Chapter Twelve:
Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Arrow, actually I own nothing at all. This is raw, no beta, no edit.
Remember, my semester has started back up and I do believe Medical Law is going to kick my butt, so chapters may come slowly now but the end is almost near.
Inside the Arrow liar, Diggle, Thea, and Oliver searched for anything leading to Gray Collins. It was almost like the man didn't exist at all. Diggle wasn't as good as Felicity on the computers but he knew how to do a few things that may help the team.
Diggle wanted nothing more than to bring the head of Gray Collins to his best friend, because he wanted the same. His emotions seem to be running rapidly since Felicity's attack. He couldn't understand how someone could ever hurt a person like Felicity. He had seen the bad in people, the very bad in some and the horror in some but nothing like what happened to Felicity had ever hit home before. John wanted to chase away all of Felicity's demons just the same as Oliver but he knew his best friend would take care of that. Right now what needed to be done was for Diggle to find the monster and that was just what he was going to do.
Diggle had tried calling the number listed on Gray Collins' business card. No shock when there wasn't an answer. What had he hoped for? Did he think that Collins was going to answer and tell the team right where he could be found?
"There looks to be a large equipment business on the outskirts of town that is listed in Jack Collins name, Gray Collins' father, I do believe." Diggle said looking closely at what come up on the screen in front of him.
"Then we start there. Let's go." Oliver said not giving room for anymore talk. The equipment business was the first thing they had come up with within their searching.
Laurel helped Felicity to the small kitchen table, soup and a peanut butter sandwich sat in front of the blonde waiting to be eaten. Felicity didn't feel like eating, she felt like throwing up. No words were spoken between the two women, didn't have to be.
Laurel sat in the chair across from the blonde. She hated that her friend was attacked, she hated that she was going through the nightmare, but she didn't know how she felt. She didn't know what she was thinking and Laurel wanted so bad to be there for her friend.
"Felicity you need to eat a little more." Laurel spoke softly. Felicity only nodded her head toward her friend. She knew she needed to eat she knew what she needed, but she couldn't make herself take another bite.
"I would like to lay back down. I don't feel so good." Felicity said trying to get up from the table on her own. Laurel helped her up and Felicity stood against the small kitchen bar that separated the kitchen and eating area.
"Hang on for a minute Felicity, let me put this away real fast." Laurel said as she grabbed the sandwich and bowl of soup from the table and taking it to put in the sink. Once that task was finished Laurel assisted Felicity back into her room, never seeing Felicity's actions in the kitchen.
"I see movement." John Diggle spoke into the radio so everyone could hear him. "Over there by the loader looks to be maybe two men, no I seen three."
"Armed?" Thea asked.
"Yes, heavy armed. This may be something Oliver." Diggle moved closer, hiding his body behind a large dump truck parked a little way from the building. Thea stood on top of a vacant dozer that was in the parking area. There as a reason she was called "speedy" as she climbed up on the equipment without being noticed. From her point of view now she could see the three men walking around the parking area, as if they were on guard.
"Let's do this." Oliver said taking his place across from Thea's view. "I have one in sight." Thea said drawing her bow back easily.
Once she fired off her shot everything happened at once, she put her arrow into the man's shoulder making him drop his weapon while the other two men started shooting.
"Watch the one on your left Dig" Oliver shouted as he took his shot bringing another one to his knees in pain. These men weren't just workers for the company, they were armed they were guarding something or someone.
Oliver ran over to his target and grabbed the man by the shoulder. "Where is Gray Collins?"
"I don't know who you're talking about? You shot me with an arrow, you shot me!" The black man screamed into Oliver's face.
"Yeah well tell me what I want to know and I will be sure not to shoot you with another one. Where is Gray Collins?"
Oliver stepped onto the man's leg, holding him in place as he drew back his bow, letting the man know he wasn't fooling around.
"He isn't here man; I don't know where he is." The black man shouted. "You better hope that you're telling the truth!"
"I am I promise he isn't here!"
Diggle wrestled with another of the guards. A tall muscular Bald white man whose teeth looked as if they had seen better days. Diggle had him to the ground holding him down. It was easy enough to take the weapons from the guards but just what were they guarding.
"Where can I find him" Oliver asked once they had piled all the men into a pile between them, daring either one of them to move.
"We don't know; we just work here."
"Why do you need guns to work at an equipment business?"
"Business can get brutal sometimes." The tall bald man said.
"Cute.." Thea said as she kicked the man. "Tell us what we want to know, or I promise you sir I will put an arrow in that chest of yours."
Oliver noticed once Thea had kicked the man something had fell from his pocket. When he bent over to pick it up rage filled his mind and body. A small baggie with vertigo was inside, he didn't have to look twice to know what it was.
