Officer Quentin Lance hated missing person's cases. He always had, even before he lost Sara when the Queen's Gambit went down, but now he disliked them even more. The pain of not having a body to bury... not having any closure...not knowing what had happened... could destroy anyone. Who was he kidding...it had destroyed him.

He looked at the young blonde sitting on the couch, clutching a tissue; a shock blanket draped around her shoulders, and felt sympathy well up for her as he looked over the scene again.

Normally Quentin wouldn't be too worried yet. Teenagers nicked off all the time, but this was no ordinary case of a missing teenager. For one, the kid in question's older sister was in league with the Green Arrow.

Quentin had been surprised when the phone he used to contact the archer started ringing that evening, but he had wasted no time answering it. The arrow usually didn't contact him unless it was an emergency, and Quentin didn't want to face another Glades situation.

"Officer Lance," the archer had begun, "There's been a kidnapping. Felicity Smoak's younger brother is missing...I need you to get there as soon as possible."

Quentin had rushed out of his apartment and driven, sirens blaring, to the address he had been given by the vigilante. The archer was already there when Quentin arrived, holding Felicity in a tight hug, rubbing her back reassuringly, although Quentin had caught his eye. They both knew that, judging from the amount of blood on the ground, the kid wouldn't be in a great condition...if he was even still alive.

The blood was the other difference from most other cases of teenagers going missing. Most teens didn't go missing from a scene where there had obviously been some sort of struggle and a fight. Quentin and the Arrow had followed the blood trail through the apartment into Felicity's bedroom, and to the window connecting to the fire escape, which was open.

"Have you pissed anyone off lately that would do something like this...target an innocent kid?" Quentin asked the Arrow, who shook his head. Even though he couldn't see the vigilante's features, Quentin could see that the archer was being affected by the kidnapping. He put a reassuring hand on the other man's shoulder.

"We'll do all we can. I know we've already called 911, but I'll get myself put on the case. Between the two of us, we'll get him back."

"Will we?" the vigilante said in a defeated, though hushed tone, "You know just as well as I do the chances of getting him back alive. He doesn't deserve this. He knows nothing...he had no involvement in this...he's not even from Starling City."

Quentin could hear the frustration in the vigilante's voice, "Have you met him before?" he asked, "outside of the uniform?"

"Yes...a few times, since he came to the city," The vigilante told him, "but never like this."

Quentin knew what the masked man was saying. The kid...Stiles... had met the archer's daytime persona, whoever that might be, but hadn't met the masked one who roamed the city and threatened those who had wronged it. Quentin let out a sigh as he felt his concern for the teenager increase. It sounded like he really did know nothing about the vigilante. Quentin only prayed that whoever it was that had taken the kid wasn't looking for information about the vigilante. No-matter what torture he endured, Stiles would be able to answer any questions...which could lead to the kidnappers becoming angry and frustrated and...and more bad things happening to the kid.

"Go, start looking...I'll do what I can here."

"Look after Felicity," the man in the hood requested, before he was gone, disappearing out the window into the night as if he was never there. Quentin walked back to the living room and put a hand on Felicity's shoulder.

"We'll find him...between your masked friend and Starling City Police Department we'll turn this town upside down until we find him."

Felicity looked up at him, her eyes shining with tears, "I know you'll find him...between you and the vigilante, I know Stiles is going to get found...but I'm scared that it's not going to be until it's too late. I can't lose my baby brother."

Quentin sighed, knowing that Felicity was within her rights to be scared. She knew too much about Starling City's underbelly to be comforted by him. The only thing that was going to make her feel better was seeing her brother again, life and relatively uninjured.

With every minute that passed, however, Quentin doubted more and more that it would ever happen.

TW/A

Felicity stared blankly at the screen of her laptop, her gaze unfocused and distant. She was blind to all around her, and Oliver was willing to bet that she didn't even know that he and Diggle were watching her.

Diggle had been watching over Felicity ever since she stumbled down the stairs to the underground lair of the hood. Oliver had still been out combing the city for clues when she had arrived in the early hours of the morning, once the police had finished collecting evidence from her apartment.

Felicity's phone sat on the desk beside her, plugged in to a spare power point so that it would stay charged up. Oliver instinctively knew she was keeping it with her just in case Lance found Stiles and called her to tell her that her brother was okay, but so far the phone was silent.

"Has she even moved since she got here?" Oliver asked, his voice thick with concern.

