Here's some things you may need to know or, maybe, you just forgot:

Peter Fleming, CEO of ARK Corporation has come to visit his daughter, Jamie Fleming, in Starling City. Vince Faraday, a/k/a the Cape, is also in Starling City—he's now gotten a job with the Starling City Police Department in anticipation of his ex-wife moving there with their son.

Shortly after their arrival in Starling City, Fleming was attacked by the Hood who, due to not owning a mask, was revealed to be Oliver Queen. The Cape later inadvertently revealed Oliver's secret to Felicity Smoak, who was less than pleased.

Oliver's best friend, Tommy Merlyn, set Oliver up on a blind date, hoping to ensure that Oliver has moved on from Laurel Lance—Oliver's ex-girlfriend, who is currently dating Tommy. The blind date was an epic disaster, thankfully cut short by a phone call from John Diggle.

Meanwhile, Malcolm Merlyn, a/k/a the Dark Archer or the Magician, member of the League of Assassins, began murdering members of the infamous List, while preparing to implement the Undertaking. Peter Fleming shed light on the true origin of the List and Moira Queen, Oliver's mother, is now suffering a crisis of conscience.

Chapter Ten: Gotta Leave On Time

"You have a lot of explaining to do," Oliver Queen growled as he advanced on his target, who took a step backwards in response.

"Just calm down, take it easy! Give me another chance," the man pleaded. "Alright, so things didn't work out between you and Maria. That doesn't mean you need to give up on blind dating," Tommy tried to reason with his best friend. The two were once again in the nightclub-to-be.

"I don't understand how you even thought that the two of us would have anything in common!" Oliver cried.

"Okay, in my defense, before the shipwreck Maria is exactly the sort of woman you would have gone for. I mean, aside from Laurel, your dates weren't that big in the IQ Department."

"Tommy," Oliver took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Tommy wasn't to blame. "You're right."

"I am? I mean, yes, I am!"

"But I'm not the same person I was before the shipwreck and you can't keep setting me up with women that have no…substance. Hold that thought," Oliver reached into his pants' pocket for his new phone. "Tommy, I really need to take this."

"Okay. We can talk later."

"Got my message, then?" Quentin asked as he watched Oliver Queen walk onto the crime scene in a business suit.

"Detective," Oliver greeted him. "If you didn't have my phone number, you could have just asked Laurel how to get in touch with me." The billionaire glanced around the immediate area in Unidac Industries and then lowered his voice. "I can't imagine why you'd use the vigilante as a go-between."

"Could be I wanted to prove a point," Lance replied.

"And that point would be…?"

"Fairly obvious," Quentin muttered. "Why don't you come with me? I can get you up to speed on the way."

"On the way where?" the younger man demanded. "You're the one that asked me to meet you here."

"Yes, I did. And since this is your stepfather's company, you can choose to stay here and talk with the others," he glanced towards his SCPD brethren, "about what happened. But I thought you might want to have a chat with your mom first. She's come forward to give a statement about the Dark Archer."

"Mom, what's going on?" Oliver asked as he burst into the room.

"Should he be in here?" Vince Faraday looked to Lance, wondering about the break in protocol as the twenty-something took a seat facing his mother.

"It's fine. He's with me. Let's give them a minute alone. Mrs. Queen, we can call your daughter or your husband, if you wish."

"Thank you, Detective, but I'm sure Oliver is capable of giving his sister a call." Moira waited until the door closed behind the cops before turning to her son. "There's no easy way to say this, Oliver. I'm signing up for the Witness Protection Program."

"What? I don't understand."

"There are choices I made that… I don't know if I could have made them differently. I thought I was protecting this family and there is nothing I wouldn't do to protect our family, Oliver. But because of what I did, peoples' lives are in danger. I suppose it's better if you hear it from me than from the media. You heard about what happened at Unidac Industries?"

He nodded. "Why do I get the feeling those weren't random murders?"

