I'm sorry if any of you had trouble seeing last chapter, for almost a weak this site had a glitch where new posts weren't able to be accessed. It happened just as I posted the previous chapter and was still going on when I posted the latest chapter of my story 'United we stand', if you weren't able to see that either.

Ellie Bishop: I really think only Joe can be considered, Jade/Rose here, as Grant showing up in season eight makes no sense, given the timeline. Grant, TBH, was just a lame attempt to milk off the Deathstroke name with actually bringing Slade back. Yeah, both Roy and Laurel are in a better headspace compared to the original timeline. Oh no kidding, Shrapnel was just a forgettable villain of the week.

Guest 1: Glad to hear it.

Guest 2: Glad you enjoyed it. Glad to hear it.

Arrow Lair

Night

"Was anyone in the building?" Oliver asked as he and Diggle walked back down into the lair after hearing news of the bombing.

"Cleaning crew and a group of bankers working out a late night deal," Diggle said and Oliver nodded.

Oliver made his way over to the computers and began typing at it. After a few moments, the police and fire department's dispatch came over the computer.

"It's too hot. We're falling back."

"You've still got people on the 5th floor!"

"It's too hot! We're pulling back!"

Eyes filled with steely determination, Oliver walked over to the suit display and picked up his bow.

Starling City

Not long after

Inside the burning building, Oliver moved around, looking for civilians when a woman ran into him.

"Help! Gary's still back there!" she pleaded, pointing to where she had come from.

"Get to safety," he ordered before moving towards the designated area.

He saw a man, who he assumed was Gary, pinned under some debris. Oliver rushed over, attempting to lift the debris off Gary's legs with no such luck. Hearing a sound above him, Oliver looked up. Seeing that the ceiling was about ready to collapse, Oliver knew he had to act fast.

"Give me your hand!" he barked.

Gary quickly grabbed onto Oliver hand as Oliver held up the debris as far as he could. Oliver pulled Gary out before dropping the debris. Oliver helped Gary stand, offering him support as they walked out of the room. They had not gotten far when they heard a car. The ceiling had collapsed and a pillar fell where Gary had been trapped.

As Gary caught his breath, he looked up to thank Oliver but Oliver was gone. Gary had no time to process this before some firemen entered the room, immediately beginning to check on him.

Outside, standing on the ledge of a building, Oliver looked down, feeling a tsunami of fury welling up inside him.

"Whoever did this needs to pay," Sara said as she walked up behind him.

Oliver give no acknowledgement he heard her other than a slight nod. Whoever did this would face justice, he would see to that.

Queen Consolidated, next day

Morning

"News report said that the bomber didn't steal any money," Oliver said as he and Diggle discussed the bombing the next day in Oliver's office.

"I think this was about making a statement," Diggle said as he handed Oliver a tablet. "That went online an hour ago. His manifesto. 300 pages of anti-government hate."

Oliver frowned as he looked through the webpage. What he read as he skimmed was…disturbing. Whoever this guy was, he was a fanatic. There was little doubt in Oliver's mind about that.

"You think this psycho's any way connected to our psycho in the skull mask?" Diggle asked, breaking Oliver out of his thoughts.

"This guy has a completely separate agenda," Oliver said with certainty. "He's a lone wolf, but we need to find him before he finds his next target."

"I'd start with the bomb. Everyone's unique. Maybe we can get some kind of signature on the guy. But the bomb residue is with the SCPD," Diggle noted.

"Fortunately we have an in with one of the officers at the department," the two whirled around to see Felicity enter the room.

"I thought you were staying in Central City for a few more days," Oliver said surprised.

"I got a news alert about the bombing. Caught the first one out to Starling this morning," Felicity said and Oliver nodded.

"Good. We'll need all the help we can get," Oliver said darkly.

Starling City

Afternoon

In his campaign office, Blood was preparing for a press conference when he saw Laurel Lance enter the room.

"Ms. Lance," Blood said politely.

"Alderman. If now's a bad time, I can come back," Laurel said but he waved her off.

"It's fine, they're still setting up out there," Blood said as he got up and walked over to her. "May I help you with something?"

"Yeah, actually, I was wondering if I could ask you something," Laurel said and he nodded.

"Of course, anything," Blood said.

"The man who attacked my father's unit at Christmas, he was identified as a named Cyrus Gold," Laurel said and Blood sighed, looking tired.

Blood sat down on his desk, appearing won down at this news.

"Cyrus Gold was a preacher at the orphanage where I was raised," Blood revealed. "Cyrus was a very good friend to me, like an older brother. Or even a father figure, to be honest. He was the first person I said a word to, and this was after a month of not speaking at all."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Laurel said honestly and he smiled weakly.

"Thank you Ms. Lance," he said before frowning. "I don't know why Cyrus' life took the turn that it did, I'm sad to say. All I know is that he helped a very young, very frightened boy find his voice again."

