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Enjoy chapter two:

Chapter Two

Felicity changed into cargo pants and a long sleeved shirt before they left. They drove the hour to the apartment complex and parked around the corner and a good distance away. Helena pulled her motorcycle up next to the van (mobile command center!) and they regrouped to work out a plan.

Unfortunately Diggle's prediction had been right. The building was a damn fortress.

It took them nearly ten minutes to figure out a way to approach the chain link fence.

The camera set up had Felicity swearing vehemently, whoever had put them up had known what they were doing. There weren't so much blind spots, as a second before another camera picked up the angle. Roy was the smallest and did some swearing of his own as he vaulted and somersaulted his way through the grid. He managed to place his bug on the camera though and it only took her a few minutes to hack into the feed.

Only to discover that the people who had set up the security system were really smart, because they hadn't put the internal cameras on the same network. They still didn't have eyes inside and this time Oliver joined her in swearing.

Diggle winced from where he and Helena were standing outside the van, with the building plans spread out on the floor of the van in the open doorway. "We knew this wasn't going to be easy." He pointed out.

Helena crossed her arms. "I am not going in blind." She declared. "You want me to help you with an insane rescue mission, where you're not even sure if your target is still alive, let alone inside that building? Fine. But I draw the line at going in blind."

Oliver glared at her over his shoulder. "We have the building plans." He bit out.

"Yes, from last year when the city foreclosed. But we know they don't own it anymore." She gave him a pointed look. "You can do a lot in a year."

Oliver turned back to Felicity. "Tell me you can get us eyes inside." He said.

Felicity shook her head. "Not without hacking the internal network and I need someone inside for that. I need something I can trace back to the source."

Roy leaned in from the front seat of the van. "What about satellites?" he asked. "Can't we like, look through walls for heat signatures or something?"

Felicity raised an eyebrow. "Do you have a satellite you've been hiding from me?" she asked Oliver.

Oliver chuckled, "Afraid not." he said. "What do we know?"

Felicity pulled up the building on her screen. "At this point, not much." She said. "Electric chain link fence surrounding the complex, a lot of cameras but no visible guards outside. Open courtyard structure from the fence to the building. No discernible movement inside." She shrugged. "It's not much to go on."

"It's nothing." Helena corrected pointedly.

Oliver growled in frustration. "Diggle, what about you?"

Diggle gestured at the plans in front of him. "Four story building, mostly unfinished. The building has two main entries, plus two fire exits and a basement. According to the plans there are no inner walls on the third and fourth floor. It only has the central staircase, there are elevator shafts, but they never put them in."

"So, the basement is our best bet." Oliver concluded.

Diggle nodded. "They were going to put the apartment storage spaces down there. They only got half way done, but that's still a lot of little rooms. Perfect place to keep someone."

Helena scoffed. "The basement is also a kill box." She said. "It only has two entrances. One from the main hall in clear view from the staircase and one that comes up on the west side of the building in full view of three cameras." She pointed at the plans. "If we go in one end, they'll be waiting for us to come out the other one. And if we double back we still have to clear the courtyard, not to mention the fence."

Oliver narrowed his eyes. "Then we take everyone out, before we extract Walter."

Helena glared at him. "We don't even know how many people are inside or where they're located. We don't even know if your stepfather is actually in that building."

"Yeah, seriously." Roy added. "I thought there'd be twelve guys lurking around, but we've seen nothing so far."

"Hey guys?" Felicity interrupted, "I've got a Wi-Fi signal coming from the building."

Oliver quickly leaned in to look over her shoulder. "Can you hack it?"

"Already working on it." Felicity replied.

"That's actually a good point." Diggle said, pointing at Roy. "We have no idea what they're using the building for. Brickwell's emails talked about a security detail, but he only sends his guys in every three weeks."

"Probably to deliver or pick up a shipment and guard it during transport." Helena said.

"What kind of shipment needs twelve guys?" Roy asked.

"Drugs." Diggle suggested. "Maybe illegal weapons."

"More importantly, if the security detail is here for whatever they're transporting, then why do we think Walter is here?" Helena asked. "You said Brickwell bought lasers and sensors. That's an awful lot of security to guard one guy."

"I don't think it was for Walter." Oliver said. "We know this isn't Brickwell's building, whatever they're doing here, his job is to provide security. What we got off the emails is that they moved Walter here recently."

Diggle nodded. "It looked like they're constantly moving him. A couple of weeks at a secure location and then on to the next."

Roy cleared his throat. "Okay, maybe this is obvious to everyone else, but I'm the new guy, so." He shrugged. "Is no one wondering why this guy is still alive?" he glanced around at everyone. "What's the point of kidnapping someone and not asking for a ransom. I mean, the guy is worth a couple of million bucks easy. Why keep him like this for months?"

Helena frowned. "Leverage." She said as she glanced at Oliver. "Against someone else."

Diggle winced. "That's not a long list." He said. "It's pretty much just one person."

Oliver glared at them. "Walter was looking into dangerous things and the wrong people found out. That's what got him abducted."

"Ohhh." Roy gave a low whistle. "Sensitive subject." He muttered.

