The next morning, Oliver was surprised to hear a knock at the door of the Queen Mansion. He opened it to see Laurel standing there.
"Laurel." Oliver let out. "What are you doing here?"
"Thea asked me for help on something." Laurel replied.
"Oh well, come in." he gestured, welcoming her inside. "She's upstairs in her room."
"Thanks." Laurel responded.
"You know I… haven't seen much of you lately." Oliver admitted.
"I've been keeping busy." Laurel informed him.
"With the Anti-Vigilante task force?" Oliver guessed.
"Uh, actually I'm not part of that anymore." Laurel admitted.
"Really?" Oliver replied surprised. "You seemed pretty intent on bringing the vigilante in."
"Yeah, well that was before the Dollmaker." Laurel replied.
"Him saving your life?" Oliver assumed.
"That," she confirmed. "And that he was willing to spare his life. I didn't think he had that in him, it was…something."
Oliver propped up a bit in surprise due to her choice of words.
"Right…" he replied.
"Um, well I should go talk to Thea." She said before heading up stairs.
Oliver just looked towards her as she went up, still mauling over her words. He knew he had heard them somewhere before.
…
Up in Thea's room, Laurel filled in Roy, Thea, and Sin on what she had found.
"I checked into the blood drive, and it's all legitimate." She told them. "In fact, what Sebastian's done has helped save a lot of lives."
"So if the blood drive is on the up and up, then how are we supposed to find Max's killer?" Sin asked.
"There's one other thing." Laurel informed, showing the three a file she brought with her. "All of the blood donors at the drive were subjected to a psych evaluation by the Langford Institute."
Is that, like, legal?
"It's not entirely out of the norm." Laurel admitted. "And while someone at the institute might know if Max was on drugs, there's no way of finding out without a warrant. Which we're certainly not going to get. I'm sorry I couldn't be more help."
…
Back in the cave, Felicity walked up to Barry, who was now wearing civilian clothes, as he was messing with some chemicals.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"Uh, just messing around with something." Barry replied.
"Shouldn't you be trying to figure out what's causing Oliver's hallucinations?" she reminded.
"One of the benefits of being a speedster," he replied, zipping over to another computer. "Excellent at multi-tasking."
"That is insanely cool." She complimented.
"Yeah," he agreed. "You know it's funny. I've been searching for the impossible most of my life, but I never once expected that I would 'become' the impossible."
"Must have been pretty crazy then." She assumed. "Waking up and being able to do what you can do."
"Yeah," he concurred. "But I was able to work through it. One of the hard parts though is not being able to tell… people."
Felicity took note of the drop in Barry's voice on that last part.
"People, or just one person?" Felicity guessed.
Barry let out a sigh of defeat.
"…Iris West." He confirmed.
"Ah." Felicity let out. "She must be pretty special."
"Best friends since we were kids." He confirmed. "And I be lying if I said I didn't feel… something more. But I waited too long and by the time I woke up, she was already with someone else."
"Yikes." Felicity let out.
"Yeah," Barry agreed. "It's hard to have feelings for someone, who doesn't look at you the same way."
At that moment, Felicity looked up to see Oliver entering the room with a tennis ball, bow, and arrow.
"Hey." She greeted, causing Barry to turn around.
"How are you feeling?" Barry asked him.
"Fine." he told them. "Just… It's a little bit crowded at my house, and I…wanted to come down here to get a little privacy."
"Yeah." Felicity agreed as she and Barry got up. "Come on, Barry."
"Can we grab a bite to eat?" he asked. "I have to consume like, 10,000 calories a day."
"Sure, come on." She replied.
"Your blood analysis is almost done." Barry told Oliver.
"Thank you." Oliver replied as the two took off.
Once he was alone, Oliver took up position ready to get in some target practice. He threw the tennis ball on the ground. It proceeded to bounce as Oliver readied his arrow. Finally, he let it loose towards its target. Instead of hitting the ball though, it was caught by someone. Not just any someone though; Slade Wilson. Oliver lowered his bow in shock.
"What's the matter, kid?" Slade asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Oliver just looked on in horror as Slade looked around the cave.
"This is a nice place." Slade complimented. "It's a bit more comfortable than the fuselage on the island."
"You're not real." Oliver told him
"Neither are you." Slade retorted, looking at the Green Arrow costume. "You told everyone when you started this crusade that it was about making up for your father's sins. That was a lie."
Slade then proceeded to snap the arrow in his hands before letting the pieces drop to the floor.
