Ellie Bishop: Yep. Jade is a complex character who will have a complex Arc, that's all I'll on the matter right now. It's not going to be pretty when the truth about Diggle comes out.

Queen Consolidated

Night

It was chaos on the top floor. Outside Oliver's office, reporters swarmed the hallway, hoping for an exclusive. Inside Oliver's office, Oliver and Moira were talking to Pike and Quentin.

"Well, the video referenced a demand, but no ransom, which means this might not be about money," Pike was saying.

"We're gonna get her back Moira. I promise you, Thea's coming home," Quentin tried assuring her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Now, can you think of anyone who might want to get to you through Thea?" Pike asked.

Oh she could alright. The sight of Slade in his suit left no doubt in Moira's mind who she was dealing with. But she knew she couldn't explain to the police, much less her son how she recognized that suit.

"No one except for the families of the five-hundred and three people that died last year," Moira said brokenly.

"This isn't about the quake," Oliver said lowly.

"I have to agree."

The four of them looked over as the door opened. Diggle walked in, Lyla trailing behind them.

"Sirs, Ma'am, I'm sorry to interrupt, but this is an old friend, Lyla Michaels. She works for the CIA," Diggle introduced Lyla on the cover she had insisted upon.

"I believe I may be of some assistance in this case," Lyla said.

"What makes you say that?" Pike asked wearily.

"The man in the video. He's a new player we've been tracking. He's left a trail of bodies from Macau to Istanbul to Lisbon. We tracked that trail here. My superiors have been calling him Deathstroke," Lyla explained.

Oliver stared at her, impressed with her plan. This way, Lyla could involve herself with the investigation without raising suspicion. It was more than what Waller would have done.

Hearing a tapping sound on the glass, Oliver looked over. Felicity was standing on the other side, gesturing for him to come out. Behind her, he saw Walter.

"Excuse me for a minute," Oliver said before leaving Lyla to handle Pike.

"Oliver," Walter said as Oliver met him outside. "I'm terribly sorry; I can't imagine what you and your mother are going through."

"Yes you can," Oliver said knowingly and Walter nodded after a moment, conceding his point. "What is it Walter?"

"I ran into Ms. Rochev on the way up. She told me to remind you that the voting for new officers has to take place within twenty four hours," Walter said and Oliver resisted the urge to growl.

"Walter, I can't focus on this right now," Oliver pointed out.

"I know, but I doubt Ms. Rochev will give you a choice. If I may offer some advice, as CEO, you can appoint someone your proxy, make them CEO pro tempore," Walter explained.

Immediately, Oliver grabbed a piece of paper and began writing something down. Once he was finished, he handed it to Walter, who read it shock.

"You cannot be serious son," Walter said as he stared at the words 'I, Oliver Queen, transfer my authority as CEO of Queen Consolidated to Walter Steele'.

"You're the only I trust with the business experience to do this that won't fall for Rochev's act. It's just one meeting Walter. Once we have Thea back, I'll take the reins back. I can handle this, I need you to handle the company," Oliver told him. "I need your help to get Thea back. This is how you help me Walter."

"Alright, alright," Walter gave in as Felicity approached.

"Oliver," they looked over at her. "I need to talk to you about Mr. Wilson."

Arrow lair

Later

Sara was working on something at the lab table when Oliver, Felicity and Diggle entered the lair.

"Since the last place Thea was seen was Verdant, I used credit card receipts, compiled a list of customers last night, pinged all their cell phones and hacked into their photos. I found this," Felicity explained as she led them over to the computers, pulling up an image of a car. "A partial plate, registered to a Slade Wilson. It has GPS and it's parked outside a defunct bar on Roosevelt."

"Slade would never be that obvious. It's a trap," Oliver noted dismayed.

"Of course it's a trap. He knows it's just the three of you. I mean, I doubt it's a coincidence that Roy goes missing right around the time he takes Thea," Felicity noted.

"Because it's not," Sara said and they looked over at her. "I called Sin after Slade dropped the video. She went to Roy's house, the door was unlocked. His car was in the driveway, but he wasn't there. She found his phone on the floor, with a bunch of missed messages from us and his boss. They've had him since at least this morning."

