Ellie Bishop: Glad it was great. Oh no kidding, it was a dick move to make Olvier feel he had to make for Robert's mistakes.

Guest: Glad to hear it. Yep, very close.

Starling City

Night

"So let me get this straight," Felicity said as she, Oliver, Roy Samantha and Sara sat in the van, Sara driving. "You have a kid that your mother never told you about?"

"Yes Felicity," Oliver said, all of them tilting slightly to the left as Sara swerved to avoid a wrecked car. "My mom paid Samantha to tell me she lost the baby eight years ago."

"Which I never cashed, Samantha added.

"Which she never cashed," Oliver agreed.

"How did Slade even know about William?" Roy asked.

"John," Oliver said and Felicity looked crushed. "My mom told me the truth eight months ago when I went to see her in prison. Before I went to see Samantha, I told John in a moment of weakness. I was hoping he possessed enough of the front he showed us that he wouldn't tell Emiko or Slade but…"

"I guess we never knew him at all," Felicity said sounding on the verge of tears.

Oliver looked at her sadly, knowing that Felicity had been hoping that some part of the John Diggle they knew, the man who had been their friend, was in there somewhere. But Oliver didn't say anything to her. She needed to process this on her own.

His phone rang at that moment, breaking him out of his thoughts and he pulled it out. Seeing Anatoly's name flash across the screen, he answered.

"Did you get my family and Laurel out of town?"

"It is like five years ago, Slade Wilson is ten steps ahead of us. He use drone to take out plane before it even landed," Anatoly said and Oliver closed his eyes, trying to control the growl that threatened to burst from him.

"Where are you?" Oliver asked.

"Ten minutes from airfield in car," Anatoly explained.

"Okay, there is a clock tower ten miles from there, Thea knows where it is. Take them there and wait for us. When we get there, we'll have something we can use to stop Slade," Oliver promised.

Starling City Police Department

Same time

"Listen up," Quentin told the remaining officers as he laid a map on a desk for all of them to see. "We're going to establish a perimeter with check-points at 5th and Adams, a safe zone, you hear me?"

"What the Hell are these guys?"

"They're the enemy," Quentin said simply, knowing they wouldn't believe the truth if he told them.

At that moment, Pike walked in, looking like he was in shock. Quentin couldn't blame him, the only reason he was a little more prepared was because he had been given future knowledge.

"They're attacking innocents at random, creating mayhem and chaos. We need to put them down!" Pike snapped.

"Lieutenant-"

"Now!" Pike interrupted Quentin.

"Listen to me, these guys, have you seen them? Huh?" Quentin snapped, picking up the burnt, shattered remains of the mask of the Soldier he killed and held it up for him to see. "You seen these guys? They do not go down!" Quentin slammed the mask onto the desk. "We got to call in the National Guard."

"That's a call for the mayor and Moira Queen hasn't been sworn in yet," Pike pointed out.

"Well then get the chief on the line," Quentin argued.

"Chief's dead," Pike said and it was dead silent in the room.

"Well then, there's only one more call we can make," Quentin said, looking Pike right in the eye. "You're not gonna like it."

"The vigilante," Pike said with a sigh.

"The Green Arrow. Lieutenant, I know he's breaking the law. But what we're up against, it's not about the law. It's about survival," Quentin told him passionately, "We got masks tearing our city to pieces, and we're going to need masks to stop 'em."

For a long moment, it was silent as everyone stared at Pike. Then, finally, he sighed before speaking.

"Make the call."

"Okay, let's do it," Quentin said, relieved Pike was seeing reason.

"One more thing," Pike said as the officers stared to gear up. "You know more about what's going on over everyone else I got. I need you making decisions and leading these men," Pike grabbed Quentin's hand and slipped something in it. "Detective."

Pike walked off and Quentin opened his palm, staring down at his old Detective shield.

