Chapter 10- The Rescue Starts
Anna and Felicity entered an abandoned factory and saw Alena and the others preparing for the rescue mission. "Alena, we're here," Felicity called out.
"That's great. Anna, are you sure you want to do this? We could rescue your father and bring him to you," Alena said.
"No. I can do it, Alena. He is my father. But can you give him this? I won't be able to leave with you as, if I leave, it'll raise too many questions," Anna said, giving a letter to Alena.
"All right. I just hope your father won't be upset at it," Alena said.
"You and me both, Alena," Anna muttered under her breath. Her father didn't really have a temper problem, but when she was little he had given subtle ways to hint that he was angry.
"I've done a lot of illegal things, but none of them ever required heavy weaponry. Or any weaponry," Alena said as she looked at the gun in Felicity's hand.
"You know, I found the transition between hacker to vigilante to be surprisingly straightforward. You're gonna do great," Felicity said with a smile.
"And besides, we have enough firepower to invade Russia," Anna commented as she picked up a taser.
"Well, hopefully, we won't have to," Alena said.
"I think we might. They know we're coming. They know I'll do anything, short of killing, to rescue Dad," Anna said.
"I'm not worried," Alena said with her own smile as a man came to them with a different weapon that Anna didn't know the name for.
"In case you need them," the man said.
"No. I mean, even if we do, I'm not using that," Felicity refused quickly.
"A.R.G.U.S. will have guns," Alena pointed out.
"I thought you said no one was gonna get hurt. That we were just gonna grab Dad and get out," Anna said, furrowing her forehead.
"If we do this right, no one will. Wait for my signal," Alena said, handing Felicity an earwig.
"I hope we won't live to regret this," Anna muttered.
"I thought you wanted to rescue your father," Felicity said.
"I do, but I don't wanna die or kill anybody else just to do it," Anna said, biting on her lips nervously.
"We probably won't hurt anyone, Ann. Like you were told, we'll just rescue him and get out," Felicity said.
"Why does that not reassure me? I think my recent vampire novel is less complicated than this prison break," Anna said, rolling her eyes.
"You read vampire novels?" Alena asked.
"Actually I don't, but this is different than most Dracula films or tragic vampire romances as the man who wrote it put a Christian bend on the tale," Anna said as she put on a dark jacket to hide her dark turtleneck and black pants.
Oliver stood on top of the roof of the A.R.G.U.S. compound as he waited for Helix, Felicity, and Anna to make their prison break. Oliver still hated having to be against Felicity and Anna, but he also didn't want to get Chase their way either. "I thought you were standing post with Lyla," Oliver said as Diggle joined him as they looked down on the A.R.G.U.S. parking lot.
"Seemed like a good idea to put some space between us. Felicity and Anna aren't the only ladies who thinks the ends justifies the means," Diggle said.
"When Lyla, Felicity Smoak, and Anna James are willing to cross the line-" Oliver started to say.
"Makes you wonder if there even is one, right?" Diggle said.
"We got incoming. Tango's in the field," Lyla said over the earwigs he and Diggle were wearing.
"Copy that," Diggle said as they put on their head gear.
In the van that Anna, Felicity, and the members of Helix were in, they all primed their weapons. "What's that?" Felicity asked, looking at a tablet Alena was holding.
"Think of it as a weaponized tablet preloaded with Address Resolution Protocol Spoofing. The A.R.G.U.S. site is protected by microchipped gun turrets," Alena said smugly.
"Right. This will shut them down?" Anna asked, raising a light eyebrow. Alena's smile was an affirmative.
"You sure you're both ready for this?" Alena asked.
'I'm not sure if I am, but it's my dad. We have to save him," Anna said.
"Let's do this," Felicity said as everyone either put on a mask or a hat and the driver stopped the van. Felicity looked at Anna as both took deep breaths. This exercise of breathing as they waited for the guard to pass them was a good way to calm Anna's racing heart. She found herself wondering what her father would think of her rescue attempt. Anna heard a metal detector and her heart nearly stopped.
"Identification please," a guard out of sight said. Anna felt relief as the van started up again.
"That was too close," Anna whispered under her breath to Felicity.
"No kidding, but no way it can be that easy," Felicity whispered back.
Up on the roof, Oliver watched as the guard passed the van. "It's not them," Oliver said with a heavy resignation as he lowered his gun.
"Lyla, sitrep," Diggle said, touching his earwig.
"The van checked out. It wasn't Helix. We have a problem," Lyla said, the words Oliver had come to dread since he had become the Green Arrow.
All of them exited the van. Shipping containers? "Wait, this isn't A.R.G.U.S.," Felicity said as she and Anna looked around.
"No, it is. Just not the site A.R.G.U.S. expected us to hit," Alena said as they moved around the containers. Anna didn't know what they were looking for and she hoped Alena clued them in.
"What problem?" Diggle asked his wife annoyed.
"Helix is about to extract Cayden James," Lyla said.
"How? They're not here," Diggle asked.
"Neither is Cayden James," Lyla said.
"And you didn't tell us?" Diggle asked in surprised shock.
"I didn't think it was necessary," Lyla said, sounding unapologetic.
"Where is he?" Oliver asked.
"At an off-the-books black site, 12 miles away," Lyla said. Oliver looked at his friend, who shook his head in mute disgust.