[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/7nwooD8.png[/img] [i]"The laws of this country do not prevent the strong from crushing the weak."[/i] -- Woodrow Wilson [/center] [b] The Triangle 11:32 PM[/b] SCPD sergeant John Diggle sipped coffee from a styrofoam cup from inside his squad car. The coffee from Antonopoulos' Donuts wasn't exactly Starbucks, which was why Diggle always went there. The Greek diner was the greasiest of the greasy spoons in Star City and a bastion that stood firm against the wave of gentrification rushing through the city. The Triangle was a classic example. Back when Diggle was a rookie, this small section of Star City where 2nd Street merged into Winnick Avenue was a hellhole. Hookers, pimps, drug dealers and junkies all congregated here to sell their wares. It was an open-air flesh and drug market that the SCPD could never fully clean up. Now it was filled with organic grocery stores, shopping boutiques, and even a Starbucks. This was the domain of yuppies and hipsters now. In the end, it wasn't the SCPD but the influx of money coming into Star City that ran the scum out. And that was supposed to be a good thing, right? Diggle recognized his own conflicted feelings were silly. He had a scar on his chest that he got when a pimp stabbed him not three blocks away from here ten years back. The new crowd that ran around here were a lot of things, but they weren't stabbers. The city as a whole now was safer and Diggle liked it like that, but that safety seemed to take something out of the city as a whole. That was the cost of gentrification, he supposed. The scumbags added color to things. Now with artisanal cheese shops and tofu restaurants on every other corner, the color was gone. Neighborhood to neighborhood, street to street, it was all the same blandness. "What's a guy like you doing in the Triangle at this time of night?" Diggle heard the voice right after he heard the back of his squad car open. He'd left it unlocked for the meeting with his contact. He glanced into the mirror and saw the hooded and masked face of Green Arrow staring back at him. Their partnership stemmed from a situation five years ago when the masked archer took down a rogue flex squad that was extorting drug dealers throughout the city. Diggle gave him the intel on the men and their movements and he did the rest. "Thinking of buying some skinny jeans," Diggle said with a chuckle. "Think I can pull 'em off?" "From what I know about skinny jeans, the problems lies in putting them on [i]and[/i] pulling them off." Diggle sipped his coffee. "So that's why you wanted to meet? Work out your routine before you head out to the Catskills?" "Now that you mention it," the vigilante said with a playful smile. "I've got a thirty minute bit on airline food." "Right here," Diggle said, tapping the back of his neck. "Just put the arrow right there, please. Put me out of my misery." "What's going on inside the PD?" Green Arrow asked after a soft laugh. "How are they taking the news that Thornguard is trying to take over their jobs?" Diggle grunted after another sip of coffee. "Pretty well all things considering. Doesn't hurt that Thornguard is quietly putting out feelers to the FOP." "Aren't you an FOP Union Rep, Diggle?" "I am," Diggle nodded. "And the FOP is quietly negotiating with Thornguard lawyers about employing the majority of the SCPD as Thornguard officers if the police force gets privatized. You can bet they're talking with the firemen and paramedics as well." "What kind of deal are they pushing for?" "I don't know the finer points of the details," Diggle said with a shrug. "But it seems like at least 80% of the SCPD are going to be offered work as Thornguard contract workers. Most of the brass will be gone, as will the deadwood in the department, but you won't see anyone crying a river for them." "And in exchange, the FOP puts pressure on the mayor and city council?" "That's more implied than anything, but yep." "Know the name of the lawyers in question?" Green Arrow asked. Diggle searched through his pockets before he found what he was looking for in the breast pocket of his uniform. He passed the business card back through the mesh screen and into the masked man's hand. "Senior reps passed these out to us in case we had any questions or comments for the lawyers." "Thanks, Diggle." Green Arrow opened the door and started to get out. Diggle turned around in his seat and looked at him through the dark. "That's it? You don't want to know anything about any bad guys?" "Oh," the archer said, waving the card at Diggle, "I got all I needed on the bad guys right here." ---- [b]The Pacific Dining Car 7:51 AM[/b] "How'd you find this out, Ollie?" City Councilman Barry Calhoun looked at Oliver and then back at the card in his hands. Along with Councilwoman Diana Johnson-Ruiz, they were eating breakfast as part of their usual Tuesday morning routine. Oliver, Calhoun, and Johnson-Ruiz represented the liberal bloc of the Star City Council. They were currently vastly outnumbered 5-3 on any issue that came up. A few swing votes could go in their favor depending on the issue, but Jerry Conklin and his conservatives held the power when it came to passing city legislation. "A friend of mine on the Star City PD," Ollie said between bites of steak and eggs. "This goes no further than the three of us at the moment, but he says this law firm is quietly working on a deal with SCPD. Save for high command and a few humps, they all become Thornguard personnel when the city council passes the deal." "Paying them at their usual rate while billing the city twice as much as the SCPD would ever cost," said Diana. "Pardon my language, but it's bullshit." "Either one of you know where we'd stand if the vote were held today?" Calhoun asked with a raised eyebrow. "5-3 against us," said Ollie. "Maybe we could force a 4-4 tie if we get Lewis to come around and vote with us, but a tie does nothing but forces Mayor Fitzroy to cast the deciding vote and he'll come down against us. So that's 5-4 and a hardy welcome to Thornguard Security on the streets of Star City." "I for one welcome out new corporate overlords," Johnson-Ruiz said with a wink towards Ollie. "How can we stall the bill from coming to a vote?" "It's still in the public safety committee," Calhoun said as he rubbed his eyes. "I'm not chairman, but I am ranking member. As such, I can schedule as many witnesses as I wish to speak on the bill. There's three of us on that committee so it's going to make it out of there with a 2-1 vote, but I can at least buy us a few more days in committee before it goes to the full council for a vote." "Then we go to work with the FOP," said Ollie. "Convince the union leadership that the deal is a bad one. Find some info on the cities and places Thornguard has taken over police service for and see how many of the original police force they retained and how much they were paid. Lawyers can say one thing, but facts are facts." And while Oliver Queen works on the FOP, Ollie thought to himself, Green Arrow is going to figure out who exactly owns Thornguard and how they connect to all the other big trusts in Star City.