Streets of Starling City, Night

Cutting through the bushes, Oliver sprinted down the railroad tracks in his Green Arrow suit and saw the tractor-trailer truck with his target inside it. "Got him," Oliver said on his comlink. "Coming up 52nd street, heading east."

"Copy that. Or is it roger? I never know the difference." Felicity quipped as she watches the truck on via surveillance in the Foundry or Arrowcave as she liked to call it. "John, there's an illegal shipment of RPGs headed your way."

"Roger. I'm on it." Dig responded as he drove down in his SUV.

"Oh, so it is roger," Felicity noted.

Getting into position, Oliver dropped down onto the truck with his target, Vincent Steelgrave, becoming alerted by the sound. Flipping over to the front, Oliver fired an explosive arrow which separated the vehicle from its container causing it to skid on the road. Arriving at the container, Diggle armed with his sidearm and a flashlight checked its continents as he opened it. "RPGs are secure. I've got eyes on."

"Roy! We're coming to you" Oliver alerted his protege. Scaling down to the passenger's side, Oliver punched through the window and struck Steelgrave. Quickly he pulled himself back up and rolled to the driver's side. Dropping down, Oliver turned the wheel causing the truck to spin on the left.

Dressed in his new red archer suit, Roy parkoured over a car and quickly aimed and fired arrows at both tires causing the vehicle to stop in its tracks. Steelgrave then pulled a gun and Oliver dropped at the last second as he got a shot off. Getting on the truck, Roy tripped up Steelgrave causing him to lose his weapon. Running down into an empty building with Roy chasing after him. Although Steelgrave got ahead of him, Oliver appeared and fired an arrow releasing cable wires which blocked his path. As he hit the wires, Oliver immediately kicked the smuggler onto the ground.

"Vincent Steelgrave ... you have failed this city," Oliver told him as he knocked him out with his bow.

Arrowcave, Morning

"The Green Arrow just took down another one of the city's most wanted, and there is no denying that the city's crime rate has plummeted in the past five months." The talk show host said that Felicity was watching.

"You're welcome," Felicity added.

"But so has its employment rate and its population. We have experienced two terrorist attacks in as many years. Starling City is dying and a prison full of criminals is not gonna change that." The other host argued.

"Take another off the board," Oliver told Felicity as he walked in with Diggle and Roy, and put his bow away while she shut off the station.

"We keep this up, there will only be two types of criminals left in Starling City- the ones we put away and the ones that are running scared," Dig mentioned as Felicity crossed off Steelgrave from their portfolio of criminals on the computer screen.

Immediately after that, Felicity heard Oliver's phone beep. "Another text from Thea," Felicity said as she gave it to him.

"Where is she now?" Dig asked.

"Amalfi Coast," Oliver answered as he looked at the text. "I keep telling her to send photos." He added and Roy was just walking away as he was growing upset about hearing about his ex.

"I'm going to go on patrol, clear my head," Roy told them.

"Hey." Oliver causing Roy to turn around. "You did really good tonight." He complimented him with Roy just barely nodding as he took his leave.

"I'm going to head out, too. I have to pull an early shift at work today, which may or may not be the most depressing thing I've ever said." Felicity said as she grabbed her coat.

"But we're still on for tomorrow night?" Oliver asked.

"Absolutely. I am going to turn you into corporate master of the universe." She said cheerfully as he was referring to their plans on how to take his family's company back. "Those board members are going to be begging to sell Queen Consolidated back to you and your backers." She said as clasped his face affectionately, both smiling as she left.

"I'm going to roll out, too. Lyla has me trying to build the bassinet from hell." Dig disgruntedly mentioned as he walked past Oliver.

"That reminds me," Oliver noted with a brief chuckle.

Showing Diggle the gift he made for his yet-to-be-born child, Diggle picked up noted the rather pretty arrowhead necklace. "I figured since you and Lyla are having a girl," Oliver said.

"Man, you cannot afford this," Dig noted with a smile.

"I can't afford anything, which is why I made it." Oliver clarified. "Arrowheads, one of the few things that I can make."

"Well, it's beautiful. Thank you." Dig said gratefully.

"Congratulation, John. And not just on the baby. You and Lyla are happy." Oliver noted.

"We are. But we're not the only ones." Diggle noted as he looked at Oliver. "You know I gotta tell you, man, I worried about you ... after what happened to your mother. But these last couple of months ... I don't think I've seen you smile this much since I've met you."

"Yeah well ... living with Laurel Lance will do that to you," Oliver mentioned happily. "It's strange ... a lifetime ago ... I was terrified of that. Now, now coming home to her is one of the few joys I have in my life right now. Actually, uh, now I think about it. Can I get your opinion on something?" He brought it up reluctantly.

"Shoot." Pulling out another jewelry box, Oliver showed it to Diggle and he whistled when he saw how big the diamond ring was. "Man, you definitely cannot afford that." He noted shaking his head.

"It was my mother's," Oliver revealed.

"Well, congrats. Laurel's gonna love it." Dig complimented but noted Oliver's rather pensive face. "Or not. Second thoughts?"

"About Laurel, no. I've ... I've always known that I could spend the rest of my life with her, and now I want to but-" Oliver brought up.

