Intermission

Determination

Diggle huffs after Oliver turns to leave the second lair, staring at the door for a long moment before saying to Felicity, "What do we do now?"  They both just stare after Oliver, who is defeated in a way that they have never seen them before.  Felicity is usually the one who can talk him into or out of things, but if her charm isn't working, Diggle isn't sure where to stand.

"I don't know," Felicity replies, sounding very defeated herself.  But at least she's trying to think, trying to figure things out and see them through properly.  "But I'm sure I'll think of something before tomorrow."  Her voice is harder this time.

It takes her a few hours, actually, to figure something out.  Diggle walks into the lair under Verdant to find her pouring through drawers and shelves, obviously digging for something she thinks is relevant.

"Can I help you?" Diggle asks her hesitantly.  He isn't sure if he wants to know—some of the stuff she does is dodgy, especially when she incapacitates someone with their cell phone.

"No," she answers, not even looking up, "I just need to find something..."  A few moments of raiding compartments later, she asks, "Hey, what did we do with that tranquilizer gun we used on Barry?"  Diggle doesn't miss the way she hesitates over the name, the stutter and the wince.  Diggle sympathizes with her for a moment before remembering her question.

He knows better than to ask by now, so he just replies, "I think I saw it in the tool chest, underneath the defibrillator."

She goes to the place he indicates, finding it in the third drawer with the extra darts.  "Here it is," she affirms.  When he just looks at her with one eyebrow raised, she shrugs and adds, "I think I finally figured out how to get Oliver to listen to us."

"How is that?" a new voice says from the entrance, and they both turn to find Laurel Lance standing there, taking in the sights.  It doesn't take long before she's focusing on the odd pair—two of the three that protect and defend the city.  "And how can I help?"

Felicity frowns in a way that Diggle thinks is probably jealousy and feeling threatened, but, being Felicity, she swallows it.  "We're going to stop him," she says flatly, holding up the gun.

"With a tranquilizer gun," Laurel replies, looking as though she's going to object to that idea.  She crosses her arms over her chest for emphasis, and Diggle thinks she might be intimidating enough to be an honorary member of the team—with a little training, of course.

"With a tranquilizer gun," Felicity agrees, not about to back down.  "Oliver won't listen to us—we have to do whatever it takes."  She rolls her eyes.  "Otherwise, he's going to hand himself off to Slade Wilson, and, well, that's not going to happen."  She loads up a dart in the gun.  "And I'm prepared to do whatever it takes.  If you're not, you can walk away now."

"I'm in," Diggle replies solemnly.  Then he just hopes they get to Oliver in time.