Arrow War of Faith

by Dellore of VersatileCreativity

My name is -Error- with one goal, to save Star City. With -Error- Oliver Queen, out of jail and most of Team Arrow assembled, we fight to save Star City from those who would -Error- ...become someone else. Become something else. I am -Error- (Sequel to Arrow: Rise of the Vigilantes and Elseworlds: the Chosen).

2. Episode 2: No Stone Unturned

Disclaimer: Based on characters and references created by DC Universe and the CW, which I do not own. Enjoy!

---

My name is William Queen

A man from the future who has come to the past with one goal,

To save Star City.

With my father, Oliver Queen, now out of jail and most of Team Arrow assembled

We fight to save Star City from those who threaten its future.

To do so, I must become someone else.

Become something else.

I am the Red Arrow.

---

Episode 2: No Stone Unturned

---

Admittedly, her daily crunches are becoming tedious, but Emiko has nothing to do in this cell, besides watching the TV provided. Despite good behaviour, they did not give her the courtesy of at least letting her use their training facilities or become lenient with the security they have around her. What's more frustrating for her is that she is no closer to William Glenmorgan, a suspect in her mother's murder, or the Ninth Circle contact who hired him behind Dante's back.

However, a new development arrives in front of her as she sits up from her next crunch. Her half-brother, Oliver, arrives as he usually does every week. With him, however, is somebody else entirely. Emiko recognizes the young, brown-haired girl to be Thea Queen, the lovechild of Malcolm Merlyn and Moira Queen, Oliver's other half-sister. Her eyes give Emiko the slightest sliver of sympathy.

"So…you're our long-lost sister."

Emiko just stares back in contempt. "Technically, we're not sisters at all."

"That doesn't change anything."

Emiko stands straight up and looks at Oliver. "Why did you bring her here?"

"She wanted to see you, Emiko. Despite what you might think, we do still care."

Emiko scoffs. "Do you? I saw your little interviews with Kannon, everything you said about our father and 'curing the city's poison,' or whatever crap it was."

"I was trying to assure everyone, including you, that I am nothing like our father."

Emiko walks up to the door, her arms crossed. "What I saw was my own brother trying to soften the blow of what Dad did to me! The years I went through trying to be in his life and being rejected, of ignoring my mother!"

"I wouldn't dare!"

"Then where is he?! Where's William Glenmorgan?! Do you at least have that?"

Oliver breathes a heavy sigh. "We've been tracking his movements from the past couple of years. He went off the grid, but we're remaining persistent."

"That's not good enough. If you would let me out-"

"If I could, Emiko, I would. But that's not my call."

Emiko scoffs once again. "And I thought you said you acted independently from ARGUS."

Thea steps up to the doorway, meeting Emiko eye-to-eye. "Hey! He's trying. You gotta have some faith that your family will come through."

Emiko's eyes become razors. "My faith in family was spent long ago."

Suddenly, a beep comes from Oliver's pocket. He takes out his phone and checks it.

"That's Lyla. She needs me for something." He puts the phone away. "I'll be back."

Out of sheer anger, Emiko shouts, "Unless you have something on Glenmorgan, don't bother coming back at all!"

Oliver does not stop to talk back, but Emiko notices a bit of a grimace on the side of his face. The same one that Emiko forms.

The same grimace is on Thea's face. "Did you really have to say that?"

"Did Oliver tell you nothing about what my father did?"

"All of it! I do not condone Dad leaving you behind, but that's on him, not our brother. Don't put the blame on him because you weren't able to get back at Dad."

Thea then turns to leave, following Oliver. Finally, Emiko has room to breathe, to let her guard down. Though, it does not help a lot.

They're a lot like you Dad. A lot like me fighting for Mom. But they don't know what I've done. They can't.

---

Off to the side in the newly refurbished Bunker, William and Mia practice their kali kata, slowly getting into the pattern of their back-and-forth spar.

"Good, Mia. Pick up the pace."

The strikes start increasing in speed, the pattern becoming easier to master as they had done this routine about three times before. As in each one, William matches her second by second.

"Move around. Don't give me an opportunity to flank."

Mia shifts her feet back to put distance between her and him. In her mind, she is waiting for the backhand strike that she can dodge, opening him up to strike hard and fast. However, the backhand comes in faster than they were initially practicing in, lightly smacking her cheek.

She groans, not taking the hit well. "What the hell?!"

"Variable acceleration. You change your speed, trip up your opponent, open them up to attack."

Still gripping her escrima sticks, Mia angrily lunges at her brother. He, in turn, smacks her lunging hand and brings his up to her neck. Despite the pain in her hand, she stops dead in her tracks.

"And it saves you from predictability."

He lowers his stick and walks past Mia towards the weapons rack. Mia rubs her hand and cheek, her frustration preventing her from doing so gently.

With a loud grunt, she asks, "What's the point of this? The trick arrows, I understand why. But I KNOW how to fight."

"You know how to fight like an Al Ghul." William hangs the escrima sticks up. "With cold-blooded efficiency and ruthlessness. But even Ra's had patience and calculated cunning, which is how I keep beating you."

"The first time in 2040 ended in a draw!"

William walks up to Mia. "And I saw how you fight. You can pin somebody down, you can strike hard and fast, you can react to your situation." He takes the stick on the floor and grabs the other from her hand. "But this isn't 2040, Mia. You're not fighting thugs in a ring or fending for yourself in a nearly lawless city. You need to rethink how you resolve situations."

Before Mia can refute, the sound of an elevator ding grabs their attention. As the doors open, John, Oliver, and Felicity enter the bunker, making their way to the platform.

John is the first to notice them. "Heads up! Got an assignment from HQ."

William heads there immediately, but Mia sighs with subtle infuriation before she follows.

Okay. Just shelve it for now.

Mia and William walk up the ramp and join the others at the supercomputer.

William asks, "The Glades?"

John shakes his head. "No, but close to it."

Felicity brings up a satellite image of Star City. She soon zooms in on the center-to-eastern side and scales it down to a singular building.

Felicity briefs, "Last night, Star City's Server Farm was broken into. No one was killed, but a large chunk of information is missing."

Mia raises an eyebrow. "How does ARGUS have a stake in this?"

John answers, "This server farm was where we planted a bug a couple of years ago. We were supposed to be getting a steady stream of information about possible terrorist threats or crooked deals coming to Star City. It's how we found Wolfman a month back."

William asks, "What kind of information did they take?"

John shrugs his shoulders. "Unknown. It wasn't information that our hackers copied immediately. However, there were reports of a scuffle."

William nods. "Which means the thief must've left a trail for us to find."

John grins. "Exactly."

Oliver looks to William. "But not alone. SCPD has already set up a crime scene and created a perimeter."

"Did they touch any evidence?"

"No, but Dinah insists we cooperate with her and share any evidence found."

William narrows his eyes. "She's going to be there? Why not one of her lieutenants?"

Oliver looks at William peculiarly. "You sound as if you don't like the prospect."

"Where she is publicly, Pollard is not far behind."

Oliver was about to explain, but John takes over, "She won't be. We don't answer to her or SCPD, but we do need to establish friendly relations with them."

William shrugs. "At least, one of them."

John then commands, "Knock that off William. This was going to happen with Pollard's oversight or not. Get those detective vision glasses, and enough for a few."

William nods and heads off to the back with all the display cases.

Mia also nods, saying, "I'll get my ARGUS suit."

John shakes his head. "No Mia. You're on standby when we need you."

What? I helped take down a guy that can hack power generators and I'm being put on the sidelines?! Oh no, not this time!

Before Mia could put her thoughts to words, Felicity stands up with a smile. "That's fine. I've been meaning to take you out to lunch anyways. You know, have some mother-daughter bonding."

John nods and walks off with a glad grin. Oliver does not do this immediately, giving Felicity a quick stare which she nods to with an assuring smile. Probably a couple's way of communicating with each other. Mia hasn't been that far in a relationship to know.

As soon as Oliver does leave, Felicity puts her arms on Mia. "Look, Mia. As your mother, I can tell when you feel bitter about these things. Yelling at Mr. Diggle won't solve it. Talking it out with me will. Okay?"

Mia is hesitant to answer, frustration still boiling her blood. She lets herself breathe for a moment and cool down. With her head clear, she nods at her mother's suggestion.

"I was getting hungry anyways."

"Great! I'll text Laurel and tell her it's on."

Mia takes a cautious step back. "The D.A?"

"Yeah. We're celebrating. She's gotten high numbers recently and is most likely going to get reelected. I know it's premature, but I think she needs people to hang out with. Better than being in her office all day."

As Felicity composes her text, Mia looks over to the supercomputer, which still has the image of the server farm.

Being out there would be better than anything.

---

"I want a perimeter around a 3-block radius. Nobody goes in or out of the building. Question the staff and find out how the hell an intruder got in without them noticing. If there was even ONE hint of them slacking off, I want to know about it."

Lieutenant Anastas nods as he and Dinah march through the hallway towards the server room. "I've got men downstairs already and cop cars sweeping the area. I'm still concerned that this is a little much. Maybe we should divert some of our cars to the Glades."

"Trust me, Lieutenant, I would. But the last time information warfare hit Star City, we were compromised to the point of near collapse. We can't take any chances."

As they enter, they are greeted by rows and rows of electronic metal with blinking lights and ports. The technology, for Dinah, did not make much sense except that it just stores and sends information around, vital to private companies, banks, hospitals, and pretty much everything else. Whatever bug John said they placed here must have been important, but he never said how.

From the corner of her eye, one of her forensic analysts pops from the corner of the farthest row of servers. "Captain Drake."

"Found something?"

"Sure did." She raises a plastic bag containing a shard of glass. Covering the glass is a small taint of blood. "This was at the broken window the perp may have escaped from. Though, we don't know how he jumped from three stories and lived to tell the tale."

Dinah grins. "Good. Bring that over to the precinct. Get some DNA analysis and-"

"Excuse me!"

The familiar voice sends a shiver down Dinah's spine. She had expected him to be coming by night to sweep the area as his clad-in-black persona or to at least stay behind. The last thing she expected William to do is be out in the open.

"Sorry to disrupt your normal routine, Captain Drake, but I'm going to need that evidence."

