Dig, Mon-El, and Evelyn work with Dinah, Curtis, and Rene, Oliver works on Anatoli, Laurel's in a pickle . . . oh, and a few people have things to get off their chests.

Enjoy part two!

***

"The Quadrant," Dinah looked at the intel they had gotten from Team Arrow, shaking her head. "You know, I heard about these guys when I was working undercover. I could never get anyone to confirm their existence."

"Consider them confirmed," Mon-El looked at the Quadrant's faces, eyes narrowed.

"We were tracking this one, Cassamento, hoping she would lead us to Diaz," Dig pointed to the woman on the left.

"Yeah, we were hoping the Scorpions would lead us to Diaz, too," Curtis said. "Got some intel they were planning a huge thing tonight."

"We just figured it was drugs," Dinah said. "Turns out it was an ambush. The Quadrant wanted the Scorpions dead."

"They wanted us dead, too," Curtis agreed, looking around. "It's a good thing you guys showed up when you did," he added, making sure he included Evelyn.

She smiled shyly, which froze when Rene raised an eyebrow coldly. "You probably want a thank you or something, huh?"

Dig winced, but Mon-El turned and raised an eyebrow right back at him. "And you think we're so full of ourselves?"

"I don't think I was talking to you," Rene countered.

"You might as well, because as long as I'm in the city, I'm with his team," he nodded at Dig. "That includes backing him up when he needs it. And protecting a team member from another team who potentially wants to kill her."

"And what makes you think we care what you think?" Dinah scowled at him.

"Maybe the fact I could crush your throat without batting an eye and feeling nothing about it," Mon-El deadpanned. "But since I'm not that into killing people trying to keep their city safe, don't worry about that so much."

"When did you become an expert on deciding what's right and wrong?" Rene huffed.

"If there's a degree for right and wrong, at least two of you sure as hell don't have it," Mon-El glared between him and Dinah, Curtis sliding backwards when he wasn't included. "But it was probably when I spent seven years in the future working to build a team to keep the entire universe at peace. I'm not a saint, I know that. At least I spent seven years trying to become the best person I could be and spent those seven years trying to be a hero, which is more years than your team combined."

"I've spent years serving the law," Dinah sneered.

"You believe in the badge, I respect that," Mon-El nodded in acknowledgment to her. "But there was a saying I've heard a few times. 'Innocent until proven guilty,' correct?" When Dinah frowned but nodded, Mon-El snorted loudly. "For an officer of the law, you are doing a horrible job holding to that, let alone a police captain."

"Hey!" Dinah protested loudly.

"That's not fair!" Rene snarled, sitting up straight.

"No?" Mon-El raised an eyebrow coldly. "So you believe her word on what happened to Vincent Sobel without hearing anything from the girl who was made to kill him?"

Evelyn flinched, but Rene didn't even look in her direction. "I trust Dinah, not her."

"Then your view is already biased," Mon-El said bluntly, making Rene's eyes widen. "And Dinah's is biased as hell, considering all she seems to be focusing on is Evelyn killed him."

"She did!" Dinah snarled.

Mon-El sighed, looking at Curtis, who looked like a deer in the headlights. "Does she say anything besides that when this topic is brought up? She's a broken record."

"She's wearing the damned collar you said shocked her!" Dinah shouted, pointing accusingly at Evelyn, who recoiled. "That proves someone here is lying!"

"Or did you even consider the fact it no longer is a shock collar?" Mon-El countered, rolling his eyes. "God, why am I even trying?"

"Because clearly time in the future made you better," Evelyn fidgeted, not looking up from the ground when Dinah and Rene glared at her. "Or at least made you tolerable."

"Glad to know I'm tolerable," Mon-El huffed. "Look, when the three of you decide you actually want to get somewhere other than blatant accusations and murderous impulses without knowing all the facts, let me know. Otherwise, John? Evelyn partners with me. I don't want anyone who can't get off their high horse trying to kill her."

"Copy that," Dig didn't argue, looking at the trio as Mon-El moved to Evelyn's side.

