Meanwhile Roy had to deal with a locked office door, taking a step back he balanced himself and kicked it open. He ducked as a bullet flew over his head. Rolling on the floor to make himself a smaller target, Roy loosed an arrow and knocked the gun out of Flint's hand. He sprung back onto his feet and met Flint with a nocked arrow.

"Matthew Flint" he growled.

"Dammit, the sidekick!"

...

Diggle had knocked out the four guards and the driver when a second truck barraged towards him nearly running Digg over. "Guys, there's another truck leaving the garage, I'm in pursuit" Diggle told them, but the information was mainly directed at Roy, and he knew what to do with it.

"Where's the truck going?" He asked Flint.

The manager scoffed, scowling at Roy even though he had surrendered. "I'm not telling you a thing, kid". Between the two partners, it seemed Flint was the braver one.

It's really annoying when they don't cooperate he thought, releasing the arrow that shattered the window behind Flint to reiterate that he wasn't fucking joking.

"Answer the question. WHERE?"

...

Half a dozen of Skinner's goons were shooting at Oliver and he needed to get to his bike across the parking lot.

He loosed arrows at them, disarming and incapacitating three armed men, but they were gaining on him. Two got close; he swept their feet from under them and then punched the last one in the shoulder with an arrow. The area had no coverage other than a few slim lamp posts and low walls. He started towards one when four men attacked him from his side.

Instinctively, he ducked beneath a punch; his hand reached and twisted the gun out of the attacker's wrist. While holding on to his arm, he spun and roundhouse kicked another in the gut, before returning and punching first guy in the throat.

There was another gun waving in his face, he held the upper and lower limbs of his bow and slammed the grip up the goon's chin. Oliver brought his leg down on his forearm, the gun flying out of his hand. He heard the scuff of feet and sensed another henchman sneaking up on him, but as he spun to face the man—

There was a flash of blonde hair, he saw a familiar bo staff spinning, and with a single strike the Canary whacked the henchman unconscious. And with that, the fight was over.

Momentarily in shock, he just stared at the assassin he thought he would never see again. Sara went to perch on a low wall, her left hand placed casually on her hip and her staff resting across the back of her neck. Everything about her was the same, head to toe. He thought he must be imagining things, but then she spoke.

"Don't look so surprised, I haven't been gone that long" Sara smiled enigmatically at him.

"Is that Sara?" Felicity asked excitedly, he forget she could hear everything. He immediately disconnected it. To Felicity this was just Sara, an honorary member of their team, an old friend. But seeing her perched on the wall, having come out of nowhere was the first truly unexpected and surprising event to have occurred in his nightlife in months, and that was saying a lot. Oliver treaded cautiously here; after the island, the League was Sara's salvation and being freed from it meant she had a choice to go back or remain in Starling, and she chose the former.

It was five months since he last saw her and he still couldn't wrap his head around her reasoning for re-joining the League, but maybe it was just him being attached to the Sara he'd lost on the island.

They'd gone through the same experience of pain, loss, and survival, and when she re-appeared in Starling, he'd found comfort in that familiarity. But whatever happened after the freighter had changed her, the lessons they took from their years away were completely different. Trying to make her follow in his footsteps had been unwise, but he wasn't sure whether he would ever be content with what she ended up choosing as her destiny. He wanted to find the light within him, but she wanted to embrace the darkness, it was what made them polar opposites in some respects, and apparently he was just going to have to deal with that.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded, unable to contain his forcefulness, she was still a good person but being an international assassin meant her morals were somewhat in the grey zone.

It didn't bother Sara though; she gave a noncommittal shrug, "I have business in town".

"League business?" He asked not bothering to disguise his disapproval.

"Maybe" was all she replied, narrowing her eyes at his tone, "I was in the neighbourhood and thought you might need my help, you're welcome by the way" she snarked.

Oliver wasn't about to thank her, he could've handled the henchman on his own.

"But enough about me how's the rest of the team?"

"Good" he said simply. Sara jumped onto the concrete and twirled her bo-staff, smirking.

"Finally ask Felicity out on a date?"

"We—what?"

