Disclaimer: Arrow is owned by The CW, Berlanti Productions, and Warner Bros. Television. The character of the Green Arrow and the Justice League is owned by DC Comics. I own nothing; I'm just playing in their universe.
Chapter 4: Lone Gunmen
As they walked in the room, Sara gave Mia a sly smile.
"At least I didn't have to beat up my family." She said.
Mia scoffed. "You only say that because you're retired and don't have to be around Dinah every freaking day. Come up here and deal with some of her shit, then talk to me about beating up your relatives." Mia smirked at Laurel. "Another benefit of this whole thing working: hopefully, you won't grow up to be such a bitch." She winked at Laurel's indignant look. "All right, now that everybody's had a chance to settle down, I have something to say. I owe you all an apology." She sighed. "I hadn't realized how quickly facts would become known before the events had played out. If I had, I would have briefed you all before you started viewing the memories, so you would have more time to adjust. But I didn't and now it's too late to do anything about it, so we're going to press on. "
"I do want to say this, though- I'm sure you'll see more things that will upset you. Hell, if you think Malcolm is bad, wait until we get to Slade." She sent a look to the mercenary, who smirked in response. "But again, there will be no fighting! And I swear, next time someone tries to throw a punch, I'll put someone in the room, and you won't like who."
"Batman?" Sara asked.
Mia shrugged. "He does owe me a favor." She turned back to the group. "Now, shall we begin?" at their nods, she smiled. "Good. Sara and I will go cue up the next memory sequence. I think we can get through two more before calling it a night." With that, the two women turned and left. Malcolm, seemingly impervious to hatred and mistrust in their stares, calmly sat down.
"I suggest you all get comfortable." He said, hiding the pain he felt from his fight with Mia. "Apparently, we have a long road to travel." Everyone sat down, with Tommy electing to stay next to Thea. Diggle, who had the remote, pressed play as soon as the screen came back on.
The scene opens with Oliver in the Foundry. He's working out, as per his usual, though this time he's using cement blocks and chains as a make-shift weight station.
"I swear he put these memories in just to entice the female audience." Tommy noted sourly.
"I'm not complaining." Felicity remarked.
"Me, neither." Laurel added.
"I think it sucks." Thea complained. "Mostly because it's showing just how inadequate my past boyfriends have been."
Tommy shot her a look. "How many boyfriends have you seen shirtless?" he demanded.
"Quiet," Thea said, suddenly nervous. "The scene's still going on."
'My Name is Oliver Queen.' His voice sounded over his workout. 'To my family, I am the brother and son who just returned home after being lost at sea 5 years ago. They don't know I came back with a mission, to bring justice to our city, and they never can.' He pulled the chain taught, holding the cement blocks up in the air several feet for a few seconds, then let them drop. The blocks shattered on the hard concrete floor. Oliver toweled off and moved over to his workbench, pulling up some information on his computer.
'The men and women I've targeted are dangerous, corrupt; a virulent cancer. Cancers like James Holder, whose corporation put defective smoke detectors in low-income housing in The Glades.' He pulled out his father's notebook and flipped through its pages until he found Holder's name. 'There have been many fires and too many funerals. But cancers can be fought and conquered.' He opened his munitions box and pulled out his bow, testing its flexibility and looking for any significant damage. He found none. 'All it takes is a surgeon and the right instrument.' With that thought, he moved back to his bench to string his bow and prepare for his night's meeting with James Holder.
The scene changed to the rooftop pool of Holder's penthouse. He was in a bathrobe, drinking a beer getting ready for a swim as he talked on his phone to a colleague.
"Heh." He laughed at something the other person said. "Other than the bill I got handed this morning by my legal team, I'm feeling pretty good. Plus, now that this lawsuit's been settled, we can focus our attention on Unidac Industries." He listened for a moment. "Ok. I'll see you in the office first thing." He cut the connection and tossed the phone onto a poolside couch. He took a breath and looked around the skyline, then brought the bottle of beer up to take a drink-
And it was shattered by an arrow.
Holder spun around to see The Hood standing there.
"I have armed security inside." He threatened. "All I have to do is call out."
"Go ahead." The Hood replied, tossing the two guns he had liberated from their owners to the deck. "They can't hear you."
"What the hell do you want?" Holder demanded.
"How many people died in those fires?" The Hood growled. "How many?! The courts say you don't owe your victims anything; I disagree. James Holder, you-" Before he could finish, a shot rang out, and a bloody wound appeared on Holder's chest, right where his heart was.
"Jesus!" Tommy exclaimed.
"How many people wanted him dead at the same time?" Thea asked rhetorically.
"I know about those fires," Quentin said, leaning forward. "A lot of people died. I'm surprised no one took a shot at him yet."
As Holder's lifeless body was falling into the pool, The Hood spun around and started firing arrows towards where he believed the shooter was. He ducked down behind a low wall just as two more shots rang out. One pierced the wall and into his arm; the other missed entirely. Then it was silent. Oliver looked to the pool to see Holder's body slowly sinking to the bottom, then he glanced over the wound on his arm with a frown.
"Well, whoever was shooting was a pro." Diggle stated. "Long distance, close grouping. And he managed to tag our boy while he was on the move."
The scene shifted back to the lair as Oliver extracted the bullet, and then sewed up the wound. Once finished, he put on a shirt and got up, moving over to his workbench and opening the notebook.
'It's no surprise a man as corrupt as James Holder has more than one enemy.' His voice said as he crossed Holder's name off the list. He sat back in his chair, a look of discomfort playing over his face. He suddenly got to his feet, and then staggered into the table. He caught himself on the edge and barely stopped himself from falling down.
"What the hell?!" Thea exclaimed.
'The bullet.' He thought as he staggered over to the other bench, digging around in the surgeon's pan for the offending piece of metal. 'Poison!' he realized.
Diggle shot forward, and intense look on his face suddenly.
"Who the hell uses poisonous bullets?" Laurel asked.
"I've heard of a guy, Lawton I think his name is." Slade said, admiring the man's work. "He's second best in the business, behind me."
He grabbed a water bottle and sprinted to his munitions crate, practically sliding into is as he crashed to the floor. He deftly undid the lock and dug around for something, finally pulling out a small leather pouch filled with mysterious herbs. He took a large pinch of the herbs and threw them into his mouth, then started chewing them as he opened the water bottle and took a drink. Once done, he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
"And his solution to being poisoned is to get high?" Thea asked unbelievingly.
"Those aren't those kind of herbs." Slade said. "They're something he found on the island. They have amazing regenerative effects."
The scene flashed back to the island, where Oliver awoke in a cave. Groggily and in pain, he looked around, then down-
To see the arrow still sticking out of his shoulder.
"Oh yeah," Tommy said as they stared in shock. "In all the excitement, I forgot he got shot."
Oliver groaned in pain as he struggled to sit up, but he stopped moving as another man entered the cave. He was a thin Asian man, with a scraggly beard and long, stringy black hair that was partially obscured by the green hood he wore. He carried a bow and on his back was a quiver filled with arrows.
