AN: As a special holiday weekend treat... here is the next chapter :)

As always, my wonderful beta is Mic RiddyBannon :)

Disclaimer: Although I still do not own Arrow I am thoroughly looking forward to the crossover next week!

"You know, the people attending the concert tonight couldn't be any safer." Lance commented quietly.

"What makes you say that?" The Chief asked without even turning from his place at the window.

"Because the Arrow and his Team are watching over them." Lance said truthfully. "If I was the one in danger ... well there is no one I would rather have my back."

Chapter 25 - The Concert

"Okay Thea, are you ready for this?" Felicity asked the younger woman sitting next to her. They were in the lair together ready to monitor things at the concert. The security feeds were open on two of the monitors, Felicity had facial recognition running on the rest of her computers, as well as on a laptop in front of Thea. They were ready, she hoped.

"Yup, bring it on. Here they come!" Thea answered as she watched the first of the concert goers arrive.

Felicity tapped a couple of keys on her computer and the sounds of Oliver talking to the SCPD filled the lair.

"Guests are starting to arrive." Felicity informed the Team. They would all be sure to keep the lines of communication open all evening.

As Oliver and the Team got into position, Felicity and Thea started the daunting task of doing IDs on all the people entering the concert.

Team Arrow was in position and carefully watching over the Theater in anticipation of something going wrong. Oliver stood on a rooftop that showed one of the two main entrances. He watched, bow in hand, as the crowd entered the building and listened to Felicity and Thea talking quietly as they worked at the computers back in the lair. He also heard the brief discussion between Lance and the Chief and he hoped that it wouldn't be much longer before the Chief truly trusted him and his Team.

Sara stood on a rooftop that allowed her a bird's eye view of the side entrance of the Theater. She stood with bo staff in hand as she observed the workers going in and out of the service entrance. She kept a careful eye out for anything out of the ordinary, anything suspicious. She also listened closely to the chatter on the comms in case the girls at the lair found something important, or her dad and SCPD needed them for anything. She was prepared for what she hoped would be a long, boring night.

Diggle stood watch at the other main entrance of the Theater, on the opposite side of the building from Oliver. He stood staring down the scope of his M24 Sniper Weapon System. He had a silencer on the barrel and a scope that would allow him to see clearly at night. From this position he could easily move to help cover either side entrance if the need arose. He was providing overwatch for the Team, SCPD, and all the concert goers. He hoped his services would not be needed tonight.

Roy stood on the roof on the Dance Studio, bow in hand, and carefully watched the side entrance to the Theater. He could clearly see the small service entrance and was relieved that there was nothing out of the ordinary at the moment. He briefly registered the conversation between Detective Lance and the Chief over the comms, however, he remained more focused on what Thea and Felicity were quietly saying in the lair as they ran IDs on everyone. He looked down and to his left and then right, at the squad cars parked outside the Theater. He was slightly surprised that the SCPD had followed through and done what they had suggested. He hoped that this meant that they would actually be able to work together and Team Arrow would finally be trusted.

The Team watched silently for the better part of three hours as all the concert goers entered the Theater and the concert began. Felicity and Thea had found nothing unusual from the IDs and the SCPD had not reported anything suspicious beyond a kid caught trying to steal a candy bar from the concessions stand. The silence, however, had the entire Team on edge as they were afraid that this was the calm before the storm.

"The concert is ending." Thea informed the Team as the last song was winding down. They had been in full on mission mode since about five that evening when the doors to the concert first opened. It was now nearing midnight and she knew how tired she was from constantly staring at a computer screen. She could only imagine how the guys and Sara felt out in the field. Thankfully though, nothing had happened tonight, and they all breathed a sigh of relief as the Theater started to empty.

Team Arrow's relief was short lived, however, as suddenly there was a small explosion in the office building that housed the SCPD's command post.

"Arrow!" Roy called into the comms as he used a grappling arrow to get to the building.

"On my way. Canary, Overwatch hold your positions until we know what's going on." Oliver ordered into the comms. "Detective are you alright?" He asked as he made his way to the roof of the office building.

"We're fine Arrow, just a small explosion that closed off the entryway into the room. We have to find another way out." Lance informed the Team. He coughed a couple of times as there was a large amount of dust in the room and the sound worried Sara slightly.

