Arrow to the Heart {2}

Chapter 16

Lydia walks into the bunker, and she walks up to Oliver handing him a stack of sticky notes and Oliver looks at the notes confused, and he says, "What are these?" Lydia says, "About a month's worth of phone messages from Queen Consolidated." Oliver says, "Toss them." Lydia says, "That's what did I with last month's phone messages." Oliver says, "With Slade out there I don't have time for the company." Lydia says, "You have to make time, Oliver. At least three hours. The annual board meeting. There's absolutely zero way that the CEO can avoid being there. And I know it's been a while. So, in case you you're forgotten, that's you. Do you remember where you've put your business suit? Or do you keep it in a cool glass case, too?" Oliver smiles at her. Later, Lydia's at Queen Consolidated and she walks into the board room where Oliver is and she says, "Oliver..." Oliver looks at Lydia and Lydia, "Your mother's here." Lydia walks past Moira, and she walks over to her desk. Later, Lydia's at the debate between Moira and Sebastian and she walks behind stage, and she sees Sebastian. Sebastian looks at her and says, "I thought backstage was supposed to be restricted access." Lydia says, "Well, when your sister's an ADA, she can get you through anything." Sebastian says, "You stopped by to wish Moira good luck?" Lydia says, "Actually, no. I came to say good luck to you. I owe you an apology. I accused you of really terrible things." Sebastian says, "Water under the bridge." Lydia says, "Good luck tonight." Sebastian says, "I'm not the one who's gonna need it." Sebastian walks away. Later, Lydia's sitting in the audience with Laurel next to her watching the debate. Moira says, "Sebastian Blood is not the man you think he is. He's not going to revive this city with social services. He's going to bankrupt it with unfunded mandates." Sebastian says, "Mrs. Queen's problem with my proposals is that they will be paid for by the one percent." Moira says, "That won't cover a fraction--" Sebastian cuts her off and says, "... avoiding responsibility." Moira says, "But it will limit their abilities to hire people." Donald says, "Alright, that's time, and I will remind the candidates to please refrain from interrupting. Now we have the next in our series of video questions submitted by Starling City voters. This one comes from... Thea Queen. Okay, there must be some mistake." The screen static's and the audience gasp because they see Thea with tears, tied up looking scared and she says, "Help! Help! Somebody help me, please! He-he..." The audience watches as someone covers Thea's mouth and the screen spells out, "How much is Thea Queen's life worth to you?" Later, Lydia left as soon as she saw Thea in trouble on the screen and she's at Queen Consolidated trying to locate Thea and while also being on the phone. Diggle and Roy walk up to Lydia's desk and Lydia looks at them and she says, "I might've found something. I'm working on it." Lydia leaves her desk and walks over to Oliver and says, "Mr. Queen? I need to talk to you, it's about Mr. Wilson." Later, Lydia, Oliver, Diggle, and Roy walk into the bunker, Lydia says, "Since the last place Thea was last seen was Verdant, I used credit card receipts, compiled a list of customers pinged all their cell phones, and hacked into their photos. The NSA's right. It's easier when you don't need a warrant. I eyeballed every photo." Diggle says, "Must've been thousands." Lydia softly says, "It's Thea. I found this. Partial plate, three blocks from the club. Car is registered to a Slade Wilson... and it has GPS." Oliver says, "Where is it right now?" Lydia says, "Parked outside a defunct bar on Roosevelt." Diggle says, "Okay, this doesn't seem easy to you? Slade using a car in his name. The whole thing smells rotten." Oliver says, "Either Thea's there or he is. Either way, we have to go." Sara says, "Yeah, I figured you'd say that which is why I worked up these. Tibetan pit viper venom. League of Assassins' poison of choice. And the most powerful sedative that I've ever worked with." Oliver says, "That'll give us an advantage." Oliver looks at Roy and says, "You're gonna give us another." Roy says, "You sure you want me to go?" Oliver says, "Are you angry?" Roy nods and Oliver continues to say, "Use that rage." Roy says, "You're always telling me to hold back." Oliver says, "Not tonight." Later, everyone's back in the bunker except Oliver. Lydia sighs and says, "So... what now?" Diggle says, "Wait for Oliver. Figure