"Familiar hood," Felicity noted.
"Who are you?" Oliver asked, frightened. "Why did you shoot me?"
"Wèile bǎohù nín." The man replied in Mandarin. He kneeled down besides the boy and held out a handful of herbs and a small bowl with water. He indicated to Oliver to take the herbs and water. "Yǐnliào." He said in Mandarin. Oliver finally got the hint and, taking a small pinch of the herbs, put them in his mouth. He choked slightly on the acrid taste and quickly down the water. After he finished drinking, the man grasped the arrow and pulled it out through his shoulder, causing Oliver to cry out in pain once more.
Moira gasped in shock; Thea and Laurel both looked away.
Back in the present, Oliver gasped as he regained consciousness. The first thing he noticed was sunlight streaming down upon him; the second thing was an alarm. He looked up at his computer monitor, and the clocked that showed 7:10 on its face. Cursing to himself, he shot to his feet and grabbed his jacket to head home.
The scene changed to Queen Manor. Oliver walked in through the house, shaking his arm in slight pain. He slowed as he approached the sitting room, where Moira and Walter were talking with two cops as Thea sat glumly on the sofa.
"Oh, boy. Here we go…." Thea muttered.
"What happened?" Oliver asked Diggle, who was standing watch in the doorway. "Thea ok?"
The bodyguard turned to face him. "The cops brought her home." He explained. "Her and some of her friends broke into a store, tried on some dresses last night. Lit up the breathalyzer like a Christmas tree."
"Thea!" Moira exclaimed.
"I would say something," Tommy started, "but in this case, that would just make me a hypocrite."
Laurel smirked at him. "At least you recognize the fact." She said.
Diggle looked the younger man over. "So how was your evening, sir?" he asked dryly.
"You mean after I said I had to go to the bathroom at dinner and never came back?" Oliver shot back glibly.
"I guess from now on I'll be watching you pee." He replied. The two stared at each other for several moments before Oliver moved past him to Thea, a small smile on his face that rapidly disappeared.
"Thank you, officers. My wife and I appreciate it." Walter was saying to the cops. "I'll see you out." The tall Brit walked the two cops out of the room as Moira turned to her delinquent daughter.
"Last time it was public intoxication." She started, "This time breaking and entering. My, how we are moving up in the criminal world."
Thea tiredly got to her feet. "You know, when you pay off the store owner, you should check out the merchandise. They got some pretty killer outfits." She replied sarcastically.
"Maybe I just won't pay them off that time." Moira said archly.
"Thea, go get ready for school." Moira said. Thea gave her a look.
"Uh, you know, I was thinking of taking a sick day." She stated, silently daring her mother to argue. Moira didn't.
"Fine, then get some sleep." She said wearily. Thea gave her a sarcastic smile as she sauntered out of the room.
"You look like crap." She told her brother on the way out.
Oliver looked at his mother in disbelief. "You're letting her play hooky?" he asked. Moira sighed.
"When your sister gets like this, it's best to give her her space."
"She's testing you." Oliver reasoned.
"Yes. Who'd she learn that from?" Moira pointed out.
"Mom, when I was her age, you and dad let me get away with murder." He said. "Looking back, I could have used less space and more parenting." Oliver turned and left, leaving a contemplative Moira behind.
"He's right." Moira said. "I should have been a better parent."
"Honestly Mom, you've got a lot on your mind." Thea shot a dirty look at Malcolm.
The scene shifted to Holder's penthouse swimming pool, where the coroners were busying fishing the corrupt businessman's body out of. Detective's Lance and Hilton looked on.
"It doesn't make sense." Lance was saying to his partner.
"Holder fits the profile." Hilton replied. "Wealthy dirtbag. Red meat for the Hood. And we recovered at least one arrow." He offered.
"Yeah, only this time the cause of death is a double tap through the heart and our perp doesn't use firearms." Lance pointed out.
"Maybe he's finally figured out there's easier ways to kill people than with a bow and arrow." Hilton said, only half-joking. "It's like you said, the guy's a whack job." Lance looked at his partner, then at the body being secured to a stretcher, unconvinced.
Back in the Lair, Oliver tested the bloody gauze from his wound, trying to confirm a suspicion. He proved himself right when the blood reacted to the chemicals.
'The bullets were laced with curare, a rare and deadly poison, the killer's unique M.O.' Oliver's voice said as he started pulling up various federal databases, searching for a profile that fit. He found it on Interpol's database. 'He's killed all over the world Chicago, Markovia, Corto Maltese. Interpol even has a codename for him: Deadshot.'
"Deadshot…" Diggle whispered to himself. Now he had a name for Andy's killer.
He studied the limited information in the file. 'I was prepared to give James Holder a chance to right his wrongs, but this Deadshot has no morality, no honor, no code. He doesn't kill for justice, which makes him as dangerous as anyone on my list. In fact, it puts him right at the top.'
Later that day, Oliver led Tommy and Diggle through the Foundry- the upper level, that is.
"So what do you think?" Oliver asked his friend as he gestured around the empty building. "Great spot for a nightclub or what?"
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Tommy laughed. "It's genius! It's exactly the kind of job people would expect him to have, and it gives him cover for staying out late every night!"
"And, if I'm not mistaken, gives him easy access to his secret hideout." Laurel added. She shook her head in admiration.
"Sweet." Tommy said. "Though I got to tell you, man, if you're thinking about calling it 'Queens', I don't think you're gonna get the clientele that you were hoping for."
Oliver pointed towards an upper level, where the foreman's offices had been. "Private office." He suggested.
"For the private one-on-one meetings, I would imagine." Tommy inferred with a smile.
"Hopefully the occasional two-on-one meeting." Oliver joked back. Tommy turned to his friend.
"Pigs." Laurel, Felicity and Thea all said at once. Malcolm have his son a disapproving look, which Tommy ignored.
"Man, are you sure you want to do this?" he asked seriously. "It's not like you really have any experience in running a… well, running anything." Oliver just gave him a mildly insulted look. Tommy slapped him on the back. "How about tomorrow night the two of us, we go and scope out the competition." He suggested. "There's a new club opening downtown. It's called Poison. Max Fuller owns it."
"Bad idea." Laurel said, giving Tommy a look.
"Why?" Quentin asked.
"Max Fuller?" Oliver asked.
"Mm-hmm." Tommy nodded.
"I slept with his fiancé." Oliver pointed out with a smile.
"Yeah, before the wedding."
"It was at the rehearsal dinner."
"The rehearsal dinner is technically before the wedding, right?" Tommy pointed out with a smile.
Quentin gave a disgusted grunt as Moira shook her head in disappointment. Slade snorted in amusement.
"So this is how the idle rich live." He mused. "I have no idea how that kid survived a week on the island."
"And besides, who stays mad at a castaway?" Tommy's phone rang, and he looked at it. "Ah, dammit, I got to roll. He said, slipping the phone back in his pocket. "Anyway, I'll see you later, man. Good place!"
