Arrow: Slade's Return

11

Joe walks into Slade's office. "They're finished with the last batch." He says. Slade turns around his chair to face Joe.

"Perfect. Everything is going as planned. Prep these boxes for release." Slade eyes a stack of boxes to his right and smirks.

"Right away." Joe says. He grabs a box and walks out of the room. He walks it over to the back of a truck. He loads it in and goes back for the rest. Slade steps out of his office and signals one of his armed men.

"Bag their heads and tie their hands. They're going home." Slade says to the man, referring to the scientists that sit by their stations. They have their heads down and keep quiet, sitting on the stools in front of a counter with machines.

"Yes, sir." The man says. He talks to three other men and they start tying the scientists' hands with zip ties.

*****

Oliver, Felicity, Diggle, Roy and Quentin sit on couches in the Queen's living room. Mark sits on Diggle's lap and Ashlee sits on Oliver's. The news is playing quietly in the background. "Okay, anyone got a plan?" Roy asks. Oliver and Felicity look at each other and smile. They look back at Roy.

"We were thinking we could use some help on this one." Felicity pauses. "From our friends in Central City. Since, ya know, some of the missing scientists are from there."

"I don't know. Does The Flash have enough time in his schedule to stop capturing meta-humans and help us stop Slade?.... Again." Diggle teases.

"I'm sure he'll make time." Felicity says. "I'll call him." Felicity walks into the other room.

"But really, is there a plan?" Roy asks.

"No. Not yet anyway." Oliver says. He bounces Ashlee up and down with his knee.

"I'll go down to the precinct. Grab some men in case we actually think of something." Quentin says as he stands.

"Det. Lance," Oliver sets Ashlee on the couch and stands. "The virus that Slade made. We need a sample of it."

"Sure." Quentin says. Felicity walks back into the room as Quentin walks out the door.

"Where's Det. Lance going?" Felicity asks. She walks over to Oliver. They both sit.

"To get some fire power." Roy says. "Barry?"

"On his way." Felicity smiles. "Well probably not literally because then he would be here right about now and I'm pretty sure he has at least one thing to do before switching cities. Plus he's bringing Joe, and Caitlin, and Cisco. And they can't run as fast as him so he might have to make multiple trips. Unless he's not using his speed. Then it would definitely take longer...." Felicity presses her lips together, zips up the imaginary zipper and locks it with a key. Then she smiles. Oliver, Roy and Diggle all chuckle.

"Guess I still babble." She makes a face. "Do you think it's gotten worse?"

"It's not a disease, Felicity." Oliver says. Felicity giggles.

"I know." She says.

"I think it has, though." Diggle teases.

"John!" Felicity says. She throws a pillow at him. It flys for his face but he blocks it with an arm and it falls to the ground. They all laugh. "Okay but really, we need a plan." Felicity says.

"Det. Lance is working on getting us a sample of the virus that killed those four men. Felicity, have there been any more deaths?" Oliver asks.

"Uhh, nothing the media knows about. I'll check the SCPD's database." Felicity says. She opens her laptop and starts typing.

"Okay. What about-" Oliver stops when the doorbell rings. He walks to the door and opens it.

"Come in." Oliver smiles. Felicity greets Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, and Joe with a hug as they walk in the door. Roy and Diggle do the same. They all walk to the living room and sit.

"Thanks for coming on such short notice." Felicity says. She begins typing on her keyboard again.

"It doesn't take that long to get here, so." Barry teases.

"Joe, do you have the case files for the missing scientists?" Oliver asks.

"Yeah, here. There are 11 from Central." Joe says. He hands the files to Oliver.

"Quentin is getting the files of the 19 from Starling and a sample of the virus." Oliver says.

"What virus?" Caitlin asks. Barry, Cisco, Joe, and Caitlin look confused. Oliver, Roy, and Diggle look at Felicity. She stops typing and looks up.

"Oops. Might have forgotten that part. Um, Slade has created a deadly virus. So far there are only four casualties. We believe they were used for testing the virus." Felicity explains. "Which, clearly worked."

"Oh. We can work with that." Barry says.

"I can help you make an antidote. Do you know anything about it?" Caitlin asks.

"We know that it paralyzes it's victims but that's really all we know." Felicity says. Quentin walks in the door holding files and a glass tube filled with blue liquid.

"I got the files and the sample." Quentin says. He sits down next to Diggle. "Hey Joe, Cisco, Barry, Caitlin." They say hi. "I didn't expect them to be able to do it, but they extracted some of the live virus." He wears a glove on the hand holding the glass tube.

"Can I see that?" Caitlin asks.

"Yeah. Be careful not to touch it. The lab guys say it spreads through contact." Quentin hands her an extra glove and the tube. Caitlin looks at it while everyone reads through the files. "I'm going to need to see the Arrow Cave." Caitlin says. "Wanna come with me?" She asks Felicity.

"Sure." Felicity says. They collect the autopsy report of each virus victim and then head for the door.

"Felicity." Oliver says. Felicity and Caitlin stop. Felicity walks back to Oliver.

"Yeah?" Felicity asks.

"Can you run facial recognition of all of the missing scientists from the day they were taken? Both from Starling and Central?" Oliver asks.

"Of course." Felicity smiles. Oliver stands and kisses her.

"Bye." He says.

"Bye." Felicity and Caitlin walk out the door and Oliver returns to the sofa.

*****

Caitlin and Felicity walk down the steps to the Arrow Cave.

"How long has it been since you guys have been down here?" Caitlin asks.

"Since Slade took Ashlee. But before then, about five years." Felicity says.

"Wow." Caitlin says. Felicity walks to the computers and uncovers them. She turns them on and starts working. Caitlin walks to a table and starts analyzing the virus. "How is Ashlee?" Caitlin asks.

"She's doing great." Felicity smiles.

"That's great..." Caitlin says. "How is Oliver taking this?"

"He's... okay. I mean, Slade being back bothers all of us but I think this is bringing back a lot of unwanted memories for him. Last time he dealt with Slade was... actually, on Lian Yu with Thea. But I mean with the whole Mirakuru thing, he lost his mom. It's hard. Though, ya know, being Oliver and everything, he doesn't show it. I can tell though, when he's holding back his emotions." Felicity says. Caitlin doesn't respond for awhile.

"Hemlock!" Caitlin says.

"What?" Felicity asks.

"Hemlock. Poison Hemlock. It's the base of the virus. That explains the paralysis." Caitlin explains.

"This is good, right? You can make a cure or antidote or whatever." Felicity says.

"Yeah, it's going to take time. But I think I can make a cure." Caitlin says. Felicity's computer beeps. She turns her chair around to it. It squeaks and the girls giggle.

"Oh no." Felicity says, eyes widened.

"What?" Caitlin says. She walks over to the computer screen. "Oh no."