Hope everyone had a good Halloween. This was supposed to be a gift but I didn't end up finishing it in time.

Ellie Bishop: No kidding, it's the same thing with Batman, killing irregularly is okay as long as you preach the no kill rule. It's the weird double standard DC has that the world is separated into those who kill and heroes. One thing I like about Marvel is that they know the world is a bit more complicated than that. Yep, and that's not even the biggest twist with Jade. Yeah, honestly Slade's villainous monologue is one of the best monologues in television history. Glad to hear it.

Guest 1: You have no idea.

Guest 2: Glad you enjoyed it. Glad to hear it. Me to. Barry getting his powers for the first time is certainly a great scene, but I wouldn't call it one of the best Arrowverse scenes. Respectfully, there are many other good scenes in season two alone such as Slade's monologue and Moira's death scene that far outclass it. Flash as honestly ruined in season three, season four was just when it became completely unwatchable outside a few episodes. Glad to hear it.

Starling City

Night

A man was driving his car through the warehouse district, looking back as though running from something. Hearing the rev of an engine, he looked ahead as The Hood drove up on a motorcycle. Narrowing his eyes, the man hit the gas, accelerating as he pulled out a gun, firing wildly out the window, none of his shots making contact.

Oliver calmly pulled out an arrow from his quiver, notched it and fired. The arrow hit the hood off the car, causing sparks to fly everywhere, blinding the man. He made a wild U-Turn before flipping over on some pipes. Oliver stalked over, drawing another arrow. He seemed to be peering into the car before he suddenly raised his bow and fired. The man, who had crawled out of the car and was running away, cried out as the arrow hit him in the leg. He went down as Oliver rushed over. The man tried to get up but Oliver stomped on his back hard with one foot, pinning him to the ground.

"The man in the skull mask, who is he?!" Oliver snarled.

"I don't know!" the man cried out fearfully.

"You're the biggest street dealer in Crescent Circle. You know everything that goes on over there. Who is he?!" Oliver demanded.

"I ain't seen the guy before! A skull mask, are you freaking kidding me?! Come on man, I'm still on parole!" the man said pathetically.

"Not anymore," Oliver said darkly before whacking him in the head with his bow, rendering him unconscious.

He would need to place a call to Detective Lance later; Oliver mused as he headed back towards his motorcycle. In the meantime, the man with the Mirakuru was still out there and he needed to find him.

The Glades

Later

As Sin entered the clock tower, from a building across the street, Sara watched silently as she felt a presence behind her.

"Any change?" Oliver asked as he walked up beside her.

"No. She goes out, she meets up with some friends, occasionally she meets up with Thea or Roy, then she goes home," Sara said simply.

"It would be a lot easier to check in on how she's doing if you let her know you were back," Olive pointed out.

"Any luck?" Sara said, dodging the question.

"No," Oliver said after a moment, allowing the change. "Nobody's seen him. But he's still out there."

"Ollie, we have to find him. You remember what Slade was capable of on the Mirakuru," Sara said as she turned to him, fear in her eyes.

"Yes, I do. You don't need to remind me," Oliver said darkly.

Starling City

Same time

"How is Mr. Harper?" Slade asked as he met with Jade in his office.

"He doesn't suspect a thing," Jade said simply.

"Does he trust you?" Slade asked pointedly.

"Well, I'm screwing him, he kind of has to," Jade said flippantly but Slade was not amused.

"Do not test me Rose," Slade said and she stiffened.

"That is not my name," she snapped and he smiled amused.

"You can change your name, you can change your hair, but you cannot change blood. Whether you like it or not, you are my daughter," Slade said as he leaned back in his seat. "Make sure that Mr. Harper trusts you. Do whatever you have to do, but make sure he does."

"Why is that so important?" Jade asked after a moment and a sinister smile flashed across Slade's face.

"Because from trust breeds love. Once that trust is broken, so too will Mr. Harper," Slade said.

Arrow lair

Later

Roy and Diggle were sparing with Escirma sticks before pausing.

"Okay, how is a wooden stick supposed to help me in the streets when I'm up against a gun?" Roy complained.

"A wooden stick can be the difference between life and death," the two men jumped at the sound of Oliver's voice, whirling around as he walked out of the shadows. "A wooden stick is what kept me alive on the island. Learn how to use it."

