Matt walked into his apartment and collapsed on the couch. The Russians had been completely eradicated, but Fisk had still managed to gain the upper hand. He'd had police officers killed and set Matt up to take the fall. He kicked his table in frustration and leaned back, his head resting on the couch.

Then there was Felicity. He'd been tracking the Russians for 2 days to avoid thinking about her. About the horrible way their last conversation had ended. Tears rolled down his face. He'd almost died in the crumbling ruin of the building where the confrontation had taken place. A part of him hadn't cared. Hadn't wanted to survive to see the moment when he'd have to potentially face a world without Felicity.

He grabbed his cellphone. He had to know. Taking a deep breath, he pressed the message playback.

"Matty, it's Felicity. I'm really sorry about that last conversation. It must have freaked you out. I'm fine, call me back when you get this message."

Matt closed his eyes, a weight lifted off his chest. His breath came in short shallow gasps. Felicity was alive. The next message played. It was from Foggy.

"Dude, LISS IS OKAY!" Karen and I are drinking to celebrate, though we were already drinking to cope. Where are you?"

The next message played, it was also from Foggy and, based on his obvious lack of sobriety, from much later in the night. "Maaaaaaatt…where are you? 'm drunk an' thinking of callin' Marci. Karen's not as good at talking me out of it as you. Dude, Liss, she's alive man and I'm alive and Karen too and so's Marci."

The next message was from the previous morning.

"Matt, it's Felicity. Foggy says he's been to your apartment and you weren't there and that you haven't been answering your phone. I've tried calling you, but you don't answer me either. Are you mad at me? Please, call I'm worried about you. At least…call Fog, he's ready to tear his hair out and that would be a damn shame."

There were 2 more messages, one from Karen and the other from Foggy, both asking him where he was and to call them. Matt hung his head. It hadn't been his intention to worry his friends. He tried calling Felicity, but she didn't answer. Taking a shower and getting dressed, he made his way to the office, bracing himself to face Karen and Foggy.

Felicity was staring blankly at the screens when Oliver walked into the lair. He didn't think much of it; it wasn't unusual for her to get lost in her work. Peeling off his shirt, he made his way over to the salmon ladder. Going up two rungs, he paused and looked over his shoulder. Felicity was ignoring him, and appeared to be pulling security footage from New York. Oliver frowned. What was she up to?

Roy came into the lair and waved at her. She didn't respond. He raised an eyebrow and looked up at Oliver. "I don't know" he mouthed.

"BARBIE." Roy shouted. Felicity jumped about a foot in the air.

"ROY." She yelped, then she glanced up and did a double take when she caught sight of Oliver. "Oli- when did you get here and start on the sweaty grunting routine?" She quickly closed the windows she was working on. Roy snorted.

"Was that porn?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Felicity muttered. Just then Laurel rushed in.

"Did you guys hear?" She was waving a newspaper.

"Yes, I think those pieces of paper are how old people get news." Roy smirked. Laurel rolled her eyes.

"This story got buried because of the Slade mess, but repairing the glades isn't interesting enough to warrant the front page, so they went searching for juicier stories." She cleared her throat. "The Devil of Hell's Kitchen." She paused, looking around at the others. Roy appeared disinterested, but Felicity was rapt with attention. Digg, who'd just walked in, raised an eyebrow. "For many months, there have been whispers of a man in a black mask patrolling the streets of Hell's Kitchen. The citizens began viewing him as a guardian angel, a hero for the down trod and innocent. Last night the monster behind the myth surfaced and showed his true colors when he murdered 3 of New York's finest and brought down a building."

"Wait, one man brought down a building?" Roy asked.

"The Avengers live in New York, why don't they get involved?" Digg asked. Oliver dropped down from the salmon ladder and looked over Laurel's shoulder. There was a picture of a man dressed completely in black with a mask which covered half of his head, including his eyes.

"How does he even see?" he wondered aloud. Felicity paled.

"You said Hell's Kitchen…right?" she said, softly. Walking over she took the newspaper, staring at the picture.

"Yeah." Laurel said. "This guy's a real psycho."

"You thought the Arrow was a psycho before you knew it was Oliver." Felicity muttered, sitting back in her chair, transfixed by the headline.