"They're on the fifth floor, office in the center facing the Theater. Detective I suggest you move away from the window now." Felicity said. It took mere moments for Oliver and Roy to rappel down the side of the building and crash though the windows. Both men landed in a crouch, bow in hand.

"The Fire Department is two minutes out." Thea informed everyone. The call had gone in immediately and the Starling City Fire Department was already en route.

Roy quickly moved from Oliver's side to check the entrance to the room.

"It's definitely sealed." Roy informed Oliver and the two officers. "We will have to go out through the window."

"Can't you just use one of your explosive arrows to clear the doorway?" The Chief asked irritably. "That's certainly easier than pretending you're Tarzan and swinging out the window."

Felicity laughed out loud in the lair. Calling Oliver's use of grappling arrows a Tarzan move was totally her idea and she was amused that someone else would think the same thing.

"We can't." Oliver said with a hint of a smile as he heard his fiancé's laughter through the comms. "That's a load bearing wall and if we set off another explosion we could bring the building down on top of us and that is something I am not willing to do."

"There's a clear spot on that street corner." Roy commented to Oliver, pointing to the corner in question.

Oliver turned to look to where Roy was pointing. The kid was right, other than going to another roof that was the best option, however, they needed to hurry as they didn't know how badly the building had been compromised.

"Detective, you go with Arsenal. Chief you're with me." Oliver decided as the Chief started to make his way to where Roy and Oliver were standing. Suddenly Oliver tensed just as he heard the sound of a rifle being fired. He pushed the Chief of Police to the floor in order to keep him from potentially being hit. Oliver let out a small grunt as pain flared through his right shoulder. He stumbled a couple of steps before dropping to one knee.

"Arrow!" Felicity called through the comms. She had heard the sound of the gunshot then a small grunt of pain and that had her extremely worried.

"Arrow." Roy said as he placed a hand carefully on Oliver's left shoulder. He could see where a bullet had gone through Oliver's right shoulder and he knew his mentor had to be in a great deal of pain right now.

"Overwatch, there is a sniper watching our position." Oliver said into the comms after taking a brief moment to catch his breath and bring his breathing under control. In all it was only a few seconds after the bullet tore through his shoulder that he moved from his position, pulling the Chief to his feet and pushing him behind a pillar. He watched as Roy did the same with Detective Lance.

"Already on it." Diggle said more to himself than anyone. "Canary, you see anything?"

"Not yet." Sara answered as she scanned the rooftops around the Theater.

"He's above us, to the north." Oliver informed them. He knew that simply from the direction that the bullet had hit him from when he had been standing.

Suddenly more bullets rained down on their position. Bullets sailed into the office continually effectively keeping Roy, Oliver, Lance, and the Chief pinned down.

"Why aren't you doing something?" The Chief asked irritably. "First you push me to the ground, quite forcefully I might add, and then you two just hide behind a pillar while someone shoots at us? What kind of heroes are you?" He spat out as he stared at the man standing on his left.

"Chief." Lance tried to gain the man's attention. He had heard the discussion that the Team was having over the comms but apparently the Chief hadn't even heard Oliver's side of the conversation. However the Chief wasn't listening at all so Lance just tuned him out and focused instead on the chatter over the Team Arrow comms.

"That was his second mistake." Diggle was saying quietly to himself as he heard more shots ring out. A sniper could easily get away with one shot. However, if you miss and have to make another you compromise your position. The sound of the shooters weapon going off was like hanging out a neon sign that told Diggle where he was. He carefully scanned the rooftops in the direction the shots had come from and immediately found the shooter when he took the next shot.

"Canary, muzzle flash, top of Starling City Bank." Diggle informed his Teammate. "About 500 meters from the window where Arrow and Arsenal are."

"On it. Can you get a clean shot?" Sara asked as she started to carefully make her way in the direction of the shooter.

Before anyone could respond there was a second, louder explosion and the office building where Oliver, Roy, Lance, and the Chief were holed up shuddered. Oliver immediately pushed the Chief to the ground and provided the man with the protection of his own body as the floor above them gave way. Roy also moved to protect Detective Lance, neither man in leather ready to allow the officers to get injured.

