Inside of a Van, Night

"I don't think my eye holes line up properly," Felicity complained as she pulled her ski-mask and tried to realign it in the moving van. Laurel was sitting next to her, Diggle was in the front seat as the driver, and Oliver was sitting across from the women; the four were dressed all in black and in ski-masks. "Is anyone else having this problem?"

"Don't be nervous," Laurel told her.

"I'm a lot nervous. This is a big move, even for us." Felicity pointed out. "And we've cornered the market on big moves."

"Slade didn't give us any choice," Oliver reminded her.

"Yeah, as far as plans go, this is not a good one," Felicity said sourly.

"Felicity. This was your plan." Oliver reminded her.

"I didn't think you'd actually say yes," Felicity admitted to him, causing him to give her a particular surprised look.

"We're here," Dig announced to the three as they pulled up to the Queen Consolidated Applied Sciences building. Parking the van at the gate, the three exited the gate. As the team ran to the gate, Dig then started using wire cutters to open the fence. As they got inside, Oliver got behind one guard and put him in a sleeper hold, holding him until he collapsed. On the stairs, Laurel got behind the other guard and swept his leg, causing him to trip and tumble down the stairs; which knocked him out.

"Hey! That man used to work for me." Oliver said to Laurel crossly, noting she might have been a little too rough with him.

"And now he works for our enemy." Laurel reminded him.

"Security cameras are down," Felicity announced, pulling off her mask. "You all remember the skeleton key?" She asked them all rhetorically as she pulled the device out. "Courtesy of William Tockman, aka the Clock King. It can open any lock. Including this one." She explained and then held it against the door and it unlocked. As the four infiltrated the building, Felicity felt a flush of nostalgia. "This is where we met Barry." She remembered fondly.

Dig the pulled out explosives from his backpack. "These are plug n' play. Fasten them to what we talked about." He reminded them as he was passing them out. "Let the C4 do the rest."

"And up til now, the only things I've ever blown up are eardrums and glass windows." Laurel wryly mentioned.

"Quick and clean," Oliver said as the four spread out and fasten the bombs to various pieces of equipment.

"I'm a bomber. I can't believe I'm a bomber." Felicity muttered to herself as she was setting up the C4. "I wonder if I can list that on my résumé under special skills."

"Freeze!" A security guard told her with her gun drawn, as she slowly turned around, however, Oliver came to the rescue and knocked the guard on the back of his head rendering him unconscious. Oliver then proceeded to pick the man up in a fireman's carry.

"We have to go." He told her.

After placing the unconscious guards at a safe distance, the team got back into the van and drove off. "Thermal shows everybody's out," Felicity reported, staring at a thermal image scan she had run. Oliver then pulled out the detonator from his pocket and turned it on but found himself hesitating to destroy a part of his family's company.

"It's just a building, Oliver." Diggle reminded him calmly from the driver's seat. With a deep breath, Oliver pressed the button and instantly destroyed the Applied Sciences building; which he could see go up in flames from a distance.

Arrowcave Bunker, Morning

Pack in the bunker, Team Arrow was watching a press conference on the news given to the media by Queen Consolidated's new CEO, Isabel Rochev. "Cowards." She told the press. "Who else would needlessly destroy cutting edge, scientific and medical technology whose sole purpose is to make Star City a healthier and safer place? As CEO of Queen Consolidated, I have a message to the terrorist who committed this unspeakable act." Looking directly into the camera, as if she was speaking to Oliver himself. "You will be caught, and punished."

Felicity turned off the broadcast and took a seat back, annoyed. "For the record, I hated her before we found out she was a supervillain." She said bitterly.

"Ok. Slade's goal is to create an army of human weapons using the Mirakuru. To do that, he needs an industrial centrifuge." Oliver said going through Slade's plan out loud.

"Which having Isabel Rochev steal Queen Consolidated from your family gave him full access to." Laurel pointed out.

"But since Applied Sciences went kaboom, he can't use our technology, well, formerly ours, for his warped science experiments," Felicity said.

"Slade has had us on our heels for weeks. It's about time we took the fight to him." Dig said enthusiastically.

"All this will do is set him back. We have no way of knowing where the next attack is coming from." Oliver reminded them as he sighed in frustration.

"Well, we'll have to brainstorm later, you've got a meeting with your family's lawyer," Laurel said to Oliver. "And, I've got to go see my father in prison." She added then went to the staircase.

"Bet you'd never thought you'd say those words, huh?" Felicity quipped.

"You got that right," Laurel replied as she and Oliver left.

Iron Heights Prison

Kate Spencer sat down questioning Officer Quentin Lance still in his prison jumpsuit alongside his daughter, Laurel, Spencer's employee, and acting as her father's attorney. While his daughter and her boss were having their "lawyer talk", Quentin flashed back to the conversation that he had with Slade Wilson; something he had yet to tell Laurel.

"But you have suffered, as I have suffered. And we have both suffered at the hands of the same man." Slade said slowly and despite his efforts, it piqued Quentin's curiosity. "We let him into our lives, we chose to trust him, and he betrayed us. And he cost us those we love."

"Come on, Kate. My father doesn't know anything, can't you let this blow over?" Laurel asked.