"But what?"

"Now I'm wondering if I even can," Oliver revealed, and Dig just crossed his arms as he continued listening. "When I started "this"," He said as he looked around his base. "I swore I wouldn't live my life until my mission was finished. Until the city was safe. Obviously, a lot has changed since then ... and the last thing I wanted was for Laurel to know about this life."

"But know she doesn't just know about it, she's a part of it." Dig pointed out.

"Last thing I expected to happen," Oliver said. "And now, now I'm just wondering if-"

"If it's possible to be the Green Arrow and have a life outside it. Be a husband. Maybe, even have a family of your own one day?" Dig finished for him.

"Yeah."

"Well, Oliver. I can tell you personally, it's not gonna be easy. But it's not impossible either. Plus, the city's quiet for a change. And now might be the right time for you to focus on being Oliver Queen for once. And you love Laurel, that's all that should really matter." He said and held up the necklace in front of his friend. "Thanks again for this by the way." He said then left his friend. And as Oliver, looked at the ring he had made up his mind with a smile.

Outside Starling City Courthouse

As Vincent Steelgrave was being escorted to a correction van, Oliver and Laurel looked on. "Steelgrave took a plea for 15 to 20. His lawyer folded like a deck chair after I hit him with the evidence the Green Arrow gathered." Laurel said with an enthusiastic smile.

"Good work," Oliver replied as she started walking as he followed.

"We catch 'em by night, I cook 'em by day." She noted, but then looked worried. "Did I say that too loud?" As she looked around.

"No, you're fine." He assured her with a chuckle.

"Did you ever think that we'd end up as business partners?" She asked him.

"Is that why you invited me down here, Laurel?" He asked. "To see Mr. Steelgrave sent off into his new life?"

"No. I have a surprise for you." She revealed as they walked over to her father, Quentin Lance, dressed up in his new police uniform and ready for a press conference that was in front of him.

"What's your dad doing here?" He asked.

"You'll see. I'll be right back." She said as she went over to him.

"Hey." Quentin greeted Laurel.

"Dad. Hi. How are you?" She asked.

"Uh, well, if they told me press conferences came with a promotion, I would tell them I prefer getting shot at." Quentin cracked truthfully.

"Good thing your doctors didn't give you a choice, then." She reminded him, which was one of the reasons he took the Captain's promotion was because he failed his last physical.

"You know, you could try to hide the fact that you're glad I can't get out in the field anymore." He commented.

"I can't hide that I'm glad that you're safe." She said.

"Yeah, well I wish I could say the same about you. When are you going get out of the field?" He asked.

"When I fail my next physical as badly as you did." She countered and left to join Oliver again.

"What's all this?" Oliver asked.

"Your surprise." She answered.

Tapping on the microphone, Quentin addressed the reporters. "Uh, thank you all - ahem, excuse me, thank you for coming. Five months ago, this city was under siege. And SCPD rallied behind a man in a hood. Well, I ended up with a Captain's rank, and he didn't even get a thank you. But today, he does. 'Cause today, the Starling City Police Department is formally recognizing the individual known as the Green Arrow." He said as Oliver listened and realized what this was about and smiled at Laurel. "And I am using my new position to disband the Anti-Vigilante Task Force charged with capturing him."

"Thank you." He said to her as Laurel gazed at him loving as the wind slightly blew on her hair, which was becoming blonde again since she decided to stop dying it brunette, and as she then gave him a small kiss.

Unknown Hideout

"Now make no mistake - Vigilantism will never be tolerated but I refuse to hunt, in the name of this city, the hero who saved it," Quentin said on the TV news.

"Shut that crap off." A criminal ordered and it was done. "Less heat on the Green Arrow means more heat on us."

"And the ATF now has our shipment of grenade launchers." Another criminal said as he was having a drink.

"They got our shipment already? What are we paying bribes to the cops for?" Another thug asked.

"We have a more pressing concern." Werner Zytle said as he stepped out of the shadows. "Lack of leadership. I nominate myself. Any objections?

"Yeah, a few." The boss said as he got off his seat.

"Oh, illuminate me," Zytle responded.

"Where do I start? It's not just that you talk funny. You don't know the first thing about business. Your just a low-level street dealer, a pill pusher." The boss reminded him.

"Oh, those pills I push? Are known as Vertigo." Zytle said and threw a dart syringe at the man's neck. "In the wake of the Count, I tinkered some with his formula, introduced an additive produced by certain mushrooms." He explained as the man removed the dart from his neck and was starting to hallucinate. "My Vertigo reveals the face of your greatest fear." He revealed while appearing to be a monstrous creature that screamed at him. Jamming another dart into the man's neck, he collapsed on the floor.

"As I was saying ... lack of leadership. I nominate myself. Any objections?" Zytle asked his new employees and they remained silent. "Our course of action is straight as an arrow. Gentlemen ... we're going to kill him." He revealed.

Starling City Courthouse

As Laurel got out of her last meeting in court, she saw that Ollie was still here. "I thought we were gonna meet back at my, sorry "our" place," Laurel recalled to him, five months living together and she still couldn't break that habit.

"Yeah, I was going too but I changed my mind when I realized when was the last time you and I went out for dinner at a nice restaurant?" Oliver brought up the topic.

