I'm Baaaaaack! Not too much added perhaps, but that will change with the second one I promise. I tried writing out something for Blast Radius but I just wasn't feeling it. So I decided to move forward with this one. Besides, it progresses the plot further so it has that going for it. Hope you enjoy!

Another dim night in Starling City. For those who pursue justice however, there seems to be no rest for them. Green Arrow is one of those people. Ever since teaming up with Barry, now calling himself the Flash, he was in pursuit for the man in the skull mask who possessed the Mirakuru formula. This man seemed poised to create an army of Mirakuru based soldiers unless Green Arrow found and put an end to him.

On this particular night, he had tracked down another street punk and trapped him in a corner, firing one warning shot after another.

"Please!" he let out. "I don't know anything."

"The man in the skull mask," Arrow continued, seemingly ignoring his pleas. "Where is he?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." the man insisted.

"He's been experimenting on people in the Glades." Arrow informed. "He's leaving a trail of corpses with blood running from their eyes."

"No, no no no." the man replied. "I deal in stolen merchandise. That's it."

Arrow just let off another shot in response, much to the thugs dismay.

"No no. Please!"

"Ask him what color his shoes are." Felicity told him over comms.

"What?" Arrow asked in confusion.

"Hey, you want this guy to take a polygraph via Bluetooth, cool. But I need him to establish a base line. I need to hear him tell the truth just once."

"...What color are your shoes?" Arrow asked the thug.

"What?" the thug asked before looking down at his feet. "They're blue."

"... He's not lying."

"Please..." The thug was about to plead as he looked up.

However, as he looked, Arrow was gone.

...

A good distance away, Arrow perched himself on a rooftop, looking out over the city.

"He's out there." Arrow spoke. "Somewhere."

"Well it doesn't look like you'll find him tonight." Felicity observed. "Have you reached out to Black Canary? Maybe she's found something."

"She's keeping an ear out," Arrow relayed. "But it doesn't look like she knows anymore than we do."

"Then why don't you pack it up for the night and come on home." Felicity suggested.

...

Elsewhere in the city, more crime fighting activities were underway. A small group of thugs were in the midst of a drug deal in a warehouse when the Black Canary decided to crash their party. The thugs continued opening fire at Canary as she ran through the rafters. Finally, she jumped to the ground behind two thugs. As they turned to face her, Canary knocked the gun out of one of the thugs hands with her baton before kicking him in the chest, knocking him down. Canary then crouched down and swept the other thug's legs out from under him. As the gun fire persisted, Black Canary dove behind some boxes to protect herself. One of the thugs moved in and tried to finish her off, but all he got was a kick to the gut before getting smacked in the head by a baton. Finally, Canary came out from behind the boxes and unleashed her sonic scream, knocking all the thugs in the warehouse down to the ground. As she finished her scream, the sound of police sirens filled the air causing her to smile.

"I'll let the police worry about you punks." She remarked as she started to walk out.

On her way out, she smacked a thug in the head with her baton as he tried to get up.

...

Not too long after, Laurel returned to her apartment through the window. Once inside, she took off her mask and wig and threw them aside. She also took her batons out of her belt and placed them on her dresser, next to a small orange bottle.

After shedding her costume, taking a shower, and redressing in some proper sleep attire, Laurel was all set to turn in for the night when her cellphone started to ring. Curious of who would be calling at this hour, Laurel decided to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Ms. Lance. This is Nurse Downey from St Walkers. You asked me to call if there was any change's in Maya Resiks condition... I'm sad to report she passed away."

"What?" Laurel asked, shocked.

"Her heart just gave out on her. Poor soul."

"Um... odd question but... did any one else visit her besides me?"

"Just her nephew Sebastian Blood. Why?"

...

"You think Sebastian Blood, the saint of Starling City, killed his own mother?" Adam asked when Laurel came to talk to him the next day.

