Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow.

I'm not sure how I managed to do two chapters in a row without an Epigraph. That wasn't an intentional thing. Regardless, the epigraphs are back this chapter.

Vigilantes Dawn

By Kylia

Chapter 26: Unintentional Inspiration

In this day and age, vigilantes are everywhere. Either as full on superheroes, or just skilled people with masks, enacting their justice on their cities. Most are accepted and open parts of local law enforcement, once they establish themselves. Many are even essential, given the myriad alien, metahuman and superscience threats to public peace and good order that remain difficult for conventional law enforcement to handle.

These days, anyone who wants to be a vigilante or a superhero knows there are rules, informal and formal, about how you go about it. You don't open with killing. You start smaller. You find yourself someone in officialdom to work with, if you can. And you understand that there are consequences.

Nearly every vigilante is inspired by the ones that came before them, and today, we understand that in ways that, when things started, no one ever did.

Inspiration doesn't always work as planned.

-Excerpt from "Age of Superheroes: The Dawn of the Vigilante," by Diana Queen, PhD Published by Starling City University Press, 2123.

Wildcat Gym, Starling City

March 27th, 2013

Thea had ended up taking her advice and finding a gym. Of course, the kind of gym that made it in the Glades was pretty skeptical about letting someone like Thea Queen in, but to her credit, she hadn't backed down, and the gym's owner, a man named Ted, accepted her explanation that she'd had her purse snatched, and didn't want to have worse happen as long as she was doing her community service in the Glades.

Sara had never been to this place before - the name sounded familiar, but nothing specific. So she'd come by twice now to help Thea get started. She was picking the basics up quickly, but she had a long way to go.

The owner - she'd looked into him - was a bit untrusting of cops and a bit hostile towards someone of Thea's status, but he had a clean record, and seemed to have his heart in the right place, since he'd been willing to let Thea train there for self-defense.

Thea bound up her hands and Sara held the bag once Thea was ready. But unlike the last two times, Thea's punches seemed a little sloppy. She was unpracticed, but the girl had had good form - she'd had to to be good at Archery before she dropped it. Sara watched Thea's eyes - they were there, but not totally, and more than once she nearly missed the bag, the punch running along the side of it.

"Okay, time out," Sara pulled away, letting go of the bag and stepping around. She looked Thea in the eye. "Your head is anywhere but here, so how about you tell me where it is, and then we can work on some other moves that might force you to focus more."

Thea bit her lip and looked away, sighing. She looked at the ground, licking seemingly dry lips for a moment. Sara got the vibe rather quickly, and realized the score.

"Guy trouble?"

"Maybe... maybe not trouble, exactly?" Thea said slowly. "I - It's just ... remember Roy Harper?" It took Sara a moment to place the name, and then she remembered - the guy who had snatched Thea's purse and got them here in the first place.

Sara's eyes narrowed as she realized what that, "Thea, don't tell me..."

"Imaybesortofkissedhim...morethanonce," Thea said quickly, pausing for a very brief breath in between.

Sara blinked. Well, given Thea's hesitancy and the fact that Thea had confirmed it was 'guy trouble', she'd seen this coming in the split second before Thea admitted it, but...

She hadn't seen this coming.

Sure, Thea did some dangerous stuff, took drugs, went into somewhat dangerous neighborhoods, dated guys who weren't good news, and dealt drugs to her fellow rich-kid friends, but not someone from the Glades. And not an criminal from the Glades.

It was something quite out of teh expected for Thea, and yet... somehow, Sara wasn't surprised.

Sara put a hand on Thea's shoulder, "Okay, why don't you start from the beginning. Because I'm missing the part where you met him again to kiss him at all." She looked Thea in the eye, "and no, I'm not going to judge you, I promise. I mean - whatever you're going to tell me, I probably did worse when I was your age."

Thea chuckled a little, some of the tension relaxing out of her shoulders, "I suppose that's true yeah..." she licked her lips a moment, getting ready to spill, and then did so, detailing how she'd gone to Roy's place, wanting to like... buy her purse back or something - she'd still wanted it back, or at least the things in it, even if she didn't want him to go to prison for it...

