good at it, so he can't really complain about that. What he hates is the traveling that comes along with it. This is the third time in as many years that the family has been forced to relocate in the name of Slade's employment. Rose doesn't mind—she's a social butterfly that could probably make friends with rocks should the situation call for it—and Grant is already out of school, but Joe struggled when it came to socialization. He considered it fortunate that it looked like they would be in Starling for a while, as his son had warmed up to the Queen boy startlingly fast.

He'd been begging to have the kid over since he discovered that his father had met Connor's at the open house. It wasn't that Slade didn't want to play host, but having another child in the home would mean a night indoors, and he rarely got a night off. Things had been calm here lately, though, so maybe he could get away with asking his employer for some time away…

His introspection is shattered when he hears sirens wailing, sees the flashing red and blue of police lights as they draw down toward the docks. He secures the orange and black mask over his face and slips into the shadows to see what the commotion is all about.

It's coming from Somers side of the docks. It's not the territory he usually guards, or cares about for that matter, but having the police sniffing around could throw a wrench in his employer's plans. From his place atop a stack of shipping containers, he watches two figures flee. White-haired woman and a man in a dark hood. The police follow not far behind, the woman successfully slipping away, but the man is caught by one of the pursuing officers. Instead of killing the man like any decent, law-breaking criminal might, the hooded figure knocks the weapon from the officer's hands and uses the surprise as cover to flee, leaving the officer alone in the maze of containers.

Slade had heard rumors of a mysterious vigilante that had shown up in the recent weeks. Supposedly, the man had saved Oliver Queen and his friend from a kidnapping attempt and terrorized Adam Hunt, as well as busting a number of small criminals in between. Rumor was, he was dangerous, one hell of a good shot, and unafraid to kill. To Slade, he was the reason he'd been able to remain in Starling after his last job was complete. The vigilante made people with money scared, and they more than happy to line Slade's pocket in return for keeping them and their valuables safe from things that scared them. It was a pleasant surprise to finally set eyes on the man after weeks of nothing but rumors. He'd have to report the sighting to his superiors, but from the looks of things, the Hood was uninterested in their particular wrongdoings.

He hoped it wouldn't jeopardize his chance for a weekend off.