Aaaaand I'm back! :D Wow, have I missed this series.

To everyone who has been patiently waiting for updates, thank you so much for sticking around. The last few months of school put a ton of pressure on me that required my full attention, and I wasn't going to sacrifice a potential good grade by diverting my attention elsewhere. Similarly, the holidays and my vacation have been spent by me focusing on my health and just having a break, because I was as sick as a dog when I got home for a while. Long story short - life happens, and life comes first. Hopefully this semester will be less rocky than last semester, so here's fingers crossed.

Also, as some of you noticed, I published a book where I will be taking prompts for Emerald Steel and Scarlet Canary. As of . . . very early this morning, I also opened it up to prompts for DarkSiren (Malcolm and Earth-2 Laurel) and DeathSiren (Slade and Earth-2 Laurel), so if there are any prompts for any of those pairings you would like to see me try, just hop on over to the book ("The Emerald Steel and Scarlet Canary Archives") to see what rules I have for requesting, and either comment on the book, put it on my message board, or PM me. It's something I've been very excited to work on!

Now, regarding this book - it's back over to Star City! A lot of money has been lost, Dark Team Arrow discovers the Outsiders' mole in Cayden James' operation, and Laurel makes a discovery.

Enjoy the first part of "All For Nothing!"

***

Oliver, clad in an SCPD jacket, walked down to the river, Quentin joining him on the bank. "All right, we're all set here," the Deputy Mayor reported.

Oliver nodded, looking at the Asian woman standing right by the water's edge. "Captain Hill, thank you for stepping up to lead the department," he told her. "I wish it was under better circumstances."

"After tonight, they will be," Hill promised.

"All right, take me through the details."

"We know Cayden James is monitoring traffic in and out of the city – airports, highways, ports, but the shoreline might be the blind spot," Hill answered.

"Specifically, right here," Quentin pointed to where they stood, Oliver eyeing Dinah as she walked up to join them. "There's no satellite flyover for about ten minutes. That's our window."

"And SWAT has the perimeter, so no one's getting in or out without us knowing it," Dinah added.

"Good," Oliver nodded, looking out over the water. "When do we make contact."

Quentin sighed, folding his arms. "Should be any minute."

The surface was quiet for a few seconds, then a man in black SCUBA gear surfaced. He lifted his goggles and trudged up towards them, and with relief, Oliver noted the ARGUS patch on his gear. "Mr. Mayor," he greeted. "I'm Alex Scott, ARGUS."

"Good to meet you," Oliver nodded.

"We're good to move?"

"Yes," he nodded.

Alex nodded, turning and putting his hand to his comms. "All clear on shore," he reported. "Exit, exit."

He grimaced suddenly, face twisting. "What's wrong?" Oliver frowned, gut twisting anxiously.

"No, just some weird feedback," Alex answered.

"Are your comms line of sight?" Oliver asked, anxiety growing.

"No," Alex shook his head. "We're patched in."

"You got to get those things off!" Oliver lunged forward.

Electricity crackled from the earpiece, lancing al through Alex's body. Quentin, Hill, and Dinah all grabbed Oliver at the same time, stopping him from helping Alex further as his body dropped to the ground. Wind whistled past them, and a blue blur followed by a black one and dark purple one, dove down into the water, just as electric crackles started appearing. Oliver stopped, already knowing the worst had happened, even as Kara, Mon-El, and Imra started pulling dead divers from the water.

***

Oliver clicked a button on his keyboard, sighing and watching the transaction take place for the seventh time that week. "Seventy million dollars," he muttered, shaking his head in disbelief as he stood, Thea walking towards him, a similar look on her face. "At this point, we've got maybe another day or two."

"What about the federal government?" Thea asked. "I mean, don't they have plans for this kind of stuff?"

"ARGUS was our best shot, and Cayden James was ready for it," Oliver told her grimly. "I think that we are on our own."

"So does that mean I go forward with the emergency bomb shelters?" she asked.

"Yeah," he nodded. "We need a contingency. We have Kara, her team, and the Legion, and if we can do our part, too, that's a place to start."

Thea nodded, making a mental note. "How's William holding up?" she asked quietly.

"Are we talking about here or National City?" Oliver asked.

Thea winced, remembering the conversation Oliver had had with her, Quentin, Dig, and Felicity about the discovery they made regarding Reign. "Both," she replied.

