Arrow: the Two Archers

Chapter 11: Damaged

Lydia cursed under her breath as she checked the computers for Müller's position. It seemed, judging by how his vehicles were parked and from what she had managed to glimpse of CCTV footage, that the guns were being sold today. Which really threw a wrench in their plans. After all, it would be expected for both the Hood and the Rogue to show up to prevent that. And that couldn't really happen if Oliver was stuck under house arrest and throwing a huge party to boot. Of course, Lydia had notified him of Müller's actions and he had made some changes to their plan, but she was still very much cursing their luck at the moment.

"Hey, Lyds. Oliver told me to come see you." Diggle called out as he entered the Foundry.

Lydia spun her chair around to face him.

"Müller's car has been parked outside a warehouse in the Glades for 45 minutes. My guess is he's currently making his sales pitch."

"Yeah, that's a good place for an arms deal." Diggle agreed.
"So, what's the plan? We drop a dime on Müller with the cops? Or do you wanna try going in solo while I keep watch?"

"Neither. The Hood and the Rogue are going to stop him."

Diggle frowned.

"That's gonna be a bit difficult, since Oliver can't leave the house."

"It doesn't have to be Oliver in the hood."

Lydia had to contain herself not to wince as she watched Diggle's face morph from confusion, to realization, to disbelief and, finally, to anger.

"So that's why Oliver threw that ridiculous party? So that you two would have a hundred witnesses placing him at the house while I'm supposed to be across town dressed as a vigilante?"

"Diggle, we thought it would just be enough for you to be seen in the hood. We had no idea that Müller was coming to Starling and the city might be flooded with machine guns." Lydia said in an effort to placate him.
"Diggle, I swear, we never intended to put you in harm's way."

"Lydia, I never assumed that joining yours and Oliver's crusade would be risk-free. I just don't like being played." Diggle clarified.
"You two might've gotten used to lying to everyone else in your lives. But if we're gonna do this, if we're gonna trust and have each other's backs, then I have to be the one guy you don't lie to. Understood?"

It had been so many years since she'd experienced this that she almost forgot what it was like. At the moment, Lydia felt like a child who was being scolded. And she hated it.

"Yes, sir." she muttered under her breath, quiet enough for Diggle to miss it.

The annoying part was that Diggle was right. They should have told him the whole plan from the start, should have trusted him just like he was trusting them. Maybe the reason they hadn't was because it had been discussed among the two of them several times already and perhaps it slipped their mind to inform Diggle, or maybe he was right and their secrecy was starting to create some bad habits. Whatever the reason, this made it painfully clear that they did need Diggle on the team. They needed someone who could call them out when they got close to the uncrossable lines. It was why Lydia had suggested the idea in the first place.

"So, do I have to wear green tonight and hope they don't realize it's a 5'3 girl?" she asked gently.

To her relief, Diggle shook his head.

"Nah. We got an arms deal to stop."

*

Oliver let out a deep breath as he got back inside the manor. As it turned out, five years away from his old life and a few sharp turns of perspective later, Oliver didn't find it so easy to be the party host he used to be. As perfect of an alibi as having hundreds of witnesses at his home was, it was quickly becoming exhausting having to entertain all of those guests. He needed a breather.