Well, good news, everyone - I got a job for the summer! Unfortunately, that also severely cuts into my writing time. I don't work the same days every week, so it's either a hit or miss for writing time. Add into that time spent with my family and friends since it's summer, I have no idea how often I'll write or when I'll update. Please keep that in mind before asking me/begging me for another update.

With that being said, let's get down to business! Success on Dinah's end is ruined by a corrupt police captain and D.A., and Team Arrow divides to conquer.

Enjoy!

***

The black police surveillance van drove down the street, no other cars in sight in the black of Star City's darkness. Dinah watched the road to make sure when they were coming up on their mark, then turned to the officers in casual clothing she had with her in the back. "The Orchid Bay Night Market runs three blocks east-west along Arguelo," she told them. "About midway down, there's an alley. Now, that's where Anatoli Knyazev has been making his drop. He is not a physical threat, but the two men who will be with him are."

"I've been to this market," Curtis's new boyfriend, Nick, spoke up. "A lot of civilians there." "Hopefully not in the alley," Dinah told him. "We're gonna pin them in, take them out, clean and fast. Any questions?"

One of the officers looked around the single-digit number of officers in the van. "This group's a little light to take on three Bratvas."

"Well, Diaz has God knows how much of the force under his control, including Captain Hill," Dinah told him. "The only cops I'm sure I can trust are here in this van."

"Still be nice to have some backup," another officer muttered.

Dinah resisted the urge to snort. "We're covered, trust me." She checked her watch, then nodded. "All right, two minutes out. Let's get ready."

***

Nick was browsing through the vegetable stands when he saw an arm encased in a fur-lined coat snag an apple from a nearby basket. He waited a few seconds, then straightened up and turned to make sure who he thought passed him was actually who he was. When he saw it really was Anatoli Knyazev, he reached up to his comms. "Tango's heading into the alley."

"Move in," Dinah ordered.

Nick nodded, walking after Knyazev, two of the other officers on his six.

***

The three police officers weren't going unwatched from above. One helmeted figure watched the three walk through the market; the other was watching the alley behind. Both held handguns, ready to fire. "Looks clean so far," Dig reported.

"And we know that can change at any moment," Slade muttered. "Overwatch?"

"Score one for Deathstroke," Felicity said through their comms. "Tricky, tricky, Anatoli. Thermal reads four bogies, east alley."

The two vigilantes exchanged looks. "I'll flank left," Dig finally said.

"I'll take right," Slade nodded in agreement.

Both stood at the same time, pausing only when Felicity's voice came in their ears again. "It's kind of scary how you both seem to think on the same wavelength now, you know?"

Slade snorted loudly. "Maybe Oliver should stop thinking we need to keep pairing up, then we wouldn't be so good at it."

"Soldier knows another soldier," Dig smirked, Slade chuckling in agreement as they moved off in different directions.

" . . . fair point," Felicity conceded.

***

Anatoli beamed as he walked into the alley, holding up the apple he had snagged. "You should try apples," he advised. "It's good season."

His buyer nodded, and as Anatoli handed him the briefcase, he heard tires squeal behind him. Then the man guarding the street was flung to the side as a black van painted like a florist's crashed into him. Dinah was the first out of the van, gun drawn. "SCPD!" she shouted.

Anatoli started, hearing his men draw guns around him, but a male voice from behind ordered "Easy!" and he winced as a young man with another gun walked right up to him, gun in his face.

***

The men in the east alley ran towards the right exit, only to be blocked by the intimidating figure of Deathstroke as he dropped down from the roof above, sword in one hand, handgun in the other. Spartan dropped down from the other end, blocking the other exit. Both vigilantes made quick work of Anatoli's backup with a mix of punches and slices, all four eventually crumpled unconscious on the ground.

***

"You are under arrest for possession and attempt to distribute," Dinah announced.

"Ms. Drake," Anatoli began, voice condescending.

"Cuff him!" Dinah ordered.

One officer obliged with a smirk, yanking Anatoli's hands behind his back harder than usual. Anatoli hissed, then smirked. "I see your face. That maybe not so good for you."