"You mean like an actual "proper" date?" She asked for clarification and he nodded. "Wow, it's been a while. A good while."

"What do you say we go to that old Italian restaurant we always went to, back in the day. If it's still open I mean." He propositioned.

"I love that idea. I also love how spontaneous you're being right now." She said as they both smiled.

Streets of Starling City, Night

"Go," Oliver said on comms as he raced down the streets in his motorcycle.

"Kelvin Nico just knocked over a liquor store," Dig responded in his mobile van. "Nico's in Steelgrave's crew."

"Send his photo to Roy. Get me, Felicity." Oliver ordered.

"You got it," Dig said switching his comms.

"I can't talk right now. I'm a work." Felicity answered on her comms as a computer sales associate. "Could I ask you guys just to wait one moment?" She told her customers, as she rushed to the back to her set up a computer station. "Someone's calling for tech support." She yelled. "Oh, you are going to get me so incredibly fired." She mumbled as she began typing. "Ok, I am hacked into the city's database. I am running facial recognition ... now. So, I hear you're going to pop the question to Laurel?" She said to Oliver.

"Felicity, I'm in the middle of a high-speed chase right now. And how did you even find out about that?" Oliver inquired.

"John Diggle is a total gossip." She quipped. "I got him. He's in the sewer. I'm picking up his cell phone underneath. He's at the corner of Grand and Ames." She told him and then saw Quentin Lance pop up on her computer screen. "Detective Lance - Captain Lance - is also in pursuit. You are welcome. Happy for you and Laurel. I have to go." She said then left.

Kelvin Nico ran down sewers but as he made a turn on his left, Quentin immediately decked him with his flashlight. As he got up to get away, Oliver appeared and immediately threw Nico to the ground. Turning, Oliver saw that Quentin was taking some meds from a prescription bottle.

"Detective ... Thank you," Oliver said in his voice modulator.

"Oliver, you do know that you can drop the fake voice now remember?" Quentin replied reminding the kid that he knew his secret identity now.

"Sorry, a force of habit." He replied as he answered in his real voice. "But again, thank you for what you said today."

"I wish I could do more," Quentin said.

"Actually you might be able to. I was wondering if ... actually never mind." Oliver said as he changed his mind about asking for Quentin's blessing to marry Laurel. Part of him wondered if he might make a fuss about it even.

"What?" Quentin asked.

"It's nothing. Besides, I've never been very traditional." Oliver said with a smile as he walked away from his slightly confused future father-in-law.

I.T. Store

"Hi. Thank you for waiting." Felicity said to her customer who was a tall, dark, and handsome man.

"Ah, no problem. I just want to buy this." Ray Palmer said as he put the item on the counter.

"This is a Satellite Frequency Communicator TX40," Felicity explained.

"Yeah, I'm trying to breach a Tor-Secured Firewall and I need something to help me piggyback off a Keyhole Hexagon Satellite, so ..."

Felicity smile as this guy obviously knew his stuff. "I did that once. Hacked a public Wi-Fi signal, piggybacked using crowd-sourced stealth processing."

"Huh." Ray smiled. "You're Felicity Smoak. Formerly of Queen Consolidated. Do you mind if I ask you something - Why are you here?" The last part he whispered.

"How do you know who I am?" She asked suspiciously.

"I know a guy who might be interested in hiring someone with your expertise." He said which wasn't a complete lie.

"I'm not actually ... looking for a new job right now. God help me." She declined although she was flattered. "But I can help you buy this." She said grabbing the item and Ray went for his wallet. "Unless I can't. I mean, I shouldn't. You shouldn't buy this." She told him as she walked past him.

"Ok. Clearly, you don't understand how this whole sales thing works." He said as he followed her.

"The Next-Gen Model, The TX50, comes out in a few months. I got to touch one last year, pure bliss." She said happily as she grabbed and gave him a flier of the model. "And if you want to breach Tor-Level security, you should really deploy a Remote Administration Tool. I have a good one here's the URL."

"Thanks."

"Happy hacking." She said.

"I certainly hope so." He said as he left.

Doctor's Office

Pacing a little, Dig breathed a sigh of relief as he was with the Doctor and a very pregnant Lyla. "False alarm." The Doctor assured them.

"Are you sure? These contractions ..."

"Just Braxton-Hicks. You're not even four centimeters dilated." He explained.

"I feel like an M1-A1." She said touching her very heavy belly.

"It's a tank. Think a big, big tank." Dig clarified the confused physician.

"You did the right thing coming in. You don't want your husband-"

"Ex-Husband. Boyfriend." Lyla and Dig clarified respectively at the same time.

"To be delivering the baby on the side of the freeway. You can get dressed now." He said as he left the couple alone.

"All right." Dig said as Lyla took a long exhale.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm not the one that's nine months pregnant." He told her.

"You look a little scared." She said.

"Honey, please, I've thrown down with the Taliban, Malcolm Merlyn, and a host of Mirakuru-Powered human weapons. I'm terrified." He admitted as they both laughed.

Italian Restaurant

Zip-lining down to the roof of the restaurant, Oliver stashed away his vigilante gear as he got into his suit and tie. As he walked into the restaurant, he went up to the receptionist. "Queen, party of two," Oliver said.

