Hi everyone, I know it's been almost 6 months since I last updated. I apologize. Life has been super crazy and busy. Between my eye condition (that relapsed), summer job, move to the UK, Uni, assignments and now a new job, I don't have much free time.

You're getting an extra long 6k+ chapter that gave me some grief, but I hope it was worth the wait.

For the sake of the chapter - dialogue in Italics means that whoever is speaking is doing so over comms and is not present at the scene at hand.

Diaglogue presented like this: "" and also in Italics means that the speaker is speaking a language other than English. It'll make sense when you get to that point.

Happy reading (If there's anyone left that's interested, that is).

Some were asking about Lyla's nickname: I know that "Mockingbird" is Waller's nickname. In this AU - "Mockingbird" is the nickname assigned to the head of ARGUS - aka Lyla Michaels.

The private A.R.G.U.S. jet was rumbling in the distance as the newly assembled Task Force X and their families and friends said goodbye to each other.

Lyla, Andy and John were huddled together to the right end of the group. Sara and Nyssa were talking to Laurel and, surprisingly Quentin, who came to see them off. Sara had just told them that their attention and expertise was needed overseas, since Lyla had asked all of them to keep the mission a secret. From the look on the Captain's face, Felicity was pretty sure he was lecturing Sara on safety. Nyssa seemed to be making small talk with Laurel, if the slightly pained expression on her face was any indication.

Beside her - Oliver and Roy were fussing over Thea. Roy was giving her all sorts of tips on how to incapacitate someone who caught her by surprise, while Oliver was hovering protectively and chiming in every now and then with his own two cents on the matter. Thea caught her gaze and rolled her eyes, causing Felicity to laugh. It's like they forgot that Thea composed one fifth of Team Arrow…

The A.R.G.U.S. pilot showed up at the top of the plane's stairs and Felicity knew it was time to go. She rescued Thea from her brother and boyfriend and together they walked towards the Lances.

"Thea, be careful out there, you hear?" Felicity squeezed her hand tightly as they approached Sara and Nyssa.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere," Thea winked at her "someone has to teach this kid about Ollie's weak spots." They'd stopped walking and Thea pulled Felicity into a hug.

"Sara, "Felicity called out gently once they were no more than a couple of steps away from them.

The other blond looked up and nodded at her friend, her expression turning sombre immediately.

"We need to go." Sara told her father and sister, giving each a quick hug, before facing Oliver and Roy who had followed the girls.

"Keep an eye on the wife, you hear?" Sara said, hugging Oliver tightly.

He chuckled "You mean, stop her if she starts hocking?"

Felicity huffed loudly at that, feigning offence, but before she could utter a word her hands were full of a 5'5" assassin.

"Don't squish her!" Oliver exclaimed "Tiny human on board, remember?"

Sara laughed and turned her attention to Felicity's midsection "Don't grow too much while I'm gone, baby girl, and give your mom a break from the bathroom floor."

Felicity rolled her eyes at her friend, good naturedly. Sara was beyond certain that the baby was a girl and there was no swaying her.

"It's going to be a boy, Sara." Oliver said just to rile her up.

"Not with your luck, Ollie, mark my words – I'm getting a god-daughter."

"Be careful, Tweety, don't do stupid things." Felicity grabbed her hand and squeezed tightly.

Sara patted her on the back lightly, rubbing gentle circles on her right shoulder afterwards " Can't do stupid things when you're in my ear yelling at me not to." she chuckled "You worry too much. We'll be fine."

To their left Diggle said goodbye as well. "Be careful out there, don't be you, please. Sweetie."

He kissed the top of Lyla's head.

"You only call me 'Sweetie' when you want something." Lyla chuckled.

"I want you to come home in one, big, breathing piece, you hear?"

"Roger that." Lyla smiled and leaned forward to press a kiss to their daughter's cheek.

"Be a good girl for Daddy while I'm gone, okay Andrea? Give him lots and lots of hugs for me" Lyla hugged her tightly, never breaking eye contact with her husband.

That's how Felicity, Nyssa, Thea and Sara found them with the rest of the group trailing several steps behind.

