A/N: Hi guys!

Even though I obviously still don't own Arrow, I can't help continuing to write about it.

As you read in the summary, I'm writing some unrelated one-shots based on different famous quotes and proverbs. This first is about friendship and trust.

I started publishing these one-shots in Spanish, but some people have asked me if I could also post them in English, so here I am.

And if you have read something of mine in English before, you will know that sharing this with all of you would be impossible for me without the help of my incredible beta, luvtheheaven.

I hope you like this, even if it is only a little bit.

And don't forget, when you're bored, take some paper and your favorite pen and enjoy writing!


Title: Thank You

Characters: Oliver Q., John D. and Felicity S.

Rated: T (See the end of the work for more notes)

Spoilers: 2x09 - Three Ghosts

"If you don't trust your associates to know what's going on, they'll feel that you don't really consider them as your partners" ~ Sam Walton


Chapter 1: Thank You

Felicity took the mask from Oliver's hands and smiling slightly, she put it on him gently. Barry had done a great job; the mask was perfect.

"How do I look?" Oliver asked with a little hesitation in his voice.

"Like a hero," she replied firmly.

He put on the hood while Felicity's words echoed in his mind. He could see that she really believed in what she'd just said - the confidence and pride in her words were clear. 'A hero'… It was the second time that night someone had called him that.

Tommy's words had deeply touched Oliver: 'I know I called you a murderer, but you are not. You are a hero.' He smiled slightly at the memory, and suddenly he felt a jolt in his stomach, his knees weakened, and he had to grab the table to keep from falling.

Slade was in front of him again, looking at him with hate. Although he was silent, Oliver knew what Slade had come to tell him. There had barely been a few hours since his previous hallucination, and his words echoed in his ears painfully: 'You are not a hero. Or a friend. Or a brother. You are nothing'.

He blinked several times until Slade disappeared and he could see Felicity in front of him.

"Oliver… Oliver, can you hear me?"

She wanted to caress his cheek, but as soon as she touched him, he jumped as if it had burned him.

"Hey, Oliver. What's up, man?" Diggle asked, starting to worry.

Oliver took a couple of steps back. His face was a mixture of confusion, fear and guilt. Wordlessly, he turned and ran, throwing the mask without worrying about where it fell.

"Oliver! Oliver, come back here!" they shouted, but he just ignored them.

"What was that?" Felicity asked as she picked up the mask and absentmindedly twirled it between her fingers.

"I think not all of his ghosts are gone."

"All? What do you mean by 'all'? I thought he'd only seen... Shado." She couldn't hide the pain she felt knowing he'd been with her on the island.

"He's told me before that he has also seen Slade Wilson. They were together in Lian Yu. I don't know what happened, but Oliver blames himself for their deaths."

"And who do you think he's seen this time?"

"It could have been either of them, or someone else... Who knows?"

"And as usual, he won't tell us until he's forced to. I know he doesn't find it easy to talk about what happened on the island, but then he was the first one who wanted Sara to tell him what had happened to her and... I'm aware that as I haven't been through anything like that I can't understand exactly how he feels, but someday he has to talk about it. He needs to let off steam... Or all that he has inside will end up consuming him."

"Felicity, give him time... Someday he'll be ready. When you come home after being in a place where you've been forced to fight... to kill... It isn't easy to talk about it. You fear being judged, or rejected. I had my brother, and Lyla; but they had lived those experiences with me, so we supported each other. But when Oliver came back, he had no one."

"He had his family! He had his mother and Thea, and he had you!"

"The truth is that Oliver and I didn't have a good start. And as for his family… Yeah, they were there, but they expected the old Oliver, and he is not that man anymore. Besides, he had a mission to perform, and he believed that the less his family knew, the safer it would be for them. So he decided not to tell them anything. He told nothing to his family, or to Tommy. Or to anyone else. He had to face his homecoming alone. He got used to carrying all the weight on his own shoulders, to keeping secrets, to pretending to be someone else. And when you've been doing that a while, when you've done everything possible to leave your past behind, to keep it in a place where no one can get... You're so closed off that it's hard to let someone in, to let them know what you've done, what you have suffered, how much it still hurts."

