Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Arrowverse or Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC Comics, Marvel Comics or any characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises or anything else you may recognize.

Diggle and Lyla were walking down the street, holding each other's arms and kissing each other until Alan Chang showed up, ruining their romantic night, much to Diggle's dismay.

"Good God." Diggle groaned.

"Alan?" Lyla asked surprised.

"Sorry to crash your evening." Alan said, visibly nervous.

"Then don't; just call, like normal people." Diggle snapped.

"I don't have a normal job and I've been compromised." Alan explained.

"What happened?" Lyla asked.

"Get down!" Diggle said suddenly, when some men in black military outfit showed up, shooting at them as Diggle and Lyla took cover behind a concrete pillar as a bullet grazed Diggle.

"You're hit." Lyla said as Diggle groaned, while checking his wound before they saw Alan being taken into the van. "Alan!" Lyla exclaimed as the van drove away. Lyla attempted to shoot the van, while Diggle grabbed onto one of the men in the van but fell down as the van drove down the road.

Star City

Ray waited in a restaurant as a young brunette neared him and stared in disbelief. "Oh, my God… it really is you."

"Hey, Anna." Ray smiled as Anna breathed out, processing. It took a minute but it felt like a lifetime as she sat down. "I… know this must be… weird…"

Anna nodded, sighing. "Eight months, Ray." Ray nodded, feeling guilty. "Why didn't tell me earlier that you were alive? What happened to you?"

Ray took a breath, trying to find the right words. "I've wanted to… so many times I was this close to hitting 'DIAL' but…" He swallowed. "I guess I didn't know what right words to say. I mean, how was I supposed to tell you that I was small as an ant for eight months or that I was a prisoner of a madman? I guess… I guess I had convinced myself that by not telling you, I was sparing you of that pain but it wasn't until recently that I realized that I was sparing myself. I told myself that I needed time to readjust but the truth is… I was afraid to imagine what would you say. If you'd still love me."

"Ray. Start from the beginning." Anna pleaded, holding his hand. "Tell me everything that has happened since the explosion in Palmer Tech."

Ray took a breath, as he started talking.

Later, the Lair

"And they just left you there?" Sara demanded.

"Yeah but not before leaving me with this." Diggle said, showing his bandaged arm, where the bullet had grazed him.

"We are sure this wasn't H.I.V.E.?" Oliver asked.

"These men looked military." Lyla said. "I think I know what it is about but I need to be sure."

"I think we may be able to compare the bullet fragments with the database, see if we can find some leads." Jemma offered with Fitz and Klein.

"Thanks." Diggle said.

"I'll see if there's something left in the crime scene. Maybe the cops overlooked some evidence." Matt said.

"And I think I should talk with my brother again." Diggle said.

Andy was eating the burger Diggle had brought him before seeing the bandage on his arm.

"What happened to your arm?" Andy asked.

"Nothing, it's an occupational hazard." Diggle said.

"I never pegged you for the masked vigilante type." Andy said dryly, eating his drink.

"Yeah, well, I guess we're both full of surprises, Andy." Diggle said sarcastically.

"You know what? You keep coming down here, asking me all these questions but I never get to ask them back." Andy pointed out.

"What do you want to know?" Diggle asked, nearing the cell, conceding his brother's point.

"How do you end up working out of a basement or wherever we are and fighting crime with guys, one of them in a green hoodie, another one dressed like a devil and a chick in a bondage outfit?" Andy asked.

"Well, they're good friends and we're not fighting crime, Andy. We're taking this city that's holding itself together and we are helping." Diggle replied. "Don't you remember when that was your mission?"

Andy sighed, reminiscing about the time, when he and Diggle served in Afghanistan.

Star City

"Ray…" Anna trailed off after Ray finished his story, baffled, to say the least.

"I know it's a lot to process." Ray said.

"I mean… wow. Just… wow. Honestly, it's a miracle you survived all of it." Anna said.

"Or it's that I had really good friends, who have helped." Ray said. "Look, Anna, I understand if you're mad that I didn't tell you that I was—"

"I'm not." Anna replied. "I mean… yeah, I wish you had told me, the moment you were saved but… I understand if you needed time to readjust."

"I just…" Ray sighed. "I wasn't sure how you'd react, finding out that I had put myself in danger like that because of Atom."

"Ray…" Anna held his hand, being nothing but understanding. "Whatever happens, I'm always here for you. I understand that you needed some time but remember, no matter what, I'll always be by your side."

