Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.
Oliver was doing pushups, while locked up in a cell in the solitary confinement, until Yorke entered and Oliver got up on his feet as Yorke accompanied him back to the general population section.
"Vacation's over, 4587. You're lucky you only got two days in the hole after what you pulled. Apparently, there are still people in here who believe that you're a hero. But we know better, don't we?" Yorke said condescendingly and Oliver was silent as they stopped. "I asked you a question, inmate."
"You don't know anything about me." Oliver said.
"Sure I do. I grew up with kids just like you; entitled, rich, thought the law didn't apply to them." Yorke said as he eyed Oliver with contempt. "But look at you now, a criminal, just like every other bastard in here."
"My family was attacked. I'll do anything to protect them." Oliver said.
Oliver entered the gym area as Stanley approached, smiling in relief.
"Oh, you're back! Oh, man! The way you beat the crap out of that Grim Reaper guy was awesome. That face looked like a hamburger meat." Stanley said.
"Where is he?" Oliver asked as he looked around.
"He's gone. The warden found out he attacked you in the shower, got sent down to Level 2, which is worse than a death sentence." Stanley explained.
Oliver sighed in frustration. "He's my only lead on Diaz."
"Don't worry, he doesn't know anything. He just got a nice payday." Stanley explained.
"Right." Oliver turned to Stanley curiously. "Why do you know that?"
"I asked around." Stanley said.
Oliver glared at Stanley, as if he was stupid. "You should be keeping to yourself, asking questions in here is going to get you killed."
"Not when you're asking for the Green Arrow. Everyone saw what you did and they're all afraid of you. 'Cause we're friends, now they're all afraid of me." Stanley explained.
Oliver sighed. "Alright, if that prisoner wasn't behind the attack, then who hired him?"
"That scary bald guy who attacked me." Stanley explained.
"Right. Brick." Oliver muttered. He should have expected that.
"So what's our plan? Beat him up? Torture him for info?" Stanley asked.
"No. We do it my way." Oliver said.
A.R.G.U.S.
"Felicity and William are under constant surveillance in A.R.G.U.S. custody and some of my old friends from the League are keeping their eye on them until we take down Diaz." Sara said.
"It's been five months. Why now?" Rene wondered.
"Well, whatever he's up to, now we know it's personal." Diggle said.
"Which is exactly why I put Laurel on protective detail. She's gotta be on his hit list." Dinah agreed.
"How are we gonna find Diaz?" Sara asked.
"Well, Felicity has been working on that with me." Curtis said as he showed a series of images on the monitor. "It's analyzes all the data and looks for any additional intel we have on Diaz and then it uses a predictive algorithm to estimate where is he gonna show up next."
"Like a brain thinking only about Diaz." Sara said and Curtis nodded.
"Gross." Rene said.
"But also cool." Curtis said as he showed them a device. "He used this to break Felicity's A.R.G.U.S.-level security system, when he tried to attack them and a model like that is very hard to get."
"Diaz has new friends." Diggle noted.
"The algorithm also tracks all of Diaz's known associates like Cyrus Broderick or the Longbow Hunters. The moment Diaz gets on our radar, we'll know." Curtis explained.
"We're gonna find him and when we do, we're gonna make sure he's not gonna hurt anyone else, ever again." Sara vowed before an alert bleeped on the computer.
"Speak of the Devil…" Diggle muttered.
"What is that?" Sara asked as they turned to the screen, where it showed a hi-tech device.
"There was a break-in in one of our off-site facilities." Diggle explained as Curtis went through the data.
"Looks like they stole only one thing. An ultra high-density renewable battery. One of these has enough juice to power a town. We were using then to help refugees." Curtis said as he went through the report. "Looks like they used specified weapons for this. Hi-tech shield, nano-powered darts and a sonic manipulator, these are super impressive weapons."
"I know who did this." Sara said, looking disturbed. "The Longbow Hunters. The weapons their M.O."
"Which means Diaz was behind it." Diggle realized.
"You wanna tell Felicity and William or should I?" Curtis asked.