"This charade is to atone for your sins." He continued.
"You're dead." Oliver insisted.
"You are not a hero. Or a friend. Or a brother. You are nothing."
Oliver just turned around, unable to hear anymore.
"Do not turn your back on me! Slade yelled. "Not again."
"You're gone." Oliver replied, trying to ignore him.
"Wherever I am," Slade decided. "It's time you joined me."
Slade then proceeded to push Oliver into a table. Oliver quickly turned around and tried swinging at him with his bow. Slade simply ducked under it and knocked the bow out of his hands. He then grabbed Oliver by the shoulder and threw him behind him.
"They say a coward dies a thousand deaths." Slade told him. "But even that wouldn't be enough for you."
"I tried to save you!" Oliver yelled. "And her."
"But you couldn't." Oliver reminded. "Just like you couldn't save this city."
The two then proceeded to attack each other. They matched blow for blow but Slade inevitably got the upper hand. He punched Oliver in the chest before knocking him across a table behind him, knocking over its various contents before falling to the ground. Slade overturned the table as he walked over to Oliver before picking him up.
"The island didn't make you strong, kid." Slade told him. "It revealed just how weak you are"
With that, Slade threw him into the display case, shattering it to pieces as Oliver and the mannequin fell to the ground. Oliver got up only to find that Slade was gone, as if he was never there.
…
Meanwhile, Sebastian and Laurel were strolling along the streets of Starling.
"Thank you for being my shopping guide." He told her, before noting her face. "Are you ok?"
"Uh, yeah," Laurel replied quickly. "it's just, um, can I ask you a question? It's about the blood drive you sponsored."
"Of course." He replied. "It's a wonderful cause. Especially with the underfunded hospitals we're dealing with. What about it?"
Before she could ask, her cell phone started going off.
"Sorry." She told him before answering. "Hello?... What?!... Ok, I'll be right over."
"What happened?" Sebastian asked as she hung up.
"My father, um…He's in the ICU." She told him, starting to tear up. "I'm so sorry, I have to go."
…
Back in the cave, Oliver was sweeping up the glass of the broken display case as Barry, Felicity, and Diggle came in.
"What happened in here?" she let out. "Did someone break in?"
"No." Oliver replied bluntly.
Just then, Barry heard one of the computers beeping
"Your blood analysis is done." He said looking at the results. "Good news."
"So you know what's in my system?" Oliver guessed.
"That's the thing, your blood's clean." Barry told him. "There's nothing wrong with you."
"Then why am I hallucinating?!" Oliver demanded.
"I don't know." Barry replied, raising his hands in protest. "But whatever your problem is, it's not pharmacological. It's psychological."
"It's in my head." Oliver deduced.
"Pretty much." Barry confirmed.
"Oh, my God." Felicity let out.
"What is it? Oliver asked as he and the others walked over.
"Got word on the unit that tried to bring in Cyrus Gold." Felicity told them. "He nearly killed them all. Quinten just got admitted to the ICU ward."
"We should have been there." Barry let out.
Oliver just scowled at the screen Felicity was looking at. The time for sitting out on the sidelines was over.
…
At the hospital, Laurel was sitting next to her unconscious father. She snapped up at the sound of her dad groaning as he woke up.
"Dad!" she let out.
"Honey." Quinten said, still feeling sore.
"How are you feeling?" Laurel asked.
"Well, I can wiggle my toes, it must be a good sign." He remarked, getting a slight chuckle from Laurel. "I'm all right, honey, I'm fine. How's Lucas, is he all right?"
"I…I'm sorry." Laurel told him.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
Laurel just sat there silent. That was the conformation Quinten needed.
"I got to call Jeannie." Quinten said. "I got to call his wife."
"No, Dad, I'll do it." Laurel insisted. "You just…stay here. Get some rest."
Laurel then went out of the room to call Jeannie. As she entered the hallway, she was greeted by Sebastian Blood walking up to her.
"What are you doing here?" She asked.
"Wanted to make sure your father was ok." He told her.
"He is." She confirmed.
"I wanted to make sure you were, too." He added, trying to comfort her.
Laurel simply smiled before falling into his embrace and receiving some much needed comfort.
…
Back in the room, Quinten was trying to get comfortable when he was greeted by a familiar hooded friend.
"How are you, Detective?" Arrow asked.
" I'm alive." He answered. "Unlike most everyone else in my unit."
"I'm sorry about your partner."
"I took him in there."