"And I understand that, but I can't avoid wanting to help him… And the truth is that sometimes I wonder what we are for him," she said sadly. "I mean, I know we're his friends, John, he lets us see his true self, and he really trusts us—"

"But?" he interrupts.

"I don't know if it's because he was forced to do so, or because he really considered us his friends."

"Forced?" he asked, confused.

"Yes... Well, you had been poisoned, so what else could he do? And when he told me who he was, his mother had shot him and he was bleeding out... He didn't have many options... So yeah... Sometimes I wonder what we are for him."

Oliver hadn't gone far. As soon as he went out and the cold night air slipped into his lungs he felt better. He'd leaned against the wall, slipping down until he was sitting in the ground with the hood down and his eyes tightly closed.

He had left— No, he had run away from the lair because he needed air, he told himself. But the fact was that he needed to be alone.

He didn't understand what was happening. He felt extremely lost and didn't know what to do. It had been a few minutes since he had told Diggle his ghosts were gone. But then why had he seen Slade again?

Tommy had told Oliver that he wasn't responsible for his death, that he was a hero… And for a moment, he'd believed Tommy's words. However, Shado had asked him to stop fighting and live… She'd said that he wouldn't be able to stop what was coming. He wondered if it had anything to do with Slade.

"But that's impossible... He's dead," Oliver said aloud.

"Are you sure, kid?" someone half-hidden in the shadows answered.

Oliver didn't need to see his face to know who he was. He recognized the Aussie's voice and clothes instantly.

"I saw you die. Twice."

"The first time you did kill me, at least for awhile. The sec—"

"It was the only way to try to save you!" he yelled, trying to explain his actions.

"The second time," Slade continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, "you just thought you had killed me."

"You didn't leave me any other choice," Oliver muttered in frustration.

"Are you sure? Then, why do you feel so guilty, kid?"

"You were going to kill her! I couldn't let you do it, Slade! I couldn't let you kill Sara! Slade? Slade!"

Oliver looked from one side to another, but Slade was gone. He let out a long sigh and stood up. Certainly Diggle and Felicity would be wondering why he had run away like that. They deserved an explanation. And maybe it was time to tell them some things about the island.

He entered the key on the number pad and walked in, per usual without making any sound. So much so that neither Diggle nor Felicity noticed his arrival, so he could hear what she was saying:

"…He didn't have many options... So yeah... Sometimes I wonder what we are for him."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Oliver said with unusual sincerity.

"Oliver! Where were you? Why did you run? Was it because of what I said? If it upset you, that wasn't my intention in any way, but you really looked like a hero to me, and I know you don't see yourself that way, but..."

"Felicity." He cut off her babbling.

"Yeah, I'll just shut up now," she said as she sat in her chair with the mask still in her hands.

Oliver smiled at her reassuringly. Just a few moments ago, she had been wondering if he really considered them as friends and now she was worried, thinking her words were the reason for his escape.

"Before, when you told me I looked like a hero... I'd seen an old–friend," -a chill ran down his back- "and he reminded me a few things from the island… You asked me once if I have any happy stories… This isn't one, but I think it's time to share some things with you two," he said as he sat on a chair, with his elbows on his knees. "The island taught me many things, and certainly not all were good."

Diggle and Felicity exchanged looks of surprise, but they said nothing. They knew that Oliver found it difficult to talk about the island, so when he did it, they tried to interrupt as little as possible. Dig leaned on the table with his arms crossed, waiting for Oliver to continue.

"The island taught me that friendship is something that can be used against you. The first time I was tortured they wanted to find out where Yao Fei was. He was the first person I met on the island, and Shado's father. She was also retained by Fyers, so Yao Fei had to play a double game to save both of us. He managed to send me to the plane's fuselage you saw. Then, there was Slade Wilson. He trained me and taught me to fight, and one day we got Shado free. She also trained me and taught me a few moves, but mostly she taught me how to use the bow. We were a good team. Slade was the warrior, I was the apprentice and Shado… She was the voice of sanity, the calm; she was the one who held us together... Although living on the island wasn't easy, we enjoyed some good moments when, for a few minutes, we forgot that they wanted to kill us."