Starling City

Not long after

In an abandoned building, Lyla winced as Rick cleaned her hand where the bullet had grazed her before wrapping it up in a bandage.

"Thanks," she said once he was finished.

"No problem boss," Rick said as tossed the bloodied cloth in a nearby trash can.

"I think you've known me long enough to call me Lyla," Lyla noted as she looked around. "This isn't an ARGUS safe house, is it?"

"No, it's one of mine. It's not on any ARGUS plans," Rick assured her and Lyla nodded, impressed.

"Still, we both know it's only a matter of time until the Ninth Circle figures out where we are and sends more agents to kill us," Lyla noted and he nodded.

"I know," Rick said as he moved over to a wall. "Which is why I brought you here."

Rick moved a piece of wood on the wall, lifting it up and revealing a secret compartment. As he lowered it to the floor, Lyla saw the compartment was filled with weapons. Guns, grenades, knives, ect.

"It's time to fight back Lyla," he said firmly.


"Just under two miles to the bridge," Felicity said as Sara made a turn.

Suddenly, her phone started ringing. Upon seeing who it was, she passed it back to Oliver.

"It's for you," Felicity said as he saw 'Detective Lance' flash across the screen.

"What is it Detective?" Oliver said, activating his voice changing before answering.

"How can we help?" Quentin asked and Oliver frowned.

"We?"

"The Starling City Police Force is standing with you on this one," Quentin said, to Oliver's surprise.

"We need help containing the soldiers," Oliver said, putting his mind to the manner at hand. "We're working something and it may stop them but we need more time."

"We can do that," Quentin promised. "Whatever you're doing, good luck. For all our sakes."

"The SCPD is working with us? The city really has turned upside down," Sara noted as Oliver hung up and handed the phone back to Felicity.

"More like the world," Roy muttered.

"This is the only street that feeds into the bridge," Felicity said.

Barely had the words left her mouth when suddenly, a Mirakuru soldier saw them and ran right at the van. Sara floored it, taking a hard right as she tried to lose him. But he kept pace as they flew down the road.

Up ahead, another one pushed a car out into the road. And with all the abandoned cars blocking the road, there wasn't anything Sara could do to avoid it.

"Hang on!" Sara shouted as she tried to swerve out of the way.

Unfortunately, there just wasn't any room. The two vehicles collided and the van flipped over on its side. Sara grabbed Felicity, preventing her from going flying as the trio in the back all slammed into the side wall of the van violently.

"You okay?" Sara asked Felicity, who nodded shakily.

"I-I think so," Felicity said and Sara nodded.

"How about you guys?" Sara called.

"I'm fine. Roy?" Oliver asked as he pulled himself into a sitting position.

"I'm good, but I don't think Samantha is," Roy said as he saw her unconscious, a bruise on the side of her head. "I think she hit her head."

Oliver crawled over, frantically checking her pulse, sighing in relief when he found it.

"We have to get out of here," Oliver said as he saw the two Mirakuru Soldiers approaching the van through the back window.

Sara kicked the broken windshield out and helped Felicity out of the van. Oliver and Roy tossed their bows through the opening before together, maneuvering the unconscious Samantha out of the opening. Oliver then handed her to Roy before grabbing his bow off the ground. Notching an arrow, he fired it and it hit the backdoor just as the Soldiers arrived. They opened it just as the arrow exploded, the explosion throwing them back and knocking them unconscious. Oliver then handed his bow to Sara before taking Samantha from Roy. Roy picked his bow up off the ground as the group of five walked away from the scene.


"Stop here," Thea instructed Anatoly and he pulled the car to a stop in front of the clock tower. "This is the place."

Thea got out of the car and led her mother, Laurel, and Anatoly over to the clock tower. She opened the door and led the three of them up the stairs with far too much familiarity for this to be a random spot to her.

"Thea, what is this place?" Moira asked as Thea led them to the top level.

"It's where Sin lives…or where she used to live," Thea said as she stopped, staring at a spot in the floor that had a sleeping bag.

