Oliver was in the hideout, working out more fiercely than ever, shirtless. All he could remember was being beaten by the other archer. He tossed up a tennis ball, shooting an arrow toward it.

The arrow shot into the wall.

The tennis ball fell to the floor, bouncing slightly.

I walked toward him. "How you doing? Rehab going good?"

Oliver looked around the room. "Any news on Walter?"

"John's contact at the bureau struck out," I told him. "Same with his guy at Interpol. They're both saying the same thing."

"Either my stepfather doesn't want to be found or someone doesn't want him to be found," Oliver told me.

"It's been six weeks, Oliver," I told him. "No contact from the kidnappers, no ransom demand, no proof of life. I hate to sound..."

"Jill..." Oliver trailed off, turning to me, nodding. "We both know he's more than likely dead."

Oliver started to pace.

"What do you want to do?" I asked.

"I don't know," Oliver told me. 

"Even my contacts in the Bratva can't dig up a lead," I told him. "But I wasn't talking about Walter." I picked up Robert's journal with the list of names of the people who had failed Starling City. "Back at fighting weight, looks like. And last I checked, there were more than a few names to cross off in this book."

Oliver turned to face me. "Those people aren't going anywhere. With Walter missing, my family needs me right now."

"If that's what you want," I told him. "I'll take the lead on this thing."

Oliver nodded. "Thank you."

Oliver walked past me.

I gazed off into nothing.

⚔ 

Flashback - 5 Years Ago   

Yao Fei, Edward Fyers, Jill and Oliver were in the woods on the island.

Edward was tied up.

Yao held a radio toward Edward. "Tell your people to bring the plane."

"My people will be here shortly," Edward told them. "Do you not think it convenient you captured me so easily?"

The man in the orange and black mask walked out of the treeline toward them.

Yao looked at Jill and Oliver. "Go!"

"What?" Jill asked.

"Run!" Yao told them, pulling the hood over his head.

Oliver brought Jill away from the fight.

Yao ran toward the man in the mask. The masked man tried to slash into him with a blade. Yao raised his bow to block the move, trying to kick him. The masked man ducked.

Jill and Oliver were running away through the woods.

Men in dark clothes with shotguns and rifles were aiming in the direction of Jill and Oliver, firing.

Jill and Oliver had to hide behind trees for cover, looking back, seeing the masked men and the uniformed men take Yao away. They looked horrified.

⚔    

Now

I was getting suited up in the hideout, watching the news.

"So, what strikes me is that these two vigilantes were actually making a difference. In the four months that the hood and the girl in the blue were active together, assaults were down, muggings down. The murder rate dropped by 16%. So, in a very quantifiable way, these vigilantes had been a positive force in this city. And for these past six weeks, the girl in the blue with the swords is still out there, doing what they do, just less open about what she does. But where has the hood been for that time period?" 

I turned the TV off, noticing that the phone that I used in Lance's and my conversations was buzzing. I picked it up, answering.

Laurel's voice was on the other line. "Hello? I need your help."

⚔    

We were still on the phone. 

I put on the voice disguiser app on the phone so that I could speak and she wouldn't recognize my voice. "You said this was important?"

"My best friend's brother. He died two days ago fighting a fire. The police and fire department say that he died in the line of duty. But my friend, she thinks he was murdered."

"So you're asking a vigilante to find a killer."

"I have to do something, because no one else is doing anything. My best friend, Joanna De La Vega, she dug into her brother's death, Danny, and his coat was doused in turpentine. But we checked, and the plant owner said that there wasn't any in the factory. A turnout's supposed to withstand temperatures in excess of 500 degrees. But the coroner said that the fire did not exceed 250. I asked myself, 'How did this firefighter burn hotter than the fire that supposedly killed him?' So, I did some digging of my own. Last week, another firefighter, Leo Barnes, was killed in action. Same circumstances as my best friend's brother. Traces of turpentine and ignition temperatures hotter than the actual fire. If Danny De La Vega and Leo Barnes were murdered, then we have to bring his killer to justice."

"I'll look into it."

I hung up. 

⚔    

Oliver was in another room of the hideout, working out, hitting a device over and over again, shirtless once again.

John was helping him. 

I walked closer. "You need to rotate your hips, Oliver. That's where the power comes from. It's not just your arms, even if they're the size of bowling balls." Oliver and John turned to face me, walking closer. "Laurel reached out to the girl in blue last night."

"Really?" John asked. "Thought the vigilantes spooked her pretty well last time."

