Moira and Will came back in a few minutes later.
Oliver Queen
At the waterfront docks in Star City, one man particularly close to the water suddenly grunted in pain, falling to the ground with an arrow in his chest. The other four men on the dock approached the water, firing down into it.
A moment later, all four were shot with arrows, and the leader of the Star City vigilantes propelled out of the water and landed on the dock, firing at the three remaining. He took a look around before shaking his head. "I'm on site," Oliver said. "No sign of Faust."
John Diggle
Dig flipped a henchman head over heels, knocking him out. "He's not at his last known, either," he reported.
"Well, his ordinance is."
"If Faust is moving from bombs to missiles, it makes you wonder what else he's changed up."
"Exactly. Stay sharp."
There was a gunshot behind him, and Dig turned to see another henchman had been sneaking up behind him. He heard the click of a reloading gun, and Dig looked the other way to see Rene walk up. "Boss said stay sharp, Hoss," Rene told him.
Oliver Queen
Oliver found another henchman, engaging him in hand to hand. The man, however, knocked Oliver to the ground, holding him still. "Faust, it's clear!" he called.
"Apologies!" Faust looked over the railing from the next level up. "Won't be but a minute!" He tapped something on the tablet he held, then walked towards the ladder to head down. "If you have the opportunity, please advise your mayor next time someone threatens to launch a ballistic missile at his city, he really should pay up."
Faust tapped something on his tablet, and the missile on the next level launched. At the same time, Oliver tucked and rolled away from the henchman, knocking him to the floor. It took one tranquilizer arrow to knock him out. "Disappointing," Faust frowned, only to gasp in pain when Oliver fired two arrows at him, pinning him to the dock. "That's an MGM-140. It's fire and forget! You can't stop it, you can't disarm it!"
Oliver turned back to watch the missile. "No," he shook his head. "But I have a very smart friend who can."
Curtis smiled as Oliver called him smart.
Curtis Holt
From a few buildings over, Curtis watched the missile fly over his head before he launched one of his T-spheres after it. "My T-sphere's spoofed the missile's guidance system," he called. "I'm drawing it back to the water!"
"You're clever," Cisco said to Curtis.
Oliver Queen
Oliver watched the missile explode over the water, remembering the last time he had seen an explosion as impressive as that. "You look troubled," Faust noted. "As if detonation stirred unpleasant memories."
Then - 2 Months Ago
Oliver Queen
Cars went careening when a breach opened up in the middle of the street. Cisco and Oliver jumped out, Oliver in full Green Arrow gear, Kara and Clark flying out to hover in the air. "This is it," Cisco nodded up at the building in front of them.
Clark squinted, only to groan in annoyance. "Of course. Lined with lead."
"I hate lead," Kara grimaced.
"Let's go," Oliver nodded, heading for the building, Cisco with him.
They made it to the doors when glass exploded from the third floor of the building, flames rushing out. Oliver and Cisco instinctively ducked while Kara and Clark flew around, catching chunks of glass before it reached the streets. Oliver straightened, reaching for his comms. "Guys?" he shouted. "Report!"
"That was very hard to film," Willa said.
"Which floor was that?" Laurel immediately asked.
"Third!" Cisco answered.
"Oh, my God," Dinah whispered in horror.
"Thea!" Malcolm cried in horror.
"John was there, too!"
"And J'onn!" Alex shouted.
Kara's eyes widened, and she dove in through the windows, Clark right behind her. Oliver fired a grappling arrow and soared after them, Cisco opening a breach to head inside.
Now
Oliver Queen
Oliver gritted his teeth, then shot Faust with a tranquilizer, knocking him out.
"Good riddance," Dig said.
Oliver Queen
Oliver turned away from his suit in the Arrowcave, smiling when Kara walked up to him. "Hey, angel."
"Heard you got the guy," Kara smiled, kissing him. "Good job."
"Thanks," Oliver smiled, then blinked when Rene walked up to him, handing him a vanilla file. "What's this?"