"He was the last person to see her alive." She argued. "That can't be a coincidence."

"He's a devoted nephew visiting a sick relative." Adam dismissed. "You're right, that's very suspicious."

"He didn't go there to visit her!" Laurel insisted. "He went there to kill her to cover up the fact that as a child, he killed his own father. Maya told me what happened."

"From inside a padded room, right?" Adam guessed.

"He had her forcibly committed." Laurel countered. "She tells me the truth, and then two days later has a heart attack. You don't find that strange?"

"Well for one thing, there's no record that Maya Resik was even Blood's mother and according to the hospital she was in the late stages of heart disease." Adam rebutted.

"I need you to call in a favor to Judge Carlin." Laurel asked. "Get a search warrant for Sebastian's campaign headquarters, his phone records, I have to start somewhere."

"Laurel, this isn't some casual request." Adam shot down. "I'm the ADA who took Vertigo on live TV. I take a shot at Sebastian Blood and miss, my career is done."

"Adam," Laurel called out as he started to walk out. "Please."

"I'm sorry Laurel," Adam replied. "You're on your own."

With that, Adam walked out of the office, leaving Laurel to come up with a new plan to investigate Sebastian. Suddenly, an idea popped into her mind.

...

Across town, Oliver entered the cave after trying to talk to Roy about him rescuing his family from some falling debris at a rally a few days ago, to no avail unfortunately.

"Has Roy said anything about the man in the skull mask who injected him?" Felicity asked as Oliver entered the cave.

"Roy's not the kind of guy who's comfortable discussing his feelings." Oliver replied.

"Not like you and me." Diggle remarked.

"Don't yell at me, but I think we need a new plan on how to find this creepy mask guy." Felicity shared. "Scaring the crap out of low lives isn't yielding results."

"Felicity, at this point I am open to any and all suggestions." Oliver admitted.

"Oliver, maybe we're over thinking this." Diggle suggested. "What if the mask simply got wind you were after him and skipped town"

"No, Dig," Oliver dismissed immediately. "He didn't go to all the trouble of recreating the serum and testing it on people just to walk away. He is still out there, and we need to locate him."

Just at that moment, Oliver's cellphone started going off. Felicity picked it up to see who it was.

"Lance." She read off. "For the Green Arrow."

Oliver took it and answered it.

"What can I help you with Detective?" Oliver asked.

"Actually, it's what 'I' need help with." A voice not Quinten Lance's answered.

Oliver was able to recognize it as the Black Canary, but was still surprised by the realization.

"How did you get this phone?" he demanded.

"Relax, I didn't hurt Lance." She reassured. "I just needed a way to get a hold of you."

"Why?" Oliver inquired.

"Meet me tonight at the rooftop where we first met." Canary told him. "I'll explain everything then."

...

That night, Canary stood on the rooftop in wait while holding a file in her hand. She then felt a presence behind her, she knew exactly who it was.

"Thanks for agreeing to meet with me." She said, turning around to face him.

"You seemed pretty hellbent on this to break into a police precinct just to call me." Arrow responded.

"Well I didn't have your number," She replied. "And your groupie hasn't been around lately."

"It's complicated." He told her. "What was so important you wanted to meet?"

"I think I know who your mystery masked man is." She presented.

"Who?" Arrow asked, now seeming intrigued.

"Sebastian Blood." She answered.

Green Arrow was taken aback by this. He wasn't sure how to react if what Canary was suggesting was true.

"You sure about this?" Arrow inquired.

"I've done a bit of researching." She told him, handing him the file. "Blood didn't just give Gold his powers, the two knew each other for years. They grew up together in the same orphanage."

"Wouldn't the police know this if they were investigating Gold?" Arrow suggested, looking through the info given to him.

"Not if it was covered up." Canary countered. "Trust me, Blood would do anything to cover up his past... even kill his own mother."

"...Why would he do that?" Arrow asked.