"Because of me." Arrow insisted.
"I hate to disappoint you, but not every death in this city is on you." Quinten told him before putting a key on the table next to him. "I got this off Gold. Hopefully you can do something with it."
Arrow took the key and was about to take off before Quinten spoke up again.
"I didn't believe it at first," he let out. "but this guy, I mean, it's like he's not human."
"…He's human." He assured.
"Well, then you can kill him." Quinten told him. "For Hilton…and me."
…
Later at the cave, Oliver got to work sharpening several arrows.
"I think those are sharp enough." Diggle remarked.
"Apparently I'm not." Oliver replied, turning to face him. "Diggle, do you think I'm losing my mind?
"No more than the rest of us." Diggle said bluntly.
"I saw…Slade Wilson." He confided. "Slade was my friend on the island, and like Shado, he is dead because of me."
Diggle let out a breath upon hearing Oliver's words.
"Mr. Lance just told me that not every death in this city is my fault." Oliver continued. "Fine, but there are plenty that are."
"When I got home from Afghanistan, I…saw a ghost, too." Diggle shared. "Survivor's guilt. Why us, not them.
"I know why." Oliver told him.
"Then the "why's" not your problem." Diggle reasoned.
"How'd you make your ghost go away?" Oliver asked.
" I figured out what they were trying to tell me." Diggle answered.
"Which was?"
"That's for me to hear, Oliver." Diggle replied. "You have to figure out what yours is trying to tell you."
"Guys, I think we found something!" Barry called out.
"I scanned the key Lance gave you, and traced its serial code back to the manufacturer." Felicity told them as they walked up.
"This particular key fits a locked gate somewhere on Crescent Circle in the Glades." Barry added.
Knowing what he had to do, Oliver grabbed his bow and started to head out.
"Where are you going?" Felicity asked. "You can't go out there in your condition."
"I have to stop this." Oliver told her.
"Oliver, Gold left you half dead," she reminded "which is 50 percent better than how he left Detective Hilton."
"Felicity I don't have a choice." Oliver insisted.
"Then why not have some back up at least?" Barry volunteered. "Oliver we came close to beating him last time and that was only because we worked together."
Oliver paused for a moment, allowing Barry's words to sink in.
"You're right," Oliver conceded. "Neither one of us can beat him alone."
"So," Barry said, holding out his hand. "Partners?"
Oliver barely wasted a moment taking his hand and shaking it.
"Partners." He agreed.
…
Around that same time, Roy decided to pay a visit to the Langford Institute to find out information on Max. Once he made it inside, he went over to a file cabinet and sifted through the files looking for any useful information. After a bit of looking, he finally found the file. While he was looking through it, he found a picture of Max with the word 'Mirakuru printed on the back. Just then, Roy heard a door open and proceeded to hide. As he hid, he heard someone pouring something on the ground. A quick sniff revealed it to be gasoline, meaning someone wanted to destroy any evidence connected to this place. Thinking fast, Roy dashed out and pushed the guy over as he made his way out of the room. As he continued running through the halls, an arm came out of nowhere and knocked him to the ground. Roy's vision became fuzzy as the burly figure of Cyrus Gold stood over him
…
Some time later, Roy woke up to find himself strapped down to a table with Cyrus standing behind him and the man from the institute grabbing a syringe of serum from a machine and handing it to a man in a skull mask.
"It's ready." The man told Brother Blood
"Is this where you killed Max Stanton, hmm?" Roy asked defiantly as Brother Blood came closer. "What are you doing? If you stick that in me, I'll kill you."
"No, brother Roy." Blood told him as he grabbed Roy by the neck. "You'll kill for me."
He then proceeded to inject Roy with the serum. Roy started to groan in pain. Suddenly, a hole in the ceiling was blasted open, and from that hole, Green Arrow zipped down to the lab. The man tried to pull a gun on him, but a flash of light grabbed the gun out of his hands. The man turned to see Barry standing next to him.
"Nice try." He told the man before knocking him out.
"Brother Cyrus told me he killed you." Blood said addressing Arrow directly.
"Guess he's not as strong as you'd hoped." Arrow countered. "Where'd you get the Mirakiru? Who gave you the formula?!"
"It was a gift." Blood told him. "A gift I would use to save this city from itself."