out what our next move will be." Roy says, "Wait for him to tell us, you mean. We can't do anything with King Queen's permission." Diggle looks at Roy and says, "You're out of line, Roy." Sara says, "Let's all just calm down here. Slade outplayed us. It happens." Roy says, "No, it-it only happened because the police let Slade go after we turned him in, because Oliver told us to." Diggle says, "What were we supposed to do?" Roy looks at Diggle and says, "Your special forces. She's an international assassin. You'd think between the three of us we could've gotten answers out of Slade ourselves instead of turning him into the police. Here's what's really sick is we didn't even question him because he said it was the right thing to do. Just like he said that I needed to break up with Thea one week after telling me it wasn't safe for me to leave her alone." Lydia says, "Wait! Do you think it's Oliver's fault that Slade took Thea?" Roy looks at Lydia and says, "I think it was his fault that I wasn't there to stop Slade." Lydia says, "And I think you're just blaming Oliver because you lost Slade." Roy says, "Well, of course, you'd take his side, you're his ex-girlfriend." Lydia scoffs. Then Roy starts walking away, and Sara says, "Hey, where are you going?" Roy says, "Sitting around here isn't helping Thea now, is it?" Diggle says, "And neither is you running off half-cocked, Roy." Diggle stands in front of Roy and Roy looks at Diggle and says, "I know that you think that this is the Mirakuru, but it's not. I'm right, and you know that I am. So, you better get the hell out of my way." Lydia softly says, "Roy, just calm down. It's what Thea would want us to do." Diggle says, "She's right, Roy. Come on, let's throttle back." Roy then grabs Diggle and slams him into the table and Lydia gasps. An arrow shoots past Roy's head, and he looks at Sara and she says, "Next one goes into your chest. Let him go." Roy says, "You would honestly kill me because I dare to criticize the almighty Oliver Queen?" Sara says, "No, I'd kill you because you're hurting my friend. Let him go." Then Oliver walks in and angrily says, "Let him go!" Roy lets Diggle go and Oliver says, "What the hell is going on down here?" Roy looks at Oliver and says, "I'm done. That's what's going on. Thea, she's out there, hurt, or worse because of one person. And that is not Slade Wilson." Oliver says, "Roy." Roy says, "I believed in you. There's nothing left for me here." Roy walks away and the computer beeps and Lydia says, "Oh, my God. Oliver!" Diggle says, "Now what?" Oliver leaves because Isabel took over Queen Consolidated. Later, Oliver comes back to the bunker and tells the team that Isabel has been working for Slade. Diggle says, "At least let us surround the perimeter." Oliver says, "No, Isabel was very clear. I come alone or Thea dies." Sara says, "Ollie, this is another one of Slade's games, and--" Oliver cuts Sara off angrily and says, "No, what I can't do, Sara, is nothing. What would you do if it were Lydia, or Laurel, or your father, or your mother? I will not get dragged into the same debate over and over again." Lydia says, "Go. Go get Thea. Stop Slade. Do whatever it takes. End this once and for all." Oliver walks away. Later, Lydia calls Oliver and he says, "Go." Lydia says, "Oliver, are you okay?" Oliver says, "Yeah, I'm fine, but Thea's not here." Lydia says, "You did it." Oliver says, "Did what?" Lydia says, "Thea's fine. She's fine. She walked into the precinct five minutes ago. Safe and sound." Later, Lydia and Diggle are in the bunker when Oliver walks in and he says, "What are you two doing here?" Lydia says, "Thought this where you would go. You're predictable. That, and you've been sleeping on the cot at night." Oliver softly says, "What are you doing here?" Diggle says, "Where else would we be?" Oliver leans on the table and says, "Roy was right. At every turn, I have made the wrong decision. With him, with... the company. And with Thea. I was so focused on what Slade might do to me that it never... even occurred to me what I could do to myself. I am my own worst enemy." Diggle says, "That's Slade talking. Don't let him in your head." Oliver says, "I can't keep him out of my head, Diggle. I can't... I can't stop him from doing anything." Lydia walks forward and says, "Yes, you can." Oliver says, "What makes you so sure?" Diggle also walks forward and says, "Because you're not alone, man. Now what, boss?" Oliver sighs and looks between his two best friends and says, "Now we fight back."