"To cover up the fact that as a child, he killed his own father." She told him.

Arrow stood silent for a moment, try to process all of this.

"So why come to me?" Arrow asked. "You seem like you have a bead on things."

"Because you have resources that I don't." She told him. "Presenting this to the police or the DA would be fruitless given how beloved Sebastian is."

Arrow remained silent again, thinking all this over.

"You once asked me to trust you to try and save this city," She reminded him. "Well now I'm asking you to trust me. Sebastian Blood is dangerous and you're the only one who can help me stop him."

...

The next day at Queen Consolidated, Oliver, Diggle, and Felicity were sitting at the board table while Felicity was checking over some records.

"Looks like Canary might be on to something." Felicity admitted. "I hacked into Blood's phone records. The Alderman and Gold have stayed buddies since Zandia Orphanage."

"So what?" Diggle dismissed standing up. "They stayed in touch. That doesn't mean that Sebastian Blood is the man in the skull mask."

"Well his last name is Blood." She threw out. "That can't be a good sign."

"Felicity, he's dedicated his life, risked his life to help the people of the Glades." Diggle insisted. "And you think in his spare time, he's a murderer trying to create an army of human weapons?"

"You're a personal bodyguard who fights crime at night with his billionaire boss." Felicity countered.

"She has a point." Oliver admitted. "Some people are good at hiding their real face in public."

"I thought Sebastian was your friend?" Diggle recalled.

"He is..." Oliver told him. "But it would be wise to consider all our options."

Diggle let out a huff of defeat.

"Alright," he relented. "Where do we start?"

"First we verify if Sebastian really killed his father." Oliver decided, handing Felicity the file Canary gave him. "Fortunately Canary gave me a case number we can start with."

"I'll look into it." She reassured, heading off to get to work.

...

"Asking a cute girl to meet you down by the tracks, Harper?" Sin asked as she walked up to Roy. "Good think Thea and I are tight."

"I have to show you something." He told her, ignoring her remarks.

"Easy there tiger." She joked.

Roy then simply punched through a cement block that was in front of him. Sin then went to check out his hand but found nothing except some excess gravel on it.

"You're not even bleeding." She let out. "When did you start juicing?"

"I'm not." He told her.

"Then how do you explain what I just saw?" She let out.

"You remember that night around Christmas when I went missing?" He asked as he tried to move them along.

"Yeah, Thea and I were pissed." She informed.

"I never told you guys what really happened." He admitted. "You were right about your friend Max. He didn't OD, he was murdered. He was injected with something, and I was injected with the same thing, but it didn't kill me. It made me, It made me stronger."

"Thea must be freaking." Sin guessed.

"No. She doesn't know." He shared. "I don't want her to."

"Why not?" She asked.

"I can't, not yet." He continued. "Not until I know more about what happened to me. I don't want to scare her."

"And you're not worried about scaring me?" Sin asked, stopping dead in her tracks.

"Come on," Roy let out, turning to face her. "I was going crazy not telling someone."

"So what are you going to do?" She asked.

"Well, the Arrow once told me all I was good for was taking a beating." He recalled. "Maybe it's time I started handing out a few of my own."

"I don't follow." She admitted, shrugging her shoulders.

"Now I don't need his help to protect this city." He told her. "Let's find us a bad guy."

...

That night, Felicity came to Oliver's office with her report.

"I have good news..." She told him. "And bad news. I suggest the good news first, it tends to soften the blow of the bad news."

Oliver just let out a huff.

"Ok, dealers choice." Felicity replied. "Good news is we found the case file on Sebastian Blood's dad's murder."

"Anything in it to suggest he killed him?" Oliver asked.

"Oliver meet bad news." Felicity replied, taking a seat next to Diggle.

"That file was sealed years ago." Dig told him.

"And since the file is over 27 years old there is no digital copy for me to hack." Felicity lamented. "The only hard copy is stored the old fashioned way in the city archives."

