I think I went overboard this week with writing these episodes, because I literally could not keep my eyes focused on the transcript last night when I tried to write out more of the episode. Luckily, a cure called Christmas is coming up, so after a break, I should be able to keep writing. So, please don't expect me to pump out updates while I'm celebrating with family. That would not be a fun excuse to give them.

Anyway, Team Arrow has some concerns, and William's savior comes in the form of a bubbly blonde with glasses. Hint: it's not the same one from the episode.

Enjoy part two!

***

"Fortunately, the two victims in critical condition are expected to recover. Multiple witnesses spotted Green Arrow and his team of vigilantes at the scene."

Oliver switched the news off and turned to the group sitting with him at the table. "Becky, can you get the fire chief's latest report, please, and could . . . would you mind putting in an order for some coffee? One of the big boxes of coffee, please. Thank you."

Oliver, Thea, and Quentin watched the council members leave, then Quentin cleared his throat. "So, I guess being the Green Arrow involves something of a learning curve."

"We don't know the circumstances surrounding last night," Oliver told him.

"Yeah, but we know how it's gonna play out," Thea pointed out.

"What do you mean?" Oliver frowned.

Quentin pulled out his phone when it buzzed, and he barked in laughter. "Wow. Speak of the devil. Got to admire her sense of timing."

"Who?" Oliver asked.

"Pollard," Quentin answered. "She's seizing the moment. She's using last night's disaster as a pretext to introduce her anti-vigilante legislation to the council."

"Does she have the votes?" Oliver asked.

"I don't know."

"Can you make sure she doesn't?"

Quentin and Thea exchanged glances before nodding, standing up to go do just that.

***

Dig waited for Dinah finished twirling her bo staff before he cleared his throat. "Hey. Can we talk for a second?" Dinah didn't say anything, but he took that as his cue to keep speaking. "I just wanted to say thank you for having my back with the team." She nodded in response, and Dig kept going. "Now, truth be told, I was a bit surprised, considering you – "

"Well, don't be surprised," she told him. "And don't think I said what I said for you. I said it because this team needs a leader. Without a chain of command, we're easy pickings out there."

"OK," Dig nodded, following her back through the lair. "I guess that's why you decided not to tell anyone about my injury, right?"

"It is," Dinah confirmed. "But honestly, as worried as I am about your hand, after last night, I'm a little more worried about your head."

"I know," Dig sighed. "Hey, Dinah, I know. Look, every time I've had to give orders in the army, on this team, there was always someone there backing my plays. I'm not used to making the hard calls alone. No one is more disappointed in me than me."

"Well, next time, get it right," Dinah told him. "Our lives depend on it."

There was a beeping from the computers, then Felicity whooped. "She shoots, she scores!"

"What do we have?" Dig asked, he and Dinah running up to join her, Curtis and Rene coming from the other direction.

"OK, these are our new friends back in 2015," Felicity gestured to her screen. "But last night, you said there were only five."

"You think when that leader went rogue, not everyone went with her," Rene guessed.

"Woof, Wild Dog for the win," Felicity nodded. "Three of her original members defected back to the CIA for a little while, at least."

"What do you mean, for a little while?" Dig frowned.

"OK, 'cause this guy and this guy," Felicity pulled up photos, "were both killed in separate poison gas attacks last year, one in Mosul, one in Tripoli. The video footage is . . . it's really gruesome."

"Well, poison gas can't be a coincidence," Dinah sighed.

"No," Felicity agreed. "I mean, ISIS is linked to both of them, but I'm pretty sure this is how Onyx likes to solve her problems."

"So she staged two terrorist attacks just to settle a grudge?" Curtis frowned.

"No, not just a grudge," Dig shook his head. "These are the only two that can pin her to the stolen gold."

"Bingo," Felicity nodded.

"All right, so she's wiping out defectors."

"Got one left," Felicity pulled up another photo. "Rob Reynolds, whereabouts unknown."

"Yeah, but you got to figure Star City or somewhere close by," Rene pointed out.

"Well, I'm guessing we should worry what this gas could do to a populated area," Dinah said.

"Oh, yeah," Felicity nodded, typing a command and pointing to another monitor. "Look."

The five team members walked over to look, all of their eyes wide as they took in the multiple bodies being covered in white sheets.

***

Oliver knocked on William's door, seeing him absently twirling a pencil. "Hey, buddy," he said.

"Hi," William smiled.

"How's it going?"

He sighed. "Fine."

"You still worried about the test?"

"Yeah."

"Anything that I can do to help?" Oliver asked, walking further in.

"Uh," William scratched his head. "Do you know quadratic equations?"