Helena rolled her eyes. "If he was looking into dangerous things they would've just killed him. Tortured him first maybe, to find out what he knew and if he told anyone. But there would be no point in keeping him hostage for over a year."

Felicity froze and the distinct lack of the sound of keyboard keys being hit was immediately noticeable.

Oliver turned around and took in her rigid posture. He stepped over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey?" he said softly.

Felicity swallowed and shook her head. Now was not the time. There was a soft beep from her computer.

"I'm in." She said, effectively ending the discussion.

Oliver leaned down to look over her shoulder. "In, where exactly?" he asked.

Felicity pulled up the directories and began sifting through the files. "Don't know yet."

"Okay," she heard Helena say quietly. "What was that?"

Diggle's voice was equally soft when he answered. "If they questioned Walter to find out if he told anyone what he knew, than he didn't break."

"How do you know?" Helena asked.

Diggle's voice was hard. "Because the only person he told was Felicity."

Felicity couldn't see Helena's reaction to that, but she heard Diggle swing himself up into the van and step up behind her as well to look at the screens. Oliver squeezed her shoulder reassuringly and she turned her attention back to the information on the screens.

Oliver leaned down next her ear. "He's alive Felicity and he's in there. We're gonna get him out." He said softly.

She nodded and tried to focus. "I've got an inventory list." She said, as she clicked it open.

"Sweet." Roy said, as he squeezed through the gap in the front seats to join Oliver and Diggle. "Drugs or weapons?"

"Neither." She said as she peered at the screen. "Art."

"Hmm. Counterfeit art." Oliver corrected.

"That's… Anticlimactic. " Roy said.

Helena pulled herself up into the van. "Fakes of paintings and sculptures can be worth a lot of money." She said.

Diggle frowned at the screen. "This is all being stored on the first and second floor." He said. "We still don't know what's in the basement."

"And we still don't know where the guards are stationed either." Helena reminded them pointedly.

"If they're using the floors above ground for storage, then they might have three or four guys up there. The rest will be in the basement." Oliver reasoned.

"That's a guess." Helena said irritably.

"Best we've got." Oliver retorted.

"Does no one else think that this is a lot of security for some fake paintings and statues?" Roy asked. "I mean, there's gotta be something we're missing."

Diggle nodded. "They're doing something else in the basement that's worth all the precautions." He agreed.

Oliver considered them for a moment. "Whatever it is, it doesn't change the plan." He said. "Helena you clear the building above ground. Diggle and I will take the basement. Roy, you've got the courtyard. Anyone who isn't us comes out, you stop them."

"Wait." Helena snapped. "We don't even know how many people are in there."

"Twenty-one." Felicity declared, as she skimmed over the screen. "Brickwell's twelve guys, six standard in the building and three others on undisclosed guard duty."

"Guard duty?" Oliver repeated. "As in Walter?"

"Maybe?" Felicity said hesitantly. "It doesn't say. But I've got the roster here and it says twenty-one people, but I've got twenty-two MRE's."

"What are…?" Roy began.

"Food." Diggle cut in. "Ready to eat food."

Felicity highlighted a section on the screen and sat back in her chair. "Judging from the things on this inventory list, I think I can make an educated guess as to what they're doing in the basement."

"What?" Oliver asked as he looked at the screen. "Paper?" he asked. "For the fake paintings?"

"Oh man." Diggle gave a wry laugh. "Please tell me green ink isn't on that list."

Oliver's eyes widened as realization dawned. "They're counterfeiting money." He said.

"Damn," Roy said. "That twelve guy security detail is making a lot more sense."

"They're going to be professionals." Diggle declared. "Skilled fighters and proficient at weapons."

"Brickwell's guys definitely, and the three on Walter probably." Oliver agreed. "But the other six are the counterfeiters, they might not be such a threat."

"No way all six are engineers." Diggle argued. "At least two are guards."

Helena huffed in annoyance. "Let's assume all twenty-one are armed and dangerous, and act accordingly."

"Or." Diggle said slowly. "We wait." He gave Oliver a considering look. "Brickwell only sends his guys in every three weeks. This is when the place is most heavily guarded. If we wait for them to take the shipment and leave, we go from twenty-one to nine."

"No." Felicity said harshly and silence fell in the van as she got up and turned to face them. "Walter is in there. We know it. We actually have a viable lead." She glanced around at them and saw they weren't convinced. "They move him every couple of weeks. For all we know they might move him again tomorrow."

"I get it." Oliver told her reassuringly. "But we're talking about cutting down the amount of people in there by half."

"Yeah, but we're not." Felicity said anxiously. "Brickwell may only send his people in every three weeks, but going by what I have now, he's not the only one."

Diggle frowned at her. "What are you talking about?"

Felicity waved at the screen. "The roster." She explained. "There are always the six standard guys, and other people come and go collecting the art. I'd need more time to see if I can figure out if there's a pattern to their schedule, but I skimmed it and it doesn't look like there are ever less than ten guys in there." She turned to Diggle. "And that's not counting the three on Walter."

"That's still better than twenty-one." Helena pointed out.

