I sat on the couch at the Queen's mansion and watched Detective Lance secure an ankle band on Oliver that would ensure he was under house arrest. I noticed John Diggle standing off to the side and we locked eyes for a moment, then I looked back at Oliver, an indifferent expression on his face that I couldn't read.

I crossed my arms over my stomach and noticed Tommy seemed a little distressed and I reached over and took his hand.

Then, I noticed Moira's green eyes riveted on me. I looked at her and she quickly looked away and saw that Detective Lance left quickly. I thought that it was weird, but didn't pay much heed to it.

Oliver looked at us, then said, "I am going to throw a party now."

"Oliver, don't you think that's-"

"No, mom. I think it's perfect. Show Starling that I am not this Vigilante freak and that whatever is happening now doesn't faze me because I am innocent."

They all looked at me as if I alone had the answer to his innocence or lack thereof written on my forehead. I looked at them and said, "You see me. You see him. You see how it's affected us. We came back different people. But Oliver is not that Vigilante. On the island, we..." I drifted off and Tommy wrapped his arm around me.

Oliver's expression went sober and he clenched his jaw. "What happened on the island is something neither of us can change. We're living with the side affects now. But please. I am not that Vigilante. I know what it feels like to be..." he stopped.

I looked at him.

"It's alright, Oliver. You don't have to talk about it." Moira said and rested a hand on his shoulder.

He stood up and said, "I have some party planning to do. I'll be back." He then stood up and left.

I shifted uncomfortably under the others' stares and said, "I'm going to the gym. And I'd like to go alone."

"Can I get the door for you, miss?" Diggle asks and we locked eyes again. A simple question with an even more complex meaning.

"Yes that would be fine." I kissed Tommy's cheek and told him I would meet him back at his house, then left. Once I was outside, Diggle opened the door to a car for me and I got inside and he drove to the factory.

I got out and looked at him and said, "You talk about any of this to anyone, the Vigilante won't be your biggest problem, is that clear?"

He nodded. "Oliver told me enough about you to know that you aren't to be messed with."

I straightened my shoulders and opened the door and headed towards the back of the warehouse where our hideout was. I tapped in the password then opened the door and headed downstairs. He closed the door behind him and I walked over to the tables and sat down at the computer with a sigh.

"So. How's your shoulder doing?" I asked and motioned to his arm. He paused.

"That was you?"

I nodded. "I was studying biology. Marine biology in technicality. But I knew enough first aid to help me out on the island, and I got a lot better there too. I've stitched bullet wounds several times."

He nodded and seemed a little impressed, then said, "Oliver is under house arrest. Are you going to do anything? Replace him or something?"

I laughed. "No. I can't. I'm a woman. The Vigilante is clearly a very tall buff dude, not a short, skinny girl. And bows were never my specialty on the island. It was throwing knives and swords that I excelled in." I looked at him. "I can be honest and open with you, right?"

He nodded. "Doesn't a team require honesty?"

I grinned and, pulling a black knife from my sleeve, said, "Good." I twirled it in my hand and he watched me uneasily. I stopped it in my palm and closed my fist around the blade and said, "You are going to be the Vigilante."

"What?" He exclaimed and stood up. "I don't even know how to use a bow, or-"

"Relax. What do you think we're going to do here? Have a chat? Oliver and I planned for the Vigilante to get caught ages ago. We knew someone would put the pieces together: Oliver Queen and the Vigilante appearing at the same time is hardly coincidental. But before you get mad at him, it was my idea for him to find someone else to play the part of the Vigilante. The fact that he chose you means he trusts you, and getting him to trust anyone is like trying to get a three year old to eat his broccoli."

John Diggle looked at me with a wary look. "So you're going to train me?"

I grinned. "Of course. If you can at least learn some of the skills Oliver and I did on the island, I think you'll be fine."

^^^^^^

A few hours later, Diggle was able to do a few takedowns and attacks that I had learned within the first few days of being on the island.

When he was ready, we stopped at Big Belly Burger and drove back to the Queen's house with the food. We went up to Oliver's room and I knocked. He opened the door and beckoned is inside. He looked frustrated.

"Well?" He asks.

Diggle closed the door. "I know." He said. Oliver looked at me.

"I trained him."

He nods. "Good. So I'll be at my party tonight, and the Vigilante will be stopping an illegal gun sale in The Glades. Perfect. Thank you, Mia."

I nodded and looked at them, then said, "I have some business to take care of. I'll see you both later."

Oliver gave me a curious look, but I kept my face expressionless and turned and left. I made my way down the street, hands in my pockets, when my phone rang.

The caller ID said it was Laurel. I let out a heavy sigh, then answered. "Hey, Laurel. What can I do for you?"

"You got my texts, right?"

"Of course. Was a little offended you thought I had something to do with getting him imprisoned, Lance." I say bitterly.

"Whatever. I'm calling to tell you I found a file on your mother." I stopped short.

"Wait-you did? Really? Where are you?"

"I'm at RCI. You can come to me to look at the file. It's not much. It looks as through she purposefully tried to cut all ties to your father."

I clenched my jaw. "I never expected my mother to be some sort of hero or a woman of great character, Laurel. She left me when I was four years old. All I remember of her are pantsuits, fighting with my dad, and brown curly hair."

Papers rustled on the other end of the line and she said, "Your dad...have you found him yet?"

I actually stopped walking. I couldn't exactly say I was on my way to the Black Archer to take him back. That would reveal who and what I was. "No. The police are never helpful."

"Well....there's always the Vigilante." She says.

I faltered. He was under house arrest, he couldn't help, and I wasn't sure I wanted his help. I was having a hard time forgiving him still. "Wait. You know the Vigilante?"

"Well, I don't know him, but he helped me on a case. I do have to warn you, Mia. He's dangerous. He's a killer. You can't take talking to him lightly."

I had to stifle the laugh rising in my throat. "Believe me, Laurel. I would never take a matter like that lightly. I'll see you in a few minutes."

I hang up and make my way to Laurel's work and find her at her desk. She turns to me and hands me a file. I open the folder and put it on the desk, flipping through page after page. Birth records, a marital slip, and a few other documents were blacked out.

Marissa Brian was nowhere to be found. It's like someone tried to wipe out that my mother even existed.

I closed the folder and looked at her. "I did some more digging, Mia. She's alive and well. She meet someone soon after and had children with another man, and then left again. You're not the only family she's abandoned, apparently."

I clenched my jaw, my anger towards this woman growing even more. "Where is she now?"

"Coast City, I think."

"You think?"

"That's where her credit card marked her last purchase. I don't know anything more."

"What did she buy?"

"Train tickets." She said.

"Where?" I pressed.

"To Starling City. Here."