Have to warn you now, this chapter is not for fans of Diggle, since even though normally I am one, I think that this moment is well overdue.

"Wait, are we seriously trusting this girl?" Rene asked after Oliver told him, Dig and Laurel about Alena, though John already knew.

"What's the big deal? We need a computer specialist with Felicity out in Keystone and Lyla just handed us one who doesn't exactly mind breaking the law." Laurel asked.

"Right, I keep forgetting you weren't here for that, but you should know that this girl caused Felicity to turn to the dark side. She got her to betray the team to free a guy who later manipulated events to help Ricardo Diaz take over Star City and turn us against each other." Rene said.

"Wait, she did what?" Laurel asked, looking at Oliver and John.

"Alena didn't realize how much being in Argus custody had changed Cayden and while I do agree that there are risks involved in this, Alena's too skilled to be allowed to just rot in an Argus prison and I'd like to remind you that she also helped the team before." Oliver said.

"And are you forgetting what the future kids told us about her having a role in the future downfall of Star City?" Rene asked.

"Which is why I want to keep an eye on her. I believe that there is a good person inside Alena, she just needs guidance and we can't exactly afford to be picky. We need a computer specialist and Alena fits that criteria." Oliver said.

"What about an inventor? Say what you want about Curtis, but it couldn't hurt to have someone with his skills here, since Felicity and Alena are both good at hacking and programming, but neither of them were really engineers." Rene said.

"He's got a point Oliver. Team Flash has Cisco, the Superfriends have some kind of tech genius, even though we don't necessarily know who it is and the Legends have Ray, we need an inventor of our own, since Curtis is in Keystone and last I heard, he's helping Felicity act as Wally's tech support." John said.

"Wait, what?" Oliver asked, since that was news to him.

"You really need to talk to Felicity? I thought that you two made good?" John asked.

"We did, but that doesn't mean that we talk all the time. It's still kind of awkward." Oliver admitted.

"Understandable. Speaking of which, how are we gonna deal with the whole future knowledge thing since I'm guessing Alena is not going to be like us." Rene said.

"That is a good question. We're not waking Alena up, since frankly, I barely trusted her when she did know everything, I'm not bringing her in." Oliver said.

"Copy that. I guess we'll just have to lay bread crumbs for her to follow or something." John said and the other three nodded.

"So, when do we get to meet the new girl? Speaking of which, I am very happy to have another girl on the team, even if she does have a record, no comment John." Laurel said, shooting John a look.

"Really, because your current roommate says that you have no problem with people with records, considering the fact that Oliver technically is a convicted murderer." John said.

"Not in this universe, Mr. Drug Addict." Oliver reminded him.

"You walked right into that one hoss." Rene said with a chuckle.

"Do you really want to start something considering your past?" John asked.

"Enough John. Rene had good reason to do what he did, even though he was an ass about it." Oliver said.

"Fair enough." Rene said.

"Can we get back on topic here?" Laurel asked.

"Right, sorry. I agree that we do need an inventor, but our choices on that are even more limited, since something tells me that Lyla won't have an inventor locked up in Argus that she'd be willing to release to us. Alena was one thing, but a majority of Argus prisoners out lunatics out of their minds. We couldn't trust them even if we wanted to and finding a new inventor in the world would take time, since every person on this team I recruited after vetting them." Oliver said.

"What about Laurel and Thea? I don't recall you doing background checks on them?" John asked.

"He didn't need to. He's known Thea her whole life and to this day, no one knows him better than me. Not to mention I don't have a history of bailing on him when things don't go my way John." Laurel reminded him.

"I get the feeling that her tone means that the whole you not getting a promotion thing was not the first time you quit for a petty reason." Rene said.

"Laurel." Oliver said.

"No Oliver, I think that before we can even begin to think about accepting any new members, especially ones with questionable backgrounds, we need to hash out old wounds. Like the fact that John has always let his emotions blind him to the mission." Laurel said.

"Says the woman who violated the laws of nature to bring her sister back from the dead." John said.

"Big talk from the man who's partially responsible for my death." Laurel said before she could stop herself.

"Enough, both of you. Laurel, go get some air." Oliver said before one of them said something they'd regret.

"No Oliver, it's clear Laurel has something she wants to say to me, so might as well get it out, since we learned the hard way what happens when teammates keep their anger pent up." John said.

"Yes, I brought Sara back to the dead and since she got her soul back, I've never regretted it. She turned out to be a hero. Unlike you. I seem to recall that you were more than willing to let Tommy, me and an innocent child die if it meant you could get your revenge on Lawton for something he didn't even do. And then you trusted the man Lawton killed and do I really need to remind you how that turned out?" Laurel said.

