The Glades, Starling City, 12:13 AM PST

Through his binoculars, Roy watched the street corner of the flat building through green night vision. Beside a wall of graffiti depicting a jumble of profane words, was a clogged pipe that emptied onto the sidewalk, not much could fit into it, but a bag of illegal drug money could.

There was no movement, the night was dead. Any minute now. Then he saw what he was looking for; a junkie dressed inconspicuously in a hoodie and walking with a slouchy posture sauntered onto the street across the pipe. He waited a moment, and then walked to it, glancing left and right for unwanted bystanders.

Too bad he didn't look up.

The dealer surreptitiously stuffed the brown bag of cash into the pipe and left as quickly as he'd arrived, but the archer knew he only went to wait in the shadows until his quarry appeared.

He had dropped the cash now he awaited the drugs.

Seconds later a car rolled up to the graffiti wall. From his vantage point he saw a man in the driver's seat, the distributor; at least the one who worked the streets and dealt with the low-level dealers. Finding the dealers was easy, when a drug got city-wide attention-especially Vertigo- it could sell faster than hot cakes, people just throw money at anyone who can get their hands on the stuff.

The distributor exited the sedan, dressed in smart-casual attire, and swiftly exchanged the money for a bag of drugs at the pipe. The red archer knew more about drugs than he would ever admit. Usually dealers would snort half of the bag themselves before selling it for over the market price to their fellow junkies. Then go to the same street corner for more.

Folding his binoculars back into his quiver, Roy sent a tracker arrow onto the car's bumper.

Roy followed the distributor to his next blind drop. Once there, he released another arrow that whirred an inch past the man's ear which made him a jump a foot in the air, it never gets old.

"Make another move, and the next one goes through your skull", he threatened with a booming voice.

The henchman spun around and made a series of false-starts before finding his tongue. "I-I-If you want money—"

"I don't want money, what I want is information." He nocked another arrow. "Who is your supplier?"

The man blinked, trying to articulate a lie. At the moment he feared his employer more than him, but Roy intended to change his perception thus. "I-I—"

"Who?!" He demanded nocking another arrow so there were two on the bowstave aimed at his chest.

"I-I just deliver the drugs and make the drops!" The red archer glared holes into him and he immediately amended his statement. "—he-he ensures we never see him".

The man was interrupted when an arrow pierced the brick wall a hair length above his head.

"I swear!" He wailed, and Roy had to believe him. The red archer used bola arrows to restrain him, once he was floundering on the ground, he bent and retrieved the henchman's keys from his jacket and then went to open the car. The rest of the team needed to be alerted of the recent developments.

"Roy?" Felicity asked when he pressed his comm.

"I found something".

"Go on."

"A supplier, he runs blind drops across the Glades to low-level dealers, that's as far as the drug's gone." Roy looked over his shoulder at the guy on the alleyway ground, the man was middle-aged, looked like he'd never gotten in trouble a day in his life, which made the Team's job even harder.

"These guys are dressed nicely in all-American blue collar attire; they don't fit your average profile of drug dealers." He searched the car and lastly tried the carpeting below the passenger seat, there was a hatch, and within it a pound of white pills, jackpot.

"I got a bag of Vertigo for analysis."

"But who's making it again?" Oliver pressed, impatiently.

"He's not talking, says he's never met the big boss." He slammed the car door shut and preceded to the rooftops, leaving the henchman immobilized and untouched. This whole operation was beginning to get more worrying by the second. "Oliver I think they're getting outside help."

The Foundry, Starling City 12:35 AM PST

"What do you mean?" Felicity asked Roy.

The emerald archer scowled, "It means we have a power vacuum in Starling after all the criminals we locked up. There's no more competition, outsiders are using the opportunity to set up their own empires here in the outfits left behind."

Diggle creased his brows "They've got a lot of guts coming to Starling City." It was true, the Arrow was feared; only those who had the courage and resources could attempt crime in Starling, especially someone who wanted to manufacture Vertigo.

"Whoever's making Vertigo again has made a business deal with the outsiders, to ensure that no one ever has to see his face in case they come into contact with me, in exchange he gives them protection."

"I'm sending you his ID. I'm on my way back" Roy reported and signed off. Felicity received the photo of the supplier's ID, Fred Wallis was his name on the license but she doubted it was legit. She tried to search for who he was anyway.