"Right, this way." The host said as he escorted Oliver to the table, and he saw Laurel. She looked so beautiful in her satin emerald green dress, with straps that showed off her neckline, knee-length, and he saw a split that showed off her thigh. As she smiled at him, Oliver knew that he would remember how she would look tonight when she said yes. If she said yes, he hoped.

"Hey," Laurel said once she saw him.

"Hey, yourself," Oliver said greeting her with a kiss before sitting down.

"Would you like anything to drink?" The waiter asked them.

"Scotch. Neat." Oliver said.

"I'll have a Pinot Noir," Laurel said as the waiter left the two of them alone. "Is everything alright, Ollie? You look nervous?"

"No, it's just ... you look so beautiful right now." He spoke truthfully but he was a little nervous about proposing to her.

"Well, it's good to know your not the only one here who can pull off green." She said and looked worried again. "Again, did I say that too loud?"

"Again, you're good." He said smiling.

"Seriously, though. Not that this isn't nice but what's the occasion?" She inquired.

Pausing for a moment, Oliver gathered himself before speaking up. "I've been thinking about a lot of things lately. Especially us. One of the things I've realized is that you know me better than almost anyone ... and yet there's still so much about me that you don't know. Things that I haven't told you yet." He said as Laurel leaned in to listen. "The five years that I was away ... I wasn't always on Lian Yu." He revealed.

"I figured. So where were you?" She asked curiously.

"Hong Kong ... for one." He told her. "And my time there ... the choices that I had to make. I've been thinking about them recently."

"Based on what you have told me since the shipwreck ... I can only imagine what happened after." She uttered knowing the horrors he endured already.

"The entire time I was gone, I could never ... completely trust someone. And when that goes on for so long, you stop ... seeing people for people. You see ... threats. Or targets. And when I decided to come home, I ... I just didn't know how to turn that part of me off. There were times I even wondered if I would ever be able to turn that part of me off." He reluctantly admitted.

"I'm hoping that's changed since you got back." She mentioned.

"It has. The team. You, especially you, helped with that." He assured her as they both smiled. "Laurel, one day ... you'll probably learn everything that ever happened to me while I was away. And despite, the terrible things I did ... to survive. There's one thing I want you to always keep in mind ... and it's that I love you. I love you so much, that sometimes I can't even put it into words." He said as he slowly took her hand and saw how touched she was by his words. "When I wanted to die, you ... the thought of you ... made me want to live. And I knew that if I was ever lucky enough, I knew I'd want to live the rest of my life with you."

"Ollie," She uttered wondering if he was going exactly where she thought he was going with this.

Pulling out the ring box, Oliver opened it up to show her the ring. "Dinah Laurel Lance, will you-" He started to ask but then they both heard the sound of a grenade being launched. Throwing the table aside, Oliver grabbed Laurel and ducked and covered as the explosion hit the restaurant.

Waking up to the sound of his ears ringing and eventual sirens, Oliver a chandelier and looked around the restaurant. Seeing a dead body, he then saw Laurel. Quickly getting up, he carried her out of the restaurant back to the Foundry.

Arrowcave

Putting his vigilante away, Oliver laid Laurel down on the table. "Is she ok?" Roy asked Oliver, as both of them were covered in smoke.

"She's just knocked out," Oliver answered he was still reeling from the explosion as he looked at Laurel's face as she was bleeding from the top of her head.

"It's all over the news, police, and fire are on the scene," Dig said checking the monitors.

"Yeah, I didn't think it was the best idea to stick around and answer questions," Oliver said slightly irritated.

"You don't think you and an explosion at the same place is a coincidence?" Dig guessed.

"Hey, check this out. It's a GPS tag." Roy said carrying his bosses' gear. "I found it in your jacket. It's wasted now."

"You took out one of Steelgrave's crew earlier tonight." Dig pointed out.

"It was a set-up." Oliver realized. "So they could plant that thing on me."

"Oliver, I know what you're thinking," Dig spoke up.

"No, you don't," Oliver replied.

"Listen, I'm not other people. I know exactly what's going on in your head, and you are wrong." Dig said knowing Oliver was blaming himself for this.

"Diggle, somebody planted a tracer on me and I don't notice? The only explanation ... I lost my focus." Pulling out his phone, Oliver dialed Quentin. "Quentin. The person we took down earlier is working with whoever's responsible for tonight's explosion."

"Another one of Steelgrave's crew, I'm guessing." Quentin summarized after taking his meds.

"Well, I need to know who's at the top of that organization now. And where I can find him."

"I'm on it." He said then hung up.

Turning over to Laurel, Oliver then grew startled as she shockingly woke up. "Oliver!"

"Hey, hey, hey, you're safe. You're safe. I'm safe." He reassured her, as she started to calm down."

Hideout

Walking into the building that Quentin told him about, with an arrow notched on his bow; Oliver turned and pointed his weapon at the floor above. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm on your side!" Quentin shouted as he threw his hands up in the air.

"I got this handle, Quentin," Oliver told him as he lowered his weapon.

"These guys blew up a building. You think I'm sitting this out?" He countered. "Suspect's name is Werner Zytle. He's a real nutbar."