"Load them up," Dinah ordered.

Her officers marched Anatoli and his men towards the van, and as Nick joined Dinah with the briefcase, Dinah thought she saw a brief flash of black from the roofs above, but when she looked again, there were no vigilantes in sight.

***

"Toss the Three Stooges into lockup for processing," Dinah ordered as they walked into headquarters. "I want Knyazev in interrogation."

She had the immense pleasure of seeing Hill do a double take when they walked into the bullpen. "What's going on here?" she demanded, walking out of her office to meet them.

"Oh, we just got Diaz's right-hand man," Dinah grinned. "Incredible, huh?"

"Why wasn't I informed?" Hill scowled.

"Oh, that was my fault, Captain," Oliver volunteered with a smile as he and Quentin walked in to join Dinah. "I authorized the operation. I figured you wouldn't mind, given the stakes."

"And we also took the liberty of calling in D.A. Armand to expedite the charges," Quentin added. "There's no sense in waiting, right?"

Faced with the smirk on Dinah's face and the innocent looks and head tilts of Oliver and Quentin, Hill plastered a fake pleased look on her face. "Guess not," she said. "Good work, Lieutenant."

Dinah kept the smile on her face until she turned around, when Oliver said, "Thank you for letting John and Slade backstop you tonight."

Dinah did a double take as they walked through headquarters. "John and Slade?" she repeated. "When were they working together?"

"Since our last stop in National City," Oliver answered, waving off the explanation.

"Fine," Dinah narrowed her eyes. "But what, did you think we couldn't have stopped Anatoli otherwise?"

"Would you have been surprised by the four men Anatoli had ready in the other alley to ambush you?" Oliver countered.

Dinah gritted her teeth. "I wouldn't have been, but since Curtis is busy watching Zoe while Rene's in the hospital nursing wounds Slade gave him, it was necessity that made me ask."

"Yeah?" Oliver raised an eyebrow. "The way I've heard it – from everyone on my team who saw that fight – Slade gave Rene every chance to stand down. You guys were going to make a move on our team in the field, and you didn't think three of the best who can turn into a literal killing machine could be the ones you would have to face?"

Dinah's face turned red with anger, and she would have retaliated had Quentin not held up his hands between them. "All right, these things are in the past, all right?" he interrupted them. "Tonight is a good night."

Both gave him blank looks, then Oliver sighed. "Where's Anatoli?" he asked calmly.

"Interrogation," Dinah answered shortly.

"Can you buy me a few minutes with him?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded just as shortly.

"Thank you," Oliver nodded, turning and heading towards interrogation.

Dinah headed towards her office as Quentin sighed, rubbing his forehead.

***

Anatoli turned towards the door when Oliver opened it. "Oh, how nice!" he exclaimed with a smile. "You come to visit."

"Came to see you locked up," Oliver corrected, walking around the table.

Anatoli hummed, tapping the fingers of his cuffed hand on the table. "Enjoy it kak oni skazali. While you can."

"I know all about Captain Hill, crooked cops on the force," Oliver told him.

Anatoli stared at him for a second, then chuckled heartily. "Oh, you think this is just your police force? This is your city, kapiushon! Your entire city! Diaz has people everywhere, all levels of government."

Oliver frowned, about to ask another question, when the door to interrogation opened and Quentin stepped in, an irritated look on his face. "We got a problem," he told Oliver.

Oliver narrowed his eyes, and Anatoli gave him a smug look as if saying I told you so.

***

"I'm sorry, Mr. Mayor," Armand shook his head once Quentin had led Oliver back to the bullpen, "but Mr. Knyazev wasn't arrested pursuant to an arrest warrant."

He was met with three varying looks: incredulity from Quentin, a blank stare from Oliver, and a furious one from Dinah. "That's crap," the police lieutenant spat. "You know it."

"You're really gonna kick this case on a technicality?" Quentin asked.

"I'm not bringing charges that will only get dismissed the first time they end up in front of a judge," Armand shook his head as Hill walked into view.

"You have made exceptions before, Sam," Oliver frowned. "You're gonna draw the line now on this case?"

