A little while later, Quinten and the rest of the SCPD found the body of the girl Mathis murdered. As he looked at it, he couldn't help but be overwhelmed with feelings of helplessness and anger. He knew one way or another, Mathis' killing spree stops here.

What he didn't know was on the rooftop above him, the Black Canary was surveying the crime scene as well. And she thought similarly as he did. The Doll Maker was done.

…

Back at the Arrow Cave, Oliver decided now more than ever was the time to step up their game.

"Does the new victim give us any forensics we can use?" he asked, walking over to Felicity and Diggle.

"CSI did a complete forensics work up," Diggle reported. "But they sent everything out to a private lab."

"Can you get in?" he asked Felicity.

"No. they took their system offline." She told him. "Seems like someone hacked into a lot of police related systems last year."

"Then we do it like we did the Merlyn job." Oliver decided.

…

Later that night, a security guard was making his rounds near the forensics labs when he was struck in the neck by a tranquilizer. Once he was out, Arrow and Quinten made their way towards their target.

"So glad you invited me to tag along." Quinten remarked.

"Tranq dart." Arrow informed as he entered the lab. "He'll be out for 36 minutes."

"Yeah I remember."

As they both entered the room, Arrow inserted a device that allowed access to the mainframe.

"You're up Felicity." He informed.

"So this is what a typical night is for you huh." Quinten remarked. "Just a little breaking and entering."

"Alright I got toxicology first." Felicity began.

As she began her work, several reports began flowing through the computer monitors.

"What are all these?" Quinten asked.

"Chemical ingredients of all the make-up found on the victims," She answered. "Skin cream, nail polish, lipstick,"

As she continued, something caught Quinten's eye.

"Wait stop. Scroll back." Quinten told her, pointing out the ingredient he saw. "This one. Ethyl paraben, sodium laureth sulphate. I've seen this before"

Felicity began checking on the particular chemical.

"It's skin cream." She told them. "Forensics found traces on her fingers. Probably something she used before he grabbed her.

"Skin cream." Quinten repeated, trying to remember something. "Mermaid something. One of the victims from his last run, she had this in her purse and I had the lab analyze it. It's the same formula."

"Felicity," Arrow began.

"Already on it." Felicity interrupted.

Within a few moments, she had the product she was looking for. She placed the logo on the monitors for them to see.

"How does she do that?" Quinten asked.

"Ethyl paraben and sodium laureth sulphate is Mermaidens proprietary formula."

"Two victims with the same taste in skin cream." Arrow pieced together. "That can't be a coincidence."

"I could never figure out how he chose his victims." Quinten admitted.

"I think you just did." Arrow retorted.

…

"So skin cream? That's our lead?" Diggle asked.

"It's something." Oliver replied. "What do we know about the product?"

"It's made from crushed mother of pearl and its super high end." Felicity explained. "Only carried in a handful of boutiques. It's marketed for women with extremely delicate completions."

"So he picks his victims for their skin, and uses the cream to find them." Oliver rationalized.

"Looks like." Felicity confirmed. "Only four stores in the city carry it, and three of them have surveillance systems. I've run facial recognition through all of them looking for Mathis but have come up empty. He must be staking out the stores from the outside."

"Fine." Diggle decided. "So we'll do the same."

"Yeah but that could take days that we don't have." Oliver reminded. "As far as we know he's out there now looking for another girl."

"So that's what we give him." Felicity said, coming up with an idea.

Both Oliver and Diggle turned to her in surprise.

"I'll go to the stores that carry Mermaiden and buy it in each one to cover our bases."

"It's too dangerous." Diggle cautioned.

"More dangerous than going undercover in a mob casino or jumping out of a plane?" Felicity reminded. "It's my life. It's my choice."

Both men just stood there, knowing they couldn't detour her from making her choice.

…

At a beauty boutique in town, Felicity exited the store carrying the aforementioned skin cream.

"That's the last store." Felicity said into her earpiece. "You're gonna reimburse me for these right? I saved my receipts."

"Go to the rendezvous point." Arrow replied from a top a rooftop. "Stay in public."

She continued walking down the street, passing Diggle sitting in a parked car on lookout.