When she and Anastas turn around, William is wearing an ARGUS suit with black gloves and what appear to be normal looking prescription glasses.

The forensic analysist walks up to William with a glare. "This is a crime scene investigation you have just stumbled onto."

"So, I'm aware."

"What authority do you think you have?"

William holds up an official ARGUS badge, which carries his alias as "Connor Hawke" just below the insignia, both of which he announces to her. "The higher brass has made this a top priority and needs me and our pals at Knightwatch to investigate."

"I need to get this analyzed."

"And trust me ma'am, I would let you if I could. However, ARGUS wants all of this to be kept internal until we know what's going on."

"You mean take over our investigation and make us look like chumps? Is that it?"

Dinah, not wanting to complicate things further, commands, "Just let him have it."

The analyst hesitates for a moment, but eventually hands the baggie to William.

He gives a nod of appreciation. "You'll get it back once we're done. Now, I need everyone except the captain to leave."

The analyst brushes past William and grumbles on her way to the elevator.

Anastas takes a step forward as he excuses himself. "I should see to the other ARGUS guys and get them up to speed. Plus, I need to make a call."

"Your boyfriend is among them Lieutenant Anastas. He's waiting for you."

Nick is almost surprised by the statement but does not question it. He simply speed walks away with a joyful whistle.

When the two are out of earshot, William turns back to Dinah. "Nice staff."

"Are you really going to give that back?"

"As soon as we're done."

William starts to walk back to the last aisle of servers, Dinah following behind.

"It's a miracle Pollard didn't tell you to turn this place upside down."

"Are you saying that you lack confidence on our part?"

"Just an observation, Captain Drake."

"Pollard does not have every right to tell us how to do our jobs."

"And yet, you would have dropped everything to find the Green Arrow a month back."

"John's in charge and he usurps Pollard's authority anyways. He told us to make the perimeter and nothing more."

"I'm aware, and it's good that he did. Your men would have likely tainted evidence than preserve it."

"I thought you were just making observations?"

"Observations based on experience. As a former vigilante, I think you would understand where I'm coming from."

Before Dinah could argue further, William stops and raises a hand. They look at the broken window that leads down towards street level, seeing all the cop cars and police outside. Along with them are Oliver, John, and Curtis, questioning the building's staff and security below.

William kneels down and looks at the bottom of the window. The glass there has the same taint of blood as the evidence.

"This was the guy's primary means of escape?"

Dinah nods. "There's no other sign of forced entry, so far as we know."

William places the plastic baggie in front of the window and stands up. "We'll see about that." He takes out a couple pairs of glasses and hands one of them to Dinah. "Put these on."

She thinks about questioning him but feels that he would insist on it before explaining. So, she does as she is asked. The glasses did not feel too strange. She can even see through them, made from the clearest plastic. That soon changes as soon as William presses a hidden button on his pair. Soon, her lenses change the entire room into a bluish hue, making it hard, at first, to see what is in front of her. Eventually, the image clears up and she is able to see through the servers and walls, to a couple of floors below.

"This…this is-"

"Detective vision. Yep."

Suddenly, a second small screen appears, showing the piece of bloodied glass and window bits being scanned.

"The best part of this is that it takes evidence and, with enough of it, reconstructs the crime scene as it happened almost 100% accurately."

"Can't you use your time tech?"

"Not all of the time. Tapping into the timestream too much makes the connection unstable, meaning waiting longer for it to cool down. This, however, is readily available and easier to handle."

The second screen highlights the blood in a bright blue, contrasting it from the other surroundings.

William rubs his chin. "Interesting."

"What?"

"These blood patterns aren't consistent with a simple escape and we're a bit too high up for a safe jump. This may have been either a desperate or botched escape."

"Can't be both?"

"Depends."

William walks off back to the center of the room and, again, Dinah follows behind. As they do, the detective vision highlights scratches made to a few of the servers, not deep enough to destroy them outright, but the glass shows a thick cut not visible to the naked eye.

William nods at them. "John did say there was a scuffle."

"From what I've heard, the glass of these servers were built to withstand a lot. I guess this scuffle is proof of it."

"Yet, ARGUS' bugged server is a few rows ahead, means there was an attempt to hide."

When they make it back to the center, William stops for a moment. The detective vision finds signs of two sets of footprints that have mostly faded.

Dinah grins with amazement. "These things aren't half bad."

"Was anyone else here?"

"Yeah. One guard. He patrolled from the elevator to the room here."

One set of faint footprints leading from the elevator confirm her info. Another set, showing more content, indicate that they are just a bit more recent than the other guy and do not follow his trail.

Dinah leans down to examine the footprints. "This should be impossible. That elevator's the only way up. Was the guard bribed?"

"Or maybe our perpetrator used the vent above."

Dinah looks up, noticing a large shaft hidden in the shadows above the hanging lamps.

"I didn't even notice that."

"Odds are, neither did our guard. Whoever did this knew the layout. He must've been staking the place out for weeks."

William follows the perp's steps to the targeted server and then back, noticing a pattern. "He knocks out the guard, heads to the server, copies the information he needed, then heads back out. However, he doubles back. He notices something."

"What?"

"I don't know. An obstacle or…"

He rushes back to the entry point and looks at the prints again.

"Green perp. Yellow guard."

Just like that, the colors of the prints change to a bright green for the perpetrator and a yellow for the guard. Among it, he and Dinah notice a bit more prominent, yet still faint footprint mixed with the two others.

"A third person. Someone else came into this room."

"A guard?"

"Or, more likely, someone else after the same information."

They head back to the server and trace the perp's backsteps.

"He doubles back…"

They notice the prints cut off halfway through the row. William looks up to the left server, noticing a bit of a dent that Dinah does on the upper right corner.

"He goes into hiding, taking shortcuts where he can."

They head back to the broken window, where the final tracks lead to.

Dinah then concludes, "So, he jumps off and catches himself on the glass."

William shakes his head. "No. This would be the last thing he would do. He went into hiding, hoping to head to the elevator. The only reason there would be blood on the window…" he then points on the scratches in the servers. "…is if he were already caught."

Dinah's eyes widen in fear. "You mean…"

"He's not dead. More likely injured. But he still couldn't have survived the fall unless…"

William looks down at the ground for a minute, thinking. When he raises his head back up, his eyes are alight. He heads back to the entryway, following the footprints, paying particular attention to the yellow ones. He then points to an irregularity through the elevator.

"There! The guard doubles back. Our intruder did take the elevator, because the vent—"

"The vent is connected to the elevator shaft."

"Exactly! The intruder wasn't taking the elevator up, but down, meaning that he would have brought a—"

Both say in unison, "Grappling hook!"

They both run back to the window and look out. William is the first to notice a few small claw marks that the detective vision scans and highlights.

"There! Prong marks. He must have been thrown out of the room, so he takes his grappling hook and makes his way down."

"And with an injury, not to mention someone after him, there's no way he made it more than one block before he had to stop and hide again."

William nods. "Detective vision should be able to use his blood and find a trail."

Before William can leave, Dinah puts herself in his way. "I'm going with you."

William shakes his head. "Your place is here, Captain Drake. Besides, if someone from the Ninth Circle is down there, they'll notice you and follow."

"Anastas has it covered and there's a back way out of here. We're doing this together whether you like it or not."

William takes a moment and breathes a subtle sigh. "You're stubborn, you know that?"

Dinah grins. "When I need to be."

---

Tracking the blood trail worked out. William and Dinah follow it back to an apartment building just two blocks away, a couple of alleyways from the server building's back door. There is nothing unusual besides the bloody handprints that stain a window a couple of floors above.

William leans in close to Dinah. "He may still be inside. Let me go in first. Take the doorway and wait to back me up."

"I can't let you do this alone. You're un—"

William quickly takes out and unfolds a baton he kept in his pocket, which stops Dinah from finishing. She looks at him a bit unsurprised.

William raises an eyebrow. "What? I wouldn't leave myself defenseless."

Dinah makes her way around to the front of the building while William jumps up the ladder and climbs the fire escape towards the window as quietly as he can. Before he enters, he peeks through the window to ensure that no one is keeping tabs on the outside. There are a few lights on, but the corners are pitch black. Assuming that no one is there at the moment, he slowly raises the window and heads inside.

The apartment is nothing outlandish. It is spacious, with an entry hallway that leads intoto this living room which hosts a corner kitchen and three other doors. Though, it is not very well kept. He tries to bring up detective vision, but the signal is jammed from within the apartment, something local and unable to be detected. The TV is on, set to a blank channel, doing nothing but illuminating the couch and table in front of it. So, the jammer is a bit unusual.

Whelp, guess I'm using my eyes and ears for this one. Better not bring Dinah in until I know that it's safe.

Slowly, he walks to the closest door, his baton raised as to prepare himself for an attack. He grabs the door handle and gently turns it. His arm presses on the door lightly to open it. Peeking in, he sees an unoccupied and mostly clean toilet. So far, nobody's inside.

William opens the door completely and enters. To his left is a sink and mirror. Below the faucet is a bowl with little droplets of blood inside. On the countertop are a needle and thread caked in what could be day old blood.

Stitched himself up. He's still alive, but possibly just barely.

Ahead of him is a bathtub with no shower curtain. It is empty, almost clean.

Nothing here. Moving on.

He moves on to the next room, still being cautious. This one is a small bedroom, with just a bed, wardrobe, and closet across from there.

Both the wardrobe and closet spell "trap." Better be cautious.

He goes for the wardrobe first but does not go directly in front of it. Instead, he reaches out and takes the knob from afar, opening the door from the side. When he peeks in, he finds no one. Instead, there is an outfit that matches the scheme of the other employees from Star City's server farm.

Strange. No nametag. Did he take it off after fleeing the scene?

He then looks to the closet.

Only place I haven't checked. Could be anything inside.

He creeps up to it very slowly, baton raised. As he approaches, he reaches out to the door handle, his eyes fixed on the glossy, golden knob. He is about to touch it. However, as he gets closer, he sees something within its warped reflection. It looks to be something like a person at a distance away, coming closer and closer. The warped shape raises something above its head.

Crud!

