"Mom-"

"No!"

"Why!?"

"It's never good with you!"

"That's not true!"

"It absolutely is true!"

"Ugh! Whatever!"

"Love you too."

Malcolm Merlyn/Oliver Queen

"You should have stayed dead," Joe narrowed his eyes.

Rose stuck her tongue out childishly at the screen.

"He's not here," Alex said to her.

"I know," Rose shrugged.

"No wonder she doesn't like him," Barry said.

Malcolm raised an eyebrow at that and turned to Slade. "I heard you were in trouble, kid," Slade told him. "And so I thought I'd offer my help." He nodded to Malcolm. "My friend here offered to tag along."

"My old man here to save me," Joe scoffed as Oliver and Kara moved closer to the door, ready to jump in if they needed to. "Last I saw, you weren't all that concerned with saving anyone." His eyes went to Malcolm and he scoffed. "And after what you did to the Glades? You, helping?"

"We have a mutual acquaintance we never liked," Malcolm drawled, making Oliver roll his eyes.

Oliver just sighed in annoyance.

"Well," Joe turned back to Slade, drawing the gun at his side and pointing it at Slade. Malcolm immediately went for his sword, Nylander aiming at him as Slade held out a hand to stop Malcolm. "Apple doesn't fall that far. What do you think? Patricide?"

"What's patricide?" Alura asked.

"Nothing," Ollie said.

"They've seen our operation," Nylander answered. "It makes them liabilities."

"Yeah, you can have that choice, but I'll give you another one," Slade told his son. "Let us join you."

"If I wanted a family reunion, I would've sent an invitation," Joe growled.

"Maybe you did, but you just haven't realized it, kid," Slade walked forward, risking getting shot in the head, Malcolm's hand still hovering over his sword hilt, keeping Nylander in his sights. "See, I came all this way to talk with you, and I will kill anybody who gets in my way because I got nothing left to lose. Only you. So go ahead," he nodded at the gun, practically up against it now. "Make a decision."

"You're very persuasive," J'onn said, impressed.

Joe narrowed his eyes, he and his father staring each other down, before he clicked the safety on and lowered his gun. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't swayed by the poetry of it all," he said dryly as Malcolm finally moved away from his sword. "But can I trust you?"

"Trust is built upon honesty," Slade answered. "I am sure you have a lot of questions to ask me, and I've got a lot of questions for you, Joe."

"That's not my name anymore," he shook his head at once.

"Your mother named you something different to keep us apart," Slade countered.

Joe slowly nodded. "OK. Guess we got some catching up to do."

Slade turned to Malcolm, and the assassin nodded his head, folding his arms. Slade followed Joe as Malcolm eyed the rest of the Jackals. "Don't you have anything better to aim at?" he asked.

"Are you ever not sarcastic?" Rose said.

"I'm offended you have to even ask that Rose," Slade said. "Obviously no."

The Jackals scowled, but Malcolm's gaze went past them, seeing a flicker of movement past the door. He gave a small nod before turning back around.

From behind the wall, Kara turned to Oliver. "Malcolm just nodded, right at me."

"He better just be giving the act of his life," Oliver muttered.

"My dad's a really good actor," Rebecca said, making Thea nod.

John Diggle

In Star City, Dig watched a group of men shove technology into a bag, then he turned around. "Wild Dog, Terrific, Siren, Danvers," he said. "You ready for this?"

"Always," Rene answered. "But I got bad news. These guys aren't just thieves. They killed a security guard."

"Make that two," Curtis chimed in.

"So these guys aren't messing around," Alex sighed.

"Then neither are we," Laurel sneered.

Dig nodded in agreement, jumping down to confront the two thieves he saw. He punched one out, then shot the other in the back when he tried to run away. Curtis's T-spheres appeared next as he and Rene appeared from one direction, Alex and Laurel running in from the other. Laurel sent a scream their way, knocking two guards back, Alex shooting two others to bring them down, none of them kill shots.

Dig saw a man just past Curtis and Rene and lifted his crossbow to fire, only to blanch when his grip started to shake.

"Not again," Dig groaned.

He lowered his crossbow as the others turned around, checking for any more thieves. When they saw the man in the shadows, Alex aimed her gun to fire, when the man twisted something and tossed it onto the ground. "Incoming!" Laurel shouted, grabbing Alex and dragging her back.

Dig's eyes widened when smoke poured from the canister rolling on the ground. "Fall back!" he yelled. "Now!"

The five of them ran off, Curtis shielding his eyes as Alex and Laurel held their hands over their noses and mouths.

John Diggle

"Curtis, you were right," Felicity stood up from her computer. "The thieves were after the components of a 3D printer."

"Two innocent people get killed because some psycho wants to print plastic toys?" Rene scowled.

"This wasn't a consumer 3D printer," Curtis shook his head. "This was military-grade."

"You saying there's a printer that can print weapons?" Rene demanded.

"Not just weapons," Alex nodded. "Drones and chemicals, too."

"So many criminals want to steal 3D printers. About a year or two after this, criminals tried to steal a 3D printer that could print organs," Laurel said.

"That's a thing?"

"It will be," Laurel said.

"Sorry I missed the fun," Dinah said as she walked out of the elevator. "Anyone want to catch me up?"

"Break-in at what is ironically called Cadmus Tech," Laurel rolled her eyes.

"Boo!!!!!!"