Only to find out that his entire sob story was bullshit. But... something had struck a chord. The way he kept throwing the fact that she was rich into her face, and that that was why he did crime.

"I don't know... I mean, he's cute..." she smiled and her cheeks flushed, "Okay, he's really cute, and hot, but... I mean... just... I kept thinking about him. And what he said. I - I can't help everyone in the Glades, but I mean - he could have done alot more to me when I came to his place. And he did give me the purse back. I didn't even have to pay him so..."

She sighed, "I mean - I think he's not just... you know, I think there's more to him than just... petty theft." Thea said, looking at her, a bit wide-eyed.

That sounds familiar. Actually, it sounded familiar in a lot of ways. From her own dating experiences, and from the way Laurel had defended being with Oliver to their dad, when Quentin Lance would object to Laurel dating such a partyboy dropout trustfund kid.

Of course, Thea was probably setting herself up for disappointment. With most guys... there really wasn't much more to them. What you saw was basically what you got, in her experience. Most girls too, for that matter too, even if, in Sara's experience, they pretended to be more mysterious and complex.

When someone shows you what they're like, believe them. It was the sort of maxim only years of being a reckless teen and young adult followed by several years of police work could give her.

Still.

She'd promised Thea she wouldn't judge, and so she wasn't going to try to disabuse Thea of her vaguely romantic notion.

Yet.

She listened, then as Thea detailed her efforts to help Roy, to make him put his money where his mouth was on 'needing' to steal because there weren't really jobs in the Glades for a guy with a record. About how she'd talked to Tommy, he'd accepted and then... nothing. And of course, how she'd confronted him.

How that had gone, and how she'd been accosted when departing.

"I was ready to just... give up, and then - I don't get him! He's so... confusing!" Thea grumbled, speaking quickly again. "He didn't have to come in like that and save me from those... God... I don't even want to think about what might have happened if he hadn't...come in with that crazy parkour stuff! I mean, Sara, you should have seen it! He was moving like the Hood, or the Banshee!" Thea gushed, sounding more than a bit awed by how easily Roy had apparently taken down her attackers, even if he had been hurt in the process.

If Oliver knew you'd kissed him, I can promise you, no amount of parkour could save him from a brotherly beatdown.

Thea finished the story, about going to the hospital, and kissing Roy when he was getting blood drawn and really really liking it and then... well, making out with him afterwards. And a few times since.

When she was done relaying the details, Thea bit her lip and looked at her, fidgeting. "I... I needed to tell someone. I can't tell mom - she's always at work and... she'd tell me to stop seeing him and I can't tell Ollie because he'd do the overprotective big-brother routine and-"

"So you're telling me, a cop, instead?" Sara laughed a little, though she knew why Thea was coming to her. Oliver was present in her life, and tried to be there for Thea, but between the club and his work as the Hood and just... the fact that he was ten years older than Thea meant he could only be so much there for her at any given time.

And Sara had been there for Thea for five years while Oliver was gone. So Thea coming to her made sense.

"Well... you can't do anything to him if he doesn't actually break the law, so..." Thea laughed. "I like him, Sara. A lot, actually."

"I can tell..." Sara smiled. "Look - I told you I won't judge you, and I won't. You're 18, you're capable of making your own choices. And you're learning self-defense, so we'll have to keep on that. But always keep your eyes open, okay? And stay safe." She hugged Thea for a moment. "You can always talk to me if anything else happens with him, good or bad. Me, Sara Lance, not Detective Lance, if that's what you want." She added, in case Thea ever worried about coming to her for fear she might do something like arrest Roy.

"Thanks," Thea said, smiling. "Thank you. For... everything." She hugged Sara momentarily again, then stepped back. "We should probably get back to it, then," she added, gesturing to the punching back.

"We should," Sara agreed. "But make sure you get your form right. Basics first, and then we can start being more creative."

The Foundry, Starling City

March 27th, 2013

"Hacking in from the outside is a no-go," Felicity said. "Anything important would be on unconnected servers anyway, and their network security... I mean, give me a few months and I could maybe get a virus into their networks through someone being careless with their email and then undermine things from there, but..." she shook her head.

"I don't think you'd like to take that sort of time," she finished.

