Oliver witnesses Cadmus' in action first hand while Kara and Nyssa have a chat...


(National City – 08:28)

Oliver exited Noonan's with a whole lot of sticky buns. He'd cooked dinner last night, and although Kara approved of his chicken salad, he decided not to make breakfast, hoping to surprise her with sticky buns. Alex had left to go to the DEO, so he told Nyssa to go sit in her apartment in case she woke up. It didn't matter who Kara was with during these times, it was just for the best that she wasn't alone. Hastily walking the streets of National City, Oliver glanced at his wrist-watch once again… 08:30, on the dot. He pulled out his phone and dialled Winn. After a couple of rings, he answered.

"Hello. You're on speaker."

"Any luck?" asked Oliver.

"Unfortunately, no. Looks like we're going to have to pull off Merlyn Job 2.0"

"Alright. What's the plan?" asked Oliver.

"Roy told us how you did it on your world. Not going to work exactly the same here." Winn's high-pitched voice was replaced by the sound of J'onn's gruff, who continued to explain the plan, "The building security is hired through a company called Blackhawk Security. Winn can hack the employee list and that's how we can get somebody into the monitoring hub as a guard. The only problem is the server room itself."

"What about it?"

"There are only two ways to enter the room. Either through Lacroix's biometrics or an access code that changes every 45 seconds. We're most likely going to have to use Lacroix's biometrics." Oliver sighed as he heard the revelation.

"Just keep me updated" said Oliver as he hung up the phone.

He continued walking through the streets, making his way back to Kara's apartment. He entered into a short alleyway, spotting a familiar short woman standing in the middle of the pathway, smoking a cigarette. Lyra. Winn's girlfriend. Oliver hadn't met her before, but he'd seen pictures and heard of her.

"Lyra!" called out Oliver. The lady whipped around, cautiously looking at Oliver.

"Who are you and how do you know me?" she demanded.

"My name is Oliver. I'm friends with Winn" explained Oliver.

"Oh, great" she replied sarcastically, confusing Oliver, "What, has he sent you as a mediator?"

"Uhh, no, I just… You two aren't together anymore?"

"Didn't he tell you? Where have you been for the past two months?"

"I was… out of town."

Lyra simply scoffed as she threw the cigarette to the floor and stomped it. Just as she and Oliver were about to walk separate ways, two vans pulled up on either side of the alleyway, blocking their path out. Two men in all black clothing got out from each van, holding the Stellmoor International pistols that Oliver recognised immediately. Cadmus agents.

"Don't even think about using your powers" screamed one Cadmus agent at Lyra. Oliver and Lyra hesitantly raised their hands as the Cadmus agents approached them. The two in front of Oliver stood focused on him, while he heard the other two place power dampening cuffs on Lyra.

"Hey, what about this one? He's not an alien" said one of the agents in front of Oliver.

"No witnesses" replied an agent behind Oliver. The words caused Oliver to quickly spring into action, as he quickly grabbed the wrist of the agent closer to him, twisting the gun out of his hand and spinning around to throw him to the floor with an arm toss. The first move Slade had taught him. The other agent fired a shot at where Oliver's head would've been if Oliver hadn't ducked a split-second earlier, as he crouched on one knee and quickly used the gun to fire a shot at the other agent's shoulder. Oliver stood up and turned back around to fire at agents dragging Lyra away. He shot the one holding her, but the other agent managed to jump in the van and drive off as Oliver's shots didn't penetrate the bulletproof van. Lyra had been hit in the crossfire as Oliver spotted blood around her while she lay on the floor. He quickly pulled out his phone to dial 9-1-1, but there was no need as Clark landed next to Oliver just as he came up next to Lyra's body.

"I'll take her to the DEO" said Clark, as he quickly picked up her body and burst up into the sky.


(Kara's Apartment - 08:37)

Kara was met with the surprise of Nyssa sitting on her couch when she woke up, looking at the picture frame of her and Alex from when they were just teenagers.

"Nyssa?" she said, out of surprise.

"Kara" said Nyssa, as she raised her head to look at her, "Oliver's gone to get breakfast, so he just told me to come here in case you woke up."

"Oh, okay" replied Kara, as she walked to the kitchen.

"Sorry, I hope you don't think I'm intruding, I just couldn't stop admiring this photo of you and Alex."

"No, it's alright. It's one of my favourite pictures with her."

"I'm sure. You can tell just from looking at it how much you two care for each other" said Nyssa, as joined Kara by the kitchen island table, "I wish I had a relationship like that with my sister."

"You have a sister?" asked Kara out of surprise.

"Had" said Nyssa, correcting her, "She was on Lian Yu when the explosions went off. I doubt she made it out of there alive."

"Why didn't you two have the best relationship?" asked Kara curiously.

"Well, when you're born and raised as members of the League of Assassins… let's just say you don't exactly have traditional sibling relationships."

"Not to make an understatement, but the League of Assassins definitely don't sound like the type of people who you'd want to raise a child."

"Of course not. As part of the League, you're forced to become a warrior with little remorse. You're taught to not be… human."

"You're not like that" complimented Kara.

"I would be… if it wasn't for Sara. She's the one who taught me compassion and love."

"How did you and Sara meet?"

"I rescued her off Lian Yu. I found her at death's door, starving."

"Are there any happy stories from Lian Yu?" asked Kara playfully.

"Not that I know of, darling" replied Nyssa, equally playful.


Oliver strolled into Kara's apartment like a confident façade, slightly surprised to see Nyssa and Kara sitting together at the kitchen island.