"This isn't going to blow over, Laurel," Kate replied and turned to Quentin. "Your father was caught aiding and abetting the Vigilante. Working with him last year cost you your detective shield. Now, it can cost you 18 months in prison. We want his name. Do you know who the Green Arrow is?" She asked and Quentin thought back to the answer he received.

"Oliver Queen ... is the Green Arrow," Slade revealed and Quentin fell silent. "Ask Oliver ... or better yet ask Laurel, what really happened to her sister. Ask her what really happened to Sara on Lian Yu."

"I don't ... know for certain." Quentin finally answered with a half-truth. "I swear."

"Well. What about the masked blonde he works with? Do you know who she is?" Kate asked.

"No, definitely not." He answered suddenly and immediately, lying to protect Laurel.

Sighing in disappointment, the District Attorney then spoke up. "Well, unfortunately, we have no reason to believe you and until you give us a reason otherwise you're going to be staying right here, Officer Lance," Kate told him and then got up to leave. Now alone, Laurel got up out of her chair and looked at her dad.

"I'm sorry, about your situation dad." She said sadly. "But I'm gonna get you out I promise."

"Yeah ... right." He replied in a low voice.

"Dad, are you okay? You've seemed off all week." She noticed.

"Yeah, well prison will do that for 'yah." He pointed out. "But that's not it."

"Dad, whatever it is you can talk to me about it." She reassured him.

"I'm doing this to protect you Laurel, not him." He told her after taking a minute. "If he goes done so do you and I'll be damned if I let that happen. But as far as the Green Arrow is concerned he can go to hell for all I care."

"You've been supporting him for months, why the sudden change?" She asked surprised by his statements.

"I think maybe I'm just starting to finally see things clearly now." He mentioned but before he could elaborate any further the prison guard then walked in on them.

"Lance, time's up." The guard said and Quentin got up to be escorted back to his prison cell, leaving Laurel slightly worried about her dad's statements.

Queen Mansion

Moira and Oliver were sitting down in their family's lounge with Ned Foster, their family's financial attorney ."Where is Thea?" Ned asked, "She should be here for this, too."

"I doubt she's coming," Oliver answered him rather sadly.

"Well, I can't lie to either of you, it's bad," Ned admitted as he pulled out some paperwork from his briefcase. "If Isabel Rochev is one thing, it's thorough. She's been laying the foundation for this takeover for months."

"But we still own a majority of stock in the company, correct?" Oliver asked.

"Yes, but Isabel has diluted that stock to the point where it's worthless. On paper, you're virtually broke." Ned explained.

Oliver sighed, blaming himself for their current situation. "And what's the good news?"

"We can protect your assets." He handed the papers over to Oliver, "We need to move everything into a new trust that Isabel can't touch. All I need is the beneficiaries from the current trust to approve the transfer. The two of you and Thea. As much as I don't like where this is going, this is the only thing we can do, Oliver."

"Thea needs to sign off." He realized as he looked at Ned, with Thea's current mental state it was doubtful that she would help.

"Yes. And quickly." Ned said urgently, then got up with Oliver and Moira following.

"Thank you, Ned," Moira told the lawyer as he left. "Well, now I have to become mayor. It seems I'll need the income." She told her son, once they were alone.

"Losing the company wasn't your fault. It was mine." Oliver pointed out, "I let Isabel Rochev get the better of me."

"No." She reassured her son, placing a hand on his arm. "You always see the good in people, even if they don't deserve it. I know that better than most." She reminded him. "Isabel is a vindictive woman. She would have done this with or without your trust."

"How do you know?" He asked curiously "You told me months ago I couldn't trust her."

"Your father had a weakness for beautiful, strong women." She said reluctantly after a deep sigh.

Feeling the light bulb go off inside his head, Oliver then replied. "They were together?"

"Yes," She reaffirmed and Oliver felt sick to his stomach as he placed his hands over his eyes, knowing that he slept with his father's mistress. "She was still in business school at the time. The pretty intern that caught the CEO's eye." She went on and took a seat to sign the papers. "All right. You take this to Thea, and you convince her, somehow, to help us fight back." She ordered and Oliver took the papers, as his mother then left the room.

Verdant Nightclub

Oliver walked into the club and saw Laurel at the bar, going through her law books to find a way to her dad out. "Hey." She said once she saw him come in.

"Hey, is Thea here?" Oliver asked looking around.

"No, I haven't seen her." She answered.

"How's your dad?" He asked.

"He's willing to go to jail for me ... and you too, I think." She uttered bitterly.

"You know if there was a way to help your father, I'd do it." He told her.

"I know Ollie." She said in low voice.

I know you said you weren't worried, but Dig and I went to Roy's apartment." Felicity said as she and Dig joined the two. "It's empty."

"Seems like he cleared out a few days ago." Dig pointed out.

"Where the hell did he go?" Laurel asked.

Breathing out in frustration, Oliver spoke up. "Roy will have to wait." He said and the four went down the staircase to the bunker. "All right, we need to deal with Slade, figure out what his next move is. I know Slade. He is not going to stop till...

"Welcome home." A voice said to them with a grim chuckle and they saw that it was Slade dressed in his armored suit. As Team Arrow was shocked, Slade drew his sidearm and opened fire. Felicity screamed as Oliver grabbed her from behind and jumped over the railing with her for cover from under the stairs. Meanwhile, Laurel and Dig ran down as fast as they could into the bunker. Laurel grabbed her tonfa and her sonic device from the table. While Dig took out his gun and threw the power switch off, darkening the hideout.

