Thank you to bushlaboo for beta-ing this chapter.

Vincent arrived at J.T.'s house to find the front door broken - seriously broken, not just a busted lock or a ripped-out knob. It had been torn off its hinges and was lying in the foyer, splinters of wood sticking out everywhere. Short of eight guys with a battering ram, Vincent knew the only way this could have happened was if it had been smashed in by a Beast. Billy Martin had definitely been here.

He paused in the foyer. Maybe Billy is still here.

His own Beast was subsiding now that his sprint from the Velograph building was over, making his senses less sharp. Nevertheless, he was still able to detect a murmur of voices coming from the living room. They were - for the most part - composed, although the residue of adrenaline in the air suggested that things hadn't been as peaceful a short while ago. One of the voices was definitely Felicity's. Oliver will be relieved, he thought. Then he heard J.T. speaking and smiled. Unlike Felicity, his friend sounded agitated and defensive – which Vincent interpreted as a good sign. Agitated and defensive was par for J.T.

"I didn't have much of a choice," J.T. was saying excitedly. "In case you hadn't noticed, there was a good chance he was going to kill you."

"I get that," Felicity responded soothingly, "really, I do. And I'm very, very grateful. But you could have given me a little warning. I had no idea what you were going to do. And your hand was really shaking, J.T. I was afraid you might shoot me instead."

At the word shoot, Vincent stopped listening and bolted for the living room.

When he got there, he found Felicity, J.T. and Jeff Martin standing in a circle. The three of them were clustered around a body on the floor and they were staring down at it. The body belonged to Billy Martin.

Billy looked peaceful and very human. There was no sign of a Beast; no claws or bulging biceps. He lay on his back with his arms by his sides and his eyes closed. His chest slowly rose and fell as he breathed.

And there was a tranquilizer dart sticking out of his thigh.

Vincent made a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sneeze. The trio looked up at him in unison. For a few seconds, no one said a word. Then J.T. grinned weakly.

"Hey, Vincent," he said. "I hope you didn't rush. We had a little bit of trouble here, but as you can see, we took care of it." He gestured at Billy Martin's unconscious body. Jeff Martin frowned, but said nothing.

Vincent smiled. J.T.'s bravado would be a little more convincing if his voice wasn't shaking. Still, Vincent decided to play along. "Yeah, J.T., I can see that you had it handled. I don't know why I even worried." He pointed at the tranquilizer dart. "Nice shooting." The dart was high up on Billy's thigh, a few scant inches away from his crotch.

J.T. nodded. "That's just what I was telling Felicity. I've had plenty of practice with the gun. I know what I'm doing. She was actually afraid I was going to hit her by mistake."

Vincent and J.T. had acquired the tranq pistol years ago, right after Vincent had escaped Muirfield and returned to New York, and J.T. had offered to hide him. Vincent couldn't control his Beasting-out nearly as well in those days, and they'd both agreed that J.T. should have tranq darts handy for his own safety. At the time, J.T. could reliably hit a target two or three shots out of ten. Vincent didn't think his aim had improved much since - which meant that Felicity had indeed been lucky to have escaped the dart. He decided not to tell her that.

"What happened?" he asked instead.

Surprisingly, it was Jeff Martin who answered. "Pretty much what you see," he said wearily. "Billy and I hung around Velograph and watched you and your crew break into the building. When we thought you would be tied up for a while, we came here to take J.T. and Felicity. Unfortunately, Billy got angry and went full-on Beast, and J.T. ended up shooting him." He shook his head. "To be honest, we figured you'd set off an alarm in Velograph and get caught by security – the place has sensors and cameras all over the place. That would have given us more time. But you didn't get caught." He exhaled heavily. "We didn't know about the guy with the bow and arrow."

Yeah, Vincent thought. He surprised all of us.

Felicity started. "Oh crap!"

Vincent looked at her and raised one eyebrow.

"The guy with the bow and arrow?" she repeated. "He's still at Velograph, along with everyone else, and I muted our comms like…half an hour ago. He must be going nuts." Without waiting for Vincent's response she rushed to the computer.

"You did find Tess, right?" J.T. asked worriedly, as Felicity fumbled with her earpiece and then grabbed the mouse and started clicking. When Vincent nodded, he continued, "Is she okay?"

"She's fine," Vincent replied. "They drugged her, but she isn't hurt."

J.T. relaxed visibly.

"Hello?" Felicity said into her comm link. "Are you guys still there? Is everything all right?"