"Except we don't know when that'll be, or how long before someone else shows up. And we don't know for how much longer they're keeping Walter here either." Felicity argued. "Right now, we know what we'll be facing. After this, anything is possible and we really would be going in blind."

"We?" Helena scoffed. "I don't see you going in there."

"Okay, enough." Oliver said, as he leveled a warning look at Helena. "The four of us can take on twenty guys." He continued. "Walter's been held prisoner long enough. We're not leaving him there a day longer."

Helena scowled. "You're talking about going into a building that we have no confirmed floor plans for, to face a group of armed and likely highly trained professionals, who could be stationed pretty much anywhere inside the building."

"Yes." Oliver agreed. "But those people are there to guard the money. Walter is not their priority. They'll probably assume we're trying to steal from them."

Diggle considered him. "That might actually help us." He said. "If we can get everyone's attention focused on us and the cash; Helena and Roy can get Walter out unnoticed."

"Oh hey, so I'm not just guarding the courtyard then?" Roy exclaimed happily. "Let's do this!"

Helena glared at them. "Alright then," she said icily. "Let's go set their pile of fake money on fire." She turned and stalked to the doors, jumping lightly out of the van.

Roy stared after her. "She just got kinda scary right there." He muttered.

Diggle patted him on the shoulder. "You have no idea." He said, as he directed him outside. He grabbed the box with the head-cams and ear-buds and then followed Roy out, leaving Felicity and Oliver alone in the van.

Felicity released a long breath and sagged back against the console.

Oliver grimaced slightly. "You alright?"

Felicity nodded shakily. "Thank you, for going in now." She said. "It might be easier if we wait, I get that. But he's so close and I just can't stand,-" she broke off helplessly.

Oliver nodded. "I understand." He said quietly. "Every day on the island was hell. And if I could've gotten off there sooner, even just a day. I would've done anything."

Felicity met his eyes. "You didn't have anyone looking for you." She said softly. "And all Walter had is me. I'm the only one that knew what he was doing. And it's been nineteen months and five days." She balled her hands into fists in frustration. "He's been alone all this time, thinking that no one was looking for him. That no one was coming. And I can't even imagine what that feels like." She shook her head. "I don't want him to go through that any longer."

Oliver stared at her for a long moment, something in his eyes she couldn't decipher. "You kept count." He finally said quietly.

Felicity snorted indelicately, running her hands over her face, rubbing at her aching eyes. "I can't stop." She admitted.

Oliver jerked a nod. "After today you can." He said. He managed a tight smile before he reached for his bow and quiver and left the van, slamming the doors securely shut behind him.

Felicity resumed her seat, turning the audio up on the ear-buds and switching on the head-cams. Diggle and Helena were already wearing theirs and she quickly tagged their feeds with their names.

"So," Roy said, as he secured his cam. "Is no one else wondering how we're going to get past the electrified fence?"

Oliver's cam clicked on. "I don't think we need to be subtle." He said as he inserted his ear-bud. "Felicity we online?"

Felicity put on her headset. "Cams and audio are up." She declared.

"When you say 'not subtle'." Diggle said apprehensively, as they began to make their way to the complex.

"I'm thinking grenade." Oliver said and Diggle groaned.

Felicity quickly scanned the directories on the internal network. "Guys." She said. "I think I can turn off the fence from here."

"Nice." Diggle exclaimed. "What about the cameras? Any luck getting eyes inside?"

"No." Felicity said. "But I do have the external feed. I can loop that so they won't see you guys coming."

"What about the lasers and motion sensors and all that." Roy reminded them.

Felicity shook her head, even though they couldn't see her. "Probably on the same network as the internal cameras. I don't have access through this connection."

"Well if we trip something in the courtyard and they don't see it on the external cameras, they might think it's just a stray cat or something." Roy suggested.

"Unless they've got some of those twenty-one guys stationed as lookout." Helena muttered darkly.

They made their way over to the complex in silence. "Okay Felicity, any closer and we'll be in range of the cameras." Oliver said.

Felicity started the loop. "You're clear on the external cameras."

"Weapons check." Oliver said as he glanced around. "Everyone good?"

At their affirming nods he turned back to face the building. "Roy, you take the west exit to the basement and wait for our signal to breach. Helena, take the back and the clear the top floors. Diggle and I are taking the basement from the main entrance."

He touched his hand to the ear bud. "Felicity if you see anything on the external cameras, you can redirect Roy. We'll improvise if we have to."

Felicity nodded. "Got it. The fence is clear."

Oliver gripped his bow. "Let's go."

Felicity bit her lip as she watched them make their way to the edge of the complex and quickly scale the fence. She kept her eye on the hacked feed, hoping they could make it inside unnoticed. Roy and Helena split off and made their way to their designated entry points, while Oliver and Diggle waited a moment at the fence.

The monitors came to life as an alarm blared and Felicity swore. "We've tripped a motion sensor!" she said.

Oliver and Diggle began to make their way to the front entrance. "Helena you in position?" Oliver asked.

"At the back entrance in ten seconds." She replied.

"Diggle and I are coming in, we're going to try and draw their fire." Oliver said. "When they reveal their position take them out."

"Understood; count it."

"Breach in, five, four, three, two, ONE."

To be continued