Notes:

Okay, so I didn't reread this part as often as I usually do but I really wanted to get it out and I should've been in bed at least an hour ago already so bear with me.

Also I'm kinda nervous about it... and it's another rather short one...

If you don't pay the price, you don't live this life back is full of knives, I don't sleep at night, if you close your eyes, that's how people die I cannot be nice

Felicity

Felicity was equal parts frustrated, in disbelief and worried when she couldn't detect any trace of Oliver. It couldn't be that he just vanished without a trace. That none of her options to detect his current location were working. It was as if he just ceased to be and with that, all of his electronics, too. And there was just no way. He had a freaking tracker in his boot. Even if someone got rid of his phone and earbud, there was still a way to detect him. Unless they got rid of his boots, but why would someone just remove his shoes... and even if and they'd kept them separate, she would still get a signal, but she wasn't getting anything. It was as if the tracker no longer existed. Which made no sense or meant they must have a device to block the signals, which would be really, really bad.

But she refused to give up, couldn't admit to herself that she was running out of options and ways to find him, and fast. She was going through the footage of the traffic cams right now and nothing, just like there had been nothing on any of the security cameras close by. Just nothing. It was impossible. There was no way they'd get away completely undetected. Not in a city like Star that was covered with security cameras. There were enough that she usually had no issues keeping track of Oliver when he was on the road with his bike, even when he took side alleys or went off road. So this shouldn't be possible.

She couldn't believe she lost Oliver.

There was no way. She had never just lost him like this before. How could this have happened? It was her job to always keep track of everyone on the team. She was Overwatch. She was supposed to watch over them, keep them safe, and always keep an eye on them. The dread she'd been feeling from the moment she was told that Oliver was gone, but his bow was still there, only intensified with every failed attempt to locate him. It amplified even more when the realization hit that she didn't know what else she could do to try and locate him. She'd done everything she could. This was the last straw to grasp on. If the cams gave them no clue, she wasn't sure where to go from there… well, there was one more option, but she wasn't sure if leaving her post for a couple of hours was an option or something she even wanted to do. Helix might be able to help or not. So leaving her post for what could be a waste of time wasn't something she was willing to do. Yet.

Plus, she just couldn't get Cisco's reaction out of her mind and the very valid points he's made. She'd been thinking about what they'd asked her to do and what the reason could've been for them to not want that part of the border to be watched. Could it be that Helix wasn't what Alana claimed it was? She pushed those thoughts away for the time being. She could mull it all over and analyze everything she knew about Helix once Oliver was back home. Safe. She didn't have time to get sidetracked before then. Because she needed to find him. She couldn't fail. There were too many reasons to count why failing wasn't an option. She just knew she had to find him. Partially because of the way things currently were between them right now. She wanted, no, she needed to… she hated the current situation between them. How angry he had been with her. Oliver had never before been this mad at her. Their last real, non-mission-based interaction couldn't be the last one they'd ever have, and she hated herself for the dark, pessimistic thought. But who knew what Prometheus would do to him. And she couldn't stand the thought that if they failed, she'd never get the chance to make things right between them. She'd never get a chance to explain. She'd never get the chance to apologize to him for hurting him, which she had obviously done, given his very emotional reaction. Oliver rarely showed his feelings in such an obvious way and most of the time it was when he got hurt emotionally.

Felicity swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat at that thought and the memory of their interaction at the Bunker after he had destroyed it and before… before they got a lead on Joanna. Before she had let them walk into a trap blind. She still didn't know what had happened and how it could've happened. How she had lost the connection and then track of him.

It was a mystery she was desperately trying to solve but hadn't been successful so far. And the longer it took, the more worried she got that she might never be able to. And she hated that. She couldn't stand not solving the puzzles, not figuring things out. She was the smartest person in the room. She should be able to solve this.

She also worried about Sara's reaction if she failed to find Oliver. Sara was about as angry at her as Oliver had been, even if her anger had been more silent and freezing than loud and explosive like Oliver's, and she hated being on her bad side. She hated how things were between her and the former, current, whatever it didn't really matter, couple. Finding Oliver could be something to make things better. Not finding him would probably only make things worse, if that was even possible. Sara, just like Oliver, had never before been this mad at her, or at all, really. So she wasn't sure what to do with the other woman's anger, how to make things better. But finding Oliver seemed like a good start.

Felicity felt like Sara would never forgive her if she failed to find Oliver and something bad happened to him. She also knew that if Sara weren't pregnant, she'd be out there looking for Oliver, without a break, without hesitation, and she wouldn't stop until she found him. But Sara couldn't do that right now, so they needed to do it for her. They needed to show the same resolve and determination to find him as the Canary would if she could and were aware of the current situation.