"No, not really." Laurel agreed. "Do we at least now what sort of security they have there?"

"Some. I'm chasing down purchase history, invoices, that sort of thing, to get an idea what sort of things Merlyn's had installed. The security guards are all ex-military, and I ran backgrounds. None of them have convenient financial difficulties that could be exploited," Felicity added.

"I'm sure one of them could be bribed with enough money, but finding who without screwing up..." Laurel shook her head. "So breaking in,"

"Easier said than done." Felicity pulled up the building blueprints. "The mainframes we'd need to access would probably be on the top floor. You'd need to get into the building, past security, take an elevator to the top - or climb twenty-five flights of stairs and then get into the CEO's office. And that top floor is badge access only, not to mention at least one keypad locked door. And that's just if you tried to come in during the day."

"Easier said than done doesn't mean impossible though," Oliver pointed out. "If we could get in, I could hook something up to Merlyn's mainframe that would let you connect from the outside, right?"

"Absolutely. Though the second we make any connection, there's a chance it could be traced back here so... I'd have to be quick." Felicity nodded.

"Then we'll let you know as soon as it's in. Getting into the building couldn't be that hard. You could just ask to speak to him. He's your godfather, and as far as he knows, you're just his godson, the son of his 'best friend'." Laurel told Oliver. "So that could be the hole we exploit."

Laurel watched Oliver's expression grow grim at the reminder that Merlyn was technically his godfather. Well, I wouldn't like being reminded it in his place either.

"So that could get us inside the building, assuming I made an appointment and had a good excuse," Oliver nodded. "That still doesn't get us past security and into the server. If I have a meeting with Mr. Merlyn, someone else has to get in there."

"Which means we need someone else inside, and without being spotted by the cameras. I could do the sneaking in, but getting swarmed by security isn't going to make it practical." Laurel agreed. She looked to Felicity, "Is there any way to break in through the basement?"

Felicity shrugged, "I have no idea. I've only got the public posted building schematics and what I can piece together from other information, which is mostly guesses. I'm good, but I don't have the full technical readout of the Death Star's plans here!"

Point. They're not going to label 'weak point here' on publicly available information.

"You can't get at the most protected parts of Merlyn Global's servers, but can you hack into anything, from the outside?" Laurel asked. "Like HR?"

"HR tends to be one of the easiest places to hack into with most companies," Felicity said thoughtfully as she leaned over her keyboard, starting to work. "Not that I know from personal experience or anything," she added, rather blatantly lying, but no one said anything,

"What are you thinking?" Oliver looked at her.

"I'm thinking that we need to take out the cameras, and we need to get someone inside to get to the server, to hook Felicity into their network from the inside," she looked over at Diggle, who had, thus far, not chimed in on the 'how to break into a multinational company' front. "How would you feel about getting a job at Merlyn Global?"

"Pretty sure if something goes wrong, they'll connect me to Oliver." Diggle pointed out, though his objection didn't sound categorical.

"Only if you go in as John Diggle. But if we get you a fake ID, hack you into the system... shouldn't be hard to call you say... a transfer from a different office?"

"If you can get me in, get me assigned to the right room..." Diggle looked to Felicity. "Can you?"

"I can!" Felicity agreed, smiling at her successful hack. "I can't just snap my fingers and get you in, but give me a day and I can have you working Security at Merlyn Global for the day. Any specific day you need."

"So that covers the cameras. We still need a way to get to the 25th floor," Oliver frowned. "I suppose I could try to palm whoever slides a card to get me up to the top floor to meet with Mr. Merlyn..."

"Too risky," Laurel shook her head. "If it was going to be that simple, we could just swipe anyone's card. There are other people allowed on that floor, after all..." She furrowed her brow. "Okay, we have the start of a plan. But we still have things we need to figure out." Laurel ticked them off on her fingers:

"One, how does Diggle take care of anyone in the security room so he can watch the cameras? Two, how do I get to the 25th floor, and three-" She laughed as she realized it. "Well, it's simple. Oliver, I'll need to borrow your bow."

"Wouldn't that be a little conspicuous?" Felicity looked away from her computer. Then she seemed to realize she said that outloud. "Right, sorry, you guys know what you're going."

