Alicia, Joe, Eddie and Dick found Barry at the crime scene that day. According to several eye witnesses at the bank, they'd felt nothing but rage when they looked at each other and they started fighting. The next thing that they knew, they were calm, but money was stolen from the bank. Barry, as the Flash, had been there to witness the whole thing right in front of his eyes. It was like one moment everyone was calm, the next moment people were out to kill each other, and the next thing everybody was panicked over how they acted. Barry let out a sigh as he walked over to Joe, Dick and Alicia.
"Busy morning," Alicia said. "Witnesses said that they saw a red streak come in and catch a bullet before it could hit someone."
"Alicia you should have seen it. It was like everybody here was out to kill each other. I just got here in time," said Barry.
"It must've been a diversion," whispered Dick. "Because now there's half a million bucks missing." He went off to talk to a traumatized witness, who said that she had never experienced anything that terrifying in her whole life, that she didn't mean to feel that much anger towards someone she did not know. Dick just proceeded to try and calm her down by taking her outside.
"There's a tracker in the cash stacks; we're trying to track the signal," said Joe.
Barry nodded as he followed Joe and Alicia to follow up with Eddie.
"Well in the meantime do you have an idea on what could have caused all of this?" Alicia asked, knowing Barry to be one of the smartest people she's met in her life.
"A neortoxin, maybe," said Barry. "I'm gonna swab some surfaces, see what I can find, but I think maybe they got whammied."
"Wait did you just say whammied?" Joe asked with raised eyebrows.
"So we're looking for a metahuman?" asked Alicia.
"Probably," Barry said. "Later I need to talk to Dr. Wells, Cait and Cisco about this and see what they can come up with for us. We don't have a lot to go on."
Later on that evening, Barry, Alicia and Dick found themselves at S.T.A.R Labs explaining what had taken place at the bank that day. Barry described it exactly as he saw it to Caitlin, Cisco and Wells.
"Anger, hate, aggression," Wells was saying to them.
Cisco then threw in a Yoda impression. "A Jedi craves not these things," he said.
Alicia rolled her eyes. Cisco and his movies.
"What?" Cisco asked them. "Nobody is feeling that line?"
"Well, moving on," Barry said. "Everyone in the bank went total savage for five minutes, and then they were fine again."
"Anger can be a powerful emotion," Wells pointed out. "If this metahuman can start rational feelings of anger into his victims he can do a lot of damage."
"Well, then make sure to keep me away from him as far as possible," said Alicia. "Trust me when I get pissed off, I become terrifying. Dick has seen me at my angriest."
"Remind me to never get on your bad side, Licia," Dick said to his partner.
"Well, Detective West helped me get a copy of the CAT scans that the hospital did," said Caitlin, going over to the computers. "They did this to every person at the bank look at this." When the imaging came up, Alicia frowned.
"The emotional centers of the brain are still showing signs of being overwhelmed," Alicia said to them.
Caitlin added in to Alicia's statement. "Particularly the area that controls executive functions," she said. "That's the part of the brain that stops us from doing whatever random and potentially destructive thing that pops into our heads."
"How do you think that this meta does that to people?" asked Barry.
"That's the million dollar question," said Dick, shaking his head.
Barry's cell phone vibrated with a notification from Iris' blog. "Guys I gotta go," he said. "I will let you know if I find out anything at all."
Alicia nodded. Suddenly, there was a text message from the one and only Roy Harper that popped up on her phone.
Roy: Hey, meet me in five minutes outside the back alleyway of Jitters. Oliver is with me.
Alicia: I will be there, Abercrombie.
Alicia pocketed her cell phone and ran out of the facility and broke into flight. She stopped outside Jitters and went in the back alleyway, leaning against the brick wall, awaiting Oliver and Roy to arrive. When they did show up, they were in their respective red and green leather suits, bows and arrows in their hands.
"Hey," she said with a smile, going over to Roy and embracing him tightly. "Roy, oh so good to see you!"
"You too," Roy said warmly.
"So what are you two doing in Central City?" asked Alicia.
"Homicidal killer who uses boomerangs," Oliver explained. "We're here because there's a large amount of the materials he used to make it."
"Okay, well, Barry, Dick and I have a metahuman on our hands," Alicia said. Suddenly, they heard the SWAT team over the radio announcing a raged cop shooting police officers. "Looks like Barry and Joe are in trouble. I'll have to go in and save his ass. Luckily I already have my suit on underneath my clothes." Alicia ripped off her clothing pieces one by one and just pulled on the boots and her mask. "Care to join me, Ollie?" she asked.