As Slade began to search for his targets in the darkness, as he grew more agitated. Laurel turned on her sonic device on, shattering the glass in the bunker including the glass case that contained Oliver's suit. The device seemed to be working on Slade, as he dropped to one knee, and Laurel blitzed him to strike with her tonfa but the second she got in close, Slade jumped up and grabbed her by the throat with a single hand. "Sonic Dampeners in the helmet, I'm well prepared for your little cry, Canary," Slade told her smugly over the noise as started to choke her, causing to drop her weapons on the ground. Slade then threw Laurel across the room causing her to crash to the work table, he then stomped on the still active sonic device finally silencing it.

Seeing his chance, Diggle then ran at Slade, firing gun along the with. "Diggle stay back!" Oliver yelled trying to warn the man.

Diggle saw his bullets just harmlessly spark off Slade's body armor, doing no damage to him at all. "You're wasting your bullets," Slade told the fellow soldier as Dig's gun clipped empty. Dig then started hitting Slade in the face with the but of his gun, but like the first time it had no effect on him. Slade then punched Dig, sending him into Oliver's suit, hard.

"Stay here," Oliver told Felicity, then ran to Slade's location. He leaped over the table, grabbing a pair of steel escrima sticks while Slade pulled out his katana. The former student and teacher, trading blows with their weapons rapidly, but with his superior strength; Slade pressed his blade against Oliver's sticks which eventually began to cut into Oliver's arm deeply. As Oliver yelled in pain, Slade then flipped Oliver onto this back and he knelt down and punched him hard in the face; knocking Oliver out.

"Don't forget who taught you how to fight, kid," Slade growled at him as he then walked away. Felicity then moved to the junction box and turned it back on, restoring power the bunker. But as the lights came back on and the three began to come too, Oliver and the others eventually saw that Slade had vanished.

Star City General

Laurel was sitting in the hospital room, as her doctor came in with her results. "Okay, aside from a hairline fracture to your wrist and some rather nasty bruises; you're perfectly fine." Dr. Beth Schwartz told her.

"Thank you, doctor," Laurel said graciously and looked at Oliver.

"Mr. Queen. I recommend that you and your girlfriend be more careful when riding your motorcycle in the future." Dr. Schwartz cautioned him.

"I'll keep that in mind, doctor," Oliver replied as she left the room, just as Dig joined them.

"So what lame-ass excuse did you guys give them?" Dig asked.

"Motorcycle accident, you?" Laurel replied and asked.

"I fell down the stairs. Your penchant for bad cover stories is rubbing off on me." Digg witted turning to Oliver. "But more importantly, why was Slade there?

"And more importantly why didn't kill us, not that I'm complaining," Laurel asked.

"Probably to toy with us, to let us know that he knows where we are and that he can get to us at any time." Oliver speculated. "We need to get back to the bunker and tighten up security."

"We also need to find a way to kick Slade's ass," Laurel commented putting her jacket on to leave. "'Cause at this point the only chance we have of that happening is if one of develops powers, and I don't see that happening."

Verdant, Next Day

Walking into the stockroom, Oliver finally saw Thea as she was stacking bottles on the shelves. "Hey. We missed you yesterday." Oliver mentioned but Thea was just ignoring him as she continued to shelf bottles. "The meeting with Ned Foster." He went on but she just continued the silent treatment, causing him to sigh. "Thea, I know that you're mad at mom and me, but we may have found a way out of this financial mess where we aren't going to lose everything. Mom and I both signed, we just… we need your signature, and hopefully we can stop Isabel from ruining us." He said giving her the papers.

Without looking, Thea took the papers. "After you let her ruin us, you mean?" She insulted him.

"Yeah." He replied in low voice.

"It says Thea Queen here. Who's she?" She asked after glancing at the papers and at him, then left the stockroom.

"That's you, Speedy." He sighed wearily.

"No, it's not." She scoffed at the notion. "Robert Queen wasn't my father. Malcolm Merlyn was." Heading down to the bar, Thea briefly looked up in the air. "Thea Merlyn. Kind of has a nice ring to it." She said sarcastically.

"Merlyn was your biological father, but Dad raised you." He reminded her.

"Only because he didn't know I wasn't his." She shot back angrily trying to get away from him, causing him to grab her arm.

"Hey, hey! He," He finally managed to stop her get him to look at him directly. "He loved you. So do I, and I am still your brother."

"No, you're not. You're my half-brother." She reminded him hotly. "And you know who else is my half-brother? Tommy. Tommy, who I tried to kiss. I tried to kiss my half-brother ... before my real father killed him! That's how screwed up I am!" She said trying not to cry, as she was about to walk away again she stopped suddenly. "And you know the sad part? I was actually starting to be in a good place." She said, turning back to Oliver, "I had the club, I had Roy, I had a brother who wasn't lying to me. And for the first time in my crazy life, everything didn't seem so completely and totally messed up. I thought I was going to be ok. I'm so stupid." She said shaking her head.

"You're not stupid." He tried to counter.

"No, what I am ... is the daughter of two mass murderers. Not one, but two. So let's face it, Ollie. I was never going to be ok. It's not in my genes." She growled at him one last time before leaving the club.

"Thea—" He yelled at her.