Diggle shook his head, "No...she's got the computer scanning the city cell towers for any sign of tracking Stiles' phone. It hasn't been working because his phones turned off, and she can't turn it on remotely...whoever took Stiles probably took the battery out, or they smashed the phone or something, but just in case it goes back on the gird, we'll know about it."

Oliver nodded, "Has she spoken to her step dad?"

"Yes," Diggle commented, "she rang him not long after she got here, confirming what time he was arriving in the city. Officer Lance is going to pick him up from the airport at eight o'clock...it was the first flight that he could get on from Sacramento."

"I wonder how he's doing?" Oliver mused quietly.

"Not too well I imagine. From what I overheard from when he called earlier he's distraught. He's a Sherriff I guess...he knows the odds aren't in the kid's favour." Diggle sighed, rubbing a weary hand over his eyes, "how did the search go?"

Oliver shook his head, "I couldn't find anything, they didn't leave a trail, and I couldn't find any clues the police missed. Tomorrow night if Stiles hasn't turned up I'm going to ask Roy if he's heard anything...he's got more contacts in the glades than I will ever have. I'm glad that Lance is on the case...he'll keep looking until we find Stiles, despite what he thinks of me."

"Wonder how the kid is doing?" Diggle mused, "Probably scared out of his wits."

Oliver nodded in agreement, before he let out a sigh, "go home, Dig, he said in a soft voice, "get some sleep...it's going to be a long day...I'll stay with Felicity.

"You sure?" Diggle asked. Oliver nodded in replay, and Diggle gathered his jacket and left the basement. Felicity stirred at the movement.

"It's okay, Felicity, Diggle's just going to get some rest so he's wide awake tomorrow," Oliver reassured, and Felicity relaxed in her seat.

"If it was a ransom they would have called by now, wouldn't they?" she said, and Oliver could tell from the catch in Felicity's voice that she had been crying.

"Not always," Oliver said, "it's late, they might be waiting for the morning."

"Obviously they've never had a member of their family go missing. This not knowing...this waiting...it's killing me, Oliver." She looked over her shoulder at him, and Oliver was at her side in a moment, crouching down in front of her and pulling her into a tight hug. Felicity didn't hesitate before she reciprocated the hug, clinging onto Oliver's arms she lowered her head to his leather clad shoulder as she lost control and began sobbing. Oliver rubbed her back reassuringly.

"We're going to do everything we can, Felicity. I promise, we won't stop until we find him."

"I'm scared, Oliver," Felicity admitted, "What if something happens to him. He's the last piece of my mom I've got left...I can't lose him. Stiles is my baby brother, I have to look after him."

"I know, Felicity," Oliver nodded, "I can't think of what it would be like if it was Thea that was missing."

"You need to find him, Oliver...I don't know what I'm going to do. I know I haven't spent time with Stiles in ages, and we haven't lived together in six years, but we email all the time, and I call him a lot, especially after I've had a bad day. He doesn't deserve this. Oliver, if he got taken because somebody figured out the connection between the vigilante and me...he's dead. My little brother will be dead, and it'll be because of me."

"No...it'll be because of me," Oliver corrected, "I should have protected you more...and Stiles as well, but I promise you, I will do that I can to get him back for you...and I understand if you don't want to be involved in this anymore. I should never have got you involved in the first place."

"No," Felicity shook her head, her voice strengthening with resolve, "I couldn't do that. Not to the people of Starling City. No offence, but you need all the help you can get at the moment. Stiles...Stiles would have supported what we do here...he's a bit crazy about superheroes...he always has been. If I stopped helping you protect the people of Starling city because of him Stiles would be so pissed."

"I don't think I've ever heard you swear before.' Oliver smirked, and Felicity quirked an eyebrow.

"Trust me...you didn't know me in my college days...or when I'm alone in the mainframe room at work."

A sudden noise from Felicity's computer made both Oliver and Felicity jump, and Felicity whirled around, spinning her chair so fast Oliver had to quickly get his head out of the way.

"Somebody switched Stiles' phone on," she exclaimed, tapping rapidly on the keys, "I'm starting to trace where it is."

Oliver got to his feet and leaned over Felicity's shoulder, glancing at the map.

"Tell me when you get a location," he told her, before he grabbed his bow and hurried out. Felicity bounced nervously in her seat, her hands clasped to her mouth.

"Come on...come on," she begged as the computers worked to find the exact location of Stiles'' phone.

