After my exchange with Thea the other night I had gone to Oliver, explaining the situation. Luckily for me.. The Head of Security position had just opened up at Queen Consolidated.. Something about being fired for letting the Count just waltz his way up to the Offices with a hostage. Oliver got me the job.. So now the team could truly work together during normal working hours. Plus when it came to Thea there was nothing suspicious about going to Oliver for a job considering we were publically friends.. And I had worked for him in the past.
There was a lot of paper work to catch up on which meant I couldn't be present for Moria Queen's return to the company. It was during this paperwork that I came across a report of a break in at Queen Consolidated's Applied Sciences division. I immediately went to find Oliver, pulling Dig and Felicity with me "Oliver, there's been a break in." I said
Once there, Oliver and I inspected the bodies. Diggle inspected the door "This was made of expanded reinforced titanium. What did they use to do this?" he asked. Detective Lance (Whom was there investigating the break in) said "We're not sure yet. No sign of any explosives. Maybe a crane, maybe a Forklift. I'm guessing there was at least three of them. Maybe four and given how quick they got in and out of here. They were fast." I couldn't help but smirk at the Detective and say "What? The fastest men alive?" Only I would get the inside joke of course, however Lance said "They would have to be." He then asked "Any idea what these guys were so hot to break in here for? You didn't happen to leave a spare earthquake machine lying around, did you?" Oliver gave him a look, so he apologized. A tech for the police came up and said "This is what we're able to pull off the security cameras. It was the only guy e got on camera the rest of the guys must have come in after him."
A voice I hadn't heard in hundreds of years said behind us "Actually it was only one guy, Sorry I'm late.. But actually my train was late.. Well the second one. The first one I did miss, but that was my cab driver's fault. I've got this great traffic app, and..but he thought that he was right But I'm here now though." I couldn't help but smile at the sight.. Barry Allen in the flesh.. Before he became the fastest man alive. I should have expected to see him soon since Barry had mentioned working with Oliver a year before we took on Captain Boomarang, but it had completely slipped my mind. Lance said "Great.. Who the hell are you?" Oliver added "And do your parents know that you're here?" Barry then said "I'm Barry Allen.. I'm from the Central City Police Department. I'm with the crime scene investigation unit. We're working on a case with some similar, unexplained elements in Central City, so when the report of your robbery came over the wire, my captain sent me here." Lance then said "And you think one guy ripped through the door like it was tin foil?" Barry nodded "One very strong guy.. Yes." Oliver looked at me as I looked at him. Both of us thinking Mirakuru. Barry then continued "It takes about 1250 foot pounds of torque to break someone's neck. You see the marks on the guards neck? The bruising pattern suggests the killer used only one hand. I'm guessing you don't know how hard it is to break someone's neck." Barry said, looking at Oliver.. I had to hide a chuckle. Oliver played dumb "Hmm? No, no idea." The police tech said "Uh, we're going to need a list of the entire inventor to figure out what was stolen here." That was when Barry said "Actually, I think I know what was stolen." I looked at Barry and said "And how would you know that Mr Allen, do you happen to have a detailed list of everything that was kept here?" Barry shook his head "No.. But I think a centrifuge. An industrial centrifuge. Probably the Cord Enterprises 2BX 900. Maybe the six series. Both have a three column base. Here you can see the three sets of broken bolts, where the theif just... ripped it out of the ground." I had to nod at all that.. It was impressive. I had spent very little time with Barry in Central City before joining team Arrow so I only got to see him use his CSI skills a handful of times.. But he was good.
Lance asked "What exactly is a centrifuge?" Felicity finally spoke up "It separates liquids. The centripetal acceleration causes denser substances. To separate out along the radial direction." Barry then finished "And the lighter objects moves to the top." Felicity gave him a weird look and asked "What did you say your name was again?" He replied "Barry. Allen." She repplied "Felicity. Smoak." I then said "My gods there are two of them." To Dig. He smirked but said nothing. Barry paused for a second before saying "Um, you can see the cracks heading towards the door. Footsteps. One guy. Anyways, its just a theory. One backed by a lot of evidence." Lance then said "So you think Captain America just swooped in here and stole a...centrithingy.. Because of a footprint. There has to be another explanation." I shrugged "Maybe it was Thor?" He exhaled sharply at that like he was holding back a laugh. Barry said "Yeah.. I'm sure your right."