"Unidac Industries developed a device that can create an artificial earthquake. Malcolm Merlyn is going to use it to level the Glades, unless the vigilante stops him first. I've asked Detective Lance to get in touch with him. Hopefully, it's not too late to save the city…"

"Where is the device?" Oliver tried not to think about the number of fatalities that would occur if they didn't disarm it in time. There were millions of people that lived in Starling City and the Glades was a heavily populated neighborhood. It was where Laurel worked at CNRI to help the underprivileged.

"I don't know. Malcolm will never trust me with that information now. I wouldn't be surprised if he picks a location at the last minute, just to make sure that no one is onto him.

"Oliver, I know this is a lot to ask, but—"

"You want me to go with you in the Witness Protection Program," Oliver interrupted his mother.

Once Moira had entered the program they would give her—and anyone going with her—a new identity in a new location. Then "Moira Queen" would disappear without a trace. She would have to cut ties with everyone she left behind, never seeing or speaking with them again.

"You want me to leave Starling City," he continued. How could he possibly leave Starling City now when he had sworn to protect it?

"Ideally, Thea and Walter will come, too," she broke into his thoughts. "I'm sorry, I know this city is your home, but we could make a new home somewhere else."

"Mom!"

"I don't have a choice!" Moira shouted. It was difficult to remain composed at this point. "If I stay in Starling City now that I've tried to sabotage the Undertaking, I will be killed. This is the only hope I have of surviving. You had to survive for five years on a deserted island; you have to understand where I'm coming from!"

"If I go with you, I'll never see Tommy or Laurel or anyone in this city again and if I stay, I'll never see you again." His eyes stung. Why did she have to put him in this position?

"If Thea and Walter go with you and I don't…"

"I know. Oliver, if the cops and the vigilante can't stop Malcolm Merlyn, I'm about to have a lot of blood on my hands. You don't need to make me feel any more guilt than I already do." She put a hand over her son's. "For five years, I thought you were dead. The last thing I want is to lose you again, Oliver. You don't have to give me your answer now. They're not going to move me while this is still going on. Please, just think about it!"

"I have to go," he stood up. "There's someplace else I need to be. I'll call Thea for you, but I have to go."

"You alright?" Quentin asked once Oliver exited the room.

"You knew what she was going to ask me…and you know why I can't go with her, don't you?"

"Guilty," Quentin held up the phone the Hood had sent him. "The phone was a nice touch but, in case you've forgotten, I wasn't born yesterday."

"I was trying to give you plausible deniability," Oliver called over his shoulder as he started heading for the exit.

"True, not arresting you—again—could cost me my badge," Quentin admitted as he followed after the billionaire. "But I think we have something more important to worry about right now. Apparently, there's an earthquake-inducing device planted somewhere in the city. Don't suppose you happen to know where it is? Right, didn't think so. I've put in an application for an arrest warrant for Malcolm Merlyn, but something tells me that even if we catch him in time, he isn't going to spill his guts. So I'm going to ask my boss to get started on evacuating the Glades until we find this thing."

"'We,' Detective?"

"Pretty sure you asked me to join your team when you sent me this," he gestured with the phone again. "And I think you had my answer when I slipped you— Hang on, that's the Lieutenant over there. Be with you in a minute."

"Quentin, I saw you talking with Lieutenant Pike just now. What's going on?" Vince asked.

"Oh, I think I'm going to be out of a job tomorrow. Don't ask." Geez, you'd think that you wouldn't put your job in danger by taking steps to protect the city you had sworn to protect… "In the meantime, I need everyone we have combing through the Glades until we find this 'Earthquake Device' Moira Queen was telling us about. What do you say we start at CNRI? That way we can drag my daughter out of there while we're at it."

"Sir, maybe we should drop by ARK Corporation first? I think I know someone that might be able to help us find the device."

"Oh, who would that be?"

"Faraday, just the man I wanted to see!" Peter Fleming strode towards them. "I'd like a word with you in private."

"Fleming, whatever it is—"

"It happens to be about the Cape," the Brit interrupted.

Vince scrutinized him, and then decided Fleming was probably bugging him because he was, ironically, on an Anti-Vigilante Task Force.

"It'll have to wait," he continued. "There's an emergency."