Lyla gave Andrea back to John with one last kiss to each and turned her attention to her team.

Felicity handed them all a comm link. "These don't come off. I don't care what is going on, you do not turn them off. You do not take them out." her gaze travelled to each and every one of them, accentuating her words with her "all-business" glare. "Do it and you'll have my Loud Voice to answer to and worse".

"Ooh! I'm scared, maybe you should go face Shiva instead," Sara teased Felicity good naturedly.

Thea patted Sara's shoulder "Clearly you've never been on the receiving end of it. Just ask the boys. They know what's what."

Lyla fidgeted next to Nyssa, which Felicity noticed and hurried to reassure her friend.

"We've gone through the plan a thousand times. It's going to be okay." Felicity reached for Lyla's hand and squeezed it in reassurance.

"If it all goes according to plan." Lyla remarked dryly.

"Which rarely, if evr, happens" Thea added.

"Which is basically where all the fun is." Sara said with a grin

With that she took Thea and Nyssa by the hands and led them towards the plane, with Lyla following behind them.

"Abercrombie!" Sara called out just outside the cabin entrance

Roy groaned at the nickname, damn Sin and her big mouth. He'll make sure to call her Cindy for a month for that.

"Keep an eye on our girl for me, will you?"

Roy opted to just nod silently at Sara. Of course he'd keep an eye on her. That wasn't even a question.

Quentin approached Felicity as they watched their friends and family board the small private airplane.

"Sometimes I worry about how flippant she is about danger" he told Felicity quietly.

Felicity turned to face him with a soft smile "Don't let that fool you, Sara is always aware of what she's getting herself into. She just happens to enjoy beating the shit out of scumbags. Don't mistake that for carelessness."

"Besides,"Oliver chimed in "when Sara gets serious about a situation that means she's beyond furious."

Roy and Digg nodded from their place next to Oliver, each of them recalling such an instant in their time working with Sara. Personally, Roy would rather go ten rounds with an angry Oliver than be subjected to Canary's wrath.

All of them watched the plane take off and quickly disappear from view in the sheet of clouds above.

"I don't suppose any of you will go home and wait for updates if I ask you to, would you?" Felicity asked everyone.

No one said a word.

She sighed, turning on her heel, and started walking towards the car

"Testosterone Tuesday it is." she murmured under her breath as the rest of the group trailed behind her.

If the situation had been any less serious, Sara would have made fun of the ever stoic and unaffected Nyssa for pacing around the small plane like a caged tigress.. She did know better, however, so she wisely kept her mouth shut. They had a thirteen-hour flight ahead of them and getting into an argument wouldn't do any of them any favours. Their mission aside, Sara was aware of the heavier, more personal matters that weighed on Nyssa where her former mentor was concerned.

Lady Shiva, the world's greatest martial artist and assassin, has been brought into the League by Ra's al Ghul himself as a trainer for his only heir. Shiva had honed Nyssa's skills fiercely and brutally, disregarding her age, gender or physical abilities. Failure was not an option where Shiva was concerned. Failure meant death.

She'd stayed with the League for years, till the time Sara had joined the League and developed a friendlier relationship with Nyssa. Something Shiva was very much against.

"Friends are weakness. They dull your edge. Take away from your focus." she'd say, glaring at Sara, who even with her limited and broken Arabic could understand.

Nyssa had been the perfect student for years so Shiva had taken her disobedience as a personal insult. When Nyssa had stood up for Sara one day and talked back to her mentor, Shiva had offered both of them only a cold, unfeeling, gaze, and she'd walked away. Stopping only long enough to say that this new softness in Nyssa will be the death of her one day.

With Shiva gone, Ra's had been furious, but Nyssa weathered her father's storm. She'd stood tall and proud. Sara had tried to distance herself from her, at first, having taken her words Shiva's words to heart, but Nyssa had quickly put a stop to that. Insisting that, even if her old mentor was right, Nyssa liked being with Sara. She liked having a friend. She liked the idea of finding out who she was beyond her father's wishes for her.