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Doing as well as can be expected," he answered. "He's worried about Ruby – rightly so – and he's holed up at an ARGUS safehouse with Raisa and a PlayStation 4."

He walked back to his desk, Thea frowning after him. "You look like you could use some rest."

"I'll get some if you will," Oliver gave her a look.

Thea snorted fondly, folding her arms. "Like brother, like sister, I guess," she teased, making Oliver smile slightly and nod in agreement. "Hey," she put a hand on his arm. "Don't worry, OK? Cayden James is not the first guy to try to take our city hostage. We will figure it out."

Oliver nodded, watching Thea leave, then reached over to turn off his computer. He paused, however, when he heard wind rustling outside the windows. He turned to look, but saw nothing outside. A moment later, there was a knock on the door. "Hey," Kara said quietly, stepping into his office.

"Hi," Oliver smiled, turning off his computer and walking around his desk. "How are you holding up?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Kara smiled weakly.

"I'm not the one who flew into the river to save those divers," Oliver reminded her, giving her a hug, which Kara relaxed into. "I'm . . . as OK as is expected. You?"

"I don't like not being able to save people," Kara mumbled, closing her eyes.

"Me, neither," Oliver agreed, kissing the top of her head.

"Thea's right, though," Kara looked up at him. "We'll figure this out."

Oliver just nodded, relaxing more as Kara put her head back on his shoulder.

***

"Cayden James' hold on Star City has reached eight days and counting now with all routes in and out of the city under James' control. Though Mayor Queen has urged for calm, tensions are running high as the threat of the thermobaric bomb continues to loom. With supplies running low and desperation growing, many are left wondering: how long will the city last before it implodes?"

Laurel scoffed as she looked at the newsreel on her phone, readjusting her sunglasses and the baseball cap she wore on her head as she walked down one of the less busy streets. "And the question of the year goes to?" she muttered sarcastically, adjusting the coffee tray she carried in her other hand.

Halfway to the corner she turned onto to return to the bunker, she stopped, a tingling going up her spine. Pretending to look both ways on the street as she recovered, she took a deep breath, then crossed the street, holding her phone up as if to check her reflection. At the last second, she tilted her phone and triggered the camera, taking a picture of her shoulder.

When she checked the photo she had taken, she saw Evelyn Sharp behind her at a distance. Surprised, she turned to check behind her, but Evelyn had already disappeared.

***

That evening, Dinah walked along a chainlink fence, looking around. "You're late," Vincent quietly said from the other side of the fence.

"Sorry," Dinah told him with a scowl, turning to face him. "SCPD's been dealing with the fallout from last night's debacle."

"I didn't know about the ARGUS team until after Cayden killed them," Vincent told her. "You believe me, right?"

"Cayden James likes to play things close to the vest, even with the people he's supposedly in league with," Dinah reminded him.

"Which makes finding the location of the thermobaric bomb very difficult," Vincent countered. "You believe me, right? About not knowing about the ARGUS divers?"

"I already told you I do," Dinah nodded.

"I guess what I'm asking is . . . do you trust me?"

Dinah stared at him for a few seconds, then reached up and kissed him. When she pulled away, she gave him a small smirk and asked, "Does that answer your question?"

Vincent smiled in reply.

***

Vincent later walked into the conference room where Cayden was waiting, along with Diaz, Anatoli, and Talia. "Didn't know we were having a clubhouse meeting," he remarked. "Adults 21 and over only?" he snarked, noting someone was missing.

"Ms. Sharp is en route," Cayden answered. "This is less a meeting than it is a wake for Mr. Sheck."

"He bought the farm a week ago," Vincent frowned, looking around. "I didn't think we were sentimental like that."

"It's not sentimental," Diaz shook his head. "Surprised."

"Oliver would not kill man this way," Anatoli agreed. "None of his team would."

"Perhaps not Oliver," Talia raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps Slade Wilson?"

"Slade Wilson prefers swords," Anatoli deadpanned. "But also good shot."

"The place wasn't lacking for cops," Vincent reminded them. "One of them probably took him out." He noted Cayden's distant look, then leaned on the table, frowning. "What's really behind this sudden paranoia?"

"Mr. Queen was obviously able to get word outside the cordon we placed around the city," Cayden answered.

"To ARGUS, you mean?" Vincent asked, looking around the table. "He seems more than capable."

"Agreed," Cayden conceded. "But it was unexpected, as was Mr. Sheck's demise. I don't like surprises, and I like even less the feeling that I can't trust my comrades."