She smiled thankfully at him. "You didn't have to do that," she said quietly.

"I used to be an asshole, but at least I set myself straight," Mon-El put his arm around her shoulders. "I look out for my team."

Evelyn smiled, leaning against him as Dig sighed. "Look, if the Quadrant is involved, we all need to be informed and working against them. We can't waste time taking shots at each other, no matter how right or wrong we are. We'll settle these spats later, all right? We can't risk losing the city more than Diaz already has."

"I just want Diaz gone," Evelyn spoke up her opinion.

Mon-El eyed the other three. "If they can keep this professional, so can I."

"I'm in," Curtis piped up, squirming when Dinah and Rene looked at him. "Look, Evelyn saved me and my boyfriend a few weeks ago, and she had a pretty nice opportunity to kill me then and today. I don't have a problem working with them."

Rene pursed his lips, then looked at Mon-El. "Later?"

"Sure," Mon-El shrugged. "If you think you'll win."

"Fine," Dinah sighed. "So, the Quadrant?"

"The muscle that they brought in yesterday were Diaz's guys," Curtis said. "The question is, what are they doing working with the Quadrant?"

"A.R.G.U.S. thinks Cassamento is planning to move a huge shipment of weapons into the city," Dig answered. "Kasnian weapons, military grade, much worse than what we saw tonight. We think Diaz may be helping her with that operation."

The door to the lair suddenly opened, and Laurel quickly hurried in, closing it behind her. "We have a problem," she announced.

"What happened?" Dig asked in concern.

"What happened is I got approached by Diaz," Laurel answered, walking down the stairs. "He just gave me this." She held up a black folder, taking a deep breath. "He wants me to give it to Oliver and make him sign over a piece of city property to him. A building."

"So why are you here instead of talking to the man?" Rene asked.

"Didn't we just discuss this?" Dig sighed.

"Because I called Quentin and he said Oliver left a short while ago to head to Russia," Laurel answered, giving Rene a glare. "He's working on the other thorn in Star City right now, and I can't exactly follow him."

"Call Kara," Dinah shrugged.

"And leave William alone with a teenager still in shock that her mother is a Kryptonian Worldkiller?" Laurel snorted loudly. "That can't go wrong at all."

"Wait," Evelyn said slowly, walking forward. "So a member of the Quadrant comes into the city, suspected of dealing weapons, and Diaz suddenly wants a piece of city property?"

"You think he made a deal with the Quadrant?" Dig asked.

"I'm betting that that city property would be a really nice place to store all that foreign ordnance that Cassamento is planning on bringing into the city," Curtis smiled at Evelyn.

"Any power play Diaz can make, he'll want to make it," Evelyn nodded. "The Quadrant's a pretty damn big power play."

"There's got to be something in for the Quadrant, though," Dinah pursed her lips.

"How about we stop them before we find out what that is?" Mon-El suggested.

"I like that idea," Laurel pointed the folder at him.

"I agree," Dig looked at Laurel. "This city building that Diaz wants, where is it?"

***

"It's pretty quiet around here," Dig mused, looking around the shipping area he was scouting out with Rene. When all he heard was Rene nodding, he looked at the other man. "You've been quiet, too. Should I be taking that personally?"

Rene fidgeted. "Just thinking about what Mon-El said, Hoss," he answered. "Nothing on your end. For a guy who was an ass to Kara, he seems like a decent guy."

Dig grinned. "Yeah, he and Oliver came to an understanding. He's a good ally to have. You know, his team was the one that found the solution to Armand's problem?"

"Really?" Rene looked at him, surprised.

"Mmmhmm," Dig nodded. "His son had cancer, stage four."

"Had?" Rene's eyes widened.

"Brainy invented a device that could deploy antibodies and cure his son's cancer in a week," Dig nodded. "Armand resigned and backed Oliver up when Councilman Kullens tried to get the council to impeach him."

"Damn," Rene whistled lowly, looking out at the building they were scouting. "I'm out for a few weeks, and I miss everything."

"Yeah," Dig nodded, wincing. "You missed a lot." He sighed, leaning against the crates he was by. "I nearly left the team."