"Remarks for the Police Academy graduation ceremony," Rene answered, and Oliver opened it up curiously. "Seems my promotion came with speech writing duties."
"You can write?" Dig asked.
"You can read?" Curtis asked after.
"Seriously? Shut up man," Rene complained.
"It was a legitimate question," Cutis said making Rene glare at him.
"I can kick both y'all asses is what I can do," Rene retorted.
Oliver nodded. "This is, uh . . . this is really good, Rene," he complimented.
"It's like I keep telling you, Hoss," Rene nodded somberly. "I've got the soul of a poet."
Team Arrow was snorting and laughing hysterically.
"It's not funny," Rene said.
"You really sold that line," Juliana said to Rick.
Kara snorted, then quickly turned it into a cough as she turned away. "Got something in your throat, Kara?" Laurel called from where she was by the computers.
"No," Kara shook her head, hiding her grin behind her hand, Oliver shaking his head fondly. "No, I'm fine."
"Besides, I don't think I have ever heard Rene say that," Felicity said as she emerged from the elevator, her arms completely full of Big Belly Burger takeout.
"Who the hell asked you, blondie?" Rene scowled.
"You totally missed me redirecting a ballistic missile, b-t-dubs," Curtis grinned.
"Oh, man," Felicity sighed. "Well, I've already seen you do that once. All right, just as you ordered . . . a triple stack with a side of heart disease," she handed one bag to Rene.
"That looks like something Kara would eat," Agent Danvers said.
"Barry would probably eat it too," Iris said.
"Don't judge me," he sniffed.
"Ah, yeah, that's for you," Felicity handed another bag to Curtis. "Surprise, this is for you . . . "
"Thank you," Dig nodded.
"And all of your meals combined times five is for these two," Felicity smirked, handing the last two bags to Oliver and Kara. "Since one girl in this room basically has a bottomless pit for a stomach."
"These two have got bottomless pits for stomachs too," Will said, pointing at Moira and Alura, who promptly tackled him to the floor. They wrestled for a minute and then got back up on the couch.
Kara laughed. "Thanks, Felicity."
"You're welcome," Felicity smiled. "Sorry I was MIA. I pretty much had to knock my mother unconscious to get her on a flight back to Vegas. She did not want to go."
"That's fine," Oliver nodded. "We had it handled."
"Yeah, even without Dinah in the field," Rene agreed.
"Come a long way in a year," Dig said with a smile.
"Yeah, it almost makes me grateful for all the times Oliver kicked our ass," Curtis nodded.
"Almost?" Laurel smirked.
"Hey, we can split with you, if you want," Kara offered.
"No," Laurel shook her head. "I'm meeting up with my dad and Dinah later."
"Aw," Kara pouted slightly.
"I don't think William's eaten yet," Oliver told her. "Come on, let's head back."
"All right," Kara smiled, waving at everyone. "Bye, guys!"
There were various calls of goodbye as Kara ran to pick up her duffel, then follow Oliver out the door.
Oliver Queen
The Russian housekeeper at the loft frowned when Oliver opened the door for Kara. "That food is junk," she said.
"That's why kids like it, Raisa," Oliver smirked.
"Hi, Raisa," Kara waved.
"Hello, Miss Kara," Raisa smiled as the two-headed for William's room.
"She likes you," Thea smiled.
Oliver knocked on the door, and William looked away from his video game. "Hey, dad," he said, pausing the game.
"Hey, kiddo," he smiled. "Look who showed up."
"Hey, buddy," Kara grinned as she looked around her boyfriend.
"Kara!" William grinned widely, putting his controller down and running over.
"Hey there," Kara giggled, giving him a hug. "How was school?"
"Still working on it," William shrugged.
"Atta boy," Kara patted his shoulder.
"Got enough food for an army," Oliver held up the takeout bags. "Hungry?"
