"How's it going with Roy?" Dig asked as Oliver entered Star labs, looking frustrated.
"Not well!" he said.
"I don't know the kid all too well, but he seems to be five kinds of angry." Diggle noted.
"You might be underestimating." Oliver said, rising another rung. "Roy was mad at the world before he was injected with Mirakuru."
"You say you've seen this before?" Dig asked.
"Slade Wilson." Oliver said, lunging up another notch. "He was my friend."
"Troubling use of past tense there." Cisco noted.
"I thought I could help him control it. I was wrong. But I know more now, and I'm not going to make the same mistake with Roy." Oliver said.
A beeping caught their attention. Oliver jumped down as Cisco pulled up the alert program on his computer. "What's that?" he asked.
"Iron Heights." He said absently. "Due to their low security post-Undertaking, I thought it would be a good idea to keep an eye on their internal communication for a while."
"You hacked into a prison system network?" Oliver said in surprise.
"Like you didn't have Laurel do the same thing in your old lair." Cisco countered.
"Never said I had a problem with it." Oliver said.
"Iron Heights just put out a BOLO for Ben Turner, aka Bronze tiger, which, btw, is a terrible nickname, because tigers are not bronze." Cisco said.
"You're just mad because you didn't nickname him." Caitlin said.
"Turner escaped?" Oliver asked.
"Killed ten guards on his way out." Cisco added.
"You think that would have made the news." Diggle noted sourly.
"Iron Heights is better at keeping secrets than they are at keeping prisoners." Cisco quipped.
"Any idea where he's headed?" Oliver asked.
"No." he said.
"Get one." Oliver demanded as he moved towards the showers.
On the rooftop of the building on Redwood and Larkspur. Milo Armitage checked his watch was his bodyguards moved warily around the roof, semi-automatic weapons drawn and ready. But not ready fast enough as Ben Turner came up behind Armitage and lay his claws over his heart.
Tell your men to take a walk." Turner said.
Armitage glanced over at his men. "Leave us." He told them.
"They can leave their weapons, too." Turner said. The bodyguards put the weapons on the roof and backed off back down the access stairs. "Thank you for the early release." Turner said, releasing Armitage who turned to face him. "Thought about taking off, but I'm… curious. Who would break a stranger out of prison?"
"Someone who wishes to hire you for a job." Armitage replied. "I need you to help my men retrieve a certain item." He pulled a picture out of his jacket pocket and showed it to Turner. "This is the item. You know it, yes?"
Turner stared at the picture for a moment. The guy had balls, he had to give him that. But did he have the money to back it up? "Yes, I do." He said finally. "Do you know what you're messing with here?" he asked. Armitage nodded in affirmation. "Won't be cheap."
"This is not a problem." Armitage assured him.
"You do know that thing could kill hundreds of people?" Turner said, wondering just how cold this cat actually was. He got his answer a moment later.
"No, Mr. Turner. It will kill thousands."
Back at the warehouse, Green Arrow demonstrated an exercise on a wing chun dummy as Roy watched, unimpressed. Green Arrow finished and backed off. "Now you." He told his protégé. "Go slowly." Roy approached the dummy and started throwing punches at the center column. "Stop!" the vigilante ordered. "This is not about learning to throw a punch. This is about learning to control your strength." He reminded Roy.
"First water slapping, now this." Roy said as he slowly started to mimic Oliver's movements. "When are you going to run out of ways to make me look stupid?!" Aggravated, he launched a devastating single punch at the dummy, knocking the top off clean. "All I'm learning is new ways to get pissed off." He said, glaring at Oliver. "And in case you haven't noticed, I'm already pretty good at that."
"There's nothing wrong with anger, Roy. Anger is energy. But you need to learn to channel it in a positive way." Green Arrow reminded him calmly.
"Like putting the hurt on guys going after the city. Let me try hitting something that'll actually hit back." Roy asked.
"Too soon." Oliver replied warily.
"Get me out there with you. One night." He begged. "All this, it would be a lot easier to take." Green Arrow remained silent, considering.
"Alright, one night, but if you blow it, you'll be lucky to get out in the field again while you still have that stuff in you." Green Arrow said and Roy nodded at him gratefully.
At a swank Chinese restaurant downtown. Moira was led over to the table where Walter was sitting, and she smiled at her ex-husband.
"Moira." Walter said pleasantly as he rose. Moira walked faster towards him, but stopped when another man rose as well.
"Ah. I didn't realize we'd have company." She said warily.
"This is Mark Frances." Walter introduced. "Mark's CFO at Kardak Holdings. We've been putting in some hours with the party's election steering committee."
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Mark said, shaking her hand.
"Those are words I'm not accustomed to hearing these days." Moira said with a wry smile as she took off her coat. Walter hung it on a nearby rack as she took her seat next to him.
"Oh, well." Mark was saying. "You were a lioness doing what she had to do to protect her cubs. You know, I'm not the only person in Starling who sees it that way."
"That's a comfort." Moira said.
"It's the truth. Please." He told her as they all sat down.
"Thank you." Moira said politely, then glanced over at Walter. "Well, it's unlike you to show such an interest in politics, Walter." She noted.
"It's part of my new position at the Starling National Bank." Walter said. "My Board of Directors is very concerned about the trajectory of the city."
"You mean Sebastian Blood." Moira surmised.
"Yeah." Mark agreed. "We believe that his policies will bankrupt Starling within the next eight months. Not that the average voter cares. They're all caught up in his charisma." He groused, causing Moira to think that maybe her son and future daughter-in-law's investigation into Blood wasn't that far off after all.
"And he's not running against a viable opponent." Moira noted, taking a sip of water.
"Blood's trounced every potential candidate we've focus-tested." Walter revealed.
"But we believe that he's vulnerable on regulation." Mark added.
"Even if he is, it hardly matters." Moira stated. "Banking regulations are an SEC issue. Starling City needs to use the means at a city's disposal."
Mark chuckled. "Walter said you were smart."
Moira looked at him, realization dawning over her face. "But you didn't invite me to dinner to hear my opinions. You want to hear my positions." She realized. "You want me to run against Sebastian Blood." She realized.