"She lives here?" Laurel asked in surprise, not having expected that.

"Well, she used to live on the streets until she met Sara," Thea said before pausing. "You think they'll all be okay?"

"Yes, I do," Moira said with confidence.

"I have seen Oliver do many things I previously thought impossible. If there is anyone who can stop this madness, it is him," Anatoly said firmly.


Samantha opened her eyes to find herself in Oliver's arms as they walked down a road filled with overturned cars.

"Are you alright? Can you walk?" Oliver asked as he saw she saw awake.

"I-I think so," Samantha said and he put her on her feet. "What happened?"

"Slade's men," he said simply. "You hit your head, you need to get that looked at once this is over."

"Any idea how close we are?" Roy asked Felicity.

"The cell phone GPS says he should be within a 500-foot radius," Felicity said. "I'll call him."

Felicity dialed the number and, after a moment, the courier answered.

"Hey, where are you?"

"We're here. Where are you? Honk your horn," Felicity instructed.

"Cool. Hold on," he said they heard a car horn honk a few times. "Wait! I can see your feet. You're standing right outside my car."

"That's not us," Felicity said as she paled.

Then, they all heard a scream. Not just from the phone, but a few feet away. Oliver quickly rushed towards the source, the others following him. In moments, they found the car. The courier was dead and the cure was missing.

The Clock Tower

Later

Thea, Moira, Laurel and Anatoly were sitting down when they heard someone come up the stairs. Anatoly got to his feet, standing in front of the three women as he pulled out a gun, prepared to shoot whoever came up the stairs. He lowered it when he saw that it was Oliver.

"Ollie, thank God," Laurel said before she froze as she saw the last figure walk up the stairs. "Samantha…"

"What is she doing here?" Moira asked, all kinds of horrible scenarios running her mind, not all of them good and all of them involving-

"Slade has William," Oliver said lowly. "And he has the Mirakuru cure. I don't know how to stop him."

Unknown location

Same time

Slade was watching a news report on the attack when one of his men walked in, holding a brief case.

"Mr. Wilson. Is this what you're looking for?" he asked as he put it on the desk.

"Yes, it is," Slade said as he opened it, smiling as he saw the contents.

In the corner, unnoticed, Jade watched this, a growing sense of unease entering her stomach.

The Clock Tower

Not long after

"I just got off the phone with Cisco from Star Labs," Felicity said as she walked towards everyone. "That cure was all they had. And they used all the Mirakuru that we gave them, so they can't make more."

"Then it's over," Oliver muttered as they all looked over at him in surprise. "Slade's won."

"You can't think like that Ollie," Laurel tried to reason with him.

"I'm facing reality Laurel. Slade is virtually invincible with the Mirakuru and has an army of men just like him. Not to mention Emiko, John, Dante, Isabel Rochev and however many Ninth Circle agents are still out there. Without the cure, there is no way we can stop them, we don't even have a chance in Hell," Oliver said defeated.

"No."

Everyone turned to Samantha, who was glowering as she stared at Oliver.

"You do not get to quit," Samantha hissed as she stormed over to Oliver. "My son is in danger because of you, because of Slade Wilson's vendetta against no, you do not get to quit. You will fight; you look for another way and you bring me my son back!"

For a moment, the room is silent, save for Samantha's heavy breathing until Laurel walked over to Samantha.

"Come on, let's get you something to drink," Laurel said as she started to lead Samantha away.

Samantha didn't fight her, either because she didn't want to or she was too tired.

"Roy," Oliver said lowly and Roy looked over at him. "Sin is still at the safe house. I don't think Slade knows about it but just in case-"

"I'm on it," Roy promised with a nod.

"Take car," Anatoly said, tossing Roy his car keys.

Roy caught them and nodded before walking out. As Roy left, Oliver turned around, walking over to the broken clock face and staring out at the city below. After a moment, Sara walked over to him as Moira, Thea, Felicity and Anatoly walked over to another part of the room, sensing this was a private conversation.

