Ellie Bishop: Yep, time is about to push back in a major way.

Guest 1: Well, for every reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Guest 2: Glad you enjoyed it. Nope, not good at all. Glad to hear it.

Arrow lair

Night

Oliver, Roy, Diggle and Felicity stood in the lair. Oliver had his noise buried in a file Laurel had given him as Felicity brought up all the information she had managed to gather.

"Laurel was right. I hacked Blood's cell phone records. The alderman and Gold have stayed buddies since Zandia orphanage," Felicity told them.

"So what? They kept in touch. Doesn't exactly mean that Sebastian Blood is the man in the skull mask," Diggle argued.

"His last name is Blood, that can't be a good sign," Felicity pointed out.

"Felicity, he's dedicated his life, risked his life to help the people of the Glades. And in his spare time, he's a murderer trying to create an army of human weapons?" Diggle said incredulously.

"Last year, Malcolm Merlyn got the Humanitarian award because all anyone saw was a CEO, not a psychopath who wanted to wipe out the people in The Glades," Roy pointed out. "Dig, have you not been paying attention?"

All conversion stopped as Oliver closed the folder and to his feet.

"Laurel gave me a case number to start with. We need to know if the alderman really killed his father, then we figure out if there's a chance he has the Mirakuru formula," Oliver ordered as he handed Felicity the file.

"I'm on it," Felicity said with a nod.

"Where do you want me?" Roy asked.

"Take the night off," Oliver said and Roy opened his mouth to protest. "Roy, there's nothing you can do right now until we know more. Go out, take some time to relax, and I will call you as soon as we know more."

Roy wanted to argue, but he could see from Oliver's face that it wouldn't do him any good. Pick your battles, Roy told himself as he turned and walked out. Oliver waited until Roy was gone until he turned to face Diggle.

"Something you want to say John?"

"Would you be so willing to believe this Intel if it came from anyone but Laurel?" Diggle finally said and Oliver stared at him incredulously.

"Eager? You think I'm eager? I am looking at the facts, looking into this before I rule it out. Would you be so willing to dismiss it if it hadn't come from Laurel?" Oliver challenged and Diggle was silent. "This isn't about Blood or the man in the skull mask; this is about Edward Rasmus and Deadshot. I chose a child's future over your vendetta and I am done apologizing for it. Get over it or get out."

Oliver then turned and followed Roy out, leaving Diggle to consider his words.

Starling City

Same time

In her clock tower, Sin held a knife over her wrist before bring it down. She made a clean cut and watched in fascination as it healed within seconds.

"Holy crap," she muttered.

Queen Mansion

Later

"Oliver," Moira said surprised as she met Oliver in the hallway. "I didn't expect to see you home so soon tonight."

"It's a slow night," Oliver said as he eyed her attire, which was something she'd usually wear to a gala. "Going out?"

"Yes. With Walter," Moira said and Oliver's eyebrows shot up into his hair.

"Like a date?"

"Like a dinner. Are you alright with that?" Moira asked carefully, knowing his issues with Walter when he had first retuned.

"Walter's a good man Mom. You deserve something good in your life," Oliver said as he kissed her on the cheek. "Don't stay out too late."

"I'm not even sure where the night will lead. Don't tell your sister about this until after I talk with you," Moira pleaded.

Oliver nodded, knowing Thea would only get her hopes up for a reconciliation between their mother and Walter. Moira smiled before walking out of the room. Less than five seconds later, Oliver's phone started buzzing. Pulling it out, he saw it was Felicity and answered.

"I have good news and bad news," Felicity said in greeting. "Suggest the good news first; it tends to soften the blow of the bad news."

"Felicity," Oliver said annoyed.

"Alright, dealer's choice. Good news is we found the case file on Sebastian's dad's murder," Felicity.

"Anything in it to suggest he killed him?" Oliver asked.

"Well, that's the bad news: the file was sealed years ago. And since the file is over twenty seven years old, there's not a digital copy for me to hack," Felicity said regretfully. "The only hard copy is stored the old-fashioned way in the city archives."

"So I go in and take it the old fashion way," Oliver said, not seeing the problem.

"Except security in the file room is so old school, you need a key card to get in. Which, even if you had, you wouldn't know where to start looking for the file," Felicity pointed out.

