"Laurel, do you have any idea where Oliver is?" Thea asked her brother's girlfriend as they both looked around the policemen's gala.

"No. He told he'd be here after he and Roy dealt with another lowlife that was trying to take Darhk's place, but considering that was an hour ago, I'm assuming they got sidetracked." Laurel said.

"I swear, it's as if Oliver expects us to do his job for him." Thea said as Oliver joined them.

"Sorry I'm late, again." Oliver said as he kissed Laurel's cheek.

"So, what's the excuse this time?" Thea asked.

"Roy and I were dealing with a little Anarchy, downtown." Oliver said and both Laurel and Thea caught the double meaning of those words.

"Well, at least you're here now, especially since you have a speech to give." Thea said and Oliver nodded.

"The A.C.I. is an important step towards lowering crime in the city, but I'm not going to consider it without some major reform." Oliver said.

"What type of reforms?" a reporter asked.

"Uh, to start, an investigation into allegations of widespread corruption within the police department." Oliver said, just to see the looks on both Laurel and Thea's faces at the stupidity of what he'd just said.

"Ok. Mayor Queen will elaborate on all comments at the ceremony honoring all those who didn't make it on Genesis day. Thank you all very much." Thea said as she pulled Oliver away.

"You realize you just accused the police department of being corrupt at the police department gala?: Thea asked him incredulously.

"I answered a question." Oliver said.

"Yeah, and you also just put blame on the police department instead of taking responsibility for the city's crime." Thea said.

"You know I'm taking responsibility." Oliver argued.

"Yes, the other guy, but as the mayor, it looks like you're sleep walking, ok? Showing up late again is not helping that perception." Thea pointed out.

"Being the mayor gives me access to actionable Intel as "the other guy." It's a means to an end." Oliver said.

"Well, it didn't start off like that, Ollie. You wanted to become and then became the mayor to actually be mayor." Thea said.

"Right, and then reality set in. Even if we weren't dealing with a corrupt police department, and we are, or an electorate that thinks I got all my political knowledge by binge-watching "The West Wing," I still wouldn't be able to focus on being mayor, Speedy, because while I'm not exactly flying solo as the "other guy" with Laurel and Roy helping me, it still doesn't make up for the fact that since Darhk was killed, crime lords in this city have started to come out of the woodwork trying to take over his turf. I'm still stretched out pretty thinly." Oliver said.

"Ok, nice try. Talk to the controller about tax initiatives and councilman Garcia about sanitation. I also put the applications for deputy mayor on your desk." Thea said as she walked away.

The next day, Oliver, Laurel and Roy were standing in the bunker, reviewing the evidence Oliver had gathered on their newest player, Tobias Church.

"Oliver, I know you don't want to hear this, but Church is a lot more organized than these other criminals we've been stopping and he has a track record to prove it. I mean, he took over the criminal underworlds of Hub City, Keystone, Bludhaven and White Holland and considering how many crime families there are in Star City, he'll be able to rally them all in a week into a super gang. There's only 3 of us and we don't even have tech support. Maybe it's time to start focusing on building a new team." Roy said.

"Roy." Oliver began, only to have Laurel cut him off.

"You know he's right Ollie, so don't even bother denying it. Both Thea and Felicity have made it clear that they're not coming back and considering that John reenlisted in the military, we have no guarantee he'll come back either. It's been 6 months. I think it's time we start adding numbers to our ranks, especially considering how many people want to volunteer." Laurel said.

"Look I don't have the time or the temperament to train a new team." Oliver said.

"Oliver, this isn't about you not wanting things to change, it's about the fact that they already have and we can't just pretend otherwise. If we're going to stop Tobias Church, we need all the help we can get. The fact that Church took members of your administration hostage proves that." Roy said, since Church had taken 4 councilmembers hostage while attempting to take Oliver hostage as well, though that didn't end well, since Oliver was able to defend himself, but not the councilmembers.

"I'm done discussing this." Oliver said as he walked out of the room.

"I knew he was stubborn, but this feels like something else." Roy said.

"Agreed. The question is what?" Laurel asked.

Oliver had just finished leaving a voicemail to John before finally accepting that John and Thea weren't coming back and was visiting a grave in the cemetery that he hadn't visited in 3 years.

"Hey Tommy. I know it's been awhile since I've visited you and I'm sorry for that. I just, I don't know what to do anymore. Things here have really gone south lately. Corruption in the SCPD is so high I don't know who I can trust in there anymore, being the Green Arrow is a lot harder now without John, Felicity and Thea, Laurel and Roy are talking about building a new team and while on some level, I know they're right, I just can't bring myself to trust anyone else and as far as me being the mayor goes, I don't know what the hell I was thinking when I thought I could do the job. I'm in way over my head." Oliver said as he looked down at where his best friend now rested.

"Things lonely for you at the top Mr. Mayor." A familiar voice said and Oliver turned to see Quentin Lance standing behind him.

"Quentin, I didn't know that you were back in town. Is Donna?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah, she and I are doing fine. We got back in town a few days ago. But anyways, I just came from Laurel's place and she told me what's going on." Quentin said and Oliver could see he was holding a folder.

"Actually, being the mayor isn't the job that's lonely." Oliver said.

"Thea?" Quentin guessed.

"Thea's not coming back. Neither is John. There's a Russian proverb. I've been thinking about it a lot recently. Akula, kotorya Ne plavayet, Ne tonet. "The shark that does not swim drowns." You don't move forward, you die." Oliver said.

"Listen, you will die if you try taking on this Tobias Church by yourself." Quentin said.

"There's no more team, at least, not the team I'd need to keep this city safe. Roy, Laurel and I, we're stretched thin Quentin, and I can't trust anyone in the department." Oliver told him.

"Then don't. Just trust these guys." Quentin said as he handed Oliver the folder and Oliver opened it to see it revealed resumes of police officers.

"Lieutenant Conahan. I trained him back in the day. The guy's so clean, he doesn't even double park, and he's vouched for each of these officers." Quentin said.

"To do what?" Oliver asked him.

"To help you whatever way we can." Quentin answered.

"We?" Oliver asked skeptically.

"Look, I don't know any Russian proverbs, all right, but both of us have got to move on." Quentin told.

"Yeah." Oliver finally agreed.

"I thought that was going to be a bigger fight." Quentin admitted.

"Well, maybe I'm finally realizing that I don't have a choice if I want to be able to do both of my jobs right." Oliver admitted and Quentin just nodded.