"Life is a game board. Time is your opponent. If you procrastinate, you will lose the game. You must make a move to be victorious." ~ Napoleon Hill

. . .

Amanda Waller stared at Lyla Michaels as she pondered her response. The world was Waller's chessboard and she was a very serious person when it came to her precise moves and her secrets. Killing one person and making it look like it was gang related could bring her the attention and loyalty of a solider that she needed to complete missions in a part of the world while in other areas, knowing everything she could about everyone in the world could help her bend the will of someone else to be in her employ.

"Oliver Queen and my husband…they need closure when it comes to Felicity Smoak," Lyla answered after some time of silence. Her voice was even and filled full of emotions.

Lyla's marriage, or rather, remarriage to John Diggle had not been a highlight for Amanda. She preferred for her agents to remain single. She didn't care who they had dalliances with, but she required their absolute loyalty and commanded the bulk of their time and energies. They didn't need to be distracted in the field. It was why she'd offered Lyla the position she'd offered her. A child first and then marriage. Michaels was a good agent and Waller didn't want to loose her, so she'd changed Lyla's position within ARGUS.

"Are you absolutely sure about that?"

"Yes."

"What if the information could threaten your relationship with Mr. Diggle?" Waller questioned.

She watched as Lyla's face changed as she seemed to be considering it. "I don't know anything about Felicity. Are you saying that ARGUS—"

Waller wondered if she was putting together the pieces. Lyla Michaels had been a part of ARGUS for so long. She should not be surprised by what she would find in the file she was requesting access to. "I will say this. I can guarantee you, that if you share the information in that file that everything will change."

"Change?"

"For you. For them. For ARGUS. Everything."

Amanda Waller was sure that normal people would feel like she was being extremely dramatic, but she wasn't. The future of so much depended on Michaels' decision. Waller had been a part of ARGUS for so long. She had secrets within secrets within more secrets. People the world over feared her… They feared her so much that the click of her high heels brought about panic attacks in some places.

She was also very familiar with Oliver Queen. She'd rescued him from the North China Sea and brought him into the fold in Hong Kong. Of course, at the time, he really hadn't appreciated what she had offered him. She was fairly sure that if he really looked back at it, he'd understand that she'd given him life…a career…and a way of survival. Waller knew that Queen wouldn't be the man that he was now if it hadn't been for her. If she hadn't pushed him and trained him the way that she had.

The Arrow.

What he was now. That had been his destiny all those years ago. She'd seen it, even when he was a long haired, spoiled, stubborn, rich boy lost at sea in the middle of hell. Waller knew that they weren't friends, but she didn't need friends. What she needed was assets. Oliver Queen…The Arrow…they were assets to her. She really didn't want to let them go. Lyla Michaels, she had thought, understood how their world worked. How the need of assets worked. She was apparently wrong.

Plans would have to be reworked.

The world that she commanded, it was all a giant chessboard to her. The pawns that she moved into place. Amanda knew now that she was going to have to rethink her strategy and her positionings. It could be done, but it was an imposition. Waller hated to have to rework her plans. It made things…messy. She hated dealing with messy. That was why she had ARGUS…and the people within it that she commanded.

Amanda moved to the computer console and typed in her access code.

ACCESS GRANTED.

Waller took a step back, but could see the screen from where she stood as information and photos popped up and filled the screen. Her arms crossed over her chest as she turned her attention to Lyla's face. It was obvious that this was not what Agent Michaels was expecting.

The Queen's Gambit file had nothing to do with the boat that had gone down in the North China Sea nearly a decade before. It was the code name for an ARGUS operation. The building that it took place in popped up along with two photos.

"ARGUS took Felicity?" Lyla asked a moment later. Her eyes moved from the screen and then to Waller. "Why? She wasn't a threat."

"Felicity Smoak became a threat the moment that Oliver Queen met her," Waller informed her. "She changes the man that he is. It was one thing when it was just your Mr. Diggle, but it became something entirely different when Smoak joined their group. She took the man that I had trained to kill…to do anything for the justice that he sought…and she turned him into someone who left justice in the hands of people." Waller shook her head. "The people out there in the world, the soft ones…like Smoak…they don't understand what it takes to survive in this world… They don't understand the sacrifices…the deaths…all over the world that are made everyday in order to keep the world turning."

"Oliver makes his own decisions—"

"We both know that's not entirely true."

"So…you took her away and hoped that he'd kill people again?"

"No," Waller responded simply. She waited a moment, hoping that Lyla would really consider her words. "I took her away from him because they were getting too close."

"Because they were romantically involved?"

"Exactly."

Lyla just stared at her for a long moment. Waller felt like she could see the wheels turning in her agent's head. "You didn't do anything when John and I got serious…"

"If it was required, I had plans in place," she admitted with no shame. Waller had plans for everything. They weren't just limited to Oliver Queen and Lyla Michaels. Amanda was sure that if someone were to publish all of the 'what if' plans that she had ready to fall into place for various events and reasons that their heads would spin. They would never look at the world the same way.

Lyla just continued to stare.

"Now you know."

"Why didn't you just kill her?"

Waller shrugged. "Even though she wasn't useful in the position within Queen's team, she could possibly be of use to me in the future…"

"With ARGUS?"

"Or with Queen."

"You've kept her…everything…from him…how would he TRUST you?"

She smiled. "I have my ways, Agent Michaels…"

And she did.

Waller truly had plans for everything. She was a unique breed of people when it came to plans and manipulation. "Like I said, now it's up to you. Are you going to keep my secret or are you going to tell Mr. Diggle and Mr. Queen?"

"Are you going to try to stop me?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because your actions will merely be a drop in the ocean as far as I'm concerned," Waller told her simply. "I can adjust my plans to whatever you decide. Now, though, it's up to you…" With that, Waller left…and she let Lyla decide on what she was going to do. Amanda was fairly sure that she knew the outcome of what was about to happen.

Lyla would tell them.

There was no doubt in her mind.

John Diggle had corrupted her agent.

Waller could still adjust for that. Right now, she knew exactly where Oliver Queen and John Diggle were. If Lyla was going to tell them, she didn't think it was going to be right away. Right now, she had time for Lyla to reassess her feelings on it. Now, it was time to look towards Central City and what was happening in STAR Labs.

. . .

TBC…