Dig dropped by my office a little later to say "Got it." We then walked into Oliver's office "Oliver.. I got the list from the applied science division, that CSI from Central City was right, the only thing missing is a centrifuge." Felicity followed us in saying "You have to see this. I pulled ip CC traffic camera footage from across the street of applied sciences. This is three minutes after the alarm went off." It showed a guy carrying the centrifuge with one arm. I sucked in breath "Well that definitely isn't Captain America. Also.. 2 O'clock, I fell someone watching." Oliver looked up and said "Can we help you with something Detective?" Barry walked up "Oh, CSI's aren't actually detectives, we don't even carry guns, just some plastic baggies" He chuckled, Felicity did as well. "Where should I set up my equipment?" Felicity said "I'll show you." Oliver asked "What is going on?" Barry looked a little confused and said "Your assistant said that you preferred to keep the investigation in house, so I cleared it with my captain to give you a hand" Oliver and Felicity had a quick back and forth before they left. Diggle then looked at both of us before saying "Why do I have a feeling you two know more about this than Felicity's new friend." I sighed and Oliver said "Pray that we're wrong."
Later on we heard the team of nerds found something so the three of us made our way down to applied sciences. Oliver said as we walked up "You found something?" Felicity replied "We found something." Barry then said "There were trace amounts of sucrose and a spec of dirt the killer dragged in here on his boot." Felicity then said "Which got me thinking, there is a sugar refinery two miles from here. The land around it suffused in waste sugar show I checked. They had a delivery truck stolen a few days ago." Barry continued "Their truck matches the make and model of the truck the Theif used to seal the Centrifuge." Oliver then asked "Can you track the vehicle?" Felicity said "We've been trying." The computer chose to beep at that time. I asked "What was that?" Felicity tapped away and said "You are not going to believe this. The truck, it was just used to rob a blood bank" Oliver asked "Are you sure?" Felicity nodded "Yeah, our guy just made off with 30,000 CC's of O-negative." Diggle then asked "What, he has super strength, likes blood. Please don't tell me we suddenly believe in vampires." I looked off to the side "Well..." Fel, Oliver and Diggle looked at me with wide eyes "Kidding." Barry then said "We should get this information to the local Police." Oliver said "I'll...take care of that. Did you say that you were working a similar case in Central City?" Barry looked uneasy "uh.. Yeah, um yeah, you know, its similar. Has similar elements. A lot of similarities." Oliver nodded "Right.. Yeah." We then walked away and Oliver looked at Dig and said "I want you to look into this Allen kid. There's a lot more to this than he's letting on." Dig smirked "His intentions seem pretty clear to me." gesturing to Felicity and Barry working closely. Oliver then sighed and said "Just do it please." Diggle then said "Oliver, David. When are you going to tell me what exactly we are up against?" I spoke up and said "Once we're sure it is what we think it is." We then walked away from him.
I then said "Oliver.. We should tell him its Mirakuru." Oliver said "We don't know that it is yet David. I don't want to jump the gun. It could be something different.. Maybe a strain of the Captain America super solider serum." I shook my head "First off I think they are one and the same.. A knock off strain of it at least. Second I told you Mirakuru comes to Starling City this year. This looks like the start of it." Oliver then said "Until we know for sure..we keep this between us. I'm already not too happy you know so much about my life on the island, I'm not ready to share the full Mirakuru story with anyone yet." I nodded and we kept walking.
We tracked down the stolen truck on our bikes. Oliver and I swerved back and forth to confuse the Theif.. However the Theif kept swerving to keep both of us from being able to attack at once. Oliver fired an arrow to break one of the side mirrors to help us achieve our goal. He then went for the drivers side, hoping on the truck before his bike came in view of the drivers window. He then punched through the window. That was when I swerved out on the other side to try and get a shot but between the thief and Oliver fighting I couldn't get a decent shot. Then oliver was pulled into the passenger seat which left me with no shot so I pulled back and went to move around the truck to fire from the drivers side. This was when Oliver was kicked out of the truck and slid on the ground on top of the door. I stopped my pursuit then to help him up. Once I did he looked at me and nodded "Mirakuru."