Having her hair lose across her shoulders got in the way, so she tied it in a messy pony tail to help her concentrate. We're missing something here, she deduced. Felicity recalled the night the Count kidnapped her, his malicious smile and glinting eyes, the memory haunted her still. Before Oliver arrived he'd boasted his accomplishment to her, recited the ingredients that made Vertigo abusers achieve an otherworldly high. Felicity suddenly sat ram-rod straight and her fingers flew across the keyboard as the idea blew up like fireworks in her mind, prompting Oliver and Digg's curiosity. At that instant Roy returned but she was solely focused on her search.

"The DEA tracked the manufacturing of every chemical in Vertigo, except the 10 percent of it that is composed of lysergic acid diethylamide, aka LSD. LSD is composed of diethylamine, and that needs ammonia!" It was staring me right in the face; she produced a map of Starling and pointed to the screen. "There are three chemical plants specializing in the Haber process to make ammonia in Starling. One in the Glades, one on the outskirts of the county, and one beside the abandoned railways."

That was all the information she could uncover, Oliver's apprentice knew the rest.

"Roy?" Oliver asked, needing his protégé's insight, Roy was able to step up to the plate.

The younger man cupped his chin thoughtfully; he eased closer to Felicity and put a finger at a location on the screen. "I'm betting it's the one besides the railways; they'd want to keep production separate from distribution to remain untraceable. Cooking in the Glades is too close to home, cooking on the outskirts is too far in terms of transport costs. The railway is just perfect."

She licked her lips and searched the particular chemical plant.

"This is it, a Lex Corp nitrogen-fixing plant; it has the equipment you would need to manufacture the drug. It closed down after the Undertaking."

Everyone exchanged brief looks, "That's got to be it" Oliver finalized.

"What about the distributors ID?" Roy asked.

Felicity was not looking at Roy but observing Oliver behind him as he went to swipe his bow off the table as she spoke, "It was forged, but facial rec could give us something."

"I'm going" the archer announced.

The tech opened her mouth to heatedly protest but luckily she was not the only person in the lair who thought the Queen's idea was totally hare-brained and mad. Diggle got in the way of his boss' determined strides inciting an iron glare from Oliver. "Hold on, we have no idea how hard you hit your head. And we don't even know what we're walking into."

"And how many times have we had to deal with this Diggle?" He retorted with a barely concealed growl, "I put the Count in an asylum, and his doctor reproduced the drug. I put him in prison and he made the entire city sick. I put him six feet under the ground but he still found way to resurrect himself! I'm going to end this once and for all." Diggle was shoved roughly aside, Felicity went to stand, but Roy sided with Oliver, both archers had their bows in hand ready to go.

"You're not going alone, Oliver" the red archer told his mentor resolutely.

The team was at a stalemate; the oldest members versus the new addition. It could be said that Roy and Oliver were like brothers, but John and Oliver have known one another longer. John and Felicity both knew Oliver and Roy could simply continue without them if they wanted too, and they definitely wanted too.

Felicity looked pleadingly at Diggle, "John, we shouldn't…" she started, but suddenly it was as if she was the only person who wanted to keep Oliver within the four walls of the Foundry, safe and protected even if he didn't need protection.

"Okay, but only for recon" John told the emerald archer, though from the way his jaw clenched it had been hard to bite out his consent.

They nodded in agreement and grabbed the comms in a hurry. Felicity was left standing, trying to understand when everything had gone to hell. Oliver stopped before he ran out to the car park and caressed her face, and she could see the layer of painful nostalgia and exhaustion over his blue irises. He wanted to give her reassurance but she held the hand he had on her cheek, telling him it was not needed even if her heart was hurting. He could not see anything past the phantom of Count Vertigo rising to haunt them once more and she doubted she could do anything to dissuade him.

And then he was gone.

Lex-Corp Chemical Plant, Starling City, 1:17 AM PST

The Starling hero parked his bike below an underpass that went over the railway tracks, foliage and darkness gave him the coverage he needed. He crouched and ran down the rusted tracks towards the fencing that closed off the chemical plant. He sleuthed; two guards protected the loading dock.

"Digg, Roy, how's the perimeter?" Oliver asked his fellows.

"Northeast has five hostiles, changing duty every half hour" Diggle reported.