"She's right," Oliver finally said. "William is in danger because of me. I chose to inject Slade with the Mirakuru when I didn't know anything about it. I created Slade and now my son is paying for it."

"You can't think like that Ollie," Sara told him.

"I can't stop thinking like that Sara. He has my son and I know he's gonna kill him. I don't know how to stop him," Oliver said brokenly.

"We will figure it out, because we have to," Sara said firmly, taking Oliver's face in her hands and making him look at her. "This fight is not over, it's just started. We will stop Slade and Emiko and we will get William back. I believe that. You need to believe it to."

Safe house

Later

Roy was picking up Sin when his phone rang. Pulling it out, he stiffened as he saw who was calling. He had half a mind to decline but, after the fourth ring, Roy accepted the call.

"You've got a lot of nerve, calling me after what you've done," Roy sneered in answer.

"I know, you're angry, and you have every right Roy. But you need to listen to me, now," Jade pleaded.

"And why the Hell should I do that?" Roy demanded angrily.


"Because I have the cure to the Mirakuru," Jade said, stepping into an elevator with the briefcase containing the cure.

The Clock Tower

Later

Oliver and Sara laid Sin down on a makeshift table, hooking her up to an IV filled with Tibet Pit Viper Venom.

"How much venom to we have?" Oliver asked.

"Enough to keep her down for a few more hours tops," Sara said regretfully and he nodded.

"Then we need to get going," Oliver said as he looked over at Roy, who nodded.

"How do we know this isn't a trap?" Felicity asked uncertainly.

"We don't," Oliver admitted. "But if we want to save William and the city, we don't have any other choice. Sara, Anatoly, I need you guys here in case any of Slade or Emiko's men show up."

"We will protect them," Anatoly promised and Oliver nodded.

"Just…be careful. I'm not sure we can trust her," Sara said.

"That's where you and I disagree Sara," Roy said as he grabbed his bow. "I know we can't trust Jade."

Roy's house

Later

Jade sat in Roy's kitchen, pacing back and forth. Hearing the door open, she turned towards the doorway as Oliver and Roy entered the room.

"I expected you here a few minutes ago," she noted.

"We circled the block a few times to make sure this wasn't a trap," Oliver said coolly and she nodded.

"That's fair. You don't trust and you shouldn't. But trust I want to stop Slade," Jade promised.

"And why is that? He is your father," Roy noted and she scoffed.

"That man has spent a grand total of five hours with me before I met up with him here. He is not my father except in the loosest sense of the word," Jade said coolly. "I want to stop him as much as you do."

"Help me believe that Jade. Where is my son?" Oliver demanded.

"I wish I knew, really I do, but Slade didn't even tell me you had a son until a few days ago. I didn't even see Samantha until today," Jade said regretfully, to Oliver's disappointment.

"Then give us what we came for," Roy demanded.

"On one condition," Jade said and Roy scoffed.

"Of course there's strings attached," he muttered.

"What do you want?" Oliver asked wearily.

"Protection, from Slade. He knows I took the cure, I'm good as dead if he finds me," Jade pointed out.

"I missed the part where that's my problem," Roy snapped.

"It is your problem Roy. Because I'm pregnant," Jade announced, to the shock of both archers. "And yes, you're the father."

"Give us the cure, we'll protect you…and then we'll figure out whether you're telling the truth," Oliver promised once it became clear Roy had been rendered speechless.

Jade nodded, walking over to a cabinet. Opening it, she reached inside and pulled out the Star Labs briefcase.

Starling City

Later

Slade and Emiko watched security video of Jade walking into the elevator with the briefcase, Slade having a blank look on his face.

"You miscalculated. Your daughter has no doubt taken the cure to Oliver," Emiko said angrily as she whirled on Slade. "If you-"

Whatever Emiko was going to say was cut off as Slade whirled around and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her into the air.

