"Former Mayor Karina Sparshott's whereabouts are still unknown and authorities continue the search to apprehended her after her corrupt criminal activities were leaked by Palmer Technologies CEO Ray Palmer. The leaks revealed Ms. Sparshott had illegally imprisoned police officers and other city officials who disagreed with her agenda. She filled the vacant positions of her political prisoners with her own friends as well as to those who could offer her political favors. She had also established a veritable surveillance state, installing cameras all throughout the city and used the broadband network Palmer Technologies had established for the public to use. Ray Palmer denied any prior knowledge of her use of his broadband network, and once he did gain knowledge he stated he had taken it upon himself to leak the information to the public. Karina also-"
"Yeah, I bet Ray took it upon himself," Thea muttered as she turned off the TV. "And he took all the credit too."
"Relax, babe," Roy said as he sat up in his hospital bed. "We wear masks; it's not like we'll ever really get the credit for it anyways."
"I know, but it would still be nice," Thea complained. However, she still smiled from being called babe and squeezed his hand which was handcuffed to the bed.
"I'm with Thea," Felicity agreed. "It would be nice to at least be mentioned by our code names or whatever."
Felicity looked over at Diggle, Oliver, and Laurel for additional support.
"Felicity – you and I don't have code names," Diggle corrected.
"Still..."
"I'm just glad my dad is out of jail now," Laurel said.
"How is he doing, by the way?" Oliver inquired.
"Doctors say he had a mild case of malnutrition, but he's doing better."
"So much better," Captain Lance pronounced as he entered Roy's hospital room. "That I decided to to pay a visit to the vigilante known as the Arrow."
"Daddy, what are you doing here? You should go back and rest some more," Laurel insisted, hoping to distract her father from the room's inhabitants.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that? But then again I already know why you're here, Black Canary," Captain Lance answered. He then continued by pointing at each of them one at a time. "Now let me guess...Oliver was the first Arrow, Roy was Arsenal who became the second Arrow, and Thea you're...Speedy, I think it was? Mr. Diggle, since you are always with Oliver then I'm sure you've been involved somehow. And of course I already know Ms. Smoak is acquainted with the vigilantes."
The room fell silent, and they all took turns sneaking glances behind Captain Lance, waiting for a wave of police officers to burst through the door and arrest them all.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to arrest you; at least not today," Captain Lance reassured. "But if any of you ever do end up posing a threat to this city, that will change real quick. For now, I would just like to thank you for getting me out of jail and showing Mayor Sparshott's true colors."
They all let out a collective sigh of relief.
"Don't scare us like that, dad," Laurel chastised.
"You scare me half to death every night you're out there. Especially after your sister..." Captain Lance trailed off, not wanting to relive the memory. "Just be careful; all of you."
"Yes sir," Oliver avowed.
"So since you said you're not arresting anybody does that mean I am free to go?" Roy asked.
"Unfortunately no," Captain Lance answered. "Since Sparshott disappeared, the DA wants to put at least somebody on trial; even if it's nothing to do with what the former Mayor has done."
"That's ridiculous! Let me talk to her," Laurel miffed and pulled out her phone.
"Don't bother, I've already tried to talk her out of it. She says the Arrow still killed dozens of people the first year he arrived, and the statute of limitation on murder never runs out. So, she felt he should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."
"But Roy wasn't the Arrow then!" Thea entreated.
"I tried convince the DA that maybe Mayor Sparshott had faked Roy being the Arrow as some kind of propaganda; but there are over a dozen officers who pointed out Roy was the one they captured that night in the jail. And since no one ever knew he was replacing Oliver..."
"All the blame falls on him," Felicity finished.
Everyone looked at Roy with a sudden fear and dread of his fate. At best life in prison. At worst the death penalty.
"Then it's time the world finds out who the Arrow really is," Oliver declared, and then walked up to Captain Lance and offered his hands. "I admit to everything. Being a vigilante, murdering all those people during my crusade two years ago...everything."
"Oliver don't!" Roy roared. "This city needs the Arrow."
"You can't be executed for something you didn't do! Arrest me, detective."
"Even if you confessed and I did arrest you, Harper would still go to prison for being a vigilante. And given that he helped put a lot of the inmates in there he'd be a dead man anyways."
"So that's it then," Roy breathed, defeated. "I'll take the blame for everything that way only one of us gets killed instead of two."