"Oliver," Diggle said from behind him. "We need to discuss that security matter now." He told him urgently and as much as Oliver wanted to go after Thea, he followed Dig down the bunker instead.

"What do we have?" Oliver asked once he got to bunker.

"What Slade took," Felicity said.

"Took?" Oliver said surprised.

"He wasn't here to kill us. He was here because we had something that he wanted. The skeleton key." Felicity revealed.

"I did a full sweep. It's the only thing that's missing." Laurel told him.

"He needs a new way to mass-produce the serum now that we've dusted Applied Sciences," Oliver said after letting out a deep breath.

"With the skeleton key, he can get into anywhere and take anything he wants." Diggle pointed out.

"We know what he wants. We just need to find it first." Oliver reminded him and then looked to Felicity. "Where is the most cutting edge technology housed in Star City?"

S.T.A.R. Labs, Star City Branch

S.T.A.R. Labs' scientists, Dr. Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon were going through the inventory of the warehouse before they had to close shop. "The combined inventory of every scientist who ever worked at S.T.A.R. Labs. All housed right in here. I hereby christen this building 'da bomb'." Cisco said in excitement, as he was scanning the equipment.

"Nobody says that anymore," Caitlin said from her computer.

"I say it. I define my own cool. I still can't believe Dr. Wells is shutting this place down." He said to her.

"S.T.A.R. Labs blew a hole in Central City when we turned the particle accelerator on. It's not surprising that Star City canceled the lease on this facility." She reminded him sadly. "We're not exactly the poster children for 'let us store our unregulated prototypes in your neighborhood'."

"It was an accident, Caitlin." He reminded her.

"Yeah, well, try telling that to the families of the people who died," She told him gloomy as she got up.

"Maybe you can figure out how to tell that to yourself," He told her gently, thinking of Ronnie.

"Look, Cisco, let's get this inventory done so we can go home." She sighed as they got back to work, but then she heard a door opening from the other side of the building. "I thought we were the only ones here." She asked a little frightened.

"Maybe it's one of the security guards," He speculated. The two then moved down to investigate but as they turned around they saw a security guard in front of them. "Oh. Hey, man." He said with relief. "We should be wrapped up any minute now. Are you getting a bad vibe off this guy?" He asked Caitlin as he noticed that guard wasn't moving. But then he coughed up blood and collapsed on the floor, scaring Cisco and Caitlin as they saw the knife in his back. But was terrifying them, even more, was the person behind him, Deathstroke. Putting the Skeleton Key back on his person, Slade withdrew his pistol as two scientists fled for their lives.

"The longer the chase, the slower the kill," Slade warned them as he stalked them like a predator.

Caitlin and Cisco then ran into the warehouse's restricted area, unlocking the room, Caitlin began looking for a certain crate. "Help me. This equipment belonged to Arthur Light. Wells fired him two years ago." She ordered him.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because he was a psycho." She answered quickly and then opened the lid. "Please tell me you can make this work." She asked him.

Deathstroke eventually found the restricted area, where Caitlin was there, alone. "I take back what I said, I'll make this quick." He said, unsheathing his katana.

"Now!" Caitlin yelled and ducked out of the way, as Cisco popped up from around the craw and pointed a large weapon at Deathstroke and fired. The weapon emitted almost a solid light that sent the mercenary back causing him to knee the ground; momentarily stunned and blind.

"Aaah!" Cisco cried in pain as the weapon, began to malfunction, sparking in his hands. Dropping it, the scientists once again ran from the sword-wielding maniac.

As Slade's eyesight started to come back, he saw them running down towards the exit and moved to follow but came to a stop once he saw what he had came to steal. Using the enhanced strength that the Mirakuru proved easy for him as he carried it to the waiting truck, packing it put and he then got in with it. Oliver and Laurel arrived on their motorcycles, they saw the truck just exiting the premise. Looking inside the building the partners and lovers saw two employees at the security desk.

"We're too late," Oliver said bitterly.

Later

As Cisco and Caitlin were being interviewed by cops, Felicity and Dig walked up to them. "Felicity!" Cisco said happily, surprised to see her.

"Cisco, Caitlin! Are you guys okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?" Felicity asked worriedly.

"You said "he" twice," Caitlin took noticed of. "Do you know who attacked us? That lunatic with the mask and the sword?"

Felicity gulped, realizing what she had done. "Uh, no. I, no, I don't know." She stuttered. "I-I said "he" twice, because on the radio, I heard that the person who attacked you had man parts, which would make him a … He." She lied poorly.

Dig then decided to cut in given how badly Felicity was handling herself. "I'm John Diggle, I work security for Queen Consolidated."Do you have any idea what the masked man may have taken? An industrial centrifuge, by any chance?" He asked.

"No. It's a secret." Caitlin answered.

"What kind of secret?" Felicity asked.

"The kind I have to keep," Caitlin replied firmly.

"Well, does Cisco have to keep it, too?" Felicity asked hopefully.

"Yes. He does." Caitlin said quickly shutting up her partner just as he seemed willing to talk.

"Okay." She sighed in disappointment and give her a quick hug. "We're just so happy that you guys are okay. How's Barry doing?" She asked as she took a step back.

"He's the same," Caitlin told her.

"Barry's condition deteriorated. They moved him to S.T.A.R. Labs. They've been looking after him. That's how I met Cisco and Caitlin." Felicity explained to Dig.

"Right." He said.