"Yeah," William nodded, and the three of them headed for the table. "How long are you here for?" he asked Kara.
"Well, I need to get back in time for my sister's bridal shower with Maggie," Kara mused as she sat down. "So, right now, I've definitely got the weekend."
"How about we go see a Rockets game?" Oliver suggested. "As mayor, I get pretty good seats."
"Sure," Kara smiled at William. "You up for it?"
"Yeah," William smiled back, taking the cheeseburger Oliver handed him. "Let's do it."
Oliver and Kara smiled at each other. "I'll get the tickets," Oliver nodded.
Dinah Drake
"Comfy?" the officer in the interrogation room asked.
"Could I get something to drink?" Faust asked.
"That will be up to my lieutenant."
Dinah walked into the interrogation room, badge hanging around her neck. "Thanks, Bob, I got it from here," she nodded, and the officer left. "Where'd you get the muscle?" she asked, walking over.
"Oh, I got promoted," Dinah smiled.
"Good job," Quentin smiled at her.
"Kettlebell swings," Faust smirked.
Dinah pretended to laugh, then dug her nails into his shoulder and leaned down. "The gunmen, jerkwad."
"Ah," Faust winced.
"Yeah, you were rolling with some pretty highly trained mercenaries tonight."
"According to your friend in the green hoodie," Faust grumbled.
"Highly trained means highly expensive," Dinah leaned on the table. "You were probably paying as much to hire them as you were extorting the city for."
"So you're saying there's a problem with my business plan?" Faust grumbled. Dinah just gave him a glare. "Well, can I get something to drink? I'd be more disposed to linguistics if I weren't so parched."
Dinah sighed, standing up and heading for the door. "What do you want?"
"Anything carbonated will do!" he called back.
Dinah sighed, walking out of the room. "That sounded entertaining," Quentin raised an eyebrow as he walked up with another officer.
"Oh, Mr. Smug'll crack eventually," Dinah waved a hand absently. "Reviewed the plans for the graduation?"
"Yeah," Quentin nodded. "Looks like we're good."
"Great," Dinah smiled. "Guess we're good to go." She turned to one of the officers. "Get this guy a soda or something, will you?"
He nodded, and Quentin and Dinah headed to leave the station.
Alex Faust
Faust looked up when a soda was placed in front of him. "Perfect," he smiled. "Open it up for me?"
The officer sighed, then reached over and popped the tab. Faust grinned, then banged his head against the table. "Hey, if you think you can claim some kind of police brutality," the officer began angrily.
"Not at all," Faust shook his head, reaching into his mouth. "No, I just needed to get this loose – ugh!" He pulled something out of his mouth and laughed. "C4 implant. Boom!"
"Oh crap," Dinah groaned.
The officer's eyes widened as he dropped the implant into his drink, the entire thing fizzing. "You're crazy!"
"I don't judge you!" Faust smirked, knocking the table over.
The C4 went off, knocking a large hole in the wall and blowing the door down. The officer cried out in pain, collapsing on the ground. Faust looked up and over the table, checking the damage he'd done, then a dark-haired figure walked in through the wall. "Well done, Alex," she smirked. "Right on schedule."
"One does one's humble best," Faust nodded.
"Wire it up, and make it fast," Evelyn Sharpe handed him a box. "We're on the clock."
"Are you kidding me. I thought she was dead," Rene complained.
Laurel and Malcolm were glaring at him. Alex was talking to Slade, to prevent him from glaring at Rene.
Kara saw the looks they were giving him but didn't think anything of it.
"Is that my cous-" Rebecca started to say but Malcolm covered her mouth.
Faust nodded, and Evelyn walked out of the room, watching her mercenaries take out the police in the building. Faust set the box down on a desk, turning the machinery on before doing a round of the station. When he returned, he was grinning widely. "We're all set here," he reported, holding out a trigger. "Care to do the honors?"
Evelyn grinned and took the trigger, pressing the button. The bombs placed all over SCPD started going off, and she walked towards the exit. "Let's go!" she called.