"Damn it Roy! This isn't the time to be noble," Thea retorted.
"I agree," Captain Lance interjected. "You're still just a kid, and you avoided death once already. Try not to be so eager to stare death in the face."
"What do you suggest?" Laurel asked.
Captain Lance let out a long sigh.
"I say, I loosen those cuffs and he makes a run for it."
"But people will know you let him out and then the DA will make sure you lose your job," Laurel cautioned.
"Early retirement wouldn't be so bad," Captain Lance tried to convince himself as much as the others.
"Wait a sec," Diggle injected. "Oliver, remember how we got Captain Lance off your trail that first year?"
Oliver's eyes lit up.
"You're right," Oliver affirmed, and then turned to Captain Lance. "If we found a way to make sure nobody knew you were the one to let Roy go, would you do it?"
"Yeah...but how are you going to do that?"
"Leave that to us."
"If I run, that'll be it," Roy lamented. "I won't be able to come back to this city. Hell, I probably won't even be able to stay in this country. Where am I going to go?"
"Where are we going to go, you mean," Thea added. "You're not leaving me again."
"Thea –" Oliver began to object.
"I only joined this group to help Roy fill in for you," Thea explained. "Now that he is running, I'm going with him."
Oliver looked at her, and began to realize she was not the same little girl he grew up with. He had to remember just because it took him 5 years on an island to grow up, that didn't mean Thea couldn't grow up on her own. He slowly nodded his head, more as an acknowledgement of her adulthood than giving permission.
"Alright, so what's this plan of yours?" Captain Lance asked.
Two police officers sat at either side of the door, one reading a newspaper and the other on his phone looking at Facebook. They were charged with making sure the Arrow didn't escape, but given the height the room was and the lack of adjoining buildings, there was no way he was getting out without going through the hospital. One of them checked the inside of the room every hour or so, but they both felt pretty confident the vigilante wasn't going anywhere. The officer reading the newspaper turned the page, and that's when he noticed Captain Lance walking towards them. He whispered at the other officer to look alive and they both stood to greet their superior.
"Can we help you, sir?" the newspaper one asked.
"No that's okay," Captain Lance eased. "I was just here to make sure our prisoner was secure. The DA would have my ass if the Arrow got away."
"Of course, sir. The prisoner is secure. We checked less than five minutes ago."
"Good. I'll just take a quick look and – what the hell?"
The officer turned to where Captain Lance was looking and his mouth dropped. At the east end of the hallway stood the Arrow, bow and all.
"There's two of them!" the other officer exclaimed and pointed behind them.
At the west end of the hallway, stood another Arrow, bow and all.
"I AM THE ARROW!" Both masked men shouted as they drew their bows, their voices distorted. The officers pushed Captain Lance behind them and began to open fire. The masked men shot their arrows and missed the officers before they both took off running in opposite directions.
"I've got the west, you two take the east!" Captain Lance ordered the officers.
The officers nodded and took off running after the Arrow they had been assigned. Captain Lance ran, but after a few seconds looked over his shoulder and saw the officers disappear around the corner and then stopped. He went back to the room and quickly went inside. He rushed up to Roy and unlocked his handcuffs.
"Good luck out there, kid," was all he said before he ran back out to pretend to search for the masked man.
Roy put on some clothes, including his red hoodie, that Laurel had brought earlier and then ran down the stairs as fast as he could. He slipped the hood over his head as he walked in a hurried pace but did not run, hoping to avoid drawing any attention to himself. He saw the van pull up right in front of the hospital entrance, and Roy made it through the doors and let out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding. He jumped into the van, and they drove off into the night.
Oliver watched from the shadows of the alleyway nearby. He watched his sister in the driver seat as she navigated through the sparse night traffic. He remained there until she was out of sight, and hoped it was not the last time he would see his sister.
"Did they make it out okay?" Felicity asked over the comms.
"Seems like it," Oliver sighed.
"Well...I don't mean to ruin this sentimental moment of watching your sister elope with your former apprentice, but there is a situation."
"They're not eloping they're… oh my God they are eloping aren't they," Oliver grumbled.
"Yep! Anyways, an alarm for a gun store just went off. Seems like someone is trying to gear up for something big."
"On my way. Did you get that Diggle?"
"Affirmative, meet you there," Diggle stated.
"I'm just about to finish suiting up. Oliver come grab me on the way," Laurel checked in.
"Let's do this," Oliver pronounced.