"Oliver spooked her," I corrected. "I didn't. She thinks somebody's killing firemen." I showed John a file in my hands. "Laurel and her best friend Joanna did some digging, and this is what I could find myself." I handed it to him. "Take a look."

"It looks all in the job," John told us. "Seems pretty thin."

"Will you look into it?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah," John answered. I turned to my box with the swords. "I have a friend who has a friend in the fire investigating department. I'll reach out."

"Let me know what you find," I told him.

"Got it," John told us, walking out, leaving.

Oliver turned to go back to his exercise.

"You think you've gotten yourself up enough?" I asked. "Don't feel like getting back into the game?" Oliver didn't answer. "You know, Oliver, you've been spending a lot of time around here lately. I thought after six weeks, you'd be anxious to suit up."

They heard men upstairs.

"Let me see what's going on upstairs in the club," Oliver told me, walking away.

I sighed, nodding.

⚔ 

Upstairs, I found Tommy, Oliver and a man in the main part of the building where they were planning to build the club.

 Oliver looked at Tommy. "You know, I do realize that it's difficult for you to manage my nightclub, what with there not being an actual nightclub here."

Tommy turned to face him. "Yeah, I just took the liberty of yelling at our contractor. I told him if we didn't see any real progress, we were going to bring someone else in to finish the job."

"Good," Oliver told him. "How's Laurel's friend? The one whose brother was a fireman?"

"She is hanging in there," Tommy answered. "Thanks." He turned to look around the place, seeing me. "Oh, Jill, bartender, good, you're here." I walked closer. "I have something I wanted to bring up to the both of you. I was thinking that we could throw a fundraiser for the fire department. Raise some money for the families."

"That's a great idea," I told him.

"We could do it here," Tommy told us. "We could keep the overhead low, make sure we maximize the proceeds to the firemen."

Oliver looked at Tommy in amusement. "Who are you? Where's my friend Tommy Merlyn? The guy who once rented out a pro football stadium so that he could play strip kickball with models."

Tommy smiled. "That guy needed a swift kick in his lazy ass."

I smirked, nodding, looking away.

⚔    

Oliver had gone home to be with his family to see how they were doing.

John came back to me in the hideout underneath the club. "Eyewitnesses place a '72 Ford pick up at the scene of Danny De La Vega's fire."

"Okay," I told him.

"Stagg chemical lit up ten minutes ago," John told me. "I hacked into Stagg's video security feeds. Parked right on the street running along the plant."

"Same pickup?" I asked.

"The gear in the car," John told me. "Are you sure that Oliver's not up to being the man in the hood?"

"He just needs some time," I told him. "Defeated by the other archer isn't something that Oliver's used to. But by the time someone made a call to the police station and looked for someone to listen, one of those firemen could be dead. The people might not be able to get ahold of the hood tonight, but they're gonna get the girl in blue."

I walked past John toward my suit and the box with my swords.

⚔    

Flashback - 5 Years Ago

Jill and Oliver were in the woods on the island.

Oliver was making a fire to warm themselves up.

Jill had water for the both of them. She heard twigs snapping behind her, turning around to look over her shoulder.

Oliver noticed. "What?"

Jill looked at Oliver, placing a finger over her lips, pointing behind her.

Oliver put out the fire, picking up a knife from the ground.

Jill and Oliver stood, walking away from the clearing.

A uniformed man walked into the clearing, seeing the remnants of the fire. He spoke into a radio. "I have contact. Two clicks southwest."

Jill and Oliver were hiding behind separate trees, looking over their shoulders toward the uniformed man.

⚔    

Now

It was after dark at a building that had went up in flames.

I was suited up.

Firefighters were doing their best to put the flames out.

A firefighter spoke through his radio. "Portable one to Deputy Chief Seven. All clear of civilians."

"Copy that. Bail out and wait for second-in companies."

The firefighter was walking through the building, away from any flames.

I saw a man in a suit pop up next to the firefighter, hitting him in the head, making him fall over a railing.

The firefighter held on as tight as he could to the railing so he wouldn't fall to the flames below. "Who are you?"

I jumped down from the rafters, grabbing pushing the suited man away from the railing, pulling the firefighter up to the railing to where he could stand on his own and wouldn't fall. The suited man ran toward me, pushing me away from the railing. I turned to him, punching him in the face that was guarded by a mask, kicking him in the stomach, then the leg, making him fall to his knees. The man drew an ax, swinging it toward me. I used my sword to block the move. The man kicked me in the leg, standing. I saw a firefly tattoo on his right hand. The man threw a bomb toward me. I used my sword to hit the bomb away, making it fall to the floor, ducking for cover.