"See you." Oliver called out, then looked to Dig.
"So what do you think?" he asked.
"Well, I'm here to provide security, sir, not a commentary."
"Oh, come on, Dig, do me a favor." Oliver said earnestly. "Speak freely, please."
Diggle took a moment to compose his words. "Well, this is The Glades, right?" he started. "Your rich white friends wouldn't come to this neighborhood on a bet."
"I am Oliver Queen, right? People would stand in line for 3 hours if I opened a club." He pointed out.
"And no one who actually lives in The Glades would see a penny of those cover charges." Dig said.
"So we make it a successful business, we gentrify the neighborhood."
"I was wondering when we would get to that." Dig scoffed. "The white knight swooping in to save the disenfranchised. And all by his lonesome with no help from anybody."
"Wow." Oliver said. "You don't think very much of me, do you?"
"No, sir." Dig disagreed. "Actually, I have a very high regard for how perceptive you are. Sir." He walked out of the foundry. Oliver took a last look around.
'The nightclub will conceal my base underneath,' Oliver's voice said, 'and provide an alibi for where Oliver Queen spends his nights.'
"Nailed it!" Tommy exclaimed. He held out his fist to Laurel, who just rolled her eyes. "What, you gonna leave me hanging?"
"Yup." She replied, popping the 'P'.
The scene shifted to CNRI, where Laurel was reading an article on Oliver opening a club. She was so engrossed that she didn't hear Joanna approach.
"Hey. Do you have the depos on the Jergens case?" her friend asked. Laurel frantically tried to close the article, but not before Joanna got a glimpse.
Quentin gave his daughter a pained look. "Really, Laurel?" Laurel sheepishly avoided eye contact with everybody.
"Yeah, they're around here somewhere." She dug around her desk. She didn't miss the look Joanna sent her. "I was just surfing the 'net." She said defensively.
"Really?"
Laurel sighed and looked to her friend. "Joanna, I'm over him." Another look. "And you don't believe me."
"Well, I would have if I wouldn't have just caught you trolling for articles on him!" Joanna shot back.
"I wasn't trolling!" Laurel shot back, exasperated.
"I don't want to have to be the one to remind you that he cheated on you, Laurel. With your sister."
"I appreciate your self-control." Laurel said dryly.
"You're stuck in the past." Joanna advised. "And the reason I know this is the fact that the only physical relationship you've had since Oliver is with his best friend. It is time to move on." She decided. "It is past time."
"I've been busy." Laurel hedged. "I work a lot."
"Ok. That's got to stop." Joanna decided. "So we are going out tonight. And we are going to have some shots, and we are going to dance with men that we don't know, and we are going to stay out way too late." She plucked a folder off Laurel's desk. "Oh!" she exclaimed wryly. "Jergens depos."
"I really don't think I can go out tonight." Laurel tried. Joanna just gave her a smile.
"It is adorable that you actually think I'm giving you a choice." She said, walking away.
The scene shifted back to Queen Manor, where Thea was getting dressed for school. She was putting her tie on when Moira walked into her room.
"I want you to come home right after school." She said.
"Oh, can't." The said absently, checking her appearance in the mirror. "Margot and I are going to go to the mall."
"Margot is a horrible influence." Moira muttered.
"There's nothing wrong with Margot!" Thea exclaimed. "She's just a bit-"
"Stoned?" Tommy suggested.
"WILD." Thea glared at her half-brother.
"What, more shopping?" Moira asked rhetorically. "Tell Margot you'll have to cancel. You're grounded for two weeks."
"Grounded?" Thea looked at her mother, incredulous. "I've never been grounded."
"Well, you've never committed larceny before." Moira replied pointedly.
"Since when do you care?" Thea demanded.
"I've always cared." Moira replied defensively. "I'm your mother."
"Look, we've had a good thing going on the last five years." Thea said, annoyed. "Why mess with that now?"
Moira walked further into the room, right up to Thea. "No, we are paying off store owners to keep your record clean, so clearly, it hasn't been working."
"And you're going to teach me." Thea scoffed, her arms crossed. "It's Oliver, isn't it? His judgmental hypocrisy is rubbing off on you."
"It sounds more like common sense." Malcolm noted.
Thea glared daggers at him. "I don't want parenting from a murder." She spat. Malcolm held his tongue.
"No, I don't need Oliver to teach me how to parent you." Moira shot back. "You'll be home by 4:00."
"Or what?" the asked snidely. "You're going to call the cops on me?" She walked past her mom, grabbing her purse on the way out of the room. "Tell them I say hi." Moira looked on, exasperated.
Moira looked over at Malcolm. "My anger at you aside, if she even thinks about taking that tone with me when we get back, I may ask you to have your associate bring her home. Gently." She emphasized.
Malcolm smirked. "He'd be only too happy to."
Thea stared between the two in disbelief. "Unbelievable." She said.
Moira looked back at her calmly. "You don't like it? Don't break into the store. And if I say you're grounded, take me seriously."
"I could throw her in lock up for a night." Quentin offered.
Moira offered the man a slight smile. "Thank you, Quentin. Hopefully," she looked over to a sullen Thea, "I won't have to take advantage of that offer."
"You've all gone insane." Thea ground out.
"In this case Speedy," Tommy said with a smirk, "You have no one to blame but yourself."
The scene shifted to Holder's penthouse. On the ground, Oliver was surveying the area, thinking back to the night he was shot. He looked up at the penthouse, then over to where he believed the shots came from. Three shots were fired at him- one hit his arm, one hit a retaining wall, but one overshot the building. He followed where he thought the trajectory carried the slug. Spotting something far up on one building's outer wall, he leaped into action- literally. Applying his parkour skills, he scaled the wall. Approaching the bullet hole, he pulled out his knife and carefully extracted the bullet.
"What's he doing?" Lance wondered. "Is he going to run his own ballistics?"
"Couldn't he do that with the bullet he pulled out of his arm?" Felicity asked with a wince.
"No, that was only a fragment." Lance replied. "The bullet he pulled out of the wall is the entire slug."
Back at SCPD headquarters, Quentin was looking over the crime scene photos when Hilton approached.
"Got ballistics back on the Holder murder." He announced. "They pulled two 7.62 millimeter bullets out of him. According to the stippling and size of the entry wound, they estimate the shots were fired from approximately a hundred yards away."
"A hundred yards?" Lance repeated. "What, so the hood shoots him from another building, goes over to his place, he takes out his security, and then he fires off a few arrows?
"And according to his tox screen, his blood contained high concentrations of strychnos toxifera."
"- What?" Lance asked, his look saying 'speak English.'
" - Curare." Hilton clarified. It's a kind of poison."
"Oh." Lance said dryly. "Ok, so now we switch from arrows to sniper bullets and poison." He shook his head. "I'm not buying it."
"We still found arrows on the scene." Hilton said, clinging to his theory. "Solid evidence the Hood was there." Lance got up and started walking out. "Where you going?" he asked tiredly.
"I'm going to get my own evidence." Lance said, walking out. Hilton sighed and dropped the folder onto Lance's desk.