"Keep your head on a swivel, then." He told him then began looking around for Zytle. Hearing footsteps, Oliver quickly turned around and saw his target.

"I'm Werner Zytle." He introduced himself to the vigilante and immediately jammed his Vertigo into Oliver's neck.

"Ahh!" The archer grunted as he stepped back dropping his arrow.

"But you can call me Vertigo." He insisted.

"The Count's dead!" He reminded the lunatic as he placed his bow in his right hand.

"Somethings never die. You, for example. It's frustrating. Just means I have to try a little bit harder." He said and then exchanged some quick punches with emerald archer, before getting punched back in the face by him. But something was wrong. As began to feel disorientated and dropped his weapon, as he struggled to maintain eye contact with the drug dealer. "The Count might be dead, true ... but his glorious narcotic lives on with a few enhancements that will reveal to you your greatest fear. Like gazing up truth itself." His voice echoing in his mind and suddenly, Oliver saw himself appearing before him.

After being jabbed in the face, Oliver began fighting his own hallucination. Trading punches, Zytle got the upper hand and delivered a roundhouse to his left side. Pulling him close, he got punched repeatedly in the face. Trying to get around him didn't work, as Zytle continued to deliver rapid strikes to him until he threw Oliver to the ground knocking over a tray stand. Getting back up, Zytle punched and pressed the Green Arrow against the wall and was about to stab him with another Vertigo syringe. However, he stopped once he heard the gunshot.

"Get away from him, or get put down!" Quentin told him. Zytle threw his syringe at Quentin but it hit the wall while Oliver managed to escape. As Zytle got away, Quentin fired another shot but then quickly clutched his chest. "No ... No!" Quentin uttered his he fell down on the ground. Zytle then walked over to Quentin, but before he could do anything Oliver shot him in the back with an arrow causing him to flee.

"Felicity, call an ambulance!" Oliver said as he pressed his commlink on his suit.

Arrowcave, Morning

"Are you ok?" Felicity asked as Oliver walked in putting on his business suit. "That was a pretty strong psychotropic Werner hit you with."

"How's Lance's condition?" Oliver dismissed after clearing his throat.

"Stable. He's at Starling General." Dig told him.

"I hacked the Paramedic Radio. He had a Coronary Artery Spasm treatable with medication. He'll be fine." Felicity assured him.

"Where's Laurel?" Oliver inquired.

"At the hospital, checking up on him," Felicity answered.

"Hit the streets. Werner's agenda can't stop with me. I need to know what he has planned" Oliver told Roy.

"On it," Roy said as he left.

"I'll back him up," Dig said putting his jacket on.

"Roy's got it. Go home to Lyla." Oliver told him.

"Oliver ... if this is about happened, man, risk is part of the job." Dig reminded him.

"Diggle. It's just intel gathering. Roy can handle it." He told him and reluctantly Dig accepted it as he walked away.

Getting up from her station, Felicity and Oliver exited the foundry. "Maybe we should reschedule the board meeting." She suggested.

"It's in less than an hour. I've got this." He told her as they went up the steps.

Starling General

Quentin laid in his hospital bed with the monitor's beeping and saw Laurel outside his door with a look he was all too familiar with. "I got to warn you, the doctors told me not to get yelled at." He cracked.

"Well, it's a good thing you don't care about your doctor's instructions, then, since you're still going out in the field." She reminded him. "Do you know what an Advanced Healthcare Directive is?" She asked as she approached his bedside and Quentin knew the answer. "It's what they ask for when you're going to die, Dad. Dad, you didn't tell me just how bad your physical went ... that you have a heart condition ... you didn't tell me that being out in the field could kill you."

"I'm sorry, Laurel, I really am. I'm sorry, sweetheart." He expressed.

"Then why do you keep pushing yourself like this?" She asked as she laid on his bedside.

Sighing, he answered. "I don't know how. I've been a cop since before you and your sister were born. It's all I know. If I'm not a cop ... what am I?"

"You're my father." She said as she gripped his hand. "And I need you. With Sara gone ... and me and mom not speaking; you're the only family I have left."

Queen Consolidated

"And I just spoke to Ned Foster, he said the board is primed. You just have to go in there and wow them. Which I am pretty sure is a business term." Felicity said and Oliver walked on the top floor of QC and headed for the office.

"I'm afraid we have a situation. Apparently, there's another bidder for the company." A member of the board told them.

"Really? Who?" A puzzled Oliver asked.

"Ray Palmer." He introduced himself as he walked in surprising Felicity since she thought the guy she met yesterday wasn't just a techy, he was a rich techy. "Nice to meet you. Love your company." He said shaking Oliver's hand and turned to Felicity. "Nice to see you again, Miss Smoak."

"You two know each other?" Oliver wondered.

"So sorry I am late. Heh, traffic was terrible. Which is why I took my helicopter." He said in an upbeat and cheerful manner. "I parked on your roof. I hope that's ok. You guys validate, right?"

"Oh, frack," Felicity said under her breath citing Battlestar Galactica slang.