I helped Oliver back to the foundry where Felicity patched him up.. Painfully. Oliver finally said to Diggle "You were right to ask if I knew more than I was letting on. I've seen men with abilities like that before." Felicity asked incrediously "You have?! Where?" Oliver said "The Island. My second year marooned there, we-I came across the remains of a Japanese World War 2 military project. It was a serum designed to create human weapons." I interjected and said "Most likely in response to the Super solider Serum they Allies created that lead to Captain America and the Red Skull." Oliver nodded. Diggle then said "Human weapons? My god what will we have to deal with next, Aliens?" I chuckled "Not you Dig. Thats an Avengers thing." He rolled his eyes. Oliver then said "This is real Diggle. Those 5 years away I came across things that just...defy explanation. There was a doctor, his name was Ivo.. And he came to the island to test the serum on people. The ones that survived, their endurance, reflexes and strength were all enhanced." Diggle then said "So you think this Ivo's in Starling city." To which Oliver replied "He's dead, and so is everyone that he injected with the serum. The last of which, I burned." Diggle then replied "So you think someone found the recipe?" Oliver nods "The Centrifuge and a large amount of blood. I think someone wants to make more of it. A lot more." That was when I stepped forward and said "Next year.. When I meet you guys. You tell of of the big hurtles you had to overcome in the past. One was the Undertaking. The last was a Siege.. With an army of Mirakuru soliders. This could very well be the begining of that. If we can stop whoever is behind this.. We may be able to still succeed in changing the timeline for the better and save some lives." Oliver nodded "There is still a third component. A strong sedative." He then handed over an Arrow he had attempted to wound the Theif with. Felicity looked repulsed "I think I preferred when you left these in people." Oliver ignored this and said "I need you to analyze the blood on the arrowhead. If we can figure out which sedative they're using-" I finished his sentence "We can figure out where the next robbery will be and stop the siege before it even has a chance to start."
If Diggle and Felicity were shocked about the Siege they hid it well. Felicity went to work saying she would get Barry's helps. Diggle smirked and said "Its seems our Ms Smoak is smitten." Oliver nodded "Diggle, what did you find out about Mr Allen?" Diggle then said "He's not who he says he is." I shook my head "He is in fact a CSI for the CCPD, that much he is. Although as to why he's here.. I'm not sure.. The Particle Accelerator is going to be activated soon.. And I know Barry is in Central City for that night.. Can't explain why, But the sooner Barry goes back to Central City the better."
The next night was the welcome back party for Moria to the company at the Queen Mansion. Being Head of security I didn't have to work security that night.. I could actually enjoy the party. I was in the ballroom when The Queens made their appearance. There weren't many people here.. But Moria put on a brave face and started greeting people. She made her way to be and shook my hand "Mr Shuter, I'm happy you were able to join us, without having to work to be able to" I chuckled "My pleasure Ms Queen" She smiled and said "I see you have grown close to my children, you usually don't see that between body guards and their clients." I shrugged "Oliver and I have been through a lot, a friendship forged in fire. And Thea.. Well she had a way of reminding me I'm human. I'm glad both have offered me jobs to keep me a float." She nodded and said "Excuse me, I have a couple more guests to greet, enjoy the party." I smiled "Of course Ms Queen."
That was when I noticed Barry at the party.. So Oliver must have calmed down from figuring out that Barry had lied about why he was in Starling City. I walked over to Oliver watching Barry and Felicity. I said "I see you forgave Barry for lying." He shrugged "Felicity made a good point.. We lie every day. The Kid had his mother murdered by his father as a child.. He chases impossible stories as he believes the impossible is response for the murder. He is right to hide that. He may be delusional.. But he's a good kid." I shook my head "I won't go into detail.. But Barry is right. I'll leave you with that." I clapped him on the shoulder before leaving him. I noticed Thea had been watching me and I sighed.. Probably waiting for me to disappear into the shadows to suit up as Blue Lightning.