"Hilton's a good cop, but once he makes up his mind about something, it's a pain in the ass getting him to change it." Quentin noted.
The scene shifted to the Foundry, where Oliver was running his own ballistics on the round he pulled from the wall.
'7.62 millimeter rounds.' His voice said as he stared at his computers. 'The money trail leads back to the Bratva- the Russian mob. Finally some good luck.'
Quentin perked up at that. Moira leaned forward, a worried look on her face.
The scene changed again, and now Oliver was walking into a Russian auto repair shop. He approached two men working on an old Mustang.
"Ya ishchu Aleksi Lenonov." He stated in flawless Russian.
The elder of the two, a bald, rough-looking Russian turned to stare at Oliver. "There's no one here by that name." he responded after a moment.
Oliver shook his head and moved in closer. "Ne v vashem garazhe." He said. "V podvale pod." The bald man indicated to his compatriot, who mace out from underneath the car and pulled a gun. As he brought it up, Oliver deftly disarmed the man, sending him to his knees with one hand as he pulled the gun out and disassembled it. He then pulled down the collar of his shirt, exposing the tattoo on his chest.
"Ya Bratva." He announced. He allowed the second man to get up, and he moved behind the bald man.
Lance clapped his hands together once in excitement. "I KNEW it!" he crowed as the rest of the room look on in shock.
"How in the hell did he join the Russian Mob on a deserted island?!" Thea demanded.
"It wasn't deserted." Slade said. "But I do remember a Russian; I'm not sure if he was Bratva, but it's possible."
"Ya khochu videt' Alexi Lenonov." Oliver demanded again.
The bald man moved to Oliver and offered a short bow. "Pleased to meet you." He said in English. Oliver nodded in return.
Soon, they were walking through a door and down a set of stairs to the basement, the headquarters for the Starling City branch of the Bratva.
"I apologize." Alexi was saying. "We meant no disrespect to a Captain. Particularly an American one."
"And high ranking. What the hell did Queen do?" Lance wondered aloud.
He stopped at a table and began pouring two shots of vodka. "So, how can I be of assistance?"
"I'm in the market for a hired gun." Oliver stated. "Someone the organization's used before. His calling card is a 7.62 millimeter gun laced with curare."
Alexi shook his head. "I know no man who uses such tools."
"But you can find out who does." Oliver countered. Alexi handed him his shot.
"First, we will drink to each other's health, then I will look into the identity of this man you seek." The two drank.
"Ahh." He said as the alcohol went down. "I will also confirm that you are really Bratva captain." He said, smiling. "Should this not be the case, I will send my mechanic here to find you and kill you and your family." He indicated the second man, who had taken position on the second flight of stairs. Oliver stared at the two men for a moment, then left.
Lance shuddered. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I hope he really is a Captain in the Bratva," he looked over to Moira and Thea, "For your sakes."
As he walked out of the shot, he caught the end of a news broadcast.
'Carl Rasmussen was found shot to death in his home earlier this evening.' The reporter was saying on the television. 'The police will not comment if there's a connection between Mr. Rasmussen's death and the murder of James Holder a few nights ago. Mr. Rasmussen leaves behind a wife and three children.'
The scene changed to Queen Manor, where Detectives Lance and Hilton were talking with Walter and Moira.
"It's a great loss." Walter was saying. "Carl was a titan."
"A titan who was looking to buy out a company called Unidac Industries?" Hilton observed, looking at his notes.
"Well, Industries are something of a misnomer." Walter explained. "UI's recent activity was actually looking into alternative energy."
"I think the point my partner is trying to make is that Carl Rasmussen was the second bidder this week to lose his life." Lance cut in.
"Are you implying something, Detective?" Moira asked archly.
"Well, only that your husband's looking into buying Unidac Industries and the competition seems to be dropping like flies." Lance pointed out.
Moira let out an exasperated sigh as she shot Lance an annoyed look. He merely shrugged.
"And I'm sure your veiled accusation has nothing to do with how you feel about my family?" Moira shot back, annoyed.
"Unidac's in receivership, Detective." Walter cut in before things got heated. "Ownership is subject to a liquidation auction, so that means there are many prospective buyers. And the auction's tomorrow, so if I was taking out the competition, I have a lot of killing to do in a very short amount of time." He finished, dryly.
"We're just making the rounds with the interested buyers." Hilton put in, trying to diffuse the tension. "Let them know to be careful."
"Oh, yes. And I'm overwhelmed that Detective Lance is concerned for our safety." Moira said sarcastically.
"Well, thank you for your concern, gentlemen." Walter said. He nodded towards Diggle, who stood in the doorway. "Our security consultant, Mr. Diggle, is taking all the necessary precautions."
"Yeah. Right." Lance slapped his knees and rose. "Well, if you need us," he said as he and Hilton started to leave "we're just a 911 call away." Moira shook her head in exasperation as the cops left.
"Very professional, Dad." Laurel said dryly.
The scene shifted to outside the club Poison. Tommy and Oliver, followed by Diggle, made their way to the head of the line. The bouncer undid the chain and let them through at once.
"Well, there's no way this could possibly go wrong." Laurel noted.
"Ha ha ha! Oh, my, this is going to be killer." Tommy exclaimed.
"If Max never sees me here, I agree." Oliver pointed out. Tommy just clapped him on the shoulder.
"Ah, if you want to run a business, you've got to take a few risks."
The bouncer closed the chain just as Diggle came up. He stared at the bodyguard impassively.
"I don't see your name on the list." He stated.
"Mr. Queen." Dig called out. Oliver spun around and headed back. He patted the bouncer on the shoulder. "Oh!" he said jovially, pointing at Dig. "I have never seen this guy before in my life. Ever." He gave Dig a wink and headed back inside with a laughing Tommy. Diggle just sighed.
Thea snorted. "Denied!"
Diggle shook his head, but his mind was still on Deadshot.
The two men walked in to the club and looked around. It was dim and loud with the sounds of music and laughter. They watched the ladies dance, then as one headed towards the bar. Tommy spotted her first.
"Oh, wow!" he exclaimed "Doesn't you going out and having fun violate some kind of law, you know, like the ones that are carved on a stone tablet?"
"That's cute, Tommy." Laurel said, shooting him a glare.
Laurel gave him a look. "That's cute, Tommy."
"Repeat yourself much?" Tommy joked.
"Thanks."
"I can see you two are up to your old hunting patterns." She noted wryly, eyeing Oliver.
"Just seeing what passes for fun in Starling City after five years." the former castaway said
"Ah. Well, I'm sure you'll find that it just hasn't been the same without you."
The three were spared further conversation as a very drunk Thea stumbled up to Oliver.
"Oh, Come on!" Thea shouted. "We get it, I get drunk!"
"A lot." Laurel added.
"Whatever!" she exclaimed. "All I'm saying is that we don't need to see it every five minutes."
That wouldn't have been a problem if I hadn't gotten drunk and stoned every night for five 's jovial voice sounded over the speakers. Thea dropped her head into her hand and groaned.