"Excuse me?" Laurel said. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just that we don't know the whole story." Felicity said, looking up from the paper. "The press destroyed Oliver when he started, we shouldn't judge the man in black based on some bad press."

"He killed 3 cops." Laurel growled.

"I don't believe that." Felicity stood. "I can't believe that." She added, more quietly.

Laurel looked outraged. Oliver frowned. "Felicity." He said, "do you know something about this guy?"

Felicity was ignoring them. Grabbing her cell phone she called someone.

"Hey Fog it's Lis. Yes….no, no I haven't heard from him…hey I was wondering about this Devil of Hell's Kitchen guy….oh." Her face fell. "Uh huh….Karen's your assistant right?...Maybe you should listen to her, assistants tend to be smarter than their bosses." She shot Oliver a meaningful look. "Are you at the office?...Is Matt there?...He's with a client…okay." There was another look of sadness before her expression changed to one of deviousness. Oliver had never seen this side of her before. "Mrs. Cardenas? So I take it those Punjabi lessons are coming in handy then." She grinned. "All I'm saying is Matt's Spanish is more conducive to the population you're serving….Up and coming language, got it. I'll talk to you soon Fog. And be nice to Karen, assistant solidarity." She paused, then gasped in mock horror. "Franklin

Nelson I hope she poisons your next cup." She hung up. Looking back at the newspaper, she touched the picture of the masked man before seeming to make a decision.

She stood. "Do you guys need me for the next few days?"

"I don't –" Oliver began, but broke off as Felicity grabbed her bag and began turning on what she called 'hacking for dummies', the program she'd set up for the lair in case someone else needed to run coms.

"Digg, I've made some adjustments to the program since last time, but don't worry, it's easier to use now." She handed Laurel back the paper. "I should only be gone…a week."

"A week?" Oliver shouted. "You can't just run off for a week because you've developed a crush on a crazy man in a mask you saw in a newspaper."

Felicity crossed her arms and glared at him.

"A, When did I say that I was going to chase after the man in the mask. B, I'm going to visit some family in New York because they've been worried about me because of super soldier terrorism." She paused. "Why is that a normal sentence?"

"Family?" Oliver crossed his arms.

"My da… uncles. Bruce, Clint and Thor." Felicity faltered slightly at the last of the three names. Oliver knew she was lying.

"Thor?" He asked.

"My family's part Norwegian." Felicity retorted, defiantly.

"And this sudden return to family, who you've never mentioned to any of us, doesn't have anything to do with the Devil of Hell's Kitchen." Oliver noted that she bristled slightly at the word devil.

"I've never mentioned them because I'm way to busy dealing with your family drama to even think about calling mine." Oliver noted that she moved subtly into a fighting stance, she was going on the defensive. "And two of my closest friends, Foggy and Matt, happen to live in Hell's Kitchen, so I'm probably going to go check on them while I'm there."

Oliver was ready to retort when Digg put his hand on his arm and gave him a slight shake of the head.

Roy gave her a hug. "I wish I was coming with." He said. "Bring me back one of those I heart NY t shirts." Then his eyes lit up. "And if you see any of the Avengers, get me an autograph."

Felicity coughed uncomfortably. "I…I um don't think there's any chance of me running into any of them. It's a city of 8 million people…what are the odds?" She gave him a wide smile, Oliver's eyes narrowed. There was definitely something she was holding back.

"Hang out outside of Stark Tower and you're sure to see one." Roy prompted, then he got a sly grin. "I'm sure Oliver's dying to meet Hawkeye."

"Funny." Oliver muttered.

"And Digg's probably got Captain America pajamas" Roy continued.

"I do not." Digg looked offended. Felicity raised an eyebrow. "They don't make them in my size." He admitted.

"And imagine if you got to meet Tony Stark." Roy said. "What with the whole genius thing."

"He's mostly super annoying." Felicity grumbled. "…I've heard." She added quickly. "Any ways, I'm going to go and pack, see you guys soon." She waved and rushed out of the lair.

Oliver waited until the doors closed, then walked over to her computers.

"What are you doing?" Digg asked.

"I want to know everything there is about this Devil of Hell's Kitchen." Oliver growled. "She was hiding something and I think she's closer to this then she's letting on."