"You, Hoss?" Rene's head whipped towards him.

"Yeah, me," Dig nodded. "Long story, but J'onn's father influenced a lot of us at the D.E.O. into revealing our anger. I came to blows with Slade over how I felt about Oliver stretching himself across universes, how I felt about Slade and Malcolm on the team." He closed his eyes. "Not even two days later, Oliver nearly died because a Worldkiller infected him with a 100% fatal disease. No cure unless we got her DNA. I saw sides of Slade and Laurel I've never seen before. We were all at our most vulnerable because no matter who we were, someone we cared about was dying in the medbay, not just Oliver. Winn, Alex, and Malcolm were down, too. And I realized, I couldn't let my feelings get in the way of what Oliver and I have been through for six years. With what he's going through here in Star City and how he's been supporting Kara in National City, he needs all the support he can get. What kind of brother am I if I abandoned him when I was the first person he recruited to his team all those years ago?" He looked pointedly at Rene. "I also realized the reason Slade, Malcolm, and Laurel are so tightly knit is because they've worked together as a unit for so long. Me? I barely spent any time with them except when we were in the field, and that was as a group. Slade and I came to an understanding: we do whatever we can in the field to make sure if Oliver isn't out with us, we make sure nothing on the street causes a problem for him. He can handle City Hall, but we can't. I've promised I'll work with each of them, because that's the only way I'll be able to understand them and get where they're coming from. Just because they've been villains in the past doesn't mean they need to stay that way. Hell, I saw one of the Worldkillers be snapped back to their civilian persona and sacrifice herself to kill another one just because Kara and Alex pleaded with her." He looked at Rene, who was considering his words. "Rene, you outed Oliver to keep your daughter, and I understand that. But what broke our teams apart further is when you started going after Evelyn. As someone who has worked with her for weeks now, she is not the same Evelyn who betrayed us last year or worked with Cayden James."

Rene swallowed hard. "You think so, Hoss?"

"I know so," Dig nodded firmly. "She was ready to face down the most powerful Worldkiller by herself if it meant keeping William and Ruby safe. That's pretty heroic, if you ask me."

Rene nodded thoughtfully, looking back out at the building. "Can I tell you something, Hoss?"

"What's on your mind?" Dig raised an eyebrow.

"I can't stop thinking about dying," Rene confessed. "Middle of the fight, I just froze. PTSD fritz-out. I mean, actually, it wasn't just so much about dying as it was about – "

"Leaving Zoe without a father," Dig guessed.

"Yeah, you get it," Rene nodded. "You got a kid younger than Zoe. How do you deal with it?"

"I don't, man," Dig admitted. "Not out here. When I put this suit on, I leave Daddy home. I put the walls of compartmentalizing up hard, Rene. You been out of the game for a month, over a month. It'll come back to you. Just give it some time."

Rene nodded, then smiled sheepishly. "We were idiots to think we could take on those three, weren't we?"

Dig snorted loudly, knowing exactly what he was talking about. "I thought you had death wishes when I heard you actually fought them."

Rene flushed in embarrassment, but he was quickly distracted by a truck rolling into the lot. "Yo, look at that." They peered out to see someone with a machine gun jump out of the passenger door and assist the driver in backing up, and he frowned in confusion as men in black hauled crates out of the building. "If Diaz's plan is to store the weapons, why are they bringing the crates to the truck?"

"Cassamento's not looking to move guns into the city," Dig realized.

"She and Diaz are using the city to ship them out," Rene caught on quickly. "Turning Star City into a way station."

Dig nodded, pressing a finger onto his comms device. "Curtis, Dinah, Mon-El, Evelyn, we've seen all we need to see," he backed away, Rene following him. "Let's regroup."

***

Appeal to their code. That was something Oliver had tried considering before, but it hadn't something he'd been completely sold on doing. Now, after having heard what J'onn, Kara, and Malcolm learned from M'yrnn about appealing to opposing beliefs, he was ready to try another approach to Anatoli.