"Slade and Emiko are picking us off one by one," Diggle seemed to realize. "Oliver, you can't fall into his trap."

"Either he's there or Thea and Roy are. Either way, we need to go," Oliver brushed off his warning.

"Had a feeling you'd say that, which is why I worked up these," Sara said as pulled up what she had been working on, an injection arrow with several more on the table. "Tibetan pit viper venom. The League of Assassins' poison of choice. And the most powerful sedative that I've ever worked with."

"That should give us an advantage," Oliver paused. "Sin should give us another. Call her; tell her to meet us outside the bar."

"Wait, you wanna involve her in this? You sure that's a good idea?" Felicity asked uncertainly.

"No, but we need all the advantages we can get," Oliver said.

"Plus, now that she knows Thea and Roy are missing, she's not gonna sit around and wait," Sara agreed, seeing where Oliver was going with this. "But Ollie…Sin knows."

It took only a moment for Oliver to understand. Normally, he'd have questions. But right now, he had two bigger priorities: Finding Roy and Thea.

"And we'll deal with that later. Right now, we deal with Slade and Emiko," Oliver said darkly.

Starling City

Later

In the bar, Slade was sitting in a chair, smoking a cigar when Oliver suddenly jumped down, notching an arrow at him. Behind Slade, Sara walked up, Sin behind her. Slade eyed them all, smirking sadistically.

"Where are they Slade?" Oliver demanded.

With a smirk, Slade carelessly tossed the cigar to the floor and got to his feet, without saying a word. Angrily, Sin rushed forward, slugging him.

"He asked you a question," Sin snarled before Sara gently but firmly pulled her back.

Slade still did not respond, spitting out a mouth full of blood.

"Where. Are. They?" Oliver demanded his patience wearing thin.

"What are you gonna do kid?" Slade asked, finally speaking, taking a few steps forwards and putting his hands on his hips. "Kill me? Then you'll never know where those you love are."

It was only the months of training with Talia that prevented Oliver from lashing out. Slade was trying to goad him, but he was right, he knew. Even before Slade had been injected, torture never broke him. There was no point in attacking him. That left Oliver with one option.

"Sara, call your father. Tell him to come down here," Oliver finally said.

"Why?" Sara asked in confusion.

"To arrest Slade Wilson."

Faster than either of his companions could blink; Oliver drew one of the injection arrows, notched it and fired. It hit Slade in the chest, causing the older man to stumble back and collapse into the chair, out cold as he was injected.

"I hope you know what you're doing Oliver," Sin muttered as she glanced over at him.

Oliver was silent, hoping he did as well.

Starling City Police Department

Later

Moira's driver pulled the car to a stop outside the station. In the back, Oliver held his mother's hand as the driver got out.

"Remember the plan. It's the only chance Thea and Roy have," Oliver said lowly.

Moira nodded, although it was clearly more difficult for her than imagined. Oliver wished there was another way to get this done. But if Slade wasn't talking, there was only one other option.

Inside the precinct, Quentin was silently watching as Hilton interrogated Slade from behind the glass. It was rather unnerving to Quentin how different Slade was to the man he had seen in the recordings. Quentin could understand how Oliver had such a hard time killing him.

He was broken out of his thoughts when there was a knock on the door. He turned his head as it opened and another officer poked her head in.

"Officer Lance, the Queen family is here."

Shortly after, Quentin and Pike met Oliver and Moira out in the squad room.

"Did he tell you where my daughter is?" Moira demanded immediately.

"No, because he's not the one who took her," Pike said. "He's been in Costa Rica for the past seventy two hours. He can provide flight manifests, phone records, even some videos, so he couldn't have taken Thea."

"Then why did you arrest him?" Oliver asked, needing to play dumb.

"We didn't, the vigilante apprehended him and then contacted Officer Lance," Pike said as he shot Quentin a dark look.

"Lieutenant -" Quentin started.

"God, you're a special kind of stupid. The whole reason you're wearing that uniform instead of a detective's shield is 'cause you were working with the Vigilante," Pike spat.

"A young girl is missing, and you just-" Quentin started angrily only to get cut off again.

"And now you arrest someone on his say-so? You'll be lucky if the next uniform that puts you in isn't prison gray," Pike said angrily.

