"Felicity?" Oliver said into his comm link. "J.T.?"

There was no reply - just an empty, electronic hiss in his ear.

Oliver felt a rising sense of panic. He was sure his expression mirrored the look of alarm he saw on Catherine's and Vincent's faces. A few minutes ago they'd been talking with Felicity over the comms. Now, neither she nor J.T. was answering. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to get back to J.T.'s house but he remained motionless, knowing he had to be smart. The Martin brothers had been one step ahead of them this whole time, and he suspected that if he, Vincent and Catherine grabbed Tess and ran, they would set off some kind of alarm. Then they could be tied up in the Velograph building for hours, explaining themselves to the police.

"Digg?" he said, hoping his friend's comm link hadn't gone silent as well.

To Oliver's relief, Digg responded, "Yeah, I'm here, Oliver – in the alley by the front of the building."

"Did you see the Martins leave?"

"Nope. If they left while we were here, they must have gone out the back."

Oliver gritted his teeth. "So we don't know how long they've been gone, then."

There was a short pause. Then Digg replied, "No…but given the silence on the comms, I'm guessing they've made it to J.T.'s house by now. Otherwise, we'd still be hearing from Felicity." His voice was matter-of-fact but Oliver could hear the fear lurking below the surface.

Oliver's stomach clenched. "Yes, I'm sure they've made it to J.T.'s," he said. "The question is whether they're still there, or if they've already taken Felicity and J.T. and left." He tried to recall when he'd last heard Felicity's voice. Had it been five minutes - or as long as ten or even fifteen? "If they're still there, we have a chance to stop them. Otherwise, God knows where they'll take them." He hesitated. "The good news is that they want Felicity and J.T. alive. They're no use to them if they're hurt." He wasn't sure who he was trying to reassure with that last statement – himself or Diggle. Probably both.

There was another pause. Then Digg said, "That's true. Look, Oliver, there's no point in me standing watch out here any longer. I'll head to J.T.'s now. Maybe I can get there in time to help Felicity. You guys do what you need to do to get Tess out of there without getting caught, and then join me."

It was a brave, but somewhat dubious suggestion. Diggle had no weapon. The best he could do if he caught Billy Martin at J.T.'s was try to talk him out of taking Felicity. As skilled as he was in hand-to-hand combat, he was no match for a Beast.

On the other hand, Oliver thought, they didn't exactly have a ton of options. Without Felicity to manage the security cameras, there was a good chance that he, Vincent and Catherine would be detected the moment they tried to take the elevator or go down the stairs. And he'd used up all their cable zip-lining over from the roof of the building next to Velograph; there was nothing left for reversing the process. But Diggle was already outside, safe from observation. He could be on his way to Felicity right now. Plus, Digg was a pretty good negotiator. He'd managed to get Oliver to change his mind on a few occasions. Maybe he could get through to the Martins.

"Okay," Oliver said to him. "Go – we'll catch up to you as soon as we can."

"Right," Digg replied. "I'm heading out."

"Digg – hang on a minute."

The statement – almost an order – came from Vincent. Oliver turned quickly to glare at the doctor. They'd already wasted enough time talking. There was no point discussing this further.

Vincent met Oliver's angry stare and held up a hand. "I think I should be the one to go, not Digg" he said. "It makes more sense. If I Beast-out now, I can get there faster than any of you. And I have the best chance of handling Billy Martin."

"Maybe," Oliver replied. "But you also need to get out of here without setting off any alarms. We don't have Felicity to manage the cameras any longer. They're turned off for the fifteenth floor, but they're still on for every other floor. Digg is already outside – there's less risk of him alerting security."

Vincent shook his head. "Getting out won't be a problem for me. I can jump out the window – no need to worry about the cameras on the other floors." Seeing Oliver's incredulous look, he added, "It's only fifteen stories. Believe me, I've jumped from higher."

Oliver glanced at Catherine, expecting to hear her protest, but instead found her nodding in agreement.

"It's a good idea," she said to Vincent. "You go to J.T.'s, and Oliver and I can work at getting Tess out of here."

Oliver felt his chest tighten as he tried to find a reasonable objection to the plan. For all that he was growing to respect and even like Vincent, he felt that he or Digg should be the one to go after Felicity. The doctor was a good man but he barely knew her, while for Oliver and Diggle, she was his…their…girl. He was pretty confident he could handle Billy Martin on his own. He had the arrows with the tranquilizer, after all. He could shoot first and ask questions later, when he knew Felicity was safe and he was able to pull her into a tight hug.

