Winn Schott

Winn whistled as he walked back towards the computers, only to do a double-take when he saw both James and Winn were watching Dig do a handstand. "Whoa," he blinked.

"No kidding," James nodded in agreement.

"That is . . . so not fair," Curtis complained.

Dig landed back on his feet and stood up. "It's not supposed to be fair," he said dryly. "But thanks to you, I might be able to keep my job."

"No tremor?" Curtis asked.

"Almost gone," Dig confirmed, smiling. "You're a genius, Curtis."

"I bet you say that to all the geniuses," Curtis scoffed, but he smiled as well.

"Tremor?" Winn frowned.

"What kind of tremor?" James looked between them.

"You're letting us know immediately if you get a tremor," Oliver told Dig, who nodded.

"Doesn't matter anymore," Dig shook his head, brushing it off.

Winn would have pressed further had the computers not started beeping. "What's that?" James looked around.

"Hacker tracker," Curtis answered, he and Winn running to the computers. He bent over his, checking where they were going. "Our friend Cayden just infiltrated security at Amertek, which, as it happens, has twenty different possible accelerants which cause . . . well, lots of damage."

"I got tech," Winn offered.

"I can stay here, too, just in case," James added. "You've already got plenty of fielders."

"Want to say it?" Curtis asked Dig with a wide grin.

"Call in the team," Dig ordered. "And suit up!"

Oliver Queen

"What's this I'm hearing about Watson having a smoking gun?" Quentin demanded as he turned away from the news.

"She gave it to DA Armand," Oliver answered grimly as the court group entered the office.

"Yeah, we need to find out what kind of ammunition they work with," Rene nodded.

"No, no," Oliver shook his head. "I'm not risking Felicity hacking the FBI."

"Please, like I haven't done that before," Felicity said. "You insult me."

"Eh, too late," Lena pulled out her phone. "I already asked not only her but Winn to start looking. But, there's also too little. Any information they have, they're keeping it offline."

"Great," Thea grumbled.

"Well, I can check around the SCPD, see if anybody's heard anything," Dinah offered.

"Good," Oliver nodded. "Quentin, Thea, let's see if whatever it is came from city hall."

"Sure thing," Thea nodded.

"Yeah, been a while since I used my detective skills," Quentin smirked.

"You know, on the plus side, you getting arrested has done wonders for your approval ratings," Rene noted.

"Because everyone would recommend getting arrested to improve approval ratings," Joe scoffed.

"Except it looks like it's had the opposite effect on this anti-vigilante referendum," J'onn frowned, seeing what Quentin was watching.

"There's a silver lining," Oliver scoffed.

The phones of the Earth-38ers chimed, and they pulled them out as Rene's and Dinah's went off, too. "That's Winn," Lena said. "There's a bad guy – well, girl – who's breaking into Amertek," Lena said.

"Probably Evelyn," Kara narrowed her eyes.

"Oh, I'm looking forward to this," Alex grinned, tapping her phone against her hand. "J'onn?"

"Go," J'onn nodded. "Judging by how quickly three others jumped at the opportunity to help, they've got something against her?"

"Oh, yeah," Kara nodded. "Laurel and Evelyn worked with Chase before Laurel switched sides, and the last time Slade and Malcolm saw Evelyn, she was aiming a gun right in Oliver's face."

"Lovely," Lena wrinkled her nose.

"And even better, Evelyn's got a techy version of a Canary Cry," Dinah added.

"I bet Laurel's happy about that," Quentin said dryly.

"Absolutely," Rene rolled his eyes.

"OK, so you guys can go after Evelyn, and we will meanwhile distract ourselves with clearing my brother's good name," Thea nodded.

Alex let off a small salute, and she, Lena, and J'onn followed Rene and Dinah off. "I'll go tell William what's going on," Kara whispered, squeezing Oliver's hand. "You need anything, just call."

"I will," Oliver nodded, kissing her. "This nightmare will be over soon."

"Rao, I hope so," Kara sighed, heading for the door as well.

John Diggle

"Can I just say," Laurel smirked as the now doubled in size Team Arrow moved into Amertek. "That suit looks wonderful on you."

"Thanks," Alex smirked. "I've made sure to put it to good use."

"She's definitely making a name for herself," J'onn remarked from over the comms.

"Oh, I bet," Malcolm snorted.

Rene and Malcolm led the way onto the catwalk, with Dinah and Laurel behind them, then Alex and Slade, Curtis and Dig behind them. They looked down at the mercenaries on the ground floor, then Dig whispered, "Sitrep."

