Diggle and Lyla are out walking home after a date. They stop to a kiss, and Alan Chang from A.R.G.U.S. comes up and tells Lyla are that she's the only person he can trust because A.R.G.U.S. has been compromised. Masked military men open fire from a van, wounding Diggle, and grabbing Alan. Diggle leaps on board and they drag him until he loses his grip.
Oliver carries Felicity into the bunker and she insists that he doesn't have to wait on her serve and foot. He gets her some tablets on her pain management regiment, and Felicity reminds him that he has to deal with Damien and his mayoral campaign. Oliver insists that he has no chance of stopping Damien without Felicity's help, and Felicity warns him that she isn't supposed to recover from her spinal cord injury. He assures her that she's a vital part of the team. Diggle texts to say that he and Lyla were attacked, and Oliver realizes that Felicity can't come with him to check on the couple.
Oliver, Thea, and Laurel meet with Lyla and Diggle, and Lyle insists that the men weren't HIVE. She figures that Amanda had Alan working on something off the books, and goes to call their sitter. Diggle reports that the van didn’t have plates, and Oliver insists that Felicity isn't up to helping them trace it. Laurel and Thea go to run down leads, and Diggle takes Andy a cheeseburger.
As Andy eats, he notices the bandage and asks Diggle what happened. Andy wonders what happened and asks why Diggle is fighting crime with Green Arrow. Diggle says that his friend is a good man, and they're helping the city. He asks if Andy remembers when that was his mission.
Afghanistan - 2005
Diggle and Andy volunteer for a mission to cut off an opium shipment funding the terrorists. The brothers head out in a hummer with two other soldiers, and a pickup approaches them. They open fire with an RPG, taking out the hummer, and take out one of the other two soldiers. Diggle manages to plant a gas can attached to a claymore mind, and runs back to the hummer wreck. When the claymore doesn't go off as planned, Andy runs out and shoots at it, trigger the explosion and taking out the approaching truck. The back blast knocks Andy down, and Diggle confirms that he's okay.
Now
At the loft, Felicity is trying to make dinner in her wheelchair. She takes some painkillers and hears someone complaining that they weren't invited to the pity party. Felicity looks around for them, and the voice says that they know she's in no position to do anything. Shocked, Felicity realizes that she's talking to herself… and her younger self appears.
Laurel gets called to the crime scene when Alan turns up dead. Diggle comes over and checks the body once the police detectives leave, and confirms that Alan's abductors were torturing him for information... and cut out one of his eyes.
Later, Diggle and Lyla meet with Amanda at the A.R.G.U.S. HQ. She refuses to tell them what Alan is working on, and Diggle explains what happened to Alan. Amanda expresses her regrets to Lyle about Alan's death, shakes her hand, and hopes that they'll meet under happier circumstances. Once Diggle and Lyla leave, Diggle asks what's going on and Lyla reveals the flash drive that Amanda slipped her during the handshake.
Felicity figures that she's hallucinating due to the painkillers, and Past-Felicity says that they used to be each other. She points out that Felicity wasted her smarts and looks to play superhero, and now she's lost it all.
At the bunker, Lyla explains that A.R.G.U.S. has 24-hour surveillance so Amanda had to give her the flash drive secretly. The drive has information on Shadowspire, a US Army Special Forces unit. A.R.G.U.S. exposed them three years again, revealing them as war profiteers, and Alan ran the op. The other two agents on the op disappeared two days ago, and Diggle recognized the Shadowspire logo from Afghanistan. He goes to talk to Andy.
2005
The next day, Andy and Diggle are assigned to watch the confiscated opium shipment, and their commander, Lieutenant Joyner, suggests that they could make bank if a few bricks of opium went missing. Andy promptly refuses, and Joyner tells him to watch his tone. Once the man leaves, Diggle is surprised that Andy has become so righteous, and says that he's proud of him.
Now
Diggle angrily confronts Andy and says that his old Shadowspire buddies are in Star City. Andy insists that they cut ties with him after his term ended, and that he didn't take to the military like Diggle did. He just wanted to have enough money to survive, and Diggle is shocked that Andy pretended to be a different person. Andy says that something good can come out of the situation, and says that Shadowspire will use the nearest Freeport as a base of operations.