Ray smiled as he held her hand too. "You've always had good heart, Anna."

"Laurel Lance, District Attorney's office." Laurel, accompanied by Diggle and an A.R.G.U.S. agent as a protective detail, showed her badge to the policemen upon entering the crime scene. "What do we have here?"

"Deceased male, about 45, Asian. Multiple lacerations, contusions and blunt force trauma." The detective listed.

"Have you canvassed the area yet? There could be a witness who saw something." Laurel asked.

"I don't need a D.A. to tell me how to do my job." The detective said, offended.

"I'm sure there's a murderer out there who appreciates your lack of initiative." Laurel noted dryly.

The officers left the body as Diggle went to check on the body.

"Private security found him at the start of the graveyard shift." Laurel told him.

Diggle opened the sheet to uncover the body. "That's Chang; whoever did this took their time; multiple lacerations to the knees, a broken arm, at least three pulled fingernails."

"They were torturing him for something." Laurel realized.

"Information wasn't the only thing they wanted." Diggle added as they noticed that Chang's eye was missing.

Later, the Lair

Lyla plugged in a flash drive an on the monitor they saw a symbol of a red tip of a spear with some of A.R.G.U.S. agents.

"I've seen that symbol before." Oliver said.

"It's a logo actually." Lyla corrected. "Shadowspire, U.S. Army Special Forces unit, A.R.G.U.S. took them down three years ago when they were exposed as war profiteers in an op ran by Alan Chang."

"Yeah, S.H.I.E.L.D. has a file on them too. They're nasty folks." Fitz nodded.

"Who are the other two people?" Klein asked.

"They've been reported missing for two days." Lyla said.

"If they are the missing agents that took down the Shadowspire…" Sara trailed off.

"…then the rest of Shadowspire is gonna be on a payback mission." Oliver finished.

"We need to find the other two agents before they end up like Alan." Lyla ordered.

"I thought I recognized the logo somewhere." Diggle nodded, pointing to the symbol of a tip of a spear. "I ran into a lot of those guys back in Afghanistan. I need to talk to my brother again."

"And I think we're gonna need a help from a mutual friend." Matt said.

"With how many evil organizations are you associated with? I'm beginning to lose count." Diggle yelled at Andy who was sitting in his cell.

"What are you talking about?" Andy asked.

"Shadowspire!" Diggle said as he threw into the cell a folder. "Your old army buddies are in Star City, they tortured and killed an A.R.G.U.S agent and abducted two others!"

"I have nothing to do with them anymore." Andy said firmly. "After I've got discharged, they cut ties. They only want enlisted men."

"How the hell could I not see this?" Diggle stretched his arms. "You were with me the entire time!"

"Because you saw what you wanted to see! Look, you wanted to believe that the army straightened me out." Andy explained as he got on his feet. "Look, I'm your brother but I'm not built like you. I didn't take to military like you; you saw the world as something to be fixed, I only saw it as broken, so I made sure I've had enough to survive in it!"

Diggle stared at Andy in disbelief. "So you pretended to be a completely different person around your own brother?"

"It spared me the look on your face right now." Andy said sadly and Diggle looked at him, more disappointed than ever as he grabbed the folder and was about to walk away before Andy spoke up again, causing for Diggle to stop. "Maybe something good can come out of this."

"Andy, what are you talking about?" He asked as he turned around to face him again.

"Those two missing A.R.G.U.S. agents, you think they're still alive?" Andy asked.

"I can hope." Diggle said.

"And I can help." Andy offered. "I know how Shadowspire operates. If they're consistent, they're using the nearest freeport as a base of operations. If they're consistent, they're using the nearest freeport as a base of operations. The best place to hide illicit things is right next to legitimate ones."

Later, Star City

Andy's intel led the team to the docks as they scoured the area.

"It's called freeport, houses commodities while they're being transferred between international destinations. Pretty loaded." Spartan explained.

"Well, the security here is more than up-to-date." The Canary quipped.

"Motion sensors, laser tripwires, digital locks." Green Arrow said. "Daisy, can you crack it?"

"I'm doing my best." Daisy said. "Looks like there's seven hostiles around."

Green Arrow, Arsenal, the Punisher, the Canary, Spartan and Daredevil entered the docks as Spartan shot down two of the Shadowspire operatives.

"I have visual on two men in containers, might be the A.R.G.U.S. agents, I'm trying to open the lock." Daisy said.

"Go for hostages." Green Arrow ordered. "We'll take care of Shadowspire."