It was silent as Laurel stared at Blood. If she was anyone else, she would have taken his sob story and put the matter to rest. But she'd been a lawyer for too long to buy take it at face value. She's learned a long time ago that people would use emotions to manipulate people. She would not be manipulated.

Laurel was broken out of her thoughts by a knock on the doorframe. One of Blood's assistants was gesturing him forward.

"I'm sorry to cut this short. If you have any more questions, I'll be happy to answer them later," Blood promised.

Laurel smiled politely as Blood walked out. Once he was out of sight, Laurel walked over to his desk. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she had to find something.

It didn't take her long to find an envelope with a stack of invoices inside. Looking out the window, Laurel made sure Blood was preoccupied with the press before pulling one out slightly. It was from somewhere called St. Walker's Hospital, addressed to someone called Maya Resik.

Arrow lair

Night

Roy and Sara were sparing with Escirma sticks before Roy was knocked off his feet. Roy fell onto the floor as Sara had her escirma stick at his throat.

"Dead," Sara said simply.

"At this point, I'm dead ten times over," Roy grunted as she lowered her staff, offering a hand to help him up.

"You're improving. That was twice the time it took me to beat you last time," Sara said as she helped him up and Roy gave her a flat look. "Not helping?"

"Not really," Roy said as Diggle and Felicity walked down the stairs.

"She's right; you've come a long way in less than two months. You're a natural soldier Roy," Diggle said.

"It took Ollie and I years to get to where we are. Don't be so hard on yourself," Sara said before noticing that Oliver was gone. "Speaking of which, where is Ollie?"

Starling City

Same time

Quentin was standing on a rooftop, waiting before he felt the air shift. He turned around, seeing Oliver standing behind him.

"You know, most cops, they meet their informants in the backseat of a cruiser or maybe a coffee shop or something, but-" Quentin paused as he noticed Oliver's mask. "What's with the mask?"

"Gift from a friend," Oliver said simply.

"You have friends?" Quentin joked and Oliver gave him an irritated look.

"Did you bring me what I asked for?" Oliver asked.

Quentin nodded, pulling out a small evidence bag and handing it to him.

"That's a sample of everything the CSU collected from the blast. There's melted glass, multiple explosive fragments, and trace residue, and it looks like nitroglycerine. Which means that we're dealing with more than just a basement nutjob," Quentin said and Oliver nodded.

"Someone with training," Oliver agreed. "Thank you Detective."

"I need a favor to," Quentin said and Oliver paused. "The son of a bitch who killed my men, my partner…"

"Is dead," Oliver assured him.

"And whoever tipped him off, told him we were coming, he's doing just fine," Quentin said pointedly.

"What do you need?" Oliver asked after a beat.

"Cell phone records from every cop in my precinct," Quentin said and Oliver raised an eyebrow.

"You think there's a leak in the department?"

I think those phone records are the only way to know for sure, and your blonde friend, she's pretty good with computers," Quentin pointed out and Oliver nodded, conceding.

"I'll ask her-"

Whatever else Oliver was going to say was cut off by the sound of an explosion. The pair whirled around as, in the distance; they could see a building on fire. As Quentin made the call on his radio, Oliver tapped the Comms piece in his ear.

"He's hit again," he said urgently as he and Quentin raced down the building from opposite ends.

"Starling City Municipal Building," Felicity said after a moment.

"Give me a location," Oliver demanded.

"I'll give you one better; I'm checking the surrounding cell towers. There was a GSM spike of 3,800 megahertz two seconds before the blast. That frequency's way outside the approved frequency for U.S. carriers," Felicity was quiet for a moment as she traced the signal. "Signal's moving. I think he's mobile."

"Get me an intersection!" Oliver barked.

Not long after, Oliver was racing down the highway on his motorcycle, looking for his target.

"Right in front of you, four-hundred meters," Felicity said as he spotted a white panel van.

"I see him," Oliver said as he revved the engine, heading towards it.

The bomber must have seen him to, because he ran a red light, a few cars having to swerve to avoid him. Oliver raced after him, swerving in and out of traffic to avoid the cars. He was gaining, but the bomber made a left.

"Turn left on 67th," Felicity ordered and Oliver followed her instructions.

Oliver chased him for a few seconds until the bomber tossed an explosive out the car window. It landed in front of Oliver, who jumped off and used the bike as a shield as it went off. Once it was over, Oliver got back on and continued his pursuit. The bomber tossed something out the window, a smoke grenade, as the street was filled with smoke. Oliver raced through it but his target was gone.

"Felicity, I've lost him," Oliver said.

"So have I, hold on a sec," Felicity paused for a second. "Got him. Bank left on Gerrard Street. You're almost right on top of him."

Oliver sped on ahead full throttle, making a hard left. However, he had to stop, almost running into a bus. Oliver looked around wildly but there was no sign of the van.

"It's not him Felicity. You picked up the wrong signal," Oliver snapped.