"OK, you got four turkeys near the entrance and five more stuffed in on the floor," Felicity answered. "All puns intended."

"Awesome puns," Cisco complimented her.

"Guys, your window to move is now," Winn added.

"Copy that," Dig looked up. "Me, Terrific, Wolf, and Siren have the guys on the left. You four, the guys on the right. Move out!"

"Go, go," Malcolm gestured for Dinah to go ahead, he and Slade following Dinah and Rene.

Malcolm Merlyn

Two of the mercenaries were walking by when there was an innocent whistle above them. One looked up, then let out a cry of shock when a black arrow pierced his shoulder. "Oops," Malcolm snarked.

Rebecca just started laughing hysterically.

The other guard got a sword hilt to the head, and Slade smirked as he went down like a sack of bricks. "Two already!" he called.

"Are they... keeping score?" Barry asked in shock.

"Yes," Ollie sighed, making Malcolm whistle innocently, while Rebecca laughed.

"Are we keeping score?" Laurel asked in disbelief as she and Alex charged the other side of the building.

"Are we?" Rene perked up. "In that case . . . " He crashed into another mercenary, flipping him end over end. "Three!"

"Of course Rene joined in," Dinah sighed.

"Oh, no," Alex shook her head, jamming one of her brass knuckles into the knee of another mercenary, sending him down with a shout. "One!"

Malcolm fist-bumped Alex as he saw that.

"Two!" Curtis joined in, tossing one of his T-spheres.

"Oh, my God," Lena groaned over the comms.

"Seriously?" James asked in disbelief as more counts were called. "They're actually keeping score?"

"The children started it!" Laurel barked, spitting hair out of her face as she knocked another merc out. "Five!"

"Nice," Rebecca said, high fiving her mom.

"Oh, come on!" Malcolm grinned as he smacked his bow into another merc's head. "What's wrong with a little fun? That's seven!"

"I think they bring more fun to the team with the counting," Cisco said.

A grunt of pain from Dig made everyone spin around, and they found the man bending over double, sinking to the ground. Dinah instantly sprinted over, whirling her bo staff and knocking him out. She didn't count the guard to her team's tally, as all of them ran to check on Dig. "Arrow!" Curtis yelped.

"That's not fun," Cisco pouted at the tv.

"John, what the hell's going on?" Felicity demanded as Slade and Alex crouched to check on him.

"I'm OK," Dig ground out.

"No, he's not!" Slade snapped.

"We need to get you out of here, now," Dinah agreed.

"No, you need to stop Evelyn," Dig shook his head. "Go!"

Laurel ground her teeth, looking over her shoulder. "We'll get him out," Malcolm volunteered, he joining Slade with Dig.

"I'll meet you there," J'onn pitched in.

"The rest of you, go," Slade nodded to the team. "Go, now!"

Rene and Alex led the way onwards, and Dinah, Curtis, and Laurel followed. "Come on," Malcolm put an arm around Dig, Slade going the same, the two of them helping him to his feet. "Let's go."

Alex Danvers

Rene started firing at mercs, providing cover fire as Alex and Laurel charged in, only to have to duck behind cover as mercs fired at her. "There's no way we can do anything here!" Laurel growled angrily as Alex pulled out one of her guns. "We'll make something explode!"

"Great!" Alex thunked her head against the column they were hiding behind. "Just great!"

Dinah slid down on a chain to try and reach Evelyn, who turned away from the guards taking a crate from inside glass, but yelped when an arrow pierced her in the back. Alex quickly shot in the direction the arrow had come from, seeing Talia disappear behind cover. "Take cover!" Laurel yelled.

Dinah ran their way, Rene and Curtis darting there, too. They heard the gunshots continue, then stop for a second.

Alex let out a shout of pain when an ear-piercing version of a Canary Cry rang out, and she covered her ears, hearing Laurel shout out a swear as things began exploding all around them.

When they looked around cover, Evelyn, Talia, and the mercs were all gone. "God damn it," Alex seethed.

Felicity Smoak

"Dig's been keeping this a secret for months?" Felicity demanded as Dinah set her staff down.

"Some kind of drugs," Rene nodded.

"And he told you guys, and then he didn't loop me in?" Felicity looked around.

"It was right when you all returned from Kasnia," Dinah explained.

"And he figured that he'd be OK after Curtis hooked him up with that prototype thingy," Rene added.

"What prototype thingy?" Felicity narrowed her eyes.