"Arrow! Arsenal! Can you hear me? Are you okay?" Felicity called into the comms. She had heard the gunfire, then the explosion which had caused the comms units to ring. "Please, talk to me!"

"Arsenal? Are you there?" Thea cried as she locked eyes with Felicity. Both women had tears in their eyes as they had no way of knowing how their men were until someone talked to them. Suddenly they heard a groan and some coughing.

"This is Lance. There was another explosion. The floor above us caved." Lance struggled to move around the debris that had fallen around him. He suddenly stopped moving, however, when the gunfire started up again. "We're still pinned down by that sniper. Overwatch, can you take him out?" Lance asked.

"I have a clear shot." Diggle answered as he slowed his breathing which in turn would steady his aim.

"Take it!" Lance said as he heard a groan next to him where Roy would have landed.

"Roger." Diggle glanced to a flag on the roof opposite the shooter to gauge wind speed. He took a moment to adjust his sights accordingly. "900 meters to target, light northeast wind, low humidity." Diggle was saying to himself as he made split second adjustments to his aim before pulling the trigger.

"Target neutralized." Lance heard over the comms, mere seconds after he told Diggle to take the man out. He quickly pushed the debris off of him and looked around for the young man that had been standing by his side mere moments before the explosion.

Oliver slowly rolled off of the Chief. He had managed to take the brunt of the explosion, saving the Chief from the rain of glass that covered them. Thankfully for him his leather suit had stopped most of the glass from hurting him. After a moment he pulled himself up and pulled the Chief up from his position on the floor.

The Chief gratefully accepted the Arrow's hand as the other man helped him off the ground where the blast had thrown them. He looked up as the Arrow turned to look for Lance and the Arsenal and he noticed what looked like a gunshot wound on the man's right shoulder. I wonder what happened. He thought but was not given a chance to ask as the Arrow was suddenly helping the Detective to stand as well.

"Arrow is everyone okay?" Sara asked as she dropped through the shattered window. She had stopped by the bank just long enough to check that the shooter was indeed down before making her way over to check on her Team. She noticed the bullet wound in his shoulder but other than that he seemed to be unharmed. She then looked past him to her dad. He gave her a brief nod to let her know that he was okay as well. "Where's Arsenal?" She asked.

"Over here." Oliver answered. He had heard her come in but had been moving debris around to get to Roy. He had pushed Lance out of the way of some falling debris but had not been able to get out of the way himself.

"Arrow, Arsenal, Canary, can anyone hear me?" Felicity called into the comms. She had no visual on the group in the office building, and she had not heard from Roy or Oliver since the second explosion, and the worry was about to drive her mad.

"Arrow, the Team wants to know your status." Sara commented as she helped Oliver to move a filing cabinet that had fallen over in the blast.

"My comms is out." Oliver commented.

"It's not the only thing." Sara stated under her breath. "Your voice distorter isn't working anymore either." She shared a brief glance with Oliver, knowing that that probably meant the Chief would identify him. However, a groan drew the attention of both of them and they turned to see Roy pinned under a beam. She and Oliver moved to get over to him even as her dad brought the rest of the Team up to date.

Pain shot through Oliver's shoulder as he worked with Sara to clear debris in order to allow them access to where Roy was pinned under a beam that had fallen from the floor above them. He ignored it however as he knew that they needed to free Roy and get out of there as soon as possible. I don't know how much longer this building will stand. He thought to himself.

Once they were able to get to Roy, Oliver felt the dread creeping in. Roy was lying face down with a beam across his back. He couldn't tell just yet if the kid was still breathing and he found his mind suddenly filling with memories of seeing Tommy trapped in the rubble of CNRI after the Undertaking. He knew then that he simply had to get Roy out of there, alive!

"He's still alive." Sara commented as she noticed the subtle movement of Roy drawing in a breath. She breathed a sigh of relief with Oliver as they moved to Roy's side.

Roy slowly opened his eyes. He felt like an elephant was sitting on his back making it hard to breathe. His ribs hurt really bad again and his ears were still ringing from the blast. As he slowly took in his surrounding he saw Oliver and Sara standing above him. He closed his eyes in relief. His Team would get him out.