William turns around and strikes at the figure. Out of surprise, the figure deflects the baton with a sword and shoves William towards the wall. The man goes for a front kick, but William dodges immediately. He then goes for a series of strikes, but the man is able to deflect them all, as if he knew they were coming. With one more deflect, the man disarms William and pushes him towards the wall again.

The man then proceeds to plunge the blade into the side of the wall and continues to attack with a series of strikes, which William deflects and blocks.

Things are happening too fast. Can't get a good look on this guy, can't tell if he's friend or foe. Though, he's not trying to kill me, just knock me out. Got to get someplace with more room. A well-placed throwing star at the light should give me the time to escape.

When the man throws a hook punch, William rolls out of it, following it with a low hook to the gut. He then steps out of the corner he is in and throws a shuriken at the light bulb, covering the room in darkness. He tries to rush out, but he can feel the man's hands grab his shoulders, as if he anticipated what William would do. He immediately spins around, pushing down the arms and makes a blind uppercut at the man's face.

As the man staggers back, William runs out of the room and takes cover on the side of the couch. He takes a second to catch his breath and then peeks over, waiting for the man to show up out of the room and take him by surprise. For a few seconds, nothing happens.

Is he waiting? I didn't see a gun on him. Unless…he's also a master of stea—

Suddenly, something grabs him by his jacket and pulls him up. Arms try to wrap around his neck, but he is quick to block and shove them down. He quickly elbows the guy twice, once in the face to disorient and another with a spin to the hip to put him off balance. William then tries to wrap one arm around the guy's throat but gets elbowed in the gut followed by an uppercut in the jaw. Dazed, William is helpless to stop the man from grabbing and throwing him in the direction of the TV, his feet struggling to keep him upright. One sidekick from the man sends him flying and crashing into the TV, which he bounces off of and lands, just barely, on his knee and arm.

William does his best to shake it off, seeing the man approaching him with clenched fists. Even when disoriented, he notices wrinkles and hints of dry skin.

An older man. May not be fragile, but his bones may not take a direct hit too well.

Mostly recovered, William employs a quick sidekick to the man's shin as he approaches. It proves enough to make him stagger back, which gives an opportunity to rush him. William tries everything to punch or subdue, but the old man seems to be just a step ahead. In the end, they both form a cross with each other's arms and wrestle for control. As it gets frenzied and out of control, both take a tumble over the couch.

As William recovers again, the old man is now trying his best to subdue him on the ground. The man tries to employ everything from a knee-on-belly, side control, or a mount. William's escapes prove easy due to the man's age but going on the offensive proves difficult because of the man's tenacity. He just shrimps through the small hallway and towards the front door, hoping that Dinah is able to hear all of the commotion.

However, just as they are a few feet away from the door, William fails a shrimp and the man is able to mount him. He continues with punch after punch, William reduced to raising his hands up and hoping that an opportunity will come.

And indeed, one does, for the front door swings wide open, Dinah barging with her gun pointed at the old man.

"Freeze! Hands in the air now!"

The man stops just momentarily, looking as if he is about to do what she says. However, she is in close proximity, so he may also be preparing to disarm the gun from her.

Can't risk it.

William bridges himself up, forcing the man on his hands. Immediately, he grabs one of those arms and pulls it in tight. He then bridges once more and then leans towards the side, sending the man into the wall, where he is pinned long enough for a knockout cross to the face.

Finally, with the fight over, William lurches back and breathes. He looks up to Dinah, who looks at him with shock, but he ignores it for the time being.

William catches his breath, finding it hard to speak in complete sentences. "Thanks…"

Dinah seems to stutter at the compliment. "Thanks? Thanks?! Do you know who you just knocked out?!"

"Things went fast…couldn't get…"

His next exasperated breath almost feels like his last as he finally gets a good look at the face of the man he just fought. What relief he had is now replaced by subtle guilt.

When his breath returns, the only thing he feels he can utter is, "Oh…crud," as he looks upon the face of Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke.

---

"I mean, it's like they're not paying full attention to my potential!"

"Mia, it's nothing like that. They know what you're capable of."

"You'd think they would after the whole Hackett situation."

Before Felicity can speak further, their orders are brought to their tables by the waiter. He gives Felicity her shrimp and side salad and Mia her burger, cooked medium rare.

"Here you are. Any refills on your waters?"

Felicity shakes her head. "No, thanks."

When the waiter leaves, Felicity continues, "What happened with Hackett was dire and, hopefully, won't happen again. That wasn't some full-on combat situation."

Mia rants in a whisper: "I helped with some of Dad's escape attempt in Level 2, I saved him and you from a Green Arrow imposter, and not to mention taking down a robot and storming Arkham Asylum. Yet, they have me on 'standby' and training in the bunker. How is THAT 'knowing what I'm capable of?'"

Mia takes her burger and bites into it almost ravenously, which unsettles Felicity a bit.

"You may wanna—"

Mia stops chewing, giving her mother a glare that kind of scares Felicity. Still, she at least chews slower than she was a moment ago.

Felicity sighs. "Look, I do not doubt that you are as badass like your father and you've done so well in following directions. But you're still in the wrong mindset. You're still a lone wolf type, which is actually what your father was at the beginning of his career."

"And Will during his Green Arrow bout?"

"Look, my point is you can't always take chances like you did with Hackett and hope to come out of it in one piece. You can't always force your own judgement call on others. You need to be a team player."

Felicity takes a piece of shrimp and dunks it into the sauce. One bite sends tiny rockets into her mouth.

"Mmm. This is SO good."

Mia continues to eat her burger, more calmly this time.

Felicity looks at her surroundings, taking in a lot of the familiar scenery.

"You know, this was where your father and I had our first date. Well, technically, two first dates."

Mia swallows her food and asks, "What happened on the first?"

"Well, it kinda got blown up by a rocket launcher. There's a whole story to that, but—"

"Hey."

Both Mia and Felicity look up in surprise, seeing Laurel panting as if out of breath. Still, Felicity smiles.

"Hey! I was staring to think you wouldn't come."

"I was held up. I-I need to sit down."

Laurel pulls her chair out quickly and sits down. She opens the red wine they've been saving and pours it into the nearest wine glass. She drinks the whole glass down, but in big gulps instead of small sips. As she sets the glass down, Felicity starts to see the wide eyes of panic that she overlooked before. Laurel isn't exhausted. She's scared.

Judging by the look of Mia's face, she knows too. "Ms. Lance, what happened?"

"Nothing. Nothing happened. Let's just—"

"I meant what I said!"

Down the hallway, an older, heavier gentleman walks towards them. His steps are somewhat sloppy, as if he had a little too much booze.

His speech indicates just as much. "Every word of it, you little—"

Before he can say another word, he gets dragged away by one of the waiters. Laurel keeps her head down until the guy completely disappears.

Felicity starts to worry. "Laurel, who was that?"

"Nobody!"

"WHO was that?"

Laurel clenches her fist, hesitant to say. She raises her hand, ready to slam the table, but ends up gently slapping it instead.

"Say, hypothetically, that if—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let me stop you there. We both know that hypotheticals are just a lead up to whatever your problem is."

Laurel nods. "Fine." She takes a deep breath before continuing. "The man who just came in was Brett Collins. He's…someone I know."

Felicity starts to get curious and leans in. "From here?"

Laurel shakes her head.

"From…Earth 2?"

There is a long pause before Laurel nods. Felicity's eyes widen, as do Mia's.

Mia asks for them, "You think this guy followed you from Earth 2?"

"Yes – no – I…I don't know!"

Felicity can see the fear and uncertainty rise in Laurel's tone. "Okay, okay. Calm down. What makes you think this guy is from Earth 2?"

Laurel takes another deep breath, as if what she is about to say will be painful for her. "I just came into the restaurant and…they were announcing my rising approval ratings."

"Right, that's part of the reason why we invited you here."

"I know, but…Collins was there. He said my name, looked at me as if he knew me. He-he said he knew me. At least, he said that everyone else didn't know what I really was. Then, he said that…that I deserved to be locked up behind bars."

Mia leans back in her chair a bit. "That's not solid proof. He could just be an Earth 1 guy that doesn't approve of you, making threats that he won't go through with."

Laurel looks at Mia with a fearful glare. "Even so, I can't take any chances. If he gets my name out there, any piece of the truth on the streets—"

Once again, Felicity attempts to calm her down. "Laurel, let's slow down here. Okay? We're going to kill two birds with one stone. I'll contact Cisco and make sure that no Earth 2 doppelgangers haven't been leaking out."

"That doesn't solve Collins."

"AND…Mia will tail him."

Mia looks at Felicity with a surprised expression.

"She's a sneaky badass, like her dad. She can help you keep an eye on this guy."

Mia shakes off her expression and nods somewhat begrudgingly. "Yeah. Yeah, I can do that."

Laurel nods back. "Fine, but I'm coming with. If everything I suspect is true, we move in."

Mia shakes her head. "I move in! If the D.A is caught hustling some low-level drunk, approval ratings plummet. Even I know that."

Laurel looks back, maybe seeing if Collins fought his way back in.

"Well, I don't want to lose his trail. Come on."

Laurel sits up and leaves just as quickly as she came in. Mia looks to her mother for approval.

"You go, Mia. I'll handle the check." As Mia leaves to catch up with Laurel, Felicity realizes that her burger hasn't been fully eaten. She tries to yell back, "Do you want to box your—"

Mia is long gone by then. Felicity looks back at the burger, as well as her shrimp dish, and nods to herself.

"Yeah, maybe box both of these."

---

Slade's eye begins to open slowly. Dim light begins to invade his sight. As it becomes brighter, he blinks hard and intermittently. He tries to see where exactly he is but a sharp pain pierces his head like a blade. He tries to reach for it, but something grasps his wrists. Looking down at them, he finds a couple of cuffs latched onto whatever bed he is currently lying on.

"You're not arrested yet."

Slade follows the familiar voice to the man right across from him, a man who looks a little worse for wear, somewhat broken. Still, Oliver's presence puts a smile on Slade's face.

"Hey there kid."

Slade doesn't show it, but his eye also catches an abnormal shadow in the back of wherever he currently is, most likely a room in ARGUS HQ. The shadow stays as still as possible, breathing silently and slowly.

"Prison hasn't been kind to you, I see."

"And you're in trouble. You know what lengths we had to go through to get you out of there discreetly?"