"You are so far beyond grounded that I can't begin to describe it." Moira said icily.
"Big brother!" she exclaimed. "Oh! I am so wasted right now. There is… there is two of you." She finished, waving a finger between the real and imaginary Oliver. Her brother looked back at her sternly.
"I thought you were grounded." He stated. Tommy and Laurel both turned back to the bar, suddenly very uncomfortable.
"I am." She crossed her arms. "And thank you for that, by the way."
Oliver stepped in closer, glaring at his sister. "You're done for the night."
"Well, thank God Oliver is being….responsible." Quentin ground out.
"Bet that hurt." Tommy remarked.
"You have no idea." He Detective replied.
"Oh, what are you going to do?" she asked defiantly. "Tell mom?"
"Thea!" he exclaimed, but reigned in his emotions. "You are hanging with the wrong people." He tried.
"You're one to talk." She looked over to Tommy and Laurel with an evil glare. "How much do you know about your own so-called friends over here?"
"Ok Thea, maybe you should-" Tommy started, but Thea cut him off. "Tommy I think your BFF has a right to know." She said snidely.
"Thea, let's go." Oliver tried to lead her away, but she was having none of it.
"Well, I guess they never told you that they've been screwing while you were gone." She shot the two a satisfied look as Laurel and Tommy suddenly found it hard to look at Oliver. Oliver, meanwhile, never looked away from Thea.
Thea winced and shrank in on herself as Tommy and Laurel both glared at her.
"Look, man, I-" Tommy started to say, but Oliver cut him off.
"Tommy," he said softly, looking at his friend. Tommy looked back uncertainly. "It's ok." He said earnestly. Oliver turned back to Thea, anger evident on his face. "You and me, we're done for the night." He grabbed her arm and started dragging her towards the door.
"Take your hands off of me!" she yelled, yanking her hand free. "You're not my father." She hissed. "And you're barely my brother." She stalked off, leaving an angry Oliver behind.
"Well, well… look at this." A voice said from behind him. "Oliver Queen."
Oliver turned to see "Max Fuller." He said, eyeing the two bodyguards that flanked the man. "How've you been?"
"Happy you drowned."
"Asshole." Tommy and Laurel both said in unison.
Slade and Malcolm both knew what was coming, and both were wondering how Oliver would handle himself.
Oliver was led to a curtained off area. He knew what was coming, but he tried to reason with the man. "Hey, Max-" he started, but was thrown to the floor by a punch from the club owner. He forced himself not to react.
"Get him up!" Max yelled to his bouncers, who roughly pulled him to his feet.
"Hey, let him go, let him go!" Tommy yelled, rushing into the area and putting himself between Oliver and the goons. "Hey, I said let him go!"
"Told you he was going to be pissed." Oliver said quietly.
"Back off, Merlyn." Max said. "This isn't your problem."
"You want to get to him? You've got to go through me." Tommy eyed the goons as they grinned to one another, and then looked over his shoulder at Oliver. "Wow, they are probably going to get through me." Without another thought, Tommy threw the first punch, knocking one of the bouncers back.
Malcolm smiled. He was proud that Tommy had put himself between his friend and danger like that, but he was surprised that he'd thrown the first punch. He honestly hadn't thought Tommy had that kind of courage in him.
Oliver went after the other, even as he tried to keep his true skills hidden. Holding back, the fight soon turned in Fuller's bouncers' favor, with Tommy and Oliver on the floor. Max stood back at the curtain, a satisfied smile on his face-
At least until Laurel came in, hitting him several times in the kidneys, and then kicking the back of his knee out. She spun him, then flipped him onto the ground hard. The bouncers stopped and looked back at the brunette.
"You go, girl!" Felicity exclaimed. Laurel chuckled.
"Daughter of a cop. What'd you expect?" she said with a grin.
"So is this over, Max?" she asked harshly. "Or are you going to have your boy's pound on me next?"
Max ungracefully stumbled to his feet. He glared at the three. "You three consider yourselves banned for life." She snarled. "Get the hell out of my place!"
"Your club sucks anyway." Tommy shot back.
"You know," Felicity started, "I could probably hack into his security feeds, copy the videos, then send them to the cops and media. I'm sure a lot of people would be interested in seeing Mr. Fuller's bartenders serving minor's alcohol."
Tommy looked at her with a grin. "Blondie, I like how you think!"
"Except for the fact that Thea won't be in that club when we get back." Moira said sternly.
"You guys ok?" Laurel asked. Oliver looked at his ex.
"Where'd you learn to do that?"
"Cop dad, remember? He made me take self-defense classes."
"Laurel," he started, "What Thea said-
"Oliver, Tommy and I don't need your blessing." She pointed out. "And I don't need your forgiveness."
The scene flashed back to the cave. Oliver slowly came back to consciousness. Glancing around, he saw the Asian man sound asleep. Quietly he got to his feet and swiftly made his way out of the cave. Once outside, he ran through the forest. He paused a moment to catch his breath, then started moving again- only to be ensnared in a net, which dragged him up five feet into the air.
Back in the present, Diggle was leading Tommy and Oliver into Big Belly Burger. He waved at a cute woman behind the counter, who waved back. "Why don't you guys take a seat, and I will grab a couple of burgers and some ice for those faces."
Tommy smiled at the woman. "The girl's pretty cute." He said casually.
"That's my sister in law." Diggle said, a steely glare at the younger man.
"-Who I will never speak to or look at." Tommy replied at once. "Ever. Gonna grab a booth." Tommy headed to the back of the restaurant.
In the present, Diggle glared at Tommy.
"She's not wearing a wedding ring." Oliver noticed. "Brother out of the picture?"
"Yeah, you could say that." He replied. Oliver headed back to Tommy, while Dig headed over to Carly. "Hey you." He said.
"So sweet of you to adopt two white boys." Carly joked, leaning up against the counter. "They need a good role model."
"That's my client Oliver Queen." He explained. They watched the batted young man drop painfully into the booth.
"Looks like you're doing a bang up job protecting him." She remarked.
Thea snorted. "When he can find him…" she muttered.
"Mmm." Dig agreed.
At the booth, Tommy was working up his courage. "Look, man about Laurel." He started. "I was going to tell you. I was just trying to figure out the right way."
"To tell somebody that you slept with their girlfriend after they went missing and were then presumed dead." He replied seriously, and then gave a small smile. "What, there's no greeting card for that?" he joked. The two laughed.
"Look it was wrong." Tommy said, seriously. "And I'm sorry."
"Tommy." Oliver started quietly. "I was dead."
"No, man, you were with Laurel." Tommy replied, cutting him off. "And whether you were dead, or as it turns out, alive on a deserted island, you are my friend. And me being with Laurel violated that friendship in about 50 different ways."
"Thank you." Oliver said earnestly. "But it's ok."
Tommy let out a small sigh. He had been truly worried about Oliver's reaction, and was glad he was okay with it.
