Owner Pose
Oliver Queen It's just after 10pm on a Wednesday in Central City. Oliver Queen, scion of the billionaire Queen empire, is chatting up a few models at the afterparty for the La Perla Winter line show. An old 'friend' of his, Vera, was one of the models and had recently invited him to come out and see the show. She had also invited him to come and spend some 'quality time' in her suite at the Four Seasons at the same time, an offer which Oliver had declined, but had had some second thoughts on following a conversation with Felicity. Had her repudiation of the idea that there was a potential there spurred him to go to Vera's show? Hard to say. What is known is that shortly after that conversation, Oliver booked a flight to Central City for the morning of her show, to return three days later, and two nights for himself at the Four Seasons.

Once in Central City, however - in fact, during the car ride to the Four Seasons from the airport - Oliver decided that the trip was a mistake. He called up and moved his flight up to a 6am flight back to Starling City, and shortened his stay at the Four Seasons to just one night. He was already there, he may as well show support for his friend, but he would be in and out, and back to Starling City in time for lunch. And then, maybe, he could figure out if there was a way to sort out this Felicity situation.

But, Oliver being Oliver, he had to at least chat with /some/ of the folks at the party, make his presence known. Certainly, some of the photographers there were listing the photos online.

But, shortly after 10pm, he would politely make his goodbyes. The show itself was just down the street, a mere four blocks from the Four Seasons, and Oliver had not walked the streets of Central City in some time, and so decided tonight would make a good night for a nice relaxing stroll back to his hotel.
Ra's al Ghul The Demon has stirred, and all will soon know its cleansing fire.

Ra's al Ghul has mobilized a crack team of his Assassins to Central City in search of young Oliver, their leader requiring a talk with the man. It will always be a failing of Ra's' that he doesn't believe in asking politely.

As Oliver makes his way down the street, he's likely to note the strange feeling in the air. Working as a crime fighter tends to develop that sixth sense in a person. Down an alleyway, a trash can clangs. Across the street, a gust of wind sends a loose Star City Coffee cup rolling across a bench. Just down the sidewalk, a man clad in all black steps out from within a shop front's alcove. In the middle of the road, a cat darts away.

On the roof of one of the buildings across the street? An arrow can be heard nocking.
Oliver Queen Silently cursing himself for having gone in blind, Oliver senses the impending ambush. He reaches into his pocket, fumbling with his phone, but not drawing it out. Initiating a call to Felicity. Hopefully she will pick up instead of putting him through to voicemail - he knew that things had gotten awkward, but she was always there for him. He sighs for a moment as that fills him with a minor amount of happiness, even though clearly they were never going to be more than professional colleagues. It almost made him forget that he was about to get attacked by a number of foes.

Almost.
Ra's al Ghul With a 'thwip' that arrow is loosed and digs into the brick wall just in front of Oliver. It wasn't meant for him. It was meant to distract from the man sneaking up behind him, angling to deliver a haymaker. He's just some businessman, right? It can't be that hard.

Down the street, a long black car rolls up and comes to a stop, the engine cutting off shortly after. The back door swings open and a pair of black loafers swing out and alight on the pavement. A green cape follows suit.
Oliver Queen Luckily for Oliver, he is well aware of the arrow of distraction. As the man sneaks up behind him he ducks the haymaker and swings back with an elbow to his gut, hoping to catch the man surprised by just how quickly this businessman moves. He whirls around, prepared for the possibility of more coming. He is, at the moment, not focused on the car up the street, but is aware of it. More immediate threats first.
Ra's al Ghul That Assassin has grossly underestimated Oliver Queen's reaction time, and has doubled over on the ground in an attempt to catch his breath. Another arrows digs into the wall near Ollie. The man who Queen saw stepping out of the alcove is now running straight towards him, a tanto slid out from beneath his jacket.

The man who got out of the car, however, continues his long slow walk towards the beleaguered Green Arrow. He's in no hurry.
Oliver Queen There is a certain amount of grunting and rustling as Oliver kicks the first assailant and then turns to look towards the one armed with the tanto. He could call out and say something, knowing that his phone has dialed Felicity. But he does not know if she is going to answer, and does not want to tip off his attackers that he has reached out. So he says nothing, hoping that she interprets the sounds of grunting and flesh slapping against flesh correctly as Oliver being attacked, not him butt dialing from a suite in the Four Seasons with Vera.

