Chapter 16 Standoff

Oliver

As soon as he got to the Foundry he got to work. Sitting in Felicity's chair made him miss her even more but he had to put that aside and find Malcolm. Felicity had programmed the computer with software that all you had to do was type in someone's name and the computer would look for any trace of the person. If this program didn't exist he would have no chance of finding Malcolm before Felicity did. He typed in the name and let the system do the rest.

5 minutes after he started the tracking system Diggle arrived.

"Hey man got anything yet?"

"No I started the program but nothing has come up yet. I don't know how long these things usually take. Hopefully we aren't too late."

They both looked away knowing what that would mean. Lyla had killed before but this would be different. Neither of them were in the right state of mind and the drug was making them do things they wouldn't normally do. This was going after someone out of revenge and anger. which they wouldn't do. Malcolm was a threat but he was a threat they could neutralize without killing, especially now that his plan had failed. Lyla and Felicity would both know that under normal circumstances but something was effecting them making them blood thirsty and out for the kill.

"If we don't find them Oliver this is going to end badly and not just for Malcolm."

"I know man. Felicity is already torn up enough about accidentally killing Slade if she kills Malcolm I think it will destroy her."

Having nothing else to say they both just sat there and waited. A million things running through their minds. So much of this was going to come down to luck. Even if they were able to track him down would they be able to find him in time. Oliver began to doubt everything when the computer finally alarmed, which meant it had found something.

Not wanting to waste another minute they both shot up out of their seats and ran to the computer. The computer only showed one picture but that was all Oliver needed.

"Got him. Let's go."

Felicity

The building loomed into view as they rounded the corner. Lyla slowed to a stop about a block away and put the car in park. They sat there for a minute just staring at the building, the reality of what they were there to do finally hitting them. It didn't look like anybody was stationed outside but that didn't mean they weren't there. The area surrounding the building seemed abandoned and Felicity knew Malcolm had picked this place for its seclusion. He could get away with whatever he wanted out here with no one to stop him. The building appeared to be abandoned but from what she could tell the use of electricity went up about a month ago, probably when Malcolm and Slade started working on their plan.

"So how do you want to handle this Felicity?"

Felicity had it all planned out in her head. She knew Malcolm would have thugs guarding the building and a security system that would be very hard to hack. She would have to disable everything from outside so they could get in. Then Lyla would handle the guards and they would find Malcolm. Finally Felicity would kill Malcolm and end his reign of terror once and for all. The only problem was the lay out of the building could be different from the blue prints she found. They might have to adapt on the fly but she knew they would succeed. They had to.

"You know what we have to do Lyla. We're going to end this. You ready?"

"I'm always ready."

The plan all worked out they both got out of the car and headed towards the back alley of the building. It was cliche but the back entrance was always easier to get through. Less guards and less security cameras. That was their entrance in.

Peering around the corner they saw 2 guards both heavily armed at the back door. Luckily Lyla had brought enough ammunition and a silencer so they wouldn't garner any unwanted attention. Lyla started to move around the corner but Felicity quickly grabbed her arm and said, "wait, I still have to spoof the video feeds so they won't see us coming." She pulled out her trusty tablet and got to work.

The security system Malcolm had installed was state of the art. He must have paid someone a lot of money to install it and run it. But they hadn't factored in Felicity. She could hack anything anywhere. The biggest problem though was that the security system updated constantly so even if she was able to spoof the cameras she would have to do it one at time because by the time she hacked all of them they would have reset themselves. This was going to take longer than she thought but she was still confident they could do it.

She easily spoofed the first camera and gave Lyla the all clear to move in. Lyla moved quickly and stealthily forward while Felicity watched. She hid behind a dumpster and when the guards looked away she fired two shots and both men went down in a heap. Felicity moved from her hiding spot and they both headed for the door.

The door had a keypad that Felicity easily cracked. From what Felicity could tell the electricity use was highest on the 5th floor. Since this used to be an office building each floor had a separate current which told her who was using the most energy. All they had to do was find the stairs and head up there.

As they moved down the hall she continued to spoof the video feeds so for now they were invisible. There wasn't as many guards as Felicity thought there would be so they made their way to the stairwell in no time. Within minutes they were on the 5th floor.

Felicity used her tablet to track where the concentrated use of electricity was coming from and if she was right they were right around the corner from where Malcolm would be. There were no guards at the door so they walked right up.

They could hear voices inside and Felicity knew Malcolm had to be in there.

"You ready for this Felicity?"

This was the point of no return. Once they went in there there would be no stopping what would come next.

"I'm ready."

That's all Lyla needed to hear as she backed up and took one step and kicked in the door. Felicity peaked around the corner as two guards jumped up and were quickly put down by Lyla. She then trained her gun on the main target.