It took him a few seconds to register her words, shocked at her blunt statement.

"Don't tell me you haven't been thinking about it" she teased playfully. Oliver tensed, he was never one to discuss his feelings and he was definitely not going to have this conversation with his ex.

Diggle's and Roy's chatter over the comms caught Oliver's attention, he wanted to quiz her on why she was in Starling or merely ask how she was doing, but as it was, he had time to do neither.

"Can't talk right now, I have an arms deal to stop."

Sara scoffed, "sheesh, chill out, you've been crossing pages off the list, Ollie; this is just another day in the job. I'm glad everything's been working out for you".

At her words he softened his stance, they had mutual respect for one another and he knew she would never harm the city or anyone close to them, whom he did not trust however, was her…employer.

He gave a slight nod to her, "it was nice to see you again Sara, stop by the Foundry if you're 'business' doesn't keep you too busy".

"Will do. Good Luck."

Once he reached his bike, he gave a passing glance to where they met, but she was gone as if he really had imagined her. Who knew if they'd ever see each other again?

...

Oliver's comm had gone off for a few minutes and Felicity didn't like being not clued in, when it blinked to tell her he was back online, she immediately voiced her complaint.

"Hey, you cut me off, what did Sara say?"

"She says hi" he said quickly and changed the subject. "Felicity where's that truck?"

"Flint says it's heading south out of town" Roy said as he landed on the ground after the interrogation. Following the window-shattering incident, Flint fessed up.

"Felicity?" Oliver asked, requiring confirmation as he started his bike.

"Flint's not lying; it's on 82nd Street south-east bound".

As Digg checked in, the sound of gunfire rang loudly into all their ear pieces.

"A little help you guys, I'm getting shot at!" He growled; trying to balance the wheel with one hand, dodge bullets, swerve left and right to avoid incoming cars and fire his own gun. The gunmen had military rifles that shot rounds of infinite bullets, and all he had was a lonely glock to fend them off.

"We're on our way."

82nd Street 20: 17 PM PST

Felicity monitored the trackers on the archers and the soldier, "Do you like Italian?" Oliver asked over the comm randomly.

"What?" Why on Earth was he talking about food preferences right now?

"Italian, everyone likes Italian right?" He repeated as if they were having a normal conversation face to face.

"Oliver you're in the middle of a high speed chase" she reminded him.

"I'm multitasking".

The two archers were speeding down the road; it didn't take long for them to see Diggle following closely behind a large black truck. The truck's back doors were flapping ajar; two men with rifles were crouched in the compartment and were shooting at the solider. John, upon seeing his back-up arriving slowed down slightly and stayed on the right side of the truck, as Oliver drove in beside him.

"Open the door!" The Arrow called, he didn't have time to think over the crazy request as he opened the passenger door. Oliver reached up and grabbed onto the door frame, swinging onto the seat, his bike discarded; toppling across the sidewalk.

"Hey Digg" he greeted as if it was Sunday morning brunch.

John's jaw clenched, the military taught him to control his emotions in times of distress, but this team had ways of making him lose it. "Of course Oliver, make yourself comfortable" But he didn't have a chance to finish his rant as the hero went to the back of the van and opened the sun window, thereafter climbing onto the roof of the van. "Get closer to the truck!"

Don't tell me he's going to do it, Digg thought, driving the van parallel to the truck, Oh he's going to do it. The Arrow leapt and latched onto the truck's roof and then pulled himself up.

"There's a roadblock incoming" Felicity reported.

"Oh, my God!" She screamed as bullets flew upwards out of the roof of the truck, chasing after Oliver as he sprinted to the front.

Roy used two well-aimed flechettes to immobilise the riflemen, but he did miss a few times though as some punctured the back-right tire, deflating it rapidly.

Diggle cursed in fury as the truck lost control sending Oliver flying off of it, "Roy! Don't shoot the tires while Oliver's on the goddamn truck!"

"I didn't mean to-"

The Starling Archer dangled on the side of the truck, gripping with his life before he could become Arrow pancake. With both hands he tugged himself back onto the roof before a passing car could knock him off like a fly on a windshield.