"You're under indictment, Mr. Mayor," Armand reminded him as Hill stopped just behind him. "Do you really want to add a civil suit for wrongful imprisonment on top of that?" Oliver's mouth opened and closed before he silently fumed. "Cut Knyazev and his friends loose," Armand ordered, turning on his heel and leaving.

Hill silently watched him go, then nodded at Oliver. "Sorry, Mr. Mayor," she apologized before leaving as well.

"What the hell just happened here?" Quentin asked in disbelief.

"Oh, seems pretty obvious to me," Dinah seethed.

Oliver nodded in agreement. "It's not just Hill who's working for Diaz," he said. "He's got Armand, too."

***

"I'm sorry, what?" Mon-El's eyes were wide once Oliver finished explaining back in the bunker; Imra's eyes were just as wide.

"So Diaz has the police captain, the D.A., and – " Dig began.

"Other members of the city's infrastructure," Oliver finished. "Anatoli wasn't specific. He just said that Diaz has people everywhere."

"I'll run background checks on all the city officials," Felicity volunteered immediately.

"That's our best shot," Malcolm nodded from where he was leaning on the back of Kara's chair. "It makes sense to start at the top and work your way down."

"Then I will help as well," Querl turned around, hurrying to follow Felicity up to the computers.

"I'm kind of surprised you're here," Kara tilted her head back so she was looking up at her brother. "I thought you'd be with Laurel."

Malcolm grimaced. "Keeping Laurel in the light instead of out in the field makes it look like she's not Black Siren. It wouldn't help her case if I'm around."

"So she'll sneak out at some point, is what you're saying," Slade smirked.

Malcolm scowled at him in annoyance as Kara giggled. "Well, it seems like there's two problems here," Mon-El folded his arms. "One in the field, where Diaz's men are – "

"And City Hall," Oliver nodded, an annoyed look on his face. He pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking. "Felicity?" he called, making the blonde poke her head over her computer, Querl's head peeking out around her. "Can you hold tech down here?"

Felicity gasped and placed a hand over her heart, jerking back as if physically punched. "I am offended!"

Oliver rolled his eyes. "I won't spread myself thin this time," he said, looking at Dig, who seemed surprised. "I want Kara and Brainy with me so we can figure out City Hall. Mon-El, Imra, if push comes to shove, I want your help as well. You've been in this city before, but you don't know it as well as the rest of the people in this room."

"Understood," Mon-El nodded.

"John, Slade, Malcolm, Felicity, the four of you cover working here," Oliver looked around the room at the four of them. "John and Slade take point. Malcolm, if Laurel ever needs anything, she's your priority."

"Got it," Malcolm nodded.

Oliver took a deep breath, looking at the two other men he mentioned. "I'm trusting you won't have any problems?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If we do, we'll work them out," Dig promised.

"Clean out City Hall, kid," Slade nodded.

Oliver took a deep breath and nodded. "OK."

"Oliver," Dig cleared his throat as the blond man held his hand out to Kara, who took it as she stood. "Thank you for trusting us."

Oliver nodded back. "I'm trusting my brothers," he told him. "Don't let me down."

Both Dig and Slade nodded firmly, and Oliver and Kara headed for the elevator, Querl peeling off from Felicity to join them.

***

None of them expected to be back in the bunker the next morning, watching a newsreel reporting the death of one of Dinah's officers. "Still no suspects in the death of Officer Hurst, a six year veteran with the SCPD found dead last night under mysterious circumstances."

"Who wants to bet 'mysterious circumstances' translates to 'Ricardo Diaz' in vigilante speak?" Malcolm finally asked.

"No one," Slade shook his head. "Because you'd win."

Oliver sighed heavily, rubbing his face as Kara squeezed his arm. "Need to contact Dinah and have her sequester the other officers involved in arresting Anatoli."

"What about this D.A.?" Imra asked, tapping a picture Querl had pulled of up Armand. "How did he become involved?"

"I'm working on it," Querl answered. "But I believe Felicity is right when she says . . . ah, how did you put it?"

"Cold, hard cash," Felicity answered.