Roy was currently occupied; he whacked a guard across the jaw and made short work of the other two. He sensed one approaching him from behind, the red archer whirled and with a smirk lodged an arrow through the attacker's shoulder, and the fight was done.

"I'm by the water tanks, took out four" Roy informed.

"So much for 'only recon' huh?" The soldier grumbled, hearing the agreement they'd made being ignored by the younger archer.

"What do these guys look like?" Felicity asked Digg.

"Definitely hired security, but unofficial, could be the mafia the Count's working with" the soldier added.

How the hell had the mafia managed to sneak back in? Oliver questioned. It was not Bratva, they weren't interested in the narcotics business. It was time for him to find out. The fence was electrically charged but a mere word to Felicity got the fence discharged for twenty seconds. He climbed over in an inconspicuous corner just as the charge returned bringing a light hum of electricity through it. He sprinted to the building, and shot an arrow at the fence to draw the attention of the guards as sparks flew on the fencing. He had never planned for this mission to be solely recon, despite John's wishes, but he would try to be as furtive as possible.

Oliver spotted cameras above the loading docks, so he climbed onto the rooftop away from the camera's line of sight and went around to the fire exit.

"The coast is clear, go in" Felicity said as she screened the footage.

The emerald archer walked inside, the walls were sterile white, and so were the lino floors, fluorescent lamps overhang intermittently down the long hall. He gripped his bow tight.

"Two men approaching" Felicity warned.

Turning the corner, two guards went into offensive the moment they spotted him, he had no choice but to engage. They were too close for him to use his bow, as they neared Oliver stabbed one with an arrow, and rounded on the next to kick his knee cap. Several more ran into the hall. Even with his steely determination to find the new Count, the men would never be a match for the Arrow; they were only there to slow him down.

He was numb into the fighting, left and right, bodies fell. He hadn't even broken out a sweat but he was growing irritated, feeling as though he was being played with. Roy and Diggle were fighting their own battles too from the reports floating through his comm.

But as the last man fell, a voice blared through the hall from an overhead speaker.

"Ahem, ahem" the detached voice coughed owning his attention. "If I knew the infamous Arrow was going to pay me an exclusive visit, I would've spruced up."

He needed to know where this was coming from, "Felicity?"

"I can't get the signal, he's bouncing it" she said to her distress.

"Come out and show yourself!" Oliver growled, drawing an arrow.

"Of course, how rude of me, proceed through the door at the end of the hall and I'll be waiting" the voice said with chilled politeness.

"I'm not interested in a deal."

"Deal?" He guffawed as if Oliver had made the most hilarious joke of all. "Mr. Arrow if I made a deal with you, it wouldn't be very profitable for my business now would it?"

He had no idea where to aim his words at so he just shouted to the air, he could hear Felicity tapping frantically on the keyboard, "You expect me to trust you, Count?"

"Werner, Werner Zyrtle." The voice-with-a-name told him confidently. "Can't we have a chat first?" Before Oliver could reply he went onto say, "Aren't you curious how my drug made it's come back?" Werner said as if he was asking why the sky was blue.

The offer was tempting; if he could get close enough to the new Count he could end this. He was treading dangerously here; the door at the end of the hall could be a trap or the enigma behind Vertigo. Either way, he was being watched, running was not an option, the only way to move was forward; he was the Arrow and he would deal with this to the end, NOT run.

With his decision in place, the archer lowered his bow. "Oliver? Oliver, what are you doing?" Felicity demanded, the pitch of her voice going up an octave.

He had to bite his tongue to try and ignore her and remain focused, for if he thought about the IT tech and how much hurt he was putting her through he would never be able to finish this properly. Guilt-ridden he addressed the soldier first, "Digg keep his men busy. I don't want anyone intruding. Felicity, get Roy blueprints. Roy circle around, find a back entrance, and cover me."

"Oliver, no" she pleaded.

"Who's Werner Zyrtle?" He interrupted.

He could hear her gulp as she answered, "He's not in the database, he's not American. I'm checking Interpol—Oliver, please."

"Trust me, Felicity" and with that parting he signed off.

The door at the end of the hall could open to a man, a lab, a chasm, or hell for all he knew but he opened it anyway.