Oliver rarely took time to analyze his feelings during missions. There was too much going on and lives were often at stake. He needed to stay focused. In fact, it was probably fair to say that Oliver never analyzed his feelings during missions; and really didn't examine them too closely at other times, either. He wasn't wired that way.

It wasn't that he didn't have feelings. He loved and loathed as much as any man and he had an overabundance of responsibility and guilt. It was just that he didn't dig too deeply into the whys and wherefores. He honestly didn't think it helped very much; and besides, Digg did enough analyzing for both of them.

So he was surprised to find himself - in the middle of the mission to rescue Tess - wondering why he so desperately wanted to follow Vincent out the window and make sure Felicity was safe. The urge to leave was so strong it was physical; his skin itched and his breathing was rapid. It didn't make sense because they had a game plan. Vincent was on his way to Felicity (and was probably already there) and Oliver and Catherine were going to figure out how to get Tess out of Velograph. It was a logical separation of responsibilities that played to everyone's strengths. But for some reason, he couldn't concentrate on executing the plan.

Of course, he knew he was worried about Felicity. There was a chance she was going to be kidnapped if Vincent didn't get to J.T.'s in time. However, being worried about her was nothing new. He'd worried when she'd gone undercover in an illegal casino in Starling, when Count Vertigo had held her hostage, and especially when she'd been taken by the mentally unstable killing-machine, Deathstroke. And it had never felt like this. His worry had always been rational - rooted in the belief that he was responsible for her safety and didn't want to fail her. After all, he'd dragged her into his Arrow business. He was going to make damn sure that she was never hurt by it.

But this feeling he had now - this was something else. It was primal; it came from deep in his gut and it felt far more like fear than worry. Fear of deprivation. Fear of losing something vital to living, the same way a man might fear loss of oxygen or food. Fear of having the one thing in his world that was right and natural taken away.

How the hell had that happened? How had he gone from wanting to keep her safe to fearing what would happen if she were gone?

"Oliver?"

"Hmmm?" He turned to find Catherine gazing up at him. She was kneeling on the floor next to Tess, examining the pressure-sensor the Martin brothers had placed under the mattress. Tess still hadn't regained consciousness, although she was making small movements of her arms and legs. Oliver had a feeling that Catherine had said his name several times before he'd responded.

Her brow furrowed. "Are you all right?"

He dragged one hand over his face. "Yeah – I'm fine."

"Really? Because a second ago you looked like your mind was miles away. I'm guessing it was at J.T.'s place." When Oliver said nothing, Catherine continued, "She'll be okay, Oliver. Vincent may not be dedicated to hunting down bad guys the same way you are, but he knows how to handle himself in a crises. He's saved my life plenty of times. And from what I've seen of you, Digg and Felicity, she knows how to handle herself pretty well, too."

Oliver tried to nod his agreement. In his head, he knew that Catherine was right. Vincent had dealt with Billy once; odds were he could do it again. And Felicity was no stranger to life or death situations; she could keep her cool. But he ended up shaking his head. "I don't know," he said. "This time is different. I can't explain it, but for some reason I feel like I have to be there. I can't trust the situation to someone else."

Catherine regarded him thoughtfully. "What makes this time different?"

He shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. It's just a feeling."

"Could it be that you spent the whole day alone with her – on a date?" She raised one eyebrow. "Not to mention that you also kissed her."

He shook his head. "First of all, it wasn't a date. We were just…sight-seeing in New York. And second; I've spent plenty of time alone with Felicity over the last two years. There's nothing new about that." He opted to ignore her comment about the kiss. That conversation hadn't gone well when he'd had it with Catherine and Digg earlier and he didn't think it would go any better this time.

She stood up. "Oliver, before yesterday, how much time had you spent alone with Felicity that wasn't work-related– not your day job or Arrow stuff?"

He frowned. Had he ever done anything with Felicity just for fun?

"My guess," Catherine went on, "is that you've never been alone with her – not just to hang out. You've always had some other purpose."

"And?"

"And that made it easy for you to explain to yourself why you like her so much. You could say that it's because she believes in the same things as you – is fighting for the same things. You could rationalize your feelings by thinking she's one of the few people you can trust with your secrets, which makes her special."

This was starting to sound a little like therapy. Oliver narrowed his eyes. "Is there something wrong with that line of reasoning? It seems pretty logical to me."

