Speedy and Arsenal jumped off their bikes at the entrance of the power plant to see no emergency. It looked as if everyone had headed home for the night. It wasn't a surprise, after everything that had happened over the last few months or years, that no night security was present.

After searching the area, "There's no one here," Roy said, looking at her.

Before Thea could respond, a man dressed in some sort of exoskeleton suit, with small blue jets, keeping him in the air, appeared out of nowhere, and spoke to them, "That must be disappointing." He said sarcastically, "I'm sorry that there is no one that you can kill, or let your black-clad friend beat up good people, like federal agents to an inch of their lives. I, uh, kind of faked the 911 call."

"What do you want?" Speedy growled.

"I'd say that you have the right to remain silent…but I'm not a cop unless it works for a civilian's arrest?" He said before he released a blue-white pulse at them, both archers ducked, with Arsenal shooting an arrow that bounced off of his exo-suit.

The robot-man landed on the ground in front of them, Roy dodged the electric pulse, by ducking beneath the pile of cinder blocks, and fired a trick arrow with a net that emerged, only for their adversary to blast it away.

Speedy shot an explosive arrow that forced the man into the air, before he charged towards her, knocking her to the wet ground. Speedy groaned, as the other red-archer helped her to her feet, as they managed to get to their feet, the robot-man had his arm-laser aimed at them, "It's over, that's it slowly, nice and easy."

At the same time, Roy and Thea threw a flechette each simultaneously, disabling the man to control his suit, by cutting an exposed wire on either side of his waist.

Roy watched in amusement as his girlfriend ran at the man and sent a drop-kick at the man, sending him to the ground. Their adversary had made the wrong speech in slandering Laurel's name. He knew as far as Thea was concerned, an attack on Laurel's name was an attack on her.

Roy walked over as Speedy bounced to her feet and pulled up the man's visor to see Raymond Palmer. He then turned to his partner to see her ruby bow knocked and drawn.

"You think we are the bad guys? The woman that you think I am, that my sister is… We would either beat you until you had to be sent to ICU. You need to back off, and let us handle it."

Ray looked at the Ruby Archers, "Kill me then, show your teammate, Felicity, what kind people you are. That you are just like your predecessors and all the other criminals"

"I don't have anything to prove to her," Roy said, as far as he and Thea were concerned, they were doing their part to keep the city safe, and keeping Laurel's seat warm until she came back into the fold. "We are keeping the city safe, and there is more to what is happening to the Black Canary than meets the eye." He then helped Ray up, "This life isn't easy, and you should think about if it's the life you want. If it is, we can work together to keep the city safe."

"For future reference, Black Canary and the Green Arrow are not the bad guys, and I never want to hear it again," Thea growled as she headed back to her motorcycle.

The ATOM looked surprised at Arsenal. "Is she always this scary?"

"Only when you insult or attack her family. They are always her priority." Not unlike her brother, nor her sister-in-law.

:-:-:-:-:

Samanda put the box of recordings back into the safe. Laurel, however, was distracted she cocked her head, she could just make out someone heading in their direction.

Watson looked over at Black Canary, trying to find some way to defend her partner and friend, even if she knew in her heart that Siobahn was the psychopath that framed Black Canary, and killed people in Verdant. "Just because Smythe has serious issues, doesn't necessarily mean…"

Laurel raised her hand to shush her situational-ally and attempted to focus on hearing the impending steps of whoever was headed in this direction. Laurel turned on her heel, looking at the FBI agent, "She's here. You should leave now."

Samanda disagreed, and squared her shoulders. "No! We had a deal. No evidence and you agreed to spare her."

"I found enough." The vigilante said dismissively.

"Not the kind that would hold weight in a court of law!" Watson hissed.

"She will use the suit again; I have a leg up on her." She now had blackmail. Evidence. "I can get my evil-twin to tell me where the suit is."

:-:-:-:-:

Outside the apartment, Siobhan heard footsteps and voices in her apartment, she pressed her ear against the door, hearing a couple of voices, none of which she could name.

"You gave me your word." The first voice said with clear irritation.

"And I reneged on it. One of the shortcomings of an oral agreement." Then came the second voice that she was not familiar with.

Smythe waited a few seconds before opening the door, slowly walked in and cautiously looked around her apartment for the intruders; instead, she spotted the headphones that were usually locked away in her safe.

Smythe turned around towards the safe to see it was slightly ajar, she looked to see if anything was disturbed, before pulling out a pistol. Smythe ran towards the open window where she spotted two figures entering a different apartment across the alley, and sent two shots towards them, only to see the black figure tackle their partner to escape the bullets.