The room was awash in artificial blue light, he saw people in white lab coats, and Oliver raised his weapon, everyone at the lab tables raised their arms in surrender at the sight of the vigilante, dropping all they were doing.

The sound of the chink of glass caused him to spin on his heel, and before him was a man, not in a lab coat, but holding his arms up in surrender too.

"I'm not armed" said he, a middle-aged man, with receding hair and beard, dressed like a mobster in a lose dress shirt and suit. Only then did he notice the classical music playing faintly in the background, Vivaldi, Oliver mused.

"If you would please vacate the premises" said Werner to the chemists, without turning to them, they left in a hurry, almost trampling over one another as this was not a scene they wanted to witness.

Oliver's first impression of the new Count was this; he's not insane. At least not like the previous one was. His eyes flew to search for anyone who would rush at him but he was well and truly alone with the new Count. "We are alone" Werner said, knowing what he was doing.

"Who are you? Why are you making Vertigo again?" He cut to the chase, controlling his anger. The man might not be visually menacing to Oliver, but he was undeniably dangerous if he had the capability to re-start this sort of operation.

"Because the Count is dead" Werner said. He held himself professionally; he might not be insane but there was a manic, perilous aura around him, very unpredictable. He was unlike other criminals Oliver had beaten in previous months, too calm and confident around the Arrow. That only meant one thing; he was holding more cards than Oliver was aware of.

"And Vertigo died with him."

Werner placed his hand is in pockets, there was something sinister about the way the monotonous blue light captured the man's lined features, he eased closer to Oliver. "Something's never die, you for example" he said, almost too low for him to hear. Oliver grew cold all over, the bombing, he thought trying to grasp the bigger picture.

He glared at Werner, "I'm not here to play games, what happens now is very simple. Stop making the drug or die."

Count Vertigo looked offended, "Only two choices? You can't expect me to make it this instant."

The Arrow was nocked within half a second, Werner looked slightly fearful and stepped back, eyeing the end of the arrow head. "Does this narrow down the choices?" Oliver threatened. Werner was unarmed as he had said in the beginning but Oliver did not know the rules of the game Werner was playing with him, anything could happen.

Oliver shouldn't have been surprised with how Werner answered. "Mark Gabriel or Count Vertigo, remember him?" Werner went on, he paused to appreciate the melody of Vivaldi's Four Seasons playing on the stereo, his fingers pressing invisible piano keys, maybe he is insane. The Arrow did not lower his bow, but Zyrtle's initial reaction had passed, he seemed almost comfortable with arrow pointed at his face now.

"The man was half a lunatic and that was before the asylum pumped him with psychotics" he continued, business-like, "while not completely inept to handle the grittier side of the illegal narcotic business; Mark lacked the scientific capabilities to synthesize the formula for Vertigo. Did it ever occur to you that someone else had created the drug, but simply was not involved in selling it?" He boasted.

Werner looked incredibly proud to have created the formula, Oliver's glare deepened.

"You're not working alone in this are you?"

All of a sudden it was as if he was listening to his father discussing his latest financial dealings. "You need connections to form an empire, you should be aware, that I wasn't going to kill you Arrow; in fact, it never crossed my mind. Assassination isn't my forte, but a friend of mine needed you dead, and when his plan fell through he called in a favour. I realized it was a win; win for both of us; I wouldn't have to worry about the Arrow interfering in my plans and neither would he. Isn't it just convenient that you waltzed onto my stage all on your own?" Werner made a little sweeping move with his arm to imitate the centuries old dance.

Oliver tightened the strain on the string, "Unfortunately for you and your friend, you both struck out" he said with below-zero coldness.

Zyrtle's shoulders slumped, "Unfortunately we did" he said disappointedly but he was only mocking, in instants a devilish gleam came to his eyes even though they were black as coal in the blue light, and he said;

"But I have very powerful friends".

Oliver was too late to deflect the dart that pierced his arm.

He hissed and yanked it out, but he could already feel the effects of whatever had gone into his system hit his head. Werner scurried away before Oliver's arrow could hit him, it didn't matter since he missed anyway, I never miss. The worried shouts of his team in his ear were fading away, the room spun.

"I thought you should try the drug out for yourself, it is really quite effective" Werner explained, Oliver could see five of him, one the real Count the others a figment of his imagination. His arms grew weak and sluggish, every arrow he nocked and loosed scattered to the ground somehow. The world slowed down it's pace.