Roy continued groaning in pain as Cyrus ran towards them. Green Arrow tried firing an arrow at him, but he seemed unphased by it as he continued running towards them. He tried taking a swing at Arrow, but Arrow ducked under it as he grabbed hold of the rope he came in on. He tried swinging at Cyrus but Cyrus just punched him into a wall, causing part of it to break off as he hit it. Barry then unleashed several speed punches to his face. Cyrus tried swinging at him, but he just kept running around him. Finally, Cyrus hit him, sending him flying into the same wall Arrow landed at. Arrow tried getting up, but Cyrus just kicked him across the room. While that was going on, Roy started bleeding from his eyes as he cried out in pain. Finally, all his screaming stopped as he just slumped over. Blood went over to check his pulse. Nothing.
"Another failure." He reported.
Arrow just fell over in defeat upon hearing that. Barry started getting up as Cyrus came towards.
"Arrow, come on!" Barry called out. "I need you, get up. Come on get up!"
Oliver couldn't hear him, he was too lost in his failure. That is, until what happened next.
"Get up, Oliver." A new voice said.
Oliver looked up to see the image of another dead friend, this time, it was Tommy Merlyn.
"Tommy?" Oliver let out as Tommy crouched down to him.
"You're not going to die down here." Tommy told him.
"Tommy, I'm sorry." Oliver said, barely able to keep himself together. "I let you die."
"You didn't let me die, Ollie." Tommy corrected. "You fought to save me. Because that's what you do. What you have always done. You fight to survive. I know I called you a murderer, but you are not. You are a hero. You beat the island. You beat my father. So fight, Oliver. Get up and fight back."
Oliver's doubt seemed to have vanished. His resolve stronger than ever. Just in time it seemed since Cyrus grabbed Barry by the throat and lifted him into the air.
"Kill him." Blood ordered.
Before Cyrus could complete the order, an arrow was fired into his back. He dropped Barry and turned around to see Green Arrow running towards him. Before he could react, he leapt into the air and struck Cyrus in the face with his bow. He then continued striking him in the face and stomach faster than Cyrus could keep up with. Barry quickly regained his senses and joined in the attack, unleashing one quick punch after another at his legs back, and everywhere else he could. The two heroes unleashed one attack on Cyrus after another, not giving the brute an ounce of leeway. When Cyrus did try swinging at them, Barry grabbed Arrow and sped them out of the way. He then dashed towards Cyrus and run around him super fast. Once he finally stopped, he punched Cyrus in the face and sent him colliding with a wall. Arrow then took out an explosive arrow and fired it at the centrifuge, causing it to blow up, dousing him in serum as the explosion covered him and the man in rubble. During the explosion, Blood made his escape to avoid capture. Arrow and Barry didn't take notice though, because their attentions were directed back to Roy. They both made their way over to his fallen chair and freed him from his restraints.
"Come on kid!" Oliver let out as he started compressions. "Come on!"
Barry took note of Roy's unresponsive nature.
"Oliver…" he started to say.
"No!" Oliver cried out as he continued. "I am not leaving anyone else to die! You're strong, kid. Come on! Come on! Come on, Roy! Fight! Come on, fight!"
Finally, Roy gasped for air, causing both Oliver and Barry to let out a sigh of relief.
…
Later that night, Roy was resting in Thea's room at Queen Manor when Thea and Sin came in.
"Roy?!" Thea cried out as she and Sin ran over. "Hey, Roy! Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you!"
"I was…" he started to reply before contemplating what had happened. "I was running down another lead. It didn't pan out."
"I thought you were chasing after the Vigilante again." She told him. I got so scared. I thought something happened to you."
"Hey, hey, don't worry." He reassured, taking hold of her hand. "I'm alive."
…
Back at the cave, Oliver and Barry returned to be greeted by a very happy Diggle and Felicity.
"Man am I happy you two are ok." Felicity told them, coming up and hugging them both.
"Appreciate the concern." Barry replied.
"Still have a ghost problem?" Diggle asked Oliver.
"No." he reassured. "I got the message. But we… we have other problems."
"Wouldn't be us if we didn't." Diggle remarked.
"Your friend Roy was injected with the serum." Barry told them
"Oh, my God, is he ok?" Felicity let out.
"He's alive." Oliver answered, putting his bow away. "But we are going to have to keep an eye on him."
"And Cyrus Gold?" Diggle asked.
"Died on Saturday, buried on Sunday." Oliver remarked.
"And that was the end of Solomon Grundy." Barry added smirking a bit.
"But he was working with someone." Oliver continued. "I saw him, he wore a mask with the image of a.. of a skull."