As the mercenaries took Faust off, she stopped to survey the damage done, then turned and walked off.
Oliver Queen
"What's the casualty count?" Oliver asked as he, Kara, Quentin, and Rene looked at the remains of SCPD.
"Nine dead, six in critical condition, and four injured," Quentin answered grimly.
"Good thing the Academy's turning out a new batch of replacements," Rene remarked.
"Hey!"
"You can't just say that!"
"Don't be a jackass man!"
"Hey, come on!" Oliver glared at him.
"Sorry, sorry," Rene held up his hands in defeat.
"Look, we might want to consider canceling the graduation, or at least closing it to the public," Quentin suggested.
"This city does not bend to terrorism," Oliver shook his head.
"Look, the media's going crazy, wanting us to figure out how we're gonna handle all this stuff," Rene pointed out.
"We have ARGUS connections," Oliver sighed. "I'll have them handle security."
"Who would do this?" Kara folded her arms, shaking her head. "And why?"
"Well, I think I've got an answer on that," Dinah walked up, holding a cell phone. "Got video footage."
Kara's eyes widened when she saw the dark-haired girl on screen. "Oh, you have got to be kidding."
"Has anyone seen this?" Oliver asked.
"I managed to get to it before anyone else could," Dinah assured him.
John Diggle
"I thought that bitch was imprisoned on Lian Yu," Laurel scowled when she saw the footage.
"Opinions change," Malcolm whispered to Laurel smirking.
"She was," Dig frowned. "Lyla showed me the footage of her in the prison."
"Well, unless she has a doppelgänger from another Earth, something I wouldn't put past considering we've got Laurel's own doppelgänger here right now, Evelyn Sharpe is not only free, she is not on Lian Yu," Felicity frowned.
"And running with our old friend, Alex Faust," Dig pointed.
"OK, clearly, he was at SCPD when the explosion went off," Oliver sighed.
"Which means he either died or escaped," Dig nodded.
"Doubt he's dead," Kara remarked.
"He's not," Dinah confirmed grimly. "He escaped. The question is, why is he working with Evelyn?"
"And where did they hire these mercenaries?" Oliver added.
"I'll get this image over to Lyla," Dig said. "She can tell us where these guys are from and when they started working together. And I'm also going to ask her how Evelyn managed to escape from her prison."
"And check and make sure Chase and Talia are still there," Oliver added.
"Meanwhile, I told William that I would take him to school, so let me know if something comes up," Kara smiled.
"All right," Oliver smiled, kissing her cheek. "Love you."
"Love you," she kissed his cheek back before heading for the elevator.
Kara Danvers
"Hey, bud," Kara smiled when she entered the loft, seeing Raisa hand William his backpack. "Ready to go?"
"Yeah," William smiled. "Let's go!"
Kara waved at Raisa and put her arm around William, the two of them heading out the door.
Oliver Queen
There was a knock on the door, and Oliver looked up when Thea poked her head in. "Hey, sis," he smiled.
"Hey," she smiled back, walking in. "I heard an old friend just showed up?"
"Yeah," Oliver sighed, sitting up in his chair as Thea sat across from him. "Evelyn Sharpe is off Lian Yu."
"How?" Thea asked in disbelief. "Even Slade couldn't get out. How could Evelyn of all people escape?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out," Oliver sighed, then looked up when Quentin entered. "Hey," he said.
"Hi," Quentin nodded.
"Do you need anything?"
"What do I need?" Quentin tilted his head, thinking. "Well, you know, lots of things. I mean, you know, more out of Rene, for one."
"Really?" Thea giggled.
"You know, he's all right at the new job, but – "
"He's not Thea," Oliver smiled.
"No, he's not Thea," Quentin agreed, smiling at her.
"Well, maybe I could find something to do around here again," Thea shrugged. "Assistant to the Deputy Mayor, maybe?"