During the altercation, Oliver had snuck by and headed into the squad room. Slade looked up as he entered. It was silent for a moment.

"So they're calling you Deathstroke," Oliver said conversationally.

"It's a bit flamboyant. I like it," Slade said with a savage grin.

"How'd you get off the island?" Oliver asked and Slade narrowed his eye.

"That is your first question?"

"Well, you've made it clear you won't tell me where Thea and Roy are, so yeah, that's my first question," Oliver snapped.

"I swam," Slade said simply. "But it wasn't without its obstacles. The rip current dragged me under. The rocks on the reef cut up my flesh to the bone. But the Mirakuru, it regenerated everything." Slade then gestured to his eye patch. "Except for this."

"You know, it's just the two of us in here, so why don't we try being honest?" Oliver asked as he walked over to the table, staring Slade right in his eye. "Why are you doing this?"

"You know why," Slade said simply and Oliver simply stared at him. "You still have not accepted your guilt. You took what I loved most, so now I will take what you love. Thea. Sara. Your mother. Mr. Harper. Everyone you care for, you will see them all taken from you, knowing it is your fault. You will live, knowing you failed them. For however long you still live."

"You didn't deserve her," Oliver said, taking Slade back. "Shado. You never deserved her. Neither did I. She was better than both of us. I may have failed her, but she would be ashamed at the things you have done in her name."

Whatever Slade's response was, it was cut off by the door opening. Pike walked in, pausing as he saw Oliver.

"Mr. Queen, who let you in here?" he asked.

Oliver didn't answer and Pike turned his attention to Slade.

"Mr. Wilson, you are free to go, with the department's deepest apologies," Pike said as he uncuffed Slade.

"No need, Lieutenant. An innocent girl's life hangs in the balance. You need to follow every lead possible," Slade said as he got to his feet, rubbing his wrists.

"Well, still, you should know that officer Lance is facing some very serious charges," Pike assured him.

"Well, don't pursue them on my behalf. I'm not one to hold a grudge," Slade said, shooting a smirk at Oliver.

Oliver remained silent, watching as Slade walked out. It was time.

Outside the precinct, Slade is met by a mob of reporters; who fire off questions almost faster than he can register them.

"I was in Costa Rica, but returned to Starling City as soon as I heard the terrible news," Slade took a moment to address the reporters. "I'm offering every resource at my disposal, plus a five million dollar reward for any information that leads to Thea Queen's captors."

His piece said, Slade got in his car and a moment later, his driver pulled out. Behind him, in his own car, Diggle began tailing him.

"This is Dig, I've got the follow," he said over the Comms.

"Tracker on his car is active," Felicity said from her place back at the lair. "Sin, he's coming up on your position."

On a street corner, Sin was watching as Slade's car drove by.

"I see him, he's turning up on Warner," Sin said over the Comms.

"I see him. Heading north," Diggle said as he attempted to follow Slade's car.

However, just before Diggle could pursue him on the road, a car suddenly shot out in front of him and parked, causing Diggle to slam on the breaks to avoid a crash.

"Damn it, I lost him!" Diggle swore, seeming upset at this.

"It's all right. I still have eyes on him. Sara, cut right onto Downey," Felicity said.

On a motorcycle, Sara followed Slade's car onto the road. However, when it pulled to a stop, Sara pulled up next to it and was stunned to see the backseat was empty.

"Negative, it's not him!" Sara shouted in disbelief.

"What?" Felicity asked as, back at the lair, several more dots appeared on the screen. "Oh, my God. He's cloned the tracker's signal. Sin, you've got to move!"

Sin began running down the street, looking for Slade's car. A car was racing towards her and she instinctively moved aside, looking for Slade's car. But there was no sign of it, to her dismay.

"Okay," Oliver as he pinched the bridge of his nose, sitting in the car with Moira. "Head back to the lair, take Sin with you. We need all the help we can get."

"It failed, didn't it?" Moira asked in dismay as he hung up.

"For now. But I have a few other leads to pan out. Don't panic yet mom. Thea's gonna be fine, I promise," Oliver assured as he wrapped his arm around her, hoping he wasn't lying to her.