"You've returned, husband" quipped Nyssa mischievously, causing Kara to almost spit out her coffee.

"Husband?" said Kara, bewildered.

"Yes, didn't you know Oliver and I are married?" asked Nyssa.

"Divorced" added Oliver quickly, before he held up the Noonan's packet and placed it in front of Kara on the table, "Got you more sticky buns."

"Thanks" said Kara as she immediately pulled one out and ate it. Oliver looked back to Nyssa, who was still smiling mischievously before she stood up, "Where are you going?" asked Kara.

"I should get breakfast for myself. No offense but sticky buns aren't my thing" said Nyssa playfully, "No Noonan's in Nanda Parbat of course. I'll see you two later" she said with a smile before exiting the apartment. Oliver watched her leave, but was jolted back into looking at Kara when he felt her hit his arm as soon as Nyssa was out the door.

"How could you not tell me that you and Nyssa were married?" asked Kara, with her tone a mix of shock and pleasant surprise.

"We weren't really married" replied Oliver, but Kara was still shocked.

"You brought your ex-wife here? That's even weirder than Slade and Roy working together despite Slade having once kidnapped Roy's girlfriend… who's your sister!" rambled Kara, causing Oliver to chuckle a little.

"Nyssa and I were very complicated. It's a long story" replied Oliver.

"We have time" replied Kara quickly. Oliver thought he was picking up a hint of jealousy in her words, but perhaps realised that he was reading too much into it.

"Alright…" he said, before beginning the story, "Nyssa's father was Ra's Al Ghul, the leader of the League of Assassins. Ra's wanted me to take his place and be his heir, an offer which I initially declined until I learnt the only way to take him down would be from the inside of his organisation. So I joined the League, and to gain his trust I had to participate in an arranged marriage with Nyssa. Arranged… There were no feelings between us. It wasn't consummated either, and Nyssa annulled the marriage a long time ago. She still calls me husband just to mess with me."

"Hmm... Ok. It's not that long of a story" quipped Kara.

"I left out a lot." As he finished his sentence, Oliver's phone buzzed and he saw the text message from Alex.

'Lyra stabilised. She's going to be okay.'

Oliver let out a sigh of relief as he heard the good news. The homicides were increasing, with the death toll rising to 8 with just two days having passed. Now, they were kidnapping aliens too. Cadmus had never been this bold before, and the only way to stop them would be cut them off from Stellmoor, soon.


(The DEO - 12:23)

J'onn and Winn solemnly watched the news report that was coming in live. A car bomb explosion in New York, with nearly a dozen casualties, most of them alien. More abductions, more murders elsewhere in the world. National City could soon be a warzone at this rate. Cadmus claimed responsibility for the attacks not long after. J'onn and Winn heard the woosh behind them as Clark flew into the DEO, wearing a look of frustration.

"I can't be everywhere J'onn" said Clark as he walked towards them.

"I know. I've sent several agents out there on the streets but there's not much else we can do" replied J'onn.

"These attacks are only going to escalate, we have to do something now."

"Clark, we can't do anything until Lacroix is out of his office. 30 seconds isn't enough time to decipher the code and the only place we can get Lacroix's biometrics are from his office."

"So let's get him out" said Clark adamantly, "Winn, get me a direct line to his office."

"Wait, what?" replied Winn in surprise, "Are you going to just ask him to give us access to the mainframe servers nicely?"

"I did an interview with him years back, maybe he'll remember and I can get him out of the building for another. I know it's a long shot, but we have to try." Winn nodded, as he quickly searched for the number to Lacroix's office, promptly typing it in to a mobile phone and handing it to Clark. He placed it on speaker so that J'onn and Winn could hear what Lacroix was saying.

"Stellmoor International, how may I help you?" They were surprised to hear the voice of a young female answering instead of Lacroix. It was probably his secretary.

"Uhh, hi, I'd like to speak with Mr Lacroix. Tell him it's Clark Kent, from the Daily Planet."

"Alright, just give me one moment sir."

After waiting for a couple of more seconds, Lacroix's smooth, tame voice blared up on the speaker, "Clark Kent. Long time, no talk, my friend." Clark had to stop himself from cringing as he heard Lacroix call him 'a friend'.

"Simon, how are you?"

"Good, good, my friend. And you?"

"Never been better. So much has changed since we last spoke, I'm surprised you remembered me."

"Of course. You've won another Pulitzer and Stellmoor International has grown to a global powerhouse. Partly due to you of course, that piece you did all those years back was influential in getting us off the ground."

"Glad to hear it" replied Clark, even though he meant the total opposite, "I know this is short notice, but I'm in Seattle for the next couple of days, and I was wondering if you'd like to do another interview."

"Oh, no, sorry my friend, I'm stuck in shareholder meetings for the rest of today and whole of tomorrow. In fact, I'm late for one right now."

"I won't hold you up any longer then. Perhaps another time."

"Another time."

Clark promptly hung up the phone before speaking up.

"If he's in shareholder meetings that means he won't be in his office" he said.

"Yeah. Winn, you got in to the Blackhawk employee list, right?" asked J'onn.

"Yeah, I just need to know whose name to slot in" replied Winn.

"Put yours. Clark will enter Lacroix's office from the balcony, get the biometrics and then make his way to the servers. You can walk him through it" said J'onn, "The guards change shifts at 15:00. That's when we make our move."


A/N: Next chapter, Clark and Winn break into Stellmoor International...