"Well, I'll come visit again, as soon as I can," Felicity promised them as she and Dig were about to talk their leave.

"That would be cool. Don't worry, Barry gets lots of visitors. Iris is there a lot." Cisco told them causing Felicity to stop and turn around.

"Iris?" Felicity asked her tone clearly with jealously.

"Oops. She's, um, his … something." Cisco told her awkwardly.

"Oh. Sure. Good." Felicity uttered and returned to walk off with Dig. "That's just swell. Barry's in a coma and he's already moved on."

Arrowcave Bunker, Morning

"I hacked into Harrison Wells' personal files," Felicity told the team. "He's the director S.T.A.R. Labs, which basically makes me unstoppable. And look what I found." She said showing the schematics of the stolen machine. "It's a prototype for one of their new bio-tech projects. The patent is still pending, which is probably why they didn't want to tell us what it was."

"So what is it?" Oliver asked.

"It's a bio-transfuser. It can deliver blood from one single patient into multiple patients, at once." Felicity explained.

"Why would Slade need a blood transfusion?" Dig asked.

"He doesn't. The prisoners that he freed from Iron Heights last week to create his own personal army do." Oliver figured.

"With a few tweaks, Slade can retro-fit it for the Mirakuru, bypassing what we know to be a less than desirable ratio of success too, you know, death," Felicity explained in her quirky manner. "Instead of it metabolizing in the person, it happens in the machine."

"That's going to require a whole lot of blood." Laurel realized.

"Even a man with Slade's stamina can't handle that kind of drain." Dig stated.

"Good," Oliver said roughly.

"What do you mean?" Laurel asked.

"We let him use it. He'll be weak, vulnerable, and that will be my opportunity to kill him." He filled her in. "How do we find this thing?"

"A machine like this pulls an exorbitant amount of power from the grid. When it turns on, I'll know when and where. Right now, we just wait." Felicity told him.

"I'm tired of waiting," Oliver said agitatedly and left.

Queen Consolidated, Daytime

Oliver and Dig walked into his old office, which was now Isabel Rochev's office. "Whatever you came here to say, it takes security about 60 seconds to reach this floor, so I would start talking," Isabel advised them, not even looking up at them as she was reading, as if refusing to acknowledge their existence.

"Where's Slade?" Oliver asked her while trying to keep his cool, Isabel then looked up at him with an arrogant grin. "I just wanted to give you the chance to do the right thing."

"I'm under 30, and I'm the CEO of a Fortune 500 company." She told him was a smirk. "I'd say I've already done the right thing."

"And do you even know who Slade Wilson is? Or why he's doing this?" He questioned her.

"I don't care. I got what I earned." She told him before resuming her reading.

"What you earned?" He said incredulously and harshly. "You think that sleeping with my father entitles you to my family's company?"

"You have no idea what you're talking about." She snarled as her head went back up to look him in the eye.

"Well, he fooled around with a lot of girls. I don't see any of them ordering hostile takeovers." He said mockingly.

"Fooled around?" She said in disbelief.

"Yeah."

"Is that what your mother told you? Of course, she would write me off as a meaningless affair." She replied got out of her chair and went to the boardroom with Dig and Oliver following her. "Slade Wilson put me through hell. His training nearly killed me. Would I put myself through all that just because I was a jilted lover?" She asked angrily.

"Honestly, I don't know what you are!" He replied hotly.

"I was your father's soul mate." She told him fiercely and Oliver just laughed off the idea. "He was going to leave your mother, leave the company, leave you. Our bags were packed."

"Really?" He said skeptically.

"Your sister had to go and break her arm, doing something ridiculous, no doubt." She continued laying out sheets at the table.

"She fell off her horse." He said slowly, as the memory was coming back to him.

"We were at the airport when he got the call. I begged him not to go. I reminded him that Thea wasn't even his." She revealed much to Oliver's shock.

"Are you saying that my father knew?" He asked in disbelief.

"Of course he knew. He was a fool, not an idiot. And like a fool, he loved her anyway. He promised me that we would leave the next day. But instead, my internship was terminated and he never spoke to me again." She said with bitter recollection.

"Oh, so that's what this is really about." He scoffed at her. "He chose us over you."

At that moment, the security officers walked into the boardroom. "Please escort Mr. Queen off the premises," She ordered.

"Don't touch me." He snarled at the guards but shrugged them off out of their grasp.

"He's no longer welcome in this building. My building." She told them smugly as he gave her a cold stare but just walked off, Oliver then pulled out his phone and called Thea.

"Hello?" Thea answered.

"Thea, its Ollie. Listen, I just need five minutes face to face." He said as fast as possible before she hung up on him.

"What do you want?" She said clearly still pissed at him.

"There's something you need to hear," He told her.

Sighing, Thea relented. "Five minutes. Come by the club after we close." She said and then ended the call, just as Oliver got into the elevator with Diggle.

Iron Heights Prison, Night

Quentin was resting in his cell, still trying to wrap his head around everything. "You comfortable in there, Officer Lance? I can see if there's an extra blanket if you're cold." The prison guard asked him from outside his cell.

"Nah, I'm good. But hey, now that I'm on this side of the bars, I think it's just Quentin." Quentin replied politely.

"I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding. You'll be out of here soon." The guard said reassuredly.

"Yeah, I appreciate your optimism," Quentin said gratefully.