"It was a shot of some kind," Laurel answered as the elevator doors opened. "Other than that, you'll have to ask him."

"Speaking of," Malcolm announced as he walked in, he and Slade both still in full uniform. "J'onn and Curtis are with Dig at the hospital."

"He's stable," Slade explained. "They're running tests right now."

"Feels wrong, us not being at the hospital with him," Rene sighed.

"I don't think all of us showing up in his room right now is what we need," Alex shook her head.

"Well, he needs to get back on his feet soon," Winn remarked, gesturing to where he had Evelyn's and Talia's profiles up on his monitor. "Because I remember the last time I met one of these ladies, and it took the entire team to take them on. Not fun from where I was standing."

"You were crouching," Malcolm raised an eyebrow.

"That's what you focus on!?" Winn said.

"Dude, not helping my point!"

Both yelped when they were simultaneously hit on the back of their heads. "Ow," Winn grimaced, looking sheepishly at Alex, who folded her arms.

"What?" Malcolm demanded at Laurel.

Ollie laughed as he saw them both get slapped on the back of the head.

"She still does that!" Malcolm said.

"Not true. Me and Alex switch off. Sometimes I get Slade and she gets you. Depends on who's closest," Laurel said.

"Back on topic," Slade gave them both looks. "What did those demons steal?"

"Um," Lena tapped on her tablet. "Looks like one hundred pounds of polymer-bonded explosives. When they combined with the nano-thermite, it . . . " Her eyes widened in horror. "Oh, no."

"I don't like those two words put together," Malcolm narrowed his eyes.

"No, you shouldn't," Lena lunged for her phone.

J'onn J'onzz

"It'll take a little while for this blood work to come back, but if I had to guess, you're suffering withdrawal from the drug you've been taking in combination with Mr. Holt's experimental treatment," Dr. Schwartz told Dig, Curtis, and J'onn as they waited for her diagnosis.

"Is he gonna be OK?" Curtis asked worriedly.

"I'll know more once Mr. Diggle's panels come back," she answered.

"Thank you, doctor," Dig sighed.

Curtis sighed in frustration. "I should've run a mountain of tests on you before injecting you with that prototype."

"It was my choice," Dig shook his head. "Don't beat yourself up, Curtis."

A phone started buzzing, and J'onn frowned, reaching for his pocket. He pulled it out, narrowing his eyes. "Lena," he said, putting the phone on speaker.

Lena didn't even wait for anything. "We have a problem," she announced. "A massive, huge problem. And that's saying something, considering it's the same week Oliver's been arrested."

"What is it?" J'onn asked.

"The nano-thermite, when combined with the explosive, creates a thermobaric weapon."

"What's a thermobaric weapon?" Dig asked, seeing Curtis's eyes widen.

"Nothing good, I presume," J'onn said dryly.

"Absolutely not," Lena agreed. "It disperses what is essentially a cloud of fire and then pressure-cooks everything within 200 yards."

"I'm guessing we're giving up hope that Cayden James has to cook a lot of turkeys for Thanksgiving," Curtis winced as Dig pinched the bridge of his nose.

"The only good news we have right now is that a thermobaric bomb is extremely difficult to make," Lena added.

"Yeah, well, Cayden James can do it, given his history, and he'll probably detonate it in a populated area," Dig said grimly.

"Maximize casualties," Curtis closed his eyes.

"Go help them, see if you can find out where he's targeting," Dig ordered.

Curtis nodded and left at once. "Good work, Ms. Luthor," J'onn said.

"We'll keep working," she said, then hung up.

J'onn put his phone back in his pocket, then folded his arms, looking at Dig. Dig looked back before sighing heavily. "Has anyone told you that you have one of the most intimidating 'I am disappointed' faces ever?"

"Remind me to," Winn said. "He really does."

"Dr. Schwartz said you've had nerve problems for four months," J'onn remarked. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you on Earth-38 four months ago?" Dig's jaw clenched, and J'onn nodded. "It was the explosion, wasn't it?" "Yeah," Dig admitted. "The explosion."

"We could have helped."

"Samantha was dead, and Clark and Kara were in comas," Dig shook his head. "This was minuscule compared to them."

"Miniscule," J'onn raised an eyebrow. "Which is why you're currently in a hospital because of drug withdrawal and the use of an untested prototype to attempt to cure this 'minuscule' problem."

"I get it," Dig narrowed his eyes. "OK? I'm sorry."

"Have you told Oliver?" J'onn asked. "I know Kara doesn't know, or else she would have been worried out of her mind about you."