The bomb exploded behind us. 

I looked behind me to see that the suited man had disappeared. I lowered my head, sighing heavily.

⚔    

Flashback - 5 Years Ago

Oliver and Jill were still hiding in the woods behind separate trees.

The uniformed man was still looking for them.

Oliver was holding the knife in a shaky hand. 

The man came very close to the tree where Jill was hiding, firing. 

Jill ducked behind the other side of the tree so she wouldn't get shot.

Oliver ran toward the man, tackling him away from Jill, making him drop the gun. The man gripped Oliver by his throat, pushing him against the tree. Oliver tried to stab him with the knife. The man twisted Oliver's wrist to make him drop it. Oliver pushed him back over a ridge in the clearing next to them, making them fall down a hill to the river.

The man landed on a rock.

Oliver fell into the water.

Jill stood at the top of the hill, looking down toward them.

⚔    

Now

After I had changed into a tank top and jeans, I walked into the hideout underneath the club to talk to Oliver, seeing that he was yet again training without his shirt on. "I found something out. There's a scar on his right wrist from a severe burn and a tattoo of a firefly."

Oliver turned to face me. "All the men in engine company 15 had firefly tattoos. Any one of them could be the killer. What do you want me to do with this information?"

I put down my swords and the sheath with my knives. "I'll tell you what not to do. Not leave anyone on their own with a murderer who burns people alive. Guy had bombs, Oliver. Almost made me lose the firefighter at that building tonight, and nearly took me out. And he wasn't trying to kill that time. He just used the bomb as a distraction to get the hell out."

"We can't right every wrong in this city," Oliver told me.

"No, I get that, Oliver," I told him. "But I might need a little backup with this one."

Oliver turned to face me. "I'm not back to 100%." I tilted my head skeptically, trying to punch him. Oliver caught my wrist. I punched his arm to back him let go, punching him in the face with the other, grabbing his arm, twisting it behind his back, pushing him face first against the desk. Oliver twisted free, having hold of the arm that I had used to keep him restrained, spinning me to face the other direction, pushing me face first against the wall, standing behind me. "What did that prove?"

"That your problem isn't physical," I answered.

Oliver sighed, letting me go, taking a few steps back. "I never said I had a problem."

I turned to face him. "You didn't have to, Oliver. But this guy, the other archer, he got in your head, he took something from you."

"That's enough," Oliver told me.

I leaned back against the wall. "He took whatever's in your heart that lets you jump off buildings and take down bad guys."

"Thank you for the analysis," Oliver told me.

"You can avoid, Laurel, Oliver, avoid me, avoid John, avoid this, as long as you want," I told him. "But until you're ready to take a hold of the fear that's in you, you might as well let that archer kill you."

"If I remember correctly, you're the one that saved my life," Oliver told me. "He would have killed me if you hadn't stepped in."

I shook my head. "Wrong. You kept fighting him because that's what you do. But if you stop because you were beaten, then why fight at all?"

Oliver was affected and conflicted, looking down. His phone vibrated. He took it out, looking at the screen. "Text from Tommy." I nodded, looking down. Oliver turned away, picking up his shirt, pulling it on. "I need to run an errand for the benefit at the firemen's station."

"Maybe while you're at it, you can let me know if you still want to be a vigilante or just a nightclub owner," I told him.

Oliver sighed, walking out, leaving.

⚔     

This time, in the hideout underneath the club, I was the one working out in a sports bra and yoga leggings, my hair pulled back into a ponytail, getting up to the bars in the ceiling, swinging from bar to bar, pulling myself up over the bar, circling down around it.

Oliver and John walked in. 

"And here I thought that 24/7 fitness was Oliver's thing," John told me.

I jumped down from the bars. "What?"

"What do you mean, 'what'?" Oliver asked.

I tilted my head. "You know what."

Oliver chuckled barely. "I went to the fire station and found Laurel asking questions of a firemen, so I started to ask questions myself, about the fireflies. That station house was shut down a few years back. All the guys went to different companies, but four of these men are now dead." 

John pulled up information on the computer to show me a picture of the firemen fireflies. "Three of them died within the last six weeks, except for this man right here." I walked closer. John pointed out the man. "Garfield Lynns. He died two years ago in the Modell Tower tragedy."

