***
9 Months Later
"Roy! Diane! We're coming to you." I heard Oliver say and I looked over to Roy as confirmation that he heard too.
"I'll stop the truck, you go catch our guy." I nodded and jumped off the car we were standing on. I turned around to see Roy do a flip off the car as he shot two arrows at the truck's tires. When our guy ran out of the truck and into the alley I ran in after him. I jumped on top of some trash bins and got onto the roof, when I got ahead I shot a cable network arrow backing him from running any futhur. I jumped off the roof and punched him causing him to fall on the ground.
"Vincent Steelgrave. You have failed this city." I said before I kicked him in the face instantly knocking him out. I turned to Oliver and Roy with a smile on my face. "I've always wanted to say that."
"I know you have." Roy said as he put one of his arms around my shoulder as we got into Dig's car to get to the abandoned Verdant building.
"We keep this up, there will only be two types of criminals left in Starling City," Diggle said as we entered the Arrow Cave. "the ones we put away and the ones that are running scared."
"What's that?" Oliver asked walking over to a plant on the table.
"A fern. It thrives on the light." Felicity said, as Roy, Dig and I watched the exchange between the two in the back. "I thought since you were living here now, the place could do with a little sprucing."
"I let you buy me a bed." Oliver replied getting really close to Felicity, and I couldn't help but smile.
"You were sleeping on the floor." Felicity said also stepping closer, as the three of us in the back exchanged a look.
"Another text from Thea." Oliver said looking at his phone and I felt Roy stiffen next to me. I put a comforting hand on his shoulder but it was clear that he still missed her. "She at the Amalfi coast. I keep telling her to send photos."
"I'm going to go do a patrol, clear my head." Roy informed as he began to walk away.
"Hey." Oliver said as Roy was about to leave. "You did really good tonight."
"I'm going to head out, too." Felicity stated gathering her things. "I have to pull an early shift at work today, which may or may not be the most depressing thing I've ever said."
"But we're still on for tomorrow night?" Oliver asked as she began to walk away.
"Absolutely." Felicity said as she put her hands on Oliver's shoulders. "I am going to turn you into corporate master of the universe. Those board members are going to be begging to sell Queen Consolidated back to you and your backers."
"I should get going too." I told him grabbing my stuff, a few minutes after Felicity left. "Captain Lance has new samples he want me to analyze. Literally being a chemist for the SCPD is the worst."
I grabbed a pink box and handed it to Diggle. "Congrats, can't wait to meet the next member of Team Arrow." I said giving him the gift which contained a blanket and a stuffed animal.
"Thanks, you don't know how to build a bassinet by any chance do you?" Dig asked hopefully.
"The question is do I want to go all through that pain. And the answer is definitely no." I said with a laugh as I gave him a tight hug. "I'll see you guys later."
***
Felicity called me early in the morning to tell me about her date with Oliver. We were on the phone for so long that I was late to work, not that I really cared. I was still working a late shift in the station when the whole place went chaotic, when I overheard that there was an attack at the restaurant Oliver and Felicity where at it immediately headed towards the hideout.
"Ollie is she okay?" I asked as Oliver came in with an unconscious and blood stained Felicity in his arms.
"She's just knocked out." Oliver said as he set her carefully on our makeshift medical bed.
"The police station went crazy, they all were headed to the scene." I informed them.
"Yeah, I didn't think it was the best idea to stick around and answer questions."
"You don't think you and an explosion at the same place is a coincidence?" I questioned.
"Hey, check this out." Roy said holding something between his fingers. "It's a GPS. I found it on your jacket."
"You took out one of Steelgraves' crew earlier tonight." Diggle reminded us.
"It was a set up so they could plant that thing on me." Oliver realized angrily as he began to walk away, and I followed.
"Oliver." I said in a demanding voicing making him stop in place. "I know what your thinking and your wrong."
"No, you don't." Oliver said pointing a finger at me.
"I know you. I know exactly what's going on in your head." I replied.
"Somebody put a tracer on me and I don't notice?" Oliver said looking over to Felicity's still unconscious body. "The only explanation I lost my focus."
"Oliver don't give up on whatever your starting here with Felicity. None of this is your fault" I tried reasoning knowing that he was going to close himself up again.
"The person we took down earlier is working with whoever's responsible for tonight's explosion." Oliver said to the team, changing the subject.
"Another one of Steelgrave's crew, I'm guessing." Diggle replied stepping in.
"Well, I need to know who's at the top of that organization now." Oliver replied coldly. "And where I can find him."
"I'm on it." Dig said as he walked out of the hideout. A hew minutes after he left Felicity woke up with a loud gasp.
"Hey, hey, hey, you're safe." Oliver assured helping Felicity sit up, and he looked at her with warm eyes. "You're safe. I'm here."
We were siting around waiting for new information to rise so this case could go somewhere. "How are you?" Oliver asked Felicity after a while of awkward silence between the two.
"Believe it or not, I have had worse first dates." She replied trying to make Oliver feel less guilty. Oliver gave her a small smile, but it was clear he still felt troubled.