"That."

"Except because Evelyn stole back the money taken from the city, he doesn't have any of that to use," Kara frowned.

"He would have used it all up by now even if he had it," Felicity shook her head.

"So another source," Mon-El concluded.

"Well, according to Curtis, Diaz is involved in an extensive Vertigo operation, and if my math is right – and it definitely is – he'll be pulling in at least a million a day."

Mon-El whistled, impressed. "That explains a lot."

"So that's our job," Dig nodded. "We take out his Vertigo stash, we kill his supply."

"Unless he's got a rich aunt somewhere, yeah, that'll work," Felicity nodded.

"Well, at least we're not blindly covering the entire city to find a way to cripple Diaz somehow," Malcolm clapped his hands. "Wonderful."

"I'll check in with Lyla, see if A.R.G.U.S. can give us any information on this Vertigo operation that can help us," Dig said.

"And I need to get to City Hall and talk come sense into Hill and Armand before somebody else gets killed," Oliver nodded, heading for the elevator.

"Which you'll be listening into?" Slade guessed, raising an eyebrow at Kara.

She raised an eyebrow in response. "You know me so well."

***

Dinah sighed in relief, hanging up her phone as she passed by Curtis. "Think I found a secure location."

"To sequester the clean cops?" Curtis perked up, following her. "I'll come with!"

"Oh, no, Curtis," she shook her head immediately. "I'm the one who brought these guys into the fight against Diaz. I'm the reason he's retaliating against them. This is all on me."

Curtis huffed. "Don't be all Oliver Queen on me now." Dinah gave him an annoyed look, and he went on to explain. "If we have to take out Diaz, there's gonna be casualties, and they're not gonna be your fault, Dinah."

"No, they're not," Dinah nodded in agreement, packing a bag of all the supplies she needed. "Because I'm going to make sure there are no more casualties."

"We're gonna make sure," Curtis corrected.

Dinah raised an eyebrow. "I'm gonna bring cops to a secure location nobody knows about except my good friend Curtis?"

"I'll be your tech guy!" Curtis protested. At Dinah's dubious look, he sighed, slumping slightly. "Look, I don't like the idea of you doing this without backup."

Dinah smirked. "That, or you want to spend some quality time with your new boyfriend?"

"We've only been on three dates," Curtis waved it off. "But yeah, he's cute, and I don't want him to get murdered, so sue me."

Dinah sighed, picking up her bag. "Fine. Let's go, lover boy!"

Curtis whooped, picking up his jacket and running after her. "Yes!"

***

"All right," Lyla walked around her desk, holding up a flash drive. "This is everything A.R.G.U.S. could find on the Vertigo trade in Star City."

"Thanks," Dig nodded, holding his hand out for the drive.

Lyla held it back when Dig was close to it. "It's not free," she tsked. "I need intel in return."

Dig sighed, folding his arms. "What kind of intel?"

"The kind where you tell me what happened the last time you went to National City and you came back with some kind of weight off your shoulders."

Dig blinked; he hadn't been expecting that to be the intel Lyla wanted. But as soon as she said those words, sickly yellow eyes and a suit of black and blue flashed past his eyes, and he flinched, walking past his wife. "Oliver and I figured things out," he answered. "Slade and I did, too. Oliver strung me along for a while, but he told me why, and I understand. Slade and I . . . well, we had a bit more difficulty working out our differences, but we worked them out."

"Which completely explains why the two of you seem to be pairing up much more often in the field," Lyla raised an eyebrow.

Dig flinched more violently that time. "Yeah, that's more recent. It's a long story."

"It's one I have time for," Lyla shrugged.

Dig bit his lip. "After we finish this," he finally said, looking at her. "I can't tell it now, not when I have to be focused on this."

Lyla pursed her lips, but nodded. "Keep your head in the game, John."

"Exactly," Dig nodded back, kissing her on the cheek and heading out of her office. The last thing he wanted to think about now was Pestilence.

***

When Armand and Hill walked through the double doors into his office, Oliver was sitting on his desk, watching them with a tight smile. "Thank you both for coming," he said.