But he had to admit that Vincent could get there faster. And speed mattered at this moment. Plus, he reminded himself, Vincent also has a friend in danger. He's worried, too.

"Fine," he said shortly. "You go, Vincent, and the rest of us will follow as soon as we can get out of here with Tess."

"Right." Vincent stepped to the window, found the electronic lock, and shut it off. He turned to look at them, the transformation to Beast already beginning. "I think there's some kind of pressure sensor under there," he said, pointing to the mattress that the still-unconscious Tess was lying on. "If you lift her, an alarm is probably going to go off. You'll need to replace her weight with something."

Oliver and Catherine both nodded.

"Okay. I'll see you in a bit." Vincent opened the window and scanned for activity outside the building. "Looks clear," he said. And then he jumped.

Oliver moved quickly to the window, just in time to see Vincent land easily on his feet in the alley. The doctor didn't waste any time breaking into a run, and was gone in seconds.

Felicity turned the security cameras off for the fifteenth floor of the Velograph building and turned them back on for the sixteenth. So far, so good; Oliver, Catherine and Vincent hadn't been spotted. The fact that it was after three a.m. on a Sunday morning probably didn't hurt. The guards were most likely half asleep. She, on the other hand, was wide awake, despite the early hour and a general lack of slumber over the last week. There was something about running a mission that energized her. Sitting in front of a computer and hacking into security systems felt like home.

If only J.T. would stop his nervous pacing. One minute he was leaning over her shoulder, staring at the monitor. The next, he was circling the large living room. It was distracting.

She muted their comm links and removed her earpiece. The rest of the team didn't need to hear this. "J.T.," she said sharply, "would you stand still for two minutes? It's hard to focus with you running all around the room."

J.T. stopped behind the large wooden counter that served as a storage area, snack bar and makeshift lab. "Sorry," he said sheepishly. "It's hard to listen and do nothing while your friends are in the middle of something dangerous. Is this what it's like for you when Oliver's out as The Arrow?" When Felicity shrugged, he continued, "I don't know how you stand it."

Felicity sighed. "You kind of get used to-"

BAM!

She leapt out of her chair. "What the hell was that?" she asked J.T. "What did you just do?"

He raised his hands. "Nothing, I swear it."

Felicity stared at him. "It sounded like something heavy just fell. Do you think someone-"

"Broke down the door? Yeah, I'm sorry about that. But we needed to get in."

Felicity spun around to see Jeff Martin standing in the entrance to J.T.'s living room. Billy was beside him, in a physical state that was somewhere between man and Beast. His eyes were yellowish and his claws were extended, but he seemed calm and he was looking at his brother as if he understood Jeff's words. He must have Beasted-out to bust down the door, Felicity thought.

"What-" J.T. began.

Jeff held up his hand. "Let's skip the what are you doing here portion of the program," he said. "I'm pretty sure you both know what we want, and I'm also pretty sure your friends are going to figure it out any minute now. We'd like to leave with you before they can get out of Velograph and come back here and make things difficult."

Felicity stepped away from the computer and pulled her chair in front of her in a defensive gesture. It probably wasn't going to do a thing to save her, but for some reason it felt better. "Okay – so we skip the what part of the conversation," she agreed. "But I'd like to understand the why. Because none of this makes any sense to me, including taking Tess." And maybe, she thought, I can buy a little time if I keep you talking. Enough time for the crew to get back here.

But Jeff shook his head. "C'mon, Felicity. I'm pretty sure you understand that one, too. We need to figure out how to fix my brother, and you and Dr. Forbes here," he motioned at J.T., "are the most likely pair of people who can help. He's an expert in biochemistry and you can get into any database in the world. Between the two of you, you should be able to find out what was done to Billy and reverse it. So, we hatched a plan to get you alone and," he hesitated as he chose his words, "persuade you to come with us. Which you should do...now."

So much for buying time. Felicity looked at Billy. He had completely transformed back to his human self and was following the discussion closely. She addressed him directly. "Billy – we already talked about this in the basement of your father's house. Vincent told you J.T.'s been trying to cure him for ten years without success. If J.T. really had figured it out, I'm sure he'd be happy to share the cure with you."

She transferred her gaze to J.T., expecting to see him nodding in agreement, and instead found him looking close to complete panic. He was half-standing, half-crouched behind the bar, as if his legs were giving out on him, and his breathing was rapid. She doubted he was going to be of any use helping her talk sense to the Martin brothers. Thank heavens Oliver and the team were listening over the comm links and knew what was going on. They were probably strategizing a rescue right now.