"Malcolm." She tried to keep her voice steady but her whole body was trembling. She didn't know if it was out of fear or adrenaline, probably a combination of both. But as she looked at Malcolm she saw no signs of fear on his face, just a smug look that portrayed that he knew they were coming.

"Felicity."

Oliver

They raced to the building that Malcolm had been tracked to and hoped that they didn't run into any trouble on the way. It was on the outskirts of town and was very isolated so hopefully there wouldn't be any civilians that could get hurt or cops that might try to stop them. Everything was riding on them making it in time to stop Felicity and Lyla.

This wasn't the way to handle Malcolm and he couldn't let Felicity go down this dark path that he had been down plenty of times. She had been one of the major reasons he wasn't on that path anymore. Instead she had brought him to the light and helped him be a better man. He planned on helping her stay on the path of good just like she helped him.

Luckily it was far from the Foundry so they arrived in under 10 minutes. They both jumped out immediately prepared to fight through whatever protection Malcolm had. Heading towards the back entrance they noticed that the guards at the back had already been handled. Felicity and Lyla had already gotten here and were probably making their way to Malcolm.

"Dammit they already are here. What if we're too late?"

"We can't think like that Oliver. We have to keep moving. Just follow the trail of bodies."
Sure enough Diggle was right and they found more bodies as they went. There weren't as many guards as he thought there would be but they didn't really have to worry because Felicity and Lyla had already taken them all out.

The path led them to the stairwell but they had no way of knowing which floor.

"We have no time to search each floor John what are we going to do?"

Dread rushed through both of them at the prospect ahead of them when they heard a shot ring out. They immediately started running up the stairs. From what they could tell the shot had to have come from above the 3rd floor because it wasn't that loud. When they got to the 3rd floor Oliver's gut told him to keep going so he did. Diggle followed right behind with his gun drawn and ready.

Once they hit the 5th floor Oliver saw the door was partially open and he burst right through it. He heard voices immediately and they headed straight towards the voices. He peered around the door and into the room and he saw Felicity, his heart immediately dropped as he yelled, "FELICITY NO!"

Felicity

A Few Moments Earlier

"Don't move Malcolm." Lyla shouted as she trained her gun on him with the barrel aiming straight at his head.

Felicity moved further into the room studying her surroundings. It wasn't that big of a room but it had a bunch of computer monitors with security screens of the building and other areas in Starling City.

"Ms Diggle, Ms Smoak may I ask what is going on here? And without back up I may add. Not very smart of you. How do yo know this isn't a trap?"

"You know exactly why we're here Malcolm. You drugged us and almost made us kill Oliver and John. We're here to make you pay for what you've done and not just to us but to the countless of people you have hurt and killed. We've already taken out your guards and from what I can tell from your security monitors nobody else is coming so it doesn't look like we needed any back up. I think you weren't very smart going back to the same place you held us. You got cocky and now you're going to pay for it." Felicity was so angry and the fact that he seemed so calm made her even angrier. He sat there for a few seconds weighing his options before he finally spoke again.

"Fine. I was expecting Oliver to show up but you two ladies are a nice change. So take me in ladies. I'll be out before you know it I have connections in places you can't even dream of." He grinned while holding his hands out in front of himself, freely given himself up.

She couldn't take it anymore. His arrogance and total lack of fear sent her over the edge. She threw her tablet up against the wall shattering it into pieces. For the first time since they arrived Malcolm actually looked shocked. She walked over to Lyla and grabbed the extra gun she had and pointed it directly at Malcolm.

"Who said anything about taking you in?" A look of confusion passed over Malcolm's face before he quickly regained his composure.

"You don't have it in you Ms. Smoak. Ms. Diggle over here maybe but you no."

"I wouldn't be so sure Malcolm. You pushed me to the brink by making me almost kill Oliver. I don't know what I'm capable of and that's your fault. Whatever happens next is your fault just know that."

She walked up to him and put the barrel right on his forehead. She turned off the safety and prepared to pull the trigger. Malcolm finally began to look worried which spurred some doubt in her mind again. Was this really her? Should she be doing this? If she did this would she be any better than Malcolm?"

"Felicity?" Hearing Lyla broke her out of her trance and the familiar urge to kill came back. She shook any doubt she was feeling away and got back to what she was there to do

"I'm ok let's just get this over with. Any last words Malcolm."

"Yeah just two. DO IT."

He leaned his head into the gun and just smiled. That was all the fuel she needed. The fact that he didn't think she could do just made her want to do it more. Her finger gently tugged on the trigger when the doors burst open and she saw Oliver come through. "FELICITY NO!"