"We do. But to answer your question - you'd be amazed at what you can hide on the underside of a janitor's cart." She'd gone undercover as cleaning staff before, with the League. They might kill in the uniform, almost all the time, but the League was not above assumed identities or simply pretending to be the servants or help at a place to get close to their targets.

"So you pretend to be one of the cleaning staff, go to the 24th floor by Elevator..." Oliver nodded.

"And use a grapple-arrow to shoot my way to the 25th floor. All you need to do is make sure I can get the doors open from my side." Laurel nodded.

"Easy enough to keep the elevator door from sealing completely shut," Oliver nodded. "So when do we do this?"

"Soon as we can manufacture a good excuse for you to meet with Tommy's dad at his office," Laurel pointed out. "Getting all the pieces into place shouldn't take more than a few days, if that."

"Malcolm Merlyn is a busy man. Works long hours at the office. I could make an appointment - my name can get me onto his schedule - and then... I need to talk with him about Tommy. Maybe I'm worried about him," Oliver said quietly as he quite obviously thought out loud.

"If this doesn't go right, he's going to know you two were behind all this," Diggle cautioned. "And then he's going to be able to figure out who the Hood and Black Canary really are."

"Then we make sure it goes right." Laurel said firmly. She moved towards her gear. "But until then, the rest of the job doesn't stop." She closed her eyes. "Crime in the Glades doesn't stand still, and if the Black Canary and the Hood change their routine, Merlyn might start wondering. He knows the Black Canary is former League. He's got to be keeping a very close eye on her comings and goings."

And that little fact is also probably why he hasn't come out as the 'Dark Archer' again recently to try to come at us again. He wants to keep his exposure limited too.

"And John Nickel isn't going to agree to pay recompense to the families of those who died in his building fire without convincing." Oliver ground out. "Not that I think even an arrow pointed at him will convince him to do the right thing."

The Foundry, Starling City

March 27th, 2013

Oliver was on the brink of a cold fury when he returned to the Foundry. Nickel hadn't been there.

At first he'd assumed the man had gone into hiding, perhaps afraid the Hood would come for him - there were downsides to being known, to the rich of the city knowing someone was stalking them. He'd had to track a few people who thought to go to ground down, when he came for them.

But it hadn't taken long for him to realize that someone else had taken signs of a struggle - small though they were, Nickel had picked up a knife to figt his attacker, the TV in his bedroom was still on, the living room had several things knocked over and out of place.

"So, what's the verdict, is he dead or did he pay-" Felicity asked, not looking up from her computer as he entered the basement.

"Neither. He wasn't there," OIiver ground out, pulling off his hood.

"He wasn't at his place? What did run? Think he knew you were coming?" Diggle suggested.

"No, he wasn't gone, he was... taken. There were signs of a struggle. No blood, so I think he's alive." Oliver explained. He spoke into the comms, alerting Laurel, "Laurel, I think we have a situation."

"I'm on my way back. What's the problem?"

"Someone else got to Nickel first. He's missing."

"Shit." He heard Laurel mutter on the other end of the line. She followed the logic just the same as he did. Someone out for revenge. Oliver looked to Felicity.

"Get me a list of everyone who lost someone in one of his buildings, especially the fire last night. And anyone who filed formal complaints or... sent him a threatening email, if you find anything about one of those." He doubted whoever took Nickel was going to let him live for long.

The only question is how long? Were they going to torture him? Make a public example of him?

"It's going to be some list. He's a slum lord, and nobody likes them," Felicity pointed out, but he could see her change windows as she set to work. Then she paused and looked back at him. "But why? I mean - you were all set to put an arrow in this guy, and for once, I don't even have the slightest qualm about a guy dying - which really should bother me but if anyone deserves it this asshole does," she babbled, then she caught herself, took a breath and went slower:

"You were all set to kill him, and now you want to rescue him?"

"Whoever took Nickel is after revenge, not justice." Oliver countered. "And revenge doesn't usually stop with one person. I don't like the idea of someone else running around, dangerous." His voice grew grim, "They don't tend to show the same level of restraint as I do."