"You two, hit the streets." Oliver commanded Roy and I. "Werner's agenda can't stop with me. I need to know what he has planned."
"On it." Roy said as he pushed me over to our equipment.
"So, Doll Face." Roy said with a smirk on his face. "Your not going back to work."
"I told you to stop calling me that, don't make me call you Abercrombie again." I said in annoyance as I finished putting my suit on, he laughed at my annoyance of the nickname that he has given me since the day we met. He hated the nickname I gave him as much as I hated mine. "And no, not if Detective Lance doesn't call me."
"Come on that job isn't that bad." He replied as we left the Cave.
"I don't even have a lab, and my job doesn't even have a name." I said disappointed that I lost the job I worked so hard for, and no I had to organize chemical samples for the Forensics.
"Then why don't you just quit."
"Cause it pays the bills, especially since you fail to help pay our rent" I said accusingly.
"Hey, that's why your my best friend you pay the rent for the both of us." He joked. "Anyways I helped pay two months ago."
I laughed as we both got on our motorcycles. "What would you do without me Abercrombie?" I said as I sped of down the street.
***
Since I wasn't able to get off from work I wasn't able to help Oliver and Roy defeat Vertigo, although they did make it clear that they were fine without me. I was still finishing up in the crime lab as I got a phone call from Diggle. "Hey, Dig what's up?"
"Lyla just had our baby!" Diggle said sound extremely nervous and filled with happiness.
"Really? I'm on my way." I said quickly before I hung up. I was grabbing my bag as an attractive looking guy entered the lab.
"You're Diane Crock right?" He said looking around at the tiny lab.
"Yeah, whose asking?" I asked and the the stretched his arm about and I shook it.
"I'm Ray Palmer." He said with a charming smile. "I'm the owner of Palmer Technologies, and I wanted to offer to a job as head of the applied sciences unit of my company."
The smile I had slowly faded off my face as I remembered what Felicity told me earlier about the man who took the company away from Oliver. "You mean the company you stole from Oliver Queen." I said folding my arms across my chest.
"Ugh...I guess you could say that. But I'm offering you a job at my company with a lab ten times as big as this one and equipped with the newest advancements in science." He said with that same charming smile, and although the offer was tempting I'm still loyal to Queen Consolidated.
"I'm sorry Mr. Palmer, but I'm going to have to kindly decline your offer."
"Wait! I need someone with your skills to work at my company." He said blocking my path as I was about to leave. "These are some of the plans that I want carried out and your just the person to do it."
He handed me a file and I began to look through some of the plans. They were impressive I had to give him that, and although I hated my current job I still couldn't accept. "Look Mr. Palmer my answer is still no."
As I was about to hand him the file again he pushed it back to be. "Please call me Ray, and think about it."
"Thanks for the offer, but I really have to go now a friend of mine is having a baby." I said before I walked out of the police station and drove to the hospital.
As I walked through the hallways of the hospital I bumped into Felicity who was arguing with a man. "Hey Felicity what's wrong." I asked and then the guy turned around only to reveal himself as Ray Palmer. "You! Did you follow me here?"
"What you two know each other?" Felicity asked suprised.
"Ugh...haha this is awkward." Ray said looking between the two of us. "I offered Ms.Crock a job in my company too."
"He did?" Felicity said looking at me.
"Yeah, he came into the station." I replied just as suprised.
"Just one question for you, why did you reject me I know why Felicity did it but you?" He asked seeming genuinely confused. "I mean, I made the both of you amazing offers."
"How about you stealing my friends company." I said as bit irritated, although Ray did seem like a nice guy.
"That exactly what I told him." Felicity said with a triumphant look. "Our friends just had a baby, so if you don't mind, there's another slimy little human that needs our attention."
The two of us walked away together into Lyla's room. "Oh, she is scrumptious! Mazel tov, guys, seriously." Felicity said running to Lyla's side.
"Congrats, Dig." I said giving him a hug and then running towards Lyla and the baby. "She is the cutest thing." I said as I saw her asleep in Lyla's arms. "Ohh can I hold her?"
Lyla gently passed the baby over to me. "I always wanted siblings, but I found the best family I could have asked for here. How can one human being be so adorable?" I said looking down at the baby in my arms.
"Lyla can I hold her too." Felicity asked and when she nodded in approval I placed her in Felicity's waiting arms. When visiting hours were over I walked to my car and waited for Felicity to come out of the hospital she came out and angry and sad mess, when I asked her what happened she told me that Oliver kissed her and practically told her he loved her, at first I was ecstatic, then she sank my ship by saying that after the kiss Oliver said they couldn't be together and they never could. I made a mental not to scold Oliver later as I dropped her off and then went to my apartment.
***
Oliver called me while I was sleeping, telling me that he needed to see me immediately and I had no other choice but to go. When I got inside the Verdant building Oliver was waiting outside with his Arrow suit on. "Diane I have to ask you to do something for me."
"Well, hi Oliver." I said since he neglected to greet me.