"ARGUS handles that stuff well, or so I'm told."

"You're not in ARGUS. Like I said, you haven't been arrested yet. So far as ARGUS knows right now, they think the intruder is still on the run."

Slade scoffs. "So, you really are independent? They're not monitoring this conversation at all?"

"Stop talking around the subject, Slade."

"He's talking around it…" The shadow pushes himself off the wall. "…because he knows I'm here."

The shadow walks closer and steps just a bit closer into the light. Slade can't see much, but what he does see are the red eyes and crest surrounded by black armor, reminiscent of the new hero, the Red Arrow.

Despite the intimidating look, Slade just grins. "I take it you're the one I fought in that apartment. Thanks for the splitting headache, by the way."

"You attacked me and didn't exactly leave room to see your face. If you did, I would have tried to be more friendly with you."

"You're actually that trusting?"

"Oliver trusts you. Me, I'd be more cautious with someone who was caught in an abandoned apartment near Star City's Server Farm."

"Enough!"

Oliver's command makes his apprentice or whatever Red Arrow is heel. Though, he keeps his sights on Slade.

Oliver gives Red Arrow a slight nod of approval before turning back to Slade. "I can vouch for you in front of Lyla, but we need to know why you were pulling data off of a server."

"A server ARGUS bugged?"

Oliver slightly raises his eyebrows, surprised at the statement. Red Arrow shows nothing.

"Yeah, I noticed. It's how I knew either they or you would come to find me."

"You wanted ARGUS to find you?"

"I wanted YOU to find me. ARGUS would've sooner locked me up in a cell."

Red Arrow nods. "It's why you attacked me."

"I was trying to knock you out."

Red Arrow takes a couple steps forward, as if looming over Slade. "What were you looking for in the server?"

Slade stares him down, showing no fear. "My son. Grant Wilson."

Oliver is the only one who expresses some worry. "You mean the one Joey mentioned?"

Red Arrow looks at Oliver. "Joey? You mean Kane Wolfman?"

Slade retorts, "His name is Joey!" He takes a minute to catch his breath. "And yeah. After we parted ways Oliver, I've been searching for him. Took a year of digging and research."

Red Arrow tilts his head. "You mean interrogation and torture."

"Same difference. Anyways, I found him. He's been taken by some secret, global cult. People who are more discreet than any black ops outfit I've ever been in or heard of."

"The Ninth Circle?"

Slade looks at Red Arrow with a curious look, noticing his step and slight lurch. "You know them?"

Red Arrow takes a step back and sighs. "Unfortunately."

"You think they have your son?"

"I KNOW they do Oliver. I know who they hired to keep Grant. I ran a few ops with him back in my ASIS. He's a mercenary for hire, a bit of a weapons expert."

"Guns?"

"Blades. Made me the ones you've seen me wield. I tracked him to Star City but couldn't pinpoint an exact location."

Red Arrow finishes, "So, you go to the server farm to find the location and got ambushed by a Ninth Circle Enforcer."

"By a Longbow Hunter. Huge, has a shield with blades."

Red Arrow looks down at Oliver again. "Bear." He looks up at Slade. "We assume he gave you the injury on your side?"

"Yeah. Shoved me into a piece of glass after he broke the window. Barely escaped with my life."

Oliver nods. "Do you know where Grant is now?"

Slade shakes his head. "Never got a chance to comb over the information. But like I said, I know who it is."

"Who?"

Slade is hesitant to say, for he knows that Oliver will try to help. Then again, he will do so anyways. It's what he did in Markovia.

"Glenmorgan. William Glenmorgan."

The name causes Oliver's eyes to widen and Red Arrow to unfold his arm and take a slow step back. It's as if they had just gotten some bad news that Slade can't interpret.

"What?"

Both of them say nothing. They just look at each other stunned.

---

John has been pacing for what feels like half an hour, Curtis still typing in whatever hacks or lines of code needed to make sense of the data. Something Felicity could have helped to speed up if she were here.

"How much longer, Curtis?"

"Nearly done. Give me thirty seconds."

As John is about to encourage Curtis to go faster, the elevator doors open, revealing Lyla with a serious look, which scares John as she approaches them.

"Lyla, wait."

"You were supposed to call me half an hour ago!"

John puts his hands up. "I know! I know."

"I may have given you and everyone else free reign over Star City operations, but that doesn't mean I'm kept out of the loop."

John nods. "That's what I argued with Oliver, but there's been some…sensitive developments that we needed to deliberate about."

"What 'sensitive developments?'"

"Slade Wilson."

John looks back at Curtis with a glare for prematurely giving up that information. Curtis raises his hands in defense. "Well, she was going to find out one way or another."

John looks back at her, seeing the usual wide eyes of shock and disappointment that she would give every time she didn't approve of his actions. The times when he did an unsanctioned op she disapproved of, forgotten a special event, or found out about a lie he told. Every time, it made him uncomfortable and every time he is compelled to tell the truth.

So, he sighs and explains, "William found Slade in an apartment near the server farm. He had the data but was badly injured getting it out."

"Well, where's Slade then?"

"In the med quarters. Oliver's questioning him, so is Will."

"And the information?"

"Ah ha!" Curtis' sudden shout catches their attention. "Done and decrypted!"

John grins at Lyla. "Handled." He walks to the computer with her and looks at the screen. "What do we have?"

"The data's intact and it has a location for Glenmorgan's safehouse, just outside of Star City."

Lyla nods enthusiastically. "I can get a couple of agents there within the hour."

"So, you did know!"

The three of them look back, seeing William and Oliver walk up to them, clenched fists and glares directed at John and Lyla.

William continues, "You knew that Glenmorgan was on that data!"

John gets between William and Lyla. "Wait, Will! We were going to tell you."

Oliver gets up in John's face, "When? After you captured him?!"

Lyla steps away from John and faces the two of them down. "Yes, because I know what you're going to propose, and you know my position, Oliver."

"I promised Emiko that I would give her any information on Glenmorgan, any shot at him when we found him."

"She can do that in ARGUS, in a secure environment."

William walks up to her. "And the temptation to kill him will be ever present because sparing him wouldn't have been HER chocie. This is her chance to prove that she can break away from the Ninth Circle and you are taking it away."

"I'm making sure a full-fledged assassin, regardless of her familial ties to you, isn't set loose to return to her organization!"

Oliver then looks at her with a firm stare. "You think I'm not worried that she's going to kill Glenmorgan, that she may return to the Ninth Circle as a loyal servant? Of course, I am. I'm also ready to take responsibility if I fail to stop her, as are all of us here, because if there is a chance that my sister can be redeemed, we're GOING to take it. This is our choice, not yours. The only thing you would be doing is honoring it."

Lyla takes a step back and looks down at the floor for a moment, thinking.

"You'll need someone else covering you. Mia maybe, Rene or Roy."

William clarifies, "Mia and Felicity are covering something else, Roy is helping Aunt Thea settle down in their new apartment, and Rene is spending time with his daughter. However, there is one—"

Lyla points her finger at him. "If you say Slade Wilson—"

"He has his son riding on this."

Oliver's statement has Lyla, Curtis, and even John shocked.

"Glenmorgan has him hostage. Even if that weren't the case, I would still trust Slade to have our backs."

William reiterates his father's statement, "Our choice, not yours. Just honor it."

Lyla hesitates to answer for a moment. She looks to John for his answer. He just gives her a slight nod. Even though things may go wrong, Slade's recent actions haven't them wrong at Lian Yu. It's Emiko John is more worried about. Still, he knows Oliver won't back down from a promise to family. Most wouldn't.

---

Mia and Laurel have followed Brett Collins for nearly the whole day. The only thing the guy has done so far was go back to his single apartment, made a few calls to some people, never once mentioning Laurel's identity in any of them. From his shouting of money and deals, they sounded more like business calls than anything else. Throughout the whole thing, Mia was getting a bit tired, seeing no real threat from Collins except maybe his temper and attitude. However, she also notices Laurel's glare, which she keeps fixed on the man the entire time. Mia has made that glare a few times at people that rubbed her off the wrong way, who she usually has scores to settle with, whether that be an unfinished fight or a broken deal. Collins isn't just some thug that Laurel fears. She had some serious grievance against him. A rage like that could spell trouble. Mia can't help but think that this isn't just some tail, but she knows she can't persuade Laurel out of it either. If push comes to shove, Mia can take Laurel down.

After the phone calls end, Collins makes his way out of the apartment and into some seedy bar a few blocks down. The bouncer lets him inside without checking identification, a sign that he's a regular.

Laurel starts to approach, but Mia stops her. "No. Let me go in."

"I'm not letting him get away."

"You're too recognizable. Let me go in and follow him. If he makes any moves or meets with anyone, I'll intervene."

Laurel hesitates, but nods. "I'll be waiting in the alleyway in case he gets away."

Mia shakes her head. "Wait just outside it, so you won't get spotted."

Before Laurel can refute, Mia makes her way to the entrance. She can hear Laurel utter a single curse as she walks away but thinks nothing of it.

She walks up to the bouncer and shows off the fake I.D. ARGUS provided for her, getting inside with ease. Inside is nothing special, just a couple of pool tables, a bar, music box, and some tables with seating. Collins seats himself at the bar, already downing three glasses of whisky.

Can't be suspicious but can't lose sight of him either. Take a stool far from him. Maybe he won't notice.

She walks through the crowd of mainly men, ignoring the stares and a couple of the silent whistles as she passes by. As she sits herself down at the farthest stool, the barkeep walks up to her, cleaning a glass with his rag.

"What'll it be?"

Mia lays the money in front of him. "Whisky, small glass."

The barkeep nods and takes the money. As he goes to pour the drink, the TV above him broadcasts New 52's news with the usual female anchor.

"Our top story, once again, is of District Attorney, Laurel Lance. Her approval rating has skyrocketed this past year, with her odds at reelection becoming increasingly likely according to this week's polling."

"Hey, you!"

Collin's yell startles Mia, but she does her best not to show. She tries to keep her head low as her glass is given to her.

"Little blonde girl! I'm talking to you! You know who that is?"

He doesn't suspect anything. I shouldn't leave him hanging. Play along.

She looks at Collins, who is a bit red in the face. "The news anchor or the District Attorney?"