He held up the bag to the three men. "Who else is here?"
"No one just us and that is mine."
"Not any longer, where is Gray Collins I want to know and I'm tired of messing around." Oliver bend over and held the bald man by his shirt collar.
"He isn't here man, I told you. We have never seen him."
"Then where did you get this." Oliver said as he shoved the baggie into the man's face.
"It was a gift from a pretty blonde." The man spat out.
"What did you say?" Oliver lost control all at once, he punched the man square in the face and jumped on top of him, his fist connecting with the man's face more than once. Diggle had to wrestle Oliver away from the bald man before he killed him.
Once Diggle had gotten Oliver off the man, and made sure Oliver wasn't going to attack again he walked closer to the bald white man. The other two men stayed silent, and John thanked the heavens for that.
"That pretty blonde that Collins got a taste of, well we all got a taste of actually, she loved the vertigo, not as strong as she pretended to be that one was." This time it was Diggle to lose control. He attacked the bald man not caring the outcome any more. These slime balls needed to die.
"What the hell do you mean by that?" Diggle shouted into the man's face as he was attacking him.
The other two men started to scoot away from the crowd. They had nothing to do with the blonde and they didn't want no part of what was happening in front of them.
"Listen man, Collins is probably at the other location for the shop." Oliver quickly looked to the black man that was trying his best to hold the blood in his body from the arrow wound on his shoulder.
"Where?"
"I don't know. I haven't been working here very long. I had nothing to do with the blonde lady he is talking about. Please just let the police have me." The black man made his pleads.
Diggle stopped his attacked on the mouthy bald man to walk toward the two that were silent until now. His could feel the throbbing in his hand and the blood. He didn't care.
Oliver placed his hand on Diggle's shoulder to stop him. Oliver looked over at the bald man lying on the ground in blood. He walked over to him and raised him up by his shirt collar. "Where is this other shop?" Oliver asked.
"I don't know, I only know of this place and the warehouse where he kept the blonde."
"What do you mean you all had a taste of the blonde." Even saying the words made Oliver feel dirty. He had to know what the man was talking about though.
"That one, he shared with his men. The other's he wasn't so giving with." The man actually laughed. He actually laughed in Oliver's face.
Oliver was losing total control, to find out the new information was enough to send him over the edge of sanity. He lunged for the bald man when Diggle stopped him. Oliver tried to break free from his friend. He was pissed and he wanted revenge.
"Come on man... let the cops have him." Diggle felt the same has Oliver but the mouthy man was not the one they wanted.
"I think your friend broke my damn nose."
"yeah possibly." Oliver said walking away.
"Tie them up over there by the dozer. I'm going to call Lance let him know what we found then we are going to search this place. I figure once I call Lance we have about 15 minutes before the cops' swarm this place." Oliver said as he started to walk away.
The team walked into the building located on the property. One large shop that looked to have a piece of large equipment being worked on in it. Small restroom and two other rooms made the building up. Small baggies that Oliver knew once held vertigo could be found in the restroom trash can and in the break room trash. Oliver made sure to relay that information to the Detective. They looked through whatever they could and found no other person inside of the building. If it was just an equipment shop, then what were the men guarding. They had too many weapons to just be simple night guards walking around the area.
The search over the small building came up empty. The trio didn't find anything that would lead them to where Gray Collins was hiding himself. Oliver hoped that Lance could get some information out of the guys. Each one had vertigo on them, that was enough for them to be taken in.
Oliver was mad, they had come up with nothing yet again. One thing each of them took notice was the pile of newspapers laying on a desk in what looked to be a break room. What was the man's fetish with newspapers?
"Oliver we didn't come up empty, we know that Gray has been at that location with all the newspapers laying around. That man and those newspapers just freaks the hell out of me." Diggle said once back into the lair. Thea was cleaning Diggle's hand where he had broken the skin on the bald man's face.
"Let's get back over to Felicity's. I don't want to leave Laurel and Felicity alone by themselves for too long. Maybe Lance will get one of the guys to talk." Oliver said not caring what words were spoken around him. He wanted to get back to the apartment incase Gray thought it would be a good idea to be around the apartment complex. He looked down at his hand, his was nothing compared to Diggle's.
Oliver had calmed himself down before going to the apartment door. He wouldn't allow Felicity nor Laurel to see him with all the rage he felt. Diggle was calm enough to go into the apartment. His hand bandaged up but at least that was all that had took place. Oliver wanted to kill the man, he wanted to end his life for what he said but he had bigger fish to fry.
Once in front of the apartment door Oliver noticed a large mailing envelop laying on the small stoop. He quickly picked it up and knocked on the door for Laurel to allow them entry.