"What?" Felicity asked stunned. "I-he must have scrambled the signal."

"It doesn't matter. He's gone," Oliver said grimly.

Arrow lair

Later

"What happened out there Felicity?" Oliver demanded as he walked back into the lair.

"He's using cellular technology to detonate his bombs. Clearly, his expertise extends to obscuring that signal," Felicity said lowly.

It's not her fault, it's not her fault, Oliver chanted in his head as he fought the urge to lash out at her.

"So what do we do now?" Roy asked, bringing Oliver back to the present.

"We try to find him, by whatever means necessary," Oliver said darkly.

Starling City Police Department, next day

Morning

Laurel entered the precinct, looking for her father. She saw him talking to one of the officers who had gone to apprehend Cyrus Gold with him and the other four officers. Quentin saw her and made his way over.

"Hey, what are you doing here? I'm gonna assume it's not to check up on me," Quentin said as a half joke.

"I need your help," Laurel said and he raised an eyebrow. "I'm trying to find someone named Maya Resik. I searched the Internet, the DMV records, social security, nothing."

"So why are you trying to find a ghost?" Quentin asked wearily.

"Because Sabastian Blood is paying her bills, I want to know why," Laurel said honestly and Quentin gave her a long look. "Don't look at me like that, I'm not crazy."

"I never said you were. But, Laurel…I know what it's like to get consumed by an obsession. I did it with the Doll Maker, I did with Oliver last year…I don't want you to make my mistakes."

"Dad, you always told me to trust my gut. Well, right now my gut is telling me that there is something off about Blood. Are you gonna help me or not?" Laurel demanded and Quentin sighed.

"Alright…but I am concerned," Quentin said.

"And I love you for it. But I'm fine," Laurel promised.

Queen Mansion

Night

Oliver walked into the mansion and heard the television on. Walking into the sitting room, he saw Thea flipping through the channels.

"I thought you'd be at the club still," Oliver said as he walked over.

"Called it an early night," Thea said and he noticed her eyes were red.

"Are you okay?" Oliver asked as he sat down next to her.

"Not really," Thea said and it was silent for a moment. "The other night, I saw Roy heading out of the club. I went to go talk to him for…I don't even know what. I saw him outside the club, kissing some girl."

Oliver nodded, not all that surprised. Roy had mentioned in passing a few times that he was involved with someone else. But Oliver doubted he had intended on telling Thea that way.

"I know it's stupid, Roy and I are over and I had a lot to with that," Thea said.

"But it still hurts," Oliver said knowingly and Thea nodded.

"Yeah," Thea said as she turned onto a local news network.

"'Over the last few days, our resolve has been tested," Blood said as he held a press conference.

"What's he doing?" Thea asked as Oliver frowned.

"I don't know," Oliver said as they watched.

"Tomorrow night, I am holding Starling's first ever unity rally at City Plaza. We are going to show the world that the people of this great city will not back down to terrorists," Blood said, to Oliver's alarm.

"He just committed suicide and invited the entire city to join him," Oliver said aghast.

"So what are you gonna do?" Thea asked.

Blood's campaign office

Later

Blood was on the phone when the power suddenly went out. Blood looked around in confusion when a voice spoke up.

"Sabastian Blood," Blood's hand went to the gun under his desk as The Hood walked out of the shadows. "This rally tomorrow night, you need to call it off."

"The Starling City vigilante paying me a visit to wave me off. I'm flattered," Blood said as he released his grip on the gun, realizing he wasn't in any danger.

"This event, Mr. Blood, you might as well be painting a giant bulls eye on your chest," Oliver warned him.

"This city needs to come together. And I need to show them how," Blood said with certainty.

"You won't be able to do anything if you're dead," Oliver shot back.

Every night, you risk your life for the people of this city. How can you expect me to do any less?" Blood demanded as he got to his feet.

"And the people at your rally, are they simply collateral damage?" Oliver demanded.

"This rally is about Starling City standing up and declaring with one voice that living afraid isn't living. I won't send a contrary message to people telling them to stay home, to stay scared. I've made my decision," Blood said firmly.

"Whatever has happened up to now, it's been on him," Oliver said as he walked over to Blood's desk. "But what happens tomorrow night is on you. If anyone dies because of your ego and recklessness, I will hold you personally responsible."

Oliver then walked out of the office. The power came back on and Blood looked around but there was no sign of the vigilante.

Oliver lashing out at Felicity was just Guggenheim trying to get in his kicks for his dream ship and, as usual, it took up farm ore of the episode than necessary, so I scraped the whole thing.

Blood holding his rally was, to be blunt, just stupid. There's sending a message and then there's just being plain reckless. A bomber is going around blowing up buildings and your solution is to invite him to a rally with multiple civilians? First he doesn't put up any security in the gun drive, then this. For someone who claims to love Starling City, Blood really doesn't seem to care about the people in it.