He charges at the man with the tanto hoping to take him by surprise with the quickness of his close, driving down at his legs with a sweep.
Felicity Smoak The phone rings; Felicity is one of //those// that has a unique ring for everyone she knows. No, strike that.. everyone that she actually //likes// and is more likely to answer should they call.

And there is Oliver's.

Felicity is home, feet up on the couch with some 'out of the oven' cookies from Mrs DeSilva. They're more 'cookie batter' than baked cookies, but that makes them even better.

With a sigh, Felicity does pick up after the third ring, and setting it on speaker phone, she calls out, "Hello?"

There's a pause before, "Oliver?

"Helloooo.. did you butt dial me?"
Ra's al Ghul In anticipation of falling on his own knife, the attacker whips it away as his legs are swept out from under him, sending it clattering across the sidewalk. He 'oofs' onto the ground, but reaches up quickly to grab at Ollie, trying to pull Oliver down with him, attempting to anaconda around him in some trained Jiu Jitsu grapple. He shouts out a curse in Arabic as he struggles.

Ra's al Ghul continues his slow gait, reaching up to unclasp the cape from around his neck and holding it out to the bow-wielding assailant who has seemingly just materialized beside him. His coat is handed over shortly after and Ra's rolls the sleeves of his pressed and tailored white shirt up, revealing the myriad scars dug into his forearms.
Oliver Queen Oliver goes dead weight as the assailant tries to grapple him, using gravity to try to assist him in breaking out of the hold. If successful, he would aim a punch at the side of the knee to try to disrupt the man's ability to stand. He becomes acutely aware of a bow trained on him as well as what is clearly the master of this particular order of mayhem. He tries to work quickly to free himself from that attacker, knowing that it has just begun to become a problem.
Felicity Smoak If she'd just be quiet, Felicity would hear that right now, it's not one of those 'conversation' phone calls. To her credit, she does.. she can hear the scuffling, the sounds of..

"Oliver.." she begins again, softly. Now, she's getting up off the couch, and walking quickly towards her home set up. For every step, she's now talking, "Where are you?" Of course, she can track his phone easily. It's child's play.. and the moment she reaches her computer, she's booting it up and sitting down.

"What's happening?"
Ra's al Ghul Oliver's quick thinking has the attacker gripping his knee and howling in pain, releasing his hold on the man.

Ra's frowns at the sorry state of his current order and closes the distance between himself and Oliver, the League members scurrying off to either side the quickest they can with their recently-acquired injuries. "Mr. Queen," Ra's begins, hands clasping in front of himself. "The fire of righteousness burns brightly within you, this much is clear. But...yours is a wildfire. Unguided and just as likely to burn you and your loved ones. Do not make me snuff it out," he says, frowning at the businessman.
Oliver Queen If being in the hero business has taught Oliver Queen anything, it is to know how to size up your threats. From the way the men attacked - not horrible, just not as good as he - and scurried as the man approached, Oliver has the good sense to know he is not someone to be trifled with. He is badly outnumbered, and at least for the moment, the man is not attacking him. It is not his strongest suit, but Oliver Queen does in fact know how to talk without punching.

"I think you have my confused with someone else, sir. I'm just a businessman whose bodyguard is /really/ good at teaching self-defense." He stands slowly and holds his hands up in surrender. "And the only wildfire I have is whatever I picked up from the models at the show I was just at." He flashes a grin at the boasting quip, as if to sell himself as the immature playboy the world thinks that he is.
Felicity Smoak Felicity is working quickly, efficiently, even though her heart is in her throat right now. The keys click under her fingers, and she is staring at the screen as the pings start to work.

She pauses, however, as she hears a distinct voice, and with a quick strike, she's recording it off her phone, and setting it for better quality. "Oh no.. no.. don't go threatening. You won't like it.." is murmured, and she pushes at her glasses to get them back up.

It's Oliver's somewhat muffled voice, his posturing and boasting about the models at the show. Felicity pauses, and pushes on her glasses again, fingers snaking underneath in order to rub at the one. Her head shakes in an attempt to dislodge the thoughts that are starting to try and take form.