"It looks like he's trying to mass produce the serum to build an army." Barry concluded.
"For what?" Diggle asked.
"You're a soldier." Oliver told him. "What's the primary purpose of an army?"
"War." Diggle answered.
…
Across town in an office building, Sebastian Blood walked into an office where at a rather large desk, sat his benefactor, who had his chair turned away from him while he was watching a news report on Blood's announcement to run for Mayor. He turned it off as Blood approached him.
"So your campaign begins." He noted.
"The city needs a leader." Sebastian replied. "And putting the copycat hoods up to assassinating the mayor was just the first step."
Sebastian paused for a moment before speaking next.
"The vigilante…" he started to say. "He destroyed the centrifuge, and the serum along with it."
"I will arrange for you to receive another sample of my blood, so you can begin to mass produce the serum." He told him, with just the slightest amount of distain in his voice. "But remember something."
Sebastian froze up a bit.
"When I ask you not to confront the vigilante, you will listen." He ordered. "Remember your mask can be worn by another."
Sebastian gulped in intimidation.
"You know who he is under that hood, don't you?" he guessed.
"I know exactly who his is."
The man then turned around to face him. It was revealed to be a man with slightly greyed hair, a beard, and eye patch over his right eye. This was the face of Slade Wilson.
"He's my friend."
"That's why you don't want him dead." Sebastian put together.
"Death would be a release from this life, and his sentence has yet to be carried out."
Sebastian took a step back as he continued to listen.
I'm going to tear everything he cares about away from him."
…
Quinten just continued looking at his partners badge as he sat in his hospital bed.
…
"Destroy those who choose to follow him."
…
Roy pulled back the blankets of the bed he was on to take a look at his injured leg, only to see that his wounds were heaped, much to his surprise.
…
"Corrupt those he loves."
…
Laurel stood on the edge of a rooftop, surveying the city and trying to decide where she could do the most good as the Black Canary.
…
"Once he has lost everyone and everything he values…" Slade concluded. "I will drive an arrow through his eye."
…
Out in the city, Barry was standing on a rooftop when Oliver walked up to him from behind.
"Felicity tells me you're heading back to Central City." Oliver relayed, causing Barry to turn and face him.
"Yeah," Barry confirmed. "Well, my captain said I should come back if I still want my job."
"Understandable." Oliver replied.
Barry noted Oliver was holding something in his hand.
"I see you found my gift for you." Barry observed.
"Yeah," Oliver replied before changing the subject. "Look I wanted to say I'm sorry about accusing you before."
"Hey, considering you almost died before, I'd say all's good." Barry reassured.
"Good. I also wanted to say thanks for your help." Oliver told him. "I couldn't imagine pulling this off without you."
"Hey I should be thanking you." Barry insisted.
"For what?" Oliver asked, a little confused.
"For letting me work with you." Barry told him. "I've read a lot of your stories over the past year or so. I kept thinking, if a guy like that could do all this, then maybe I could do that with the power I have. Made me feel like I was more than just some guy who was struck by lightning."
Oliver smirked up a bit.
"Barry, do you mind if I make a bold statement?" Oliver asked.
"What?"
"I don't think that bolt of lightning struck you Barry, I think it chose you."
Barry raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Chose me?" Barry repeated. "For what?"
"To be better." Oliver answered. "Better than I am."
Barry continued to listen to what he had to say.
"I've seen how you are with the others." Oliver continued. "You can inspire people in a way I never could. Watching over your city like a guardian angel, saving people, in a flash."
Barry smiled at what he heard. He then held out his hand in response.
"Thanks Oliver." Barry said as Oliver shook his hand.
"You bet Barry." Oliver replied.
Barry let go and pulled his mask up to get ready to take off.
"Hey!" Oliver called out.
Barry turned around and saw Oliver with his hood pulled up, and wearing a new green domino mask over his face. One that Barry made for him personally.
"Thanks for the mask!"
Oliver then jumped off the edge of the roof. Barry ran over to see Oliver shoot a grappling arrow and zip away into the night.
"Cool." He let out.
"Oliver landed on an adjacent building just in time to see Barry speed away and out of the city in a flash.
"Cool." He let out.
Well that was fun! Sorry there wasn't much Laurel/Oliver stuff in this one, but I promise to make up for that soon. I'll have to look over Blast Radius to be sure but I'm not sure how many changes I can make to that, but we'll just have to wait and see. Hope you enjoyed the Flash crossover in this one and I hope you stay tuned for more.