Sara wasn't sure that seeing Shiva again would be good for either of them. She'd only be more determined to finish her mission. Yet, she couldn't let Nyssa face her alone. Shiva had a very long memory and was very proud, Sara was willing to bet she would never actually forgive Nyssa for disobeying her orders. Personally, she could go without facing her, but neither Lyla nor Thea, as expert fighters as they are, are good enough to face Shiva and live. So that leaves her.

Behind her, Lyla and Thea were pouring over the palace's schematics. Charts and maps were strewn all over the place. Luckily for them the place wasn't too big and the two of them should have the prince out of harm's way relatively quickly. The building they had to infiltrate was the former Royal summer residence, located on Markovia's seaside. This fact made things easier and more complicated at the same time. For one, it definitely aided their "surprise factor" and would make their escape easier since they won't be waltzing through the front doors. For another, they would have to jump into the sea from the plane at a distance that would not alert their enemies of their arrival. What's more, their pilot would have to fly away and then return at an exact time to pick them up.

Sara didn't like that. It gave them a very short time frames to fix things if the plan went awry. Nine out of ten plans blew up in their faces, Felicity had done the math once.

"Falcon, Canary," Lyla called out to them.

Nyssa and Sara both approached her wordlessly and came to a stop at the back of her recliner.

"Artemis and I will be headed inside on arrival, that means the two of you will have to scope out the grounds and locate Shiva." Lyla explained, still hunched over the map.

"There's a problem with that plan, Mockingbird." Felicity's voice rang in their ears. "Sorry to throw a last minute wrench in the plan, but we did not expect him to be at the summer residence. We planned to have to extract him from the Presidential palace."

"Why is that a problem?" Nyssa's tone was a bit clipped as she spoke for the first time since they boarded the plane.

"I just pulled some satelite footage of the place. The grounds are about ten times the size of the actual building. That's a lot of work for two people, trying not to get busted and simultaneously find a top notch assassin for hire all while working on a tight schedule. I'm sending the photos now"

Sara groaned.

So much for their plan.

Lyla cursed as soon as they got a good look at the place they were supposed to infiltrate. Felicity was right. There was no way the two of them could cover all that ground, find Shiva, stop the assassination and make it to the rendezvous point in time.

"Alright." Thea sighed. "Let's make a new plan." her voice and demeanor was a lot calmer than she (and everybody else) expected what with her genetic Queen Family Flair for Dramatics.

"Mockingbird, you said the summer residence wasn't too big… What if we did a one person extraction team and have three people scouting the outside. I believe you have a sniper?" she addressed Lyla.

The older woman nodded silently, waiting to see where Thea was taking this.

"Great. One takes the sniper and heads to the roof. The western tower here," she pointed at the image. "That's the highest point around and it'll give the best vantage point."

"And we should assume that Shiva would make use of it also." Nyssa interjected.

"What about this thing here? Devorah, what's behind the western tower?" Sara asked, squinting at the image.

The sound of fingers tapping against a keyboard filled their ears and then Felicity exhaled in triumph.

"You're in luck. It took some digging - these guys seriously need to update their systems and get online - it's an old chimney. I'm thinking kitchen. Regardless of the room it belongs to, it's not in use, so you don't have to worry about getting choked to death by fumes."

Thea smiled widely at the news. "So one of us heads up there with the sniper and starts looking around. Another two head on foot around the ground and the last one heads inside to extract the prince."

Sara grimaced as her old concerns resurfaced. "That doesn't really leave us with much choice."

"Why not?" Thea asked.

It was Nyssa who answered her instead: "Canary and I have personal knowledge of how Shiva operates. We know her methods, tricks and mind games. She loves those. That gives us an advantage that the two of you," she motioned at Lyla and Thea "don't have."

"That's fair." Lyla agreed.

"The chimney top looks like a pretty small space. Thea is the smallest out of you all."

"But Thea is not good with a sniper. I'm more about swords, escrima sticks and arrows" Thea interjected.

"Talking about yourself in third person is your brother's thing and for the record, it's no less creepy when you do it."

Everyone save for Nyssa chuckled at that since they could all recall at least one such moment with Oliver.

"So Mockingbird takes the chimney and Artemis goes on the hunt?" Nyssa summed up.