"What was the Modell Tower?" I asked.

"It's a building that was destroyed here in Starling seven years ago," John answered. "It was 22 stories of glass and steel. Except, it turned out that the construction company who built it used substandard materials to save themselves a few bucks. It was nowhere near the structural code."

"Gas line blew," Oliver told me. "There was a fire."

"Yeah," John agreed. "Melted right through the stanchions. Whole damn thing came down."

"Bad day," Oliver told me. 

"34 civilians and six firemen died," John told me.

"All right," I told them. "What do you want me to do with this information?"

Oliver used my words from earlier against me now. "I'll tell you what not to do. Not leave anyone on their own with a murderer who burns people alive. I'm back in, Jill."

I smirked barely.

⚔     

Flashback - 5 Years Ago

Oliver was still in the river that he had fallen into while he had fallen downhill, facedown in the water where he seemed to be unconscious.

The uniformed man was on the ground nearby, starting to get up.

Jill was standing next to him with a large, sturdy and heavy tree branch, hitting the uniformed man over the head hard enough to make him fall unconscious. She saw Oliver's knife on the ground, picking it up. She jumped into the river, swimming toward Oliver, pulling him up so he could breathe, swimming to the edge of the river, pulling him out of the water, placing him on the ground. She looked at him worriedly, as he didn't wake up, and he didn't seem to be breathing. 

⚔     

Now

Oliver and I were sitting at the desk,finding out everything we could about this Garfield Lynns / Firefly. 

John was pacing behind us.

"The first firefly to die, his name was Garfield Lynns," Oliver told us. 

"Well, being dead kind of rules him out as a murder suspect, right?" John asked, chuckling, sitting down. "I know Jill's talked to you before, Oliver, but I didn't. And I'm sorry. I've been there." Oliver and I turned in our seats to face him. "I know what it's like to stare death in the face and... be the one who blinks."

"That's not it," Oliver told us. "I've..." He sighed. "I've been close to death. On the island... more times than I can remember, and I never feared it. 'Cause it was survival or not. But when that archer almost killed me... when I... stared death in the face then, I thought about all the people that I've let into my life since I've been back. My family, Laurel, Tommy." He looked at me. "You. And that made me afraid. Afraid of what would happen to those people if they lost me. Again. And for the first time in so long, it wasn't just about my survival, but what my death would do to those around me."

"Well, you got it backwards, Oliver," John told him. "You think the people you let in are taking your edge. I think it gives you one. Maybe a stronger one. You can stare down death with something to live for or not. Something to live for... is better."

Oliver seemed to agree.

I knew that I agreed, but it was hard to let someone in after everything that had happened. I took a deep breath, returning to the task at hand. "All the men in the unit had an alibi for Danny's murder. The guy that I fought had a firefly tattoo and his arm was severely burned."

"Okay," John told me. "I don't see where you're going with this."

I turned to the computer. "The Modell Tower fire. Some of the bodies were so badly burned, they couldn't even be IDed off dental records. What if Garfield Lynns didn't die, but was just presumed dead?"

I looked at John and Oliver.

Oliver took this seriously, considering. 

⚔ 

The fundraiser for the fire department was in the new and improved club upstairs.

Everyone was in casual formal attire.

I was standing at the bar, pouring drinks for everyone as the bartender. I took off my ruffle cardigan, placing it on the bar.

Fireman Chief Raynes stood nearby.

Laurel and Oliver walked closer.

I poured the Raynes another drink. "Chief Raynes."

"Hi," Raynes told me. "Jill Wright, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir," I answered. 

 "This is spectacular," Raynes told me. Oliver walked closer. "The Starling City Firemen's Relief Association can't thank either of you or Tommy Merlyn enough."

"You guys are the real heroes," Oliver told him. "Like at the Modell Tower fire."

"I've been reading up on that," I told them.

"Oh, yeah?" Raynes asked.

"Garfield Lynns was the first man to die in your unit," Oliver told him. "Now, they recovered his coat in the wreckage, but they never found his body?"

Laurel looked at them in confusion.

"You always interrogate your club's guests, Mr. Queen?" Raynes asked.

"Why?" Oliver asked. "Do you feel like you're being interrogated?"

Laurel looked at Raynes. "You could see it on your face at the fire station. There's more to the Modell Tower fire than people know about, isn't there?"