"I have to say, Mr. Mayor, I'm more than a little uncomfortable meeting with you without your attorney present," Armand frowned.

"Well, it's not about the case, Sam," Oliver shook his head, eyeing them carefully. "It's about the two of you working for Ricardo Diaz."

To Hill's credit, she didn't confirm or deny the statement; she kept a blank look on her face. Armand, on the other hand, knitted his eyebrows. "Who? I'm not sure I've ever heard that name bef – "

Oliver held up a hand, stopping him midsentence. "You're smarter than this," he said quietly, narrowing his eyes at him. "You're better than this." He looked at Hill next. "Both of you are better than this." When neither of them said anything, Oliver gritted his teeth. "Talk to me," he ordered.

They exchanged uneasy glances, then Hill took a shaky breath. "Less than twenty-four hours after you promoted me to take over Pike's command, I got an e-mail: surveillance photos of my niece, my father, and my sister."

"So he found a way to apply pressure," Oliver concluded.

Hill scoffed, as if she couldn't believe that was all he was saying. "Yeah."

"OK," Oliver nodded, his mind already thinking as he turned to Armand expectantly.

Armand sighed, bracing himself. "My boy has cancer," he explained. "Leukemia, Stage IV." Oliver winced and nodded, remembering that conversation with his D.A. "Even with the city's insurance, we couldn't afford the treatments. I needed Diaz's money."

"All right," Oliver nodded, looking at his two officials. "We can protect your family. We can pay for your son's treatments. The city – "

"The city's money is being used to repair the damage done by Cayden James, which he had taken anyway because of you," Armand snapped, eyes narrowing to slits. "You couldn't protect the city then. How could you protect us now? That idea is a joke. The whole force is under Diaz's thumb . . . or were you offering your protection as the Green Arrow?"

Oliver felt as if the temperature in the room dropped, and he narrowed his eyes. "If I was the Green Arrow . . . I don't think you'd want to be in this room right now," he told Armand quietly, looking at Hill as well. "I don't think either of you would."

Hill clenched her jaw. "Are we done here?" she asked.

Oliver looked between the two of them, eyes narrowed, when he felt his desk vibrate under his hands and his phone quietly buzz. He stood up and walked behind his desk, acting like he was going to sit when he was really looking at his cell phone, hidden behind a stack of conveniently placed files. Lit up on screen was a single text from his fiancée: We have ideas to help. His eyebrows raised, but when he looked up at his D.A. and police captain, he sighed. One was blackmailed into corruption because her family was in danger; the other risking his job because his boy needed help to get treatments for an illness he may not survive. After nearly dying by Pestilence's sickness, he couldn't blame Armand at all, and he could understand Hill wanting to protect her family just fine.

I hope you know what you're talking about, Kara. "For now," he finally told them, smirking slightly at the confusion on their faces. "You think I can't protect you, or help you. Let me prove I can."

Hill scoffed. "I'd like to see you try."

"I'll do more than try, Captain," Oliver gave her a stern look. "Be glad I'm not firing you. After all my family has gone through, you think I don't understand the want to do anything to protect them?" Hill's mouth closed with a click. "And Sam?" he looked at his D.A. "If this was happening to William, I would do anything to save him." Armand nodded in agreement. "That's why I want to help you with your son. But if you don't let me help you or protect you, and if you keep working for Diaz, then neither of you will work for me any longer." He looked from person to person. "So what will it be?"

Armand was the first to nod. "Prove you can help my boy," he said.

"I will," Oliver promised, then looked expectantly at Hill.

"What can you do?" she finally asked after a few moments of silence.

"I'm not offering the police force or the Green Arrow's help," Oliver answered. "But one of my closest friends is a former agent and the current husband of the director of a government agency I trust. If we ask, we can set your family up with a protective detail."

Hill fidgeted, then nodded. "Show me you can get the details."

Oliver nodded. "Do we have deals?"

"We have a deal," Armand nodded.

Hill nodded as well. "Deal, Mr. Mayor."

Oliver nodded, hoping his relief didn't show too much. "Dismissed." Hill was the first to leave; it was Armand who hung back. "Yes, Sam?" Oliver raised an eyebrow.

