A/N

Thank you to folks who continue to read and comment. It means a lot. This is about 3/4 of the chapter that I really wanted to post However, I'm up against a deadline at work and writing time is limited. Figured I'd get this out there since I left you with a cliffhanger.

"I'm afraid we're going to have to keep the next few minutes to ourselves."

Then a crackle of static.

Then silence.

Oliver felt the knot in his stomach tighten. He told himself not to overreact. He told himself there had to be a logical explanation. That was Keller's voice, and Keller had no reason to put either himself or Felicity in danger. Keller was Diggle's friend from the army and a standup guy. Diggle had trusted him with his life when they were in Afghanistan. He'd trusted him with Felicity's life now. Something stupid had happened to disrupt the transmission that they were all going to laugh about later – Keller had managed to flip their comms to the wrong frequency or Felicity had tried to fix her hair and accidentally knocked her earpiece out. Everything would be fine.

But then the silence extended to three minutes… and then five, and a feeling of panic began to set in. He looked over at Digg and saw a deep furrow in the man's brow. The fact that Diggle was not making an effort to reassure him was more worrying than anything.

"Felicity!" Oliver said, for what had to be the twentieth time.

Nothing.

"Catherine…Tess," Digg tried.

Still nothing.

"Are the comms down?" Oliver barked at J.T.

J.T. looked at the console. "No, I don't think so," he said slowly. "Cat and Tess are still on the other frequency with the police."

"Can you get Keller and Felicity back?"

"I'm trying."

Oliver barely kept himself from shouting try harder. He was ready to jump out of his skin. Unlike the foundry, the confined space of the van gave him no room to pace and he could feel his anxiety building. Thinking over the last seconds of the transmission, he was pretty damned sure he'd heard a growl right before the comms cut out. The same growl they'd heard on the street yesterday when that…thing…had attacked. Wherever Felicity and Keller were, he didn't think they could last long without help. He needed to find Felicity…now!

He turned to J.T. "Drive to the Martin's house," he ordered. "We gotta get in there." He said it the same way he would have said it in the foundry, as if this were an Arrow mission and he was in charge. He said it expecting instant action.

He didn't get it. J.T. looked at him strangely – almost furtively – and didn't move.

"What are you waiting for?" Oliver said impatiently. "We lost the transmission. Something's wrong."

"I'm not sure why we lost the transmission," J.T. said slowly, "but whatever happened, I think we should let Cat and Tess handle it."

Oliver stared at him. "Cat and Tess?" he repeated. "They're on another frequency. They don't know what's going on; they didn't hear any of what just happened."

J.T. eyed him cautiously. "What exactly do you think you heard?" he asked.

Oliver felt his insides begin to boil. Why was J.T. reacting so casually to this? "Think I heard? I heard a fucking growl, that's what I know I heard. And now nothing." He looked toward Diggle to see if Digg was wearing his Oliver's out of line face. He wasn't - which was enough for Oliver to keep going. He turned back to J.T. "That…thing…is near Felicity. I heard it. Digg heard it. And you probably heard it too, if you'd just admit it. And now her comm is dead. So drive the damned van to the house so we can get in there.

J.T. shook his head. "The police have the street blocked – unless you have an invitation, no cars can get near the house."

Oliver stared at him in disbelief. Keller was supposed to be J.T.'s best friend. The doctor was in the same danger as Felicity and yet J.T. seemed to be trying to discourage any kind of rescue attempt. It didn't make sense, unless…

Oliver thought about Keller's last words before the comms had gone dead. He'd said we'll have to keep the next few minutes to ourselves. With a sinking feeling, Oliver realized that Keller had killed the transmission…deliberately. He was hiding something. And Felicity's life could be hanging on that something. Oliver was pretty damn sure that, whatever it was, J.T. was trying to hide it, too.

"What's Keller doing?" he snapped at J.T.

J.T. gave him a puzzled frown. "Huh?"

"You heard me."

"I don't understand."

Oliver got out of his seat and crouched in front of J.T., staring him in the eye, crowding his space. "Your friend, Vincent Keller, just said we'll have to keep the next few minutes to ourselves, and then took himself and Felicity off the comms. What the fuck is he doing?" The last sentence was a shout. J.T. recoiled in his seat.

"Oliver…" Digg began.

"No, Digg. Keller is up to something and, whatever it is, Felicity's in the middle of it. And I'm pretty sure J.T. here knows what it might be."

J.T. shook his head. "Really," he said nervously, "I don't. And I don't think Vincent's up to anything. The comms just failed. It happens." Oliver might be intimidating, but evidently not enough to make J.T. back down.

There was a long pause while the three of them stared at each other.