Unspecified location

Later

Roy was still hanging from the ceiling when Jade walked in. He looked up at her, a glare on his face as she walked in.

"Thought you might be thirsty," Jade said, holding up a bottled water.

"Gee, a bottle of water. Just what I needed while being kidnapped," Roy said scornfully.

"I'm just trying to make this more comfortable," Jade said sounding exasperated.

"Comfortable? You've been playing me, for months! You've lied to me since the day we met?!Was it even a coincidence that I just happened to get a job where you worked?" Roy demanded and saw the look on her face. "It wasn't, was it?"

"Originally, I was going to get a job at Verdant, seduce you away from Thea. When you left both, the plan changed. Slade got rid of two of Jason's employees. I got work there about a week before you found us, I put a flyer up by the grocery store where you live," Jade admitted.

"So it was all just a lie then," Roy said, sounding as betrayed as he did angry.

"Not all of it. I really did fall in love with you Roy," Jade told him and maybe it was because he didn't want to be a fool, but Roy believed her.

"I believe you. Doesn't change a damn thing though," Roy said angrily.

Suddenly, there was a snapping sound. Before Jade could even figure it out, Roy's hands slid out from the steel cuffs and he sent a kick towards her feet. She went down to the ground, dazed as Roy made his way towards the door, wincing as he reset his thumbs.

When he got back, he needed to thank Oliver for teaching him how to do that.

He'd barely made it out of the room when he crossed paths with Slade. Slade merely raised an eyebrow as Roy slugged him as hard as he could. But Slade was unaffected.

Slade then counted with a punch that sent Roy flying. Roy slammed into the wall, hard. He went down, dazed. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was Slade walking towards him with a smirk.

Arrow lair

Same time

"So this is your secret hideout," Sin guessed as she took a look around. "It's nice."

"Yeah, I guess it is," Sara said distractedly, noticing Diggle had walked off.

"So what now?" Sin asked after a moment.

"Until Oliver gets back, we just have to wait, hope something turns up," Felicity said.

Elsewhere in the lair, Diggle discreetly entered the storage room. He opened a box, surprised to find it empty.

Queen Mansion

Same time

Moira was staring at a picture of Thea when she was a child as, behind her, Oliver talked to the police. Noticing this, Oliver knew he had to have a talk with her.

"Can you guys give us a minute?" Oliver asked as the officers.

They nodded, turning around and walking out of the room. Now alone, Oliver approached his mother.

"Do you remember how she loved to color?" Moira asked as she sensed him walk up behind her. "Your father would buy her boxes of crayons by the truckload. She could never get enough. She'd draw on the walls. And I could never get angry, because it was just so adorable."

"Mom, it's gonna be okay. You should get some sleep," Oliver told her gently. "If not for me, for Thea."

"Is my baby still alive?" Moira asked, looking over at Oliver.

"Yes," Oliver said with certainty.

"I woke up every day for five years the mother who lost her son. I- I can't I can't endure it again," Moira said tearfully.

"And you won't," Oliver said firmly as he took her by the shoulders. "If Slade and Emiko wanted to kill Thea, they would have done it on the video for us to watch. Thea is still alive and I promise you, we will find her."

"Oliver."

At the sound of the voice, Oliver and Moira turned towards the doorway. Lyla walked into the room and the look on her face had chills running down Oliver's spine.

"Lyla, what is it? Is it Thea?" Oliver asked, desperately hoping that he wasn't wrong, that Thea wasn't…

"No. It's Johnny," Lyla said, causing mother and son to look bewildered.

"John's back at the foundry," Oliver said confused.

"Yes, he is," Lyla agreed. "But that's not where he was twenty four hours ago."

"I don't understand, I thought John was on his way back to Starling City after the Ninth Circle attacked," Oliver said confused.

"That's what he said, but he lied," Lyla said as she pulled out a cell phone. "ARGUS has been looking through all the video footage near Verdant to see if we can figure out when Thea was taken. And we found something."

Turning the phone so Oliver and Moira could see it, Lyla started to play the video. At first, they just saw a car, which Oliver recognized as the car Felicity had tracked to the bar. Then, to their shock, they saw Diggle lead Thea out towards the car. He opened the door for her and she got in. Diggle then got in the driver's seat, started the car, and drove off.