His friend bit his lip. "I know you're the Green Arrow," he finally said. "Even if you help us, Oliver . . . this is unlike anything you've ever gone up against."

Oliver looked at him for a long time before he cracked a smile. "I say that every time I go into the field against an enemy of Supergirl's. I still come out of it in the end, though."

Armand smiled faintly. "And if this works . . . you won't have any other problems from me."

"Thank you, Sam," Oliver nodded.

He finally left the office, and Oliver blew out his breath in a rush, picking up his phone and dialing Kara's number; she picked up on the first ring. "That sounded like it went well," she said.

"It would've gone worse if you hadn't texted anything," Oliver pinched the bridge of his nose. "Tell me you have something good regarding Sam."

"I don't," Kara said. "Fortunately for us, though . . . "

***

Quentin was walking into his apartment when he heard the anchor's voice coming from a laptop inside. "Still no suspects in the death of Officer Hurst, a six year veteran with the SCPD found – "

"I hate Diaz," Evelyn's voice came from the couch.

Laurel snickered as she closed the screen. "You and me both." She looked up as Quentin closed the door. "Sounds like it's been exciting."

"Yeah, if you call the death of a respected SCPD officer exciting," Quentin huffed.

"Well, Evelyn's kicking my ass at War, so we had to find something else," Laurel gestured to the card deck on the coffee table. "The news sufficed for a bit."

"You know, you can actually get out now," Quentin told her. "Laurel Lance is no longer dead. You can actually stay in the sun, show yourself."

"I'd rather be Black Siren and working in the city, thank you very much, but people could connect 'screaming blonde vigilante' and 'Laurel Lance is actually alive' and probably get 'Laurel Lance is Black Siren,'" Laurel rolled her eyes.

"Kara walks around in glasses with her hair up, and no one thinks she's Supergirl," Quentin pointed out.

Laurel tilted her head from side to side, conceding the point. "But we saw the news about the officer," Evelyn pointed to the laptop. "That wasn't random, was it?"

Quentin paused, raising an eyebrow. "You know something about that?"

Evelyn's eyes darkened. "I know Oliver said Dinah requested help getting Anatoli, and if Anatoli's working with Diaz, then it's not good. Diaz isn't going to stop at one officer."

"Yeah, we figured that," Quentin nodded. "We sequestered the rest. They're safe."

"Safe where, though?" Evelyn raised an eyebrow. "How are you sure Diaz can't get to them?"

Quentin made a noise of disbelief. "You really are paranoid, aren't you?"

"I have Diaz after me one way and a police lieutenant after me the other," Evelyn rolled her eyes, standing up and heading to the kitchen. "What am I supposed to be?"

Laurel glowered and muttered "Not that" when Evelyn was out of earshot. "You know, the more you stay indoors, the more people may come looking for you," Quentin told Laurel.

She pursed her lips. "And I don't want to give anyone unwanted a trail to Malcolm or Slade."

Quentin snorted. "Malcolm was a billionaire who dealt with the press by day and was – and still is – a master assassin by night. Slade . . . well, I pity whoever tries to find him." Laurel cracked a smile. "Oliver's working on City Hall," he revealed. "He's got Kara and the Legionnaires with him. Right now, it's just John, Slade, Malcolm, and Felicity while the rest of Kara's team holds down National City." He saw a spark in Laurel's eye before she set her jaw. "They could use your help," he finished. "And Evelyn's, if she's up for it. She worked with Diaz when she was with Talia. She may know more, too." He patted Laurel's shoulder as Evelyn came back with a glass of water. "Think about it, all right?"

Evelyn paused, watching Quentin head for his room, then looked back at Laurel. "Think about what?"

Laurel just gave her a considering look in response.

***

Originally my plan was to only crack Armand, but after asking Lauriver1fanboy, I've decided to tackle helping her out as well. Thank you for your friendship despite only talking between ourselves for less than a year.

I hope it doesn't take nearly as long to get the rest of this episode out, but I've got a busy summer ahead of me still. Bear with me!