"Fine," Oliver said shortly. "I'll go on foot." He looked at Diggle. "You coming?"

Digg nodded. "I still trust Vincent, but I agree that something doesn't feel right."

The two of them got out of the van and started jogging toward the house. Oliver was surprised when J.T. caught up to them. Either he was nervous for Keller after all, or he was hoping to do damage control. Breathing heavily, J.T. said, "I want to go on record as saying this is a bad idea."

Oliver shrugged and kept jogging.

"I'm afraid we're going to have to keep the next few minutes to ourselves."

Felicity stared at Vincent as he crushed their earpieces under his foot. For a second her heart sank and a feeling of betrayal overwhelmed her. Vincent was cutting off their support – she could think of no reason other than he was somehow in league with this…creature. But then Vincent turned to face the snarling menace, keeping himself solidly between herself and the threat. His fists clenched. And even though she couldn't understand why he'd shut off communications, she knew in her heart that he was trying to protect her. She just wished there were something she could do to help. Vincent's effort, while brave, also seemed futile. The guy was every bit as powerful as a Mirakuru soldier, and no matter how good a fighter Vincent was he ultimately didn't stand a chance.

The creature growled again.

Something growled back.

Felicity looked frantically around. Was this going to be a repeat of yesterday morning, with a second man-creature coming to their rescue? She couldn't see another one.

More growls were exchanged.

The creature stopped looking at Felicity and focused entirely on Vincent. To her surprise, the thing looked almost cautious, as if recognizing a legitimate threat. She followed its gaze down to Vincent's hands and saw with horror that the doctor's fingernails were morphing into claws. Vincent's hands clenched and straightened and became something other than human, and Felicity realized that the answering snarls she'd heard a minute ago had come from him. Vincent was transforming; he was becoming exactly the same as the creature. She cringed as he turned to look at her with his handsome features distorted and his kind, brown eyes changed into a fierce, glowing yellow.

And yet…as she stared at his angry eyes and snarling upper lip, she…somehow…still saw Vincent. She wasn't sure what thoughts, if any, were running through his head, or even if he could think rationally at all in this state. The animal within him certainly seemed to be taking over. But for some reason she hoped…she believed… that the heart beating in his chest, the essence that was Vincent, hadn't changed. He was a good man and whatever he might be turning into now was good at the core as well. And, strangely enough, it gave her confidence because it meant that they had a fighting chance. Vincent the man couldn't take on the creature. But this Vincent…he looked every bit as powerful and fast as his opponent. She met his eyes and nodded.

The fight began.

Things happened so quickly that for a few minutes Felicity had no idea who was winning, if anyone. Bodies moved in a blur accompanied by objects falling or breaking. The two man-creatures sprung in the air as if propelled and slashed each other viciously. It was terrifying…and yet she couldn't look away. She crouched behind a set of shelves and peered around them, trying to make herself small and invisible, hoping to evade notice. It wasn't necessary. Locked in their battle, the two creatures paid her no attention.

After what felt like an eternity but was probably no more than five minutes, one of the creatures flew through the air and struck a concrete wall hard. He crashed to the floor and lay still. The other one stared at him for a minute, then turned and began walking toward her.

He was wearing a tux.

Felicity breathed a sigh of relief and stepped out from behind the shelves. As Vincent approached her, she watched him transform in mid-stride back to the handsome doctor with the intelligent face and mild eyes. It was so surreal that for a few seconds she wondered if she'd imagined the whole thing. But Vincent sported a couple of scratches on his face and the body of the creature lay motionless on the floor a few yards away. It had been real.

"You okay?" Vincent asked.

She nodded. "Fine. What about you?"

"I'm good."

He was staring at her guardedly and she guessed that he was gauging her reaction. After what had just happened, she wasn't sure what she was supposed to say. I'm sorry you're a creature, too, but thank you for saving my life? She decided to avoid the subject for the moment.

"What about him?" She gestured to the unconscious creature on the floor. To her amazement, he was also transforming into a man, just as Vincent had a few seconds ago. The process seemed to be taking longer and she couldn't help gawking at him, fascinated to see the change take place. Whatever did this, it sure as hell wasn't Mirakuru. The change must be happening on a cellular level, she thought, driven by something within.

After a minute, a young-ish man emerged, wearing jeans and a dark hoodie. She gasped.

"That doesn't look like Jeff Martin," Vincent said slowly.

"No, it doesn't." Felicity agreed.

"But you recognize him."

She nodded. "I do. It's his older brother, Billy."

Vincent frowned. "The guy who went missing and is supposed to be dead?"

"The same."

"Oh."