Felicity looked at him with a half smile. It was the first time she'd heard him saying something nice about the island, even if it was only a tiny thing.

"One day, Yao Fei appeared on the plane, but he wasn't alone. Fyers and his men came with him. Although the first thing I thought was that he had betrayed us, I soon realized how wrong I was. Fyers was going to bomb the forest to kill us, and that was the only way Yao Fei had found that would give us a chance to survive. Fyers demanded Yao Fei to plead guilty for the attacks they'd planned, and when he refused Fyers threatened to kill us. That day they didn't use only friendship against us. They also used a father's love. In the end he had no choice but to accept. He risked his life to save us and he died. They killed him as soon as he finished his statement. Shado, Slade and I managed to destroy the camp and kill Fyers and his men, but the price was too high."

Oliver didn't say anything more for a few minutes, but his friends knew that he hadn't finished yet and that he only needed some time to clear his thoughts before continuing. So they waited patiently.

"One day, we were attacked and I was captured. When I awoke I was on a ship, locked in a cell by order of a Doctor Ivo and some men who worked for him. That's where I saw Sara for the first time after the shipwreck; she was something like his protégée… I don't know how, but they discovered who I really was and that Sara and I already knew each other. I guess not many ships wrecked in that area… The fact is that they knew I hadn't been alone on the island, and took advantage of Sara to deceive me and find out where my friends were hiding. The next day we returned to the island. They wanted to kill my friends before looking for the Mirakuru. Slade and Shado rescued me, also Sara. Eventually, we managed to get to the submarine where the serum was, unaware that Ivo and his men were following us. Slade was badly injured, and if we didn't do anything... He was getting worse by the minute. We found the serum in a closet, but there wasn't any kind of sedative. We had no other choice. I injected Slade with the serum, but it didn't help... He died anyway... Or at least we thought so."

"What do you mean by that?" Felicity asked, unable to contain herself.

"I'll explain soon. The fact is that Ivo and his men arrived and they took us out of there by force. And suddenly, I don't know how... I was forced to choose," he said, unable to hide how painful it was being to talk about those memories. "Sara and Shado were kneeling in front of me, Ivo pointing a gun at them… He told me that I had to decide which one of them should live or he would kill them both. I… I couldn't… I just couldn't make that choice…"

Felicity cried silently, wondering how he'd been able to overcome so much suffering. Diggle squeezed Oliver's shoulder, letting him know they were there, supporting him, saying in silence that he could take a break if he needed.

"I couldn't choose, so I did the only thing I could. I begged for their lives, I asked to kill me instead of them. But Ivo ignored my plea, repeating that if I didn't choose, both would die. When he finished speaking he pointed his gun at Sara, and without thinking I placed myself in the middle, ready to receive her bullet. But Ivo thought I'd chosen her, and before I knew what had happened, Shado was dead... She died thinking I chose Sara."

At that point, Oliver couldn't help but release a couple of bitter tears. He would never be able to shake off the blame for her death.

"And suddenly we heard screams and fighting sounds... It was Slade."

"So he wasn't dead?" Diggle asked, trying to understand.

"We'd thought he was, but it seems that the serum has that effect… When Slade came back to life, he found where we had been taken and he was able to kill all of Ivo's men. Ivo was the only one who managed to escape from Slade's fury. And when he saw Shado's body... He loved her so much... although she'd never returned his love in any romantic way. He swore that he would make sure that her murderer would pay. Sara told him that it had been Ivo, but he soon discovered what had happened. My nightmares betrayed me. I woke up screaming about Shado's death and Slade realized how I'd played a part in it. He'd sworn revenge, and Slade was a man of his word."

"He... He tried to kill you?" Felicity asked, horrified.

"I wish he would have. He tried to kill Sara."

"But that doesn't make sense!"

"It does for him. He wanted me to go through the same thing he'd suffered, and that was the best way."

"So did you think he really killed her? I mean, I know that Sara didn't die on the island, but since you really thought she was dead..."