Eventually, the board meeting got underway and Oliver was up first. "Two years ago, the people of Starling City thought I was dead." Oliver reminded the board as they watched him stand in front of them. " I came back. And so can Queen Consolidated. With Starling National Bank's new investment, we can take QC out of receivership and into the future. I mean, this company's my family. And as my mother always said ... there is nothing more important to me than family. Thank you." After finishing, Oliver went back to his seat next to Felicity who smiled at him with pride.

Taking a deep breath, Ray gathered himself from the seat across from Felicity and Oliver. "That was a good speech. Hard to top." Ray admitted as stood up. "Thank you all for coming out today. I promise to be brief, if not a little entertaining." He said turning on the charm and pressed a button to lower the projection screen. "Ahh. Oh, that's one of my new smart-watches. I'm very proud of those" He noted to one of the board members wearing it. "You like it, it works for you?" She nodded. "Yeah, good. Anyway. Science. Numbers. I like numbers."

Pulling a device from his belt, Ray projection device showed statistics on the projection screen. "Theses numbers show QC's performance under Mr. Queen's management. I'm using that term extremely, B-T-W. Also B-T-W, these numbers aren't sanitized for Wall Street. This is raw information from your company's own servers." He showed and explained to them.

"How did he get into our computers?" Oliver quietly asked a guilty-looking Felicity.

"Something tells me he deployed a Remote Administration Tool," Felicity answered knowing she'd unknowingly helped him hack QC.

"But the truth is, this company's woes are a symptom of a much larger problem. And that problem is Starling City." As Ray walked around the table the projector showed articles of Starling's attacks. "Queen Consolidated can't hope to survive if the city it's located in is dying. And guess what. It is. Nobody wants to live here anymore." He explained ending with a weak chuckle. "And after two terrorist attacks, who can blame them? This city still needs saving and that is my vision for this company. To not only see it rise from the ashes but to take this city with it to that new horizon. And that new day has a name." He finished and with the projector presenting "Star City" to the board who clapped with applause; while Oliver and Felicity looked defeated.

Outside of QC, Oliver walked away bitterly. "Oliver! I'm sorry." She said finally catching up to him. "I really thought it was going to go our way."

"So did I." He said as they went down the steps. "But maybe the company's better off with Dr. Palmer. I couldn't make time for QC last year, and trying to get the company back now, it's selfish. That's something that the old me would have done and if the past 12 hours have reminded me of anything, it's that two years ago I made the decision to put Oliver Queen aside and be the Green Arrow. It's not a choice I get to unmake." He said frustratedly.

"Is this about what happened at the restaurant? I'm guessing, your proposal didn't go so well." She quipped.

"I should've seen it, Felicity. The tracker. But I didn't. And I didn't ... because I was thinking about Laurel. Because I was so excited to propose to her. And look what happened." He ranted.

"Oliver! The explosion wasn't your fault." She reminded again as she got up in his face.

"When Werner hit me with the Vertigo dart, he told me that his formula, it shows us our worst fear. And I saw myself." He revealed to her.

"You don't really think you're afraid of yourself, do you?" She asked skeptically.

"I afraid that ... as long as this needs the Green Arrow, I can never let myself be Oliver Queen." He admitted worriedly.

Arrowcave, Night

"What did we find out?" Oliver asked Dig and Roy as he and Felicity came onto the scene.

"You know how we've got the number of crime bosses in Starling City down to three? Well, this new guy, Werner, he wants to make it zero." Roy told Oliver as Dig showed them the photo itinerary of all the criminals they've taken out over the last few months.

"Take out the competition. Mikhail Petrov, Luciano Costa, Shintawa Shimosawa." Dig said listing the names of the final three.

"What are their locations?" Oliver asked Felicity asked as began typing on her keyboard.

"I'm not getting anything off of last know addresses," Felicity told him.

"Werner could be moving on these guys right now." Dig pointed out.

"I'm going as fast as I can! It's not like these guys walk around with little GPSs attached to them." Felicity shot back at Dig. "Unless they do." She uttered realizing something and checked their current incarceration status. "Petrov, Costa, Shimosawa. They're all on parole or out on bail."

"Ankle monitors." Oliver pointed out."

"Can't be right. They're all in the same location." Felicity said perplexed and they went to the satellite footage.

"Rocket's Arena," Roy stated and realized what was happening. "They Heavyweight Title Fight's tonight. That's like Christmas for Crime Bosses. There'll be like 20,000 people there." He told them.

"He was willing to blow up a restaurant to take down one man. He'll blow up a stadium to take down there." Dig pointed out knowing Zytle's type, unfortunately.

"Yeah, bit an RPG won't do it. I need you looking for a large explosive device." Oliver told Felicity. "Roy ... suit up." He told him and he went to do just that.

"Where do you want me?" Dig asked Oliver as he was loading up his gun.

"Here," Oliver told him. "I can't have you in the field anymore."

"Really? What changed?" Dig asked as he was stunned.

"You're going to be a father." Oliver pointed out.

Dig let out a brief chuckle before speaking up. "Oliver, you've known for the past five months I was going to be a father. So I ask you again-what changed?"

"I have. My risks can't be your risks." Oliver clarified. "That ... Diggle, you have a life. You have a new life, it's ... it's a life that I don't think I can have." He admitted.