"As soon as we have Shiva, I can go lend a hand inside." Lyla offered.

Plan B it is. If only it would stick.

Felicity groaned, leaning back in her chair as she rubbed her face. Technically the mission hadn't even started yet and she was already stressed beyond belief.

At least they'd agreed on a plan quickly enough. Thea's idea was excellent. In theory. In practice - it sounded like something out of Mission Impossible.

Everyone had followed her back to the Foundry, against her wishes that they go home and ask for updates. That resulted in a cramped, stuffy and stressed environment. Felicity had told them in no uncertain terms that they will occupy themselves with whatever they see fit and not bother her. They were to remain at least six feet away from her workstation at all times and not hover. When she had news, she'd share.

Fortunately, they'd complied with her requests with minimal grumbling.

"Laurel," Felicity called out, head still leaning at the backrest of her chair.

As soon as she was standing behind her, Felicity turned in her chair and looked at the woman. "I know this is not exactly your field of expertise but I need someone to dig around and check just how much of a mess it will be if the mission goes sideways. Chances of international scandal, possible declaration of war. That sort of thing."

Four heads turned towards them the moment she was done talking, their faces ranging from shock, to concern, to downright anxiety.

"Are you expecting any of that to happen?" Lance asked from his place on the couch where he'd been catching up on paperwork.

"Not for now." Felicity shook her head. "But better be safe than sorry. I'd rather we know the scale of the fallout we're facing before we get in over our heads. Plus, I'm going to make some contingency extraction plans while the girls are still in the air. Just in case."

"No offence, Blondie, but this whole mission is you getting in over your heads" Roy interjected as he, Oliver, and Digg approached her station from where they'd been sparring on the training mats.

There was a pause where Felicity first sent a withering glare towards her friend and then that glare turned into mirth,

"Thea asked me to tell you that you get three days on the couch for doubting our abilities to get this done." she snickered at the dumbfounded look on his face.

"You're making that up!" he accused her.

"Whatever you say… Lustmuffin." she couldn't help the laughter that rolled off her tongue at the last word.

Roy went pale, rooted in place.

Oliver looked like someone had just made him eat a whole lemon, whereas Diggle was barely holding in his own laughter.

"You tell her… She gets back alive from this… I'm gonna kill her myself." Roy spluttered before storming back towards the training dummies.

"She can hear you" Felicity called after him between her giggles.

She really needed that moment of levity before all hell broke loose. Soon enough though it was all back to business.

"Right, where was I?" she asked, addressing Laurel.

"You were going to ask me to do something."

Felicity nodded. "Yes, I'll need you to poke around the system and ask about discreetly among your contacts - because I do know you know people who are pretty high up the food chain - what the hypothetical fallout in such a situation will be. Can you do that?"

Laurel bit her lip, the furrow in her brow betraying her uncertainty. "Like you said, this is not exactly my area of expertise, but I can most definitely try. We're a team right? I need to pull my own weight."

Felicity smiled at her. "Thank you, Laurel."

She'd been worried that things between them might be awkward for more reasons than the obvious one, but so far she'd been pleasantly surprised. She only hoped that they continued to work so well in the future as well.

"I'll let you know as soon as I know something."

"How about I reach to some of my own contacts?" Diggle asked as Laurel headed towards the couch to gather her things. "Military and otherwise"

Catching up to his meaning, Felicity nodded quickly. It was honestly a good idea and it would get him out of the foundry for a while. Win-win.

With a small smile and a pat on Oliver's shoulder, John turned to Laurel.

"Come on, I'd drop you off at the D.A.'s office"

Once the door shut behind them, the only noise in the foundry was Roy's rhythmic hits to the training dummy.

"Now what?" Oliver asked. approaching Felicity.

"Now we wait." Felicity sighed.

"And if you could get your child a chocolate milkshake and cheesy fries, that would be great." she added as an afterthought.

As previously stated, Sara hated swimming and being wet. Damn near drowning twice in less than two years will do that to you.

She wasn't a big fan of the dark and cold either. Used to it? - yes, unfortunately, but definitely not a fan.