"I made peace with my mistakes a while ago Laurel." John said.

"But did you ever actually make peace with me about them? The only reason I survived that night was because Oliver remembered that the mission was not revenge. It was to protect people. And that's what he did that night. Something you didn't. You cared more about revenge than saving people. I still don't know why he picked you to be the Green Arrow, because it's clear that was a bad choice. He's not perfect, but at least he doesn't let vendettas blind him to the mission. Or at least not too much, since I know that killing Darhk was revenge." Laurel said.

"Not going to apologize for that, he bastard had it coming." Oliver said.

"No one disagrees with that." Rene said and the others nodded.

"But still, John, you can't blame me for being a bit distrustful of you, especially considering how you've made the same kind of decisions you've judged Ollie for making. Slade Wilson may have been an ass, but at least he had the mirakuru as an excuse. What's yours?" Laurel asked.

"Are you actually defending the man who tried to kill you?" Oliver asked her.

"You said Slade was a good guy once and after the Mirakuru wore off, he became one again. That's enough to at least earn him some leeway, until he tries to kill me again." Laurel said.

"Fair enough." Oliver said.

"Laurel, can you honestly say that you haven't crossed lines and made mistakes because of your family? Hell, a league civil war started because you brought Sara back." John said.

"Don't pin that on me. That one is on the man who made the mistake of making Malcolm Ra's al Ghul. No offense." Laurel said.

"None taken. I should've killed that bastard the second he was no longer useful to me." Oliver agreed.

"The point is, while sometimes I put it off, I take responsibility for my mistakes. Can you honestly say the same thing John?" Laurel asked.

"I think I like you better than the other Laurel Lance I knew. I can see why you love her hoss." Rene said and Oliver chuckled.

"I have been at Oliver's side longer than any of you." John said.

"Too bad you never stayed there for too long. Some soldier you are. You call Oliver your brother, but can you honestly say you've acted like one considering how many times you've pulled the ripcord on him?" Laurel said angrily.

"How long have you been thinking about this?" John asked.

"Ever since I joined the team. Honestly, I'm the only one who never left Oliver hanging, until I died. Thea, Roy, Rene, hell, even Felicity, I can understand why they left. But not you John. You said that Oliver put me on a pedestal, well maybe that's what he does for you, since he keeps blindly trusting you, no matter what crap goes on between you two." Laurel said.

"Should we say something?" Rene asked.

"No, she clearly needs to get this off her chest. I always knew that she had some kind of resentment built up towards John, just never realized how much of it she had." Oliver said and Rene nodded.

"Are you done?" John asked and Laurel was pissed by the fact that he seemed to be getting angry at her for finally calling him out.

"Are you kidding me? That's all you have to say?" Laurel screamed and then, to everyone's shock, when the last word came out of her mouth, it was followed by a sound that they all knew too well as a sonic scream left Laurel's mouth and slammed into John, sending him flying back into a wall.

"So, our Canary has a cry after all." Rene said.

"I guess so, she just needed the right circumstances to unlock it." Oliver said as they moved to help John up.

"You okay?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah and honestly, I deserved that." John admitted.

"Really." Laurel asked.

"Yeah. The reason I didn't say anything else was because I wasn't sure what I could say to apologize to you, because you're right. I say I'm Oliver's brother, but I don't always act like it. And I never did apologize to you for Andy or for putting revenge above your life. You clearly have a better understanding of the mission than I do, so I think you should be Oliver's second in command, not me." John said, surprising them all.

"Are you sure?" Laurel asked and John nodded.

"You deserve it. Besides, Oliver listens to you far more than he ever did me." John said and Laurel smiled.

"Thank you John and I forgive you, I just needed to hear you own up to your mistakes." Laurel said as the two old friends felt something begin to heal between them.

"I understand and I'm going to do better. This time, my loyalty to this team, to my leader, is not going to waver. I'm in for good this time." John said.

"We all are." Rene said and Oliver smiled.

"Glad we're all on the same page now and Laurel, I think we should schedule a trip to Central City to determine how you got your powers." Oliver said and Laurel nodded in agreement.

Okay, so I know I was pretty tough on John in this chapter, but honestly, I felt like he needed to be called out on his crap, since he claimed to be Oliver's brother, but there are a handful of examples of him not acting like it. Plus, I felt like Laurel deserved some actual closure with him before she could actually work with him.