"Let me be clear, I could kill right now if I so desired. The only reason you are alive is because you have been useful," Slade said, eerily calm as Emiko gasped for breath. "But if you question me again, that can quickly be remedied. Blink if you understand."

Emiko blinked and Slade released her. She fell to the floor, gasping for breath as she messaged her throat.

"You are right," Slade admitted as he adjusted his suit jacket. "I miscalculated. I should never have let Rose get so close to Roy Harper, her feelings for him have clearly clouded her judgment. However, her treachery can quickly be remedied."


Two dozen Ninth Circle agents broke down the door as they entered a seemingly abandoned building, all of them wielding assault rifles. Seeing no one in the room, the leader gestured upstairs. Several of the men went up there to look as the rest continued to look downstairs.

On the upper level, as the men began looking, none of them noticed as Lyla lurked around the corner. As the last one passed by, she leaped out, placing her hand over his mouth as she slit his throat with a knife with her free hand.

A little further down, a wire suddenly emerged from a room and wrapped around the neck of another operative. With a powerful yank from Rick, the man's neck was snapped.

Downstairs, the other agents entered a room and paused, seeing something down there. In the trash, there was a blood stained rag that looked fresh. And on a table, there was a phone. Checking something on his phone, the leader was able to determine it was Lyla's phone, the same phone they had been tracking.

Up above, Rick cut a bloody path, using a machete to cut down the operatives before they even knew he was there as Lyla threw her knife, getting one in the head. They all went down and Lyla and Rick exchanged a grim glance, knowing it was time.

ARGUS base

Same time

Diggle was in the command center; monitoring the Siege when his phone rang. Pulling it out, he saw it the leader of the team he had sent to kill Lyla and answered.

"I'm hoping this means Lyla is dead."

"Afraid not Sir, doesn't even look like she's here," the agent said regretfully. "Although it looks like she was, there's a bandage that looked like she used to stop the blood flow as she patched herself up. And her phone is here."

"Lyla would never leave her phone. She'd destroy it so she couldn't be tracked…unless," Diggle's eyes widened n realization as it hit him. "It's a trap! She's there!"


Barely had Diggle's word's left his mouth when the agents heard something hit the wall. They all looked over in time to see a grenade hit the floor. They had barely a second to react to this before it exploded.

The agents were thrown back by the explosion, injured but still alive. The explosion, however, drew the attention of the remaining agents. As they rushed to assist however, just about all of them were taken out by gun shots to the head or check. As the agents who survived the explosion pulled themselves to their feet, Lyla and Rick emerged from the shadows. Lyla wielded two pistols while Rick held an assault rifle.

The pair immediately opened fire on the surviving agents, taking out all but one, who was hit in the leg. He went down, crying out in pain while surrounded by the bodies of his comrades. Lyla and Rick approached him and he looked up at them fearfully.

"Here's how this is gonna work: the lady is gonna ask you some questions. You answer them honestly; you get a quick, painless death. You lie or you refuse to answer, I make you suffer before you die. Understand?" Rick asked and the agent nodded fearfully. "Good."

"You were sent here to kill me," Lyla said and he nodded fearfully. "Who gave the order?"


Diggle was still in the command center, waiting nervously. Then, his phone rang. Looking down, he saw it was Lyla's phone. A sense of dread washing over him, Diggle answered. For a moment, it was dead silent.

"Lyla," Diggle finally said after a few moments.

"You know, the John Diggle I knew back in Afghanistan would have come down here to kill me himself. Did I really mean that little to you that you don't care enough to look me in the eyes and kill me?" she demanded.

"No, it's the opposite actually. I was supposed to kill you the day after I grabbed Thea," Diggle revealed, to her surprise. "I just couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger. Because, for all else I've lied about, I do love you Lyla. I do wish things could have been different."