Back at the counter, Carly was still talking to Diggle. "How dangerous is this gig, anyway?" she asked, concerned.
"It's a cakewalk, Carla, don't worry." He assured her.
"Too late." She said. "Or have you forgotten this job got your brother killed? Because, Dig, I haven't. I can't." she walked away.
"You are being really chill about this." Tommy remarked to Oliver back at the booth. Before he could reply, his phone rang. He pulled it out.
"Hello?" he said, then spoke in Russian. He held the phone to his chest and looked to Tommy. "It's a Russian model calling me." He explained with a smile. "Can we- can I have a minute, please?"
Tommy laughed lightly as he got up out of the booth. "I can see now why you were able to be so chill." He remarked. "Enjoy."
"So I checked out?" he said.
"You did." Alexi replied. "His name is Floyd Lawton. I have address where he stayed last time he was in Starling City. But that is all."
"Let's hope he's a creature of habit." Oliver replied. "Go."
"1700 Broadway Pell Hotel, room 52." Alexi replied. "You'll leave us out of this, yes? Assuming Mr. Lawton doesn't kill you first." Oliver hung up.
Malcolm watched the scene approvingly. The Mob could sometimes be a better source of information than all of the law enforcement agencies combined. He was impressed that Oliver had figured that out.
The scene changed to Oliver standing outside room 52. He kicked the door open and fired an arrow, narrowly missing Lawton as he dived off the chair and behind his bed. He came up, right arm extended and sprayed the doorway with bullets from a wrist-mounted fully automatic submachine gun. Oliver ducked back outside, and waited for him to reload. As Lawton changed clips he got two more arrows off, but Lawton propped up the mattress, blocking them. He sprayed bullets once more, then jumped out the window behind him. Oliver rushed into the room and looked out the window, but there was no sign of him. As police sirens got closer, Oliver grabbed the damaged remains of Lawton's laptop and ran out.
The scene shifted to the next day at Queen Consolidated, as Oliver made his way through the I.T. department, stopping in front of a particular cubicle.
"Hey, that's me!" Felicity exclaimed happily as the other's chuckled. "About time I showed up!"
"Ahem." He cleared his throat, getting the blonde woman's attention. "Felicity Smoak?" he asked, smiling. "Hi. I'm Oliver Queen."
"Of course." She said, surprised. "I know who you are, you're Mr. Queen."
"No, Mr. Queen was my father." He stated with a smile.
"Right, but he's dead." She shook her head, embarrassed. "I mean, he drowned." She closed her eyes, trying to compose herself. "But you didn't, which means you could come down to the I.T. department and listen to me babble. Which will end." She slowly rotated away from Oliver. "In 3… 2… 1…" she turned back.
"So that's a normal thing?" Thea asked teasingly as Felicity blushed.
"I'm having some trouble with my computer and they told me that you were the person to come and see." He said, laying Floyd Lawton's laptop down on her desk. "I was at my coffee shop surfing the web and I spilled a latte on it." He lied. Poorly.
Felicity looked at him. "Really?"
"Yeah."
She ran her hand over the casing. "'Cause these look like bullet holes."
"My coffee shop is in a bad neighborhood." He added smoothly.
Tommy slapped his forehead; Laurel looked on in disbelief.
Lance shook his head. "How the hell haven't I arrested him yet?" he wondered aloud.
"I'm wondering the same thing myself." Moira added.
Thea looked over to Felicity. "You wouldn't really buy that, would you? She asked.
Felicity pointed to her hair. "It's dyed, not natural. Obviously I know he's full of it."
She tilted her head and gave him a look that said 'Really?' Oliver smiled down at her. "If there is anything that you can salvage from it, I would really appreciate it." He said in a hopeful tone. Felicity gave him one last look, then shrugged and picked up the laptop.
"You know he's lying, and yet you still do it." Malcolm observed.
Felicity shrugged. "I like a challenge." She said simply.
Back at Queen Manor, Thea was in her room, texting on her phone. Moira walked in, and momentarily was shocked that Thea was home.
"Oh." She exclaimed pleasantly. "Well, good, you're here."
"I'm under house arrest, remember." Thea shot back, not looking up from her phone.
Moira held up two dresses. "Do you want to wear the Calvin Klein or the Zac Posen?" she asked. Thea looked up.
"For dinner?" she said, confused. "I was just going to wear pajamas."
"To Walter's stock auction." Moira explained.
Thea groaned and looked back to her phone. "I think I'd rather be grounded."
"No, it's important that you come." Moira pressed on.
"Important to whom?"
"To me." Moira insisted. Thea looked up at her incredulously, and then turned back to her phone. Moira sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, putting a hand on Thea's arm. "All right, listen to me. When you were four years old, you came home one day with a cat. It was a stray, it was filthy, and it was mean. But you stood there and you declared that it was coming to live with us. Your father came home from the office and he saw what was going on, and he sat you down and he explained to you that the cat was in fact a tiger and that we needed to get it home. And somehow you understood." Thea smiled slightly at the memory. "Robert was always so good at getting through to you." She continued. "I… I was always so jealous of that." She admitted.
Thea sniffled. "I remember that." She said quietly. Moira smiled.
The two were silent for a moment. Thea's eyes were wet with unshed tears. Finally, Thea spoke. "You never talk about him." She stated. "Dad. That's the first time you've talked about him in years."
"Well, I think you and I have gotten into some bad habits." Moira finally said. "There's been a lot that has changed recently, Thea, and I think that maybe this can change, too." She patted Thea's arm and rose from the bed, leaving Thea to think.
Back at Queen Consolidated, Felicity was working her magic on the laptop. She managed to pull up several image files.
"Ha! Easy as pie!" Felicity exclaimed. "and I men pie pie, not pie as in 3.14159, which you might think because I'm a bit of a nerd…"
"Breath, Felicity." Diggle advised.
"Right, breathing is good." She replied.
"It looks like blueprints." She said.
"Do you know what of?" Oliver asked.
"The Exchange Building."
"Never heard of it."
"It's where the Unidac industry's auction is scheduled to take place." Felicity explained. At his look, she pressed, "I thought you said that was your laptop."
"Yes." Oliver stated.
Felicity sighed. "Look, I don't want to get in the middle of some Shakespearian family drama thing."
Oliver's eye flickered rapidly between the computer and Felicity. Confusion played across his face. "What?"
"Mr. Steele marrying your mom." She explained. "Claudius, Gertrude, Hamlet?"
"I didn't study Shakespeare at any of the four schools that I dropped out of." Oliver said bluntly.
"Mr. Steele is trying to buy Unidac Industries." lay out plainly. "And you've got a company laptop associated with one of the guys he's competing against."
Oliver nodded. "Floyd Lawton."
"No" Felicity interjected, "Warren Patel." She looked at him. "Who's Floyd Lawton?"
"He is an employee of Mr. Patel, evidently." Oliver explained lamely.
'The Exchange Building is surrounded by 3 towers with eye lines into the building.' Oliver's voice said as he stared at the blueprints. 'Lawton could get a kill shot off from virtually anywhere. But I can't cover the area. I can't protect all of Deadshot's targets. I can't do this alone.'