"Are you alright? You look a bit pale" Werner's words echoed, stretched out to multiple syllables, louder until it was all he could hear as if he was inside his head. "Can you hear me? Can you see me? They say the new ingredient brings forth the nightmares locked in the darkest recesses of your mind. Am I in your nightmares?"

The Count's face was not his face anymore, but morphed into a monster observing him, oozing gunge, with demonic eyes with bright whites, he grinned with razors for teeth. The Arrow needed to fight, but he couldn't, he felt drained of his strive, his willpower.

Its okay I don't need to fight, I don't-NO but I need too! I have to get up! I—can't his brain contested with his body. Somehow he was on his knees his vision blurring, the world was shaking as if it had placed in a blender, spinning, spinning and spinning, shaking and shaking.

And standing over him, watching beside the Count, was a blonde woman, and Oliver knew her. That was all he registered before the jaws of his nightmares devoured him.

…

Werner Zyrtle smiled satisfactorily; to see what he had been warned as a 'formidable opponent' and 'unstoppable force' kneel before him, mumbling nonsense about a mother and other unrecognizable names. His associate had left following his orders, he told her he wanted to finish this alone, she was not pleased but he was the boss.

Werner brought up a foot and kicked the Arrow onto his back. He gave a final glance around the lab, it had been a decent area to manufacture his product but it had been temporary from the start. He would have to move the operations to a more permanent location next time if he going to keep up with its growing international demand.

"Disable the fire alarms" he told his men over the walkie-talkie, once that was done, he ordered; "Evacuate the building" and he was not questioned. He stepped over the Arrow who was shaking uncontrollably on the floor, it was almost comical to see the hero suffer. He went to the office desk, taking a dossier of international shipping addresses, Corto Maltese, Markovia, Colombia, and Taiwan. The world would experience his new high. He'd made excellent partners in this business, and he was better at it than he'd anticipated. The only direction from here was up, once he killed the Arrow, in the most poetic way possible.

He went to the lab benches and turned up the gas, then took the thermite from the fume cupboard and scattered the powder around with the metal oxide. Finally, he took out his lighter, he used to smoke but stopped for health reasons, yet he kept the old thing in his pocket. He would leave it behind today, along with his biggest problem; the Arrow, his next problem would be ensuring nobody called him 'Count Vertigo' but that would be handled another time. Now you will die for good, I will make sure the city knows I was the one who killed you, he thought with great self-dignity, the entire criminal elite will owe me for this.

Werner flicked the lighter on and threw it; he was already turning the door handle when the lab exploded in fire.

…

Roy threw the lab door opened; he covered his face as fire licked at him. I'm too late! He cursed, but in a glimmer of luck he could see Oliver in the centre of the inferno, magically untouched but definitely not unharmed. He was already sweating, and his face was hot, there was no way he could go through the flames without burning to a crisp. He turned back down the hall and grabbed a fire hose, he pulled down the water latch, he could feel it gurgling through the hose as he rushed back to extinguish as much of the fire as possible.

A burst of water erupted through the nozzle; Roy used his arm strength and directed it at Oliver's surroundings, quenching the fire. Roy ran to Oliver to find that his mentor was curled on the ground, unresponsive and shivering, his eyes wide open but unseeing.

"Roy! What's going on?" Diggle demanded.

He dragged Oliver under the arms towards the exit, "The drug's in him. Get the med lab ready!"

The Foundry, Starling City, 2:55 AM PST

"Oh God, Oh God" Felicity cried her heart beating so fast it was as if it wanted to fly out of her chest. Diggle helped Roy carry Oliver in; they laid him unceremoniously onto the metal lab table. She pried an eye lid open, his eye balls were rolling and every muscle in his body was lax as if he didn't have a single bone. "He needs proper medical attention! We need to take him to a hospital" normally she would've been against such a drastic measure but desperate times were calling.

"You know that's not an option" Digg shouted at her. They were crowded around Oliver, with John inspecting the ropey burn on the archer's back that had charred through the green leather.

"We're running out of time!" Roy hissed.

"We have to try" John said levelly, trying to reason with her.

She must have looked like a hysterical mess but Felicity did not care, she scoffed and flung her arms up "I certainly don't remember any of us graduating from med school!" She snapped.