"Just for the record, I'm not a huge fan of dangling helpless girls in front of psychopaths like meat." Quinten voiced, walking on an adjacent sidewalk.

"She volunteered." Arrow replied. "And was very insistent."

"Well she must really believe in you." Quinten commented.

"Been too few that do lately." Arrow lamented. "There are those who think I'm as bad as Mathis."

"Yeah I know." Quinten replied. "I was one of them for quite a while. Even tried to arrest the wrong person I was so dead set on it"

Arrow couldn't help but smirk a bit at that comment.

"Not your fault." Arrow replied. "You were just trying to do your job."

"Yeah well my anger towards the guy kept me from doin it right. Wasn't the first time too."

"What do you mean?" Arrow asked confused.

Quinten paused for a moment.

"My youngest, she died."

"I'm sorry."

"Less than a month after it happened I… I ended up catching the Dollmaker case. Threw myself into it. I think on some level, with each girl I was trying to save… Sara. And just like with Sara I couldn't. He killed eight girls Sara's age before I caught him."

"Someone's coming." Felicity interrupted.

Coming back into the moment, Green Arrow looked down where Felicity was walking and saw someone approaching her from behind.

"I got him." he told her.

As she continued walking, the feeling of terror inside Felicity began to grow.

"Ok I will admit to being seriously wigged out right now." Felicity admitted.

All three men were on standby and ready to move should the need arise. Felicity looked over to the man to see him entering a building across the street. She let out a sigh of relief.

"False alarm." She reported. "But next time I offer myself as bait for a serial killer, please turn me down."

As Felicity was walking, she was moving so fast she didn't realize she bumped into Barton Mathis himself until it was too late. He immediately grabbed her and started pulling her deeper into the alleyway, with her screaming all the way. The others heard this and proceeded to take action.

…

On a rooftop not too far away, Black Canary was hearing Quinten's voice come out over a 'borrowed' police radio.

"Delta Charlie 52 to central. Code 99 possible 207 in progress! Immediate back up required!"

"On my way." Canary said to herself.

She than began running towards Quinten's location, determined to bring down the Dollmaker for good.

…

Back at the alley, Mathis continued dragging Felicity as an arrow hit him in the back, forcing him to let go of her. As Arrow dropped to the ground, Mathis pulled the arrow out of his back and began running off. Arrow then went over to Felicity still on the ground.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

She only groaned in response as Quinten ran past and Diggle ran up.

"Don't move." He told her before turning to Diggle. "She hit her head."

"I got her," he told him. "Go."

…

Meanwhile, Quinten was still in hot pursuit of Mathis, not intent on letting the murderer get away this time. As he prepared to round a corner, he was hit by Mathis wielding a plank of wood. After Quinten fell to the ground, Mathis dropped the plank and proceeded to pick up the gun Quinten dropped.

"Good to see you again detective." Mathis greeted. "You know I must admit, I thought there'd be a little more ceremony to this moment. To be honest, I'm a little disappointed."

As he aimed the gun ready to fire, a sonic scream came seemingly out of nowhere, knocking Mathis against a wall. Quinten turned to see Black Canary standing there letting loose the scream. As she finished, she started walking over to Mathis, who had just fallen to his knees and hands after coming off the wall. He eyed a nearby pipe and proceeded to grab it. He then got up and started swinging the pipe wildly at her, causing her to keep back stepping away from the swings. She then kicked Mathis in the chest, causing him to fall back where he landed before. As he made contact with the ground, he saw the gun he dropped from before. He quickly grabbed it and prepared to aim it at her. Just them, an arrow came whizzing past and it hit the gun out of his hand. Black Canary turned to see Green Arrow having fired the arrow and loading another one. Fearing he'd actually kill Mathis, she grabbed one of her batons off her belt and tossed it at Arrow, causing the arrow to miss its target as Mathis fled.

"What are you doing?!" He yelled.

"What did you want me to just let you kill him?" Canary countered.

"I wasn't going to."

"Pardon me for being skeptical!"

"What is it going to take to convince you that I'm on your side?!" Arrow shouted as sirens started blaring out.

Arrow turned to see cop cars approaching, but when he turned back, Canary was gone.