"I get it. You and Laurel were in an explosion. People died, either one of you could have. But you didn't." Dig said approaching him. "You can't let that shake you, man."

"Lance is laying in a hospital bed right now because I let him-"

"Wait, wait, wait. Lance is his own man who makes his own decisions, and so am I." Diggle cut him off.

"Not this one," Oliver mentioned.

"Oliver, I've given the past two years of my life to your crusade. I don't know what that's supposed to earn me, but it earns me at least the right to make my own choices." Dig reasoned.

"No, it doesn't-"

"Damn it, Oliver, you would be dead ten times over if it wasn't for me!" Dig said furiously at him as he got in Oliver's face.

"You're right. But this is my crusade, which makes this my decision." Oliver told him and Dig just left elsewhere, while Felicity was a little worried about Oliver's mental state.

Rocket's Arena

The crowd began cheering as the boxing match continue, unbeknownst to them, and the three crime bosses; Werner Zytle was whistling as he set up the finishing touches to his bomb and left with the counter beginning immediately. "It's a five-minute timer," Zytle told his crew. Immediately, however, one of Oliver's arrows hit the back of one of his crew members.

Jumping down, Oliver punched one of the thugs in the face and the thug then pulled a knife. "Come on! What are you waiting for?" He asked but Roy came from behind and spun his entire body around the thugs' putting him into a headlock and knocked him out.

"My partner," Oliver answered and heard a beep on his comms. "Go."

"I've isolated a frequency spike consistent with an incendiary device. It's in the maintenance tunnel underneath the stands." Felicity told him.

Catching Zytle and his men going up the stairs, Roy approached Oliver. "I'll get the bomb. Get the son of a bitch." He told him.

Running down the corridor, Oliver eventually managed to cut off Zytle and his men on a rooftop just across from Rocket's arena.

"Back for more?" Zytle asked and threw his syringe at the Green Arrow, piercing his chest. "It's as if you've developed an addiction to Vertigo," Zytle commented as Oliver was beginning to feel the effects of the narcotic. While elsewhere, Roy discovered the bomb which was loaded with several blocks of C4.

Although he was seeing himself again, Oliver was able to focus his mind and managed to see Zytle; overcoming the Vertigo. "Not gonna happen this time," Oliver told himself and yanked the syringe out. Seeing his drug wasn't working, Zytle began their fighting match. As Zytle's men tried to get away, Laurel, dressed as the Black Canary appeared armed with her tonfa staff. Throwing a cross that hit Zytle's face, Oliver then kneed him in the abdomen and began taking advantage of the fight. Blocking the punches of Zytle's henchmen with her tonfa, Laurel then ducked and threw a left uppercut swing with her weapon knocking him on the ground.

"Felicity, we're running out of time here," Roy told her as he watched the bomb counting down.

"Ok. From your description, it sounds like a Collapsible Circuit Design." Felicity said looking at the schematics.

"Felicity ..." He uttered.

"Cut the yellow wire." She told him.

"There is no yellow wire." He told her holding the pilers.

"Ok, new plan." She said not panicking and looked at the Arena's schematics. "Look above you, their show be insulated piping pumping the arena's AC system. They're pumping freon. You want to break one off, aim it at the bomb. You're going freeze the thing." She explained to him as he looked up and saw the piping.

Back on the rooftop Oliver and Laurel continued their fights. Still engaged with Ztyle, Oliver jumped and delivered a downwards elbow strike to Ztyle's head and then dropped striking his gut and then his left calf muscle which caused him to collapse. Laurel extending her tonfa into a bo-staff, got behind her opponent, and used her weapon to put him in a chokehold.

Parkcouring up a pillar, Roy dislodged the AC piping and pointed the Freon at the bomb. "It's not working!" He told Felicity, who was praying for it to work. But eventually, the glass on the timer cracked due to the temperature drop, and the bomb was frozen. As the crowd cheered due to the Boxing match, both Roy and Felicity breathed a sigh of relief.

At the same time, Laurel dropped down to the ground still holding her last opponent in a chokehold, flipping him on his face, she quickly sprang up and knocked him out with her weapon. Using a tornado kick, Oliver sent Zytle flying to the ground and the archer grabbed his bow. Hearing a noise, Oliver turned around and saw Laurel. "After he blew up our date night, you didn't expect me to set this one out did you?" She asked with a smile. Developing one of his own, Oliver then fired an ensnarement arrow at Zytle trapping him.

"Tie me up and lock me down, it doesn't matter. There will always be a Vertigo, always someone to pick up the mantle. You have given it the power. Don't you see? Don't you see?" Zytle told the vigilante, and Oliver couldn't help but listen.

With Zytle and his men apprehended by the authorities, Oliver and Laurel took their masks off and walked on a rooftop a block or two from where they left the Vertigo dealer. "Felicity told me what happened, between you and Dig." Laurel brought up.

"Let me guess, you disapprove." Oliver surmised.

"Ah-uh, but right now I'm here to make sure you don't try to pull that card with me." She said turning to face him as they stopped in their tracks.

"And what if I did?" He inquired.