"You can help him Felicity" Diggle tried again. Alarmed she pointed a finger at her chest, and gaped at them both.

"Me?"

Oliver started to convulse as if an invisible man was kicking his gut repeatedly and he could not do a darn thing to stop the attacks, his muscles became rigid, and he was jerking.

"He's having a seizure!" Roy said, turning his mentor over onto his side to prevent choking in case he started vomiting. Felicity took a step back and clasped the sides of her head as she watched the horror unfold, he was dying before her eyes, and she didn't know how many more times she could go through watching this. Her mind was racing into darkness, but instantly the idea struck her like lightning.

"Barbiturates!" She exclaimed the others gave her blank expressions which annoyed her beyond reason.

"Barbiturates! Amphetamine, Pentobarbital, or Benzodiazepine! Put it in a syringe! Go!" There was no time to explain the chemical terms, she flapped her wrists urgently urging them to hurry and search the medical stores. Oliver's uncontrolled movements were becoming more violent, she pinned him down by the arms to prevent self-injury but he was ten times stronger than Felicity and she was nearly thrown off of him.

Roy produced a packet of the medicine and Diggle helped him grind the pills to powder form before mixing it to an aqueous form. The soldier was an inch away from injecting the Arrow but she latched onto his wrist.

"Let me" she said, visibly swallowing a ball of queasiness, she hated needles. "Too much and he could die". Felicity tapped the edge of the syringe to remove the air bubble, John went to steady his boss. She was not surprised to find her hand shaking like a leaf, in fact her whole body, but she focused her fear and calmed herself enough to administer the correct non-lethal dosage to Oliver's jugular. There was a 60% chance her estimations were wrong, and she might cost him his life but he would've died anyway. It is a chance I have to take; she thought as the last drop of clear liquid disappeared inside of him.

As if a blanket of calm had been spread over the hero, Oliver's limbs relaxed and his chest rose and fell at a normal pace. Diggle checked his pulse. Felicity dropped the syringe onto the table and held onto her knees, gulping deep breaths, Roy was doing the same.

"His heart rate is stable" John said to all of their reliefs.

"What was the stuff you gave him?" Roy asked.

"Psychoactive drug to stop the seizure, it's a mild sedative. But God knows what other damage the Vertigo might've caused".

Diggle nodded at her solemnly, "You did good, Felicity."

Then why do I feel as though I've done nothing good at all? "I wouldn't have needed to do anything if you'd listened to me" the blonde snapped. From the looks of guilt they held she regretted the words, and clasped her hand over her mouth.

"Sorry, I'm a little bit…" she massaged her temples trying to settle her frazzled nerves. Diggle understood.

"It's late, and tonight was rough on all of us. Maybe Oliver was right; maybe I shouldn't be in the field anymore."

Felicity blinked trying to keep up with what he had just said after everything else that had just happened, "W-What are you talking about? He asked you to leave?" She nearly shouted, in disbelief.

Diggle shrugged, "I was only gone for 24 hours."

"Why did he do that?" Roy asked, shocked as well.

"For Lyla, for the baby."

"If tonight was any indication, Oliver needs you more than ever now." And Felicity realized how selfish that sounded to her, she frantically rambled "but I'm not saying that Lyla or the baby aren't important—"

The soldier stopped her with a hand, "I understand what you mean, and it's what I told him, that I know what I'm doing. I still should never have allowed him to go. I'm not thinking straight, maybe a break is a good id—"

Before he could finish, Oliver was groaning back to consciousness, finally out of his hallucinatory state. "Oliver, are you alright man?" Diggle asked helping his friend sit upright.

Instead, he answered the question with another question, "W-Werner, did we…?"

"No" said Roy, glancing down dejectedly. It was the first actual loss he'd felt whilst being a vigilante, she felt the disappointment too.

"Are you alright?" Felicity asked again holding Oliver's shoulder, he wasn't fully himself yet. She needed him to be okay, they all did, they'd done terribly today, no planning, just impulse. This was like the weeks before the city was held hostage by Slade. Failure after failure crushing the team.

"I've been better" he muttered, it was obvious he was trying to push through the emotional and physical toll tonight had taken on him, as he frowned and tried to stand, but ended up hissing in pain.