Green Arrow and the team go to the nearest Freeport and confirm that it has state-of-the-art security. Green Arrow calls Felicity, and finally answers. He tells her what they're facing, and Past-Felicity asks Felicity if she's falling for it again. Felicity hacks the system and spots the seven men inside. The team goes in and Green Arrow sends Speedy and Black Canary to find the two missing agents. Felicity finds the cargo container and opens it, and finds the agents dead. Green Arrow tells them over the radio to get out, and they get cut off by a sliding metal panel. Felicity warns that she's overwhelmed with too many requests, and Shadowspire soldiers soon capture Diggle. Joyner comes out and confronts the masked Diggle. Before he can unmask Diggle, the panel blows open and Green Arrow takes out the soldiers. He gets Diggle out, and Past-Felicity says that it was no help from Felicity.
When Oliver returns to the loft, Felicity confirms that Diggle is okay. He assures her that what happened isn't her fault and he was the one who pushed her to get involved. Felicity warns that there's no going back to normal, and she can no longer be a part of the team. Oliver insists that she can't let her injury stop her, but Felicity says that it has. As he tells her to give it time, Past-Felicity tells Felicity to tell Oliver that she's no good for the team, while Oliver assures Felicity that she's the strongest person he knows. Felicity finally screams at her vision to shut up, and says that it's not Oliver. She asks to be alone for a little while, and Oliver walks out.
Diggle hands Andy over to Amanda, who wants to debrief him on his relationship to Shadowspire. She explains that she didn't mention Shadowspire before because of a suspected security breach, and the two dead agents were assigned to protect a shipment of railguns. Amanda wants to know how Shadowspire knew about it, and Diggle worries what the organization could do with the weapons. The A.R.G.U.S. head warns that she's more interested in the security breach, and Andy says that Shadowspire isn't after the railguns. He knows how they work, and they deal in misdirection. They're after something else.
Oliver and Laurel are sparring in the bunker. He worries that he doesn't know how to help with Felicity, and Laurel tells him not to be so hard on himself. Oliver explains that when they fought Vandal Savage, Barry changed the past. Since then, Oliver has been tortured by the idea that altering history made things worse, including Felicity's injury. As Laurel says that the only person responsible is Damien, Diggle calls and says that Shadowspire is going after the railguns. As Oliver goes, Laurel tells him that Felicity makes her own choices.
Felicity is reading and Past-Felicity continues taunting her. When Felicity finally has enough and asks what she wants to tell her, Past-Felicity says that she's there to show Felicity that when they thought Cooper died, she decided not to rely on anyone else for help. The vision tells Felicity to stop pretending that it's the real her, and she has been hiding who she is for the last five years.
The team finds the truck with the railguns, and Green Arrow confirms that it's moving out in less than an hour. Meanwhile, Lyle is at A.R.G.U.S. HQ running the op from the computers. She tells Amanda that Alan and the other two agents might still be alive if Amanda hadn't kept the anti-Shadowspire off the books, and Amanda admits that sometimes security has to be paid in blood.
In the A.R.G.U.S. cell, Diggle keeps watch on Andy.
Green Arrow realizes that something is wrong. Meanwhile, the Shadowspire operatives use Andy's severed eyeball to enter the A.R.G.U.S. HQ. They shoot their way in and secure the control room, and Joyner comes in and greets Amanda. Lyla secretly turns on the cameras, showing an image of the control room to Diggle. Andy also sees it and says that A.R.G.U.S. is the endgame.
Joyner tells Amanda that he's there for Rubicon and wants the codes to access it from Amanda. When she refuses, his men kill one of the captive technicians. Joyner says that he'll give Amanda 20 minutes, and then he'll ask her again.
Diggle is unable to call it, and switches the chipset on the TV monitors to contact his team. Andy says that they don't have time to wait and have to rescue Lyla. Diggle doesn't trust him and Andy says that now isn't the time to worry about that.
2005
Diggle sees Andy talking to Joyner. He confronts him afterward and figures that he was putting a show on for him. Andy says that they were talking about blackjack, and reminds Diggle that he kept his end of the bargain by joining the Army. Now he needs Diggle to treat him like a brother rather than a criminal, and Diggle apologizes.