But suddenly things started to get to worse as the guard and Quentin were attacked by one of the prisoners, one of them who Quentin put away with the Green Arrow. Along with the prisoner attacked Quentin, leaving him very injured.

Arrowcave Bunker

Felicity came back to the bunker after getting some deli food and heard the sound of the salmon ladder. Briefly, Felicity thought it was a shirtless Oliver working out but quickly tried to dismiss that thought considering he was in a relationship now with Laurel, again. Unfortunately, it actually Laurel herself working out on the salmon ladder, wearing grey lawyer pants and a black sports bra.

"Whoa! Did Oliver teach you how to do that?" Felicity asked impressed.

"He gave me a brief tutorial," Laurel replied, going up twice. "Believe it or not, it's actually easier for a woman to do this than a man." She told her once she got to the top. Laurel then began to do some knee raises, working on her abs, which Felicity noticed were toned and sweaty. Then suddenly a thought occurred to her.

"Oh my god, I'm a ... bicurious?" Felicity wondered to herself if she had a thing for anyone who could operate on the salmon ladder, man or woman.

"Did you say something?" Laurel asked snapping Felicity out of her train of thought as she dropped to the floor.

"What? No. No." Felicity denied vehemently. "Uh, should you really be working out with the cast on?"

"Not really that much of a hindrance," Laurel answered looking at her hand. "You got the food?"

"Oh, here you go." She said handing Laurel her fries and chocolate milkshake. Taking some fries she dipped them in the shake, before eating them.

"You dip your fries in milkshakes?" Felicity noted with a wince. "Disgusting."

"Delicious." Laurel countered with a joyful smile. Laurel's phone then started ringing and she went to answer it. "Hello?"

"Laurel Lance?" The voice asked.

"Speaking."

"This is Warden Bolton at Iron Heights, your father has been injured by a fellow inmate and is in our medical care as now." The warden told her.

"What?" She replied and immediately head out to Iron Heights.

Iron Heights Infirmary Room

Striding into prison, Laurel came up to the doctor. "Is my father okay?" Laurel asked the doctor.

"Huh, yes. Your father's injuries are all external and superficial. I expect him to make a full recovery." The doctor told her after looking at the medical chart.

"Huh, can I go see him?" Laurel asked

"Yes, but try to make it short." The doctor recommended, and Laurel walked into the room got to her father's bedside. "Dad!"

"Hey. Hey sweetheart, I'm alright, I'm alright." Quentin said trying to move up just a little but then noticed the hand-cast on her right hand. "Laurel what's, what's with the hand?"

"Oh, um, I ... I ran into Slade Wilson." She admitted, still getting used to the idea that she didn't need to lie to her father anyone.

"What ... are you okay?" He asked worriedly.

"I should be asking you that, I'm really sick of us getting thrown into hospitals." She commented.

"You ... he, he, could've killed you." He said worriedly.

"But he didn't Dad, okay. Slade didn't kill me." She reassured him.

"Yeah, this time. But it's only a matter of time before Oliver drags you into another situation, and gets you killed ... just like he did with Sara." He mentioned slightly erratic but mostly angry and desperate.

"How is Oliver to blame for this Dad." She asked curiously as to why he would bring Oliver into this conversation.

"Oliver. The Green Arrow. Either way, same guy." He just admitted flatly. Laurel got off his bedside and to her feet, stunned as to how her father could know.

"How ... how did you know that?" She asked after a moment.

"Slade, he um, he told me when came to visit me my first morning in Iron Heights." He explained.

"What else did he tell you?" She asked reluctantly, scared to know what lies or half-truths he might have told her dad.

"You mean about Sara?" He immediately put out there. "Not much. I think he wanted you to fill in the blanks for me. For the record, I know that Sara didn't die on Gambit like I thought she did." He said sadly. "You ... you gonna tell me he's lying or are you gonna admit that Oliver's the one whose been doing that to me?"

Processing everything that was happening, Laurel took a seat on a nearby chair and decided to come clean. "I don't know ... everything that happened to her. I'm not sure Oliver does either. But what I do know is that Sara ... Sara didn't drown in the ocean like we were told." She began to say slowly. "There was a ship, and on that ship was a doctor named Ivo ... he rescued Sara ... and then took her hostage. Eventually, they made their way to Lian Yu; where Oliver found her ... along with Slade."

Quentin started to tear up and put his head back against the pillow. "She ... she ... made it to Lian Yu." He muttered tearfully.

"Yeah ... that's were she really died, off the coast of that damn island." She started to cry.

Quentin paused for a moment before his anger then came out. "And he didn't think to tell me this! Or you for that matter!" He yelled.

"You don't think I didn't want too." She yelled back as she started walking around anxiously. "But I couldn't ... I just couldn't."

"Without admitting that Queen's the Green Arrow. Or that one-eyed sonovabitch isn't here because of him." He said lowering his voice. "Or that ... that ... that my baby girl ... suffered and died because of him." He choked up trying to say.

"Dad, he didn't bring this on us." She argued.

"How can you defend him? Why do you ... always defend him?" He asked.