"You're back is burned; it'll take at least three weeks to heal. You need to take it easy for the next few days; you won't be able to get anything done if you're still injured like this" Diggle said, with a tone that suggested he would personally handcuff Oliver to a hospital bed if he tried anything too soon.

"What happened after?" He asked.

"I called the cops in time, they have the lab scientists and several of Werner's men in custody, it's unlikely they'll be acquitted of the court sentences, given they were willingly complying to work with the Cou-Werner." She informed, her heart rate slowing down, but no less restless. "He paid them well" she added, grimly.

"If he's the type of man I think he is he's probably paying their families until they get out of jail, as compensation. It's perfect incentive to maintain their loyalty" said Roy.

Oliver was not totally listening; he was staring at the floor with a forbidding expression. "I saw Sara."

This startled the team; Sara was working with Count Vertigo-who had just tried to kill him? No way.

"Are you sure?" Diggle asked, unconvinced.

Felicity shook her head adamantly, "That can't be why she's in town, and she would never try to kill you. You know she wouldn't" she told him fiercely, he looked at her directly then, searching for the reassurance in her, but he still seemed uncertain.

The conversation hung by a thread, until Roy said, "You were tripping on the drug, you could've seen anything."

Oliver's countenance lightened fractionally, he nodded seeing the sense in his protégé's explanation. He had been tripping, and failing the city too he thought to his dismay. His pride got his in the way and he nearly died because of it. He looked at his teammates, everyone was weary, and Felicity needed a change of clothes and proper rest. The night was at its end, but nothing was over yet.

Beneath Star Bridge, Starling City 4:41 AM PST

The Chemist met the assassin beneath the bridge. Night still ruled the skies, and he would've normally taken a moment to appreciate the full moon that swelled over the bay, scalloping the inky waters. But as it was, near the hour of dawn, he was called here for business. The water lapping on the shores was all he heard, he squinted in the darkness but saw nothing. His bodyguards were positioned close by but not too close, the assassin could be trusted not to harm him, he had given her no reason to kill him thus far, he was her bosses' investment after all.

The scuff of feet nearly made him jolt but he managed to turn slowly to face the assassin, who was half a shadow in her black garb. None of his bodyguards had seen her approach.

"You should've let me kill him, I would not have failed" she cut in before he could greet her formally. He despised her rudeness but he tried to be polite, even if she acted impossible at times. But he was more concerned with the news she had brought, the Arrow, alive?

"How did he survive?" He asked, darkly. Rage boiling beneath his unperturbed expression.

"His partner dragged him out, if you had not started a fire, I could've finished both of them". He did not like being reprimanded by anyone, especially someone who- as of now-was meant to be working for him.

"Our hero has nine lives it seems" he said coldly.

"Are you not disappointed?"

He waved dismissively, "He won't get in my way, and I am not my predecessor". He studied her even if he could not see her face, she was quite arrogant and no matter how hard he tried he could not treat with her professionally. "Apparently, our contract has ended. I wish I could say it was a pleasure".

"Be thankful. You have what you need" she growled, her hand around the hilt of her sword, he had seen her use it before and he was not dumb enough to test her ability.

Out of mild curiosity he asked, "There was a bomb in a restaurant in town last night. They claim it was a gas leak. Was that your doing?"

"Perhaps" she replied monotonously, giving nothing away, but he knew it had to be her who had done it.

"Were you successful in eliminating your target?"

Too his dissatisfaction, she barked a laugh, "And here I thought you were an intelligent man, have you truly not seen it yet? The truth stood right before your eyes".

He scowled and grinded his teeth, "Humour me."

He could practically hear her smirking, she started to leave, "I expect my payment by mid-afternoon, fail to comply and I will shut down your entire operation."

Another thing he hated was threats.

"I am a man of my word" he assured, getting irritated.

She nodded curtly, "Indeed, my boss is counting on it."

Their parley was almost at an end; even if she had helped him set up business he was glad to see her leave. He always felt he was putting unnecessary tension on himself whenever the assassin was around, because she could be very unnerving. "Very well, give my regards to Ra's." When she gave no reaction his eyes actually grew large. "No?" He said, examining her appearance he could not be mistaken, surely he could not, "You are not League?"

She gave a little snort, "You're going to have to try harder if you want to know who my employer is."