:-:-:-:-:

Laurel kept her form low."The shot came from across the alley," she said, looking towards the window, and out of the corner of her eye, seeing Agent Watson clutching her side.

Laurel for a moment, ignored the agent's panting and winces. She tried to peek out from the sofa, roll backwards, narrowly avoiding a gunshot to her chest. "When I say so, run to the door and don't look back."

Laurel crawled on her belly towards the closet door, with a full-body mirror on it, and angled it, before returning. "I know the kind of gun she's using." It was the same kind of pistol her father always had as a spare, judging by the sound. Laurel knew the clip size. It was the kind of gun she and Sara had first learned to shoot with. "She only has three more bullets left."

"Now!" She said as she stood up, only for the several bullets to be shot in her direction, and hit the mirror, shattering it. Laurel watched as Samanda managed to run out of the apartment and down the hall to safety.

Black Canary swiftly climbed out of the window, dropping a ceramic pot on top of Smythe, who had made it towards Laurel from her apartment. Black Canary bolted up the steel steps of the fire escape, not looking down, as she heard her adversary fall down several rungs.

She narrowly dodged several bullets, making her way with great haste up to the rooftop, and away from her pursuer. In the background, Black Canary could hear a beat cop commanding Smythe to freeze, Laurel rushed across the rooftop, resting behind a water tank. upon straining her ears to make out what was occurring with Smythe and hearing no altercations, Smythe explained that she was defending her home from would-be thieves.

Laurel smiled proudly as she pulled out the recorder that had Smythe admitting to having enjoyed killing her neighbor's cats. She finally had another lead. But at what cost? She left Smythe alive, how many more will she kill while she still breathes? Laurel pulled herself up and staggered away into the darkness.

:-:-:-:-:

Thea watched and walked into the Hochman Hotel, as she ignored Roy's texts about going on patrol tonight, she had to protect her family, and she would do it by looking the devil in the eyes, she was Moira Queen's daughter, perhaps she could get Brickwell to slip up?

She reminded herself why she was doing this, to protect her family, to save Laurel, and look after Connor. And while Roy may sympathize with her, he would tell her it was a bad plan. But she had to try. She owed Oliver, Laurel, and Connor to try.

She walked up to the top floor, to be stopped by two FBI agents, "How did you get in here?"

Thea gave them a congenial smile, "I walked through the doors, and bought myself a nice room. I'm Thea Queen."

"We know who you are." One of the FBI agents replied snidely.

"As a co-owner of this establishment, I have the right to speak to any and all occupants." She said confidently, even if she didn't know if that was true. "Queen Industries now owns a share of this establishment, and I may feel that it would be in my company's best interest not to be affiliated with any known criminals if I don't speak to him."

"No, you can't do that." Growled one of the agents.

Thea smiled as she pulled out her phone and dialed Oliver's number, knowing that his phone was locked away in a safe, along with Laurel's. She looked back at them, "What are your names, gents so I tell my attorney that you are preventing me from conducting my business?"

The two agents shrugged at each other, before telling them to follow them into the penthouse. Thea walked into the apartment to see the room's decorations, looking more ostentatious and fancier than her parents ever had in the mansion.

Between being close to Laurel and her dad, along with losing Queen Consolidated, Thea no longer felt at ease looking at the display of wealth.

"We will be watching." The agent said, pointing at the cameras as he closed the door behind her, leaving her alone in the penthouse with the wild animal.

"Ms. Queen." Brickwell said as he stood above her, on the second floor, "I must admit, I am surprised that you showed your face here." He said as he slowly walked down the stairs in his three-piece suit, with a white collared shirt.

"It must be hard roughing it," she said dryly, looking around the luxury suite, "Doing hard time in the slammer, huh?"

How was it fair that Laurel was potentially living on the streets, despite being a hero, while Brick was allowed to live in the lap of luxury whilst being a criminal?

Brick gave an amused snort, "No doubt, this offends you. After all, your mother had to endure what was said ?" Rhetorically, "Hard time in the slammer? So did Detective Lance before he regrettably passed away." He then looked at her, "Or is it, your personal history?" He then moved past her, "If it is that latter, Darlin', I'm paying off that debt." He said gesturing to his ankle monitor. "I'm a prisoner trapped behind the veneer of luxury.