And yet they swam their way to the shore with something that could only be described as military grade glow sticks between their teeth to light their way.

Oh and let's not forget the waterproof equipment bag over her shoulder. Had it been up to her, she would have jumped in her leathers, but what with leather creaking when wet she couldn't very well do that.

It took them about twenty minutes to reach the shore. They found a remote, secluded corner of the beach where they could change into their uniforms and check their weapons and ammo.

"Coast is clear for now." Felicity told them "Both figuratively and literally. You have about three hours. Now go!"

The only good thing that came from the ridiculously long flight was that each of them had enough time to memorize their area.

"Birds, this is one rendezvous point you don't want to be late for." Lyla told them all just before they parted.

"Happy hunting." Thea murmured before taking a right and disappearing through the bushes.

Nyssa and Sara took a left towards the grounds and Lyla followed after Thea, sniper at the ready.

Felicity hadn't been this focused since she'd built that computer virus back in college. She had different satellite footage on each of her four screens - one for each team member. Her eyes were constantly flicking from one monitor to another, surveying the situation and trying to make out hostiles in the dark terrain.

Why were they doing this in the middle of the night again?

Potential hostile territory. Right.

"Action's about to start, if you wanna watch." Felicity said over her shoulder to the rest of the people in the Foundry.

Laurel, Diggle, and Lance, who had been pouring over the information Digg had brought along from his informants in order to lighten Felicity's load some, all looked up from the papers and stood up to approach the computers.

Roy and Oliver came over as well.

"Artemis, hold your position." Felicity said, her eyes trained on Thea's monitor as she caught a guard patrolling about fifteen feet from her.

"Mockingbird in position" Lyla called in just then, and Felicity's eyes flickered momentarily towards Lyla's monitor to see her on top of the chimney and lying on her stomach, squinting into the sniper binoculars.

"Good. Focus on trying to locate Shiva. I'll handle Artemis' infiltration into the house." Felicity replied.

"I wouldn't object to Deadshot's eye thing right about now, just saying." Lyla huffed.

"Somehow I don't think it's worth the sacrifice of a perfectly good eye." Felicity said.

"Northwestern corner is clear." - Sara.

"Nothing up north either" - Nyssa.

Felicity proceeded to mark their locations as irrelevant for the time being and listened to them continue their trek through the palace gardens.

"Artemis, you're clear to proceed. Guard is currently at your three but he can't see you. Go!"

They watched Thea sneak her way past the back entrance porch. There was a loud crunch on the comm and Thea cursed.

"Whew, that was close. All good though, I climbed a beam."

Indeed, Thea was perched on a wooden beam just above the entrance. She was just about to go in when she heard the guard closest to her say something in his radio and then head back her way again.

"Mockingbird?"

"Nothing yet"

"Canary, Falcon, what's happening on your front?"

"Nothing here, Devorah, my end of the grounds is pretty open and unsuitable for a stakeout or vantage point" Nyssa said.

"Okay, go meet up with Canary and help her out." Felicity said.

She listened to the two of them converse in Arabic and then a groan came over the comm that sounded remarkably like Thea.

She froze when her eyes zeroed in on Thea's screen.

The guard was right below her and from the looks of it he had no intentions of moving… and still on the radio. Thea couldn't get the drop on him without altering the rest of the security.

"Thea, do not move, do not breathe." Felicity urged her silently, her brain running all the possible outcomes. A frighteningly low percent of them actually ended well.

Next thing she knows. the guard crumples to the ground.

"I believe that solves it" Lyla's voice cut through the silence. "You'll have to hide the body, Artemis. We can't have him discovered."

"Is he dead?" Felicity asked.

"Tranq darts." Lyla said as way of explanation.

"Thank god, I was starting to lose feeling in my legs" Thea exhaled in relief.

She plopped gracefully back on the ground and dragged the guard into the nearest, darkest set of shrubbery.

"Geez, what do they feed them over here? Lead oatmeal?" Thea groaned, straightening up once the guard was disposed of into what looked like an empty supply closet.

"Artemis, focus." Felicity chided Thea over the comms.