She's smart now, however. If whomever that is is that close, it's a better than even chance that they'd hear her if she said anything. Instead? Felicity sends a quick prayer that he knows that she'll be contacting John.. and that Oliver's given himself the best chance of being helped, now that he's got that channel open.

Voice recording.. but the red light cameras are next as the towers ping in the background..
Ra's al Ghul Ra's tips his head back and looks down his nose at the man in assessment. His green eyes squint for a moment and his hands unclasp, moving to his side. "I'm sure," he concludes.

Ra's' fists clench and unclench as he continues to regard Oliver. "Whatever the case may be, Mr. Queen, you will be coming with me," he says, a grand gesture back to the limousine parked just down the street. It's clear that he's not intending on taking no for an answer.

His hand drops and the other stretches out towards Oliver. "But first, your phone, Mr. Queen."
Oliver Queen As if suddenly sending that he was in fact in trouble, Oliver shakes his head at R'as. "Please, look, I can pay a ransom without you having to take me," he says, starting to ramble as he reaches into his jacket. "When a scary old guy with creepy white hair at this temples and a green cape tries to get me into a limo..." He pulls the phone out of his pocket, pushing the button on the side to turn off the display but leave the call running. "That's just not my idea of a good time, ok?" Oliver's hands are shaking and as he pulls the phone out it catches on his jacket and starts to tumble from his hand. He reaches for it quickly but it slips from his fingers, falling into the sewer grate.

He looks up at Ra's. "Look, if you give me your phone, I can call my mother, and she'll have whatever you need wired, ASAP!"
Felicity Smoak Felicity mouths, 'no, no.. no..' at her screen, and shakes her head at the same time with no little violence. The information gained, more, allows her to rule out the lights that //aren't// the ones with the descriptions given. "Okay," is murmured, "I swear.. if.. no, not 'if', when.. when we get you back, I swear I'll.." what? "I don't know. But I'll do something."

The cameras flicker into life, and she picks through the displays.. one after another, they flicker into life on her screen, only to be replaced within seconds. Thus is the life of having recognition software..

The sound of the phone falling makes her wince, but she's going to have a good start regardless...

And there's the triangulation report. She can actually start mobilizing John.. and a quick text goes out for both John and Thea. It's short and sweet.

'Oliver's grabbed in Center City. Starting coordinates are:..." and they're filled in.

One of the joys of being who she is? She takes the information as well, and starts getting dressed in order for her to go as well. Little keyboard jockey is going into battle?
Ra's al Ghul Ra's frowns as the phone tumbles down into the sewers. He waves the League members away and shakes his head at Oliver. "A shame. I would have relished a chance to speak with Miss Smoak. She's really quite exceptional young woman, isn't she?" he asks, watching as the Assassins dissipate. While they may have just gotten trounced, their ability to disappear back into veritable nonexistence is nigh-on superhuman.

"Your money means nothing to me, Oliver. It's your crusade that's interesting. The costume has a flair that I enjoy. But...my interest in you doesn't preclude the fact that I am needed elsewhere and you are trying my *patience*. Come with me, Oliver. By my side, or over my shoulder; it is your choice."
Oliver Queen The gig is clearly up. If the man knows that Oliver's flailing was to hide the fact that he called Felicity - that he knows Felicity by name - it would just be an insult to the man's intelligence to prolong the facade. "Fine," replies Oliver, his voice suddenly lined with steel as he straightens up. The transformation of his posture is immediate and striking. "Promise me that if I come with you peacefully, you will not harm Felicity, or any of my other friends."
Ra's al Ghul "You have my word. Your loyalty to the people you lead is to be commended, not punished," Ra's says. There's a 'yet' in there somewhere, without a doubt.

Ra's turns and begins to walk back towards the car, hands slipping into his pockets as he strides. Once the pair gets close, a mountain of a man will step out of the driver's door and move to open their door for them. "Thank you, Ubu," Ra's says, sliding into the car, Oliver following shortly after. It's not long before they're away.

There will be no record the following day of...anything, outside of what Felicity has collected. Any blood spilled will be gone, the arrows dug into the walls will be gathered and evidence of them ever having been there patched. An elderly woman in an upstairs apartment had seen the whole affair.

Her daughter will begin making the arrangements for a funeral over the following week. The heart does grow weary at such an age.