"Your right." Thea agreed that it was this asshole's fault that Laurel was on the run, and had to try to take him down like a guerrilla, leaving her only child behind. How did he get to live in this palace after all he did, when his own mother who had been remorseful had to fight tooth and nail to get released? "It is offensive."

Brick stopped sauntering, and turned to face her with a small smirk, "Tea, coffee, water, juice?"

Thea shook her head, "I'm good."

Thea and Brick studied each other, for a few minutes, before Brick walked around the table, and gestured for her to take a seat, "Please, take a seat."

Good. Thea thought. She was finally getting somewhere, "Yeah." She mumbled and took a seat next to him as he took the head of the table. Some sort of male chauvinistic powerplay, most likely. "Let's have a nice talk." She said confidently, her hands relaxed on her thighs, her eyes never leaving his.

"You are not going to kick me out of this hotel as if I am some sort of pariah?"

"Aren't I?" She cocked her head and quirked her brow. "I could unless you know who owns part of the hotel? Why else would you invite me here?" Only the other owner could veto her request to kick out a customer. He was sitting across the table from her.

Brick's jaw tightened, "To achieve what? My distress?"

Thea's placed her hand beneath her chin with a small smile tugging at her lips, "That sounds like it could be fun."

"I don't enjoy being poked and prodded Ms. Queen, as if I am cattle or some other variety of livestock." He then looked away briefly, before looking back at her, "You worked for Joanna de la Vega, correct?"

"Yes." She answered curtly, "Before she was murdered."

"And yet, neither you nor her partner understood the parable of Miss de la Vega's story."

Thea eyed the security camera, "That a threat?" She asked, feeling cold, perhaps she made an error of judgment coming here in her zeal to protect Laurel. She always gave Laurel a hard time when it came to her being impulsive, but it seemed that she wasn't that different.

"Merely, a friendly observation, don't be so paranoid." He answered dismissively, but his eyes told the opposite. It was a far cry from a friendly observation.

"Fair enough." She played along and attempted to throw a curveball at Brick, even though it was a bluff. "What about what my mother told me about The Undertaking? And who had ties to Tempest? Not the kind of stuff a respected man like yourself would be onboard with, huh, Danny-Boy" She sang his nickname like the song.

Brick raised an eyebrow at her, it was enough of a reaction to knowing that he was getting under his skin. "I'm sure that Queen Industries will have a field day showing it to the public."

"Why? When we can tell everyone who works for my new company and share a few laughs."

"Even at Verdant?" He said raising his brow at her, "I heard about your misfortune, I hope that Miss West was not too shaken up?"

Without missing a beat, she fired back, "And I'm positive that you never had anything to do with it." She replied cynically, ignoring the rising tensions in the room.

Brick's face tightened, he looked at her with an irritated glance before looking up at the camera, and back at her, before exhaling deeply, looking off into the distance in front of him. "You asked me why I let you in. The reason is, Ms. Queen, I have a few niggling questions of my own, to sate my own curiosity."Thea raised her brow, as he continued, "You may be a respected owner of an up and coming company, raising your family reputation like a phoenix from the ashes, but not so long ago, you were merely a secretary at a law firm. To Dinah Laurel Lance, correct?"

"Office manager, and business partner." She corrected him.

"And you were hired due to your family's wealth, or was it nepotism?"

"Neither, I earned my stripes."

"Of course." Brick said condescendingly, before he lowered his voice, "Tell me. When was it that you finally learned about Laurel's double life?" Thea froze, her eyes flashed towards the large man opposite to her, Thea's brain refused to work. Her mind then flashed to see Laurel lying in her apartment half dead. She imagined seeing Connor and Laurel both dead. Brickwell's mouth parted in a toothy sneer, "Yes." He sneered in victory. "Thank you, Miss Queen."

Thea had just given him irrefutable proof that Laurel was the Black Canary. She sold out her sister! And painted a target on Connor's small innocent head.

Thea looked everywhere but Brick, as she tried to reorganize her thoughts, she couldn't let the bastard get the best of her. SHe had to salvage this somehow. "Want to know a secret, Danny-Boy?" Without waiting for him to respond, she continued, "Samuel Brickwell. A sweet boy, nothing like his father. Laurel wasn't the one to send the boy away."

Brick's sneer evaporated, and Thea felt a sense of pride, "What was it like for you when he was taken away by protective services and disappeared without a trace? Not knowing if sweet Sam is with people who would look after him or not?"

She knew the answer because she had watched and listened as Laurel and her brother had begged her and Roy to be Connor's guardian if something happened to them. To ensure that their son was safe and knew they loved his family.