Thea huffed in response and reached towards her back to pull out her swords.

"I'm focused. Where is the target?"

A quick check of satelite heat signatures gave Felicity the answer she needed.

"The top floor is most heavily populated. From what I can see we're looking at ten guards and and our target." Felicity supplied.

"Gonna be fun then. I'm heading up." Thea replied quickly "I can handle random guards for the time being, check on the others."

"Mockingbird, there's movement on your nine!" Digg's sharp exclamation echoed around the Foundry.

On the screen, Lyla adjusted her position accordingly and squinted through her sniper lens.

"I don't see anything,"

"I saw movement, it was quick, but I saw it. There's some kind of shrubbery there." Digg said. "Keep looking."

"Canary and I got this." Nyssa's voice came in.

Several more minutes passed in silence, each person in the foundry was focused on the screen of their family member as Felicity kept her focus split between helping Thea maneuver the palace and the rest of the team to locate Shiva.

"Canary, Falcon, near the front entrance there's a big damn fountain. It's pretty secluded from the entrance terrace. Is Shiva about 5'8", slim, asian?" Lyla's voice broke the tense silence in the foundry.

Canary cursed. Falcon started running faster.

"Mockingbird, go help Artemis. Do not engage Shiva." Canary said sharply.

"Has she spotted you?" Falcon asked.

"Don't think so."

Nyssa cursed under her breath. She could see the structure Lyla told them about.

"Not good enough, Mockingbird, make your way inside. We're close, we'll distract her."

"Copy that, Falcon. Artemis, how are things on your side?" Lyla rose from her position and started taking apart her sniper.

"First two floors are clear, two more to go and then it's show time." Thea told her.

As soon as the words left Thea's mouth, two guards rounded the corner and surprised her, yelling in a language that she didn't even begin to understand.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me." Thea whined, raising her swords at the ready.

Lyla started moving faster, tucking the sniper back into the case with a carelessness that would have made her CO in the army cringe.

"Devorah, I need coordinates on Artemis."

"Turn 45 degrees south west and head for the second floor." Felicity told her, watching as Lyla pulled out a gun from her weapons' bag.

With that she zipped it closed and threw it over her shoulder.

"Stained glass window with the lilies?" Lyla asked quickly, aiming her gun.

"Yes." Felicity nodded, wondering what on earth Lyla was planning to do.

"Hey Artemis, " Lyla called out. "DUCK!"

"Wha-"

With that she fired what turned out to be a grappling gun and swung down the line, crashing feet first into the window.

She rolled right into one of the bodyguards and used the weight of her armour bag to knock him down.

Thea stood motionless for a second. "So much for the stealth approach..." she teased.

Lyla stood up, brushing the shards of glass off of her carefully.

Felicity could swear that Diggle – who was standing on her right – whispered "that's my girl" at the sight of his wife.

"I took a shortcut, you sounded like you were in trouble." She shrugged "besides you and your brother are not the only ones allowed to make a cool entrance."

Lyla looked around her to see two other men lying unconscious on the ground.

"Hilt smash." Now was Thea's turn to shrug and grin.

"Nice." Lyla chuckled.

The third screen of Felicity's started buzzing with activity.

"Ladies, you've been made." She called out. "You've got six guys headed your way. "

Thea cracked her neck dramatically. Her and Lyla shared a quick look.

"Any chance we can avoid them?" Lyla asked Felicity.

"'Fraid not, Mockingbird. You'll have to fight your way through."

On the outside Nyssa and Sara caught up with Shiva just as she was about to leave her spot. Lyla's loud crash through the window had alerted her that she had company.

" Shiva!" Nyssa called out loudly, causing her ex-mentor to stop.

"Little Demon," Shiva's face was impassive when she turned to face Nyssa. "you've brought your pet." she sneered in Sara's direction.

Nyssa stiffened and Sara's reaction to that was to grip her staff tighter, ready to for a fight.

Shiva observed Sara silently and then laughed.

"Surely you don't think to challenge me, Little Demon. I may have trained you, but you are still no match for me."

Nyssa gripped her sword tighter. "I am not alone."

