I'm actually very happy with how quickly this book is progressing. Surprising, too, but hey - I'm not complaining. :)

The new Green Arrow is in the field, Oliver has a problem both at home and in the office, and Team Arrow meets their new person of interest.

***

"Eyes on Faust?"

Dinah ran across the rooftop, catching sight of the man trying to run away the next building over. "Shoot her!" he yelled.

Dinah ducked behind cover as two of his mercenaries fired machine guns at her. "I got him," she answered. "He's in the structure next door."

"Everyone, get into position."

"Copy that," Curtis relayed.

"On it, Hoss," Rene added.

"You got it," Dinah stood up. She looked up when a figure in green dove off the roof above her, and she screamed, her Canary Cry catapulting him onto the next building over.

***

Rene and Curtis hurried down the stairwell towards the parking garage, stopping when they heard the sound of a fight on the other side. They exchanged glances before planting themselves in front of the door, blocking the way out.

Sure enough, Faust opened the door a moment later, looking for an escape. His eyes bugged open wide when he saw them there, then he was knocked out by a fist in the head. "Ooo, down for the count," Rene chuckled. "No more bombs for you, bitch."

"Go, Green Arrow," Curtis grinned, then blinked. "Or should I call you the Green Arrow? It feels kind of weird."

"It's weird," Dig confirmed. "But at some point, we all have to get used to it."

***

"Seemed to go well out there tonight," Felicity complimented as Dig hung up his bow.

"Yeah, we make a good team," Dig nodded.

"And yet you still have a worried face."

"It's because sooner or later, someone's going to find out that the Green Arrow isn't shooting any arrows."

"Yeah, well, Curtis and I are working on that," Felicity assured him.

"Good," Dig smiled. "Thank you."

"OK," Felicity nodded. "I am going to go home. I'm going to sleep, and maybe I'll even get four hours."

Felicity walked past Dinah, who chuckled at the statement. Dig watched Felicity go, then sighed at Dinah. "Maybe in another week, I'll get used to that judgmental stare you keep giving me."

"This isn't judgment," Dinah shook her head. "It's amusement."

"Hmm," Dig raised an eyebrow.

Dinah made a face of intense concentration, then mocked his voice deeply. "'Sooner or later, someone's gonna find out the Green Arrow isn't shooting any arrows.'"

"Dinah, I'm not an archer," Dig sighed.

"No, it's not about the arrows, John," Dinah shook her head. "It's about the injury. I thought you were gonna talk to Oliver!"

"I was, until he asked me to put this on," Dig told her truthfully.

"Which he never would have done if he knew the truth!"

"Dinah, what do you want from me?" Dig sighed. "The man's under the FBI microscope. He's worried about his son."

"Imagine how worried he'd be if he knew you were out there compromised."

"Did you see me tonight?" Dig raised an eyebrow. "Did I look compromised? Dinah, I have this handled. The tremor's gone."

"Well, I guess I worried for nothing, then," Dinah remarked, walking past Dig.

***

Oliver looked up from the stove when he heard William's door open. "Good morning!" he called.

"Morning," William replied, barely looking up from the book his nose was buried in.

"To make sure my memory isn't going, you like your eggs scrambled, right?"

"Yes, I do," William confirmed.

"Good," Oliver slid a plate his way. "That's what I made you."

"This is for real for real, isn't it?" William asked, looking at him.

"Me being around more?" Oliver asked.

"And not the other guy?" William nodded.

"It is for real for real," Oliver smirked. "If that's cool with you."

"Yeah," William smiled.

"Good," Oliver smiled back before nodding at his textbook. "What you got there?"

"Math," William sighed. "Big test later this week."

"Yeah," Oliver nodded. "I know what it's like, switching schools, but don't worry about it. You'll get there."

"Not by the end of this week," William shook his head. "I'll be lucky to get a C."

"Nothing wrong with getting a C every once in a while," Oliver told him. "I used to get Ds. I would've been psyched for a C."

"Dad," William sighed.

"I am kidding," Oliver told him. "Just, I think that if you relax a little bit more, it'll come easier."

William nodded, then picked at his eggs a bit more before asking, "I got to study. Can I be excused?"

"Yeah," Oliver nodded.

"Thanks," William gave a strained smile, grabbing his book and heading back for his room.

"Yup," Oliver watched him go, a concerned look on his face.

***

"Hey," Quentin greeted Oliver when he came out of the elevator.