She felt guilty about lying to her, but she was also worried about what the Canary might do if she knew, and they couldn't risk Sara being reckless and endangering her baby. Oliver would never forgive them. And she had honestly thought they would've found him by now and it would be no big deal that they'd lied if she'd even found out. Only they hadn't and they were running out of ways to look for him and she wasn't sure how they were supposed to tell Sara now… it looked like Thea had been right with resisting and pushing back when it came to lying to Sara. They couldn't put off telling her much longer.

Not if they couldn't find Oliver.

Maybe they should've told her the truth from the start. Telling her now would only make matters worse. But not telling her didn't seem to be an option anymore either, given the fact that Oliver has been missing for over twenty-four hours now.

And there were still no leads or clues to his whereabouts. And they were running out of alleys to pursue in the search for him.

But she refused to give up. She would never give up looking for him, not until they found him and brought him back home. There was no other option.

She could not fail. Because failure meant that Oliver was never going to come back home and that couldn't happen. She refused to let that happen. She was Overwatch it was her job to watch over them, to make sure they came back home safe. They trusted her to keep them safe, to not lose them and, if she did, to find them again.

She couldn't fail. Not this time. Not when the stakes were this high, too high.

Not when the stakes were Oliver's life.

Sara

"Anatoly, Ollie's still missing, and his team is useless, and I don't think the Star City Chapter is actually doing anything to help, but I know I can't just show up there in person and demand they start hitting the streets and go look for their brother, they won't take kindly to me. I don't know what to do. His team is incompetent and I'm really worried. Who he's up against... I have a horrible feeling. Could you… I know you let them know he's missing after I called you the first time but… maybe having you here would help motivate them to actually get off their asses and start looking for him… because honestly I feel they aren't really doing shit and don't really care." God, she felt utterly pathetic having been reduced to fucking begging people to help her look for Ollie instead of doing it herself. This was beyond degrading. And she knew Anatoly didn't look at it this way, no one would but she was a trained assassin, she could… if she'd been there or if she could just check out the scene herself maybe she could… but it was too much of a risk. Who knew if the building was still being used by Chase and if she'd be walking into yet another trap.

Or if only she could just walk into the Bratva's headquarters and make sure they'd start looking for their brother and kick some asses if she had to, to guarantee their cooperation and help. But she couldn't do that. Couldn't do any of that, couldn't really do anything but ask for help and pray someone cared enough to go to the same lengths she would to find him. Because she couldn't risk her baby girl. She couldn't put them in danger.

But this, this helplessness, this feeling of being utterly useless, was killing her. Ollie was out there somewhere, very likely being tortured, and she was going stir crazy in their apartment. Incapable of doing anything. Well, anything besides begging Anatoly for help and hoping Lyla might find something, even though adding A.R.G.U.S. into the mix, made her uncomfortable. She trusted Lyla, but not the government agency she worked for. Her running it didn't change the fact that it was part of the government, a government that might turn on them if it suited their own personal interests.

They knew who they were under the masks, and she really didn't like that. So far, they seemed to see the benefit in what they were doing, but what would happen once they decided vigilantes were too much of a danger to their power? What would they do to them then? She knew what the US government, any government really, did to terrorists, or people they branded as such… who was to say that was not a term they'd end up using while addressing vigilantes if they chose to look at them as a threat towards their power and control? If the League had taught her anything, it was that power corrupted and hardly any government acted in favor of the people it represented, but in their own personal interest.

What would happen if they felt the vigilantes would target them because of their dirty dealings behind closed doors? What would happen if Ollie chose to go back to the list? She was sure there were several politicians on it, and wouldn't be surprised if the money trail led all the way up to Capitol Hill. Corruption was everywhere and if the wrong person was in control of the wrong agency… They could all end up in Guantanamo Bay or an equivalent of it that was lesser known and better hidden.

Fact was if any of the government agencies wanted to make them disappear without a trace they could, rather easily. So no, she didn't like the fact that A.R.G.U.S. had files on them all and knew their identities, both with and without their masks on.

The League's demise could prove fatal to the balance of the world governments and the insurance that the powerful wouldn't completely crush the powerless populace. If there had been any power that could take on A.R.G.U.S. it would've been the League. The role of the centuries old secret organization had been crucial in many an event on a global scale and they had prevented a lot of incidents that could've changed the course of history and the world. The League's understanding of how everything was connected and just one event could lead to the fall of the world, as they knew it shouldn't have been underestimated.

Their work had taken care of many a wolf in sheep's clothing.

The League had been more successful than all the secret government agencies all across the world combined. Simply because they did not care about the borders. They looked at the world as a whole and acted accordingly. No one country was valued higher than the others. No one person was granted immunity, while others were executed for the same crime. No, the League had operated by its own unique laws and rules and that had made it as successful, impactful and important to the world as it had been. Before it had been put into the hands of a selfish madman and then been disbanded.