He knew how this sounded. Hypocritical, and perhaps there was something to that. But pursuing revenge... it blinded you. It was something he had to remind himself every time the plans for Malcolm Merlyn moved forward, every time he thought about the man who had been behind his father's death, behind the Gambit sinking... who had done all the things he'd done to his family in pursuit of whatever goal was behind the List.

Threatening my mother, abducting Walter... or worse...

But stopping Merlyn couldn't be about revenge. It had to be about stopping him whatever he was planning, about justice for everyone he'd killed, everyone he had hurt - everyone who had suffered because he'd settled for blackmail rather than turning people in.

"In the meantime, it's late, and I should make an appearance up top for a bit before heading home," Oliver grumbled. He sighed and looked to Felicity. It was late, and Felicity wasn't exactly used to running on a few hours of sleep night after night like Laurel and he were. "You can go home as well, if you need to-"

Felicity shook her head, "Sleep is overrated. Always has been." She held up her cup of instant coffee. "Besides, I just made this, I might as well finish it."

"Thanks," Oliver nodded.

The Foundry, Starling City
March 28th, 2013

Sara didn't get the video the moment it came out - her phone wasn't registered to the Glades - but the entire SCPD saw the video within minutes of it going live, and of course, even when crimes in the Glades didn't get the attention of the police - at least not that often - a crime by the Glades against the man ruining the lives of so many in it?

That did get attention.

The promise of more to come meant this was more than just some revenge killing. It was a new vigilante.

The Hood and the Black Canary showed us the way - but now it's our turn to strike back ourselves. For too long, the Glades have been betrayed. It's time to fix that.

A copycat.

Well, not exactly. But certainly inspired by them.

Laurel wanted to inspire the people of the Glades to take back their community from the criminals... but this is not what she meant. And this isn't what Oliver does. Whoever the murderer was, he had quite clearly never honestly intended to let Nickel live. He'd given him all of a minute to make his case.

Sure, it was a shit case, because he's a shit human, but at least Oliver gives people a chance. A chance to make recompense for their crimes, to change their ways.

Of course, the SCPD was going to have no luck finding this guy. Kelton had gotten nowhere, and their overworked and understaffed tech division was setting to work - already there was talk of calling in the FBI's cybercrimes to track this guy, take down his website, anything. But it was proving much, much easier said than done.

So Sara was on her way to the people that didn't have to obey the rules, get warrants and follow process.

"...no offense Oliver, but do I tell you how to sharpen your arrows?" Felicity snapped, looking back at as he paced behind her, his expression as grim as she'd seen it in a while. This was getting to him, just a little.

"Ollie, she's right. Take a step back, hovering over the screens won't get us anywhere," Laurel said from her position further back, leaning against one of the pillars, arms crossed in front of her.

"So you're having no luck finding this guy either?" Sara observed as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"This guy is good. Very good. He didn't get his computer skills out of a copy of Wired," Felicity confirmed defensively. "Just give me time, okay? Hacking doesn't actually work like it does in the movies."

"Well, this just makes it worse then," Diggle said, hanging up his phone, "Just talked to my buddy at the NSA. This guy might be a cyber crusader they've been watching - calls himself the Savior. Hacks into fringe sites. Based on his activity, they think he used to live in the Glades." He shook his head. "But a year ago he hacked himself right off the radar. Whoever he is, there's no official record of him."

"Something a year ago to make this guy do that," Sara stated the obvious. "But he's only striking now. He said he was inspired by you and Laurel, but you guys have been active for months now. So... why now?"

"When I said I wanted to inspire people, this isn't what I meant," Laurel countered, sounding a little helpless.

"This is why cops don't like vigilantes," Sara countered. "God knows you two are doing what's necessary, what has to be done, but when people get away with breaking the law for 'a good cause' other people think they can do the same thing. And it's hard to argue with them!" Sara shot back.

Before anyone could say anything else, they heard the Savior's voice again as a new video appeared on his screen, less than 12 hours since he'd killed Nickel. This man is moving fast. Sara watched in horror asshe watched ADA Carnahan bound and gagged on the screen.

She'd worked with Carnahan before, getting prepped for testimony at trials, making sure evidence and witness statements were all lined up in a row.