Collins spits in his drink. "District Attorney, my ass! You want to know what she really is?" Collins turns to the crowd of people minding their own business. "You all want to know what she really is?! She's a fraud!"

With a single yell, everyone's eyes are on him. Mia edges out of her seat just a bit, her feet ready to rush at the guy and her hand wrapped around her whisky glass.

"She's confirmed DEAD nearly THREE years ago. Suddenly, she shows up and is front page news. Then, she steps up to bring 'law and order,' and she's suddenly District Attorney WITHIN SIX MONTHS! She piggybacked off OUR suffering! This woman doesn't deserve her title or her COZY office."

The barkeep puts his hands on the table, leaning in towards Collins. "That's enough Brett! You're just sore because you didn't get the job."

Collins turns to the barkeep and slams his hands on the table. "I deserved that job! I balanced the work of my cohorts that were hauled away by the FBI, and I got NIL. You know how much work there was, even divided between the other attorneys? I have been in that office for 20 years and Lance just stepped up with nothing-"

Having enough of Brett's attitude, Mia points out, "She was District Attorney before! I never heard you shouting in the streets about her 'undeserved' position."

Collin's walks up to her with a raised fist. "You listen here, you little—"

The barkeep grabs his hand. "That's enough! Get out of here!"

Collin's breaks the grip but does not argue with him. He just mumbles and walks away. As he passes Mia, he gives her a stare of contempt. She keeps her eye on him, seeing him take the exit leading out to the alley.

The barkeep walks up to her side. "Sorry about him. I can get you another whisky to make up for—"

She grabs the glass and drinks it down. "Not necessary."

She gets up and walks away towards the entrance. As she passes the others, the whistles are replaced with silence or respectful nods. She can guess that this wasn't the first time Brett was angry, but maybe someone besides the barkeep standing against him is a first.

As soon as she gets outside, she hears banging trash cans nearby. Mia looks to her left and can't see Laurel at the alleyway entrance.

Oh crap!

Mia runs over and finds Laurel standing over a beaten Brett Collins, who is struggling to get up.

Laurel grinds her teeth as she starts to threaten Collins, "You should never have left Earth 2!"

Collins coughs hard, thankfully not spewing blood. "What's…what's Earth 2?"

Immediately, Mia runs over and casts a shield between the two. "Ms. Lance, stop!"

"Get out of my way!"

"This isn't who you think it is. Trust me."

"Let me finish this!"

"There's nothing to finish! This isn't the man you're looking for!"

"You're going to let me blast him to kingdom come, or so help me, I will blast you along with him!"

She's too consumed by anger. I need to pin her down, take her down, neutralize her. But she's ready with that sonic scream of hers. Alley's too narrow to go around her and I won't be able to close the distance that fast, so how can I…

"…I saw how you fight. You can pin somebody down, you can strike hard and fast, you can react to your situation. But this isn't 2040, Mia. You're not fighting thugs in a ring or fending for yourself in a nearly lawless city. You need to rethink how you resolve situations."

Maybe…maybe I don't have to fight this one.

Instead of readying herself in a fighting position, Mia lowers her arms, but keeps her posture firm.

"Do it."

Laurel's clenched jaw opens a bit.

"If you really have the spine to kill both of us right now, then do it. I'm not going anywhere."

Laurel looks ready to open her mouth but is hesitant. Her lip quivers, her finger twitches.

Mia stares her down. "Do it!"

Laurel's face scrunches, her mouth widening slowly, and she starts to take her breath. Mia can hear Collins whimpering behind her. She doesn't want to admit it, but she's scared that Laurel will go through with this as well.

However, Laurel lets out her breath in a disgruntled, loud sigh. Her legs seem to give, for she leans on the wall for support. She slides down the wall and cups her face in her hands, probably crying.

With one threat out of the way, Mia turns to Collins, who is now calm, but looks about ready to pass out from intoxication and exhaustion.

It'll be easy for me to make him think this was all a drunken stupor.

Mia turns back to Laurel again, who is sniffling.

But we have to sort her out too.

---

Felicity paces back and forth in front of Laurel, biting her lip and breathing sharply through her nose. She is obviously upset but does not yet know how to process the encounter that Mia, who is standing across from Laurel with her arms crossed, gave to her mother. At least, everything except the stand down between them. Laurel just keeps her head down, hiding the shame she now feels for nearly deciding to blow Mia to pieces.

Finally, Felicity stops and looks at Laurel with a glare. As much as it pains her, Laurel lifts her eyes up.

"Laurel…how can I make this any clearer? You're the D.A! You can't just go around beating up thugs because you think they're going to expose you."

"Brett Collins isn't just some thug."

Mia walks up to her. "In your world, maybe. Here, whatever grudge you have against your Collins-"

The description makes Laurel's blood boil a little. "It's more than just a 'grudge.'"

"Then why are you so angry at this guy? Did he stab you in the back over a transaction? Was he some rival crimelord?"

The more trivial descriptions Mia gives, the more Laurel's anger starts to ignite, to the point her blood may as well evaporate. Eventually, she can't take it and shoots up from her seat.

"He ran over my dad!"

The yell alone is enough to make Mia back off. However, Laurel's confession causes both hers and Felicity's eyes to widen. For Laurel, it brings back a certain pain in her chest, the pain of her first time using her powers against someone else. A pain she has gotten used to over time has now ruptured inside her.

It is almost unbearable to speak calmly. "He ran over my dad, drunk, when he was just getting in the car! He was getting into the car because I yelled at him! I yelled at him because I didn't get cake for my birthday, and I just—"

Laurel finds it hard to contain the tears, to keep a straight face. She sits back down and hides herself behind her hand. Behind it, she can still see Mia and Felicity, their stares changing from shock to sympathy.

Mia is the first to deduce, "This wasn't about whether or not this guy was from your Earth, wasn't it? His face alone brought back the memory of that day. You needed someone to put the blame on again, so you wouldn't have to face your guilt."

Laurel sniffles. "Yeah, well…get on with the rest of your judgement and be done with it."

Felicity, surprisingly, kneels down and puts a hand on Laurel's shoulder. "Laurel, you know how irrational that sounds? The chances of anyone getting hit by a car are—"

"My dad shouldn't have been on the road that day." Laurel feels her throat getting hoarse from the sobbing. "That day…it was the only day we could be together. He worked a lot and didn't get to spend a lot of time with me. When I saw he didn't bring the cake, I just threw a tantrum at him. The last words I said to him…they were 'I hate you.' But I didn't mean it."

"Of course, you didn't. You were, what, twelve?"

"Fourteen! I had waited YEARS for revenge and when I got my canary cry, I did not hesitate to take it." Laurel bows her head. "At least, I thought I did."

"You may have."

Laurel looks up, a bit confused.

"I got a call from Cisco while you guys were out. Old news reports say that the Brett Collins of your Earth was found dead due to unknown injuries."

Laurel's body forces a breath of relief out of her, but that is not how she feels. She feels empty, as if she forced herself on a wild goose chase.

"I…I did this for nothing."

"Not for nothing. You opened up to us, shared some of your past." Felicity helps Laurel to stand up. "Now, I think it's about time you learned to move on, and we are more than willing to help."

Mia gives a nod. For Laurel, that is enough. Hopefully, that also means she'll keep the standoff a secret.

Laurel wipes away her tears. "I…I think I'd like to go home…get my mind off of this."

Felicity nods. "We'll take you."

The three of them walk towards the elevator. As Felicity walks ahead of them to press the button, Laurel leans in and, with her hoarse voice, whispers to Mia, "So, about the whole standoff thing."

"I'm not freaking Mom out if you're not."

"Good."

---

Emiko lies on the bed. She doesn't turn the TV on since it does nothing but praise the Green Arrow, give opinions of the same interview with Kannon over and over. All she can do here is look at the ceiling, remembering the night she came home to her burning apartment, hearing a gunshot that her neighbors denied ever heard. They heard it. They may have even seen it. But they wouldn't say anything. They were too scared to. She has become impatient, to the point where she wants nothing more than to break out of here and find Glenmorgan herself.

Suddenly, a knock comes from her cell door. She looks and sees Oliver, dressed in his Green Arrow suit. She tries to look as disinterested as possible, looking up at the ceiling again. Yet, she knows that he is here to give her assurance or some excuse for…

"We found Glenmorgan."

Emiko, upon hearing that, shoots up from her bed.

"Where?"

"Outside Star City. Lyla's allowing you to come with us, but only on the condition that you cooperate and that we take Glenmorgan alive."

The demands somewhat frustrate Emiko. She envisioned herself having his life in the palm of her hands, making him pay for the murder of her mother, squeezing the life out of him as she was taught to do.

However, alive does not mean unharmed.

"Who exactly is us? Red Arrow? John Diggle?"

"And one more."

When Oliver stands aside, he reveals an old man in black and orange armor behind him. It takes Emiko a second to register exactly who he is, but she recognizes him as the infamous Slade Wilson. Deacon Blackfire hired him out once to find some long-lost old man on the forgotten island of Lian Yu, which was really a ploy to stop ARGUS from killing one of their best assassins, Chyna White.

"So, you're Oliver's long, lost sister? At this point, I can't say I'm surprised."

Emiko walks up to the cell door. "Why are you here?"

Slade takes out a photo and presents it to her. It is a young boy with blonde hair and an eye color similar to his own.

"Your mother's not the only family Glenmorgan has taken."

---

From his lofty chair, Glenmorgan has the perfect view of his blades, acquired or made by his own hand. Every one of them is exotic, from dagger to sword and axe. They all had the same purpose: ensure survival, whether as a tool or a weapon. The latter is his taste. Unlike the modern handgun or precision rifle, blades were elegent to wield yet also brutal when taking the enemy's life. No bullet will ever be as satisfactory as sharp steel nicking the skin.

His admiration of the blades is cut short by a flicker of the lights both in and out of the estate. The backup light kicks in, which does not provide much.

One of his men on the radio next to him calls in, "Sir, power's down. Main lights and alarms have been disabled."

Glenmorgan gets on the radio and yells, "Then why are you blathering to me about it? Get to searching!"

They may search, but Glenmorgan knows these types of suits. They are inefficient, cheap. Dante had relied on nobody knowing that they were here, but now someone does. He's not taking any chances.

