Chapter 36

Oliver sighed and stared down at his unconscious sister. He wasn't an idiot, and he nodded along to whatever Sara was saying about a possible trap. It was too coincidental to be anything else; someone knew they were looking for Roy and had set the bait. There was a brief consideration where Oliver thought it could be the hunters, but this didn't feel like them. He didn't know how he knew, but it seemed too convoluted for them. If they wanted bait, he felt they'd just go after his sister again not her boyfriend.

"I know it's a trap," he said. "But we don't have much choice."

"Is the boy that important?" Malcolm asked with a sneer. He didn't like the idea that his daughter was dating some rat from the Glades; she was a Merlyn and a Queen. In his opinion, she could do much better. "Let him die if he isn't dead already. Walking into a known trap with an unknown assailant is foolhardy."

Oliver glared at Mr. Merlyn, but Sara quickly stepped in. "As much as I hate to say this," she said with a pinched frown, "but he's right. At least on the latter part. It would be suicidal for us to walk into the trap. We have no idea who's set the bait. It could be the hunters or…" She trailed off because she really had no idea who this could be.

"Does it matter?" Oliver asked. "It's a trap either way, and we need to find out who is producing the mirakuru. I am not going to let my streets be flooded with anymore of those maniacs."

The Canary conceded defeat on that point; they hadn't had much clue who was using the mirakuru, and this could be their best shot at figuring it out. With a sigh, she glanced down at the still sleeping Thea and tried to formulate a plan that didn't require them all dying.

"She needs to go home first," the emerald archer stated, referring to his sister. "Then we'll go… Felicity, what was that address again?" In his ear, he listened to her rattle it off.

"Oliver," she practically whispered. "Be careful."

He smiled but didn't respond; he'd try his best. However, Sara was right; they had no idea what they were walking into. There were a number of enemies they all had, but with each of them, Oliver couldn't see how they would have gotten their hands on mirakuru. That had died on the island, and it worried him to think somehow it had gotten off.

"You're going to take her home, I take it?" he said as he turned towards the Dark Archer. "I doubt you want involved in this."

"Good observation," Malcolm answered. He didn't want to tangle with mirakuru, and he didn't care to really get in-between whoever was gunning for Oliver. However… "But no. I will help where I can."

"Why?" Sara asked. "I doubt this is the hunters doing. They would have to know you won't care about Thea's boyfriend. It means it's probably someone after myself or Oliver."

"And I need you both against the hunters," Malcolm responded. "Preferably in one piece." It didn't ring completely true, but neither Sara nor Oliver commented on it.

"Sara, can you take Thea home then?" he asked. "I'll go with Malcolm to this address."

"Why me?" she asked, slightly offended to suddenly being a courier.

"Because you're right. I don't trust him," Oliver explained. "And I don't trust that if I left you two alone that you would both be alive by the time I returned."

Sara nodded, "Most likely." She still wanted to beat Malcolm's face in for touching Nyssa and bringing the hunters here. She scooped Thea up and headed out to her bike. There was little time to waste, and she didn't want to leave Oliver with the Dark Archer for long. As long as Malcolm needed Oliver, she didn't think anything would happen to the emerald archer, but it wasn't Malcolm worried her. It was whoever had planned this; her instincts were screaming at her, and she had learned long ago to trust them.

Once Sara had left with Thea, Malcolm turned to Oliver. "You have no idea who's doing this?"

"I have one," Oliver whispered, "But he's dead and gone." With a wave, he led Malcolm outside and to his bike. They each took their own transportation to the address in question, and without needing to say a word, they both stopped two blocks away. It was just another office building on the outskirts of town. There wasn't anything special about the location or the building itself.

"I don't' see anyone on the outside patrolling," Malcolm stated when they had regrouped. "But I would think that there are on the inside."

"Just not in sight," Oliver said in agreement. "If this is a trap, they're going to want us in it as far as possible before they spring it."

"Did you want to wait for Ms. Lance?" he asked.

Oliver shook his head. "Better if only two of us spring the trap."

"That way she can save us if we need it," he said; it wasn't a question. This made the most sense. "The loading docks might be the better way to enter."