Carnahan wasn't a criminal. He wasn't corrupt. He was overworked and more than a little burnt out, but he did his job as well as any ADA could in this city.

Shit.

But at least the Savior revealed his identity implicity as he started to monologue. Joseph Falk.

If there wasn't enough evidence, there wasn't enough evidence. She read the report on the screen, the suspects had been arrested, but in the Glades? People didn't give witness statements to the police, security cameras were usually broken or fake...

If she had been shot in a nicer neighborhood, there might have been enough evidence, but that's more than just because people ignore the Glades. But people did ignore the Glades. Had she been shot in a nicer neighborhood, had there been more uproar, Carnhan would have pushed harder because he'd have been pushed harder, the cops would have pushed harder because most of the SCPD had given up on the Glades.

Which meant the Glades gave up on the SCPD and the DA's office, and that just made them give up on the Glades even more.

The problems in the Glades were a feedback loop. Did the police need to do more? Fuck, of course they did, but Sara had no sympathy for this man going after a public servant who did all he could under the barely interested leadership of a DA like Kate Spencer.

If he wanted to punish someone who was betraying the Glades, he could start with her. Not that Sara wanted that either - but this proved it was revenge. This was about the Savior making himself feel better for his wife's death. One year ago today.

And yet...

He wasn't wrong. He probably was inspired to do it like this, take this approach, because of Oliver. Because of Laurel.

"We've got ten minutes," Oliver said, "Find him." He moved away from the computers, Laurel right behind him. "He's got to be somewhere in the Glades!"

Sara watched Gavin Carnahan try to give his defense, knowing it wouldn't matter.

This man wants blood. He'll get it. No matter what Carnahan says.

Felicity traced him as Oliver and Laurel were on the move, but then nothing. They split up, checking every office, every floor of the abandoned building, nothing -

And then he moved.

Is he doing this from a car? That means he has someone driving while he aims the gun-

When Oliver and Laurel reached the vacant lot - it was too late. He was dead.

Felicity's entire body went stiff as she watched him die, her hands falling nervelessly from the keyboard. Sara moved to stand behind the computers, in front of Felicity. She snapped in the other blonde's face quickly, getting her attention.

"Felicity. Felicity." She snapped her fingers again again, "This isn't your fault." She could see the guilt in the other woman's eyes, the shame at her failure.

I can guess - she's thinking if only she'd found the right address fast enough...

This wasn't the time for it, even if it was completely human. Normally, Sara would give Felicity time.

They didn't have time.

"What - what do you - I was supposed to! I gave them the wrong address. Two wrong addresses!" Felicity raised her voice.

"Did you do everything you could to find him?" Sara said softly, not raising her voice to match hers, but speaking with simple urgency nonetheless.

"Of course - I-" she could hear the start of tears in Felicity's eyes as the shock started to wear off, but the blind quickly wiped at the corner of her eyes under her glasses, trying to hold herself back.

Good. She knows she needs to-

"I just - I just need -" she stood up, away from the computer, "I need to be -"

"Felicity, I understand what you're going through." Sara said. She gestured to Diggle, miming pouring a drink with one hand, while she kept it out of Felicity's direct view. Obviously they didn't need Felicity drunk, but right now, a little bit wasn't a bad idea. Just a few sips.

"Because you've let people die because you couldn't-" Felicity started, sounding skeptical, and Sara had to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

"Of course I have!" Sara countered. "I'm a detective who investigates murders. Every time I don't catch someone after the first murder and they kill again, it's because I wasn't fast enough. I wasn't good enough." Sara moved to stand directly in Felicity's eyesight.

"I'm not going to tell you to just woman up and forget about it. That's not how this works. I can't wave my hand and make you feel better about this. But right now, this bastard is still out there. He's the only one responsible for Carnahan's death. Not you for not finding him in time. Not Oliver or Laurel for 'inspiring' him.

They're responsible for him, but not for his crimes.

Felicity swallowed, taking a shuddering, shaking breath. "Right... sorry." She swallowed. "God. You guys... you all have more experience with this than I do. Seeing people die. Actual people, I mean, not characters on a TV show or a movie..." she licked her lips slowly. "And not saving people every time."