"Go!" Quinten yelled to Arrow.

Arrow headed his advice and proceeded to escape just as the police arrived at the scene.

…

The next morning as Oliver was walking to the court house to attend his mother's hearing, Felicity had called him with an update on the situation.

"Lance is being charged with obstruction." She reported. "He's in police custody."

"And Mathis isn't."

"Thanks to our friend in black. Looks like Black Canary's more of a problem than we first thought."

"Maybe, but Mathis is still the bigger threat."

"I shot out a massive email to all the boutiques in town that Mermaiden was defective."

"Nice work. Keep me posted."

"What about Lance?"

"One legal problem at a time." He replied before hanging up and entering the court house.

…

At the SCPD headquarters, Quinten was sitting in an interrogation room handcuffed when Laurel came in with a key.

"I had to call in a lot of favors to get those." She told him, giving him the key. Problem is I've only been working at the DA's office for a month and no one owes me any favors."

"How'd you get the charges dropped?" Quinten asked unlocking his cuffs.

"Your friend, Pike and I have been working on the anti-vigilante task force remember?" she reminded as they walked out of the room.

"Huh, last year you were working with Green Arrow." He remarked. "what a difference a few months makes."

"Green Arrow?" she asked perplexed.

"Yeah a little goofy," he admitted. "But hey fits better than the Hood."

"And now you're working with him. I guess I'm not the only one in the Lance family that's done a 180."

"This city needs help," he replied, turning to face her.. "I just became less particular about where it comes from. What's your excuse? Still Tommy?"

Laurel was taken aback by that, not sure how to respond. She and Tommy were longtime friends and had gotten close while Oliver was on the island. His death hit her harder than most.

"What would you say if it was?" she finally answered.

"That a guy with a bow and arrow can't save a guy who's had a building fall on top of him." he answered. "What's goin on with you is not about him."

"Then what is it dad?" she asked, irritated. "Hmm? I mean why don't you tell me. You seem to have all the answers. That crack that you made about me feeling guilty about something."

"… Tommy's death." He replied.

"Why would I feel guilty about that?" she asked.

"I don't know." He admitted. "But I wish I did, cause its eating you up."

"Your psychoanalysis might hold a little more credibility if it wasn't being offered under police custody." She replied. "I'd stay away from Pike if I were you, and the Dollmaker case."

With that, she walked off, leaving Quinten standing there, feeling frustrated he couldn't help his daughter.

…

Down in the parking garage, Laurel was making her car, frustrated with how things were going with her dad. As she continued walking, she couldn't help but feel that she was being followed. As she came up to a corner, she hid behind it as a man came around, wearing a strange cloak and dark glasses. As he walked forward, she came up from behind and put him in an arm lock, forcing him to the ground.

"Who are you?" she demanded. "What are you doing here?"

The man didn't respond. He just used his free hand to shove a taser into her neck. She could only withstand the amount of volts for so long before finally falling over unconscious.

...

Having heard about both Laurel's and Quinten's kidnapping on the news, Oliver dashed down to the cave to find them before it's too late.

"How'd he get them?" he asked walking up to Diggle and Felicity.

"I don't know about Laurel," Felicity admitted looking over security footage. "Detective Lance was abducted by the precinct parking lot. Mathis shot a guard on the way out which sounded the alarm. I pulled the department's security camera footage and a van from Metamorpho chemical caught my eye."

"Metemorpho was condemned after the quake." Diggle added. "Perfect place to make dolls."

"Not tonight." Oliver declared walking over to his costume.

"Cops can trace this Oliver!" Diggle told him. "Same as we did."

"They won't make it in time!"

…

In the Metamorpho chemical plant, Laurel was strapped down to the table Mathis used to kill his victims while Quinten was tied to a column nearby. Mathis was watching all of this with a sick grin on his face.

"Isn't this nice?" he asked. "All of us here together. It's like Thanksgiving."

"Laurel, just stay calm." He tried to reassure. "Stay calm. Barton, I'm sorry. I know you hate me. And I understand that. But you hate me, so let my daughter go."