The scene shifted to outside the SCPD headquarters later that night, where Lance was walking to his car. He was suddenly grabbed roughly from behind and slammed into the hood of a cruiser. Looking back, grunting in pain, he saw The Hood pinning him down, holding one arm back in a vice-like grip, preventing him from getting up.
"Ah, you son of a bitch!" he started.
"Detective, quiet!" The Hood whispered.
"You've got a pair on you, pulling this right outside the police station!" Lance snarled.
"Floyd Lawton's the one targeting the buyers interested in Unidac Industries. Interpol calls him 'Deadshot' because he never misses. You can look this up after I go." The Hood told the detective.
"Yeah, and stop chasing you, I suppose?" he grunted as The Hood cranked back on his arm slightly.
"Warren Patel hired Lawton." He continued. "I can't be sure who they're targeting, it might be all the buyers, and I can't protect them in a space that big. I need your help." He pleaded.
"Yeah? Professional help." Lance scoffed.
"Lawton laces his bullets with curare. Tell your men to wear Kevlar." The Hood finished.
"I'll them to shoot you-" he gasped as an arrow was driven into the hood of the car right next to his head. Suddenly the pressure on his arm was gone, and he shot up and looked around- but The Hood was gone. Looking back at the hood, he noticed the laptop for the first time.
"How the hell does he do that?" Quentin grumbled.
The scene shifted to later that night at the Exchange Building. Moira and Walter were standing in the grand foyer, chatting quietly with one another.
"Well, it's quite a turn out, huh?" Moira remarked, looking around. Walter hummed in agreement.
"Well, it's quite an opportunity, actually." He said. "But regardless of the outcome of the auction, I'm already a winner because I have the two most beautiful women at my side tonight."
"Two?" Moira asked in confusion.
"Mm-hmm." Walter looked up past Moira, and she turned to see Thea enter in a tasteful blue dress. "Thanks for coming, Thea." He told the young woman, kissing her on the cheek. "It means a lot to your mother. And me." Thea smiled and hugged her mother.
"Suck up." Tommy teased under his breath.
"Shut up." Thea replied with a smile
"Mr. Steele, the auction will be opening in 5 minutes." A woman said, coming up to the group. "Please make sure your bid is ready."
"Thank you, Gina." He replied, and then looked to his two ladies. "Shall we?"
"Mm-hmm." Moira agreed, and the three walked into the main room.
Warren Patel was talking to some of his fellow businessmen when Detective Hilton approached him.
"Warren Patel." The cop announced, grabbing the man by his arm. "I'm going to need you to come with me, sir." Oliver watched from the top of the stairs as Patel was led away. Across the room on the balcony, Lance was monitoring the situation on his radio.
"Unit one, all clear." Lance announced. "Unit two, you copy?"
'We have Patel in custody.' Hilton's voice sounded. 'Still, no sign of Lawton.'
"Unit three?"
'I'm at the northwest perimeter. All clear.'
"Unit four?"
'Parking structure is clear.'
"Unit five, what's your status?" he asked.
Across the street in an under construction floor of an office building, Deadshot lifted up the radio. "This is unit five." He said. "All clear." He put the radio down and grabbed his sniper rifle, paying no attention to the dead cop on the floor.
Quentin paled. "Oh, shit…."
"You should consider challenge codes." Malcolm noted. Quentin glared at him, but internally he agreed with the man.
The scene changed to show Laurel walking through a deserted courthouse.
"You seriously need to get out more." Tommy noted.
"I tried that." Laurel shot back. "It ended with me having to save your butt."
"Oh, what a shock." She looked up to see Tommy sitting in one of the chairs that lined the wall, grinning at her. "It is Friday night. What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Well, I am an attorney and this is a courthouse, so I think the better question is, what are you doing here?" she countered.
"I wanted to talk to you about last night." He began.
"You mean how I saved your asses? You're welcome." She said teasingly. Tommy rose from the chair.
"Ok, first of all, we shall never, ever speak of that ever again." He said with a smile. "And secondly, I think you know that I meant the other thing."
"I don't care to talk about that." Laurel said, movie to walk away.
"I spoke to Oliver." Tommy said, stopping Laurel in her tracks. "He was surprisingly cool."
"That's because he knew." Laurel realized. At Tommy's confused look, she pressed on. "Did you see his face when Thea told him? Tommy, he didn't even blink. Trust me, he knew."
"Then why didn't he say anything?" Tommy asked. Laurel shrugged.
"I don't know. Maybe because he knows he doesn't have any right to judge me."
"And he doesn't." Laurel said, her arms crossed.
"There's a silver lining, though." Tommy said after a moment. "Now that the whole truth and nothing but is out, is there a chance now for you and me?" they stared at one another. "You said you didn't think that I was a one girl type of guy. I'm going to prove you wrong." He decided.
"By dating me." Laurel said.
"By being better." He clarified. "By being someone that you deserve and that you want to be with." He finished earnestly.
Laurel smiled. "Well that's certainly a guy I'd be interested in meeting." She said finally. Tommy smiled.
"Good. Now how about we start, ahem, by getting you the heck out of here." He took the case files from her and held out his arm. "Come on, it is Friday night. Come on." He encouraged. Laurel sighed and took his arm.
"Fine." She said, smiling.
Laurel looked over to Tommy speculatively. He grinned slightly in reply.
The scene shifted back to the Exchange Building. Oliver entered the main room, only to be brought up short by a familiar voice.
"Well, don't you scrub up nice?" Lance said sarcastically, as he cast his eyes around the room.
"Here to support my family." Oliver stated with a tight smile.
"Yeah, me too, God help me." Lance remarked crossly.
"Thank you." Oliver said quietly, in honest thanks. Lance scoffed at him and moved off. Oliver moved into the room and headed to his bodyguard. "Dig," he said to the man, his yes looking around the room. "Got your eyes open?"
Dig gave him a look. "That's what I'm here for, sir." He said, annoyed. "That and answering patronizing questions."
"This guy's out of time." Oliver said plainly, still looking around. "If he's going to do something, it's going to happen before the auction."
Diggle leaned forward. "What the hell is he doing?" he wondered aloud.
"He's beginning to realize what I realized." Malcolm said. "That he can't save this city alone."
"He's bringing me in?" Dig asked.
"That's my impression." Malcolm replied.
Diggle looked at him, partly in confusion and partly in worry. "Sir?" he asked. Oliver looked at him, the mask back on suddenly.
"I heard the story on the radio." He said lamely.
"Oliver!" Walter exclaimed happily. Oliver walked over to the man. "So pleased you were able to attend."
"Hmm." He replied. "Walter, the police said that some of the Unidac bidders were murdered." He told the man, worry in his voice. "I just think that we should be a little bit more careful. My mother's already lost a husband." He finished quietly.
"Well, if Moira shared your concern, she wouldn't have come." Walter said, unconcerned. "And she definitely wouldn't have brought your sister." Oliver looked up in shock at his mother and sister standing only a few feet away. He made his way over to them.