"Agreed," Oliver stated. "I was never one for front doors."

The two archers stayed close to the shadows; using the dead of night as their cover, they made their way around the ten story building. They were able to quickly locate the loading docks, and with the help of one of Oliver's exploding arrows, they broke down the back door. Both archers had arrows notched, and they waited to see if anyone would come bursting from the hole Oliver just created. When nothing happened, Malcolm entered first and check the left side of the hallway while Oliver checked the right.

Felicity worked hard to pull up schematics of the building, but she had quickly discovered it was like the building didn't exist. The floor plan wasn't anywhere to be found; the archers were going to have to do this blind. Unwittingly, the two actually worked together with ease; their training allowed them to communicate without the use of words, and when one moved, the other would as well to compensate their new blind spot.

It wasn't long before they found themselves in the lobby of the office building, and still, there wasn't any resistance. Nonetheless, they didn't drop their stance or bows. This was beginning to stink more and more like a trap than ever before. It made no sense for Roy's phone to ping here, then there be nothing.

"Felicity," Oliver risked whispering. "Any chance you can find security cameras for this building?"

"Not without power," she explained.

Malcolm gestured to the front desk where a dusty computer sat, and it didn't take long for Oliver to notice the power button was lit up. The building looked forgotten, but it obviously wasn't. "Check the city power grids. See how much power this place is draining, then try for the cameras. There's electricity running."

Still alone, Malcolm shot Oliver a look then moved towards the front desk. The entire way, the emerald archer kept his bow up and ready to cover the Dark Archer if need be. Once at the computer, Malcolm slowly placed his bow down and booted up the computer. He wasn't as skilled as Felicity when it came to IT things, but he knew his way around business folders. It didn't take him long to locate a company's name and what they did here.

"This was one of my subsidiaries," Malcolm explained. "They went bankrupt soon after the Glades collapsed."

"Oh?" That was all Oliver had to remark on.

"You don't believe I set up this trap?" the Dark Archer asked, a bit of teasing in his tone. Unable to help himself, Oliver grinned.

"Crappy trap if you're telling me about it," he replied. "What did they do here?"

"Research, medical grade," Malcolm explained with a frown. "This place hasn't been put up for auction yet. There is a reasonable chance that a lot of the medical equipment could be left over."

"Explains why someone with mirakuru might use this place," he nodded.

"I was able to access the cameras after some work," Felicity explained. "But Oliver… I think someone let me in. I was hitting a wall over and over with my head…Well not literally with my head, but anyway, I wasn't getting through. Then suddenly."

"You did," he frowned. He didn't like the sound of that. "What do you see?"

"The building looks empty. I don't… Oh!" Felicity said.

"Felicity? Felicity, what is it?" he growled, impatience leaking into his tone.

"Get your panties out of a bunch… Not that I think you wear panties."

"Felicity!"

"Right, there's a camera near the stairs showing a basement, but I can't access any of the cameras down there."

"Sounds good," Oliver said. Malcolm picked up his bow and followed the emerald archer to the stairs, using Felicity and the cameras as a guide through the building.

It was still eerily quiet, and it had both archers on edge. Muscles were coiled, bow strings just as tight, and they were ready at this point for whatever could be thrown at them. They weren't entirely sure what to expect when they reached the basement, but what Oliver saw caused him to drop his bow just a fraction. Seconds later, Oliver felt something slam into him from behind; it felt like a freight train.

The emerald archer smashed into the medical equipment and chair. Everything scattered, and Ollie quickly got back to his feet in time to dodge the next attack. He froze at the sight of enraged Roy though, and the kid took that time to come at Oliver again. Malcolm, however, didn't hesitate putting an arrow into Roy's back.

"Wait! Don't!" Oliver called out. "Roy you need to calm down. This is… the mirakuru." He was impressed that the young man had survived the process, but obviously, psychosis had already set in. The pure anger and complete look of lost on Roy's face said it all.

"You won't take Thea from me!" he snarled. "She's mine! Get away from her!"