Vincent scowled at the tone used. "It sounds like it's just me you don't trust."

"If I didn't, you wouldn't be drawing breath right now, Mr. Sobel," Cayden countered.

***

Kara looked up from pacing the bunker when she heard footsteps enter, and she hurried over when Oliver entered, looking exhausted. "Hey," she took his hand, pulling him over to the table for him to sit down. "Hey, what happened?"

"I just spent the past two hours trying to convince the city council that we will get out from underneath Cayden James' thumb," Oliver answered tiredly, leaning into Kara's touch as she rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not even sure I believe that at this point."

Kara hugged him tightly, resting her head on his shoulder. "My turn to be the comfort hugger."

Oliver chuckled. "Comfort hug accepted," he told her, kissing her neck.

"We really need a vacation after this."

"We need to get married after this," Oliver corrected.

"That, too."

"Vacation could always be the honeymoon," Mon-El remarked from up where tech support was working.

"I think that's the idea," Malcolm snorted.

"All the more reason to hurry this up," Oliver nodded, accepting Kara's hand up. "So, any news here?"

"Well, it depends on what you mean by news," Querl answered, spinning around in his chair to face them, his hands in their signature upside down triangle position. "We have split the city in half with the . . . other team." Kara giggled at the face Querl made when he finished his sentence; judging by the matching amused look given by Slade, the Coluan shared his own team's thoughts about Curtis, Rene, and Dinah. "However, divide and conquer has not gotten us closer to finding Cayden James. There has been nothing for a few hours."

Beeping came from another computer, and Felicity cheered victoriously. "'Has been' being the operative phrase!"

"I stand corrected," Querl muttered.

"Facial recognition picked up Vigilante," Felicity announced. "Despite his mask having no face . . . Cayden James' people don't ordinarily walk around like that."

"Finally," Laurel smirked.

"We might have caught a break," Oliver held in a sigh of relief. "Tell John the location. Imra, stay here in case we need back-up. The rest of you, suit up."

***

Vigilante jumped down from a fire escape in a dark alleyway, looking down both ends before moving off in one direction. He missed Dig hiding in the shadows of a doorway, and when Vincent had left, Dig stepped out, raising a hand to his comms. "I'm headed your way," he said.

Atop another fire escape further down in the alley, Oliver looked through the grating as Vincent walked underneath him. He looked up at where Malcolm was crouched on the roof of one of the buildings, and he gave one short nod. They grappled down at the same time, Vincent spinning around to see them. He was just in time to see Mon-El land behind Oliver, on his left. "Hello, there," the Daxamite smirked.

The clicks of two guns made Vincent look behind him, and Slade and Dig came from behind, Laurel sauntering behind them, a smug smirk on her face. "You going somewhere?" Dig asked.

"Where's Cayden James?" Oliver asked.

Vincent surprised them all by taking off his helmet. "You're making a mistake," he warned.

"You've got three seconds," Oliver countered.

"Oliver, listen," Vincent began.

"One," the archer began the countdown.

"I'm trying to stop Cayden."

"Two."

"I can't blow my cover."

"Three!" Oliver finished, he and Malcolm drawing back their bows.

Two surprised yelps came from the alley entrance, then Kara's annoyed voice. "You're lucky I saw who the two of you were!" She poked her head around the corner a second later. "Did you get him?"

"Not yet," Oliver ground his teeth.

"Hold your fire!" Curtis's voice shouted desperately. "Don't shoot, don't shoot!"

"Did he just say don't shoot?" Malcolm asked incredulously.

"He's a friendly!" Rene's voice added.

Slade, too, paused to look behind himself, then turned back around. "Did he just say Vigilante is a friendly?"

"What?" Dig agreed, even as he slightly lowered his gun.

Curtis and Rene stumbled into the alley, hurrying to be by Vincent, Kara behind them, a surprised look of her own on her face. "He's here for a meet with us," Curtis nodded.

"He's undercover with James' group," Rene continued.

"We were gonna tell you guys," Curtis grumbled. "Eventually."

"Before or after we killed him?" Laurel scowled.

Oliver and Kara exchanged exasperated looks, then Oliver finally lowered his bow, followed by Malcolm.

***

"I can't believe that you had time to secretly put all this together and continue starting our startup," Felicity looked around the new base as she and Querl followed Curtis down the stairs.

"Well, being single does wonders for your time management," Curtis informed her.

"OK, on your next date, you are not allowed to lead with that," Felicity told him.