"The first thing I'm doing when we get back is finding out if Cadmus exists on earth-1," Cisco said.

"I want that changed now," Alex muttered.

"Change it!!!"

"Yeah, we could all do with that," Dig agreed.

"You're thinking Cayden James?" Dinah asked.

"That's what we were assuming, but this crew doesn't look like the type he usually runs with," Curtis frowned.

"That would track with some new street chatter SCPD's been hearing lately," Dinah remarked.

"What kind of chatter?" Rene asked.

"New player," she answered. "No idea what his game is. All we have is a street name: Dragon."

Laurel flinched violently, while Malcolm's eyes narrowed.

"Is that Di-" Alura was cut off by Will shushing her. He nodded.

"It is," Will nodded.

"Laurel, I'm very concerned. Are you growling?" Malcolm said.

"You can't prove it," Laurel said.

"Dragon," Felicity smiled tensely. "That's colorful."

"Tomorrow's problem," Dig said. "Why don't we all get some rack time, hit this fresh in the morning?" The others nodded, heading out, and Dig turned to Alex and Laurel. "Thank you both for helping tonight."

"Sure thing," Laurel nodded. "It's a bit boring around the loft without Malcolm there."

"Aw, you missed me," Malcolm teased.

"Shut up," Laurel muttered.

"Oh, are you growing fond of him?" Alex teased with a smirk.

"Oh, don't go that far, Danvers," Laurel smirked, clapping her on the shoulder. "I don't have anyone to annoy anymore!"

"Liar," Rebecca coughed, making Laurel gawk at her in surprise and Malcolm laugh.

"I have the ability to ground you," Laurel said to her, making Rebecca pout.

Alex laughed as Laurel left, and she turned to Dig. "It was nice getting back out in the field," she admitted. "Sometimes I'm stuck at the command center while you masks get to have all the fun."

"Well, hang low since you don't exist here, and you can help us out any time you like," Dig smiled.

"I'll keep that in mind," Alex smiled, heading for the elevator. "Have a good night!"

"Night!" Dig and Felicity called back, Dig sneaking a look down at his shaking hand.

Slade Wilson

"Excuse the poor accommodations," Joe told Slade as he led him back through the complex. "I don't plan on staying in this stain of a country too long."

"Well, there's a reason why they say the money is in the muck," Slade quipped, setting his mask and helmet down before sitting down himself.

"I did bring one luxury, however," Joe found a bottle on the table, setting it down in front of Slade.

He raised an eyebrow, recognizing the label. "Oh, there's a blast from the past," he remarked, picking it up. "My favorite. I never realized you'd acquired a taste for it, too."

"Like you told me," Joe smirked, bringing over two glasses. "Always drink good booze. And only look out for yourself."

"That's not what he taught me," Rose said.

"Of course it isn't," Slade said. He smiled at her as she hugged him. "I don't live by that rule anymore."

Slade hid a smirk as he stood to pour the drinks. Looking out for himself sometimes meant looking out for others, too. "Well, the Jackals are an unruly bunch," he told him, wondering how Malcolm was holding up with them. "Must have been hard trying to keep ASIS in the dark for so long."

"It's amazing what an agency overlooks when it's willing to leave its own men for dead," Joe scoffed.

Slade chuckled, setting a glass in front of him. "So, what kind of operation are you planning on running here? Drugs? Weapons?" He examined Joe's sword curiously. "Perhaps a military coup?"

"Let's call it a reassignment of resources," Joe answered. "A lucrative one."

Slade examined Joe curiously as they both drank, wondering what that meant. If the apple really didn't fall that far from the tree, it didn't mean anything good.

"Okay, small break," Laurel said.

Everyone headed into the break room. Well, except for Thea and Rebecca, but nobody noticed, cause the supers were stealing all the food.

"Okay, so, you get those seats and I get these?" Rebecca said.

"Yep," Thea said high-fiving her.

"What are you two doing?" Rose was there. She had noticed a distinct lack of annoyance from Rebecca, so she figured something was wrong.

"Oh, me and Rebecca were just- dammit where did she go?" Thea said.

"Probably that vent over there," Rose said.

"That's on the ceiling," Thea said.

"Your point? Anyway, if you're playing a prank on everyone, I'll help. That sounds awesome," Rose said. "What are you doing?"

"We're putting all the seats into a storage room," Thea said.

"Let's do this!" Rebecca was back.

"Holy crap!" Thea said. "Where were you!?"

"Behind that door," Rebecca pointed.

"That's a vent," Thea said.

"It is?"

"...Nevermind, let's move these seats," Thea said.

They went into the breakroom a little while later, and no one noticed they were gone.

Laurel cornered Rebecca later. "What were you doing?"

"What do you mean momma?" Rebecca said innocently.

"You only call me momma when you're guilty of something, or you're upset," Laurel said. "Or when you want cookies."

"That's not true momma," Rebecca said.

"That is true. So either you want cookies, or you just did something. Did you steal Barry's Flash ring again? Or hide stuffed birds all over the Watchtower again? Or do you want cookies?" Laurel said.

"I didn't do anything momma. Can I have cookies?" Rebecca asked.

"You know what? Sure, just eat some lunch first," Laurel said, smiling she messed up Rebecca's hair, despite Rebecca's whining.

"Mom!!!" Rebecca whined.

"What?" Laurel whined in a similar manner.

Rebecca walked off to talk with Alura. Well, more like hang around her annoyingly, and hug her a lot.