"No. Keep them out of this. The moment Felicity finds out, she's gonna freak out and do something stupid that's gonna get her killed. No one tells Felicity about this, understood?" Sara ordered and everyone nodded, although Curtis seemed reluctant about lying to Felicity.
District Attorney's office
"We need to talk." Dinah said, approaching Laurel, who was on her way to her office.
"If this is about the Conway case, I already told Anastas I need more time." Laurel said.
"That is not why I'm here and you know it." Dinah said bluntly.
"Aw, did you miss me? That's so sweet." Laurel said sarcastically.
"Laurel, you ditched your protective detail. Again." Dinah said.
"Perhaps you should get your facts straight, Captain, your officers had a medical emergency. Food poisoning, I think it was." Laurel drawled.
"Food poisoning doesn't cause hearing loss or vertigo, you know what does? A sonic wave." Dinah sneered.
"Ooh, that sounds serious." Laurel said sarcastically as she sat at her desk.
"This isn't a joke, Laurel. You know, I just heard from A.R.G.U.S. that the Longbow Hunters are in Star City." Dinah said and Laurel froze. "Diaz won't be far behind. Matter of fact, for all we know, he could already be in town." She neared Laurel, leaning onto the desk. "Now, I don't really care if Diaz kills you, but I do care if he kills the D.A."
"Touching." Laurel said.
"Diaz kidnapped you, he killed Quentin, who everyone believes was your father. It's such a joke." Dinah shook her head in disgust.
"Hey. I cared about him." Laurel snapped.
"Then let my officers protect you. It's what he would have wanted." Dinah pleaded.
"I can take care of myself." Laurel said firmly.
"Fine." Dinah sighed in frustration.
Slabside Maximum Security Prison
Oliver entered the mess hall and neared Brick. "Ricardo Diaz."
"That seat's taken." Brick said sarcastically.
"You're gonna tell me where to find him." Oliver growled, grabbing Brick by his arm.
"Hey. You sure you want to do that?" Turner warned as Brick shook Oliver off. "I still haven't gotten a chance to thank you for sending me to the hole."
"I guess you don't know your place here. You may have gotten your fight back, but we're still at the top of this food chain." Sampson sneered, as he and Turner were about to beat Oliver up.
"It's OK, boys. I got this." Brick said as Sampson and Turner backed off. "Diaz? Doesn't ring any bell." He said in feigned ignorance.
"You hired those prisoners to attack me in the shower for Diaz." Oliver insisted as he sat next to Brick. "So why don't you tell me how I can find him?"
Brick turned to Oliver. "You know what your problem is, Queen? You've forgotten where you are. This is prison and you're playing by the wrong rules."
"I'm not playing any games, Brick." Oliver growled.
"What I'm saying is, if you want to be a mate of mine, you got to prove yourself worthy of my friendship." Brick said.
Oliver scoffed in disgust but realized he had no other choice but to play by Brick's rules to get what he wanted. "What do you want?"
Brick turned to Yorke. "I want him gone."
Oliver was uncomfortable with killing a guard and as much as he didn't like Yorke, he didn't deserve to die. "Why?"
"That is no concern of yours. You just take care of that guard and I'll tell you everything you want to know. Everybody wins." Brick said.
Oliver considered before giving in. "Fine."
He was about to get up, when Brick grabbed Oliver by his wrist. "Queen. If you say anything to anybody, the deal is off."
Oliver later met with Stanley back in the gym yard.
"This is prison. There are tons of guys that would be happy to handle Yorke, if you know what I mean." Stanley said.
"Yorke's a hardass but he doesn't deserve to die." Oliver pointed out and Stanley nodded. "Just… I need to find his pressure point."
"W.W.G.A.D.?" Stanley asked.
"What?" Oliver asked, turning to Stanley in confusion.
"What would Green Arrow do?" Stanley asked.
"Oh. I…" Oliver considered. "He'd have Overwatch gather information."
"What's an overwatch?" Stanley asked and an idea hit Oliver.
"We need a computer." Oliver said.
Oliver and Stanley were in line in the corridor leading to the shower area.
"Once we get inside, we have two minutes before the guards miss us. You up for this?" Oliver whispered.
"Yeah, hell, yeah. It's my first Green Arrow mission." Stanley said, excited.