"She would hardly be of any help to you" Shiva pointed at Sara.

"Doesn't stop her from trying anyway," Sara interjected with a dry smile.

"Does your father know what you're up to, Little Demon, I am very doubtful he would agree." Shiva continued.

At some point during their conversation, if you could call it that, they'd started circling each other slowly.

"My father stopped being any of your business the minute you turned your back on us." Nyssa spat.

Shiva stilled, her expression murderous. "I turned my back, on you?! How dare you, you insolent, ungrateful, child!"

She charged and it took all of Nyssa's skill to dodge her attacks so that she wouldn't get thrown down the roof.

Sara charged as well, but before she could so much as have her staff make contact with her opponent, Shiva had turned to face her and gripped the staff in her bare hands.

With a twist that Sara had never seen before the staff was ripped out of her hands and thrown to the side.

"You were always predictable, At-Taer al-Asfar." Shiva sneered, slamming her foot against Sara's chest in a high kick.

Sara flew backwards, hitting the ground. She had trouble breathing, Shiva hit her diaphragm.

Shit.

"Walk away, Little Demon, this is not your fight." Shiva said between aiming kicks and punches at Nyssa.

"You hurt my beloved, it is every bit my fight." Nyssa hissed, throwing a dagger at Shiva that was yet again easily blocked.

She wished Thea and Lyla would hurry. She didn't know how long she could keep it up for.

"Mockingbird, duck!" Thea yelled as she pulled a flechette from her thigh and aimed it at the goon sneaking behind Lyla.

A hit to the waist had Thea stumbling forward and turning around to face attacker number four.

They didn't call her Speedy for nothing. She may be young and small, but that didn't mean she couldn't be deadly.

She attacked, ducking and dodging her opponent as she aimed punches at him. Quick, sharp and to the point.

Beside her she could hear Lyla fighting off two guys at once. Thea was going to have Lyla teach her some tricks when they got back to the States, that much she was certain of.

It took a while, but soon enough both of them had the situation under control.

Lyla was sporting a cut along her thigh and a scratch over her left cheek and Thea had lost one of her swords, that had been tossed outside the window earlier.

They worked surprisingly well together.

"Everyone alive?" Felicity asked.

"Peachy, " Thea replied sarcastically.

"How are the others?" Lyla asked.

"Holding on, but you guys need to hurry up if you want the plan to work and if you want to make it to the rendezvous point on time."

Lyla squared her shoulders. "Four more to go," she told Thea.

"After you," Thea replied.

They both headed for the staircase at the end of the corridor, while Felicity guided them through the palace. Felicity's initial reading had been correct. There were no more than ten men with the Prince. It seemed that no one also thought to bring in reinforcements. All the better for the team.

"I don't want to pressure you, but you have one hour till deadline." Felicity's voice crackled in her ear.

Thea bit back a comeback. Action now. Snark later.

The hallways were blissfully empty up until the top floor. It's the least they deserved for their efforts earlier.

"Wait!" Felicity's yell rooted them in place as soon as they reached the top floor landing.

"Take a left, there's a small kitchenette that connects to the main room where the prince is. That way you don't have to make a mess."

Thea and Lyla heeded her advice and turned towards the small kitchen. Surely enough there was a door that led them to the living room.

"Prince Philip," Lyla called out quietly.

The man standing on the opposite side of the room jumped and turned on his heel to face them.

He was in his mid-thirties, probably, and his facial features gave away what his accent and upbringing could not – that is, that he is from the Eastern parts of the world. Slavic.

He was dressed in a dark blue, three-piece suit that in Thea's opinion brought out his eyes and complimented his dark hair.

"Who are you?" He asked, taking a few steps back.

"Your highness, my name is Agent Michaels; I'm with the US government." Lyla spoke slowly and calmly, reaching into her pocket to retrieve her badge. "We have very sound reason to believe that someone ordered an attempt on your life."

"Why should I believe you?!" the prince asked.

"My associate will hand you my badge and a tablet. It's connected to a secure server that would allow you to check my claim."

Lyla put her gun on the floor and reached for the small tablet in the inside of her jacket, ignoring Thea's incredulous look of "where did you put that exactly?"