"Me to," Lyla said softly before her voice hardened. "But where we differ is this: you'll be dead before this is over and I'll be the one to pull the trigger. And I won't think twice about it."

Lyla then threw her phone against the wall, smashing it. For a moment, it was silent. Then Lyla turned back to the agent.

"What are Slade and Emiko planning?"

"I don't know," he said, raising his hands fearfully as Rick took aim at him. "I don't know, I swear! It was need to know!"

"Then tell me what you do know about Slade's plans," Lyla demanded.

"Well, before we left to come here, I overheard Mr. Diggle and Rochev talking. It was about Olivier Queen," he said hesitantly, peaking Lyla's interest.

"What about him?" she demanded, a sense of unease entering her heart.

The Clock Tower

Same time

Jade blinked as a bag was lifted off her head, finding herself in the clock tower. She was bound, her hands tied with some rope. Roy looked at her with an unreadable look on his face as Thea, Laurel, Sara, Moira, and Anatoly eyed her suspiciously.

"She is Wilson's daughter, da?" Anatoly asked and received several nods in return. "Then why she is here?"

"She wants protections from Slade. In return, she gave us this," Olivier said as he set down the Star Labs case.

"And we care why?" Thea asked snidely as she glared at Jade, remembering how she had used Roy.

"She claims she's carrying my child," Roy said finally, saying it for the first time since hearing the news.

"I'm…not sure whether to say I'm sorry or congratulations," Felicity said after a moment.

"Hold off on anything until we know for sure," Roy said, finally tearing his eyes from Jade and moving towards Oliver. "How are we doing on that cure?"

In answer, Oliver opened the brief case, revealing several vials of glowing blue liquid.

"Why does every secret formula have to be a color?" Felicity asked absently. "Whatever happened to good, old-fashioned clear?"

"This is what's going to help save my son?" Samantha asked as she looked over Oliver's shoulder.

"In theory, injecting someone who has been affected by the Mirakuru should counteract the effects," Sara noted.

"How do we know for sure though? How are we certain it will work?" Samantha asked nervously.

"We test it," Oliver said grimly, turning towards Sin.

"Use Sin like a lab rat?" Felicity asked horrified. "We can't!"

"Felicity-"

"What if it doesn't work? What if it kills him? What if he wakes up and kills us?" she asked frantically.

"They are tearing the city apart Felicity!" Oliver snapped, causing her to jump. "Slade has my son; God knows what he'll do to him if we don't stop him! We need to know, one way or the other."

"Ollie's right," Sara said after a moment, looking at Sin through pained eyes. "If we want a chance of stopping Slade and Emiko, we need to know for sure that this works."

The room was silent as Oliver and Sara loaded a syringe with a cure. Sara, looking on the verge of tears, walked over to Sin. Sara took a deep breath, preparing to inject Sin. She found a vein and the needle hovered over Sin's skin. As much as she knew she needed to, she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

After several moments of watching Sara hesitate, Oliver walked over and gently pried the syringe from her hand.

"It's okay," Oliver said gently. "It's okay."

Sara took a step back, let out a shaky breath as Oliver took her position by Sin's side.

"I'm sorry," Oliver said regretfully before putting the needle through Sin's shoulder and injecting her with the cure.

"Now what?" Laurel asked as Oliver retracted the syringe.

"Now…we wait," Oliver said simply.


A few minutes later, one of the ARGUS drones flew over the city, heading for the clock tower. Once it had its target locked, it fired. A missile headed straight towards the clock tower and hit it mark, causing the tower to go up in a fiery explosion.

Originally, Oliver's wasn't going to get the Green Arrow name until the end of the story but it just kind of worked to have Quentin give him the name during his speech to Pike.

Yep, Jade is pregnant. Not only do I get to bring Lain to the Arrowverse, but it serves as good motivation for Jade to betray Slade.

The Punisher reference with Lyla and Rick just kind of happened as I was writing this. Hope you guys enjoyed it.