Oliver let Stanley get in front of him and used a plastic bottleneck and piece of rubber and fragments of a pencil as slingshot, destroying the lights and sending the whole corridor into the dark.
"What the hell?" One of the inmates demanded.
"No one moves! Everyone, stay right where you are!" Yorke ordered as he and other guards were trying to subdue the inmates, while Oliver and Stanley took advantage of the havoc and snuck away into the office area.
"Does this thing even have the internet?" Stanley asked as Oliver sat at the computer.
"We'll soon find out." Oliver said, accessing the computer.
"Even if it does, they don't let felons surf the web." Stanley noted.
"I know my way around computers. Sit tight." Oliver said before he pulled out Yorke's record.
"OK, so what are we looking for?" Stanley asked.
"Anything that will give me leverage." Oliver said as he and Stanley were going through Yorke's files. "Peter Yorke was born in 1978, he joined the army at nineteen, serves eight years, commendations, injured in line of duty, started working at Slabside and he's been here ever since."
"He's been here for twelve years, no wonder he's such a jerk." Stanley muttered.
Oliver nodded as he continued reading. "He's got no complaints, he's got no disciplinary record, but he's a jerk but a law-abiding jerk."
"No one's that clean, there's gotta be something." Stanley noted before something piqued his and Oliver's interest. "Look at that. He's got a wife and a kid. I bet a guy like that would do just about anything to keep his family safe."
Oliver was uncomfortable with using a family as a leverage but that could be his last resort, if nothing else would get rid of Yorke.
"All right! Back in line!" They heard Yorke yell outside the office.
Oliver turned off the computer, realizing that was their cue to return. "We have to go."
Stanley nodded as he followed Oliver.
District Attorney's office
Dinah entered Laurel's office but noticed it was empty as she turned to one of the A.D.A.s. "Hey, where's the D.A?"
"She said she needed some air." The A.D.A. said.
"Damn it." Dinah swore, realizing what Laurel did.
A.R.G.U.S.
Felicity was watching the news on TV with William as Sara entered.
"Hey. Have you got any leads on Diaz?" Felicity asked.
Sara took a breath. "Not yet. But we're getting close." She entered and placed an assuring hand on Felicity's shoulder. "I promise you, we're not gonna let him hurt you, ever again."
"That's not enough, Sara. I need to know you're gonna stop him, whatever it takes." Felicity said hotly.
"Felicity, trust me, I want to take down Diaz as much as you do, especially after what he did to Laurel and Dad and I know you may be losing your patience but if we go off half-cocked and without a plan, it's not gonna help us stop him. I'll do whatever I can to protect you and William and I get that you don't like sitting on your butt here and do nothing but there's nothing you can do here. Understand? Ollie wouldn't want you to put yourself at risk." Sara said.
Felicity was about to open her mouth but stopped, when Sara shot her a look and Felicity realized that she was not going to win any argument she was about to engage in with Sara.
Slabside Maximum Security Prison
In the gym area, Oliver was doing pullups as Stanley got an idea. "You know, just because Yorke isn't dirty, doesn't mean we can't get him fired. Blackmail's pretty much a prerequisite for getting in this place."
Oliver jumped down and shot Stanley a look. "I'm not about to ruin an innocent man's life, OK?"
"Not the Green Arrow way. Noted." Stanley said before Brick, Sampson and Turner approached.
"I'm starting to think you've lost interest in my information, Queen." Brick said, looking impatient.
"Yorke's clean." Oliver said.
"There are other ways of getting rid of somebody. More permanent way." Turner said, showing Oliver a shiv.
"That's not how I do things." Oliver protested.
"That's not how you do things out there." Sampson corrected.
Oliver sighed before turning to Brick. "You asked me to take care of Yorke. You didn't say how."
"Let me make this clear." Brick glanced at Yorke before pointing at the shiv in Turner's hand. "You use that to get rid of Yorke, or I will."
Oliver, reluctantly, took the shiv from Turner's hand and walked off.
Oliver was in his cell, as it opened and Yorke entered. "Cell check time. You're up, 4587. You know the drill."
Oliver went out from his cell as Yorke entered and searched Oliver's bed.