"Hey," Oliver responded with a sigh.

"Ooo, that doesn't sound good," Thea remarked. "You all right?"

"Ye – no," Oliver changed his mind mid-word. "William's stressing over a test. I tried to be supportive, and I feel like I just – "

"You're making it worse?" Thea guessed.

"Yeah," Oliver sighed.

"I feel your pain," Quentin told him sympathetically. "That was Dinah's department. I don't know what I'd have done parenting alone."

Oliver gave him a look, and Thea sighed. "Hey, you'll figure it out, Ollie. Kara's coming over soon, right?"

"Yeah," Oliver nodded, checking his phone. "She's got an article due tomorrow afternoon, she'll be here in the evening."

"Maybe she can help you with William," Thea suggested. "You make a good team."

"Yeah, we do," Oliver smiled fondly as they headed for his office.

That smile faded rather quickly when he entered and saw who was sitting in front of his desk. "Agent Watson," he greeted stiffly. "I do not believe you are on my schedule."

"I think you'll come to find I really don't give a damn," she informed him.

"OK," Oliver raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to speak.

"Your office issued a statement on last night's apprehension of Alex Faust," she told him.

"We did," Oliver confirmed. "He was apprehended by the Green Arrow."

"And I'm sure you have an airtight alibi for last night."

Oliver smirked. "Rockets game with my kid. We were on the Jumbotron."

"And only an idiot of the highest order would be fooled by someone else running around in that hood," Watson stated, making Thea narrow her eyes and Quentin roll his. "Whoever your understudy is, he might want to brush up on his archery. Or did you think we didn't notice that no arrows were used in taking down Faust?"

"Are you done?" Oliver asked.

"I'm not," she retorted.

"OK," he cleared his throat.

"Whether I can prove you're the Green Arrow, there's no question you support him as mayor. You're known to protect and communicate with him and his team."

"Is that a crime?" Thea scowled.

"No," Watson admitted. "But you're sending a message to the police of this city that they can't do their job without vigilante help." She stood up and glared at Oliver. "I'm glad I don't work for you."

The three watched her leave, then Quentin cleared her throat as he took her seat. "She's not wrong."

"Uh, about the 'glad you won't work for me' part or the 'nobody's buying John under the hood' part?" Oliver asked.

"The undercutting the cops part," Quentin corrected. "I know they're not enough for this city, but they never will be if we keep saying it."

"That's a Catch-22, Quentin," Oliver told him. "Can you try to find a solution?"

"Yeah, I'll try," he nodded.

"Thank you," Oliver said gratefully. "It'd be nice to have something before John and the team have to get back in the field."

***

Dinah walked into the Kord Industries crime scene, sighing when she saw the bodies. "Officer Lopez, I hope you don't own any Kord Industries stock," she remarked.

"My pension fund does, though it seems a little crass to worry about that now," Lopez responded with a smile.

"What have we got?" Dinah asked, looking around.

"The vics all died of broken vertebrae or blunt force trauma," Lopez answered.

"Forensics?"

"Not even a fingerprint," she shook her head. "And speaking of, the unsub used one of the vic's palm prints to gain access into Kord's internal server."

"To get what?" Dinah asked.

"The company doesn't know yet."

Dinah nodded thoughtfully. "I'm gonna need a chat with the CEO. In the meantime, I'm gonna take a look around here." Lopez nodded and left, and Dinah sighed. "You get all that?"

"Yeah," Felicity confirmed. "And a bag of chips. Sorry, I didn't get a chance to eat breakfast this morning. I'm feeling a little peckish."

"Ten will get you twenty that Kord's CEO won't tell you anything," Curtis remarked.

"Can you access the server?" Felicity asked.

"Already here," Dinah walked up to it. "Now what?"

"OK, you're looking for a master port," Curtis told her. "It's female with a yellow border."

"Got it," Dinah peered at it.

"OK, insert our toy and let us do our thang."

"You keep saying 'thing' wrong," Felicity told him. Dinah rolled her eyes and stuck the drive into the port. "All right, we're in. Curtis has got it from here."

"You going somewhere?" Dinah frowned.

"Yeah, I got startup work to do."

"Yeah, we're still trying to decide on our name," Curtis added.

***

Oliver looked up from his computer when Quentin and Thea walked in. "Hey," Quentin told him. "So, we think we have a solution to our cops' Catch-22."

"That was fast," Oliver turned to them.

