Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow.
Oliver and Sara's loft
Morning
"Where do you think you're going?" Sara sat up in bed as Oliver was about to walk out the door.
"Out." Oliver said shortly.
"Let me file in the blanks: You're going to the Bratva to get help tracking Slade. Am I right?" Sara raised an eyebrow.
"We need to know where he's sleeping, where he eats, everything." Oliver said defensively.
"Enlisting the Bratva isn't a good idea, Slade will kill then. Which won't go over well with them, especially Anatoli. They are too valuable a resource to throw away; we can't risk them like that." Sara said as she got out of bed and walked over to him.
"I can't just do nothing Sara!" Oliver snapped.
"I'm not asking you to," Sara said as she crossed her arms over her night gown, "but you aren't thinking rationally, you're acting out of fear and desperation. Slade will always beat us if we do that. Stop and think for a moment."
"I just…I don't know how to stop him," Oliver sighed, "He knows everything about me, about us. I can't lose you, or Shado."
"You won't," Sara said as she wrapped her arms around his neck, "We will stop Slade, just like we have stopped everyone else we have come across. Together."
"Together." Oliver repeated as they brought their foreheads together.
At that moment, there was a beeping sound, signaling a text. They separated and walked over to where the sound had come from: Sara's night stand. Sara picked up her phone and frowned as she read the text.
"It's Dig, he wants us to meet him at the lair." Sara said puzzled.
Arrow lair
Later in the morning
"Lyla, what are you doing here?" Oliver asked surprised as he and Sara walked in to see Diggle and Lyla waiting for them.
"I need your help." Lyla said bluntly.
"With what?" Oliver asked curiously.
"Hydroxy-cyclosarin. It's a nerve agent, highly dangerous and about to hit the open market. Some of my agents uncovered a manufacturing plant in Kahndaq. All samples were accounted for, except for one," Lyla sat down at the computer and brought up images of dead men and women, "Two weeks later; this footage was captured in a remote village in southern Qurac. One milliliter has a kill radius of ten miles. It only took half that amount to produce these results. My sources have traced the sample through Europe to an estate in Markovia."
"So why don't you send in the army?" Oliver asked as he tried to absorb this.
"If we do, then we cause an international incident that we can't afford. This has to be covert." Lyla explained.
"Lyla, we're kind of dealing with something right now. We can't leave the city unprotected." Sara explained.
"I know, which is why I'm only asking for you and Johnny." Lyla explained.
"It's okay," Oliver said before Sara could say anything, "I can handle things by myself for a day or two."
"Ollie-"
"If Slade was gonna do something big, he would've done it by now. He's waiting for something. Go." Oliver told her.
Argus Base
Afternoon
"The nerve agent is located at Qadir's mansion in Markovia." Lyla explained as she led Sara and Diggle down the hallway.
"Get in, get out, sounds simple enough." Diggle noted.
"Johnny, I don't need you two to get the nerve agent out. I need you to get your team in." Lyla explained.
"Our team?" Sara raised an eyebrow as two doors opened.
"A team that Waller was assembling but we got to her first. I picked up where she left off, Task Force X." Lyla explained as two people walked out of the doors.
"What the hell?" Diggle demanded as the man who tried to bomb Starling Plaza a few months ago and Ted Turner walked out.
"So this is your unit, OJ and Charles Manson weren't available?" Diggle scoffed.
"This is a dangerous mission Johnny, they have useful skills. And should they go rogue, I have contingencies." Lyla explained.
"You sound an awful lot like Waller right now Lyla." Sara said coolly before storming off.
Arrow Lair
Same time
"I started by looking into the donation Slade made to Moira's campaign," Felicity told Oliver, "all the money was linked back to multiple offshore accounts, none of which can be traced back to a local address. So, I looked into credit card transactions and car rental agreements."
"Slade was ASIS; he knows how to be a ghost." Oliver said blankly.
Something popped up on the computer and Felicity took a look at it.
"Robbery in progress, Fifth and Giffen." Felicity announced.
Starling City
Night
The Arrow had tied up the robbers when he felt someone watching him. He looked over his shoulder to see no one there. Still suspicious, The Arrow walked onto the rooftop where he felt he was being watched from. He was startled to find Slade's old mask n a totem pole, an arrow through one of the eye holes.
Markovia, next day
Morning
"Canary has eyes on the target." Sara said as she spotted Qadir.
"Shrapnel's a go." Shrapnel said over the comms.
"Tiger's a go." Turner said.
"Freelancer, you're good. Shrapnel?" Sara asked.
"I got Freelancer in my sights." Shrapnel said.
"I cannot believe I'm doing this." Diggle grumbled.
"That makes two of us." Sara agreed.
Sara watched from here position as Diggle 'bumped' into Qadir and played his part. A few moments later, Diggle tackled Qadir to the ground as the glass shattered.
"Shrapnel, you good to go." Sara said over the comms.
"In more ways than one," Shrapnel said over the comms, "I won't be restricted to your moral army anymore!"
"Shrapnel, return to base." Lyla ordered.
"Especially not while in a country without an extradition treaty." Shrapnel told her.