"I've got some unfinished business with them too from Kandahar." Frank growled. "No way I'm letting you deal with them alone."

The Canary, Arsenal and Daredevil walked off, while the Green Arrow, the Punisher and Spartan ran to a corridor where the mercenaries were shooting at them as the vigilantes took cover.

"The second container on the right, 10 feet away from you." Klein said as the Canary opened the container.

"The other two A.R.G.U.S. agents are dead." Arsenal groaned.

"Get out of here, then." Green Arrow ordered as he Spartan and the Punisher shot down the Shadowspire operatives.

"What about you?" Daredevil asked.

"We got this. Go!" Spartan barked as he, Frank and Green Arrow entered the warehouse when a steel door slammed in the middle of the room, separating Frank and Spartan from the archer.

"Looks like some kind of a failsafe. We'll try to bypass it." Fitz said.

Spartan and Frank was surrounded by mercenaries as Lieutenant Joyner showed up.

"I keep hearing so much about these vigilantes but I never seen one in person." Joyner said.

"I wish I could say the same about a cold-blooded murderer." Spartan sneered.

"You disgust me. You're just as bad as Russo and Rawlins." Frank glared at Joyner, knowing what Shadowspire had done in Afghanistan, which was just as bad as Operation Cerberus Frank, Russo, Rawlins, Wolfe and the others were a part of.

Joyner chuckled before the door of the container behind Frank and Spartan opened and Green Arrow fired an explosive arrow on the floor, knocking them all on the ground as Joyner escaped and the archer helped both Frank and Spartan get up on their feet.

Later, A.R.G.U.S

Andy was accompanied by Diggle into A.R.G.U.S. as they met Lyla.

Later, Kord Industries

"What would Shadowspire want with a shipment of railguns?" Daredevil wondered as the vigilantes were on a stakeout.

A.R.G.U.S.

Shadowspire used Chang's credentials to break into A.R.G.U.S. as Lyla scowled at the briefing room. "There's no movement on the railguns, so…"

Suddenly, the door on the right exploded as the mercenaries burst in, shooting down the guards and causing for Lyla and other agents to stand down and Lieutenant Joyner entered.

"Lyla Michaels." Joyner smirked. "It's been a long time."

"Not long enough." Lyla sneered as she pressed the silent alarm discreetly, tapping into the cell where Diggle brothers were. "What do you want?"

"Access code to Rubicon." Joyner said simply.

"You know I can't do that." Lyla growled.

"I know, that's why I kept these people alive." Joyner said.

"Damn it, they must have jammers in here." Diggle groaned as he checked his phone, while in Andy's cell and having no signal. "No cell or Wi-Fi service."

Diggle opened the monitor, confusing Andy.

"Would you mind to share with the rest of the class?" Andy asked.

"These monitors work just like TVs, receiving broadcast signal on the 700 MHz band." Diggle said, confusing Andy even more as Diggle was doing something with the monitor's wiring. "I have a friend, who's into this kind of stuff, occasionally I listen to her. If I can just switch the chipset into transmitting mode, I should be able to contact my team."

"Oh, man, Lyla doesn't have time to wait on your team. We've got to do something." Andy argued.

"Yeah? Well, you're not doing anything, Andy." Diggle snapped.

"Look, man, your wife is in there!" Andy exploded as he pointed at the monitor. "Now's not the time to not trust me!"

Star City

"Guys, we've got something." Fitz called out to the team.

Later, A.R.G.U.S.

Green Arrow, the Canary, the Punisher and Daredevil jumped down from the vents with Bobbi, May and Hunter.

"We're on site." Green Arrow said.

"The whole place is on lockdown." Jemma said, checking the footage.

"Can you open the door?" Daredevil asked as Bobbi checked the console and fiddled with the wiring.

"Got it." Bobbi smirked.

Shadowspire operatives found Andy in his cell and in another one…

"Grant Ward. Been a long time." One of the operatives said as Ward smirked.

"You owe Hydra a debt. Let me out." Ward said.

Andy, accompanied by Shadowspire mercenaries entered the room as Joyner smirked and Lyla sneered at both of them.

"Andy Diggle." Joyner said. "You look pretty good for a dead man."

"And here I thought I put up weight." Andy deadpanned.

"What are you doing at A.R.G.U.S., much less alive?

"Lyla Michaels, she brought me here because of my former association with you, guys but… a small world though."

"Yeah, small world though." Joyner nodded.

