Oliver is paid a visit by Diggle, while the man in the subway tunnel reacts to the Green Arrow's return.
It had been two hours since Oliver had managed to foil the attack on Quentin Lance, and as he had expected, news outlets were buzzing and gnawing thoroughly at the bone which had been thrown at them. Oliver read through the multiple news headlines while he iced the bruises from where the bullets had hit him. 'Mayor Lance saved by Green Arrow', 'Vigilante foils plot to kill Mayor' and Oliver's personal favourite, 'The Return of The Emerald Archer'.
Quentin had been taken back to Starling General just for a check-up, and Oliver was sure that they weren't thinking of another transport plan immediately. He'd stay at the hospital now with armed protection, that he was sure of. The only surviving members of the SWAT Team were the two men that remained with Quentin in the van. Detective Mack Morgan had survived and was receiving treatment for the gunshot wound on his shoulder. He was going to make a full recovery, something which Oliver was glad to hear.
Regarding the mercenaries, Oliver had killed the first six, but he had only incapacitated the remaining five, and they had been taken into police custody. He doubted they'd talk to the police and even if they did, he currently didn't have any way to gather that intel. Years prior, he used to have Quentin relay him information, but now, he'd have to find someone else. The phone could be a great help in getting some information, but Oliver hadn't had any success with getting it to work yet.
He'd rewatched the entire footage of the attack, and something seemed strange to him. When Mack Morgan was shot, none of the men in front of him had fired. They were all reloading their weapons while the other men were preoccupied with the van. That meant that there had to have been another shooter. A sniper, perhaps even the same sniper that tried to kill Quentin, but then the question arose of why he hadn't fired at Oliver.
When the door to the lair opened, Oliver was not startled or alarmed. He had seen the person enter the building earlier through surveillance cameras, and was in all honesty expecting the visit to come sooner or later.
"My oh my… Déjà vu, huh?" the deep voice called out as he trod down the stairs, inspecting the layout of the lair.
"How'd you figure I was here?" asked Oliver, as he spun around in his chair to face John Diggle.
"I checked the Bunker as soon as I saw the news. You weren't there, so then I called Barry to see if he knew where you were, and he told me to come here," replied Diggle, as he surveyed the place around him. "So… the return of the Emerald Archer? A bit extravagant, don't you think?"
"I like it," replied Oliver with a sly smile.
"You going to tell me how long you've been planning this?" asked Diggle.
"Not long. To be honest, I didn't want to do this, but I have to."
"Why is that?"
"I've had some recent suspicions that there's a plot to elevate crime and invoke chaos in Star City. My suspicions were confirmed tonight."
"Are you sure about that? Have any evidence?"
"Only circumstantial, but I can feel it, Diggle. These guys weren't gangsters, they were mercenaries. Trained professionals who were there to finish the job that the sniper started. Whoever hired them or whoever they work for wanted Lance dead."
"And you're sure that this is the way to stop them?" The wording was different, but Diggle was asking the same question that Barry had earlier.
"Yes," replied Oliver, bluntly. "Hasn't tonight proved that?"
"Maybe, maybe not. I'm just not sure that you know what you're getting yourself into. You've been away from this for seven years, you can't just jump back in and think things are going to be like how they used to. From the looks of things, it also looks like you plan on doing this without a team."
"No team, Diggle. You know why," replied Oliver with a blank stare which Diggle knew all too well. "And besides, there's nobody else that can help anyway. Roy is about to become a father, and you can't go out in the field anymore."
"You still need someone to watch your back in some form, Oliver."
"I know, and I'm looking right at that someone."
"Excuse me? Maybe I haven't made myself clear, but I do not want you doing this, Oliver, nor do I want to be a part of it."
"John, there's something larger at play here and I know it. It's fine if you're not convinced right now. I don't the evidence yet, but acquiring it is going to be a lot easier with your help. You just need to be my backup, and my advisor." Oliver threw the ice pack away and rose to his feet, walking to within arm's reach of Diggle. "What do you say, Dig? Just you and me, like old times…" said Oliver, as he stretched out a hand.
John Diggle hesitated to accept Oliver's offer. He was not keen on seeing his best friend dive back into the pool of darkness which had taken him years to claw out of. More importantly than that, he didn't want to see him die in the field. He had feared Oliver would do something drastic in response to the changes in his life, but this was not one of the things which he had envisioned. He saw the determination in Oliver's eyes. He was sure of this, and even though Diggle wasn't, he knew that Oliver would do it with or without him. That meant that as a friend, he only had one option, as he proceeded to shake Oliver's hand.
"I'll help on one condition," said Diggle.
"Name it."
"You have two weeks to prove to me that there's something going on. If you don't, you forget about all of this. You shut this place down and never come back here again." It was a heavy demand, but not one that Oliver thought was unreasonable.
"Fair enough."
"So when do we start?"
Oliver smirked before he gave his reply. "We just did."
"Mama… Mama!"
"Վազիր, Alex! Վազեք!"
Her screams for her son to run away weren't heeded. He was frozen in place, paralysed as he watched his mother being shoved on to the bed by the enemy soldier. Tears flowed down his cheeks as he knelt on the floor next to his father's lifeless body. He didn't know what to do… until he caught a glimpse of the large knife in his father's hands. It was then that he realised what he had to do, and it was something that no child should ever have to.
The man in the subway tunnel was snapped out of his distant recollection by the footsteps of of his most trusted marksman and second-in-command approaching him from behind. He was seated in front of a large screen, tentatively watching Jack Major's press release and the news reports regarding the attack on Mayor Lance. More importantly, he paid full attention to their words about the Green Arrow's return, and how they debated whether this was a new individual or the same man from years prior.
The marksman spoke up. "This screws with the plans."
"Don't worry. There are other ways we can ensure that Quentin Lance is no longer in office."
"That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about him," his second-in-command explained, as he pointed to the TV where a blurry image of the Green Arrow was being displayed. "I had a clear shot. Why did you tell me to stand down?"
"Your rounds wouldn't have penetrated his suit," he replied, half-jokingly.
"Bullshit. It would have been better to take him out while we had the chance."
"Patience, my dear friend. Patience..."
"Why do you sound like you have a plan for him?"
"Because now, I do. His time will come if he chooses to continue on this path, but for now, let's just enjoy the theatrics, shall we?"