"I didn't do anything to Thea," Oliver tried to reason, but somehow in Roy's haze, the mirakuru-infused boy pointed to a television sitting in the corner. On the screen was the camera footage from the other building with Thea unconscious at Oliver's feet, and the emerald archer hissed at the footage. This wasn't good; once someone on mirakuru was set off, it was hard to get them to calm down to listen to any sort of reason.

"Brother Roy sees the truth," a new voice said, and out from the other side of the room, a man in a skull mask emerged. "He sees the destruction and damage done to this city." For the moment, Roy backed off enough to stop his assault against Oliver, which the archer was grateful for. He could easily beat the boy, even with mirakuru, in hand to hand due to experience and control, but he didn't want to put Thea's boyfriend in a grave or hospital if he could avoid it. "Why do you stop me? We both want the same thing for this city, to save it."

"The last man to say that to me dropped a city on innocent people," Oliver hissed, and he glanced over to see Malcolm had vanished. However, he caught glimpse of something in the shadows, and he could tell that the older archer was trying to quietly close the distance between himself and the masked man.

"I want to save the city!" the man in the mask snapped. "Together, we could do great things. We could stop the destruction of our beloved home."

Oliver shook his head. He didn't understand why every time the criminals would try to sway him; he was firm in his stance. This lunatic wasn't going to budge him anymore than the previous ones had. "The only thing I'm going to stop is you."

The unknown Blood scowled, but before he could trigger Roy again, he was slammed into. His mask stayed on, but he ended up sprawled on the floor, the Dark Archer standing over him. The alderman had never seen Malcolm in costume, so he had no idea who he was looking as besides another archer.

"If you won't help me save the city, then you can rot under it!" Blood screamed, holding up a button.

"Crap," Oliver murmured just as Roy came at him again. The archer ducked the first attack, and dropped down to kick Roy twice in the stomach. The kid didn't even blink, but when Oliver jumped up and caught him hard in the chest with both feet. Roy finally stumbled back, and Oliver continued his assault by snatching Roy's arm and throwing him into a nearby pillar. Oliver ducked the kid's attempted grapple, and the archer slammed a fist as hard as he could into Roy's kidney. Once he had done that, he went for the nerve that ran in the leg and hit it hard. Roy crumbled from the unexpected pain.

"Don't let him!" Oliver called over to Malcolm, who was currently keeping Blood from setting off whatever bomb he had placed in the building. The Dark Archer had one foot on the alderman's throat, and the other on his wrist. Blood couldn't think straight enough to set the bomb off, and the elder Merlyn had no intention of moving until he stopped kicking.

With Roy bent over, Oliver grabbed him and flung him over the shoulder and into the concrete floor. The archer dropped with Roy and placed a knee on the kid's throat. In the daze of the attack, Roy didn't much up a fight as his oxygen was cut off. He went to punch the archer, the Oliver easily maneuvered Roy into an arm lock while keeping pressure on his trachea. Finally, Roy blissfully drifted off, and Oliver stood painfully. It didn't matter that the kid had no experience in an actual fight; any of his punches would hurt and leave a nasty bruise tomorrow.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Felicity asked nervously.

"Both alive, found Roy," he hissed into his comm.

"You don't sound fine."

"I'm fine," he echoed to Felicity's annoyance. He made his way to Malcolm's side, and bent to pull the detonator from Blood's hand. "You're going to jail." He had just brushed the trigger when gunfire erupted in the basement, and both Malcolm and Oliver had to jump for cover.

"Friends of yours?" Merlyn couldn't help but ask. With Oliver around, he was constantly getting shot at.

"Apparently," he growled as he watched the man in the mask stand and disappear behind the five or so gunmen. Again the shots were wilder than anything.

"Enjoy the rubble archers!" Blood called out, but nothing happened. "Hey that's!" was all both archers heard followed by more erratic gunfire. Oliver and Malcolm glanced out from their cover to see Sara dealing with the gunmen.

Both notched arrows and moved to help dispatch the remaining men; however, when they were done, Oliver quickly noticed that while Sara had the trigger, the man in the mask was still gone. "Did you see him without the mask?" he asked Sara.

"No sorry," she sighed. "I was busier with trying to keep you two alive."

"Thanks," Oliver said as he thought back on the man. Nothing about him seemed overly familiar, and for that, Oliver was grateful. He wasn't sure what he would do if he had been wrong about a certain someone's death.