That was why, thanks to Cisco, he was currently watching one of the drug lords in Moscow stumble out of a club with company. When he saw the man raise a hand with a small bag of powder in it, he fired an arrow straight through his risk.

While the man yelled in pain, his companions rushed off, leaving him alone. Oliver jumped off the rooftop, firing another arrow that wrapped a cable around the man, dropping him to the ground. He stood up, walking over, looking down at his target. "Kapiushon?" the man sputtered.

***

The drug lord was deposited on the floor later, and the current pakhan of the Bratva peered over his desk at him, humming in interest as he turned his dagger over in his hands. "The rumors are true," he said, his Russian accent thick. "Kapiushon is back." He clicked his tongue, looking at Oliver in disappointment. "You cost us a lot of money back in Star City."

"And you'll more than make up for it by taking over his drug operation," Oliver countered.

The pakhan nodded in agreement. "You've kept your end of bargain."

"Now you keep yours," Oliver narrowed his eyes.

"By the time you get back to America, it will be done," the pakhan promised, standing up from his chair and walking around the desk.

"No," Oliver shook his head. He wanted this finished as soon as possible. "I need more than your word."

The pakhan narrowed his eyes, then launched the dagger he held at Oliver. He quickly raised his hand, catching it by the hilt. "Show him that," he said, and Oliver flipped the dagger over, examining it closely. "He'll know it's from me."

Oliver nodded in understanding, and the pakhan gestured to his bodyguards, the two men escorting Oliver out of the room.

***

Quentin frowned, looking up from his desk when there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" He leaned back in surprise when Laurel entered, looking fidgety. "Hey, I didn't expect you to come by."

"I need to ask you something," Laurel swallowed hard, closing the door behind her. "Please don't be mad at me, not until I explain everything, please."

Quentin was immediately on edge. "Laurel, what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything except let myself get scared," Laurel walked forward, handing him a black folder. "Hypothetically, if a crime lord ordered you to make the mayor sign this and the mayor was conveniently on the other side of the world, could the deputy mayor sign it instead?"

Quentin scanned the document quickly, then looked up at Laurel in disbelief. "Seriously, Laurel?"

"You think I want this?" Laurel sat down in front of him, swallowing hard. "No, I don't. Not at all. I would rather have Purity scream in my ear or have Pestilence scratch me, hell, have both of them and Reign heat vision me before I do this for him."

"Then why are you?" Quentin narrowed his eyes. "You can bring walls smashing down! Are you scared of a thug?"

"I'm scared of what that thug threatened to do to the people I love," Laurel snapped, her entire body shaking. "When he had me kidnapped from the hospital when he made me appear to be your Laurel, do you know what he threatened if I didn't work for him?" Quentin frowned, and Laurel swallowed hard. "He told me it would be a coin toss. I wouldn't get a say. But Oliver would lose another member of his team, one I knew would support him because both of them have supported him and even went up against the other team for him. I haven't gone into the field against Diaz because if I did, Diaz threatened to reveal to Star City that one of their most wanted criminals was back. It would be a coin toss between Slade and Malcolm: my brother or the man I love." She shook her head, her voice breaking as tears filled her eyes. "Quentin, Diaz is insane. I can't lose either of them!"

Quentin moved around his desk and hugged her tightly, and Laurel burst into tears, burying her face in his suit. He stroked her hair, closing his eyes, fury filling him inside. He didn't doubt that Diaz could potentially go that far to gain an upper hand over Oliver. But to use Laurel for that threat . . . Slade and Malcolm would kill the crime lord before Oliver could draw an arrow.

***

When Oliver returned to Star City, it was extremely easy to break into Anatoli's hideout and tranq the Bratva members crowding around and watching baseball, of all things. Never would have taken Anatoli for a baseball watcher, he thought, watching the ball roll towards the kitchen where Anatoli had gone to look for beer.

Anatoli himself simply sighed and popped the cap off the beer he had gotten, rolling his eyes. "If I'm supposed to be frightened, you are wasting your time, Kapiushon."