Billy Martin's eyelids fluttered and slowly opened. He pushed himself into a sitting position, his back against the basement wall, and stared groggily at Vincent and Felicity. He tentatively felt the back of his head and grimaced. "Damn, that hurts." He studied Vincent for a long moment. "It's been a while since I lost a fight."

To Felicity's surprise, Vincent grinned. "I'll bet."

"Was it you the last two times I tried to take her?" Martin asked Vincent, nodding toward Felicity.

"Yup."

"So there are two of us?"

Vincent gave something between a laugh and a snort. "There are a lot more than two, believe me. Although," he sobered quickly, "I don't know how many are still living. Muirfield's been trying to clean up their mistakes for years."

"Muirfield?"

"The people who made us what we are…Beasts."

Billy Martin frowned. "Beasts. I suppose that's as good a word as any." He continued to examine Vincent. "How'd they get you?"

"The army. They asked for volunteers for a special program…and I volunteered." After a moment Vincent added dryly, "We thought the injections we were getting were nutritional supplements. And you?"

"Spring break in Mexico. Went for a late night walk on the beach and got grabbed. Spent a couple of years as someone's lab rat." Martin shook his head as if trying to rid himself of the memory. "I don't think they were after me in particular – I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. One minute I'm a doofus college senior and the next…" His voice trailed off and he looked down at his hands. "Can you control it?" he asked Vincent suddenly. His face was a mixture of curiosity and hope.

"Yes," Vincent replied. "Well, mostly anyway. How about you?"

Martin shook his head sadly. "Not at all. I never know what's going to trigger the change. A sneeze, burning my mouth on hot pizza, an annoying cell phone conversation on the train…anything. It's why I haven't let anyone know I'm alive. Well…anyone besides my brother, that is. Too risky." He settled back against the wall and turned his gaze toward Felicity. "You're a hard woman to kidnap," he said matter-of-factly. "You have some unusual friends."

Felicity thought about her five days in New York and glanced over at Vincent. "Yes. I'm lucky that way, I guess." Vincent smiled.

Martin looked almost apologetic. "We didn't want to hurt you, you know."

Felicity checked her laugh. There were so many ways to reply to that, including telling him that they had a damned funny way of showing it. Instead, she asked, "Why did you want me in the first place?"

Martin felt the back of his head again and stretched his legs out stiffly. Clearly feeling the effects of the fight, he slowly moved from sitting to standing, keeping one hand against the wall for balance. "My brother said our father was always talking about you," he replied. "How brilliant you are, how you can find just about anything with a computer." He smiled sadly at her. "I want to find the people who did this to me," he gestured at himself, "and get them to fix it. Jeff and I have been trying for years but we're not getting anywhere. So when you showed up in New York for the hacking convention it seemed like fate. I mean, who better to help? Besides being a great hacker, everyone kept talking about your connections with the intelligence agencies. We figured you'd have access to all kinds of information we couldn't get. And when you started hanging around with the biochem professor, it got even better still – it was like a twofer."

Vincent frowned. "You wanted to take J.T., too?"

Martin shrugged. "Jeff found that paper he wrote on cross-species DNA. I'm not a biologist, but I'm pretty sure the people who took me fucked around with my DNA. If Felicity couldn't track down the people who experimented on me, maybe Dr. Forbes could come up with a cure."

Vincent studied Billy Martin for a moment. "If only it were that easy," he said shortly.

"He's been trying to cure you?"

Vincent nodded slowly, "For over a decade."

Martin sighed and kicked the wall gently with his toe. "Damn," he said sadly.

"Yeah, it sucks."

Felicity felt some of her tension ease. All this drama, she thought, from a guy who just wanted help. It seemed silly and a waste of time. She looked at Billy Martin and said softly, "Did you ever think of just asking me instead of trying to kidnap me? Or better yet, asking your father? He's brilliant, too."

Martin laughed cynically. "You've met my father. He can barely tolerate my brother for not being as smart as he is. Can you imagine how he'd react if he knew he had a son who is a…" he glanced at Vincent, "Beast? Is that the official term?" He shook his head. "No, my father doesn't even know I'm alive and I'd like to keep it that way, at least for now. And as for you, Felicity, I had no idea how you'd react. If I told you why I needed help, would you have even believed me?"

"I might have. I have a fair amount of experience with weird."