"I'm fine" he growled, feeling a tinge of guilt at causing Felicity worry.

He continued to the driver compartment and dodged a bullet that fired through the roof. He held onto the window frame and swung his legs in, kicking the driver and punching the passenger unconscious. If he hadn't torn his gaze from them he would've surely missed what he saw next.

His stomach lurched as the concrete construction roadblock rushed to meet him. Somehow his hands found the steering wheel; he slammed the brakes and turned the wheel a sharp right. The tires shrieked from the friction and he could feel the weight of the large attached container tipping over.

The truck skidded to a halt and he let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

The Foundry, the Glades, 21: 29 PM PST

When Oliver walked into the Foundry, Felicity stormed to him. "What on Earth did you think you were doing?" The IT girl demanded hotly, flinging her arms up.

"Why would you jump off the roof of a speeding vehicle onto the roof of another speeding vehicle while men shoot bullets at you?! I was half-expecting Arrow-road kill!"

He gestured to his general person, and then held out empty hands, "Not a scratch".

She huffed and pursed her lips, "I asked you to be careful" she reminded coldly, her initial anger simmering.

He sighed and titled his head slightly to her, "I was...relatively" he added to her annoyance. It was not the time to be teasing her but he couldn't help it, he was in a good mood, besides she kind of looked…interesting when she was mad at him. Felicity shouldered passed him and sat back at her computer. The team looked at him, waiting for the debriefing.

"Good work tonight everyone".

Diggle snorted, "except for that stunt Roy pulled".

"Hey, it was a moving target and I missed, in the end, it stopped them from shooting at you didn't it?" Roy snapped earning himself a grudging glare from the soldier. Neither wanted this to move over the threshold and into an argument, yet both felt the need to go into defensive mode.

Oliver waved his hand dispassionately, "Don't worry about it" he assured his protégé, "you're new to this and mistakes will happen. Tonight was a victory."

"The night's still early" John said.

Needing to work off some energy after that almost-confrontation, Roy swiped his bow off the table, "I'm going on patrol".

"Have fun" Oliver called to him. He glanced at the remaining team members putting their belongings away for the night. He went and got his suit from that afternoon, having no other clothes in the lair, and changed as well.

After Oliver changed, Felicity walked to the two men in the room. "So how's Sara?" She wanted to know.

"She looks good."

Apparently this was news to John, "You met Sara?"

"She's in town, but wouldn't tell me why." And that was all he wanted to say concerning the matter, in fact, it was all he got from her. John seemed to understand this and moved on to more important questions.

"What happened with Skinner? Grant's still in lock up at the station under murder charges."

"Flint and Skinner killed Ellis Smith; we need to prove Grant's innocence." At that notion Felicity suddenly returned to her computers and started searching for something. John saw the look Oliver gave him and took the hint to give them some space.

Oliver approached the blonde and rested one hand on the desk. He licked his lips, mustering the apology by letting some of his pride slip. "I'm sorry I made you worry" he managed to say feeling a weight lighten in his chest.

Felicity pushed her glasses up her nose and sighed exasperatedly, "yeah could you stop doing that?" She softened her gaze at the earnest expression on his countenance.

"It's alright Oliver. We stopped them and that's all that matters."

He shook his head in disappointment, "not yet, they framed Ted Grant for Ellis Smith's murder—"

"I actually have a solution for that" said Felicity, a smile tugging at her lips and inadvertently at his own too. She clicked 'play' on a sound file.

"You framed Ted Grant for the murder of Ellis Smith!"

"Smith knew! But we didn't want him to die! We misjudged the potency of the poison, and Ted, he found out, we had to—"

With a triumphant grin spreading ear-to-ear, she folded her legs and stopped the sound clip. "I recorded the whole thing".

A little surprised, his eyes widened, "our comms can do that?"

"I tweaked them a little bit, so now they can. Give this to the police and Ted Grant is exonerated…" She ceased talking when Oliver sighed and leaned his head back to look at the ceiling; he was chuckling to himself. Out of all the cubicles I could've walked into, I walked into hers, if I believed in luck that's what I would've called it.