Neither Ollie nor Nyssa had thought those choices through. She'd liked to believe it was lack of knowledge and understanding of the League's role in the big scheme of things on Ollie's part, and desperation on Nyssa's. But no matter, what was done was done, and Talia didn't seem to want to take over her father's calling and rather focus on personal vendettas instead of the greater good. She could see now why Ra's had not been willing to make her his successor. If she put her own feelings above the true mission, keeping the balance intact, and let her emotions guide her, she wasn't suited as Ra's and, given Nyssa's choice of disbanding the League, neither was she.

Ollie might have been, had his training not been rushed, a couple of weeks until he was trusted with the keys to the castle, so to speak was ignorant and not at all like Ra's. Whatever had been going on, Ra's should've known better. He had apparently understood Ollie enough to know how to motivate him, for lack of a better term, to join by going after Thea. Not something she agreed with at all, but it meant Ra's understood that protecting his family was key to Ollie. He had studied him, kept his eyes on him from the moment he'd been on his radar and yet, he assumed he could convince him to turn his back on everything he believed in, including his family and home, in a matter of weeks? That he'd be able to break him in such a short amount of time? It was a stupid belief; it had taken him longer than that to break her to the point he needed to be able to remake her into what he had wanted and needed her to be, he couldn't have seriously believed he could not only break Ollie in less than half the time it had taken him to break her but to also remake him in just as little time. That didn't seem like Ra's at all. He should've known better.

Ollie wasn't someone who could be broken easily, otherwise he would've been after Lian Yu. His time in Hongkong at the latest. The things Waller made him do, the thing she had forced him to do… no, if Ollie were easy to break. He'd been broken then for sure, and a part of him had been. It wasn't too difficult for her to recall the man he had been before, the way he had been appalled at her suggestion to kill Anthony in cold blood, and his refusal to believe she'd helped torture the inmates and desperate need to rationalize her actions. He hadn't been able to understand. He'd been still so innocent and naïve in a way back then, even after everything he'd already gone through. So, yes, his time with A.R.G.U.S. had broken something inside of him. And she still mourned for that part of him, for his innocence essentially, even while being grateful that he now understood, that he could now see the need to do the unthinkable in order to survive. It was a lesson she had learnt on the Amazo. A good three years before, Ollie had learnt it under the cold, calculated and watchful eyes of Amanda Waller.

Ra's must have known that. She was sure he'd done his research on Ollie before even considering him as his heir. So what had given him the impression he would be so easy to break? It made no sense, but then again; she hadn't been there. She didn't have all the parts of the story and was most definitely missing the details.

It was all just very strange and made little to no sense to her. Everyone seemed to have acted very out of character after her death, and not in a good way. Part of her wished asking Ra's for help was still an option. But the closest option she had to asking the League for help was Nyssa and that was not something she was willing to do. Not yet, at least. Unsure what the situation between her and Ollie was and not willing to risk her double crossing them and turn into yet another foe. She truly couldn't say what her former lover's reaction to not only her pregnancy but her renewed relationship with Ollie would be. But she couldn't help but be reminded of the last time she'd been involved with Ollie and Nyssa's reaction to it then. And she couldn't risk a replay of those events. Couldn't risk Nyssa's fury, because it was like a deadly storm and the last time they'd gotten lucky that there had been no casualties on their side. She wasn't willing to take another chance and risk ending up with dead family members, least of all her baby's father. No. Nyssa wasn't an option. She wasn't desperate enough for her to be one yet. Only time would tell if she'd eventually change her mind on that stance.

This made her wonder what had happened to all the former members. If the League was disbanded, where had all the assassins gone? Were they still in the business and working together? Had they built a new order? Or where they scattered all around the world, just minding their own business?

She was grateful that Anatoly agreed with her assessment that the Star City chapter might not be as motivated to look for Ollie as they should be or would've been had it been another member of the brotherhood. Kapyushon's relationship with his chapter of the organization was still shaky at best, so some additional motivation might be needed for them to seriously start looking for him, so having Anatoly tell her he was already on his way to Star City and would arrive shortly so he could personally overlook the Bratva's search for Ollie, and that he was also bringing additional men with him, was a relief. She knew she should question the fact that she felt better asking the Pakhan of the Bratva for help, and trusted a criminal organization more than she did A.R.G.U.S. and their own government, but she didn't care right now. All she cared about were results, and chances were the brotherhood would be more successful than the government agency. They didn't need to get permission or justify their actions later on. They could just do whatever it took to find their brother, without any laws or red tape or permission from anyone but Anatoly who she knew would do whatever he had to in order to find Ollie.

The brotherhood firmly agreed with her stance here. The end justified the means. Their ruthless methods would bring results, she was sure of it.