"Now why would I do that?" Mathis asked prepping the tube for his special liquid. "Look at her. She's so lovely. Maybe a little too much melain in the skin but… it's the imperfections that make art sublime."

"I am the one who put you away!" Quinten insisted. "She had nothing to do with it!"

"She had everything to do with it!" Mathis yelled. "She's your world. She's your very soul."

He made his way over to the table grabbing his special substance as he continued.

"You know I could kill you, I could maim you, I could slice you into a thousand pieces, but if your soul remains intact what have I wrought? Huh? Nothing."

"I will kill you, you son of a bitch!" Quinten practically screamed. "I will kill you!"

Mathis just ignored him as he poured the substance into the tube, allowing it to work its way to Laurel's throat. Quinten just watched on in horror.

"Laurel, sweetheart…" Quinten said. "Close your eyes."

"If you struggle," Mathis told her. "It will take longer.

Just then, Green Arrow burst through the skylight. As he landed, he shot an arrow at the tube, knocking it away from Laurel as the substance was inches away from her. Seeing he was outmatched, Mathis bolted out of the room. Arrow then went over to Quinten and used one of his flechette's to cut Quinten free.

"Do whatever you need to do." Quinten told him. "Just get him. Get him!"

…

Deeper in the facility, Mathis continued running for his life. He was nearing an exit when an arrow hit a patch of steel pipes above him, causing the pipes to all fall on top of him. Mathis tried pulling himself out when he saw Arrow aiming an arrow at him.

"Well?" he asked. "What are you waiting for?"

While he was talking, Quinten and Laurel came up, see the standoff between the two.

"I guarantee you won't have a better chance to kill me than this." Mathis continued.

"You're going back to prison." Arrow told him.

"I'll get out." He told him. "I'll find a way. And then what's to stop me from doing this all over again?"

Arrow just paused for a moment, mauling over Mathis' words. He then let the arrow fly, causing Laurel to flinch. To Mathis', hers' and even Quinten's surprise, the arrow landed on a pipe behind him, releasing a gas that knocked him out cold.

"I am." Arrow replied before making his exit.

Laurel just stood there for a moment, surprised by the vigilantes choice of actions. He was no stranger to killing before, so why spare this man's life? Especially after all the lives he's taken? She didn't have a chance to ponder any further though as Quinten urged her out of the building.

…

Later that night, Laurel was back home in her bed being watched over by Quinten. As he came out into the living room, Green Arrow was there waiting for him.

"How is she?" he asked.

"She'll be alright… in time." Quinten replied. "You didn't kill Mathis. Even I would have done it."

In the bedroom, Laurel's eyes snapped open, overhearing the conversation.

"I told you I'm trying another way." Arrow reminded.

"Yeah I can tell." Quinten responded. "I don't always agree with your methods, but I can't argue with your results. You saved my daughter… again."

"She needed help."

"And she wasn't the only one. Thanks."

Arrow simply smiled in response.

…

Back at the cave, Oliver, Diggle, and Felicity reconvened to discuss the issue of the Black Canary.

"So now that the Dollmaker is back behind bats, what do we do about your new girlfriend?" Diggle asked.

"Not sure." Oliver admitted. "It's gonna be hard working to save the city if she thinks I'm making things worse."

"So how do we show her you're trying to make things better?" Felicity asked.

Oliver just stood silent for a moment.

"I have no idea." He responded.

…

Back at Laurel's apartment, Laurel sat on her bed in contemplation. The vigilante was supposed to be a killer right? So why go out of his way to spare one of the most prolific killers in Starling City's history? One even her own father admitted he's put down if given the chance. Could he be right? Could he have really changed for the better?

Before she could ponder this any further, a noise rang out. Laurel turned to see it was a police radio, reporting of a robbery in progress. She quickly got off the bed and pulled out a box from underneath. She opened it up to reveal a black mask, a blonde wig, two batons, and a black costume. The costume of Black Canary.

Oh of course Laurel is Black Canary. Would I really be working on this story if It were exactly the same. that being said, it is a little difficult getting the ratio of new stuff to copy and paste from an episode. so if certain scenes seem altered or taken out completely, that's just me trying to work with that I've got. hope you've all been enjoying this so far and I hope you stay tuned to see more.