"What?" She asked in confusion, not finding the situation humorous.

He returned his attention to her and leaned in closer. She nearly edged away because of the abruptness of his movement, but she stayed where she was.

"You never fail to impress me, you know that?" He whispered staring at her; it was something he thought she needed to know.

"No I didn't" she said.

Oliver made an honest-to-God smile, "You do, and often, you're amazing". He knew he was already too close, any closer and he probably wouldn't be able to control himself...

She blushed and held his gaze, "you've never mentioned that before".

The trance ended when Oliver heard Diggle loudly zipping his bag, half of him wanted to shove the solider out the door as fast as possible, but the other half knew there was still something he needed to do, even if it would hurt him and his friend. "I need to talk to Digg alone, do you mind…?" He trailed off as she glanced at John then back at him, and nodded.

"No" she whispered. He retreated reluctantly from her so she could stand.

"See you tomorrow. Bye John".

Diggle saw her leaving and waved goodbye as she shut the door.

Oliver swallowed, gathering his courage; he stuffed his hands into his trouser pockets as if that gave him nerve—or protection, considering what he was about to say to the ex-solider.

"How's Lyla? I forgot to ask earlier." He began casually, desiring to remain reasonably calm throughout the conversation.

John snickered. "She's doing great. But I'm absolutely hopeless at predicting what kind of mood she'll be in. First it's" here he imitated a whiny demanding voice "'John, you can't do anything right, go away'", then it's, "get me ice cream, now!"'

"Is it a boy or a girl?"

His friend smiled in a surge of happiness, "it's a girl." To see the soldier overjoyed by the thought of his unborn child touched an odd, unexplored, fatherly heart string inside Oliver.

He had to return that smile, even though his stomach was flipping over on itself. "I'm happy for you, and with the patience and guidance you've shown, I'm absolutely sure you'll be a great father, who will be there for his daughter. Always."

John's smile faltered, "Are you hinting at something here, Oliver? Is that why you told Felicity to leave?"

There was no turning back now.

Oliver hardened his gaze, "I can't have you in the field anymore."

At first Digg thought it was a joke, "Are you kidding me?"

"You're starting a family of your own. This job puts you at risk every day. Tonight you were in a high-speed car chase and got shot at multiple times, if one of those bullets had hit you—"

As it hit Diggle that Oliver was completely serious, he interrupted his boss, and not without growing frustration. "I don't need to be told how to do my job Oliver. As for the risks? I'm fully aware of them, Lyla knows them, and she understands. I never went into this blindly".

"Yes." He agreed, "But—I have to ask you to leave."

Digg's voice rose in volume, "This team started with you and me."

With that reminder Oliver almost retracted his words; he bit his lip and looked at the ground. He knew this was going to be hard, but he did not anticipate it to hurt as much as it did.

He hated arguing with Diggle, nevertheless he steeled himself and carefully told his friend; "I'm sorry John; I know you won't leave on your own. This is the only way."

John's hand was in a fist, for a moment he thought his partner was going to punch him. "You're making a mistake Oliver, what makes you think this is the best call for the team? For this city? I'm not the one who's in direct danger it's always been you."

"You've had my back for the past few years, and I—"

And John Diggle could not contain his anger anymore. He was normally a level-headed guy but this was pushing him off the edge. He invaded Oliver's personal space and stabbed a finger at him shouting loud enough that his voice echoed in the Foundry's rafters.

"Damn it Oliver! You would be dead ten times over if it wasn't for me! I told you once, that you were fighting a war; you wouldn't have beaten Malcolm if it wasn't for me. You wouldn't have survived or won if it wasn't for every single person on this team. You would still be a killer!"

His outrage intimidated him a little, but he didn't show it. The calm façade he'd held, cracked and he ended up shouting too;

"There is no more war to fight, Diggle!"

Several emotions passed over the soldier's countenance; rage of course, then shock, and then finally disbelief, complete and utter disbelief.

Shaking his head, John step away from the archer and snatched his bag. He about to leave but not before looking over his shoulder and fixing a stony stare on him, then saying;

"You're a damn fool if you think that."