Down on the floor, Oliver bluntly asked, "How do you know you can trust him?"

"He saved my life last week," Rene answered. "Killed one of James' men to do it."

"And he's in love with Dinah," Curtis added, earning a look from the woman. "Just stating facts!"

"Vince is working on locating the thermobaric bomb," Dinah explained, sitting down on the table.

"We take that out of play, and we got the situation handled," Rene nodded.

"Has there been any progress on locating the bomb?" Kara asked Vincent directly, the first time any of them had since entering the base.

"Not much," Vincent shook his head, walking over to join the conversation. "Cayden keeps the bomb on the move constantly and has become especially paranoid since I killed one of his men. Your stunt with ARGUS last night didn't help matters."

"So why don't you just take us to where Cayden and his men are hiding?" Oliver scowled.

"Because the second you show up, he'll detonate the bomb," Vincent answered immediately. "With the amplifier he has, he'll take out the city."

"He's right," Rene nodded. "And until we find out where that bomb is, we've got no moves."

"OK," Felicity hurried down the stairs. "Well, then, we just – we find out where the bomb is. Last year, we used a sniffer device to pull information from Prometheus' mother's house."

"You want to use the same device for Cayden James?" Curtis asked.

"That's exactly what I want to do," Felicity nodded. "We can gather all his ones and zeroes. There's got to be a scrap of data left in there somewhere."

"Well, good thing we have someone to plant your toy for us," Laurel gave Vincent a sarcastic smile.

Vincent sighed. "If you want an apology, I'm sorry."

"Nice that you think that's all it'll take," Laurel scoffed.

A throat cleared, then a blue head poked between them. "If I may interrupt?" Querl asked, and both glared at him. "There is just one problem with this plan."

"Oh, no," Mon-El pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Just one?" Dinah raised an eyebrow.

"Well, two," Querl amended. "The first is that after viewing the schematics for this sniffer, I have noticed that it requires being implanted manually into the desired server."

"No," Dinah immediately shook her head. "No, no, there's no way he can do that without Cayden noticing, especially now that he's circling the wagons."

"I knew what I signed up for," Vincent told her. "I didn't expect this to be easy." He looked at the blue-skinned humanoid, looking only slightly unnerved by the Coluan. "What else?"

"By my calculations, Cayden James' server is deep within the building," Querl continued. "So, while our comms will be working, to transmit a data pull as large as we need, line of sight is required."

"Which means you have to install the sniffer, then wait for it to download the content of Cayden James' server," Curtis realized.

"While also ensuring Cayden does not see you or the sniffer," Querl nodded. "My calculations say that would be, as you humans say, very bad."

"Thank you, twelfth-level intellect, for that amazing boost of confidence," Malcolm closed his eyes.

"You are welcome," Querl nodded, then blinked when everyone looked at him incredulously. "Oh. That was sarcasm, wasn't it?"

Malcolm banged his head against the closest metal surface. "He forgot that then you have to get it outside so you can transmit the files," Curtis sheepishly added.

"Yeah, that sounds like more than two problems," Rene grimaced.

"Sounds like a good way of getting yourself killed," Dig remarked.

"Then it's a good thing I heal fast," Vincent countered.

Oliver sighed. "Vince?" he looked at his . . . what was he now? Was he an enemy or not? "May I speak with you, please?"

While Dinah looked suspiciously at him, Vincent simply nodded and led the way off to the side, Oliver behind him.

***

"Ms. Queen, I'm telling you there is nothing liquid, and we have no way of borrowing capital," the man sitting in front of Quentin and Thea told the Chief of Staff as he looked through files.

"Jay," Thea swallowed as he stood and headed for the door, "that's just not gonna work for us, so I need you to try to find more money."

"I might be able to pull a few hundred thousand," Jay turned back to her. "But that – "

"That's not gonna be enough money for Cayden James," Thea interrupted, standing up and walking closer to him. "So I just – I need you to try and find some more." Jay just nodded curtly and left the office, and Thea sighed, turning back around. "Sorry," she apologized to Quentin. "Sometimes, he just needs to be pushed a little bit."

Quentin nodded in agreement, reaching over to look through his own files.

***

Laurel leaned against the stairs railing, pointedly looking anywhere except at Dinah. No way was she willing to work with Vincent personally – her shoulder was very much against that idea, thank you very much – but a lead was a lead, and if that helped stop Cayden James, then so be it. She tilted her head, thinking for a few seconds. Though, maybe if she asked nicely –

"You have that look on your face."

