EPISODE 7: THE TRAIL OF ROY HARPER
Oliver in his arrow suit is running along the roof tops of Starling City when he sees a group of thugs robbing a pharmacy in the Glades. Oliver hated these problems that got in the way of dealing with the real threats. Oliver still had the Triad to deal with not to mention the possibility of the Russians entering Starling soon. He jumped down and startled the group of thieves.
"Damn it. It's the Arrow." Shouted a thug. He along with the other guys dropped everything and charged the vigilante. Oliver was quick to shoot down the closes thug with an arrow and dodge a punch by another. He hit him across the face with his bow sending him to the ground. He blocked a kick by the next one and punched him multiple times across the face then finally kicked him causing him to fall into another guy. Oliver was now blocking and dodging attacks from to people at once he was able to find a moment to jump in the air and kick both at once. He turned see a thug running away trying to escape. He pulled out an arrow ready to fire when the thug turned a corner and was met with a punch to the face by John Diggle. The thug fell to the ground unconscious. John made his way over to Oliver.
"I had him." Oliver said first.
"I'm sure." Diggle replied looking around to seeing what Oliver did single handedly. "Who are these guys?"
"Just some lowlifes stealing from a pharmacy." Oliver stated. "I was planning on hitting the Triad again but Brickwell's left overs are still around."
"We'll get them eventually." Diggle said. "Want to call it a night?"
"Yeah." Oliver said.
Sin was back in the prison sitting across from her friend Roy Harper. He looked better than she expected. When he first got thrown in jail and she visited he had a new injury every time.
"How's it going?" Roy asked talking into the phone.
"Really well actually." Sin said. "I got a real job now."
"Wow. Really?" Roy said eyes wide.
"Don't act so surprised ass."
"So that's why you haven't been around."
"It's definitely kept me busy. Got me out of that piece of crap apartment in the Glades." Sin said.
"Well I'm glad you're turning your life around. I guess you won't be needing any more Intel to sell then." Roy guessed.
"Actually I was thinking that we could turn your life around to." Sin said.
"What do you mean?" Roy asked.
"Look with Brickwell gone you don't need to stay here suffering for another person's crime anymore."
"Sin we talked about this." Roy started.
"Yeah we did and your excuse was Brickwell was around. Well now he's not, all we need to do is get the evidence on who really did it and you'll be free."
"Sin." Roy said seriously. "I do not want you going after Reed. He's one of Brickwell's top guys." Roy stated.
"No. He was one of Brickwell's top guys. Brickwell is gone and he needs to be in here not you. The only reason you're here is because Brickwell told you to take the fall for Reed."
"What do you plan to do? Hunt down Reed and get him to confess. It was two years ago, what evidence do you plan on finding?" Roy asked not seeing how Sin is attending to pull this off.
"Don't you worry about that. I have some new friends that can help me." Sin put her hand on the glass that was between her and Roy. "You're getting out of here." Sin said with determination.
Oliver is in his hideout with Diggle and both were sparring. Diggle and Oliver were trading punches each trying to get the advantage on the other. Diggle had to admit he was having a hard time keeping up with Oliver. Each of his punches were sharp and quick. Whatever happened in those five years gone made him a living weapon.
Oliver was impressed with Diggle's ability to keep up with his attacks. Of course Oliver wasn't going all out otherwise this little exchange would be over already. Oliver noticed Sin walking into the room and decided to end the match. Diggle through punch the Oliver grabbed and flipped Diggle on to the floor mat. "Good job Diggle." Oliver said helping him up off the ground.
"I know you were holding back. I see you at work every night." Diggle said making his way over to his bottle of water.
"Couple more practice sessions maybe I'll go all out someday."
"You guys done or should I come back later." Sin said looking at the two sweaty fighters before her.
"What news do you have?" Oliver asked putting on a shirt.
"Nothing about the Triad I was wondering actually if I could get your help on a personal matter."
"What is it?" Oliver asked concerned.
"I have a friend in jail for a crime he didn't commit. I was wondering if you could help him out." Sin said to Oliver.
"Who is this friend?" Diggle asked.
"His name is Roy, we go way back." Sin explained.
"And what crime did he not commit but is serving time for?" Oliver asked next.
"Roy use to run with Brickwell's gang. Two years ago he was with one of Brickwell's top guys. A punk named Xavier Reed. The job went wrong and Reed killed a guy. When it looked like Reed was going to take the fall Brickwell told Roy to confess to the crime." Sin finished.
"What is they were doing?" Oliver asked.