"No. We don't not every time." Sara confirmed.

"How -how do you-"

"Time. Practice. Each time, it gets a little easier. Like a scab over a wound. If you pick at it, you drive yourself mad with what you could have done differently."

"Could you have moved a little faster, shot a little better, seen that little hint that something was up sooner." Diggle said, coming back over from the far end of the basement with some of the club's booze in a small cup. He handed it to Felicity.

"Just a few sips. Take it slow." he told her.

"When I was in Afghanistan... my unit got ambushed. I was at the front. We were in a village, tracking a Taliban commander, got a tip he was in the area. I knew it wasn't going to be so simple... I was so sure I'd covered the angles when I told the rest of my platoon we could come in. I'd spotted the guy waiting to ambush us with an RPG."

"Turns out - he had friends. Friends I'd missed." Diggle shook his head. "I lost friends of my own that day - dead, or wounded bad enough to have to get far back from the front. Out of country, even. Got a bit of shrapnel cut a piece across my side. Ended up being a flesh wound, just a few days."

"I thought over that moment a lot those few days. Since then too... driven myself nuts asking what I did wrong. What I could have done better." He shook his head.

"It doesn't help," Sara said softly in unison with him. She shook her head. "Normally, I'd say you could take some time... normally, I'd say have a bit of therapy." She laughed humorlessly. "Of course... that's not really an option right now."

Felicity laughed hollowly as well, the 'humor' evident to her too. "I was just thinking... it's good that I'm not seeing anyone - I wouldn't... I wouldn't even know where to start telling anyone I was seeing about this..." she murmured.

"It's not easy," Sara agreed. "Take a breather. But not too long. He's going to be back, and we need to find him next time he broadcasts." She watched Oliver and Laurel coming down the stairs, back into the basement, and she nodded to Diggle, leaving Felicity to him as she walked over to the other end of the basement from the hacker, gesturing to Oliver and Laurel.

"We should finish our conversation from earlier," Sara said. "You guys sent the city a message, whether you like it or not: taking the law into your own hands is good. It's noble."

"We're not like him!" Oliver countered. "Laurel doesn't kill, and I - I don't go after an ADA for not prosecuting a case!"

"But you do kill. Laurel does punish the criminals in the Glades. She breaks their bones, leaves them out, all but castrates the rapists or would be rapists with how badly they get hit between the legs." Sara held up her hand, "Exactly as all of them deserve," she looked them both in the eye.

"Actions have consequences. You sent a message, but you don't control how that message gets understood." Sara sighed. "And the police and the DA's office sense their own message to the Glades." she shook her head. "We're not responsible for what he did and neither are you two. But we're all responsible for him. The city failed him and his wife, failed his community, and then you two came in and showed him an alternative."

"What's your point?" Laurel asked, a small note of defensive anger in her tone.

Sara dropped her head into her hand for a moment, pulling her hand down her face and taking a breath.

"My point is that you're going to make more vigilantes, sooner or later. Joseph Falk... he deleted himself after his wife died, and set out to be a cyber crusader. He would have done something, sooner or later, to make himself feel better about his wife dying. Maybe even killed. But he's going public because you two did. You both reminded the people of the Glades that they, as individuals, have power."

She sighed.

"But you didn't tell them what that power should be used for."

Oliver and Laurel were silent for a moment, processing her words. Laurel spoke first.

"I suppose you're right. And you're right that..."

"More people are going to try to do this themselves. But without understanding how." Oliver nodded. He let out a long, angry breath, frustration coming off him in waves. "Of course... that doesn't tell us how to stop them from being like the Savior."

Sara laughed, again without actual humor. "If I had the answer to that, I could sell it as a book and make a fortune." She looked away from them for a moment, then back. "You guys can't control what this guy did, or what anyone who thinks they're inspired by you does. All you can do is control the message you send." She sighed. "Whereas I can't even make an effort at controlling the effort the SCPD sends men like Falk. That their lives and loved ones don't matter."

She looked them both in the eye one after the other. "You guys have a voice. Don't waste it, like the rest of us have. Like Falk is doing right now."