"I was chatting with Councilwoman Pollard," Quentin continued. "She's in the early stages of drafting some anti-vigilante legislation."

"No," Oliver said at once.

"Ollie, if you were to join it, sponsor it," Thea sighed.

"Still no."

"You could tailor the bill to however you want it, all right?" Quentin told him. "You could take the teeth out of it so it can't bite the team too hard."

"OK, first, Pollard is not a pushover, so we know this isn't true," Oliver told them. "Second, I am not going to put John in the hood and then actively support legislation that further brands him a criminal. Find another way, please."

Thea sighed, then nodded. "OK."

"Thank you," Oliver smiled, and the two of them left. He leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers on the arm rest before finally pulling out his cell phone. He scrolled through the contacts, smiling slightly. If there was one advantage to not being the Green Arrow anymore, he had more time to do this.

He called one of the first numbers on his speed dial, listening to the phone ring. A moment later, a surprised voice picked up. "Hey!"

"Hey, angel," Oliver smiled wider this time.

"This is a surprise," Kara remarked.

"Well," Oliver chuckled. "Who knew that when I stopped balancing being vigilante with everything else that I would have time to check in with you more often?"

"That's sweet," Kara laughed. "Thanks, it's nice to know that. Speaking of, how is William now that you're done pulling double duty?"

"It's two steps forward, one step backwards sort of thing," Oliver admitted. "Thea helps. She has more of a knack for this sort of thing."

"Most badass aunt ever," Kara giggled.

"Is she ever," Oliver agreed.

"Well, I am currently halfway through with this exclusive and I go on break in about five minutes, so I am ahead of schedule," Kara announced. "Tell me anything."

"Anything?" Oliver raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, come on, Oliver. You sound like something's up."

"Well," Oliver pinched the bridge of his nose. "I . . . sort of need your help."

"Oh?"

"William has a math test later this week that he's really stressing out over, and, um . . . every time I open my mouth, I am making it worse."

Kara giggled. "So the man who took down the devil incarnate is bested by arithmetic?"

"It wasn't my strongest subject in school," Oliver defended himself.

"No?" she teased. "What was?"

"Charm."

"Yeah, no doubt. OK, let me guess . . . you told him something along the lines of 'just relax, I would've been psyched to get a C, all I got was Fs?'"

"Ds," Oliver corrected, impressed. "How did you know that?"

"Because I know you," Kara answered with a fond laugh. "And I know that if you cared about school, you would've been good at it."

"Thank you," Oliver told her sincerely. "So . . . any advice?"

"Well," Kara dragged out, and Oliver could imagine her reclining in her seat, twirling a pen of some sort or adjusting her glasses. "Here's what I learned after I came here and had to go through school. I didn't need to learn how to relax. I needed to figure out how to do the work."

"So what do I do?"

"Ask him what he needs, and then put him in the driver's seat," Kara suggested. "He'll show you how to help him. And if he's still having some difficulties when I get there, maybe I can give him a hand."

"You make things so simple," Oliver couldn't help but smile. "You're amazing."

"Aw," Kara cooed. "Thank you. All right, I'll see you tomorrow, OK?"

"OK," Oliver chuckled. "Love you."

"Love you, too."

***

"Kord Industries, huh?"

Curtis yelped and spun around in his chair. "Stop doing that!" he complained as Malcolm and Laurel walked into the Arrowcave. "Don't you have someone better to annoy?"

"Everyone thinks we're dead," Malcolm raised an eyebrow. "No, we don't."

"Oh," Curtis mumbled. "Right."

"Anything worth stealing?" Laurel asked.

"Yeah," Curtis spun around. "No wonder Kord doesn't like to share their secrets. They invent a lot of really nasty stuff, including this new military grade nerve gas ZX."

"Does that have anything to do with the killer?"

"Yeah, she downloaded the transport schedule for said nerve gas. Now, do you find that alarming, or is it just me?"

"Definitely," Malcolm scowled. "When is it moving?"

"One hour," Curtis answered.

"Then you better call the team."

Curtis opened his mouth to argue, but Malcolm raised an eyebrow, and he cleared his throat and went to do just that. "Now, why do I think you just like scaring people for the fun of it?" Laurel raised an eyebrow at Malcolm as they walked away.

"You get used to it when you're an assassin," Malcolm answered, making her roll her eyes.

***

The truck transporting the gas was cruising down the highway when they came upon Dig in the middle of it. The truck squealed to a halt as Dig walked forward. "It's not safe on the road!" he called.