"I would tell you that ... I would go out there with or without you. And that you couldn't stop me from being out there. So you might as well not even try. Plus, I'll be safer with you watching my back. Even if it's just an excuse for you to look at my ass." She pointed out with some sass while he only smiled weakly knowing she had a point. "Anyway, what were you about to say in the restaurant?" She asked.

"Why? You don't remember?" He asked slightly surprised

"I remember you telling me about Hong Kong. And how much you love me and that's about it." She recalled. "Why? Was it important?"

"No, ... not really." He lied, and eventually, he heard the beeping of his suit and pressed his comms. "Felicity is something-"

"Lyla's gone into labor, haul ass now!" The hacker said in an urgent panic cutting him off.

Starling General Maternity Ward

Getting the call from Diggle, Felicity walked in with excitement but was ambushed by someone familiar. "Hey!" Ray Palmer addressed her.

"What are you doing here? And the answer better not be stalking me." Felicity asked and she continued to walk to Lyla's room with Ray following her.

"Well, that depends on whether you consider pinging your phone's GPS stalking," Ray said with a laugh and Felicity shot him a look. "Ok, guilty. But you know how I know a guy who would be interested in hiring someone with your expertise?" He reminded her and pointed to himself. "Yeah, turns out I could really use it. Seems somebody hacked my cell phone and my laptop and my desktop."

"Gee, that's too bad." She replied knowing full well she did it.

"All my data's been replaced by audio files of Porcupine Flatulence. And so I was hoping that whoever did it might be willing to undo it if I apologized for misleading them in any way." He explained.

"That would probably work. Oh, unless, of course, you did all that to steal that person's friend's company, in which case I would suggest getting used to the sound of spiky rodents farting." She said aggressively.

"I didn't steal anything! Ok, maybe a little, but as it turns out, I didn't even need the data. I mean, you saw the speech. It was a pretty good speech." He reminded her.

"My friends just had a baby, so if you don't mind there's another slimy little human that needs my attention." She said turning and walking away but then shot back at him. "Oh, and B-T-W, might want to check your tablet while you're at it." She suggested and Ray just chuckled.

"Hey," Felicity said softly as walked the room.

"Hey." Diggle and Lyla both responded as they were holding and looking at their newborn daughter.

"Oh, she is scrumptious!" Felicity uttered as she approached the newborn. "Mazel Tov, guys, seriously,"

"Thank you," Dig replied and then heard knocking on the door. It was Oliver with Laurel right next to him.

"We can come back," Oliver suggested.

"No, Oliver, come in," Dig said getting off Lyla's bed to join him with Laurel taking his place at the bedside.

"God, she is just too cute for words," Laurel said gushingly. "What's her name?"

"Sara," Lyla answered surprising Laurel. "Sara Diggle."

"Hi Sara, did you know I had a sister named Sara too," Laurel told the newborn babe.

"Oh, she's perfect," Oliver said smiling brightly while Dig was still calming himself over the excitement. "Congratulations."

"Thank you, Oliver," Dig told him.

"For what?"

"For being right." Dig clarified and took a deep breath as he looked at his daughter again. "The second I looked at her ... everything changed. My whole universe ... it changed. You were right." And offered his brother in arms a handshake but instead, Oliver just gave him a hug, and as they parted; he wondered if the day would ever come if he would have what John now had.

Eventually, Oliver heard his phone ringing and stepped outside the room to answer it. "Hello?" He answered.

"It's Barry. Barry Allen. I woke up. I could use some advice." The CSI asked him from a rooftop in Starling City.

"I'll be right there," Oliver told Barry and left.

Outside SCPD

After being finished interrogated by police, Kelvin Nico, who was a part of Zytle's crew and gave them everything he could for a lesser prison sentence he was being escorted to a prison van by two police officers. However, as they brought him out the two cops were then shot in their feet by two arrows. Looking over, Nico saw an attractive woman with dyed red hair and an arrow notched and aimed at him.

"Who the hell are you?" Nico asked the redhead.

"I'm Cupid, stupid." She answered with a sadistic smirk as she let her arrow fly into his heart.

Author's Notes: So here it is finally, my rewrite of Arrow's third season. Apologies for taking over a year to start writing and publishing it, in my defense though I didn't realize it would take so long. What with the planning it out, not mention my personal life, my job, COVID, and trying to get other stories out of the way first; it's just life piles on I guess.

Anyway, I briefly considered breaking Oliver and Laurel up at least temporarily because of Oliver's state of mind in Season 3: about whether or not he can be a vigilante and have a life. Maybe even have them see other people for a bit. But I decided against it for several reasons, speaking of which Oliver was a little unbearable in this ep as I rewatched it though I sorta get why. In retrospect, Season 3 wasn't as bad as Season 4 of Arrow but it was a drop in quality from the first two seasons. But anyway I'll be combining elements from Season 3 with ideas I thought would be cool, I hope you'll enjoy it. It might be a slow start but around chapter 8 or 9 it will really get going and be more original.

In my Season 2 rewrite, I renamed Star City much earlier so this is a small retcon on my part. Sorry. PS, Laurel's not faking. Some events like surviving explosions can cause memory loss of said event and a few details before it. Also, a reminder I do not do Flashbacks; unless I show it differently they happened as they did normally.

Also fun fact, this is my 50th Fan Fiction Story.