"No," Dig shook his head. "I haven't told either of them."

"They need to know."

"Look, Oliver just got arrested, and Kara's already worrying herself sick . . . if she could get sick while she has her powers. I don't want to add anything to their plate."

"They deserve to know," J'onn amended.

Dig was silent for a few moments. "Not this week."

"Ugh! People are so stubborn!"

J'onn held back a sigh and settled for looking up at the ceiling. Humans were so stubborn sometimes.

"They really are," Moira nodded, making Rebecca nodded.

"You're human," Laurel said.

"Prove it."

"I- I was the one to give birth to you."

"Fine. You win."

"And Moira, you're half-human," Laurel said.

"Eh," Moira shrugged.

"Again... That is not a thing that you can say is not true. It is a fact."

"You're a fact."

"What did I say about that!"

"Well, I'm not allowed to repeat it, but the gist is, don't do that?"

"Yep."

Felicity Smoak

"Thanksgiving Day," Rene scrolled on his tablet. "There's a million events going on."

"I mean, who would this guy target?" James asked, looking through a list of his own. "Soup kitchens, parade?"

"Doorbuster sales?" Felicity suggested. When everyone looked at her, she blushed. "Well, that's where my mom took me!"

"Cayden James seems smarter than that," Malcolm shook his head. "He would be logical. He'd be calculating."

"Calculating!" Felicity's head shot up, and she turned around. "I saw one of his algorithms at Helix. It's based on traffic patterns and can extrapolate to predict population movements."

"Can you recreate it?" Alex asked.

Before Felicity could answer, Curtis emerged from the elevator. "I'm here," he announced. "Uh, what can I do to help?"

"You can start by telling me what prototype you used to treat John's condition," Felicity answered.

"Our prototype," Curtis answered. "The one we've been developing to cure paralysis."

"You injected our friend with our company's proprietary technology, and you didn't think to, I don't know, involve me in that at all?" Felicity scowled.

Winn and Rene, the two stuck between Curtis and Felicity, looked back and forth between them like they were watching a tennis match. The others slowly backed away to give them their space. "I thought Lone Ranger was just the way we did things here at Helix Dynamics," Curtis narrowed his eyes. "You know, the name of the company you picked without consulting me?"

Malcolm's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and Rene finally cleared his throat. "I'm gonna . . . work on an algorithm over there when I figure out what an algorithm is."

"Good idea," Felicity said.

"I'll help!" Winn quickly stood up, following Rene to the side, the others hastily finding other things to do as well.

"I can't believe you just equated a company name to exposing a friend of ours to an untested procedure, one you still haven't told me about!" Felicity hissed.

"It's the prototype of your spinal implant," Curtis told her. "Well, mine, seeing as how I'm the one who invented it, which is why I probably don't understand how you get to be so offended here!"

Felicity sighed. "We don't have time for this right now," she muttered, turning around.

Curtis watched her work before suggesting, "You should cross-reference the crowd's patterns with the bomb's path of destruction. I'll work on a particle cloud SIM."

Felicity nodded, and the two of them got to work. She finally whispered, "You could've just told me you didn't like the name."

"It's more than just the name, Felicity," Curtis shook his head. "You picked the product we're making, we're working out of your loft."

"That's called being decisive, taking initiative," Felicity looked at him. "I didn't do anything in secret."

Curtis huffed. "Can we maybe fight about this when we don't have a thermobaric bomb to stop?"

"You don't have to ask me to do anything because that's how you and I work together," Felicity said, looking at her computer when it beeped. "It's done," she said, walking away. "Let's hope it works."

John Diggle

Dig looked up when the door to his room opened, and he winced when Oliver walked in. "I told J'onn not to bother you with this."

"He didn't," Oliver shook his head. "Actually, it was Alex who called. Kara would be here, and she probably will be after she's done sorting out that you got hurt trying to help her." Dig winced, and Oliver raised an eyebrow. "So, which part did you not want to bother us with? You being in the hospital? The experimental steroid? Or the nerve damage that has affected you for months?" Dig sighed, and Oliver tilted his head. "Are you gonna be all right?"

"I'll be fine," Dig nodded. "I didn't want you to worry, Oliver, which is why I didn't tell you."

"No," Oliver shook his head. "No, John, you didn't tell me because you knew I'd never let you go out there compromised and that I'd certainly never let you compromise the team. I've been mad at you before, John, but this . . . is the first time I've ever been disappointed."

"Oliver, you gave up the right to judge me when you gave up that hood," Dig gave him a look.