"Because I love him, dad!" She let out. "And because ... because it's not ... it's not completely his fault." She struggled a little to say. Laurel then stopped walking around and cross her arms to talk. "I get it, Dad, I do. When Sara died, I blamed Oliver too. I was right to blame him ... you were too. I think a part of us had to blame him ... to cope with losing Sara ... and everything that followed. But while we're doing that, Oliver was trying to save Sara. He even let someone else die, someone that Slade loved, to save our Sara." He revealed causing Quentin to fall silent. "Dad at some point, we have to stop blaming him for everything bad that happened to our family ... and remember that we made our own choices that broke our apart; including Sara."

Mulling over everything he just heard, Laurel then walked over to Quentin and kiss him on the forward head, then was about to leave the room. "Your not ... your not worried I'm gonna say anything to the DA?" He asked and then she turned around.

"No." She answered. "I know, I know that I can't stop from doing ... whatever it is your gonna do. All the that I ask is that ... that now that you know that Oliver's the man under the hood, that you remember ... you remember everything that he's done since he got back from the island. And ask yourself ... if everything he's ever done, everything, hasn't been on some level to make up for what he did to our family." She stated and then left the room, leaving Quentin to his thoughts.

Outside, Laurel then saw her boss Spencer out the door. "How's your father?" Kate asked.

"He'll be better once you drop all charges and sign his release papers," Laurel demanded.

"He is facing 18 months." Kate reminded her.

"Yes. But he is not going to stay here another day unless you want me to resign and embark on an exciting new career as a criminal defense attorney whose sole ambition will be to sue the District Attorney's office for wrongful arrest and reckless endangerment." Laurel threatened her plainly.

Taking a moment to consider her options, Kate relented. "Your father will be released on his own recognizance within the hour. And reinstated." She assured her.

"Tomorrow," Laurel added just as Kate was about to walk away.

"A word of advice- be mindful of the battles you choose, because it will not always be this easy," Kate suggested as she resumed her leave.

Alley Outside Verdant

Thea walked to see Oliver outside Verdant. "Thanks. Thank you for agreeing to talk to me." He said as she got in front of him.

"You're talking. I only agreed to listen." She replied bitterly.

Oliver sighed but speaking up again. "I just want to start with—" He began to say but his cell phone but he chose to ignore it. "I know you think that—" He continued but so did his phone, interfering with them. "Ahem. Hold on." He told her and turn around to answer it. "I can't talk right now, Felicity." He uttered annoyed.

"I know." She said watching from a camera in the back alley. "But the grid at Collins and Main just spiked, drawing a hell of a lot of power. Which means someone either plugged in the world's largest hair dryer, or the bio-transfuser just went online. The power cycle on this machine is very specific. You have 30 minutes, 40 tops." She explained and let out a deep breath. "I know this is selfish, Oliver, and don't hate me for saying this, but ... don't go. If you don't get Thea to sign those documents, your family loses all of its assets."

"If I don't stop Slade right now, a lot of people will lose a lot more," He said hanging up on her, as he turned around to explain Thea, he found that she had already ditched him. Sadly, looking for her, he gave up and move to the bunker

Warehouse at Collins & Main

From the rooftop, Oliver dropped into the building and stared at his surroundings. Around the room, Oliver saw the Iron Heights prisoners strapped to tables around the bio-transfuser which they were all connected to. Circling the machine, Oliver climbed the steps of the platform expecting to see Slade but instead, he saw Roy. Looking around Oliver saw that Roy was connected to the machine, it was his blood giving Mirakuru to the prisoners. Checking his pulse, Roy was still alive but as Oliver moved to remove him from the machine he heard a familiar voice.

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you," Slade warned and Oliver turned around, notching an arrow and aiming it at Slade who was armed with his sword and Isabel by his side. "Removing him mid-cycle will surely end his life." Slade finished.

"Slade he's just a kid!" Oliver growled angrily.

"Only because you pushed him away. You were the one person he looked up to you and for that, you crushed his soul." Slade told him.

"We found him in a shelter in Bludhaven; he didn't even put up a fight. Pathetic." Isabel said mockingly.

"I will. Tell me how to shut it down!" Oliver demanded.

"If you could feel the power surging through me, you would know that I do not fear an arrow," Slade gloated as he withdrew out his sword, "I am stronger than you can even imagine. And soon, I will not be alone."

Oliver quickly turned around and fired his arrow into the fuse box, shutting down the bio-transfuser which short-circuited most of the lights. Turning his sights back on Slade, Oliver rapidly fired three arrows but Slade effortlessly deflected them with his sword. Pulling out her gun, Isabel fired at Oliver, who immediately ran to avoid the incoming bullets. As Isabel pursued him and Oliver got up and shot an arrow at Isabel, removing the gun from her hand. Rushing him, Isabel jumped and rolled over a table and kicked Oliver back. Moving to attack further, Oliver easily blocked her attacks and then knocked her out with a punch and strike from his bow; both to her face.

Slade charged Oliver, spearing him and picked him up, as he rammed Oliver into a concrete pillar before flipping him over his shoulder; causing him to hit the ground hard. "You can't hurt me, kid." Slade said smugly, crouching Oliver held his bow up and then hit a switch activating a hidden feature on his bow. A pair of small bolts then fired from the arms of the bow which embedded themselves into Slade's chest. Slade's surprise grew as they exploded with a rain of sparks, sending him to ground. Grunting in pain, Oliver got to his feet and moved to the bio-transfuser where he saw something caught his eye; a small glass filled with green liquid. It was the Mirakuru, Oliver then took the vial and put it away on his person.