"They were trying to steal drugs from a medical truck being shipped into the city." Sin began explaining. Diggle and Oliver looked to each other. "What?" Sin noticing there exchange.
"The other night we stopped a couple of punks from robbing a pharmacy." Oliver said. "What has this Xavier Reed guy been doing lately?"
"Last I heard he was still with Brickwell's crew before you took him down."
"If he was one of Brickwell's top guys there's a chance that he's trying to take his place." Diggle assumed.
"That could be the case." Oliver said. "But bringing this guy down wont free your friend."
"I know but there is a rumor Brickwell had evidence on a lot of his crew in case they ever turned on him. We just need to find where Brickwell keeps it locked up and we can get Roy out."
"Alright then. Sin see what you can dig up on this Reed guy and if you can get a lead on where Brickwell had this blackmail stash located." Oliver headed for the door. "We'll meet back here tonight."
Oliver was at the now open and operational Queen Factory and he was glad to see so many people working. He was looking seeing parts being worked on and crates being moved across the floor. He headed up stairs to meet the man that will be helping him run the place. He walked into the office and saw Walter Steele sitting at the desk going through papers. He was a darker man with no hair. He was wearing glasses writing down notes as he gazed at the many documents on his desk.
"I hope I'm not interrupting." Oliver said making his presence known.
"Oliver! Of course not come in." Walter took his glasses off and got up to shake Oliver's hand.
"How is everything going?"
"Great! You have a good eye when it came to hiring these workers." Walter said impressed.
"I wanted to make sure I got the right people for the job."
"Well you did a good job with that." Walter said going back to his seat. Oliver sat in the chair across from Walter. "So what brings the owner of this factory all the way down here?"
"Just wanted to check on how things were going." Oliver stated.
"Well you don't have to worry things are running smooth."
"That's great to hear. If there's anything you need you just let me know."
"Of course Oliver. If there is anything about the Factory that I feel you should know I won't hesitate to call." Walter assured.
"Then it sounds like I hired the right guy for the job."
Sin was making her way through the Glades which means she had to dress down to blend in with the rest of the residents. She went to usual information gathering places talked with her usual contacts. All except Roy who she knew would not help her since he was hell bent on staying in prison. Sin talked many people but no one knew where Brickwell's blackmail stash was. What she did find out was that Xavier Reed was defiantly trying to take over Brickwell's organization. People have started calling him the Mayor.
Sin was walking down the street with still nothing on where to find the evidence then she was grabbed from behind and dragged into an alley. She struggled but she couldn't get free from whoever was behind her. She looked up to see a guy walking up to her.
"Hey, the Mayor knows you're looking for him and he's not going to make the same mistake of letting you live like Brickwell." He said.
"Screw you!" Sin shouted. She got an arm free and elbowed the guy holding her in the nose then kicked the guy in front of her between the legs. She made a run for it but was tackled to the ground but the thug. Sin fought him off and was able to get up. She to a swing at the man but he caught her small fist with his much larger hand. He then punch Sin in the stomach then hit her in the face sending her to the ground. She started crawling on her knees but the man kicked her in the side bringing to the ground.
"Little bitch." The thug said as he pulled out a knife. He grabbed Sin by the hair and brought the knife to her neck. She could feel the cold metal about to cut across her throat. Suddenly a gunshot goes off hitting the man holding Sin. Sin looks up to see Diggle gun ready and aimed. He see the other guy finally getting up and runs over to him and pistol whips him knocking him out.
John makes his way over to Sin. "Are you alright?" He asked looking at her bruised face.
"I'm fine." She said not looking at Diggle.
"Come on, let's go get you cleaned up." He said helping her off the ground.
Sin and Diggle were in the hideout sitting at the table. Diggle was cleaning up Sin's wounds and checking for any other injuries. "Shouldn't you be at work?" Sin asked.
"I'm still on leave for another week." Diggle said. "Were those just thugs or did they work for somebody."
"They worked for the Mayor." Sin said.
"Why does the Mayor want you dead?" Diggle asked.
"Not that Mayor." Sin said. "Xavier Reed…that's what he's been calling himself. Rumor has it that he is trying to take Brickwell's place." Sin got up from the table. "They said he wasn't going to make the same mistake of letting me live like Brickwell did."
"Then you need to be more careful out there." Diggle expressed his concern.
"I'll be fine." Sin said being stubborn.
"You didn't look fine to me." Diggle said finally standing. "You need to have someone watching your back when you go out doing your information gathering."
"HEY! You don't get to come here and try to change the way we do things. I get the info and Oliver goes out and kicks ass. That's how we do things so stick to your part." Sin said.