"You need to listen to me." Oliver whispered.
"No chitchat, inmate." Yorke warned.
"Someone in here wants you dead." Oliver said.
"News flash, everyone in here wants me dead." Yorke drawled.
"Yorke, I don't care if you quit or transfer, but whatever you do, you need to do it today, do you understand?" Oliver pleaded.
"I have no idea what kind of game you're playing, but if you don't knock it off, I promise you'll regret it." Yorke growled.
"I'm not playing a game. I am trying to help you." Oliver explained.
"I don't need your help, inmate." Yorke snapped.
"I just want to do the right thing." Oliver insisted.
"The right thing?" Yorke approached Oliver, again looking at him in contempt. "Is that what you were doing? Running around in that costume? You turned the law into a joke. The Green Arrow's very own existence invited criminals into your city. You think you're some kind of a hero." He dragged Oliver back into his cell as it closed. "Have you ever stopped to think that maybe all they've done is make things worse?"
Yorke left as Oliver considered. He tried to reason with Yorke and sort this out nonviolently. Well, it was time to do this the dirty way.
A.R.G.U.S.
"Why didn't you take on the hood, when Ollie asked you?" Sara asked Diggle.
"I watched as Oliver lost everything important in his life because of that hood or what being the Canary cost you and Laurel. Our Laurel." Diggle said. "I wanted to put it because Oliver asked me to but I couldn't. The truth is… I saw what the hood did to him and his family."
"And you didn't want to put your through it." Sara said and Diggle nodded. "I get that." She took a breath. "Honestly, I didn't like the idea of Laurel being the Black Canary, when I found out, after she brought me back from the dead, because I didn't want her to pay the price I did but I respected that she tried to honor my mantle and my legacy. And now Black Siren is trying to honor Dad and Laurel by being the D.A. I guess we all are trying to honor the people we love in our own way."
Diggle nodded, when Curtis entered. "Sorry to interrupt. John, you have to see this. I was finally able to pull data from that damaged hard drive, look what I found. Train schematics." He showed the schematics on his tablet.
"Let me guess, one of these directed energy weapons on your list is being transported by train." Diggle realized.
Curtis nodded. "Yup. It's being shipped out of Star City for testing tonight."
"We can't let the Longbow Hunters get their hands on that weapon." Diggle said.
"Let me help, Dig." Sara said.
"Sara, these assassins are feared even by the League of Assassins." Diggle pointed out.
"Which is why you need all the help you can get." Sara insisted.
Star City
Dinah and Laurel entered a building that Diaz had bought after joining the Quadrant but looked around to see that it had been apparently abandoned for a long time.
Diggle, Sara and the A.R.G.U.S. strike team were in the train, while Curtis was back in A.R.G.U.S. monitoring the entire situation and turned on the thermal imaging of the train and widened his eyes.
"Above you!" Curtis yelled.
From above jumped down a bearded man with a leather jacket, wielding a metal shield with razor blades at the edges of the shield and a spike in its center.
"It's one of the Longbow Hunters!" Sara cried out.
"Hold your fire!" Diggle ordered, when one of the operatives fired but Bear blocked with his shield as the bullet bounced off and Bear cut down one of the operatives and impaled another one and then cut another across his chest and kicked him down. Another operative rushed at Bear but Bear stabbed him with the spike in the center of his shield and threw him over his shoulder and then cut another one in the neck, killing him.
Diggle whacked Bear in the face with the butt of his rifle but it didn't even faze him as Bear grabbed the rifle and cut it into two and kicked Diggle, knocking him down.
Sara dodged as Bear attacked with his shield and backed away.
"Get to the weapon!" Diggle ordered as he and Sara retreated.
Laurel was going down the floor under construction, when she noticed someone sneaking up on her and turned around to face a dark-skinned woman with a small afro haircut, wearing a silver jacket and black pants.
Laurel unleashed her Siren Cry but much to her surprise, there was only deathly silence and her Cry had no effect on Silencer. Laurel dodged, when Silencer attacked with her knife before Silencer kicked her in the face, knocking her down. Laurel got up and dodged, when Silencer attacked again and picked a pipe, blocking Silencer's knife and trying to hit her, while Dinah was in a corridor adjacent to the room, where was Laurel and Silencer, oblivious of the fight due to the silence as Laurel and Silencer continued trading blows.