Oliver walked out from behind Anatoli, eyeing his former friend. "I just want to talk."

"We stopped talking a year ago," Anatoli scoffed, turning around to watch him walk closer. "How you find me?"

"I got a tip from a friend of yours in Russia," Oliver answered.

Anatoli snorted. "I have no friends in Russia. Your doing."

"That's fixed," Oliver told him, holding up the dagger he had gotten and setting it down in front of Anatoli. "Also my doing."

Anatoli did a double take as he looked at the dagger. "This is Pakhan's," he said in disbelief. "How you come to have it?"

"You told me that the Bratva exiled you because of your friendship with me," Oliver answered. "I owed you a debt, I owed them a debt. I paid it. You can go home now, Anatoli." The Russian's eyes kept flicking between the dagger and Oliver, and the archer stepped forward, eyes on his friend. "You said you were an honorable man. Now, I think you know deep down that Diaz isn't. Help me stop him."

Anatoli sighed, folding his arms. "Well, you're right. I was honorable man."

When he uncrossed his arms and held a taser to Oliver's chest, the archer grunted in surprise before falling to the ground unconscious, Anatoli looking down at him without regret.

***

"Those Kasnian weapons Cassamento imported are shipping out tonight for the eastern seaboard," Dig explained as everyone suited up in the other team's bunker. "But even with A.R.G.U.S. backing us up, there is no way we can stop all that ordnance."

"So what's the play?" Dinah asked.

"The play is we destroy it," Dig answered. "Tag the trucks, and let A.R.G.U.S. attack them separately."

"I wish Kara was here," Evelyn murmured, strapping her gloves on.

"Yeah, it would be easier if she could heat vision the trucks," Mon-El agreed. "But she's where she needs to be with Ruby."

Evelyn nodded, fiddling with the collar around her throat. She finally sighed and turned to Dinah. "I'll take this off if it really bothers you that much," she said.

Dinah looked at her in surprise, then narrowed her eyes. "What'd you say?"

"I don't want to be a bitch anymore, OK?" Evelyn told her. "I'm tired of being treated like the bad guy. Yeah, I was stupid for a year or so, but how well off do you think you would be if every mentor you had let you down time after time? All Chase cared about was revenge against Oliver, all Cayden James wanted was to destroy the city, and Talia saw me as a pawn, and the moment I didn't want to do one thing for them, they made sure I would do it. Diaz and Anatoli both thought I was just a stupid girl who couldn't survive without latching onto someone who pitied me. Vince was the only person who treated me like I was a person of my own and spent time with me, helping me become stronger while also still treating me like a normal girl, and Cayden James made me kill him. I'm wearing this collar because he would want me to use it against the people we used to work with. He learned what side he was really on, and so did I. Yes, I learned too late, but at least I learned. But if you want me to take it off, I will. I just don't want a scream in my ear tonight when all I've done since killing my only friend back then is try to do what I can to make things right."

By the time she was finished, she was almost yelling and it was deafeningly silent in the bunker. Curtis's head was whipping between the two women, his eyes wide, and Mon-El was looking at Evelyn with pride. Dig, meanwhile, was watching Dinah, who had frozen in place, listening to Evelyn speak. Finally, the Black Canary let her breath out slowly, walking over to Evelyn. The dark-haired girl tensed like a coil, but she didn't run, keeping her eyes on Dinah. Mon-El's fingers curled into a fist, something everyone saw, but Dinah carefully rested a hand on Evelyn's shoulder, one finger tapping the collar. "You're absolutely right," she said, making Evelyn's eyes widen. "He would want you to use that against Diaz. So if I see you take that off, I definitely will kill you."

Evelyn smiled hesitantly, and Dinah nodded, squeezing her shoulder and walking back to pick up her staff. Mon-El sighed in relief, and Dig smiled proudly at Evelyn. Evelyn just smiled sheepishly at Curtis, who grinned widely and gave her two thumbs up. "I didn't think that would work."