"Then you give me no choice." Lyla said sounding regretful.
Outside, there was the loud sound of screeching tires and a crash. Sara rushed out to see Shrapnel's getaway car over turned.
Argus safe house
Late afternoon
"Lyla had them put implants in them. At the push of a button, it sends a powerful shock through them." Diggle explained to Sara.
"Could be worse," Sara said and Diggle looked at her sharply, "Dig, Waller would've put explosives in them. They're remorseless killers, think about that."
As Sara walked off, she felt a presence behind her. Turning around, she saw Turner glaring at her.
"Something to say?" She raised an eyebrow.
"You killed China White." He said simply.
"She had it coming." Sara shot back.
"Watch your back." Turner growled.
"I'm not too worried with that implant in you." Sara said dryly before walking away.
Qadir's house
Night
"Mr. Diggle!" Qadir walked up and shook Diggle's hand before looking over at Sara, "and who is this vision?"
"His new bodyguard." Sara said simply.
"You will have to refer me to your security company. I'm glad you could come tonight. It's the least I could do after you saved my life. Again. I will see you inside, my friend." Qadir said as he turned to walk away.
"Gholem," Diggle called out and Qadir turned back, "it would appear I did not have time to get credentials for my associate."
"Come." Qadir said as he led them inside.
"They passed Turner on the way inside. Later, the pair watched Turner go down the hall.
"The fate of the world resting in the hands of Bronze Tiger. May god help us." Diggle muttered.
Oliver and Sara's loft
Same time
"Daddy, where's Momma? Shado asked sleepily as Oliver put her t bed.
"She and Uncle Diggle are helping Uncle Diggle's friend Lyla with something important. They'll be back soon." Oliver promised his daughter.
"Okay." Shado said as she drifted off to sleep.
Smiling softly, Oliver leaned down and kissed her on the forehead before he walked out of her room. Walking into the kitchen, he frowned as he saw a disk on the counter. Picking it up, he eyed it wearily before walking over to his laptop. Oliver popped it in and saw it was a video file. Oliver stared to play it and froze, staring in shock as home movies of a younger Shado Fei played on the screen.
Markovia
Same time
"We have a problem," Turner said over the comms, "I'm looking at the nerve agent and I won't be able to lift it, much less pocket it."
"Stand by Tiger, we need to talk to the director," Sara said as she turned away from the dance floor, "Canary to Director, we have a situation."
"This is Director, what is it?" Lyla asked.
"The nerve agent is much bigger than reported; we won't be able to get it out." Sara explained and Lyla was silent for a moment.
"Get everyone out of that building. I don't care how you do it. You have ten minutes." Lyla said before the feed cut.
"Any ideas?" Sara asked Diggle.
"Yeah," Diggle picked up a glass of champagne and a fork before lightly clanging the fork on the glass, "excuse me, excuse me. Thank you. In honor of our host. Gholem Qadir excels at everything he puts his mind to, be it business, philanthropy or terrorism," The audience gasped but Diggle pressed on, "Yeah, I guess you could say Gholem is somewhat of a renaissance man. He dabbles in a little bit of everything. Arms trading- did I mention the sex trafficking? Or the deadly nerve agent that he's holding just 30 feet beneath this very dance floor."
That was enough for them to sprint from the room, despite Qadir's protests. Enraged, Qadir rushed at Diggle, knife in hand. However, Sara reached out, grabbed his wrist, and flung him on his back, taking the knife in the process. She then stabbed him in the chest and he gasped in pain.
"The world will be a better place without you," Sara said as Turner ran up, "let's go."
The trio made it to the truck and sped away just as the drones arrived. As the drove away as fast as they could, the mansion blew up.
Argus headquarters, next day
Morning
"So you're in deep water, huh?" Sara asked as she, Diggle, and Lyla said as they stood in Lyla's office.
"It's worth it to destroy that abomination." Lyla said and both nodded.
"Lyla, I said somethings the other day…I was wrong." Sara said and Lyla nodded.
"Director Michaels," everyone turned to see an Argus agent in the doorway, "there's a Mr. Queen here to see you."
"Send him in." Lyla turned to Sara and Diggle who just shrugged.
"Lyla." Oliver greeted as he walked in.
"Ollie, what is it?" Sara asked.
"We can't beat him on our own. You've read the files Waller had on us, right?" Oliver directed this at Lyla, who nodded, "Slade Wilson is alive."
"I thought you killed him." Lyla said stunned.
"So did we." Sara said grimly.
"We need your help to find him Lyla." Oliver told her.
"I might have something," Lyla said as she moved towards her computer, "there's a new player, a mercenary. He's left a trail of bodies from Macau to Istanbul to Lisbon. A trail that ends here in Starling. We've been calling him Deathstroke."
Lyla pulled up a picture and Oliver and Sara stared at it. It was of a man dressed in Black, holding a sword, and wearing a metal helmet that was eerily familiar. Oliver and Sara exchanged uneasy glances.
So, what do you guys think? Please leave any thoughts or comments you may have in a review, feedback is greatly appreciated.