When the party was over I returned to the foundry, it seemed the nerds had found something so they called Oliver. When he arrived Felicity said "We found trace amounts of ketamine in the theif's blood. It's a common surgical anesthesia derived from Hydrochloric salt." I then asked "Can you use that to track him?" Felicity nodded "With the current concentration ratio there's only one possible location with a large enough quantity of the sedative that correlates with the amount of blood the stolen centrifuge can process." We looked at the photo she brought up. Dig asked "What it is there is no sign?" Felicity said "ARGUS doesn't like to advertise. It's a disaster bunker right on the edge of the glades. ARGUS has them all over the country. They store all sorts of supplies. Food, Clothing..and medicine." Oliver said "David, Suit up.' I nodded "Lets end this." Felicity said "David, Oliver, wait. I can't believe I'm saying this but the way this Arrowhead is beant means our theif's muscle density is at least 120 pounds per cubic foot. That's almost the same density as common concrete. Your Arrow may cut this cut.. But they will not stop him." Oliver then said "Well I've beat someone like this before, Felicity. I can do it again." I nodded and went over and pulled out Kveykva. I showed her the Blade "My sword.. Is unique. It is made from celestial bronze.. One of the strongest metals in the world. It is also coated in Dragon Rider Steel. Only moldable by the elves of Alagaesia, the metal is from a metorite that struck the land long ago.. Strong enough to pierce a dragon's hide and cut through normal metal like its cheese. It can handle a Mirakuru solider." That was when Diggle noticed Roy's throwing dart in the ally. Oliver nodded "I'll deal with it, David prepare for the fight." When then suited up and he left to deal with Roy.
We walked in together. We figured it was the best play. No point in entering from different angles as a 1v1 was not preferable when dealing with a super solider. We were attacked almost immediately by a large create being thrown at us, we both dove in different directions. We then looked up and began firing arrows at the Thief above us. This lead to him dropping down to our level. Oliver quickly fired a bola arrow, quickly trapping the Their to a pillar. Oliver asked with his voice changer "Who are you?" The Thief replied "Merely a follower." I yelled "Of WHO!" The man replied "My brother." Oliver then asked "Did he give you the Mirakuru? DID HE INJECT YOU WITH IT!" The man replied "No. He saved me with it." He then ripped the bola arrow apart and rush forward. Oliver and I each fired an arrow at his feet, pinning him to the ground. We then engaged in hand to hand combat.
This was what we were trying to avoid. But we put our all into the fight. Soon the man broke free of the arrows and was able to fight us full force. He kicked me back 10 feet, and then used an uppercut followed by a side sweep to despatch Oliver into a rack full of boxes. I rushed forward and double kicked the man away from Oliver. I then got to my feet and pulled out my sword . I sliced down on him, cutting his arm deeply. He growled and and smacked my sword away. He then brought his fist down on me. I brought up my arm to block and felt a snap, which cause me to cry out in a wave of a pain. The man then grabbed on of the racks and pulled it down on top of me. The impact knocked me to the ground and pinned me. The Thief then left. I coughed as I felt my vision blur. I must have hit my head. I then said weakly into coms "Dig..Fel..Need an evac. Oliver is down.. I'm pinned.. Hurry." I then blacked out.
I woke up to Dig and Felicity yelling "David! Oliver!" I called out weakly "Over here!" Dig ran over to me. I then said "Felicity.. Oliver.." She ran over to him and Dig said "Okay on three we are going to lift. One.. Two.. Three" I then pushed up with my free hand and Dig grunted. Together with my enhanced strength We were able to lift it up. "Move." Dig grunted. I rolled, gasping as it was over my broken arm. I made it clear and Dig dropped it. He then helped me to my feet as I groaned. Felicity yelled "Oliver's been poisoned! The vials are coded and I can't break into this database!" Dig said "Well we have no choice, I'm calling 9-1-1." He pulled out his phone and Felicity said "Wait! How do we explain this, everyone will know Oliver is the Arrow!" Dig then said "Better than him dead. We can't help him Felicity!" Felicity shook her head "we can't.. But Barry can" I nodded "Good. He can be trusted. Let me grab my weapons and Dig and I can carry Oliver." I got my weapons and threw one of Oliver's arms over my shoulder, taking on some of his weight. We then got him to the car.
On the way we stopped by the train station. I stayed to the shadows with Dig and once we saw Barry alone I pointed my uninjured hand with my assassin's gauntlet at him and shot out a sleeping dart. Dig and I carried him to the car and we took off to the foundry.
Once we were settled downstairs I began to nibble on some ambrosia to help with my arm. However I knew it would be a while before I could use my arm again. The ambrosia also needed to heal my head and my ribs. As I did this Dig and Felicity worked on trying to stabilize Oliver. After a short amount of time Barry woke up. He took in the scene, me with my hood down and mask off, Dig.. The foundry.. And Oliver as the Arrow. Felicity quickly asked "Please save my friend." So it rested on Barry Allen, Pre-Flash.. To save Oliver Queen, The Arrow. I had to say.. I liked Oliver's odds.