"I think we're all near the end of our ropes here," Dig patted her shoulder. "Let's get ready to head out." Evelyn beamed and nodded, heading back to her weapons, and Dig moved to check on Rene, seeing him staring blankly at the mannequin his suit had been on. He flinched suddenly, and Dig frowned in concern. "Rene." Rene blinked, then looked at him. "You good?"

"I don't think so," Rene admitted. "That compartmentalizing you talked about? It's not kicking in."

"Give it some time, man," Dig advised.

"Maybe," Rene mumbled. "I don't know. But what I do know is if I go out there like this, I'm no good to anyone. Sorry, but I think I might have to sit this one out."

"Wait," Curtis blinked as Dig put his hand on Rene's shoulder. "What's happening?"

"Just a tough re-entry, that's all," Dig said. "The five of us plus A.R.G.U.S. We'll be fine."

Curtis and Dinah gave Rene worried looks, but he gave them a little motion to move them on. They did so, and Evelyn gave him a tentative wave before she left. Rene gave her a small smile back and Evelyn hurried up after Mon-El.

***

When he came to, Oliver couldn't help but eye the chains tying him to his chair in amusement before looking up at Anatoli and dryly saying, "Handcuffs would've been fine."

"What, so you can dislocate thumbs and escape?" Anatoli chuckled. "Come on, Oliver. Most of your tricks, I taught you. I also taught you not to go into situation alone, hmm?"

"This is between you and me, Anatoli," Oliver looked up at him. "Not Kara, not John, not Slade, not any of them. Just you and me."

"Not smart," Anatoli shook his head.

"I thought you wanted back in with the Bratva, Anatoli, so I delivered that to you."

"And I thank you," Anatoli nodded, walking over to sit in front of him. "But over past year, I see things a little more clearly. I devote my whole life to brothers. I eve become their pakhan, and at first setback – " He snapped his fingers. "They cast me out."

"Oh, Diaz is gonna do far worse than cast you out," Oliver said darkly.

"If I betray him, yes," Anatoli agreed. "But why would I do that? Diaz is going to make me a very rich man. Bratva took a hundred years to go from prison into government. Diaz did same thing in months."

"He won't take over the entire city," Oliver shook his head. "I'm gonna take him down."

"And how can team do that if you're here?" Anatoli tilted his head.

"You know, my mission was always supposed to be solitary," Oliver said. "I thought if I was put with a team, fill it with people that I care about, it would split my focus. It just gave me something more to fight for. And when they return that care, they fight for what you do, too." He looked at Anatoli long and hard. "Don't underestimate the team Kara and I have made."

Anatoli considered him. "You are not bigger fool than I thought."

***

Diaz scowled when Laurel walked up to him, her hands empty. "Perhaps you never understood the importance of what I asked you to do."

"I got it just fine," Laurel told him. "But it's difficult to get the mayor's signature when the mayor isn't even in the city."

"Your father's, then," Diaz gestured.

"It requires the mayor's signature, not the deputy mayor's," Laurel shook his head. "Otherwise, he said he would have signed it."

Diaz shook his head, clicking his tongue and walking forward. "Laurel, Laurel, Laurel . . . I thought you actually cared." She curled her hand into a fist as Diaz walked around her, eyeing her up and down. "The Black Siren, who can make walls fall and buildings crumble . . . can't get a simple signature." He shook his head in disappointment. "If I didn't have business later tonight, I would make good on that threat of mine." Laurel recoiled from him at that, and Diaz chuckled darkly. "Show her the way out, boys." No one came down the hall, and Laurel frowned, looking behind her. She had seen guards in the other hallway, so why weren't they answering? "Boys?" Diaz said louder, walking down the hall, Laurel hesitantly following.

When they rounded the corner, they found two of the guards dead on the ground, one with a knife in his heart, the other with a fletchette in his neck.

Laurel balked as Diaz swung on her, eyes furious. "I told you to come alone!" he thundered.

"And as far as she knew, she did." Diaz's eyes went past Laurel as Malcolm's icy voice bit at the air, and Laurel closed her eyes, heart in her throat as his footsteps approached. "Typically, she's been able to tell when she's being followed, but since she never did, something had to be wrong." His hand curled around her waist protectively, and when he angled himself so he was slightly in front of her, Laurel instinctively reached up for his shoulder. "So we figured we'd figure out what was going on."