Glenmorgan gets up and walks to the weapon cabinet. From it, he takes out his favorite, a three bladed beauty he "procured" from a warrior in Africa. He grins at the design.

"Been waiting a long time to use you."

---

All at once, the outside lights of the estate flicker off. From the forest, Red Arrow can see, with zoomed in visors, the armed guards scrambling, arming themselves for whatever is about to come. He and Knightwatch, however, are the people they can never truly be prepared for.

"Curtis, lights are down."

"Copy that. Got eyes on Glenmorgan. He's upstairs along with one other person. A short guy."

"Most likely Slade's son."

Red Arrow looks to Green Arrow and Spartan, who give slight nods of recognition. The three of them then look to Emiko, dressed in a temporary ARGUS outfit, and Slade in his Deathstroke armor. They look down at the estate with anticipation.

Spartan reminds them, "Oliver and I will take care of the guys in front. You three find Glenmorgan and incapacitate him. ONLY incapacitate."

Slade nods to them. "You'll get him in one piece, so long as my son is still alive."

Emiko just looks down. "And I get my answers."

Green Arrow takes out an explosive arrow. "Then let's get the distraction ready."

He aims high and lets the arrow fly. In a wide arc, almost like a shooting star, it zooms though the sky, almost invisible. It then crashes down into the explosives set in the small parking lot filled with empty cars. A few seconds later, it detonates, ensuring no escape for Glenmorgan or his goons.

"Okay, bad guys inbound towards the explosion. Get moving."

Green Arrow and Spartan start racing for the explosion site, bow and gun at the ready, while Red Arrow, Emiko, and Slade start taking the long way around towards the estate house.

---

Green Arrow and Spartan take cover behind an undamaged car, seeing a large group of guards heading down to see what is going on. Some of them are agape at the sight of their rides reduced to a large fire pit while others start to search the area as a group.

Spartan whispers, "One heading right towards us."

"Take him as a shield, get them in a large group. One of William's new arrows could help."

"Got it."

Spartan waits until the guard passes by them before breaking cover and sneaking up. He grabs the guard in a chokehold, aiming the gun right at his temple to prevent any premature scream.

"Stay calm and maybe I'll let you live."

Spartan forces the guard out into the open and then makes him yell, "Help! Help, he's got me!"

Like moths to a flame, the guards merge to Spartan's location. He starts making bluffs, demanding to see the leader in order to provoke the lot of them. They all assemble, but not as one group. Six of them are in front of John while four are by his side.

The side group can get John quickly. I need to do this fast.

Quickly, Oliver breaks from cover and arms the pulse arrow. As he runs to the side group, he lets the arrow lose towards the right side of the front group. As it goes off, a blast of kinetic energy pulses from the emitter, sending the group flying away from the cars. The side group looks on, stunned by what they just saw and not knowing where it was. By the time they started looking, Green Arrow already jumps onto and grabs one of them, using him as a pivot from which he drop-kicks the guy across from him. When Green Arrow turns and lands on his legs, he brings the latched guard down as he kneels.

Only one guard is quick to arm himself, and Green Arrow is quick to disarm him with an arrowhead. The other guard he roundhouse kicks down while pivoting on his left arm. Coming out from it, he takes out a blunt arrow and shoots it at the one guard's head. He then turns and does the same to the other guard before he has the chance to get up.

Meanwhile, Spartan puts the front group down with solid, rubber bullets, a little non-lethal R&D on Red Arrow's part. One does try to get up and grabs Spartan's gun, but he simply maneuvers himself out of the grip and shoots a couple on the chest and the head for good measure.

With all of them knocked out, Spartan gets on the comm. "Curtis, the parking lot's clear. What's team 2's status?"

---

The three remaining guards take stations along the upper sides of the house and the bottom of the stairs. The ones up top aim automatic rifles at the open areas, keeping their eyes on possible cover points. The one up front readies a sniper rifle to shoot whoever tries to pass him.

Little do they know that Team 2 were already behind the guards. Red Arrow takes the one with the sniper rifle out with a grapple arrow from the roof. As the riflemen turn their attention upwards, hindered by their tunnel vision, Slade moves up to one of them, grabs the guard, and throws him to the ground. Emiko knocks the other out with a well-placed blunt arrow that Red Arrow gave her before the mission.

With the rope arrow and the guard tied down to the vertical post as leverage, Red Arrow makes his way down to the front entrance.

He gets on the comm to the others. "Team 2 here. Guards cleared out. Heading inside."

Green Arrow acknowledges, "Copy that. Heading to you."

Red Arrow preps a blunt Arrow. "You two follow me."

Emiko prepares an arrow herself and Slade unsheathes his sword. As they head inside cautiously, they find that it the place is somewhat exotic. In front of them is a cabinet filled with various blades, most of them daggers. To the right, a fireplace with some antiquities and bear fur over it, as well as a couple of chairs and a rug. To the left are stairs leading to Glenmorgan and Slade's son. One of those two is waiting for them, a middle-aged, grizzled man with black hair, a graying beard, and wielding an exotic, three bladed, circular dagger.

Glenmorgan grins. "Hello, Slade! Been a long time, hasn't it? What's it been? 10, 11 years since our operation in South Africa? I've lost track."

Slade points his blade towards the man. "Where's my son, Glenmorgan?"

Glenmorgan starts to make his way downstairs. "You mean good, little Grant?" He scoffs. "You know, you've become soft, predictable. I expected you to come here, no matter how many complaints I've made to Dante." His gaze turns towards Red Arrow and Emiko, who train their arrows at him. "You, Red Arrow guy, I know from coverage. But not you."

Slade stands in front of the bottom step just as Glenmorgan makes it 2/3rds of the way down.

"Give me my son!"

Glenmorgan shrugs his shoulders. "I don't think so. Some good people are paying me top dollar to keep this kid here. But, if you're that desperate to see him…" He raises his three bladed dagger at them. "You'll have to go through me. That is, if you can."

Without hesitation, Emiko fires the first shot. As fast as the arrow, Glenmorgan is able to deflect it with the one face of the blade. Slade starts moving in on Glenmorgan with a stab, with Glenmorgan blocks. Their fight then becomes a progression towards the top stair, Slade moving in on Glenmorgan with levrages, cuts, and jabs, trying to get close, only for Glenmorgan to actively block and keep moving up the stairs. Red Arrow and Emiko shoot arrows when it seemed appropriate, but Glenmorgan's deflects are so tight that he manages to stop each one.

Glenmorgan's experience is showing. His defense his tight, his moves efficient. His height on the stairs gives him a distance advantage. Unless we force an opportunity, Glenmorgan will get to a place where providing range support will be impossible.

With the few arrows that they fire, Red Arrow does notice that Glenmorgan has to turn his eyes for a split second to deflect.

He's not using his eyes for us. He's using his ears. If I can shoot a rope arrow without him noticing, then I can get atop the stairs and block him off.

Emiko is about to fire, but Red Arrow pats her on the shoulder. He takes out a rope arrow and aims it past Glenmorgan's backside. Emiko nods, understanding quickly what he intends.

As Slade and Glenmorgan are nearly towards the top, Emiko fires a blunt arrow while Red Arrow shoots the rope arrow. Glenmorgan quickly deflects one, as intended, but fails to notice the rope arrow above. With it, Red Arrow zips towards the top behind Glenmorgan, employing a tight slice with his bow, which Glenmorgan quickly, but erratically ducks.

Glenmorgan is barely able to catch the downward swing from Slade with his own, trapping it in the thin opening of the blade prongs. Either out of desperation or callousness, Glenmorgan proceeds to jump at Slade, sending both of them tumbling down the stairs. Slade falls into the wall, his armor absorbing most of the damage, but still sends a shock through his body. This allows Glenmorgan to kick him off. Emiko rushes in and tries to bash Glenmorgan in the head. He gets up, unlatches his newly acquired sword, and deflects the bow away. Red Arrow tries to get a shot in, but Glenmorgan jumps off the stair and onto the floor with a roll. He readies himself for Emiko with Slade's sword in one hand and the circular dagger in the other.

As Emiko engages, Red Arrow rushes to Slade's side and helps him up.

"You alright?"

Slade grunts, "You sure we can't just kill him?"

Red Arrow holds out his bow. "Try this."

Slade grabs it but is hesitant to pull it away. "What about you?"

Red Arrow grins under his mask. "Don't need it."

Meanwhile, Emiko strikes away, trying to find an opening through quick and broad strikes. Glenmorgan is calm, keeping his distance, knowing as Red Arrow does that her anger will get the better of her. Eventually, she steps in for a lunge, which gives him the opening to catch her bow with both blades and throw it away. With the sword, he slashes at Emiko. She barely dodges it, still getting a scrape on her leg. The pain becomes a bit too much, causing her to fall.

As she winces, Glenmorgan grins sinisterly. "You better have had a damn good reason for being here because you're about to fail. Miserably!"

As he goes in for a stab, Red Arrow comes in and locks the blade in with his gauntlet spikes and raises it away from Emiko. As he closes in, Glenmorgan starts stepping backward, trying to bring the blade back to him. Red Arrow then jams it in with a flick of a wrist and moves in again. Glenmorgan retreats as best he can, moving the blade however he can, but Red Arrow keeps matching him at every turn.

Slade, seeing the opportunity, charges in at Glenmorgan, who takes notice and is ready with his dagger. Slade, in turn, readies his bow by his face. However, he faints an overhead strike and breaks the sword in two with an underhand strike. The surprised Glenmorgan is able to catch himself but does not stop Slade from grabbing him and throwing him towards his weapon cabinet.

Glenmorgan stops himself on the cabinet's edge and forces himself to stand. Red Arrow and Slade walk towards him cautiously, the former demanding, "Give up, Glenmorgan! It's over."

Glenmorgan may be covering the weapons, but it is obvious that his hand is reaching for the nearest blade in there. He grabs a curved dagger and, without as much as a warning, charges at Red Arrow.

At least, he attempts to. Before he can make the first step, an arrow pierces his leg, sending him falling face first. Red Arrow, at first, thinks that it may have been Emiko, but the arrow struck near the front of the right leg, an impossible shot for her. He and Slade look back, seeing Green Arrow at the front door, looking as if he had just drawn an arrow, along with Spartan. Green Arrow gives a quick nod to Red, which he returns in kind.