Oliver grinned at her. "Roy, meet us back at where we set up."
Roy nodded and went off to go and meet up with Diggle and Felicity. Oliver followed Alicia, who soared towards Barry's location. They found Barry's location to be a warehouse, but unfortunately, a police officer had been controlled by the meta. Alicia nodded at Oliver, who shot the cop with a trick arrow as Alicia ran in like a bat out of hell, and sucker punched the police officer in the face. Both Alicia and Barry shared a smile with Oliver.
"Nice mask," Oliver called to Barry in his Arrow voice.
Barry chuckled. He and Alicia ran off to follow Oliver to where he, Roy, Felicity and Diggle had set shop. Barry got to the farm house in a flash, causing Diggle to drop his fries.
"By the way Alicia and I gave Oliver like a half-hour head start," Barry said around a smile. Alicia landed beside him gracefully, taking off her domino mask with a wide smile on her face. She pulled her hair out of its high ponytail and took off her gloves, setting them on a table.
"Hi Barry," Felicity said. "Alicia, nice to see you again."
"Hi Felicity," said Alicia.
Barry smiled at Diggle, who just stared at the two of them in shock. "How you doing, Dig?"
"You're fast," said Diggle, looking as though he was about to shit his pants. "And she can fly."
"You didn't tell him?" asked Alicia out of curiosity to Roy, who was eating a double burger.
"Seeing is believing," Roy said with a shrug as Oliver pulled up in his motorcycle. "Or drooling."
Barry walked over to Oliver. "Hey, thanks for that back there but I was getting ready to make my move."
"What move?" Oliver asked. "The one to the morgue?"
"What brings you guys out to Central City?" Barry asked.
"Working a case," said Felicity, pulling out a boomerang. "Suspicious homicide where the murder weapon is a boomerang."
"Cool!" Barry said, overly enthusiastic. He caught Oliver's glare. "I mean. . . awful."
"I found traces of iron oxide on it," Felicity explained. "I know it's a long shot but Central City has the largest supply of iron oxide in the country."
"Did you know Australian abolitionists used boomerangs to hunt?" Barry asked. "Mainly on kangaroo which is surprisingly a low-fat source of protein."
"Thank you, Barry, today we learned that there is a lot to be discovered," Alicia teased as she rolled her eyes. She wasn't really interested. She grabbed her mask and gloves again, putting them on.
"Well Roy and I were following a lead when we heard the SWAT raid over the radio, so Alicia and I decided to see you make your big move," Oliver said, though Alicia and Barry could both see affection and respect in Oliver's eyes as he talked to Barry. Behind that rough exterior, Oliver did have a soft spot for Barry.
"You know I had a cousin that got hit by lightning once. He just developed a stutter," Diggle said, seemingly out of nowhere.
"Well, Barry and I are trying to track down a metahuman that makes people really angry," said Alicia.
"Cool," Felicity said.
"Not cool; this meta sent a bunch of people at a bank into a huge rage mode and they were nearly killing each other," said Barry.
"I mean, awful," Felicity corrected herself.
"Well since you guys are here how about we team up?" Alicia suggested. "You guys help us track down our meta and we'll help you track down this guy."
"Well, no we'll handle our business and head home," Oliver said.
"Fine then, but Roy and I will come with Barry and Alicia," Felicity said. "Barry's team knows my secret, Roy and I already know Barry and Alicia's secret. So therefor, Roy, we're going."
"How about I give you a lift?" Barry suggested to Felicity. He scooped her up and ran off with her as Alicia grabbed hold of Roy's arm.
"Come on, Roy," Alicia said. "I've been itching to test my super strength more." She took off in a run and jumped up, flying through the air with Roy gripping her arm. Alicia adjusted him and kept him on her back.
"Whoa this is intense!" Roy told her.
"Yeah, yeah it is," Alicia smiled. "By the way, how's my baby sister doing?"
"She's recovering and doing very well. She's a tough cookie," Roy said. He felt bad about lying to his ex-girlfriend, as lying and not being able to stop thieving were part of why they had broken up in the first place. His relationship with Thea had partially healed those wounds, but, he'd lost that relationship with her too because of his lies. By the time they got back to S.T.A.R, Roy and Alicia walked into Felicity pulling on a S.T.A.R Labs sweater and having an awkward exchange with Cisco and Caitlin.