And then she remembered that she had muted the comms when she'd chastised J.T. for his pacing.

Shit.

She began to quietly edge her way back to the computer.

Billy gave her what could almost be construed as an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Felicity. I know you and Dr. Keller told me that there is no cure. But Jeff and I talked about it, and we figured that Dr. Keller is being cautious. He has a pretty good life; a girlfriend, a job – and he seems to be able to control Beasting-out. He probably isn't willing to risk an experimental cure that could kill him." He glanced sadly at his brother. "But I am. I have no life right now. I can't go out in public because being jostled in a crowd can set me off. Even getting angry or upset can trigger an episode. So I'm ready to try anything, even if it ends up hurting me."

She took another step backward, still closer to the keyboard. "I'm sorry about that Billy," she said sincerely, "I really am. And I truly want to help. But you don't need to kidnap me or J.T. to make that happen. We'll share anything we discover about a cure with you, believe me."

Jeff shook his head. "That's not good enough," he said harshly. "You both have other jobs and you have relationships. Those are distractions. The cure needs to be the only thing you work on, from the moment you get up the morning until you fall asleep at night. Plus, you'll be more motivated to succeed if your freedom is your reward. That's why you need to come with us." He looked at Billy. "Take her," he added, gesturing toward Felicity, "before she can get back on that computer and signal her friends. We've wasted enough time already."

Billy nodded, then stepped forward and grasped Felicity by the upper arm. She immediately tried to pull away from him.

"Don't!" he cautioned her. "If you struggle against me, I'm going to end up Beasting-out, and that won't be good for any of us. It's better if you just come quietly."

Felicity believed him about the Beasting-out, but couldn't stop herself from straining to reach the computer. If she could only get word to Oliver and Digg, she had faith that they would figure out a way to help her. She tugged once more and heard a low growl come from Billy's throat.

"Felicity-" he warned.

She tugged again.

Billy's eyes began to turn yellow and she felt a stab of pain in her arm as claws reemerged from his fingertips. It was clear his transformation back to Beast was underway, and it was truly frightening for her to be this close to it. Looking at his face, she could almost see as reason left him, only to be replaced by pure, predatory instinct. When she'd struggled, she'd figured that the worst thing that could happen was that Billy might grab her and run. She now realized that it was very possible that he would kill her.

She stopped trying to pull away and went still.

Billy, on the other hand, continued to snarl with increasing intensity. His grip tightened on her arm and his face distorted into something that was halfway between human and canine. He stared at her neck as if he were thinking about snapping it.

"Billy – calm down!" Jeff shouted.

The words were good, but she didn't think the shouting part was helping. She forced herself to attempt a calmer tone than Jeff.

"Billy," she said softly, "please. Think about what you're doing. You're a human being who's just a little angry right now. You don't want to kill me."

Billy hesitated and a rational expression flickered across his face. Then he growled once more and it was gone.

"Billy," his brother called again, "Look at me."

Billy ignored him and reached with his free hand toward Felicity's neck.

"Please, Billy," Felicity repeated. "Remember who you are. You're a good guy - you don't want to do this."

There was no recognition in his eyes. It was as if she was trying to explain mathematics to a grizzly bear. His hand made contact with her Adam's apple and he started to squeeze.

"Hey, Billy!" J.T. bellowed suddenly, "Look over here, you motherfucker!"

Billy's head snapped in J.T.'s direction and he pulled his hand away from Felicity's neck, although he maintained his grip on her arm. Felicity had almost forgotten that J.T. was there. She'd figured he'd collapsed behind the protective wall of the bar minutes ago and was cowering for his own safety. But no – here he was, standing up straight and yelling.

And, more than that, he was holding a pistol, pointed directly at Billy. He must keep it in the bar, she thought. Who'd have thought J.T. would have a gun? His hand was shaking a bit, but he appeared resolute.

"I'm sorry, Billy," J.T. said, "but I can't let you kill her."

Jeff's eyes went wide. "Oh no," he cried to J.T. "Please – please don't shoot my brother. There has to be something else we can do."

J.T. shook his head. "I don't have a choice. He's not hearing us. And he could hurt her at any moment – badly. You know that."

Jeff turned back to his brother. "Billy," he pleaded.

Still no response, other than a loud snarl.

J.T. raised the pistol and steadied it with both hands.

"I'm sorry," he said again.

And then he fired.