Diggle, Sara and the A.R.G.U.S. team were entering another cart, when they dodged as a red dart hit a nearby wall and turned to face a Caucasian brunette in a red leather suit with red tinted glasses, holding some kind of a wrist gun.
"Hello there." Red said as the dart let out gas and Diggle and Sara covered their noses and mouths.
"It's gas!" Diggle yelled.
"We gotta get out of here!" Sara ordered as they ran to the exit but Red fired another dart at the lock as a shock followed and the door closed.
"Oops. Guess it's locked." Red said before she left, locking another door and leaving Sara, Diggle and the team in the cart to suffocate on the gas.
"Curtis, we're trapped!" Diggle coughed.
"Already on it! Hang on!" Curtis said, typing away.
Sara's and Diggle's vision started to blur, when they saw Diaz tap on the glass outside and waving and smiling at them.
"Diaz…" Diggle whispered.
"I'm opening the door, get out of there!" Curtis said as the door opened and Sara and Diggle rushed out.
Laurel kicked Silencer back but Silencer blocked as Laurel swung her pipe and punched her in the face, knocking her down and disarming her.
Dinah entered and unleashed her Canary Cry on Silencer but it had no effect due to Silencer drowning out all sounds.
Laurel joined in as she and Dinah unleashed both their sonic screams at Silencer and the combined force overloaded Silencer's muter, making all sounds audible again and the sonic wave knocked her backwards before Silencer got up on her feet and ran off.
"Are you OK?" Dinah asked, turning to Laurel.
"Yeah, I think so." Laurel nodded.
"How the hell did she do that?" Dinah demanded, turning to the direction in which Silencer had gone.
"I have no idea." Laurel said.
Diggle and Sara cornered Diaz as Diggle pulled out his gun.
"Diaz, freeze!" Diggle yelled as Diaz stopped. "Hands up, slowly!"
Diaz slowly raised his hands and smirked at Diggle. "You missed me, John?"
Diaz suddenly pulled out a flamethrower and Diggle and Sara took cover behind a barrel to dodge the torrent of fire Diaz sent at him and Diaz dodged, when Diggle pulled out his gun and fired. Diggle picked a barrel lid and used it as a shield as Diaz again used his flamethrower. Diggle rushed at Diaz and knocked him down.
Diaz got up but Sara tackled him to the ground as they struggled as they exchanged blows. They got up as Sara dodged Diaz's kicks before Diggle grabbed Diaz and they both struggled before the battery fell off Diaz's jacket. Diggle threw Diaz down and Sara kicked him in the face as Diggle rushed to the battery.
Sara was about to finish Diaz off but stopped, when she saw Red and Bear nearing the door as she retreated.
"We got the battery. Curtis, when I tell you, I need you to uncouple that flatcar." Diggle ordered.
"Got it." Curtis said.
"Do it!" Sara ordered as Red and Bear entered.
Sara and Diggle jumped onto another cart as it detached from the flatcar and the distance between them and Diaz and the Longbow Hunters grew until they were safely away.
Later, A.R.G.U.S.
"Are you going to tell Felicity?" Sara asked.
"No." Diggle said. "She's upset enough that she's hiding in here with William. She doesn't need more stress." Sara sighed as Diggle held her by her shoulder. "We'll get him, Sara. I promise."
"The Longbow Hunters are just as dangerous as Darhk or Merlyn or Ra's. If we're going to get them and Diaz, we're going to need help." Sara said.
Slabside Maximum Security Prison
Oliver was in the line in the mess hall as Brick approached him.
"I don't think you understand our deal. It's a limited time offer and it's about to expire." Brick warned.
"I understand. I'm gonna take care of him." Oliver said. He didn't like doing this but obviously, to get what he wanted, Oliver was going to have to play dirty.
SCPD
Laurel had entered Dinah's office as Dinah looked up at her.
"I just… I wanted to come by and thank you for the backup. Also, from now on, I will be accepting protection from the SCPD." Laurel said as Dinah looked surprised. "No more ditching. No more complaining. Maybe a little complaining.