"Wow," Oliver blinked. "Um . . . those sound vaguely familiar, but then again, I wasn't the most enthusiastic math student, so . . . "

William sighed. "What would help is if I can talk to anyone who can help me right now."

Oliver nodded, considering. "I'll leave you to it."

"Thanks, Dad," William smiled as Oliver left.

The doorbell rang the moment Oliver left his room. Frowning, Oliver headed for the door and opened it, blinking when he saw Rene on the other side. The other man spoke first. "Got a minute, Hoss?"

"Sure," Oliver nodded, letting him step inside. "This about Pollard's bill?"

"No," Rene shook his head. "Uh, sorry, I've been out of the office. No, this is about John."

"What about him?" Oliver asked in concern, folding his arms.

"It's not working out," Rene said bluntly.

"You talking about last night?"

"I'm talking about something – !" Rene started raising his voice, and Oliver pointed towards William's room, raising an eyebrow. Rene nodded and took a deep breath, lowering his voice back down. "I'm talking about something a hell of a lot worse than what happened last night. That poison gas could kill thousands."

"John can handle it," Oliver said confidently.

"That's why I'm here, Hoss!" Rene hissed. "He can't! He's in over his head! We're lucky nobody died last night, but luck runs out. We need you to come back."

***

Oliver headed towards the Arrowcave, thinking back and forth in his head before pulling out his phone and dialing. Once again, his girlfriend answered quickly. "Hey!" she greeted cheerfully. "So, good news! I got my article finished early, so as soon as I turn it in and check in with J'onn, I can head over."

"That's great," Oliver grinned. "Really great. It would really help to have you here."

"Is everything OK?" Kara asked.

"Well, I asked William what he needs, and he needs a tutor," Oliver told her.

"Aw." Kara sounded like she was grinning. "Well, lucky for you and for him, you are speaking to the Kryptonian who was doing calculus at age four."

Oliver balked, stopping in the middle of the street. "I'm sorry, at four?!"

"Yeah, I found it hilarious they called it Advanced Placement in high school when I came to Earth," Kara giggled. "Give me about an hour or two and I'll be over there to help William."

"Once again, you keep proving me right," Oliver said fondly. "You are an angel."

Kara's laughter came over the phone. "Love you, too, Oliver."

***

Felicity heard footsteps behind her and started talking immediately. "I'm still working on a twenty with Reynolds, it's gonna take a while. These black op guys are really hard to find."

It wasn't Dig who spoke. "Hey."

Felicity jumped, surprised, when she saw Oliver standing behind her. "Hey," she sputtered. "Wow. I'm just surprised to see you here, and I'm also surprised that you remembered the access code."

"It's been, like, a week," Oliver frowned.

"Yeah," Felicity winced. "It was a joke. I'm guessing you're here for . . . "

Oliver looked past her to Dig, where he was fiddling with the arrows, then nodded. "Yeah," he nodded.

"OK," Felicity nodded, going back to her work.

Oliver nodded, walking past her towards Dig. "This is weird," he remarked.

"Being back down here?" Dig guessed.

Oliver chuckled. "How many times have you come down here to find me brooding?"

"I'm not brooding, Oliver," Dig gave him a look. "I'm thinking."

"Yeah?" Oliver smirked slightly, pulling up a chair to sit.

Dig sighed. "OK, maybe I'm brooding a little bit."

"Well, if you haven't figured it out already, that expression is as much a part of the uniform as the green hood," Oliver informed him.

"Every time you were down here brooding, it was because you made some kind of a mistake," Dig recalled. "I think you made another one, man."

"No," Oliver shook his head instantly. "Not even close."

"Who came to you? Rene?"

"I was about to come and ask Felicity a favor, but I called Kara and worked something out with her instead," Oliver said. "Came down here anyway, and then, of course, I saw that very familiar expression. It makes me wonder if maybe I asked too much of you."

"What do you mean?" Dig frowned.

"I gave up being the Green Arrow for William, but you have J.J., you have Lyla," Oliver told him. "It doesn't exactly seem fair."

"That's not the issue at all, Oliver," Dig assured him. "I made my peace with this whole life a long time ago."

"So what's the problem?" Oliver asked.

"I don't know how you did it," Dig confessed, making Oliver blink. "You never hesitated to make the call. You were always so sure."

"I'm not," Oliver admitted. "I was never sure, not one time. I'm very flattered that it looked that way on the outside, but on the inside, it was . . . it was instinct. It was instinct, and it was fear."

"Yeah, but you worked past it," Dig told him.