Martin chuckled and glanced between her and Vincent. "Yeah, I can see that." He straightened up and his face hardened a little. "Well, it's been nice talking with you both. It's good to know I'm not the only…Beast…in the world. Still, I think it's time for me to get out of here. I can sneak out while the party's in full swing but it will be tough later on." He pulled the hood of his sweatshirt over his head. "I suppose you can try telling someone about me," he added, "but I don't think they're going to believe you. After all, I've been dead for six years. And unless you're willing to demonstrate the whole Beast thing," he nodded at Vincent, "which I doubt, you have no good explanation for why I've kept myself hidden." He glanced up the stairs. "I hope you don't mind if I give myself a head start. I can't risk you following me." And with a small smile at both of them, he turned and ran quickly up the steps. Felicity heard the sharp click of the lock in the basement door as he left. It happened so quickly that she and Vincent had no recourse except to look at each other, stunned.

After a short pause, she asked Vincent, "Can you break down the door?"

Vincent closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "I suppose I could," he sighed, "but I'd have to Beast-out to do it, and I really don't want to do that at the Martin's hospital benefit. There's a good chance someone will see me."

So they were locked in the basement. Peachy. Felicity told herself to think rationally. The comms might be down, but she still had her cell phone in her purse. She pulled it out. No Service. Damn.

She smiled wryly at Vincent. "Well, I guess we're stuck down here."

"Until someone finds us, apparently - yes."

Felicity wondered how long that might take. It was kind of chilly and dank. Now that the threat was over, she also found herself a little hungry. She'd been so busy talking to the CEOs and then rescuing Vincent from Marjorie the Piranha that she'd hadn't tried any of the fancy hors d'oeuvres that had been circulating upstairs.

"There is a silver lining," Vincent said, rousing her from her thoughts.

There was? She looked at Vincent and raised her eyebrows.

"William Martin has a pretty decent wine cellar." He pointed to a corner of the basement.

She looked at the racks of bottles placed against the wall. Fortunately, they seemed to have survived the Beast-fight. If they really had nothing to do but wait…

She smiled at Vincent. "Let's check it out."

Diggle wasn't sure what he'd expected to see when they got to the Martin's house, but it definitely wasn't this. Given the growls he thought he'd heard over the comms, he'd assumed that the party would be breaking up...quickly. If that creature were loose in the Martin's house, there would screams, confusion, people evacuating in a panic…something.

Instead, the benefit looked like business as usual. Watching from the street just outside the police barricade, he, Oliver and J.T. could see the elegantly dressed couples arrive and leave looking glamorous and happy, and not at all in a hurry. The valets continued delivering and parking cars, pocketing their tips and joking with each other. Every now and then Digg could hear a few notes from the band. Everything seemed perfectly normal.

He turned to Oliver. "Maybe we didn't hear a creature after all."

Oliver's jaw locked in the stubborn position Digg knew so well. "I heard a growl, Digg. I'm sure of it."

"Then how do you explain this?" J.T. asked, gesturing toward the house.

Oliver shrugged his shoulders, clearly frustrated. "I don't know," he said shortly, "but there's only one way to find out. We have to get in there."

Diggle studied the brownstone. Like most city houses, it was adjoined on either side by other dwellings. The front had the wall and the gate that he and Felicity had passed through yesterday on their visit, and the back of the house could not be seen. The opportunities for breaking and entering seemed slim. He shook his head. "It's not going to be easy, Oliver. We're not on the invitation list, and there's a ton of police outside." He gestured to the barricade and uniformed officers. After a pause, he added, "And you're not exactly dressed for the occasion." He said it meaning that without his hood or mask, Oliver didn't have the benefit of anonymity. J.T., ignorant of Oliver's alter ego, interpreted it differently.

"That's true," he agreed. "If you had a tux, you might have been able to sneak in…or at least bluff your way in. Like that," he pointed at Oliver's jeans and Henley, "you don't stand a chance."

Oliver stared at him thoughtfully. "Maybe. But then Oliver Queen is known for crashing parties. He might get a couple of strange looks, but I'm guessing he can just walk through the front door in jeans and people will accept it." He paused. "One of the advantages of having a reputation."

Digg rubbed his eyes tiredly. "And what about me, Oliver? What's my excuse?"

Oliver shrugged. "Queen wouldn't go anywhere without his bodyguard. It makes sense for you to come, too." He grinned at J.T. and Diggle, suddenly seeming more at ease. Digg understood it perfectly. Forced into inactivity while Felicity might be in danger, Oliver was a mess. Now that he had a plan, the man was focused and confident.

Oliver turned to J.T. "Maybe you can see if you can raise Tess and Cat on the comms? They should probably know what's going on." He tapped Digg lightly on the shoulder. "Let's go, Digg. It's time for Oliver Queen to make an appearance." He walked around the police barricade and began heading toward the house.

As Digg started to follow, J.T caught him by the elbow. Gesturing toward Oliver he asked, "Does he refer to himself in the third person often?"

Diggle sighed and rolled his eyes. "All the fucking time."