"Hi, Alicia," Caitlin said.
"Hi, Cait, you remember Roy," Alicia said.
"So you're Arsenal?" asked Cisco.
Roy nodded. "Yeah," he said. "But I am not telling you who the Arrow is." He took off his Arsenal mask.
"Okay, understandable," said Caitlin. Alicia turned to see Dick there.
"Hi Dick," Alicia said. She pulled off her mask and gloves one more time and put them on the mannequin. "God I am so looking forward to changing out of this." She found a private space to get dressed into her sweats.
"We're actually here because of this," Roy said. He gestured to Felicity pulling out the boomerang. Dick walked over in curiosity to look at the boomerang himself.
"Whoa, sick what are the wings made out of?!" Cisco asked in enthusiasm
"I'm not sure," said Felicity. "I'm thinking some composite or high-density plastic."
"Reinforced with carbon fiber," Cisco said, continuing to smile. "Oh that's weird- it almost feels like it's–"
"Vibrating," Felicity said.
"Yeah," Cisco said, already going off to his workspace. "Okay I wanna run tests and I wanna run them right now!"
Roy smiled warmly as Cisco and Felicity went off to test the weapon.
"Dick," Alicia said, rounding the corner in her sweats and a hoodie. "That metahuman, I saw what he can do. I didn't see the whole thing, but I did see a whammied police officer. Let me tell you, it wasn't fun dealing with him."
"We didn't get any leads. We don't even know this guy's name," said Dick.
"Well try to get some answers," Alicia insisted.
"Okay, I will hit the streets and see what I can find," Roy said, putting his mask on.
"I'll go with you," Dick said, going over to where he kept his suit, batterangs and other pieces of tech. He pulled on the suit one by one and followed Roy out of the lab.
"Oh, Alicia, Barry, Dr. Wells needs to see you both," Caitlin said to them.
"Why do I feel like I just walked into the principal's office?" Barry asked jokingly as he and Alicia walked into Wells' office.
"Starling City vigilante," Joe said simply.
"He goes by the Arrow now," Alicia said.
"Or does he? Flash, Angel?" Joe asked with raised brows.
"Wait is there a problem that we know him?" asked Barry. "Or that we are friends with him?"
Wells crossed his arms. "We don't trust him."
"What do you mean you don't trust him? Sure, he's a vigilante, but so are Barry and I," Alicia pointed out. "Last time I remember, being a vigilante means fighting for justice outside the law. Isn't that essentially what Barry and I are doing?"
"You both are heroes; there's a major difference," said Joe.
"You guys don't even know him," Barry said; feeling a need to defend Oliver, Roy, Felicity and Diggle. Oliver was his friend; of course he was going to stand by him. Oliver was a different person now and he's changed.
"I know he was wanted for murder in at least twelve different cases dating back to three years ago," Joe said.
"Joe he's not a killer anymore," Alicia said. "And he saved the life of my ex-boyfriend Roy Harper when Roy felt as though nobody in the world gave a shit about him. I owe him a ton, Joe. And as a result, Roy's working with him under the codename Arsenal and I can tell you right now, they don't kill people. And yeah, I know that there were several terrorist attacks since the Arrow came to Starling, but he didn't bring it with him. The person that started it all from the back, to the middle, to the front was Malcolm Merlyn who caused destruction in the Glades. As far as I am concerned, Malcolm Merlyn brought this all on when he built the earthquake machine that killed over five-hundred people, including his own son, Tommy. Malcolm started this all, not the Arrow. So therefor, I trust the Arrow."
"Alicia, the fact is that he still killed people," Wells said.
"He's gonna have to live with that regret for the rest of his life," Barry said.
Later that evening, Roy had gone back to where Oliver, Diggle and Felicity had set base, deciding he needed to stay there and get some rest. Alicia sat with Caitlin and Barry in the med bay, playing a mindless game of Temple Run on her cell phone. The fact that Joe and Wells told her and Barry not to trust Oliver was disheartening. Oliver trusted Barry and Alicia; had told them that they could be better than he was, had told them that they could be heroes. This was a man that had a lot of faith in the both of them. It was clear to Alicia that Oliver cared about Barry; Oliver had driven over six-hundred miles to not only sort out his mission, but to also see Barry and check in on him. It hurt both her and Barry that Joe essentially told them not to involve themselves with the Arrow. Alicia had a lot of faith in Oliver, as he had saved Roy's life multiple times.