"Well, you'll work past it, too," Oliver told him confidently. "Now, I'm not gonna sit here and say that you won't make mistakes, that you won't lose people along the way. You know, most . . . most will be strangers, but some . . . well, some won't be. Because, John, you're one of the main reasons that the Green Arrow even exists."

"What are you talking about?" Dig did a double take.

"The Restons," Oliver answered.

"The bank robbers?"

"The bank robbers, yeah. You were the first person who convinced me to look past just the names on my father's list. You helped me discover that the hood, that persona, he wasn't a hero. You helped me find one. All of this, the Green Arrow, the idea of it . . . it exists because you had faith in me. Now you got to have the same kind of faith in yourself. Because if you do, you can be a better leader. You can be a better hero than I ever was."

***

William was bent anxiously over his textbook when he heard a familiar whooshing sound from the living room. He ran out of his bedroom, eyes wide as Kara stepped out of the breach that was floating just past the island. "Kara!" he grinned.

"Hey, William!" she smiled, holding out her arms for a hug. "How're you doing?"

"Been better," he answered, giving her a quick hug.

"Ah, yes," Kara nodded, putting her duffel on the ground. "Your dad told me you've got a math test coming up?"

"Yeah," William confirmed.

"Well," Kara fiddled with her glasses. "If only you knew an alien who was learning calculus at age four."

William's jaw dropped. "No way."

"Yes way," Kara nodded, grinning.

"You're kidding!"

"I'm not!" Kara assured him, giggling. "Come on, show me what you're working on."

***

"OK," Kara flipped to a new page in William's textbook about thirty minutes later, pointing to a problem with a pencil. "And after you divide by x . . . "

"Uh," William frowned. "Solve for x?"

"Yes," Kara nodded. "But first?"

"Is it . . . factor the binomials?"

"Yeah, right," Kara nodded with a smile. "That's exactly right."

"But why can't I just solve for x?"

"Oh, you will," Kara assured him. "Eventually, probably in high school, but first, you have to master the binomials."

"Oh, I'm gonna bomb this!" William groaned in frustration.

"Hey," Kara put a hand on his shoulder. "I know it sucks, because you're new and probably a little behind, but you know being frustrated means? You can see how useful math could be, which means, unfortunately, you're really good at it."

William sighed and took the pencil he offered her. "Dad said school doesn't matter in the real world."

Kara snorted. "Well, your dad didn't grow up in the real world. I didn't, either, not for thirteen years. I grew up on an entirely different planet. To a Kryptonian, this is just simple addition and subtraction. But when I came to Earth, school was how I adjusted to my new life. School helped me become who I am now."

"I used to love school," William sighed.

"You will again," Kara assured him. "I promise."

William smiled at her, then they heard a knock on the door. "Hey," Oliver smiled as he walked in over to Kara. "How's it going in here?"

"Good," William answered.

"Yeah," Kara smiled at Oliver as he put a hand on her shoulder. "I'd say we're making progress."

"Good," Oliver smiled back, kissing her.

"Kara?" William asked, making her look at him. "Could you tutor me some more before the test?"

"Sure," Kara nodded. "Absolutely. Of course," she raised an eyebrow at Oliver teasingly. "If it's cool with your dad, it's cool with me."

"If it's cool with you, it's totally cool with me," Oliver chuckled, making Kara smile. "Have either of you eaten anything recently?"

"Not since an entire bag of Chinese takeout," Kara shook her head.

"Well, we can't have that," Oliver snorted. "How about Monte Cristos?"

Kara squealed, eyes lighting up. "Yes! Yes, please!"

"What's a Monte Cristo?" William frowned.

"What?" Kara squawked, looking at him. "You've never had – ?" She looked up at Oliver. "He's never had?"

"Apparently not," Oliver laughed.

"OK, Monte Cristos are the best nighttime snack you can ever have," Kara told William, looking up at Oliver. "And please use waffles."

Oliver smirked. "Well, that is how we do it in the not real world."

Kara blushed, and William snickered. "Busted."

Kara gasped and playfully swatted at him, which William ducked. "I'll call J'onn quickly and tell him I'll need nights off to help," she told him, standing up and reaching for her phone. "Sound good?"

"Any time you're over here, it's good," Oliver smiled.

"Great," Kara smiled before giving William a thumbs up. "You're awesome."

"Thank you!" he beamed. Kara beamed back and went off, dialing on her phone, and William grinned at Oliver. "She's still really cool."

"Yeah, she is," Oliver agreed with a matching grin. He had the best girlfriend ever.

***

I laughed really hard when in the "Midvale" flashbacks, Kara said she was learning calculus at age four. I am really jealous of Kryptonians.

Hopefully I'll get part three up today, and that'll be the last you hear from me until some time after Christmas! :)