"Lyla Michaels is my sister-in-law." Andy said as Lyla glared at him. "Point being, her husband is crawling around these ventilation shafts right now. If you put a gun on him, she'll tell you whatever you need to know."

Lyla glared hatefully at Andy. "You son of a—"

Joyner pointed at her, shutting her up. "Turning on your own brother, that's ice cold."

"You know better than most. John and I never saw eye-to-eye." Andy said as Joyner stared at him before coming to a decision.

"Gentlemen, check the facility's ventilation shafts." Joyner ordered as Ward entered.

"So… this is what's rest of Shadowspire." Ward said as he shook his hand with Joyner.

"Long time, Ward." Joyner smiled.

"I see them, they're in the command center, three floors down, northeast corner." Klein said.

"Well, give us a few minutes." Green Arrow quipped as he, the Canary, Daredevil, the Punisher, Bobbi, Hunter and May engaged the Shadowspire operatives.

Green Arrow hit one of them in the face with his bow, while Bobbi and the Canary used their batons, alongside with Daredevil. Frank roared as he stabbed one of them repeatedly with his knife, while Hunter and May tackled two more of them.

Diggle jumped down from the shafts as two of the mercenaries ambushed him and took him to the command center.

"The other Diggle brother; isn't this cute?" Joyner laughed.

"Get me out of these cuffs and you'll see how cute I can be." Diggle growled.

Joyner got up from the chair. "It's a shame you can't be more like the little Diggle here." He pointed at Andy. "His pragmatism has proven to be quite the asset; now if your brother is right, you should be able to convince your wife to give me what I want."

"Johnny…" Lyla looked at Diggle, horrified "If Rubicon ever got out—"

"Miss Michaels, in five seconds, it will be your husband's brains that will be out in the open." Joyner snarled as he loaded his gun and aimed at Diggle. "5… 4… 3… 2…"

"Do it, Lyla." Diggle said. "It's alright."

Lyla gave in as Joyner smiled, lowering his gun. "Excellent."

"Guys, you need to get to the command center quickly. Looks like Shadowspire is forcing Director Michaels to open a secure vault." Klein said.

"We're trying to slow them down but you should hurry." Fitz added.

Out of patience, Joyner aimed his gun at Diggle, when suddenly, Andy disarmed Joyner and hit him in the face, while Green Arrow, the Canary, the Punisher and Daredevil jumped down from above. Frank grabbed Joyner by his throat.

"You lot disgust me. You're even worse than Russo and Rawlins." Frank roared as he impaled Joyner into a pole of a flag as Joyner gagged, blood filling his mouth, while Andy tackled another Shadowspire operative through the window as it crashed.

Realizing this was a lost fight, Ward ran away during the chaos.

Green Arrow fired an arrow, freeing Diggle from his cuffs as they, with Lyla, the Canary and Daredevil engaged the remaining operatives. Green Arrow punched one of them, while Daredevil kicked another one down. Diggle slammed one of them to a table, while Green Arrow and the Canary finished off the remaining operatives as Diggle turned to Andy.

"Good job." Diggle said.

"Like you said, it was the only way to get in here." Andy pointed out.

Diggle smiled at Andy. "Just remember whose idea it was."

"What were you expecting; a kiss from the president?" Andy asked.

Daredevil sensed something though. "I wouldn't trust him yet."

"What?" Diggle asked.

"He's playing you. I can hear his heartbeat." Daredevil said as Diggle turned to Andy, disbelieved first but remembering what had happened to Gaynor.

"John, you don't believe him, do—"

"I can't afford not to believe him." Diggle growled, glaring at Andy in disappointment.

"Take him." Lyla said as the agents entered and decided to lock Andy up as they dragged him away.

"John. John! Wait! John!" Andy cried out.

"It's over." Green Arrow said.

"No." Lyla said as she looked around. "Someone's missing."

"Who?" Green Arrow asked before it hit Diggle.

"Ward." Diggle groaned.

"Someone else managed to escape too." One of the agents said as he entered. "Mary Walker."

Lyla paled, realizing that things were about to get ugly.

"Who's Mary Walker?" Daredevil asked.

"The last thing we need to deal with." Lyla said grimly.

Ward escaped, yes, because I have plans for him later in the sequel, assuming I'll get to it, alongside with Mary Walker. If you have no idea who she is, she's a character from Iron Fist Season 2, a mercenary/investigator for hire with DID, two personalities and she's very dangerous wild card. I have plans both for her and Ward later in the sequel.

So, what do you guys think?

Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.