Brick's face twisted and contorted into a frown as if he was trying in vain not to explode in fury. "You worry, and feel sick in the pit of your stomach." Good, he understands how Laurel feels right now. Thea then smirked, "Laurel was not the brains of the operation. I was the one that gave her the idea before I sent an anonymous phone call into child protection services. I am the daughter Moira Queen and Malcolm Merlyn after all. That kind of thing runs deep in my blood."

Brick stood above her, his hulking frame created a shadow over her, and let out a guttural yell. "Arghh!"

She heard people yelling, before she was pinned to the table, and felt that she was being cuffed. "What?" She asked, as she was hauled to her feet, and watched as Brick was escorted away, as he walked past her, he then lowered his voice so only she could hear, "Send my love to sweet Connor."

Thea felt sick to her stomach. Connor in his very short life had managed to avoid being forced into their world. When she, her mom and Ollie were kidnapped leading her mother sacrificing herself for her family, Connor was with Quentin and Laurel. When Laurel was forcefully taken by Slade, the man had left Connor behind.

According to Ollie, it showed him that the man that trained him, a man of honor, was still inside him. That he could be redeemed. But Brickwell didn't have Slade's honor. He would kill her nephew in the blink of an eye without remorse.

He was then guided upstairs, revealing Diggle standing next to Lyla in the doorway, "Digg, Lyla?" She then looked back up to the stairs, to see Brick glaring at her with an angry snarl, as he was marched away from the living area.

She walked towards her friends, "What are you doing here?"

"Saving your ass," John said as he walked her out, with his wife at his side.

"And you had them believe that I would kill them?"

She then heard Lyla's soft voice, and felt a gentle movement on her back, "What Johnny means, is that we had to tell them something, and Waller was reluctant to interfere, she had her eyes set on something else." Waller had no reason to interfere, nothing to gain, Thea mentally added.

"I had to save you. Oliver would never forgive me if I let both his wife, and the remainder of his blood die."

He should have thought about that before he threw Laurel to the wolves. Thea shook her head, and spun on her heel, "No, you didn't. You ruined it. I had him by the short and curlies!"

They kept walking, as Diggle spoke, "Thea, this guy is three or four times your size, even Laurel almost died fighting him, hell she probably would have if she didn't have her—" He cleared his throat. "Powers"

"And they would have it all on video, Connor would be able to have his mom back, and Laurel would be free."

Diggle scoffed, "I thought Laurel was certifiable, you and she are two damn peas in a pod. Was that truly your plan? Starling City and Connor need you more than Laurel does, as much as I want her to be with her family, with us, she made her bed, don't follow her into hell, it's not what Oliver would want."

"Johnny, Thea." Lyla chided as they entered the elevator, "Deep breaths."

Thea exhaled, leaning against the side of the elevator, "I didn't want him to kill me, I'm not stupid. I wanted him to keep all his eyes and attention on me. Then Laurel catches him unawares. A bit of cloak and dagger. And I wouldn't have to risk such a gambit if all of the team were supporting Laurel. We need all hands on deck!"

Lyla turned from John, who looked annoyed, before looking at the young woman who had too unreasonably thrusted upon her, from an early age, A vigilante, a mother figure to her nephew, and now a CEO of a new company. According to Felicity, Thea had started accumulating in the last few months silently, including poaching some remnants of Merlyn Global, and other companies that were dying.

"Oh good." Diggle groaned, "And you have to either fight him off or wait for the FBI, assuming they aren't dirty enough to save you?"

"I had to do something to throw him off of his game, and let Laurel catch him unawares." She huffed defensively. "How did you know I was here?"

"Who do you think?" Diggle asked with a small smug grin on his face.

Felicity. Too bad that when they needed to find Laurel, Felicity could never find her.

"Felicity," John answered for her.

"Well, I took a shot, even if it wasn't from a bowstring. More than what you and Felicity have been doing for Laurel. We are supposed to be a team. Ollie would be really pissed off if he found out that his best friends have turned their back on the woman he married."

"You took a shot alright," Diggle replied, "And tomorrow, there will be an army shooting back, dammit Thea! We have enough to deal with the League, Nyssa, and keeping the city from killing itself." he then sighed, wiping his face. "I regret that I wasn't at Verdant when it happened. If things were different, you know that I would be there for Laurel in a heartbeat, but The League will be heading here soon."