Slade turns a groaning Glenmorgan up on his back and grabs him by the throat. "Where's my son?!"

Glenmorgan does not say a word. Instead, he points upstairs. Being enough for him, Slade moves towards the stairs, Spartan going with him to provide backup.

Red Arrow then proceeds to turn on the lie detector in his detective vision, looming over Glenmorgan to intimidate him.

"Can you talk?"

As Glenmorgan starts to breathe slowly, he nods. "Yes."

The lie detector calibrates for a second before giving a green light.

"Good. My friend is going to ask you questions. Don't lie! I'll know if you are."

Emiko walks mostly normal towards Glenmorgan, giving him a glare. "Kazumi Adachi. Last year, you killed her in the Glades."

"I—I killed a lot of people."

"Who hired you to?!"

"I didn't."

Emiko aims an arrow at him. "Liar!"

Red Arrow raises a hand. "Don't! He's not. I can tell."

"We saw the papers. His name was on the list. He shot her!"

"Lady, guns aren't my thing. You saw that."

"You work for someone in the Ninth Circle!"

"I work for THE person of the Ninth Circle. Dante had me in a covert op in Santa Prisca for the last two years. I came to the States just last month to watch the kid."

Red Arrow reiterates, "He's telling the truth." Emiko refuses to lower her bow. "He's telling the truth!"

Green Arrow walks up to her and puts a hand on her shoulder. He whispers something to her, but Red Arrow can't totally make out what it is. From his lip-reading skills, he interpreted it to be "Emiko," along with something else in a soft, yet firm tone.

Whatever it is proves enough for her to retract the bow string and put the arrow away. From her sigh, she feels that she may regret her decision.

Regardless, Green Arrow turns Glenmorgan on his side and handcuffs him. "William Glenmorgan, I arrest you under the authority of ARGUS and Knightwatch."

---

Spartan leads the way, keeping his gun aimed as he and Slade head upstairs. At the top are two doors, one of them containing Slade's kid.

"Curtis, you got eyes on the kid?"

"Door on your right. I don't see anyone else, but there's still a chance of camouflage."

"Got it." Spartan points his head to the door. "You go in. I'll check the other room for stragglers."

Slade nods. "Keep noise to a minimum. Grant may get scared easily."

"Got it."

Spartan heads to the left door, gently opening it and peering inside with his weapon at the ready. Meanwhile, Slade heads to the door on the right.

---

Slade touches the knob, but he does not open the door. Something is stopping him. He feels that he should be excited or relieved, finally seeing the son he has spent a whole year searching for. But this is also the son his wife never wanted, that she gave away so that he would never become like his father. At least, that's what Joey claimed. Questions run through his head. How would Grant see him? As a man? A monster? Does he even know who his father is?

Get over yourself! Get in there and find out!

Slade had to force himself to open the door, which he does a little too quickly. In the corner of the room, he can see a young man retreat into a corner, using his arms as a shield.

Slade, realizing his mistake, puts up his arm, walking slowly. "Hey. I'm sorry. I should've announced myself first. It's alright. I'm not here to hurt you."

Grant slowly lowers his arms, revealing more of his face. He can't be any more than twenty years old. He has his father's eyes, but his hair is his mother's blonde color. He looks at Slade with almost a stare of familiarity.

"Do you know who I am?"

Oh God. That rough and grit in his voice for someone so young. What's he been through?

"Yeah, I do. Do you know who I am?"

Grant nods. "I have a family photo. You are my father. Right?"

Slade stands almost in utter amazement that Grant even knows this fact.

"Y—yeah. Yes, I am. I—I've been searching for you for…for so long. Your brother, Joey…he told me you were dead."

"Officially, I am. Dante, the people who adopted me, they faked my death. They did things to me. Horrible things."

Slade is now feeling some weight dragging him down, feeling that this is somehow going to become a story of how he was not there to help, to fight for his family because of his work. He takes a moment to calm himself before saying, "Well, they won't anymore." He stretches out an inviting hand. "I'm here to get you out of here."

Grant walks up to him slowly. He stops just short of Slade's hand.

"Where?"

Slade does his best to put on an assuring grin. "Wherever you like."

Grant is still hesitant, but he seems to be thinking of going.

"Nothing's going to happen to you. I promise."

Grant finally reaches out, but does not take Slade's hand. Instead, he grabs Slade tight for a hug. Slade, himself, is surprised that Grant would do this so fast. Then again, it has probably been too long since he felt the love of a familial figure, of a mother, father, or sibling.

Still, Slade does not begrudge it and hugs Grant back. As much as he would like to make this last, he knows he can't for Ninth Circle reinforcements may be arriving any time now. They hug until Grant feels comfortable enough to be in Slade's presence and leave this place at last.

---

Lyla paces back and forth behind her desk, her eyes hovering over Emiko as if ready to shoot a glare or a gleam. Emiko stands ready, unphased, with Oliver and Diggle by her side.

"When you first came here, I had my doubts about you. You worked for Dante, killed who knows how many, either innocent or not. But Oliver and William believed in you, trusted you."

"And do you trust me?"

Lyla gives a quick glance at John, who returns it with a slight nod.

"For the past month, you have given us key intel on Dante's whereabouts, not just in Star City, but also across the globe, one of which helped us piece together Thea Queen and Roy Harper's location. Not to mention, earlier tonight, you have helped us apprehend William Glenmorgan, mostly unharmed." She shoots a little glare at Oliver, who confessed that the arrow in the leg was his fault.

Lyla stops pacing. "There is only so much trust I can give to someone. However, at the very least, I can trust that you can follow the lead of others, especially your family's. We will move you from your cell and into the bunker. New accommodations have been made for you. You will only be allowed outside on missions or when accompanied by one of the team. Further cooperation will see you becoming more independent. Is that understood?"

Emiko nods with a grin. "I can work with that."

Lyla smiles. "Then welcome to Knightwatch."

Lyla extends a hand to Emiko. Emiko slowly takes it, feeling somewhat mixed up, but does her best to hide it.

I helped them. But…something about the whole mission didn't feel right. It felt easy. Too easy.

---

To the floor, then the glass door, then back to his hand the ball bounces. After months of confinement, this is the only other enjoyable thing to do besides watch the same Channel 52 news broadcast over and over. He does get an occasional book, but nothing exciting. The only good things he found are some kendo and HEMA guides, not on technique, but the history and foundations. He already knew some of them anyways.

Just as the ball bounces off the glass door once more, an unexpected face appears out of nowhere, looking at him with a subtle but somber stare.

"Hello Joey."

Joe Wilson smirks. "Father. I'm surprised ARGUS let you in without cuffing you."

Slade does not react. Joey resumes tossing the ball.

"I assume you're here to tell me that you've given up on your goose chase?"

"Far from it. I found him."

The statement hit Joe so hard that his hand jerks, sending the ball at an angle too close to the edge. Instead of returning, it bounces low and almost sporadically, hitting his leg.

"You what?"

"I found him Joey. He told me everything. You LIED."

Joey stands straight up. "I didn't lie! I thought he was dead. I thought I killed him."

"You never told me that it was during one of YOUR ops. Before that, your mother gave him away to Dante, when it was either him or you. When you saw him on that op, You had the chance to save your brother."

"He threatened ASIS assets on our home turf! The last thing I wanted was to kill him! If you were there-"

"IFI WAS THERE—" The sheer force of Slade's voice almost sends shivers down Joey's spine. "I wouldn't have given either of you up like your mother did! I would have fought to keep BOTH of you safe."

Joe walks up to his father in a rage. "You think I never tried?! I didn't have a choice!"

"You have a choice now. I'm heading overseas to dismantle Ninth Circle operations. I won't stop until I guarantee your safety and Grant's. Help us, Joey. Help your family."

Joe takes a deep breath. He walks back to his bed. "Whatever he said to you, it's not true. He's loyal to Dante, to the very end." He sits back down and picks the ball back up. "I learned a long time ago that family ties…they don't always grow roots with blood."

Joey resumes his ball throwing. He pretends not to see, but his father looks gloomy, either disappointed or saddened by his words. It doesn't take him long to leave. Still, the realization that his brother is alive does something to him. He feels lighter, as if a great weight is off his shoulders, the same weight that slowly inched him to becoming the leader of the Jackals. His ball tossing becomes a bit faster, much more relaxed and somehow enjoyable.

For once in a long time, Joe feels relieved.

---

With the two bowls full of mint chip ice cream, Felicity brings them out to the table and hands one to Mia.

"Here you go. I don't know if mint chip's your favorite."

Mia grins. "You kinda stocked the freezer with mostly that, but I prefer rocky road."

"Well, I'll remember a pint for you next time I shop."

Just as they are about to dig in, the front door opens, and in come William and Oliver. As they do, a faint beeping noise is heard next to the door, along with a mechanical, feminine voice stating, "Now entering Connor Hawke and Green Arrow."

Felicity, with the largest smile Mia has ever seen on her face, raises her spoon as if in victory. "Yes!"

William points to the PDA the voice came from. "New security system?"

"Yep. Just identified you by your DNA alone. How's that for high tech safety?"

"Well, it's effective, yet also creepy and…vaguely familiar."

Oliver walks up to Felicity and gives her a kiss. "It's a brilliant feat."

With a smile, Felicity kisses him back. "Thank you."

Oliver's eyes then drift to the ice cream and the champaign glasses next to them. "Celebrating something?"

"Yes, we are." Felicity puts her hand on Mia's shoulder. "Mia here deterred a crime earlier tonight all by herself."

Mia just shrugs. "Eh, it was nothing."

William sits next to her. "Was this criminal threatening somebody and you put your life at risk to save the victim?"

Mia is hesitant to say anything. She's almost shocked that William's guess is so accurate, as if he were there on the sidelines. Actually, that would not be beyond his capabilities. Then again, it does also sound like a generic statement for pretty much most crime, so it could just be coincidence.

"Uh, something like that." Mia's mind is thinking hard on how to move the conversation forward. She then remembers what she did to stop Laurel in the first place. "But I took your advice. I…I think I get what you mean now"

William grins. "You're getting there."