"I've been doing this a long time, and I've never seen a fire like that," Raynes told them. "It's like some monster out of a science fiction movie. I radioed for my men to get the hell out of there. But Lynns, he wouldn't go. Begged me to send the unit back in. But I wouldn't do it. I couldn't. God help me, I left him to burn. But I can't bring him back."

"You don't have to," I told him. "He is back."

"What the hell you talking about?" Raynes asked.

"Garfield Lynns killed Danny," Laurel realized. "And the other men on your unit."

"There's no way he could have survived that fire," Raynes told us.

"You'd be surprised the power revenge can give you," Oliver told him.

"You're insane," Raynes told us. "Gar did not make it out of that building."

I looked behind them to see a man in a fireman's uniform walking closer.

"Just like you won't make it out of this one," Garfield told us, throwing a bomb up into the rafters, making it explode.

Fire spread. 

Pieces of rafters fell down around us.

Everyone screamed.

Garfield took off his helmet, revealing burns in his skin.

Oliver and I looked at him guardedly.

⚔     

Tommy was leading scrambling people out of the club. "Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go!"

John was leading scrambling people out of the club. "Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go!"

"Gar, what the hell are you doing?" Raynes asked.

Garfield took a nozzle out of his pouch, looking at Oliver, Laurel and me. "Run."

"Go!" Oliver told us.

Oliver, Laurel and I ran off.

Garfield sprayed Raynes with turpentine. 

Oliver and I reached the back of the club to go downstairs to get suited up, running downstairs.

⚔     

Oliver and I were suited up by the time we got back upstairs.

Garfield had his lighter lit, about to set Raynes on fire.

Oliver shot an arrow into the lighter, making it fall away from Raynes to the floor to save him. "Go!"

Oliver led Raynes out, leaving.

I drew my sword, walking toward Garfield. "It's over."

"I'm not afraid to die," Garfield told us.

"I know," I told him, lowering the sword. "You're afraid to live. Let me get you out of here, Lynns. Let me get you out."

"Thanks," Garfield told me. "But I'm already burned."

"Lynns, don't do it," I told him.

Garfield hit a button on a bomb in his vest.

Oliver shot a wire into the ceiling above, swinging toward me, grabbing me, pulling me up from the floor up into the ceiling, just as the bomb exploded below us where it would have taken both me and Garfield out.

⚔ 

I was in the hideout the next day, watching the news, putting my swords away in the box, already in workout clothing, pulling my hair back into a ponytail.

"Eyewitnesses contend that numerous lives would have been lost if not for the timely intervention of the vigilantes. While the hood had made sure everyone escaped the fire, the girl and blue had tried to talk down the arsonist, tried to save him as well, as he was seeking revenge against Chief Raynes. She, too, would have been killed, if the hood hadn't literally swooped him and saved her. But these were not the actions of vigilantes. What's been described are the actions of heroes."

 I smiled a small smile, turning the TV off, walking toward the bars in the ceiling, jumping up to grab onto one of them, swinging my legs up to hang onto the bar upside down, lowering my head below to hang there.

⚔     

 Flashback - 5 Years Ago

Jill was still kneeling next to Oliver at riverside, giving him CPR to wake him up. "Come on. Come on, Oliver." She sighed, hitting his chest more frantically. Oliver finally woke up, gasping, coughing up water. Jill's breath caught in surprise and relief. She sighed. "Thank God." Oliver coughed roughly. Jill helped him sit up. "You're okay. Scared the hell out of me, but you're okay."

Oliver sighed, trying to catch his breath. "How long was I out?"

"A while," Jill answered. 

Oliver remembered the uniformed man, looking around worriedly. "What about--"

"He's down," Jill answered. "He was trying to drown you. I had to do something." She pulled out keys and a map of the island from the man's pockets. "But I did find these while I was trying to find something to help you wake up. I'm not that good at CPR, as you can see."

Oliver took a few deep breaths. "You saved me."

Jill nodded, looking at him seriously, softly. "I can't do this without you."

⚔     

Now

I was still hanging upside down from the bars in the hideout.

Oliver walked in. "Good thing the fire didn't spread to down here."

I reached up to grab the bar, lowering my legs down, jumping down to the floor. "It's one of the benefits of concrete and steel construction."

Oliver sighed, walking closer. "Thank you."

I looked at him. "What for?"

"You know what for," Oliver told me.

I smirked slightly, nodding. "So, what's next? More training?"

Oliver smirked, shaking his head. "No." He held up his father's book. "We go hunting."

Oliver turned away.

I smiled a small smile, relieved to see him back in the game.