"So I go in and take it," Oliver decided. "The old fashioned way."

"Slight problem with that." Felicity countered. "And by slight I mean major, security in the file room is so old school you need a key card to get in which, even if you had, you wouldn't know where to start looking for the file."

Oliver took in all he had heard from Felicity trying to think of a way around the problem. Suddenly, an idea came to mind.

"An assistant DA would." He told them.

"You think that's a good idea?" Diggle asked. "Last I checked, Laurel had it out for the vigilante."

"Laurel's been off the anti-vigilante task force for months." Oliver told him.

"Around the same time Black Canary agreed to work with you." Felicity noted. "Funny coincidence."

Oliver paused for a moment, considering Felicity's observation.

"Yeah... funny." Oliver replied before heading out.

...

Laurel, meanwhile, returned to her apartment from work and made her way to her room. After dropping her purse and shrugging off her jacket, she reached under her bed and pulled out the box that contained her Black Canary gear, thinking of doing some patrolling around the city. Suddenly, she heard some rustling out in the living room. She replaced the box and slowly went out into the living room to see Green Arrow standing there.

"Hello Laurel." He greeted.

"Hey..." She greeted, surprised to see him there. "Been a while hasn't it?"

"I need your help." Arrow told her.

"With what?" Laurel asked.

"Finding evidence regarding Sebastian Blood." He answered.

...

After explaining everything, Laurel agreed and the two went to the archives. Arrow took out an explosive arrow and fired it at the lock of a ventilation shaft.

"You ready for this?" He asked.

"Whatever it takes." She replied.

Arrow nodded before opening the vent and activating his comms.

"We're going in." Arrow told Felicity.

"At least the security cameras are from this century." Felicity remarked, working her techno magic. "And now they're toast. You've exactly seven minutes until the system reboots."

While the guards were preoccupied by the downed security system, Laurel used her card to grant her and Green Arrow access to the records room.

"This could take a while." Laurel remarked, noting the sheer number of files present.

"You have six minutes." Arrow told her as they scoured through the shelves.

...

While Green Arrow and Laurel continued looking, Felicity kept trying to keep the cameras down so they could work undeterred. Unfortunately, her efforts were for naught, as the system was successfully rebooted, allowing security to regain control of the cameras.

"Uh oh." Felicity let out.

...

"Oliver." Felicity called as he and Laurel kept searching.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Looks like we got the one rent-a-cop with a brain here." She lamented. "If there's a camera nearby, I would recommend hiding."

Arrow bolted behind some shelves, but it was too late. The guards caught his image and proceeded to call the police.

"Starling's finest will be there any minute." Felicity warned him. "You need to get out of there now."

"We're not leaving without that file." Arrow told her rounding a corner to where Laurel was searching. "Laurel, we need to hurry."

"I'm looking. I'm looking." She insisted, searching one of the upper shelves.

She continued scouring through file after file, in a mad, desperate search of the file they desired. Until finally, she found the file she was looking for.

"Wait!" Laurel called out. "Case number SC43878! This is it!"

Just at that moment, the SWAT team burst in the room.

"Vigilante!" one of the officers called out. "We know you're in here!"

the SWAT continued flooding into the room as Arrow and Laurel made their way deeper in.

"They're blocking our only way-"

"It's not our only way." Arrow told her. "Get to the east wall and wait for me."

Laurel nodded and made her way to the wall. Arrow then drew an arrow and rounded a corner to face the SWAT team. He fired the arrow at a shelve, which contained a flash bang that blinded the officers. Arrow then bolted to the all where Laurel was waiting for him as he dodged the barrage of bullets being fired at him. Once he made it to the wall, he shot an arrow at the glass window, shattering it. He then bolted towards Laurel, grabbed her, and the two of them jumped out the window, riding down on a grappling arrow. Once they landed, Laurel was quick to open the file, only to discover that the file was completely empty.