"I don't know what I thought."

"How can you not know, Oliver?" Diggle asked. He didn't like to interrupt him, but sometimes it was necessary.

"I had tried to reason with him, explain what had happened, but he didn't hear me. In the end we had no other choice but to confront him. I still doubt if it was a good idea… Both Sara and I ended up quite badly injured. She was lying on the ground, covered in blood… dead, or at least I thought so at the time. I was barely standing, and Slade seemed invincible. I had never before faced anyone who had been injected with Mirakuru. My punches didn't seem to affect him, so I took the bow and I shot him over and over again. The arrows didn't stop him, but he slowed a little, until an arrow hit him in the eye. Whatever happened then... I don't remember well. I was very tired and dizzy… Everything was spinning… I heard him screaming and suddenly he wasn't there. I don't know how, but he ended up falling off a cliff. It was him or me… But still... I killed him... I killed my friend... My friend!" He sighed. "His cry is the last thing I remember. Then I passed out."

Felicity was no longer trying to hide her tears. Oliver's story was too painful.

"Yao Fei, Shado and Sara died because of me. I killed Slade. I was alone on the island, and the only thing left for me was the guilt. That was all I could think about when I woke up. I didn't dare to look at Sara's body. I got up as soon as I could and walked toward the cliff over which Slade had fallen. I had nothing to lose. I was sure that my family thought I was dead and that I could never leave the island by myself. I didn't think I could live with the guilt, so I went to the edge and I let myself fall. The knock against the water was..." he trailed off. "I just remember the pain... Somehow the tide had dragged me to a beach. When I woke up again, I realized it was the exact place I'd arrived at the island after the shipwreck, almost two years prior. I don't know how or why I lived after the fall, or how I only had a few broken bones. I survived once again, and I thought there must be some reason for it. So I told myself I had to be strong, fight and find a way out of there, to someday fulfill the promise I'd made to my father. I managed get to the cave where I'd lived with Yao Fei, and I spent most of the time there until I'd recovered enough to go back for Sara's body. I didn't find it. So I thought a storm may have washed it away... Now, I suppose that at some point she woke up and since she didn't see me, she thought I was dead. I don't know."

"And what about Slade's body? Did you find it?"

"No, but having fallen into the sea with an arrow through his eye, it was almost impossible for him to have survived. If he did, I never saw him return to the island... And the same thing happened with Sara. I never saw her again… I don't know how she managed to leave the island, but from that day until I was rescued by some fishermen I felt sure I was the only person on Lian Yu."

All three were silent for a while. Diggle and Felicity were assimilating everything they had just heard, and Oliver was trying to find the right words so that they could understand what he had wanted to tell them.

"So yeah... I made friends there... Really good friends... But that only brought me a lot of suffering... That's why it's so hard for me, Felicity. All the people who get too close to me are in danger... They just get hurt... or dead. That list is already too long... I don't want... I can't add more names to it. You two are very important to me, and not just for what we do here. Of course I consider you my friends, my only real friends, and I…" He opened and closed his mouth several times, not knowing how to continue. "I'm not good at this," he added in frustration.

Oliver wanted to explain that he was afraid to show how much he needed them, how much he cared about them... And that at the same time he was terrified that someone would find out. Friendship is a powerful weapon… He knew it firsthand, it had been used more than once against him, and he didn't want to go through the same again. He wanted to explain all that, so they could understand his behavior, but he couldn't find the right words. And yet, somehow, they knew what he was thinking. He could see it in Diggle's gaze... And he could feel it in the way Felicity hugged him.

"Thank you."

It was the only and most perfect thing Oliver could say. That single phrase contained so much meaning in itself, which both Diggle and Felicity understood without needing anything else.


A/N 2: Thanks you for reading! And please don't forget to leave me reviews so I'll know what you think. Thank you very much!

I have some ideas for the next chapters, but if there is any famous quote or proverb about you would like to read, just let me know. Suggestions are welcome! ;-)

One last little thing, this was rated "T" because of the suicide attempt.

Until the next "chapter", have a great time!