"You're not going to have a part to play if you end up dead on the streets." Diggle countered.
"It was one time don't make such a big deal out of it!" Sin said. They continued to go back and forth for a few more minutes till Oliver walked in and noticed the confrontation.
"Hey." Oliver said but they kept going. "Hey!" they still kept going "HEY! They stopped and looked at Oliver. "What is going on here?" he asked then noticed Sin's bruises. "What happened to you?"
"Nothing!" she said glaring at Diggle.
"It wasn't nothing she was almost killed by Reed's men trying to get information." Diggle said.
"It's not a big deal!" Sin said still glaring at Diggle.
"When you almost die that is a big deal."
"Who do you think you are-." Sin stopped talking when she saw Oliver's hand go up silencing them both.
"What happened? From the beginning please." Oliver said staying calm.
"I was gather info on Reed and a couple of his guys grabbed me. They were going to kill me but John was there so there is NO problem." Sin said.
"It is a problem Oliver." Diggle said getting closer to Oliver. "I don't know about you but I don't feel comfortable sending a defenseless little girl out in the field alone."
"Little girl?" Sin said with an eyebrow raised.
"I understand your concern Diggle." Oliver said. He turned to Sin "what do you have?"
"Reed to trying to take Brickwell's place and they have start calling him the Mayor."
"And what do you have on Brickwell's blackmail stash location?"
"Nothing. He kept it private no one knows where it is." Sin explained.
"Alright. Tonight we are going to find Reed and see if we can get an idea on where this stash is." Oliver said.
"If Reed knew where it was don't you think I would have heard something?" Sin questioned.
"He may not know but being one of Brickwell's top guys he has to have an idea where it could be." Oliver explained. "And once we find it I'll get Sara to help with getting your friend out of prison."
"Okay so you need me find where he is?"
"No. You stay here with Diggle I'll go find where he is." Oliver said.
"How do you plan on doing that?" Sin asked.
"You forget that I planned on doing all this alone in the first place. I'm sure I can find one punk." Oliver said leaving.
Sin turned and looked at Diggle. "Little girl?" Sin said.
"Sorry." Diggle apologized.
It didn't take Oliver long to find where Xavier Reed was located. He was good at getting information to it just was harder due to the fact that everyone in Starling knows who Oliver Queen is. All he had to do was keep an eye on Reed and wait for him to turn up the blackmail evidence. Reed had a better chance of finding it then Oliver did and he knew Reed would want to get rid of anything that could be used against him as he tries to take control of the remaining members of Brickwell's gang.
Night fell on Starling and the Arrow was scoping out an old warehouse where Reed was held up in. Oliver saw he had some goons but not nearly as much as Brickwell had at his command. He snuck in through the second floor window and stuck to the shadows. He was making his way across the ceiling when he saw him. Xavier Reed or the Mayor sitting in a chair with a pretty big gun by his side. Oliver heard a door opened and saw a guy rushing in.
"Mayor. We finally found it." Said the goon.
"After all these months. He sure hid it well?" Reed said. "Bring it to me." The goon nodded leaving and coming back with a black laptop. Oliver looked closely as Reed opened it up. "Just think this little device has evidence we can use to blackmail cops, judges, businessmen, and whoever else is on this thing." Redd said holding the laptop. He opened it and gave a heavy sigh. "Now we just need to find someone that can hack into it."
Oliver heard enough he jumped from the ceiling and landed right in front of Reed and punched him in the face flooring him. A guy ran up from behind and tried to cut Oliver with a knife. Oliver quickly turned kicking the knife out of his hand and the kicked the guy knocking him on his back. Oliver grabbed the laptop before anymore guys showed up and jumped out the nearest window leaving Reed furious. Reed ran to the window with his gun and start firing into the darkness.
Oliver walked into the hideout with the laptop in hand and the first thing he saw was Diggle and Sin on the sparring mat. "If a guy grabs you from right here. Then you need to grab the back of his head here or you could knock his legs from under him here." Diggle said explain different ways for Sin to escape a man's hold.
"Okay that's helpful, but how about you just teach me to punch them so hard they don't mess with me again." Sin said following Diggle's movements.
"Because with your size you need to find a fighting tactic that works for you. Not one that fits your personality." Diggle said.
"Did you just make a jab at my personality?" Sin said.
"Glad you two are getting along." Oliver said putting the laptop on the table.
"He said he'll fell safer if I learn how to "defend" myself." Sin said.
"Well I would feel better to. Maybe I'll show you a couple of things." Oliver said putting his bow in his crate.