Peter frowned as he watched the men leave. He didn't like being ignored. There was only one thing to do.

"Ah-ha, found it!" Felicity exclaimed triumphantly hours later from the computer terminal she was working at in ARK's building.

"I found the Earthquake Device, too," Orwell announced from her own nearby terminal.

"Let's call Detective Lance and let him know that it's in an abandoned subway tunnel," Felicity suggested.

"But it's not in a subway tunnel," Jamie frowned.

"Yes, it is, look," Felicity showed the brunette her computer screen.

"No, it's… Damn. Come take a look at this," the blogger gestured to what she had found on her computer.

"But that means," Felicity continued, her usual perkiness nowhere to be found.

"There are two Earthquake Devices and they're on opposite sides of the Glades," Orwell finished.

"There's not enough time to disarm one and then go disarm the other. I know I'm new to this, but I'm pretty sure Oliver can't be in two places at once," the blonde pointed out.

"He won't have to be," Orwell assured her, as she reached for her cell phone and dialed. "Hello, Vince? Good news is we found what we were looking for. Bad news is you're going to have to split up."

"Two devices, huh? That figures," Quentin ran a hand through his hair. "Alright, I'll handle the one in the subway tunnel, you take care of the other one, Faraday. Wish me luck."

"Good luck! Listen, Lance, earlier when you were talking about getting fired, what did you mean?"

"Oh, that. I might have told Lieutenant Pike that the Hood was supplementing information that we got from Moira Queen."

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"Less gaping, more saving," Quentin admonished as he grabbed his jacket. "Those devices aren't going to disarm themselves."

"Is your daughter safe?" Vince asked as they left the precinct and headed into the parking lot.

"Didn't I tell you? She's fine. She's in a locked interrogation room, screaming about her due process rights."

"You're kidding."

"Nope; she'll probably stop screaming when her voice gives out. Hey, don't judge me. You'd do the same for your son, wouldn't you?" he asked as he got into his car.

"Good point," Vince conceded. Lance sped off in his vehicle as Faraday headed into a nearby alley to change into his suit.

"…You didn't have to meet me here," Quentin grumbled, as he and the Hood explored the subway tunnel.

"It's safer this way. If Merlyn shows up, I can handle him while you focus on disarming the device," the vigilante replied. "Are we going to talk about you knowing who I am?"

"Not much to talk about. I don't approve of your methods and I'd like to knock some sense into you if I could, but I get the feeling the city won't be any better off with you behind bars."

"That wasn't your attitude a few months ago."

"Must be getting desensitized by all the vigilantes running around," Lance continued to shine his flashlight ahead of him as they searched.

"Are they going to fire you?" the Hood asked.

"Nah, I can probably get it knocked down to a demotion. Now would you focus? Ah, something tells me that big glowing thing is what we're looking for."

Oliver nodded. "Here," he held out a communications device to the detective. "My…friend…" Felicity was probably not one of his friends anymore, considering how furious she was with him. But at least she was willing to put that aside to help them tonight. "…is going to talk you through disarming that."

"You really think Merlyn will show?" Quentin slipped the communicator on and prepared to get to work.

"Either way, we've got company," Oliver grimaced and reached for an arrow.

Quentin looked up and noticed what Oliver had—they were now hemmed in by ninjas.

"If you hit me with one of those things while I'm working here—" Lance warned, as Oliver started launching arrows at their attackers.

"Detective Lance?" a voice sounded in his ear. "The first thing you're going to have to do is…"

"You're doing great, Vince," Orwell's voice sounded in her partner's headset. "Just one more step and we'll have that device neutralized."

A black arrow whizzed over Vince's hood and ended up in a nearby wall.

"You're not the Hood," the Dark Archer noted as the Cape spun to face him. "I was supposed to be having a showdown with him tonight."

"That a fact? I guess you'll have to settle for his understudy."

Author's Note: Chapter title is from Queen's "Dead on Time."

Thank you to TyMatthews for reviewing! And thanks to those who added the story to your list of alerts and/or favorites!

We are nearing the end now! If anyone would like to see where the fic goes from here, check out the pretty review button.