"No. It-it can't be. I vetted him," Moira said in denial.

"People don't always show you their true faces Ms. Queen, you should know that better than anyone," Lyla pointed out and turned to Oliver. "He was never the same after Andy died. We lost touch for years afterwards. I don't want to believe it either…but it's all so convenient that everyone but him and Waller apparently survived an attack that took out an entire base. And no one but the two of us, your team and Lawton knew about the sting. It's not adding up Oliver. We have to accept that Johnny…"

Lyla trailed off, closing her eyes as tears from them. And all Oliver could think was of ho Sara had described the Ninth Circle.

"This is how the Ninth Circle operates; they place agents within whichever Regime they're trying to topple so that they can help bring it down from the inside."

"Oliver? What are you thinking?" Moira asked as she saw her son had a blank look on his face.

"Best case scenario, John knows something we don't. Worst…we've had a wolf in the herd the whole time," Oliver said lowly.

Arrow lair

Later

"Sin, where are you going?" Sara asked as she saw Sin move to leave.

"I'm sorry, I know you wanna believe in Oliver, so do I, but my friends are out there, being held by some psycho. I can't just sit here," Sin said at her wits end.

"I know you wanna save them, so do we, but running in halfcocked isn't gonna find them any faster," Diggle reasoned.

"What did it take John?"

At the sound of Oliver's voice, everyone looked up. He and Lyla walked in and everyone immediately knew something was up. Oliver's eyes were hard as he stared at Diggle. Lyla, on the other hand, looked like she'd been crying.

"Oliver?" Diggle questioned, his hand discreetly moving towards his back, where his gun was resting in his back holster.

"What did it take for you to sell my sister to Slade and Emiko?" Oliver demanded taking everyone else back.

"Oliver, think what you're saying. It's Dig," Felicity pointed out, the idea sounding ludicrous to her ears.

"ARGUS found a video of him giving Thea a lift in Slade's car last night, nine hours before he allegedly arrived home," Lyla revealed.

"This is the Ninth Circle and Slade, they're trying to mess with us," Diggle reasoned.

"Then why target you specifically? And that's not the only thing not adding up. Why hasn't Waller reached out to anyone since she got on that plane with you? She would have reached out to me if she was going off the grid And how did the Ninth Circle manage to find the location of an ARGUS base known only to Waller and those she trusted? Your stories don't make sense Johnny," Lyla pointed out.

For a moment, it was silent in the lair as Sara eyed Diggle suspiciously as Felicity looked as though she couldn't even believe this was happening. Then, faster than any of them could move, Diggle drew his gun and opened fire.

Immediately, Sara grabbed Sin by the arm and dragged her out of the line of fire before tackling the stunned Felicity to the ground. Lyla took cover behind the weapons cabinet before pulling out a gun and returning fire. Oliver dodged the bullets before pulling a flechette out from his sleeve and throwing it at Diggle. The weapon hit Diggle's gun hand, knocking the gun out of his hand. Lyla paused her fire as Oliver rushed Diggle. Oliver slugged Diggle, who stumbled back before recovering and sending a punch towards Oliver's face. Oliver dodged the blow and sent a kick to Diggle's abdomen. The hit made contact and Diggle stumbled before Oliver suddenly had him in a neck lock from behind.

"Where are they?!" Oliver snarled.

Ignoring Oliver's question, Diggle elbowed him in the stomach. This loosened Oliver's grip enough for him to break out and roll away. Before anyone could do anything, Diggle tossed what looked like a grenade to the ground. Instinctively, everyone took cover as it exploded. When it went off, it created a smokescreen that filled the lair. Everyone coughed as they wove through the smoke. When the smoke cleared enough for them to see, they saw that Diggle was gone.

A lot of things happened the same here minus Oliver being stupid. Because a lot of this episode was Oliver being stupid. But what else can we expect from Guggie, right?

Oliver and Slade's conversation this chapter was inspired by Slade and Dick's conversation in Titans 2x09. The second season may have ruined the show, but Deathstroke was the saving grace.

And now everyone knows about Diggle. If anyone was too disappointed, well, there's a reason it went down the way it did which will be revealed next chapter. So stay tuned.