"That's what he's for," the driver pointed to his passenger.

Dig just smirked. "My team's more equipped," he stated as Curtis, Rene, and Dinah came to his side.

***

A few minutes later, the truck was continuing down the highway with Dig in the passenger's seat. He raised an eyebrow as he listened to the singer on the radio, then remarked, "You have horrible taste in music." He frowned when the truck started decelerating, then asked, "Why are we slowing down?"

"I don't know," the driver shook his head.

"Stay here," Dig ordered as the truck stopped, and he climbed out of the truck. "Overwatch? Any bogies on thermal?"

"Just you guys," Felicity told him. "And I'm guessing you're not bogies. What's going on, guys? Why aren't you moving?"

"I'm trying to find that out right now," Dig answered, frowning when he found something on the front of the truck.

He picked it up in his hand, looking down at it, letting Felicity figure it out. "Perfect," she told him. "Ignition blocker."

Dig paused, hearing a click behind him, then turned, only to get shot at by a woman with short, dark hair.

***

The back doors of the truck opened, and Rene grinned behind his mask when he saw the dark-haired woman standing there. "Surprise, bitch!"

They jumped out, Rene aiming his guns at her. "Careful," Curtis warned. "Bullets and bioweapons don't mix."

"Your friend's right," the woman nodded, and to their surprise, holstered her gun.

Before the others could react, she flung two spheres of some kind into the air, both of them releasing bright flashes of light, making the three vigilantes flinch and turn away. When they looked back, all three were immediately attacked by soldiers of some kind.

When Rene came to, it was to see a van drive one direction, the large truck going the other way. Rene scrambled to his feet and ran up to Dig, just as he got up as well. "Leader's in the cab, Hoss," he said. "Go after her, or the gas? Or both?" He frowned when Dig didn't respond. "They're getting away, Hoss. Make a decision!"

Dig still didn't respond. "Screw this," Rene snarled, then took off after the large truck.

He heard more footsteps pounding after him, signaling Curtis and Dinah were behind him, but none of them made it in time. The truck drove right into the building in front of it, and everything went up in a massive fireball.

Rene skidded to a halt, panting as Curtis and Dinah caught up to him. "Couldn't get to it," he told them. "Couldn't stop her."

"It wasn't your fault," Curtis assured him as Dinah turned to look at Dig, who swallowed hard as he stared at the place the explosion had gone off.

***

"What the hell happened out there?" Felicity asked in concern as Team Arrow came through the elevator.

"Ask him," Rene glared at Dig. "Dude just froze."

No one else offered an explanation, and Felicity looked at Dig in concern. "Casualties?" he asked.

"No," she shook her head. "Everyone got out. A dozen people were sent to the hospital for smoke inhalation, and two are in critical condition."

Dig closed his eyes, sighing. "What the hell, Hoss?" Rene snapped. "There were two targets and two of us! What was so freaking complicated?"

"I don't know," Dig admitted. "That's never happened to me in the field before. Not in the army, and not with this team."

"Fog of war," Dinah guessed. "Things don't always go perfect out there, so we close ranks and we move on."

Rene grumbled under his breath but didn't say anything else. "Thanks," Dig told Dinah gratefully. "It won't happen again."

"OK, good, 'cause it looks like you guys got another shot at these guys," Felicity said, walking back to her computer. "Facial recog came back with a match. Onyx Adams: leader of a CIA black ops squad working undercover in Syria. They disappeared in 2015 with one hundred million in Syrian government gold."

"And what have they been doing since?" Dinah frowned.

"My guess is preparing for the ZX gas heist."

"And finding the tech they need to do it," Rene nodded. "Why weren't they blinded by the flashbangs like we were?"

"Also, if these guys got away with one hundred million in gold, why would they risk it by trying to steal nerve gas?" Curtis wondered.

"Fine," Dig said. "See if you can pick up any chatter on the dark web, encrypted message boards, whatever. I'll check with Lyla, see if any intel has changed." He went to go before stopping. "Also, I'm sorry about tonight. That wasn't me."

"Hey, when I said move on, I meant you, too," Dinah gave him a knowing look.

Dig nodded and continued to leave, leaving the rest of the team with Felicity.

***

There's part one. Not entirely sure when the next part will be up, because tomorrow we'll probably decorate the Christmas tree, and after that, it's Christmas chaos. There might be an update tonight - we'll see.

If I don't update before then, Merry Christmas, everyone!