She laughed. "Of course, it's logical. But love isn't about logic; it's about connecting. I think yesterday, when you weren't together for any purpose other than to enjoy yourselves, you found that you connect easily with her - just because of who she is. Not because you're fighting bad guys together, not because she keeps your secrets, but because there's something in Felicity that catches you here." She patted her hand over her heart. "I think you might have realized that you love her, Oliver. And that's why you feel like you have to go to J.T.'s now."

He sighed uncomfortably. "Well, of course I care about her…a lot. I've known that for some time."

She gave him an exasperated look. "I said love, Oliver, not care about. Put on your big boy pants and own up to it."

Now this was sounding a lot like therapy. He stared back at her. "I think your instincts are off on this one, Catherine. I've had plenty of experience with women. I started dating when I was fourteen and I've even had one or two long-term relationships. I'm pretty sure I can recognize love when it happens to me." He shook his head. "What I feel for Felicity…it's not the same as what I felt for any of those women."

She placed her hands on her hips. "Well, maybe that you should tell you something right there. How successful were all those previous relationships?"

He sighed again. "Not very - I suppose."

"I rest my case."

They were both silent for a few beats. Oliver decided that Catherine Chandler was an extraordinary woman. Not many people would speak so directly, especially to him. He wasn't sure he liked it at the moment.

"Tell me," he said to her, "do you often lecture men you don't know very well about their relationships?"

She smiled. "No - only the ones with dark pasts and secret identities. Ask Vincent – he'll tell you."

"I gotta confess, Oliver, I kind of enjoyed listening to her. I don't think I could have said any of that better, myself."

Oliver closed his eyes. He'd forgotten about the comm links. "You heard all of that, Digg?"

"Every damn word. Nice job, Catherine."

Oliver stiffened. "Felicity?"

"Still not back on," Diggle replied, "so you're safe as far as she goes. I'm close to J.T.'s and Vincent should have been there a while ago. We should have an update for you in no more than five or ten minutes."

Just as Digg finished speaking, Oliver's earpiece clicked. "Hello?" Felicity's voice said. "Are you guys still there? Is everything all right?"

She sounded strong and perfectly healthy. Oliver's knees buckled a little before he was able to straighten up and glance at Catherine. "We're fine," he said. Catherine smiled.

"So are we," Felicity replied. "Now, let's bring Tess home. J.T. is climbing the walls."

"So what do we do now?"

The question came from J.T. and it was posed to no one in particular. They were gathered in his living room – all nine of them – and they had unconsciously separated into their teams (for lack of a better word). Catherine, Vincent and J.T. were collected around the couch, where Tess was stretched out, slowly regaining her faculties. The Martin brothers were occupying the love seat, with Billy awake from the tranquilizer and fully human. And Oliver and Digg hovered over Felicity, still in her chair at the computer.

It was daybreak on a Sunday morning. Once Felicity had returned to the cameras and the comms, they'd only needed another hour to get Tess safely home. Early Sunday morning produced a rare moment of stillness in New York City. There was no sound of traffic – no blaring car horns or police sirens. It was quiet enough to hear the soft tick-tick of the clock on the wall behind J.T.'s bar. Quiet enough to hear the silence of nine people who didn't know what to say.

"I don't know about the rest of you," Felicity finally murmured, "but I could really use some coffee. I wouldn't say no to a bagel, either."

Oliver and Diggle smiled. The Martin brothers did not.

"What are you planning to do with us?" Jeff asked, a little sullenly. Billy looked at him but said nothing.

"Well," Catherine replied slowly, "what I'd like to do is take you both down the precinct and lock you up, since you seem to have a propensity for abducting people." Then she sighed. "Unfortunately, I don't think that would work out very well. The NYPD doesn't know about Beasts and they're not prepared to deal with them. Someone would get hurt."

Vincent rested one hand on her shoulder. "The whole world thinks Billy is dead," he offered. "That should give us options."

"You mean, like shooting him for real?" J.T. asked.

Vincent paused. "That wasn't exactly what I was thinking," he replied dryly. "I was thinking more along the lines of putting him into hiding – kind of like what you did for me when I first came back."

J.T. shook his head. "I trusted you," he muttered, "so I was willing to hide you. I don't trust Billy – either of them, really. Someone would have to keep guard and we all have lives and jobs – we don't have time for that."

Vincent nodded. "Fair point."

The room went quiet again.

"You know," Oliver suggested, "There's a very good deserted island in the North China Sea that I have some experience with. Billy could Beast-out all he wants there and no one would get hurt. And his chances of getting off the island are small. Other than a fishing boat once every five years and the odd ARGUS agent, no one comes near it."