"It would be nice to work with you," Quentin said.
"That has a nice ring to it," Oliver smiled. "Anyway . . . anything else?"
"About Evelyn," Quentin took a deep breath. "If the time of the tape was right, she attacked SCPD just after Dinah and I left. Do you think maybe she went there looking for us?"
"Revenge on the team?" Thea tilted her head back and forth. "Would she take that big of a risk?"
Oliver was about to respond when his phone vibrated. He pulled it out and looked at the screen, then stood up. "ARGUS has a lead on Evelyn. I have to go."
"I got to come with you," Quentin immediately said. "If she was there looking for Dinah and I, then I can't sit this out."
"OK," Oliver nodded. "Thea?"
"I'll help Felicity," she nodded, and the three of them hurried out the door.
Dinah Drake/Kara Danvers
Dinah stood in the center of the highway, watching Evelyn's getaway van speed towards her. She let her bo staff rest on the pavement, then screamed as loud as she could. The van screeched to a halt, nearly turning end over end before it landed back on its four wheels, sparks flying everywhere.
The back door opened and slammed, and Evelyn stormed out angrily, glaring at Dinah as she swung her bo staff into ready position. "Nice outfit," Evelyn sneered. "But I thought the Black Canary wore fishnets?"
Dinah was ready to swing at her when Evelyn held up a circular device. It released a canary cry similar to her own that was several times louder, making Dinah grunt and bend over double, cringing in pain. A second cry sounded, and Evelyn brought her arm down, watching as Laurel walked up. "This version does," Laurel smirked as she charged Evelyn.
"And I look damn good doing it," Laurel said.
"I agree with that," Malcolm said.
"Traitor!" Evelyn spat, running to engage her.
Dinah watched Laurel attack Evelyn, surprised that the two seemed decently matched. Evelyn still held less skill than Laurel did, but she was holding her own much better than she seemed to have before.
"She got better," James said.
"I recognize the fighting style," Oliver said grimly. Nyssa nodded, seeing Talia's work.
Mercenaries poured out of the back of the van, but three were taken down immediately: one thanks to a green arrow, another to a bullet, and a third to heat vision. Dinah turned to see Oliver and Kara stood at the front of the vigilantes, Dig and Curtis on Oliver's side, Quentin and Rene on Kara's. "Priority is Evelyn, in custody and unharmed!" Oliver ordered.
"I get a new suit," Rene smiled.
Kara flew at two of them, punching one high into the air so he landed on top of the van. Oliver shot down the other one with a tranquilizer arrow, ducking so Curtis could throw one of his T-spheres at another mercenary. Quentin shot two more, then the same bloodcurdling scream from Evelyn's device rang out again, making Quentin, Dinah, and Laurel all stagger, allowing Evelyn to grab Dinah's bo staff and knock them all to the ground. "Hey!" Kara narrowed her eyes, flying at Evelyn, knocking her back.
Dig knocked his thug out and grabbed his gun, turning around to see Rene standing off with another one. He took aim, swallowing when he noticed his grip was shaking. Still, he took the shot.
Rene did a double take when the bullet bounced off the railing behind him, which was all the opening the thug needed to shoot Rene in the chest. Rene jerked backwards and fell over the railing with a pained yell. Dig's eyes widened, and Oliver put an arrow through the thug's shoulder, making him cry out.
"Dig, are you okay?" Oliver asked, seeing he missed his shot. Felicity looked on worriedly.
Before he could dive after Rene, Kara flew past them and down, catching Rene just before he crashed into the top of a car. She landed on the ground as Curtis ran down to join her. Kara quickly removed Rene's mask, watching his head loll to the side. She gently tapped the side of his face, then shook her head when she didn't get a response. Curtis slumped slightly, and both looked back up towards the highway.
"Thanks for catching me," Rene said.
What had happened with Dig?
"I agree, what happened?" Sara said.
"I don't know," Dig said.
Laurel sighed, turning on the next video.