"An Assistant DA would," Oliver said lowly.

Starling City

Later

At the restaurant, Moira walked over to a table, smiling as she saw Walter already sitting down.

"Moira," Walter said as he got to his feet.

It was at that point that Moira saw that he was not alone. A dark haired man who had been sitting across from Walter got to his feet as well. So not a date after all, Moira realized with some disappointment.

"I didn't realize we'd have company," Moira said giving no hint to her true feelings.

"This is Mark Frances. Mark's CFO at Kardak Holdings. We've been putting in some hours with the party's election steering committee," Walter explained.

"I see," Moira said, not expecting the rather abrupt change in conversation.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Mark said as he held out his hand.

"Those are words I'm not accustomed to hearing these days," Moira said as she shook his hand.

Moira then removed her coat and handed it to Walter. He hung it on a rack before pulling out her chair. Walter clearly had an agenda for this, but if he had forgotten who he was dealing with, well, she would remind him, Moira thought as she sat down.

"You were a lioness doing what she had to do to protect her cubs. You know, I'm not the only person in Starling who sees it that way," Mark said as they all sat down.

"That's a comfort," Moira said honestly.

"It's the truth," Mark said.

"It's unlike you to show such an interest in politics," Moira noted as she looked over at Walter.

"It's part of my new position at the Starling National Bank. My Board of Directors is very concerned about the trajectory of the city," Walter explained.

"You mean Sebastian Blood," Moira realized.

"Yeah. We believe that his policies will bankrupt Starling within the next eight months. Not that the average voter cares. They're all caught up in his charisma," Mark broke it down for her.

"And he's not running against a viable candidate," Moira noted as she took a sip of water.

"Blood's trounced every potential candidate we've focus-tested," Walter admitted.

"But we believe that he's vulnerable on regulation," Mark said.

"Even if he is, it hardly matters. Banking regulations are an SEC issue. Starling City needs to use the means at a city's disposal," Moira said and noticed the two men exchanging smiles.

"Walter said you were smart," Mark said with a grin and it hit Moira what this was about.

"But you didn't invite me to dinner to hear my opinions. You want to hear my positions. You want me to run against Sebastian Blood," Moira realized in shock.

Arrow lair

Same time

"This is insane," Felicity was telling Diggle as Sara entered the lair.

"He doesn't see straight when it comes to her," Diggle said disgruntled.

"What are you two talking about?" Sara asked and the pair whirled around.

"Heeey Sara," Felicity said awkwardly, which immediately put Sara on edge.

"What's happening? Where's Ollie?" Sara demanded.

Starling City

Same time

On the roof of the Department of the Records, Oliver and Laurel walked over to an access hatch. Oliver fired an arrow at it, blowing off the lid.

"You ready for this?" Oliver asked.

"Do I have a choice?" Laurel muttered.

Nodding, Oliver tapped the Comms pierce in his suit.

"We're going in."

"At least the security cameras are from this century," Felicity muttered. "Aaaand now they're toast. You have exactly seven minutes until the system reboots."

After entering through the hatch, Oliver and Laurel made their way to the main records room. Laurel used her card to unlock the door and pushed it open. They entered the room and found dozens of shelves with dozens of boxes of files.

"This could take a while," Laurel muttered.

"We don't have a while. We need to move, fast," Oliver said sharply.

"May not be possible," Laurel said as she began looking through the shelves as fast as she could.

"Oliver," Felicity said over the Comms.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he passed a security camera.

"It looks we've got the one rent-a-cop with a brain here. If there's a camera nearby, I recommend hiding," Felicity told him urgently.

Oliver paled and jumped out of view but it was too late.

"Starling's finest will be there any minute. You need to get out of there now," Felicity said urgently.

"We're not leaving without the file," Oliver said as he turned to Laurel, who was going through a box. "Laurel."

"I can't find it," Laurel said as she rushed back up the ladder, looking through the boxes desperately.

Oliver growled as he waked towards the door, knowing time was of the essence.

"Oliver, hurry," Felicity said desperately over the Comms.

"Wait! Case number SC43878! This is it!" Laurel cried as she found the file.

She pulled it out of the box just as the door burst open and a SWAT team entered.

"Vigilante, we know you're here!" the lead officer said as they swarmed the room. "Close everything off, now!"