"We need to get this beam off his back." Oliver stated as knelt down to check Roy's pulse. He noticed Roy's eyes flutter open at his touch. "Don't worry, we're going to get you out of there. Just hang on."

"It looks like part of the beam hit this desk, it's keeping the full weight of the beam off his back. Although I suspect that he'll have a nice bruise where his quiver is." Sara commented.

"Okay, let's lift the beam enough to pull him out. You ready?" Oliver asked as he looked to Sara.

"Let me help." Lance commented as he stepped to where Sara was standing, ready to lift the beam. "He's under there because he was protecting me, let me help."

"Okay, you help Arrow lift and I'll pull him out." Sara instructed as she moved to be able to do just that.

"On three." Oliver commented as he bent to lift the beam, ignoring the protest from his shoulder. "One, two... three."

Lance grunted as he helped Oliver lift the beam. Thankfully they didn't have to lift too much before there was enough room for Sara to pull Roy free. The kid let out a small grunt of pain at the movement but surprisingly lifted himself up off the ground immediately after being freed.

"Arsenal, you good?" Oliver asked as he looked into his young protégé's eyes. Roy simply gave a small nod before turning to look for his bow.

"Looking for this young man?" The Chief asked as he held out Roy's red bow.

"Yes sir, thank you." Roy said quietly, noting that his voice changer had been damaged and was now not working. He also soon realized that his earpiece was busted when he heard Sara talking into the comms, updating the rest of the Team.

"Let's get out of here." Lance commented.

Oliver reached back and pulled out a grappling arrow. He quickly fired it to the building on the only clear corner for two blocks. He anchored the other end and turned to give instructions.

"Canary, you good to take the Detective?" He asked, knowing that Roy probably wouldn't have the strength needed at the moment.

"Yeah, let's go." Sara answered as she turned to her dad. She pulled out a strip of black silk and wrapped it around the wire that would take them to safety. She grabbed her dad and quickly exited the building.

"You next." Oliver turned to Roy and ordered.

"No." Roy argued with a shake of his head. "You get the Chief out of here first. I'll be right behind you."

Oliver and Roy stared at each other for a moment before Oliver reluctantly agreed. The kid was right. They needed to get the Chief out of there before the building gave the rest of the way.

"Sir." Oliver turned to the Chief, offering his hand. The Chief stepped towards him and Oliver quickly grabbed him with his right arm and hooked his bow onto the wire with his left. The two found themselves on the ground moments later. Oliver turned back to the building and could see it starting to shudder again. The building wouldn't hold much longer.

Roy felt the building begin to shake again and had a feeling that it was about to collapse. As soon as Oliver and the Chief were safely on the ground he grabbed one of the metal batons in a pocket on his suit and hooked it over the wire. He would have used his bow like Oliver had, however his was a recurve, not a compound so there was no way to do so. When he was about ten feet from the rest of the Team he felt the wire shake before going completely slack. He quickly let go of one side of the baton and dropped to the ground. He rolled when he hit the ground to keep from landing too hard, however the drop caused his ribs to flare up in pain again and he had to pause for a moment as he knelt on the ground to catch his breath once more.

Once Roy caught his breath he quickly stood and moved to where the rest of his Team was gathered. He gave a brief nod to Oliver and Sara to let them know that he would be fine.

Oliver breathed a sigh of relief when Roy stood and walked towards them. He had seen the wire go slack and had worried that the drop would cause Roy more injuries. However the kid didn't seem to be hurt any more than he been from the explosion. It was as he turned back around to address the two SCPD officers that he noticed the Chief staring at him intently.

"When did you get that?" The Chief asked the Arrow, pointing to his right shoulder.

"Sniper's first shot." Oliver answered honestly before turning to the Detective.

"We can clean up here. Get your Team home and those injuries seen to." Lance told Oliver, knowing that the wound in the young man's shoulder would need tending to, not to mention whatever injuries Roy had. "Thank you for pushing me out of the way back there." Lance said as he reached out to shake Roy's hand.

"Anytime Detective." Roy answered, returning the handshake, before turning to leave with his Team.

"Call us if you need anything." Oliver instructed before he, Sara, and Roy disappeared into the night.

AN: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please leave me a review to let me know! To all my American readers... Happy Thanksgiving!