"Any luck?" Diggle asked after a beat and Oliver shook his head.

"No one has seen a man in a skull mask," Oliver said tiredly as he put his bow away. "Roy, have any of your contacts turned up anything useful?"

"All dead ends," Roy said apologetically and Oliver nodded, his scowl deepening.

"Has Felicity said how long she'll be in Central City?" Oliver inquired.

"She'll be a few more days," Diggle said and Oliver nodded.

"Any change in Barry's condition?" he asked.

"Still comatose," Diggle said and Oliver looked troubled. "Kid was struck by lightning Oliver, he's lucky he's even alive."

"Yeah," Oliver muttered a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that something was off about that.

"So what do we do now?" Roy asked, breaking Oliver out of his thoughts.

"We keep looking. Somewhere out there, someone knows where the man in the skull mask is. We just have to find him," Oliver said firmly.

"I've never seen you spooked like this before," Diggle mentioned as Oliver turned around to face him.

"That should tell you something Diggle," Oliver said darkly.

District Attorney's office

Same time

Laurel was on her computer, looking up something when Quentin walked into the room.

"You ready?" Quentin asked, making Laurel look up at him in surprise.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" Laurel asked in confusion.

"We're supposed to go get dinner," Quentin reminded her and Laurel looked chagrined. "You forgot?"

"I'm sorry Dad, I completely spaced," Laurel apologized.

"What are you working on that has you so focused you're forgetting things?" Quentin asked, not liking the look on her face.

"Sabastian Blood," Laure said, taking Quentin back. "At Christmas, Thea and her friend came to me about a missing person's report that turned into a death by overdose. But Max went missing after a donation to Sabastian's Blood drive."

"Some people have demons, you never know what can drive someone over the edge," Quentin pointed out.

"I did some more digging; Blood has a link to the Langford Psychiatric Institute. The one that burnt down under very mysterious circumstances," Laurel argued. "And he also knew Cyrus Gold."

"Okay, sweetie, where are you going with this?" Quentin asked, trying to make sense of it.

"I'm not sure yet, but you always told me to follow my instincts. Right now, my instincts are telling me that something is off about Blood," Laurel said.

Verdant

Later

Thea was at the bar, making sure everything was running smoothly when she saw Roy making his way through the crowd. Oliver had admitted to her that he had recruited Roy as one of his partners, so she wasn't naïve enough to think he was here for her. Even just the sight of him reminded her how much she missed him though.

Roy exited the club, surprised to find Jade outside.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Roy asked as he made his way over to her.

"You spend a lot of free time here; I thought I'd see what all the fuss was about. You know, normal girlfriend stuff," Jade said nonchalantly with a shrug.

"Is that we are, boyfriend and girlfriend?" Roy asked and she shrugged.

"That's up to you. I like you, more than I've liked anyone in…a long time. And I'd like to see where this goes, but it's up to you," Jade said and Roy was silent for a moment.

"I like you to. But I just got out of a serious relationship. So maybe we should take things slow…as slow as two people who have already slept together can take it," Roy added as a half joke.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Jade said, grinning as she pulled him into a kiss.

As they kissed neither was aware of Thea watching this from the entrance to the club. She watched this sadly before turning around and walking back into the club. Looks like Roy was moving on, she thought sadly as she wiped a tear from her eyes.

Starling City

Same time

In a car, a man was sitting alone in the driver's seat, staring intently at a building.

"Freedom. Liberty. Justice. Long have the people of this city suffered under the shackles of a corrupt government. Slaves to self-interested politicians and their lobbyist puppeteers. I declare war on them all," the man rambled before picking up a cell phone and pressing a button.

The building went up in an explosion as the man watched, satisfied.

Not a very long chapter, I know, but next one will be longer.

The opening sequence in 2x10 is one of the earliest examples of making Oliver dumb for the plot. Oliver has been trained by Talia al Ghul to 'see in the dark' yet he doesn't notice someone crawling out a car window and taking off running while he approaches said car? Really?

Yes, Jade is also Rose Wilson, Slade's daughter. I thought it would be a nice plot twist that would not only tie Slade and the Triad together, but allow for an interesting dynamic between Slade and Jade.