"They're blocking our only way out!" Laurel said as Oliver began leading her away.

"It's not our only way. Get to the east wall and wait for me," Oliver ordered.

Laurel didn't want to leave him but she knew she would be more liability than help. So she turned and raced towards the east wall as Oliver rounded a corner, coming face to face with a wall of officers.

"Drop your weapon!" one of them ordered.

Oliver fired an arrow, which went off with a bright flash, blinding the officers. Oliver then raced away, dodging the barrage of bullets that followed him. He reached the shelf leading to the east wall and fired an arrow. It flew right past Laurel and shattered the window. Oliver raced towards the window, grabbed Laurel, and jumped. Using the line attached to the arrow he had shot off, he glided them both to the ground, where they landed safely on the street below.

"You alright?" Oliver asked as he let her go.

"No," Laurel as she opened the file and paled. "It's empty."

Oliver looked over and saw she right. There was nothing in the file.

Arrow lair

Later

"I tried going through all the security footage at the city archives to see if anyone swiped the file over the last few days," Felicity said as she, Oliver, Sara, Roy and Diggle stood by the computers.

"What did you find?" Oliver asked.

"Well, this," Felicity said as she pulled up the video.

The video she pulled up showed the file room but, after a moment, the video was filled with static.

"It's all been erased," Felicity said sadly.

"So what happened when you reversed the footprint to see who hacked in before you?" Oliver asked.

"I struck out again. It must have been an inside job," Felicity said.

"As an alderman, Blood would have access to the city records," Roy noted.

"Anyone on the city payroll could done this," Diggle argued.

"And what would be their motive? And if there was nothing to even hint that Blood had something to do with this, why would they even bother?" Sara asked and could see the frustration on Diggle's face. "And why do I get the feeling that you would rather Laurel be wrong about this Dig for more than just wanting Blood to be innocent?"

"You want to tell them John or should I?" Oliver asked after a moment of Diggle being silent.

"Last year, the man who killed my brother was in town," Diggle said finally. "Oliver promised to kill him, but when the time came, he bailed in order to help your sister."

"Well, that's not quite accurate," Oliver said as Sara and Roy looked at him. "Two of Laurel's clients had been killed by a hitman. Their son, the only witness, was a target. The man who put out the hit was trying to flee the country when this was going down."

"So…you're still made that Oliver chose to save a child's life instead of helping you get your revenge?" Sara asked blankly as she looked over at Diggle, who was silent.

"He thinks that I allow my relationship with Laurel to cloud my judgment. But I'm gonna tell you something I've never told you John," Oliver said as he walked over to Diggle until they were face to face. "If Laurel had not been involved, I would still make the same choice in a heartbeat. What we do here isn't about stopping the bad guys; it's about protecting the people in our city, making sure they are safe. If you haven't figured that by now…why am I wasting my time with you?"

"So what do we do now?" Felicity asked after a moment but Oliver had no answer.

Diggle in the first two seasons, outside a few instances, was Diggle at his best. But this episode he was just downright pathetic. He's so convinced that Oliver allows his feelings for Laurel to cloud his judgement (because there is apparently no other reason Oliver could have chosen to prioritize a child's future over his vendetta) that he forgets that before he was exposed as a psycho mass murderer, Malcolm Merlyn of all people got the humanitarian award.

The entire episode was basically building towards Oliver having this 'blind spot' for Laurel but it doesn't hold much weight. Oliver didn't take Laurel's word at face value; he was as objective as he possibly could have been. He didn't outright condemn Blood, but he didn't just dismiss Laurel's clams either. He followed the evidence and saw where it led. Diggle threw this big temper tantrum over Oliver considering Laurel's theory, but Oliver would have been a moron to just throw this out without considering it.

Objectively, does Oliver have a blind spot for Laurel? Honestly, probably. But he has never let it affect his decisions. We've seen Oliver having a blind spot and allowing it to affect his decisions, with Moira in season one, how he refused to even consider her involvement in The Undertaking. The comparison is pretty clear to say with certainty that Oliver does not allow his feelings for Laurel to cloud his judgement, despite what Diggle may have to say on the subject.

Moira's mayor plot is going to start a little earlier due to something that will happen next chapter.