A message popped up on her screen, and her jaw dropped. Stiles' phone was making a call. Felicity looked at the number. It wasn't hers, or Oliver's, or Diggle's...or even Quentin Lance's number. It didn't look like Scott's number, and it certainly wasn't John's number. Felicity didn't recognise the number. It was another mobile phone, but that was all she could tell. She pulled up another screen and quickly tapped in the new number into her laptop, hoping she could find out where it came from.

"Talk to me Felicity," Oliver's voice came through her ear piece, and Felicity jumped, startled.

"The phone...it's making a call. I'm seeing if I can piggyback into the connection and find whoever it is Stiles...or whoever has his phone is calling. Stiles' phone...it's in the glades...in the...you know, earthquake area."

Oliver swore, and Felicity could hear Oliver's motorbike roaring as he accelerated. Her computer beeped, and Felicity looked at the screen displaying a map of the glades, a red flashing light showing where Stiles' phone was. She rattled the address off to Oliver, before she broke off; biting her lip in frustration when the call between Stiles' phone and the other phone ended, and Stiles' phone abruptly got turned off. Felicity swallowed, hoping that whoever was using Stiles' phone would make another call.

"I'm five minutes out from there, Felicity...tell me if it moves."

"I can't tell anymore...whoever it was switched the phone back off after the call had finished."

"How long was the call for?" Oliver asked.

"Less than a minute...I'm looking into the number that was called...it might give us a clue as to where Stiles has been held."

"Alright...I'm almost there," Oliver told Felicity. Felicity held her breath, perched on the edge of the seat as she tapped on her computer keyboard, so that Oliver's location was displayed on the same screen as the location as Stiles' phone. She watched with bated breath, anxiety growing within her, as the green light, drew closer to the spot the red flashing light had been.

TW/A

Oliver carefully inched along the alleyway, stepping over rubble cautiously, his senses on high alert for any threat.

"Nearly there, Oliver, just a few more feet," Felicity told him, and Oliver exhaled, stepping over what had once been a chunk of brick wall.

"Felicity," he said in a soft voice.

"No, Oliver, it's there...you're standing right in front of it...the subway doesn't go right underneath there, and it's in the middle of a alleyway, so it's not like it's on a different level." Felicity snapped at him.

"Felicity...I've got it. They...they've smashed it to pieces, but I've got it."

"And...and Stiles...the kidnappers...anyone?" Felicity asked desperately

"Felicity...there's nothing here," Oliver told her regretfully as he slid the remains of Stiles' phone into a plastic evidence bag. The phone's battery was a few feet away from the phone, and Oliver put it in a separate bag for fingerprint analysis.

"Are you sure...they could be hiding," Felicity pleaded, although she knew Oliver would have checked the surroundings thoroughly for any sign of Stiles or whoever it was that had taken him, and would check everything again before he called Lance and told him the new information.

"Felicity...I'm sorry...they're gone. "

"Is there any security cameras or anything we could run facial recognition off?"

"Felicity," Oliver told her in a gentle voice, "It's in one of the most badly damaged areas of the Glades. There aren't any cameras. There's nothing left to watch."

"Except for Kidnappers making phone calls off their victim's phone," Felicity pouted.

"I'm going to have a look around, you try and focus on tracking down whoever it was that they were calling. Whoever it was has to be involved. Do you want me to call Diggle in?"

"No...no, I'll be okay," Felicity admitted, and Oliver could hear the newfound resolve in Felicity's voice. Both he and Felicity recognized how important Diggle's family was to him, neither of them wanted to pull him away from that any more than they did already.

"You tell me if you find anything, alright?" Oliver ordered as he began to look around more carefully, keeping an eye out for any people that might see him.

Felicity sighed, "you too," she told Oliver, before they commenced radio silence, both absorbed in their tasks. Felicity let out a victorious whoop when her computer let out a beep, and her screen was flooded with information. She scanned the screen quickly, and her mouth dropped.

'What is it, what did you find?" Oliver asked, "Felicity...what is it?"

"Oh God," Felicity croaked.

"Felicity...tell me what you've found."

"The phone that they called...it was just a pre paid phone from a convenience store...no details connected to it or anything."

"Damn," Oliver swore in frustration at the dead end.

"No...It gets worse, Oliver," Felicity told him, shaking her head, her gaze fixed on the screen, "The phone...it was sold from a newsagency in Beacon Hills...eight months ago...someone from my home town was involved in the kidnapping."