Season 3: Rebuilding

3x11: Trickle Of Fear

Synopsis: Oliver and Jane host a Charity fundraiser aimed at helping Starling City but also to benefit Oliver's influence and future takeover of Queen Consolidated. The event, however doesn't go as planned. The fundraiser is attacked and a beloved character dies as a result. In order to find the killer, Diggle has to visit Floyd Lawton. After the fundraiser, Thea is driven further away from Roy and Oliver.

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3x11: Trickle of Fear

"Are you asleep?" Diggle asked softly, as he poked his head around the door post.

Lyla rested on top of the covers, with their four month daughter soundly asleep on her chest. The child gently snoozed, a sound Lyla had become utterly fascinated by during these past few moments of solitude.

The woman glanced towards the open door and yawned, "If I was, how am I supposed to answer that?"

"Not answering would be answer enough," Diggle countered without missing a beat.

Lyla smiled warmly as she ran a tired hand through her dark locks. Her gaze roamed across her ex-husband's sturdy frame where he leaned against the doorpost with a grin to soften his features. He wore a sleek, black suit and a paler tie that all fit him sharply. "You look handsome."

John raised an eyebrow in jest. "As opposed to...?"

"Always. Always handsome."

The man's grin widened as he stepped into the room and sank onto the bed beside his wife, careful not to disturb the sleeping child. He lowered his voice to a whisper as he said, "Are you sure you don't want to join me at the Charity gala? There's still time to find a babysitter."

"I want to stay home with Maya," Lyla shook her head. "You go out and have a good time, Johnny."

Diggle nodded and moved to stand, when Lyla grabbed for him. She clutched his hand in her smaller one and gently tugged him back down. As he sank back, he frowned in confusion.

"Johnny..." Lyla's voice was hesitant, as if balancing on the stray edge of a knife. "I got a proposition this afternoon."

"What kind of proposition?"

Lyla pressed her lips together in a tight line. She knew what she had to say could possibly blow up in her face, as so many other arguments had regarding this particular subject. Still, she had to be honest with the man she loved. She had vowed before to never keep secrets from him, and this was no exception. "Waller. She offored me a promotion to be her second-in-command... It would mean fewer missions abroad and I'd be stationed in Starling City... Closer to you and Maya."

Diggle's face was contrite and lacking emotion as he cautiously asked, "... You took it?"

Lyla shook her head as she held his gaze captive. "I wanted to discuss it with you first."

Diggle exhaled deeply and looked down at their joint hands. "You already know what I think, Lyla. We should have left A.R.G.U.S before our daughter was born."

"John..." Lyla sighed and searched for the right words. "It's more complicated than that."

"I know. Grey areas..." Diggle hummed gruffly. "I also know my opinion hasn't changed much by working directly under Amanda Waller. The only reason I still work there is to keep an eye on you and Oliver."

Lyla could see the hurt flash past in the man's bottomless depths. She knew the past few months had been hard on everyone in Oliver's proximity. After Felicity's kidnapping, he had pushed everyone away and walked a lonely path hard to turn from. "How is he?"