Caitlin walked off out of the med bay, done checking her inventory of medical supplies. She went to sit by the computers. Alicia decided to talk to Barry about what Joe had told them earlier.
"Barry," she whispered. "You okay?"
Barry nodded.
"Look I know what Joe told us but I'm going to continue to trust Oliver," Alicia insisted.
"Yeah I'll always trust him," Barry said to her. "He trusts me; he's a friend, my friend."
Alicia nodded. "I'll always trust him too. The truth is, is that he saved Roy's life multiple times and took him under his wing when Roy got injected with Mirakuru."
Suddenly, that was the moment the boomerang that Cisco and Felicity had been testing started to fly throughout the lab. Alicia ducked her head down as the boomerang broke through one of the glass windows just as Joe walked into the room. That was the moment Alicia grabbed the boomerang and held it still, managing not to hurt herself.
"Sorry!" Cisco called out. "That was totally on me!"
Joe looked pointedly at Barry and Alicia. "I want that Arrow out of this city. Tonight," he said sternly.
Alicia and Barry shook their heads, exiting the lab. Regardless of the mistakes that Oliver had made in the past, despite the fact that he had killed people, he was a changed person now and they trusted him. They were going to continue to trust him regardless of what Wells and Joe said. Oliver told them that night on the rooftop that he believed in them, that he knew Alicia and Barry could be more than just two vigilantes that they could be guardian angels and protect their city.
They weren't going to turn their backs on Oliver. Not today, not ever, were they going to do that.
Meanwhile, Oliver, Roy and Dick were out on the streets that night, looking for any connection to the metahuman that Dick, Alicia and Barry were trying to track down. Dig was talking to Oliver and Roy through the comms. Fortunately, they found a storage unit that this meta was running.
"I mean do you think he can do everything really fast?" Dig asked. Dick was on comms too. "I mean how fast can he go to the bathroom after he's eaten something?"
"I've seen him read at super speed; he can hold as much information as he can for a good couple of hours," Dick said, amused at Dig.
"This is you watching my back?" Oliver asked Dig.
"Well Mirakuru soldiers are one thing, but this. . ." Dig said.
"Whatever he can do now he's the same Barry that we know," Oliver said.
"Well if you're so adamant against teaming up with him, what are we doing here?" Dig asked.
"Trust me, Dig. He knows I am Bruce Wayne's legal ward and that I worked with Batman as his sidekick Robin. He won't say anything. He and Alicia are good kids, and I would know because I've worked with Alicia from the beginning when we are special victim's unit detectives. It's just a name we are getting," Dick said reassuringly.
"Wait, I knew Bruce adopted somebody; I just didn't realize that that kid was you," Oliver said. "I haven't seen Bruce in a while how is he?"
"Last I spoke to him he is shaping someone up to be the next Robin, and he has connections to Ras Al Ghul and the League of Assassins," Dick said, shaking his head. "I am telling you, Oliver; Bruce's life is ridiculous. And trust me; I thought I saw every psycho out there from Gotham and Bludhaven. I never thought I'd be dealing with metahumans."
"Okay, let's just focus on the task at hand," Oliver suggested to one of his oldest friend's legal ward. He looked towards Dick as they approached the gates. "Care to do the honors?"
"Really?" Dick asked.
"It's your city," Roy said with a shrug. In the short time he'd spent around Dick, he liked the guy already.
Dick nodded and busted the gates open. He allowed his growl to escape his lips. "The man who runs this storage unit, we want his name!" Oliver and Roy raised their bows up as Dick raised his Bo staffs.
The man that worked there only froze in shock. "I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Yes. You. Do!" Oliver snarled. He fired a trick arrow at the man and tied him up.
"He robbed a bank today; sent everyone at the bank into a rage mode and had them all nearly killing each other!" Dick said. "Besides, you might wanna start forming some words now, my friend . . . It'll make a more stimulating conversation," he quipped.
"Wait-Wait, are you that boy wonder who ran around Gotham?" the man asked.
"You could say that," Dick said with a shrug. "It's no longer Robin; it's Nightwing!"
"Okay, okay, okay! His name is Roy G. Bivolo!" the man cried out.
"Thank you," Oliver said coldly, breaking the man's arm. Roy, Oliver and Dick left the building after that.
"That's less work for me," Dick said. "Now all I have to do is run his name against the database and see what I can find. This will make Alicia pretty damn happy."