It took her a while to convince Thea and Sin to get out of the apartment for a bit. They'd been staying with her ever since Thea had told her the truth almost two days ago. And she was starting to feel smothered, even though they weren't doing anything particularly smothering, but they were around. And she wasn't sure that was what she needed right now. She needed a moment to breathe. To just be alone. To not have anyone around. She loved them; she did, and she appreciated their company and the fact that they were here for her, but she wasn't the type of person who needed to be cuddled and comforted in situations like this one. She was the type of person who needed to do something productive, something to help.

So she'd sent them out to get some groceries under the pretense that she was really, really craving those and having them here would help. Honestly, she couldn't even remember what she told them to buy anymore. The products had been so totally random. She tried to feel guilty about it, but just couldn't. She knew she probably should, but she only had so much capacity to feel shit and that had already reached max the moment she had learnt that Ollie had been kidnapped.

Plus, this was how she rolled, and usually faced a crisis, alone. Or with Ollie, but mostly alone. And not getting the space she needed right now wasn't helpful, no matter how well their intentions were and she knew they meant well, but she was seriously struggling to keep it together and constantly being watched wasn't helping. Neither was the other two women's worry. So she sent them away to get at least an hour completely to herself, with an empty apartment.

Ollie's team also had finally had the guts to let her know what was going on about a day ago. She wondered if they'd played rock, paper, scissor or drew straws or something to determine who was going to let her know. It wouldn't surprise her if they had. However they had determined who would call her though didn't really matter, Dig had been very short and to the point on the phone and since she had already known the gist of it, and Thea's side of the story she'd just taken it in the same way.

He had added some more detail and informed her that her dad, Laurel and he had talked to Joanna just shortly before he had called her, but that she unfortunately didn't have information that could help them. She had been in the same room of the same building for the entire duration of her kidnapping until shortly before they had showed up and she'd been moved into the elevator of the building.

Which was an interesting and intriguing detail. It meant they'd been aware of Ollie showing up. It made her wonder how long Joanna had been in the elevator and how much time had passed between her being moved and Ollie and the team entering the building. That knowledge would help determine how they'd known Ollie was coming.

There was just something about the entire situation that made her uneasy.

How had Chase known Ollie was coming? And that there'd been enough time to move Joanna and disappear until the situation suited him to attack, she guessed, she still didn't have all the details, only knew Thea's version of events, and she hadn't been with Ollie when Chase had shown up, but outside with Laurel and Joanna. So the women were useless to her. But Dig, Dig had been the last person with Ollie before Chase had taken him. If there was anyone who could shed some light on what exactly had happened, it would be the former soldier. But she didn't have the chance to actually talk to him yet, plus she wanted to do it face to face. She wanted to see his facial expressions and body language while he told her what exactly had happened and how it had been possible to happen. It was Dig's job to make sure Ollie got out of situations in one piece. He was supposed to be the one providing an exit strategy if Ollie got trapped. He was supposed to keep exactly this from happening. He was supposed to have his back. Plain and simple.

So she was really looking forward to hear his explanation and reasoning as to why and how it could happen. How he could've let this happen.

There was just something about the new knowledge concerning Joanna having been moved shortly before Ollie saved her that wouldn't leave her alone. How had they known when to move her? That it was time to put the cheese into the trap, so to speak? If Felicity hadn't been able to pull any footage that showed any part of the kidnapping, how had their enemies known they were coming? If the data had simply been cleared, Felicity surely would've noticed that. Had their arrival still been recorded and, if so, when had the recordings of the traffic cams and other security devices stopped? And how had they all been stopped or changed? Not all of them were from the city, some of them had to be privately owned. Or hadn't they? But then, how had they managed to get Ollie out of the building without a trace? It made no sense, and something wasn't right here. She was missing something; she was sure of it.

Sara was ripped from her thoughts by the doorbell and didn't hesitate to find out who was on the other side. The sight that greeted her on the security camera filled her with relief and hope that maybe, just maybe, things were looking up and they might actually find her husband.

Sara opened the door and found Anatoly on the other side of it. Rushing into his arms and pulling him into a hug was pure instinct and a testament to just how on edge and desperate she was. But she was so very grateful to see him and hopeful that he would be able to help her get Ollie back.

Notes:

I hope I got Felicity right. I always worry about her, as you guys probably know by now, lol. But it still hasn't changed.

Yay, mystery solved.. I hope you guys liked her choice and it makes sense and is true to her character.

Sara's on edge, which is why she just hugged Anatoly. She's on emotional overload and just really grateful he made the trip and is wiling to help her.

I hope Sara's thoughts on ARGUS and the League make sense and feel true to her character.

Chapter title is from the song "I cannot be nice" by Tom MacDonald.