"We?" Diaz scowled.

The two remaining guards were thrown unceremoniously from the hall behind Diaz, and Slade stepped over them without a care in the world, twisting a knife of his own in his hands, looking down at the men he'd just killed. "I'm very protective of my sisters," he offered when Diaz spun around to glare at the one-eyed man, who didn't look fazed at all. "That includes Laurel."

"You want to threaten us? Fine, do it any day of the week," Malcolm told him, eyes narrowed. "But threatening us through Laurel? That just pisses us off more."

"Find another way than through the people we care about, Diaz," Slade growled, walking past him to be on Laurel's other side, the woman swallowing hard. "You might find that easier next time."

"And why's that?" Diaz tilted his head, not seeming intimidated.

Malcolm smirked, one that promised death. "Because you'll find that the only thing stopping me from stabbing you dead right now is because I want to get Laurel away from you as fast as I can."

"That, and he probably would reveal one of us is alive," Slade reminded him.

"That, too," Malcolm agreed. "But really, we probably would have underestimated you more if you threatened us directly. Through Laurel? You just made us mad."

Laurel took a deep breath, looking at Diaz. "You know you probably won't get what you're looking for, right?"

Diaz chuckled darkly. "You're lucky to have such a protective lover and brother, Laurel." Malcolm's arm tightened around her possessively, and Laurel let herself curl into Malcolm's side, the assassin's eyes narrowed warningly. "I suppose I'll let this go just once, since I have something of greater importance to get to shortly," Diaz moved back. "But I burned a man alive over a childhood grudge." He smirked at the wide eyes he got from Laurel at that. "I don't play games unless I win."

"Neither do we," Malcolm got the final word. Diaz narrowed his eyes and vanished into the room he had been in, and Laurel slumped in relief, Malcolm's other arm wrapping around her. "Hey," he looked down at her in concern. "You're OK."

"You shouldn't have followed me," Laurel shook her head rapidly.

"What, did you think we wouldn't have tried to find out what was going on with you?" Malcolm scoffed. "Not a chance."

"Let's go," Slade looked around. "I don't want to spend another second here longer than I have to."

"Agreed," Malcolm guided Laurel towards the exit. "Come on."

Laurel nodded in agreement, walking between the two men, taking deep breaths to calm her racing heart.

God, she hoped neither of them ended up on the wrong side of the law in the next 24 hours.

***

"My men have woken up from tranquilizer darts," Anatoli hummed, walking over to a locker past Oliver and sifting through weapons. "Time to go see Diaz."

"Think he'll give you a reward?" Oliver snorted.

"A man can dream," Anatoli shrugged, pulling out a rifle. "But I settle for satisfaction."

"Enjoy it while it lasts," Oliver advised. "Because, Anatoli, when you are no longer useful, he'll cut you loose just like Cayden James."

"Cayden James made fatal mistake, underestimating Diaz," Anatoli told him, walking in front of him. "I do not. I see him for who he is. I understand his code."

"Diaz doesn't have a code," Oliver deadpanned. "He doesn't have honor. But you working with him? You are betraying everything that you've ever believed in."

Anatoli scowled, then pointed at Oliver. "No need to be gentle with this one."

Oliver grimaced when he was shoved forward by one of the Bratva men, another working on the chains binding him.

***

So, no building getting signed off. Diaz didn't need the signature in the episode really, but I wanted to dig deeper into how his threat against Slade and Malcolm affected Laurel. I've made a big point throughout the series to show just how tightly knit these three are, and I think Diaz's insanity with this threat against any of them could strike home, especially Laurel. I also wanted to show how no matter what, they've got each other's backs.

Anyway, seeing "Shelter From The Storm" made me realize Oliver did exactly to Anatoli what Kara initially did to Reign: appeal to the enemy's code to get them to stand down. And we all know how Oliver's play with Anatoli pays off.

Last part should be up soon!