Mia pauses as she is about to break a bit of mint chip from the hilly scoop. She tries to think of what she missed but cannot remember.

"We were a bit busy ourselves." Oliver scoops himself some ice cream and puts it into a bowl. "Finding Glenmorgan with Emiko, helping Slade to get his son back."

Felicity stops Oliver with, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. You found Glenmorgan? And Slade's back? Since when?"

William grins. "It's a long story. But to keep things short, the lead we had was a dead end, but Emiko's now becoming part of Knightwatch and is staying at the Bunker."

Felicity takes a spoonful of mint chip. "That's great!" She takes a bite while asking, "Does this mean we can expect her to be more involved with the family?"

"At least on missions…" William looks at Mia. "…along with you."

Mia nearly spits the spoon out through her teeth as William says this. "You're kidding!"

Oliver sits himself down. "He's not. You've survived more than your fair share and, as much as I hate to say it, you'll need some field work."

Felicity shines a proud grin towards Mia.

William, meanwhile, takes out his phone. "That, and we needed to give you something better than an ARGUS outfit. I've been working on it, and, while it's not fully complete, it's something I think complements you."

William brings up a photo of Mia's, or in this case, Black Star's new suit.

Felicity looks at it with awe. "Oh, wow. That looks…sleak!"

Mia's eyes dart the screen with great interest. "I like the black all around, but…what's with the yellow? The gauntlets, boots, and the arrow on the chest?"

William shrugs. "I thought I'd make you distinct. Besides, I thought you liked—"

Suddenly, a knock is heard at the front door. William immediately gets up.

"I got it. I know who it is anyways."

All three of them look at William curiously as he walks to the front door. Mia is now just baffled at his seemingly heightened awareness.

Is he really five steps ahead of us or something?

Even more of a surprise is when William opens the door and waiting outside is Dinah Drake, greeting him with a smile and shaking his hand. He steps outside and she gives a quick wave to the others before the door closes.

Mia becomes a bit unsettled in her seat, knowing the little disagreements those two have had since his arrival to 2018. "Should we be concerned?"

Felicity answers in a worried tone, "I hope not."

---

As William closes the door, he cuts to the chase. "I assume the guy Mia and Laurel were tailing is still alive?"

Dinah nods. "Lieutenant Anastas followed from a distance, as you asked. Brett Collins was outside the apartment building and was helped up."

"Did he murmer anything?"

"Anastas said something about Collins slipping the D.A.'s name, almost in a scared whisper."

"But nothing that will stick if the guy sues?"

"The man was drunk and the bar has no outside camera. His testimony will fall on deaf ears."

William grins. "Thanks, Captain Drake."

"Just call me Dinah. Honestly, the title makes my skin crawl."

"I'd imagine."

There is a bit of a grin on her lips, almost as she wants to chuckle at his sentiment, but won't give him the satisfaction. Instead, an awkward silence falls between them before he reiterates, "Thank you Dinah…for bringing this to my attention and not going on your own tangent."

Dinah nods. "You returned the evidence and kept us in the loop about Slade. I thought I'd at least return the favor."

William shrugs one shoulder. "Well, it only made sense. In case Lyla came short, someone I trusted had to pick up the slack."

"And here I thought you didn't trust me at all."

"I never said I didn't trust you. If anything, I'm glad you're the one leading the department. You're…relatively clean."

Dinah does not disagree.

"And you have an…almost unyielding will."

Dinah raises an eyebrow and scoffs. "Almost?"

William closes his eyes and takes a breath, almost as if letting out a bit of guilt from his system. "What concerns me is your dependence on Mayor Pollard's approval."

Dinah's grin fades. "She's my boss William."

"There are certain strings she's not legally allowed to pull."

"You know it's not that simple."

"I can imagine so."

"No, you don't."

"But I stand by Christ's sermons, to give what belongs to Caesar to Caesar, and give what belongs to God to God. Keeping peace and stability in Star City is one thing, compromising your virtues for Pollard's allegiance is something else entirely."

"The Anti-Vigilante Act is still in place! You guys may have circumnavigated it for now, but she WILL find a way to get you into her clutches if you guys fully break free from ARGUS. One false move on my part and I'm done! I can't simply tell Pollard to go—"

"I am not asking that of you!"

"Then what is it?!"

Dinah and William are up at each other's faces at this point, maybe at each other's throats. The tension between them is not too thick, but a strong blade could potentially cut through whatever good will they have if any word strays.

"I am asking you to be the Black Canary you once were, the one who lead a splinter faction of good cops when the WHOLE department was FILLED with corruption." He steps back and says his last words in almost a firm whisper, "To not let that part of you die!"

Dinah does not argue further. After another long silence between them, the tension seemingly diminished, she simply says, "Good night," almost miserably sullenly.

She turns and walks away. William does not give her a farewell, simply choosing to watch her walk away. He does not know whether he has convinced her or if he failed. He felt unfocused when talking to her, whether out of the fatigue from today's events or something else. Maybe it had something to do with her.

Either way, when she disappears, William chooses not to dwell on it and heads back inside. Whatever inquiries his family made on the conversation; he simply refutes, "It's fine." Though, he can't help but feel that it wasn't.

---

Emiko takes in the surroundings as John Diggle gives the tour: The central platform with all the high-tech computers; the corner training area with racks filled to the brim with wooden staves, batons, and other training weaponry; and the displays that mantle each suit. She has not been given access to the computers, but they may trump any other intelligence agency by a good margin, maybe more with ARGUS' support.

John points down the long hallway they stop at. "Your room will be down the hallway to the left. There's also a bathroom and all the other essentials." He then points back to the larger area behind them, specifically the elevator. "The entire place is being monitored, as is the elevator."

"Countermeasures to make sure you don't get invaded again?"

"Something like that. One of us will be here to take you out when needed or if you need fresh air."

John then approaches Emiko with a slightly awkward stare.

"I know this isn't the most ideal situation to be in…" He then grins, trying to look as ecstatic as possibly when he extends a hand. "…but it's good to have you aboard."

Despite only having met him, Emiko can tell that John's statement is genuine. It's nothing like when she first met Dante. It almost feels good, a nice change of pace. She can't really explain it well, even to herself.

She takes John's hand and shakes it. "Thanks John."

John gives a nod and then takes off for the elevator. When the doors close on him, Emiko takes a deep breath. For once, she does not know what to make of her situation. Glenmorgan may have been a dead end, but she feels that she got something out of the experience. She bonded with a family she had not talked to in years. They rekindled a longing she had not felt in a long time, a connection she thought she made with the Ninth Circle. Maybe, just maybe…

"This is a nice place they put you in."

Emiko almost jerks as she turns around. At the hallway entrance stands Dante in his usual suit, hands in his pockets.

"A prison which just happens to be their homebase. I couldn't have picked better."

Emiko becomes cautious, looking around and seeing the cameras everywhere. "You shouldn't be here."

Dante grins slyly. "The cameras are on a loop. So far as the desk jockeys know, you're still being given the tour. I'd say we have about five minutes before I have to leave."

"Well, I'm not leaving with you."

"Nor do I expect you to. In fact, you put yourself in a favorable position. All with my help."

Emiko was about to ask, but something clicks in her mind.

The relative ease of the mission, reinforcements arriving late, me being here.

"You wanted us to find Grant Wilson. Why?"

"To talk to you. I needed to know you were doing okay…and to tell you that despite everything, I still had faith in you."

Dante approaches, but Emiko takes a step back.

"You knew I was chasing down Glenmorgan. How?"

"I knew of your hunt for your mother's killer. I know that you found a faulty lead. But I knew who it was from the start."

Emiko's eyes widen at first, but then slowly start to flare up.

Dante raises a hand. "I know you are angry, but he made me SWEAR not to tell you. The Deacon could have a sword to my throat in mere seconds!"

Emiko takes a giant step towards him. "What do you mean?!"

"He was the one who killed her Emiko. I protested it, but he wanted to toughen you up by making you go on a wild goose chase. But I never wanted her dead. Far from it! I wanted her spared, for your sake. You already joined our organization. THAT was enough."

Emiko takes another step, this time a smaller one. She becomes hesitant to make another. She does not even know why she is moving. Anger, perhaps.

"I'm here to tell you that you can have vengeance against him, defeat him."

"How?"

Dante outstretches his arms. "You have the means all around you, with them. With an anonymous tip here and a lead there, your new compatriots will help us destroy Blackfire."

"And what about them?"

"What about them?"

"You'll betray them the instant their use runs out, especially Oliver and his family."

Dante scoffs. "Don't tell me you've become sentimental towards them?"

Emiko freezes in place. She takes a breath, unable to say for certain whether Dante is right in his assessment.

"You really think your brother will give you what your father couldn't? You heard what he said in that interview. He seeks to rectify his father's sins." He walks up to her and brings himself close to her ear. "And when he finds out what you did, he will count YOU among them."

The mere possibility sends her mind in a haze. She finds herself unable to talk for a moment, unable to react. She may be having trouble breathing, fear pressing on her lungs.

She can feel Dante place something in her hand and wrap her fist around it. "But you are no sin to me. You're family."

Emiko is not calm, but she finds herself breathing again. She lifts up the hand Dante interacted with and opens her fist, finding a small comms device. Before she could talk to Dante, he is already off towards the elevator.

"You have a choice Emiko, possibly the most important one you'll ever make."

She wants to say something, but what? Her mind is pulling on strings, so many thoughts at war with each other. Thoughts of trust, betrayal, memories of the past and current circumstances. They all try to dictate the most likely scenario and the best thing she could do at this moment.

She does not shut them out. She lets them go on while she stares at the earpiece.

---

Author's Notes: Hello Readers! For those that have watched Arrow Season 7, you may be wondering why there aren't any flash forwards in this episode since those are supposed to be frequent in the show. Honestly, I didn't know how to place them here without disrupting the fluidity of the story. I may change how the flash forwards are presented from the show in this story. They are coming, just don't expect them to be there the same way they were in the show.

Anyways, thank you for reading. Leave a review and favorite if you like the story so far and don't forget to follow the story and my account so you don't miss a chapter. Thank you and Merry Christmas (or Happy Holidays) to you all, and a Happy New Year!