She handed Thea her id and the tablet and instructed the girl to give them to the prince.

"You will have confirmation in less than ten minutes. After that I'm afraid you'll have to come with us. Your plans for Markovia are admirable and my team and I are here to make sure they happen." Lyla said.

They managed to land some hits on Shiva but she was still in a much better condition than they were.

Nyssa suspected that at least one of ribs was cracked. Sara's knee was giving her trouble. Both would have bruises that would probably last at least a week after they're done here.

If they get out alive, that is.

Felicity had muted their incoming signal so that they wouldn't get distracted, but right about now, Sara was hoping that there would be some noise on the comms. Noise that would tell them they can execute their plan and get the hell out of there.

She really didn't want to die on a rooftop in some strange enemy country and she sure as hell didn't want to give Shiva the satisfaction of killing them.

It was difficult to fight an opponent that was one of the best martial artists known to man. It was even harder when said opponent could predict your moves based on your body language.

So Nyssa and Sara did what they do best – they teamed up and attacked her in unison.

Sara would go for the front, serving as a distraction and Nyssa would strike from the back or the side. Years of teamwork and partnership ensured that the two assassins worked in sync with one another.

Sara aimed a high kick at Shiva and Nyssa tried to upset her balance when their comms crackled back to life.

"Now!" was the only thing they heard.

"There is nothing you can do that I can't beat. You are a disgrace to the old ways! Both of you!" Shiva hissed, charging at Nyssa.

"Beat this!" Sara exclaimed taking a small device from her pocket and throwing it in Shiva's direction.

Nyssa ducked and covered her ears just in time, because once the device touched the ground it released a mighty, deafening shriek.

"I will kill you!" Shiva's threat could barely be heard over the volume of the Canary Cry.

"We will finish this another time, Shiva" Nyssa told her and released the small ball she was holding in her hand.

It collided with the ground, creating a loud bang and a flash worthy of a flash-grenade.

The two assassins hurt and tired as they were, started running as fast as they could towards the beach while they still had a head start on her.

By the time they reached the beach, they could see the plane's lights approaching. Talk about cutting it close.

Thea was the first to spot them.

"Hurry up! We need to get going."

Sara really hated swimming. She hated it even more with bruised or cracked ribs and in her leathers.

Felicity leaned back in her chair and exhaled.

That was intense. Way more intense than she was used to.

She was really scared for Sara and Nyssa for a while there. And then the prince was being all reluctant and suspicious.

"Lyla contacted me, they're all on the plane and headed back for the States. Target included. Barring any complication they should be here in about 12 to 13 hours." She told the others.

The relief on everyone's faces was palpable.

"Sara's alright?" Quentin asked.

Felicity nodded. "She has some black and blues going on but it's nothing she can't handle. Nyssa is worse, I think. She took the major brunt of the assassin. Thea and Lyla both have some scratches on them and some superficial wounds that shouldn't be cause for concern." She explained.

"Everyone is as okay as it could be expected. Go get some rest and we'll see them in the morning."

Slowly, they all filtered out of the foundry. Digg took Roy home and the Lances went back to Laurel's.

"Are you okay?" Oliver asked Felicity as they were turning the systems off and putting their coats on.

"I need a really long, hot bath with these salts you got me for Chrismukkah... oh and a back rub. Which means you'll be getting in with me." Felicity told him, sounding tired now that the adrenaline was starting to wear off.

She yawned, prompting Oliver to pick her up.

"You're tired, you're growing a human, take a nap until we get home. Let me take care of you." Oliver said when Felicity started protesting.

"I don't want to hear about international missions or even Central City for at least a month." Felicity murmured before succumbing to much needed sleep

I have the next chapter planned and it will focus on Laurel since so far the missions have been Sara and Felicity heavy. These two would be in the chapter as well, of course, but Laurel is going to be the A story for a change. I've got great things planned for her.

That being said, I'm not very satisfied with the group fight scenes, but in my defence, fighting is not my forte and group scenes are a lot easier to envision than to describe.

Any and all feedback is appreciated. Please don't be shy. It's important to me.