:-:-:-:-:

Siobhan followed Beckett through the hotel hallways to enter the hallway just below Brickwell's suite; the whole wing looked like it was closed for repairs; she watched as Beckett unlocked a door, and guided her in. Smythe walked in to see Brickwell sitting there with a waiting expression.

Smythe looked around to see the computer monitors, showing security footage, "This was here the whole time and no one ever knew?"

"Very astute."

"We—I have a problem, Sir." She said nervously, as she laid her trust into the man that helped her feel at ease, made her feel like she belonged. "Watson knows. And she wasn't alone."

"I know," he said softly, "A problem that we will solve together." He assured her, before standing and dwarfing her, "Shivvy." He said softly, reminding her that he was her north star, her friend. It made Siobhan feel safe. "Rage cannot stay inside, it needs to be channeled, or it becomes a poison. I find a primal scream is the only remedy, I trust you."

He left it unspoken about what he trusted her about. He trusted her not to use her scream on him, and just used a normal primal scream. "Arghh!" She screamed as she collapsed against Brickwell and felt his strong arms wrap around her in a comforting hug.

"I have you. You're safe." He said gently, as he held her.

:-:-:-:-:

In the storage locker, Laurel listened to the recording, as she wrapped her hands, Ted sat in the corner, watching her with a careful eye. "You want to say it don't you, Ted?"

"Say what?" He asked dumbly.

"You read her bio, she lost her fiancé to a violent crime, lost one parent, the other became estranged. You want to make the comparison to me and her."

"Did I?" He asked, letting her vent.

"But I'm nothing like this Smythe woman, the recordings make it sound like she was always a monster, without remorse. A psychopath." She looked down at the floor, as she stood there in her tank top, and pants, her arms glistened with sweat.

When Ted didn't speak, she continued, "I'm not." She said more to reassure herself than him. They may have shared similar stories, but Laurel wasn't a killer. "I had a chance to stop her, Ted." She said with self-loathing, "I blew it."

"That's one way to spin it, Dinah." He said, "Or you can look at it like this; You stuck to your morals and kept your word to Agent Watson."

She swallowed, looking at her mentor, her eyes welling up with unshed tears, "And how many will die because I was too weak to act?" She internally kicked herself, feeling that Ted was holding her back. Ollie could have taken down Tempest and Malcolm by himself by any means necessary, she held him back, just as Ted was doing for her. She had to be decisive and strong.

Perhaps it was time for her to go out alone? After all, she had once believed that justice could be found in a court of law, but she was deluding herself. Brick had shown her the truth, that only darkness could defeat darkness. And that she had to do whatever it took to ensure that he was given justice, to ensure her family was safe.

She grabbed her makeshift-suit and left ignoring Ted asking her to come back.

:-:-:-:-:

Al Sah-him walked into Ra's meditation chambers and sat beside him. The older wizened man had started to look more sickly. He looked more gaunt and was coughing more in the past few days. The pit had stopped working on him. This is why Ra's has accelerated the timeline of his plans. He wasn't long for the world. The League would then look to him to succeed Ra's. And the man was something like a father to him. Especially after they had discussed Oliver Queen fighting to maintain his existence especially after the interrogation of Malcolm Merlyn.

"I feel him. I feel him in my heart, in my soul. Clawing to be let out. Oliver Queen has been struggling to be free. I need your advice."

Ra's looked up at him, his neck creaking and gave him a fatherly smile. "You have a great many trials ahead of you, my son. And the only way to silence Oliver Queen is to kill utterly. But first, you must bring another rogue agent of ours back to Nanda Parbat. Then we can work on destroying Oliver Queen, by you bathing your sword in the blood of his loved ones."

"I will do what you ask, My Liege."

Ra's exhaled through his nose with amusement. "You will. Every heir has to kill the city and their closest kin. The hardest task. But one that is worth it to show that you are truly capable of leading this organization, and are shown to be worthy of using the pit." Ra's then sighed. "My Seer told me that a man who would challenge who hailed from the Modern World would bring The League into a new golden era. That is why you must kill Oliver Queen absolutely, by slaying his family and his city."

Ra's then stood up and unsheathed his blade and rested it against Al Sah-him's neck. "Who are you? Who do you serve?"

"My name is Al Sah-him, Heir to the Demon. I am loyal to the tenants of The League, and to you, My Liege."

"Yes, you are my son. You have my blessing to travel to Starling City. Remember that Oliver Queen is weak, but you are not, my son. Fetch me, my daughter, and your future bride. You two shall wed after you do your duty."