"You don't get to claim the moral high ground here, my friend," Oliver raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I'm not, Oliver," he shook his head. "But I apologized to the people who I endangered – the team, Oliver. The team. My obligation begins and ends with them. I don't owe you a damn thing."

Oliver narrowed his eyes. "For the sake of our friendship, I hope that's withdrawal talking."

"I put on this hood because you asked me to," Dig stood up, glaring at him.

"Don't blame me for this," Oliver growled.

"I'm not blaming you, Oliver," Dig shook his head. "I blame myself. For putting your needs, your goals, even your family, above my own. I've done that from the very beginning. That was my biggest mistake."

"That was your biggest mistake," Oliver repeated, then scoffed. "Mine was trusting you to be the Green Arrow." He turned to leave before pausing and turning. "Kara did ask me to tell you something, though. She wants to know what the results are when they come in. She likes to know what injuries people suffer when they help her."

Kara flinched as she heard him say that.

"It's true," Winn pointed out quietly.

Dig flinched slightly at that, and Oliver left the way he had come.

Rene Ramirez

"Should we order our traditional Thanksgiving meal?" Felicity asked curiously as she typed on her tablet.

"I can call Big Belly Burger," Curtis offered.

"I'm gonna crush my French fries and pretend they're mashed potatoes," Rene nodded.

"I've tried that. It's actually not that bad," Will said.

"Yikes," James whistled.

"Yeah, welcome to Thanksgiving for us," Curtis nodded.

The computers started beeping, and Lena sat up from her seat. "Got it," she announced. "Maximum damage for a thermobaric bomb is Starling Stadium."

Rene blinked. "Today's Thanksgiving!"

"Yeah, I think we just covered that," Laurel raised an eyebrow. "I distinctly remember discussing the possibility of ordering turkey burgers."

"Wow," Malcolm grinned.

"I'm saying Billy Joel's playing there tonight!" Rene told them. "Sold-out crowd." He rolled his eyes when Malcolm and Slade both looked at him, surprised. "I happen to like a wide variety of music, and The Stranger is a treasured piece of rock and roll history."

"Yeah, you and J'onn have similar tastes in music," Alex smirked.

"Really?" Winn asked curiously, turning to look at J'onn.

"Eyes forward, Agent Schott," he said dryly.

"Yes, boss," Winn turned back around at once.

"Starling Stadium seats thirty-five thousand people," Felicity blanched.

"Guess that sold-out crowd's gonna get pressure-cooked to death," Curtis winced.

"Is there any chance all of us can get there in time, face this guy, and make sure this bomb doesn't go off?" Alex asked.

"Well, there's four hours until showtime," Winn leaned forward, typing on his computer. "Ooo, and bad news. That's definitely the place because Cayden already has control over the system."

"So good news?" James asked optimistically.

"Nope, just worse news," Winn shook his head. "Can't shut it down and can't cut the power because I just tried it, and Cayden has locked me out of the grid."

"Me, too," Lena sighed in frustration, leaning on her palm.

"I don't think the saying 'the show must go on' is appropriate here," Slade shook his head grimly.

"Queen!" Rebecca said gleefully. "That's one of Rose's favorite bands," She said, making Alex smile.

"This one can't."

"I might be able to help with that," Oliver announced, and everyone turned as he walked up. "I'll declare a state of emergency and make them cancel the concert."

"Did you talk to Dig?" Alex asked.

"John and I spoke," Oliver grimaced slightly. "I'd like to apologize to everyone. I didn't know about John's injury, and I should have. I will have them shut down the concert."

Rene grumbled under his breath. "I wanted to see Billy Joel."

"That worth getting pressure-cooked?" Winn raised an eyebrow. When Rene glared at him, Winn held up his hands and turned around. "I'm just saying!"

Oliver Queen

"Like I said on the phone, Mr. Mayor," the manager of the stadium stood as Oliver walked down the steps. "I'm not canceling. The cost will be catastrophic."

"Well, so would a terrorist attack," Oliver countered.

"You have no actionable intelligence or confirmation from law enforcement," the manager scoffed. "You're asking me to set a match to millions of dollars on a hunch?"

"Have you even brought this to Mr. Joel?" Oliver asked.

"Brought what?" the manager countered. "You haven't given me anything substantive."

"I'm trying to save lives!"

"You're trying to save your ass!" he snapped. "You give me some proof, something more than your gut to go on, and I'll cancel. But without it, we open the gates at 7 pm."

"Idiot."