Now
Oliver leaves a message on Diggle's voicemail, and Felicity comes in. She explains that she joined Oliver because she wanted to help people. Her old self was always anger at the world and accomplished nothing, and Felicity wanted to do some good in the world. She figures that Oliver blaming himself, and says that the only person to blame is Damien. They're going to stop him because it's who they are. Diggle's signal comes in showing Shadowspire holding Lyla and A.R.G.U.S. hostage.
Joyner is getting a bottle out of Amanda's office when a soldier reports that they've detected an unauthorized signal from the cell area. He sends men to check it out and warns Amanda that her 20 minutes is up. Lyla says that Joyner doesn't know Amanda very well, and Amanda explains that Lyla knows better than anyone that she's capable of watching Joyner execute every person in the room. Joyner aims his gun at Lyla and asks if it's true, and Lyla says that it's the truth and why she left. The ex-soldier turns and shoots Amanda dead, and tells Lyla that she now has 20 minutes to hand over the code.
Diggle and Andy see Joyner threatening Lyla, and Andy begs Diggle to let him out.
Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Speedy break into A.R.G.U.S. and check in with Felicity, using her new name of Overwatch. Overwatch confirms that Shadowspire has the entire area locked down, and opens the main doors.
Two guards find Andy in his cell. He introduces himself and says that he and Joyner go way back. Andy tells them to call Joyner and tell him that he wants to help out getting the codes. Once they call Joyner, they take Andy to the command center. Andy says that Amanda brought him in because he was connected to Shadowspire, and Lyla is his sister-in-law. He explains that Diggle is crawling around in the ventilation shafts, and if Joyner captures him then Lyla will hand over the codes. Joyner is impressed that Andy is selling out his own brother, and sends his men to check the ventilation shafts.
Green Arrow and his team engage a group of soldiers. Diggle drops down and fights several more, but they quickly capture him and take him to Joyner. Joyner gives Lyla five seconds to reveal the codes, and Diggle tells Lyla to do it. She agrees and Joyner lowers his gun.
Once the team takes out the soldiers, Overwatch says that Diggle needs an assist. She's trying to stop the codes from opening the sublevel vault but it isn't working, and needs speedy and Black Canary as her insurance policy. They take off and Green Arrow wonders where Overwatch needs him.
Lyla tells Joyner that someone is locking her out.
Past-Felicity appears and Felicity says that she isn't her and hasn't been for a long time. The vision disappears.
Lyla tells Joyner that someone on the outside is blocking her access to the vault. He prepares to shoot Diggle, and Andy knocks the gun away. Green Arrow drops in from the ceiling and shoots through Diggle's handcuffs. A four-way fight breaks out and Andy knocks out Joyner. Lyla's opponent starts choking her, but Diggle knocks him out and hugs his wife. He then thanks Andy and the brothers shake hands.
Later at the bunker, Oliver and Lyla share a toast to Amanda. Diggle thanks Felicity for her help, and Felicity congratulates him on jury-rigging the security system. He admits that he doesn't know what he's going to do with Andy, but figures that it's the first time in eight years he's seen his old brother.
2005
Joyner calls Andy to his tent and tosses him an envelope of money. He says that the boss sent a bonus after trading the opium, and Reiter comes in and thanks Andy for his help. He explains that he traded the opium for a map to a place of legendary power: Purgatory.
Now
At the loft, Oliver unpacks and finds a box for Felicity. Inside is a photo of her from her college days, and she says that she used to be a rebellious brunette hacker. Oliver says that what Felicity did with A.R.G.U.S.'s systems was amazing, and Felicity admits that the old her would have stolen Rubicon and released them to the public. He figures that they've both grown, and Felicity thanks him for being on her side. She then burns the photo to make sure that her past stays the past. Oliver says that it's not healthy for either one of them to live in denial, but with all of the amazing things that they've seen and done, he refuses to stop searching for a way for Felicity to walk again.
Diggle takes Andy home and tells him to make himself comfortable. Andy says that he's not ready to reconnect with Carly and Andy Jr., and Diggle understands. Lyla joins them and Diggle goes to get something. She assures Andy that they both agreed to it, and Diggle brings in Andy's niece Sara ... and welcomes his brother home.
Written by Gadfly on Jan 28, 2016