"Hi." He said, motioning to Diggle, who hurried over.
"Oliver, what a wonderful surprise." Moira started, but Oliver ignored her.
"I need you to get them out of here right now." He told Diggle.
Across the room, Lance was still looking around, worried. A flicker of red light caught his eye, and he looked over, glancing at Walter- who had a small, red dot on his chest over his heart. It took only a second for Lance to realize what it was, and he took off running. He tackled Walter to the ground just as the sound of shattered glass echoed throughout the room, and the waiter that had been standing behind Walter flew back, killed by Deadshot's missed round.
Moira and Thea let out a startled cry.
Screams erupted, and Diggle grabbed Moira even as Oliver grabbed Thea and hurried them out of the room. More shots rang out, and another man went down.
"Are you ok?" Oliver asked Thea. She nodded, and he looked to his mother. "Are you hurt?" he demanded.
"No, I'm fine!" she replied shakily. "Where is Walter?" she asked, terrified that he was dead. Oliver looked around and saw Detective Lance leading him out of the room.
"Walter's fine." He assured her.
"Sir, I have to get you out of here." Diggle started, but Oliver shook his head.
"No, them. Them!" he demanded, pointing at his mother and sister. He then turned and ran off, leaving his mother calling after him.
"Go, go," Diggle said, pointing to the exit. "I'll find him, ma'am, I'll find him." He assured her.
Oliver ran up the service stairs, pausing briefly at a trashcan. He pulled off the lid and pulled out a duffle bag. Opening the bad, he extracted his hood, and then continued up the stairs. A minute later, Dig came up the stairs, pausing briefly at the trashcan.
"Why there?" Malcolm wondered aloud. "Why stow his gear in such a public space?"
"The kid has to know there's probably security cameras around there." Slade agreed.
"Maybe it's the best place he could come up with on such short notice?" Felicity said. Malcolm shook his head.
"No, he's thinking of something." He said. "I suppose we'll have to wait and see."
Across the street, Deadshot was continuing to fire into the Exchange Building when suddenly The Hood crashed through the window. He landed and rolled, ducking behind a column as Deadshot sprayed bullets from his wrist gun. Oliver returned fire, missing twice. There was silence as Lawton looked for a kill shot.
"Drop your guns." The Hood yelled.
"I admire your work." Lawton replied. "Guess you won't be extending me any professional courtesy."
"We're not in the same line of work." The Hood snarled. "Your profession is murder."
"You've taken lives." Deadshot shot back.
"For the good of others." The Hood defended. "You're out for yourself." Deadshot scoffed, then opened fire, spraying the column with bullets. As soon as the clip was empty, The Hood whipped around and fired, then ducked back behind the column. He heard a body drop, and then waited a few more moments to be sure. Finally he peeked out-
And saw Deadshot on the ground, apparently dead, with an arrow through his targeting sensor eyepiece.
Diggle stared at the scene with a satisfied look on his face. 'At least Andy's killer's been brought to justice.' He thought.
He stared at the body for a moment, before a groan caught his attention. He whirled around to see Dig, slumping against a doorframe, wounded by a ricochet from Deadshot. Without hesitation, The Hood ran over to him, put Digs' arm around his shoulders, and walked him out.
"Oh, no." Felicity said, looking at Diggle, whose own face had paled slightly. "Poisoned bullets."
The scene flashed back to the Island, where Oliver awoke with a start to see the Asian man standing before him, a machete in his hand.
"Shǎguā." He said in Mandarin. "Zhège dìfāng tài wéixiǎnle, rènhé yīgè rén dúchǔ." He walked over and cut the net down, sending Oliver crashing to the ground. "Tāmen huì shāle nǐ." The man declared. Oliver made his way out of the net, scrambling to his feet as he heard something heading through the bush behind him. He ran after the Asian. Moments later, soldiers in all black appeared. They studied the net, tossing it aside and moving off after a few minutes.
Tommy sat up suddenly. "Who the hell are they?" he asked aloud.
"Mercenaries." Slade replied.
"Friends of yours?" Tommy asked, but shrank back at the glare the man sent him.
"No, they are not." Was all he said.
Back in the present, The Hood led Diggle down into the Foundry. Laying him on a table, he moved to the munitions crate and pulled out the bag of herbs. Mixing some in water, he fed the potion to Diggle, who coughed slightly but drank.
Sometime later- it could have been minutes, it could have been hours, Diggle came too. He looked around in confusion, wondering where he was. He struggled to sit up, finally doing so. As his surroundings came back into focus, he spotted a familiar face. Across from him, leaning against another table and dressed in green leather and hood down, was Oliver Queen.
"Hey." He said as Diggle looked at him in stunned silence.
"He was testing you, earlier." Malcolm decided. "He was probably thinking of bringing you in, and this just accelerated his plans."
"Yeah, well… I'm not too sure about how receptive I'm gonna be." Diggle replied. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad as hell Deadshot is dead-"
"He killed your brother, didn't he?" Malcolm surmised. At Diggle's surprised look, he explained. "At the restaurant, you introduced the woman as your sister-in-law, but stated your brother was dead. She seemed worried about your job, which leads me to believe that your brother was in a similar line of work, and was killed. Finally, you've been on edge ever since Oliver ran his ballistics, and the look of satisfaction on your face was unmistakable."
"And how would you know about that look?" Diggle asked suspiciously.
"Because I wore a similar look as I watched the man who killed my wife die." He replied, shocking Tommy and most of the rest of the room.
Finally, Diggle spoke. "Well, you're right. His M.O. fits the profile of the guy who killed my brother Andy. He was protecting some rich dude. Deadshot missed the principal and hit my brother instead."
"You're operating under a false pretense." Slade said. Dig looked over at him. "I have heard of Floyd Lawton; he is very good. But the reason they call him Deadshot is because he never misses."
"So?"
"So, if he shot your brother, than your brother was the target." Slade replied. Diggle fell back into the couch, thinking about what Slade had just said.
Over the speaker, Mia's voice suddenly called out. Okay, folks. One more and we'll call it a night. She said, loading the next memory sequence.
TBC 11/17/2014
A/N: I had a review that remarked on me writing future events that have now been proven false with the start of Season 3. I just want to clarify- this is AU. I can pretty much guarantee that what happens in my story will never happen on the show.
Kind of irked today- I just moved, so I don't have TV access just yet. Which means I'll have to wait an extra day to watch Arrow on iTunes. And MY GOD, does Emily Bett Rickards look hot as hell as a goth or what? Though she needs a nose ring to finish the look, IMO.
Translations:
Wèile bǎohù nín- To protect you
Yǐnliào- Drink
YA ishchu Aleksi Lenonov - I'm looking for Alexi Lenonov
Shǎguā- Fool
Zhège dìfāng tài wéixiǎnle, rènhé yīgè rén dúchǔ - This place is too dangerous for any one man to be alone
Tāmen huì shāle nǐ - They'll kill you