"Perhaps we shouldn't linger where they are explosives just above our heads?" Malcolm suggested, and neither one of the other vigilantes could disagree with that. Oliver had Malcolm lift Roy off the ground while he fetched the laptop he had seen during the fighting. It had bullet holes, but Felicity had been able to pull off information off a riddled laptop last time, so he hoped…

"Hospital and secure ward," Oliver said to Malcolm.

"Oliver is he..?" Sara asked.

"He is," he confirmed. "He tried to kill me because he saw I had knocked Thea out."

"Then maybe we should…" she started, but she saw the look on Oliver's face. "He's not going to get better. The psychosis will only get worse. You, more than anyone, know this!"

"I'm not going to kill him," he growled. "And neither are you. I screwed up last time. I won't this time. We'll figure this out." He looked her dead in the eye and said, "We could try… and figure out the cure." Malcolm hid his shock; there was a cure to this?

Sara sighed and growled under her breath, but she nodded. "Then let me take him to the hospital. I'll call my dad on the way, and we'll get him secured as best we can."

Sara moved towards Oliver, and he stopped her for a brief second. Lowering his head, he whispered, "Thank you." And he meant it completely. If he could help Roy, he couldn't kill him. "Be careful. Who knows how long he'll be unconscious for."

"I'll be fine," Sara stated as she hauled Roy over her bike.

"The mirakuru has a cure?" Malcolm asked standing next to Oliver.

"Whoever that man in the mask is, he's familiar with what mirakuru does to the body and mind," Oliver said instead. He didn't intent to answer Malcolm dead on. "He has to be getting the mirakuru from somewhere. We have to find his source and keep him from producing anymore human time bombs."

"This place shut down should slow his operation," Malcolm stated, even he ignored his prior question. He could tell that this mirakuru was a sore subject for Oliver, and he wouldn't push, not yet at least.

"I still don't understand what this was about though," Oliver sighed, waving his hand at the building. "Why lure us here? Just to try and crush us under the rubble?"

"It doesn't make sense," Malcolm agreed.

"Oh god," Felicity murmured into their comms. "Oliver, you're… you're not going to like this, but I think I might have figured out what this was about."

"What is it Felicity?" he asked. He was ready for whatever she had to say, or he thought he was…

"There's been an explosion at the prison. It's a mass break-out," Felicity explained.

"A distraction then," Malcolm summarized. "They gave up a place of operation for a prison break."

"This must not be their main base then," Oliver sighed as he crouched down. He needed a moment to think. "How many broke out Felicity and which ones?"

"Not sure about the number yet," she said, her gulp was audible over the comm. "I'm working through which cell blocks were effected."

"You need to get back here man," Digg added. With this sort of event, they all needed to regroup, but Oliver was just exhausted. It never would end for him, and he couldn't help but thrust his fist into the dirt in anger. He "saved" Roy, but now, there was even more danger on the horizon.

Next to him, he watched as Malcolm crouched down next to him, and the two archers sat in silence for a brief uninterrupted moment. The Dark Archer offered Oliver the trigger Sara had gotten off the alderman, and with a muttered thanks, Oliver pushed the button and destroyed the medical facility. Who knew how many more were out there… he had to find the source and destroy it… and he had to clean up the prison break… he had to stop the man in the mask.. then there was Malcolm… Oliver tried to hide the frustration and utter fatigue from his face, but he was sure Malcolm caught a glimpse of something.

"Best we get back," Malcolm said, emphasizing that he would go with Oliver. He stood and offered his hand to the younger archer, and Ollie realized then Malcolm was offering him an actual alliance. The elder Merlyn would help him, and he could tell this had nothing to do with the League or prospective hunters. This was about the two of them, and with a nod, Oliver took Malcolm's hand.

"Yeah," he said in agreement. "We have a lot of work to do."

Note: So this was fun to write. Next chapter the fallout from the prison break and you see where this was all going with Slade. So I lied, we will get to see a bit of Talia next chapter and Nyssa either at the end of the chapter or the following chapter. Want to start to bring the hunters back in. They've been silent for some time now.