"Hi Diane." He said slightly annoyed. "Do you remember Barry Allen?"
"Of course I remember Barry, he and Felicity had their short lived romance." I said attempting to make Oliver jealous, and to make him realize what he was going to miss out on.
"Yeah, that guy." Oliver said bluntly. "Well, he recently got superpowers."
I looked at him wide eyed, trying to figure out if he was just joking but he was dead serious. Oliver just waited for me to process the information he was giving me. "I thought he was in a coma." I said still in shock. "Wait, you said superpowers right?"
"He's out of the coma now, and yes I said superpowers. Apparently the lightening that put him in a coma gave him super speed." Oliver looked at me expectantly waiting for me reaction, but I just stared back.
"Well, that's cool." Was all I was able to say for a while before I began to laugh. "Sorry, Ollie but I cant play along anymore that's impossible."
"Diane I'm serious." Oliver said looking at me blankly. "I saw it, the how involves a bunch of science that I don't understand."
"Okay... but how does this involve me?" I asked wonder why he was telling me this.
"He wants to use his powers to help people against others like him"
"Good for him, he's deciding to do good with them. But you still haven't answered my question." I said staring to get irritated that he was dancing around the subject. "What does this have to do with me?"
"He doesn't understand what he's getting himself into, and if he's doing this I want him to do it right." Oliver said deep in thought. "That's where you come in, I want you to keep an eye on him and guide him in the right direction."
"So...what your saying is that you want me to train him?" I asked still confused on what he was asking of me.
"I want you to join his team, and guide them all in the right direction." Oliver clarified. "But, he cant know I sent you because his pride might get in the way. He doesn't know that your part of my team or that your Artemis so he shouldn't be suspicious."
"You want me to leave Team Arrow?" I asked a bit hurt that he was asking me to leave the team that has become my family.
"You'll always be part of this team, and you would come back once he's ready." Oliver said reassuringly. "But you don't have to do this."
"Of course I'll do it." I said to the man who has become like another brother to me. "I just have one question how are you so sure that they'll accept me into their team?"
"You and Barry seemed to get along just fine when he was here, I'm sure he'll trust you." He said confidently. "Anyways they're all workers in S.T.A.R. Labs, and you majored in sciences, you have an amazing resume they have to hire you."
"First of all I didn't major in 'sciences' I majored in physics and chemistry." I corrected sarcastically. "Secondly, S.T.A.R. Labs shut down 9 months ago, how do expect me to get a job at a place that's closed down?"
"They should be wanting to open, so they should be looking for more workers." Oliver said annoyed with all my questions. "Just try okay."
"Fine, but just one more question."
"What is it?" he said irritated.
"Why would you kiss Felicity and then tell her you guys cant be together." I said pointing an accusing finger. "Why don't you want to ask her out again?"
"Diane, I can't be the Arrow and have a normal life like everyone else."
"I don't know why you have that stupid idea drilled into your head." I said tired of having this same conversation with him. "If you don't take a chance you might never be able to get another one. And when another hot billionaire rolls into town and takes her away, don't come crying to me."
"Okay I'll keep that in mind." He said with a smile and then he surprisingly hugged me.
"Aww Ollie I'll miss you too." I said as he pulled away.
"Of course I'll miss you, you've been with me since the beginning."
"You have to promise me that you'll keep me in the loop though." I said already starting to miss Starling and the family I made here.
"Now, I want you to move to Central City in two days so get packed and tell the rest of the team." Oliver said as he walked into the abandoned building that he now called home.
***
The next morning I told the team about my going to Central City, everyone was upset but Roy was mostly angry but he knew I already made up my mind. We were heading into the Cave to do our morning check in while Roy was trying to convince Felicity to help him find Thea.
"Please!" Roy pleaded as we walked began to walk down the steps of the Arrow Cave. "Felicity, all I'm trying to do is make things easier on you."
"By having me completely reconfigure our phone system?" Felicity began to ramble and Roy and I shared a confused look. "Do you even know how difficult it is to ping a clone off a hacked transband multiplex?"
"No, but only because you weren't speaking English just now." He replied and as we turned the corner I froze in place at the horrific scene in front of me. I covered my mouth to hold in the gasp. "Sara?" I said tears building up as I ran towards the table that held her cold lifeless body. I felt Roy's arms embrace me as I cried against his shoulder.
"I didn't know where else to take her." Laurel said in a state of shock.
"Oh, my God." Felicity said stepping towards the table as well. "Oh, my God!"
"What happened?" Oliver asked Laurel in a collected tone.
"I couldn't I couldn't leave her." Laurel sobbed looking at Sara's corpse.
"We have to...call...we can take her to the hospital!" Felicity said hopeful, although she knew that it was too late.
"Ollie. Ollie, it's not fair! We just got her back, it's not fair!" Laurel said angrily between sobs.
"Come here." Oliver said embracing her. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry."
I was supposed to leave for Central City tomorrow night, but now I couldn't leave that easily, at least not until we find the person to did this to Sara.
***