As Isabel was starting to get up as well, Oliver climbed the small platform and started to remove Roy from the machine. "Come on, Roy. All right, stay with me." Oliver muttered to his protege. But then startled as he heard the clicking of a gun, turning around he saw Isabel grinning at him as she was about to pull the trigger but another gunshot then went off. It was Dig as he fired a second one into her chest, bloodening her shirt causing her to collapse. Oliver saw Dig on the catwalk, still aiming his gun. Oliver then saw Slade rising, grabbing a grappling arrow, Oliver shot it at the ceiling. He grabbed Roy and then left the building through the ceiling. Dig soon followed, and the three were safe from Slade; for now.

Arrowcave Bunker

Oliver, John, Laurel, and Felicity stared at Roy laid down on a medical table, a blood bag was hooked into his arm. "He's lost a lot of blood," John said worriedly, using his limited med training from the army. "I don't know what the bio-transfuser did to him. But his pulse is really weak; He's barely breathing. And he needs a real doctor." He urged him.

"We can't take him to a hospital, they'll run tests." Oliver pointed out, "We need to keep what's in him from getting out."

"What do we do now?" Felicity asked.

"The only thing we can do-we wait," Oliver replied.

"Well, while we're waiting, we still have a Slade problem. You said he had at least 20 guys just like him now, and we have no way to stop him. There might be more." Laurel reminded them.

"Yes, we do have a way to stop him," Oliver countered and pulled out the vial he swiped earlier from tonight, showing them.

"Is that what I think it is?" Felicity asked.

"Mirakuru," Oliver confirmed her guess.

"You weren't thinking about taking it, were you?" Felicity asked worriedly.

"No. We're going to use it to make a cure," Oliver explained.

"Oliver, we don't even know if it's possible to reverse the effects," Felicity argued as he walked away

After a weary sigh, he told them otherwise. "Yes, we do." He said, turning to face his friends. "Ivo did it." He revealed to their shock.

"Why didn't you ever tell us that, Oliver?" Diggle asked wondering why he never shared this with them.

"Because I'm ashamed," Oliver admitted.

"Of what, Ollie?" Laurel pressed and Oliver looked at Laurel his face filled with shame.

"Five years ago, I had the chance to use the cure on Slade. I chose to kill him instead. I chose to kill him after what happened to Sara." He revealed to their shock, Laurel's in particular. "Everything that's happening right now is my fault."

The Queen Mansion, Daytime

Thea moved down the stair with a bag over her shoulder and her mother following her trying to get her to stop leaving. "Thea." Moira pleaded as her daughter grabbed the handle of her suitcase still at the bottom of the stairs. "What are you doing?" Moira asked.

"Just grabbing some stuff. Something tells me the mansion's new owner won't want my clothes here." Thea snarked as planned to go to the door.

"Thea, wait." Moira tried in vain but she only continued to ignore her, however, Oliver then came in and got in her way.

"Now he's not busy," Thea said bitterly.

"I'm so sorry, that couldn't be helped," Oliver explained. "May I speak to you now?" He asked and although she rolled her eyes, she gave him the go-ahead look. "Dad knew the truth." He revealed surprising both her and her mother.

"What?" Moira gasped at this revelation.

"He knew about Merlyn," Oliver repeated.

"How? He never said anything to me." Moira still shaken.

"He didn't have to," Oliver said, smiling at his sister. "Thea, whatever Dad's faults were he loved us. All of us. Because we were his family. You were his daughter, and some stupid blood test wasn't going to change that. He chose us. He chose you. He made a decision to be your father, even though he didn't have to be." He told her as Thea was struggling not to cry at this news. "So what does that tell you?"

Thea pulled herself together and glared at the two of them.

Regaining some of her composure, Thea stared at both of them. "It tells me that he's a liar. Just like all of you." She said angrily as she left Oliver and Moira, saddened at her departure.

S.T.A.R. Labs Warehouse

Finishing things up as they put away the last of their equipment, Cisco and Caitlin then heard a knock on the door. Catching their attention was Felicity, as she walked into the room. "I need you guys to do me a favor," Felicity said and show them a vial of the Mirakuru. "This time, it'll be our secret." She added as Caitlin grabbed the vial, waiting for Felicity to continue.

Outside Iron Heights

Quentin and Laurel walked out of Iron Heights together, Quentin was partially using Laurel as his crutch. "So have you told Queen that I know?" He asked her.

"No, not yet." She answered.

"Yeah, well, I gotta ask you not to tell him." He brought up, then look his daughter in the eye. "At least until this business with Slade is over, okay?" He asked and she nodded in agreement. "There's another thing I need you to promise me."

"Anything." She said immediately.

"You don't keep secrets from me anymore." He asked.

"Dad."

"Look, Laurel." He said taking a deep breath. "This ... this the second time that I felt that could've lost you, lose us, 'cause of the secrets you choose to keep. And I can't ask you not to do that for me all the time but ... but the stuff that involves our family ... involves us. Just please don't do that anyone ... please.

"You're right. I won't." She acknowledged slowly.

Warehouse

Disconnecting himself from the bio-transfuser, Slade walked over to the slab table where Isabel was. Placing his hand on her forehead, her eyes were bleeding tears but then she had awoken. And she wasn't alone, as the rest of Slade's army then rose as well, prepared for the war to come.