Digg rolled his eyes. "Seriously, Oliver, that's not helping."

Oliver frowned. "I'm not sure what you mean. I am being serious."

Billy and Jeff sat up straight on the love seat. "This is just great," Billy said to his brother. "A deserted island." He shook his head. "Of all the computer geeks we could have kidnapped, we had to pick Oliver Queen's girlfriend."

Felicity flushed. "I'm not-"

"Oh, give it a rest, Felicity," Tess interrupted groggily from the couch. "The only two people in this room who don't think you and Oliver are in love are you and Oliver. Wake up and smell the coffee. Hell, even Billy the Beast figured it out."

Diggle started to laugh, but turned it into a cough when he caught Oliver's eye.

Catherine held up her hand. "Guys, we need to figure out something here. I think we all agree that we can't just turn Billy loose on New York, and we can't shoot him either. We need a solution that's somewhere in the middle."

Oliver looked at Diggle and mouthed Lian Yu. Diggle shook his head.

Catherine walked over and perched on the arm of the love seat, next to the Martin brothers. "What is it that you really want?" she asked. "If you could have any resolution to this situation in the world, what would it be?"

Billy shrugged. "That's easy. I wouldn't be a Beast anymore. I'd have a normal life. I'd finish school, get a job, maybe even have a girlfriend."

She nodded. "You know, Vincent has most of that – a job, a girlfriend and a normal life." She smiled apologetically at her boyfriend. "Well, mostly normal."

Billy frowned. "But he's still a Beast."

"Yes," Catherine agreed, "he is. But it doesn't stop him from living a full life and being with people he cares about, and who care for him. And it doesn't have to stop you, either."

Billy looked at her uncertainly.

"Maybe," Catherine continued, "you can spend time with Vincent. He can teach you how he's able to control Beasting-out. Then you can be with people and not have to worry every minute about hurting someone."

Jeff chuckled dryly. "Yeah, right. Beast lessons."

Catherine didn't laugh. "Do you have any other ideas?"

"Yeah. I have an idea," Billy replied sharply. "I want a cure."

J.T. shook his head. "Well, there isn't one. We keep telling you that."

"Maybe there would be if you worked harder at it. That's why we wanted to kidnap you. So you wouldn't spend time on anything else. You guys are too comfortable – you're not as worried as we are."

J.T. froze. For a long moment he looked at Billy as if he wanted to shoot him again. Then he walked over and stood directly in front of the Martin brothers. "Vincent came back more than ten years ago," he said evenly, "and there isn't a day that I haven't thought about his DNA sequence and how it might be returned to fully human. Not one day. Not to mention that we've been hunted by Muirfield, the FBI and several organizations that we don't even know the names of. We had to blow up one of our homes to destroy evidence of Vincent's existence, and there was a time when we had to hide in the subway tunnels." He pointed at Billy. "How long have you been dealing with being a Beast? Three years? Five years at most? And where have you spent those years? Hiding in your daddy's basement with the wine cellar?" His expression became one of disgust. "Don't you dare lecture me or Vincent about working harder at finding a cure. You haven't got a clue." He walked back to the couch.

Vincent looked at his friend and nodded.

"As far as I'm concerned," J.T. continued, "I think Queen's got the right idea. You either decide to work with us, or we send you to…to…" He turned to Oliver. "What's the name of the island you were stranded on?"

"Lian Yu," Oliver replied.

"Right. Lian Yu."

The room fell into silence once more. No one on Team Beast or Team Arrow disagreed with J.T. They just looked at the Martin brothers and waited.

Finally Billy shrugged. "Okay," he said, "supposed we agree to work with you. What does that look like?"

"I think," Felicity replied, "that we start by going to see your father." Before Billy could argue, she continued, "If there's anyone with the resources to find a cure, it's him. He's a brilliant scientist, he's got money, and you're his son. He's going to want to help."

Billy stared at her stubbornly. "He's never cared very much before."

Felicity shrugged. "At least he's been there. My dad didn't even stick around to see how I turned out." She gave him a soft smile. "I think you underestimate your father. I think he's going to be thrilled that you're alive - so thrilled that he'll do whatever he can to help." When Billy appeared unconvinced, she added, "You'll see. I'll go with you to talk to him."

Jeff turned to his brother. "I think we should give it a shot." He frowned. "To be honest, we don't have much choice. I love you, bro, but I'm not going to live on a deserted island."

Billy gave his brother a long, considering look, and then nodded. "Okay. Let's go see Dad."