"What like how to shoot an arrow? Sin suggested.
"You need to master the body before you try to master a weapon." Oliver said.
"Yes Sensei." Sin bowing her head mocking him.
"What's with the laptop?" Diggle asked.
"That is actually all the blackmail that Brickwell had." Oliver answered.
"Then we can get Roy out." Sin said eagerly.
"We need to get passed its security measures first." Oliver said.
"I happen to know a certain IT girl that could get this unlocked easily." Diggle offered.
"Okay but be discrete about it please." Oliver said not wanting to bring any more people into this.
"You got it." Diggle picked up the laptop. "I'll get it to her tomorrow."
"Good. You get some rest to." He said to Sin
"Yeah." She was almost speechless. After all this time Roy was finally getting out of jail.
The next day at Queen Consolidated Diggle walked to the front of Thea's office where Felicity was sitting doing work. Diggle made his way over to her with the laptop in hand. Felicity noticed John coming and stood up with a smile. "Hey." She said walking over giving him a kiss that he returned.
"Hey Felicity how you doing?" Diggle asked.
"Honestly? I'm bored out of my mind." She said sitting back down at her desk.
"Well maybe this will help." Diggle put the laptop on her desk. "I forgot the password to my laptop could you do your…thing."
"My thing?"
"Yeah you know with the…hacking." Diggle said.
"When did you get a new laptop?" she asked looking at it.
"Recently." Diggle lied. Felicity looked at him then at the laptop.
"Tell me something John. You have the nerdiest girlfriend in the world how on earth did you not ask me for advice on laptops. This thing looks like my great-grandmother would have used it." Felicity said looking the old laptop.
"I'll be sure to ask your opinion next time." Diggle assured her. Felicity began doing things on the laptop Diggle couldn't began to explain and then she stopped.
"There your back in how about you write it down this time." Felicity said being proud of herself.
"Thank you sweaty I'll see you tonight." He gave her another kiss and headed to Oliver.
Sara walked into her office and noticed a flash drive sitting on her desk that she didn't recognize. There was a note by it and she picked it up "Let Justice Be Done."-Arrow. Sara put the flash into her computer and found a file on Roy Harper. She also found video footage of what looked like murder. Sara was smart enough to put it together and made call.
"That Damn Arrow turned the evidence in on me." Reed said packing his things. "I need to get out of the city." He and some of his guys were making their way to the car as night fell once again. He put his things in his trunk. "Everyone come on." He said.
One of his guys opened the car door only to be hit by an arrow before he could get in. They all turned to the direction where the arrow came from and saw the green hooded jumped down to them. He shot another arrow at a guy he saw going for a gun and then delivered several precise blows to the next guy that charged at him. He was making his way to Reed taking down anyone that got in his way. Oliver looked to Reed and saw him bring out a massive gun that he fired. Oliver was quick to flip out of the way of the bullets and get behind cover. Reed continued t fire his weapon at the Arrow hoping to him but doesn't. He needed to reload and Oliver took this chance to get up close to Reed. Reed through the gun at Oliver who ducked it and blocked the punch Reed tried to throw then punched him in the face. Reed tried again only this time Oliver grabbed his arm between his legs and broke it making Reed fall to the ground in pain.
"I would kill you." Oliver said walking up to Reed. "But someone wants you to suffer more."
Some days later Oliver was back in Walter Steele's office looking down at the factory workers. Actually he was just looking at one in particular. Roy Harper who was doing good work according to Walter. He did Sin a favor and hired Roy so he could get his life back on track. Speaking of Sin she and Diggle have been continuing her training to help defend herself. She asked Oliver to teach her to but he told her when Diggle feels she has nothing left to learn from him then he will train her his way. Reed was locked up and would be there for a long time and as far as Olvier could tell he was the only thing keeping Brickwell's thugs together so that was a bonus to this favor he did for Sin.
Elsewhere at a private airport China White stood waiting for the passengers to get off the plane. She waited till she saw who she was waiting for. Anatoly Knyazev leader of the Russian mafia or as they were also called the Bratva. Anatoly made his way over to China White who shook his hand.
"It is a pleasure to see you well Anatoly." China said.
"The same to you Chien Na Wei." Anatoly replied in his Russian accent. China had to admit that hearing someone use her real name was refreshing. "I hear you still have a…problem here."
"The Arrow is proving to be quite formidable." China began explaining as they made their way to the car.
"Well I hope me and my men can of some assistance." Anatoly said adjusting his silk shirt. "The Arrow is about to go toe-to-toe with a beast."
Episode 8: Beast in Starling