"Well, I appreciate that." Dinah smiled. "Anything else?"
"No. That's it." Laurel was about to leave, when she spoke up again. "Actually, that's not it." Dinah looked up at her again. "I know that Quentin wasn't my father. Not… not the father that raised me anyway. And… I guess I had just forgotten what it felt to have someone who cared about me." She took a breath as her eyes got wet and voice broke. "And losing him, it was the worse pain that I haven't felt in a very long time and I can only imagine how you must have felt after Vinnie's death."
"Please, don't." Dinah begged, not wanting to go down this road as she looked into Laurel's eyes, unwilling to accept it.
"Listen, I don't expect you to forgive me but I have to tell you that I am truly sorry about killing Vinnie and I hope one day, you'll see I'm not that person. Not anymore." Laurel said as her voice broke and eyes got wet before leaving Dinah's office.
Dinah just looked down, holding back her own tears, having a hard time accepting that Laurel had changed, if she showed remorse over murdering her former lover.
Slabside Maximum Security Prison
"This Diaz guy seems like a real nightmare, but are you sure this is a good idea?" Stanley asked as they were in the mess hall.
"My way's not working. I don't have a choice." Oliver said as he got up and approached Yorke. "Hey. Hey!" Yorke turned to Oliver, who looked angry. "What's your problem?"
"I know you're not talking to me, inmate." Yorke warned as he neared Oliver.
"You've had it in for me since day one." Oliver sneered.
"You need to shut your mouth and get back." Yorke growled.
"Do your wife and son know you're such a dick?" Oliver asked, lowering his voice.
"What did you just say?" Yorke demanded.
"It's Jenna and Noah, right?" Oliver whispered.
Yorke glared as he reached for his baton. "You don't say their names, you—"
Oliver grabbed Yorke's hand and stabbed himself in his side with a shiv as Oliver groaned and fell down, pointing at Yorke, trying to act terrified as he crawled back. "You—You stabbed me!"
"What? I didn't stab you!" Yorke protested.
"Get away from him!" Dunbar ordered as he and other guards grabbed Yorke.
"He stabbed me! He stabbed me!" Oliver yelled, pointing at Yorke.
"Dunbar, what are you doing? I didn't touch him!" Yorke said.
"Get him out of here!" Dunbar ordered as he and other guards dragged Yorke away.
"No, wait, no! He's lying! I didn't do anything!" Yorke shouted as they dragged him out of the mess hall.
Brick smirked at Oliver, looking impressed that he managed to get rid of Yorke without killing him as Oliver slumped to the floor, passing out.
In the part, where Oliver was trying to dig up some dirt on Yorke, the thing with Felicity teaching Oliver to look up intel on a computer was stupid, since that was retcon and once again turning Oliver into a braindead idiot, who was over-relying on Felicity. Oliver used to research his targets on his own until he recruited Felicity, then his tech skills regressed into nothing, remember how he managed to fix Slade's smashed radio in the fuselage, when they first met?
What Felicity did in 7x02, when Diggle and his team were attacked by Diaz and the Longbow Hunters, was stupid beyond measure, since we all know how she can let her emotions get the better of her and compromise the mission and if not for Curtis intervening, Felicity wanting to get Diaz could've gotten Diggle killed and put the whole city at risk, so I had her benched in A.R.G.U.S. custody to avoid the stupid stunt she usually pulls off and puts everyone in danger but she might have her uses later, undecided yet, but I want to avoid the usual reckless stunts she pulls off.
I was willing to give Dinah a benefit of the doubt in Season 7, when she and Laurel more or less made amends but she used that up, when Emiko set Laurel up and framed her for killing Hernandez, and Dinah once again treated Laurel like crap, but I'm not going down that road with Dinah.
And I'm not involving Watson in the next part but someone else to help Team Arrow with the Longbow Hunters, since Felicity asking Watson for help, while understandable, was stupid and considering that she bugged the FBI, it's Felicity's plot armor again that Watson didn't arrest her for that stunt. Care to guess who is going to help them?
So, what do you guys think?
Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.