To Life Being Full (Book Three of The Unmatched Records)

Arrow ~ Brothers In Arms ~ Part Three

You know . . . I really hate it when I underestimate how many words of original content I end up writing because then a chapter ends up being over twice as long as previous chapters. This is a whopping 6.8K+ word chapter, and a ton of it is original content. Geez.

Oliver tackles Hill with Lyla's help, Kara helps Armand with the Legion, and the remaining Team Arrow members save the day everywhere else. Does that mean everything ends up perfect in the end?

I apologize if I did not represent Armand's son correctly. I have no medical knowledge whatsoever, and I tried not to delve in depth to his son's condition because of it, so I hope his portrayal is OK for this chapter.

Enjoy the ending of "Brothers In Arms!"

***

Felicity was still deep in her work when Dig returned from A.R.G.U.S. Malcolm was maneuvering through practice dummies, sword a blur of silver as he moved through them like a dance. Dig watched him for a few seconds before he saw Slade checking over their weaponry. The Aussie looked up as he approached, giving him a nod. "How did it go at A.R.G.U.S.?"

"Good," Dig nodded absently, tapping one fist over the other. "It went good. Lyla's on her way to meet with Oliver and Captain Hill."

"That's a relief," Slade sighed. "The sooner she's no longer a threat, the sooner Diaz has less claws in the city."

"Yeah," Dig nodded, still staring at a blank spot on the wall.

Slade looked long and hard at Dig before picking up a particularly heavy handgun and dropping it down on the metal table. The resulting clang made not only Dig jump, but Malcolm and Felicity as well. "Hey!" Felicity complained.

"Sorry," Slade apologized as Dig blinked rapidly. "Had to snap John out of it."

"Thanks," Dig winced, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry about that."

"Something's bothering you," Slade leaned back against the column behind him. "What is it?"

Dig sighed. "Thanks for backing my play with Katz," he said.

Slade did a double take. "That's it?" he asked in surprise.

"That's typically not Oliver's style of doing things."

"Oliver left this in our hands while he's at City Hall," Slade reminded him. "We're doing what we need to do."

"Exactly!" Dig pointed at him. "That's exactly my point! Out at City Hall, he needs to be careful with who he pisses off and who he talks with. Kara's good for that, but out in the field? We do what we've gotta do to keep the city safe. And every person we fail to bring down, that's another person Oliver has to protect the city from. That's another win for Diaz."

"And Oliver can't have that," Slade shook his head.

"Exactly," Dig nodded furiously, taking a deep breath and leaning back against the table. "Wow, I've been sitting on that for a while."

"I know what you mean," Slade told Dig. "Malcolm and I both do. On Earth-38, we don't have a history that could turn civilians against us. We're friends of Kara, we can walk freely. Here in Star City? One picture at the wrong time, and the city will be up in arms calling for our heads. All we can do is fight in the field, try and ease Oliver's burden for him so he doesn't carry everything by himself."

"And I can't thank you enough for that," Dig said genuinely. "I screwed up in how I was thinking of you, all of you. I'm sorry."

Slade nodded. "And I'm sorry for that verbal lashing I gave you."