Laurel grimaced. "What look is that?"

"You're plotting."

Laurel scoffed, turning and raising an eyebrow at the man in black who walked over to lean on the pole opposite her. "I'm plotting?"

"You're thinking," Slade amended Malcolm's statement, walking over and closing their little semicircle, his back to the room. "What is it?"

Laurel leaned her head back, then sighed. "Evelyn," she answered.

"What about her?" Malcolm asked, narrowing his eyes.

"She's been following me," Laurel answered with a sigh. "It's been happening for a few days now."

"I assume she hasn't stopped to chat?" Slade guessed.

"No," Laurel shook her head. "Every time I turn around, she disappears."

"Is that good or bad?" Malcolm raised an eyebrow.

Laurel sighed, pulling up the picture she took of Evelyn and handing it to him. "I don't know," she admitted. "I never talked to her much when we worked with Chase, and I don't know how much I got through to her, if at all, when I was kidnapped during the holidays, but . . . I think she wants to reach out. She might just be afraid."

"Well, it's the least crazy thing I've heard recently," Malcolm handed her phone back.

"So I'm not crazy?" Laurel asked.

"No," Malcolm assured her. "Of the three of us, you're probably the least crazy."

"Speak for yourself, wizard," Slade smirked.

Malcolm facepalmed, making Laurel snicker. "Magician."

Laurel laughed, putting her phone away. "You two can never be serious a moment in your lives, can you?"

"That depends on when seriousness is called for," Slade answered.

"To quote my daughter," Malcolm pointed at where Laurel had put her phone away. "What is seriousness?"

Laurel smiled, ducking her head. Her smile faded as she thought about Evelyn. She was still so young . . . and she had never seen Evelyn kill a single person when they had been with Chase. "I just hope she reaches out," she said quietly.

"Maybe next time, we don't wait for her," Malcolm suggested. "Maybe next time, you reach out to her."

Laurel considered, then blinked and looked up. "We?"

"We," Malcolm nodded.

"You're not doing this without someone watching your six," Slade agreed.

Laurel smiled a bit, then nodded. "OK," she told them. "Let's do it."

***

"What's on your mind?" Vincent asked, he and Oliver stopping in the hall.

"Dinah, Curtis, and Rene trust you," Oliver answered. "I'm not there yet."

Vincent snorted his opinion of that. "I want you to try to imagine how little I give a damn."

"You've taken a shot at me," Oliver reminded him. "Matter of fact, you've taken a shot at nearly everybody in that room, so I will be convinced that you are not playing us the way that you claim to be playing Cayden James."

"I don't have to convince you," Vincent shook his head, stepping closer. "Because you're not stopping me from doing this."

"Are you sure?" Oliver asked.

"I am," Vincent nodded. "Because you know saving this city means doing whatever's necessary, and you know that means using me."

Oliver finally nodded, stepping aside so Vincent could walk past him to leave and get ready.

***

"Did Oliver push you to do this?" Dinah asked, contempt barely hidden in her voice as she followed Vincent to his motorcycle afterwards.

"He didn't have to, D," Vincent shook his head. "It's the right play." He stopped when he heard Dinah's steps stopped, and he turned to see her looking at him, a worried look on her face. "Hey," he walked back to her. "It's gonna be OK."

"I'm not so sure," Dinah swallowed. "Something just doesn't feel right, you know? The same way it did for you when everything went back with Sonus."

"That was my call, D," Vincent reminded her. "Don't you wear that guilt."

"I don't want to lose you again," Dinah whispered.

"I'm so happy to hear that," he told her. "And you won't."

He leaned down and kissed her, then walked over to his motorcycle, swinging one leg over it to ride back to Cayden James' headquarters.

***

Just a reminder that I do have to rewatch episodes as I write these to make sure I get action and dialogue speakers correct, so please, no rushing. I work as hard as I can to get these as correct as possible, and I'm sure all of you, just like me, value quality of writing more than how quickly writing gets done. Patience is a virtue, so please don't rush me, and I'll keep getting these out.

Judging by the parts I have to write, I have at least sixty to go, so . . . yeah. Patience, please.

Reminder, if you want to request a Kariver, WhiteFlash, DarkSiren, or DeathSiren prompt, read my rules in "The Emerald Steel and Scarlet Canary Archives" and request either on the book, on my message board, or in PM!