Silent.

The city was asleep and silent as the darkness began to fade into the first rays of morning light. Skyscrapers that seemed to fill with boundless energy in the day were left as dark towers that stretched above the city below: Starling City. There was an eerie comfort of the metropolis just beyond the glass that bound a man inside the hospital room.

The darkness of the city set him in a trance. From the height, it looked small. Just another city, but as he continued to stare out at the silent metropolis, all the memories of the past years flooded his mind. All the hardships and trials led him to the room he now stood perfectly still in.

His gaze never broke from the skyline. Though the TV was turned on to the news and talking from the hallway bled into the room, his focus was set, until the door opened from behind. He slowly turned around, putting him face to face with a woman younger than him. Long, raven hair fell down her shoulders effortlessly, and the subtle glitter in her umber eyes brought a small smile to the man's face as she came to his side. Like him, she wore the shirt and pants provided by the hospital.

"You stare out at the city like you did the ocean," The woman spoke, her voice smooth and gentle as she looked out at the sleeping metropolis, "Full of beauty and too vast to see all that hides in it, but mysterious and unpredictable."

"Three years ago, we made a vow: to carry on the legacy of a father to his son," The man recalled, though his voice was more horse and thick with an Australian accent, "And now when we can properly honor it, the city seems to need it more."

The woman turned and placed a hand on the man's bare arm. Her touch sent a wave of warmth crawling up from under the skin and muscle to his shoulder and neck.

He turned towards her, and she smiled. "I told you, when the time was right, we would know when it's time to begin the crusade."

The man was about to reply, but his attention was drawn towards the TV when two photos appeared behind the anchor.

"And in our top story of the morning, after five years away from society, two castaways were found on an island in the North China Sea. The two have been identified as Slade Wilson and Shado Gulong. More on the story is to be released…."

"The city's beginning to rise," Shado said in a soothing tone, "We should join them."

Shado began to walk towards the door, but stopped and turned back towards Slade, who was gazing back towards the city.

"Do you think this is how he remembered it?" Slade asked, "Do you think this is the city that he wanted to save?"

"I think that if Oliver were still alive, he would look down on the city, just as you are, and he'd want to put an end to the crime that plagues society. He'd want to see the promise he made his father honored."

Flashback: Lian Yu, 4 Years Ago

"Anthony, you got what you wanted. You can let them go," Sara reasoned as she turned around, "If you ever cared about me-"

"But I do care about you, Sara," Ivo said, "Which is why I won't choose to kill you…but he might."

Sara turned and looked to who Ivo was pointing to: Oliver. She whipped around to Ivo, but before she could say anything, he pressed the barrel of his gun to her back and forced her to walk forward.

"What are you talking about?" Oliver demanded between breaths.

One of Ivo's men walked forward and forced Shado to her knees as Ivo did the same to Sara.

"Time to choose Oliver, who lives, and who dies, but pick quickly because, in thirty seconds, I will shoot them both."

Oliver's eyes darted between the two women kneeling before him with their backs to the gun, so they wouldn't know where it's pointed. The breath caught in his throat as Ivo's men continued to shine their flashlights around the clearing. All Oliver could see was the terrified expressions on both Sara and Shado's faces, as well as the layer of tears coating their eyes.

"You don't have to do this. You got what you came for! Just take it and go!"

"Ten seconds."

"You fricking psychopath!"

"History will make that judgment. Five seconds."

Ivo moved the barrel of his gun between Sara and Shado as the last seconds began to slip away, but Oliver stayed silent, desperately thinking of anything he could say or offer to stop what was about to happen. The five seconds felt like an eternity until Ivo mouthed the word 'One' and stopped moving his gun on Sara. Oliver skidded to his knees and put himself between Sara and the barrel of the gun, but before anyone could say something, the sound of pounding footsteps came from the forest.

In a flash of gray, Slade jumped out of the darkness and grabbed the jacket collar of one of Ivo's men before throwing him to the edge of the clearing. Ivo's men all turned and witnessed Slade snap a gun in two like it was a twig, but Sara, Shado, and Oliver didn't wait before getting up from the ground. Oliver immediately grabbed the closest man and began to punch him repeatedly and without a break while Slade continued to fight the armed men. Sara and Shado each ran to another one of Ivo's men and did their best to knock them down, despite their wrists still being bound.

Slade kicked a man down, sending him to the other side of the clearing, before turning towards another and grabbing his neck. He easily lifted him up into the air, where the man flailed his legs and desperately tried to escape Slade's grip, but never made a difference before he was thrown into the forest.

Slade looked towards the three other fights that were going on. Shado and Oliver continued to gain on their opponents, but from the forest shadows, Slade saw one of Ivo's escaped men point a gun towards Shado and Oliver. Without thinking, Slade ran towards the man and grabbed his arm. Just as he pulled the man's arm in the other direction, a shot was fired.

The entire clearing went silent as the man who fought Sara released his grip on her and let her body fall to the ground, blood already soaking through her charcoal shirt from the bullet wound in her chest.

Light broke through the windows and brightened the Queen mansion on the typical Sunday morning, and like almost every Sunday morning, the entire house seemed empty. The few people in the large home that were awake had already busied themselves with their own interests, but that didn't stop a seventeen-year-old from slowly walking down the stairs while texting. Almost every Sunday, Thea Queen could count on her mother, Moira, having a few of her friends over for brunch, so that was where she expected to find her.

Thea glanced up from her phone as she stepped into the open room where her mother usually was, but today, the room was empty. There were no signs of people being in there before, except for the TV on the side of the room that was turned to the morning news.

The young Queen looked back down at her phone as she turned around, but as soon she stepped out of the room, she looked back towards the TV and read the headline: Castaways found after five years.

As the anchor continued to review the morning's top headline, Thea slowly walked back into the room and leaned in the doorway. The pictures of the two castaways were shown, the woman clearing being of Asian descent while the man's wasn't clear. The anchor continued talking about the story, but as soon as Thea saw the map, her breath hitched. It showed the Pacific Ocean and the relative location of the island the castaways were found on, but the young Queen recognized it as the area where her father's boat sank, and where she lost two members of her family.

She came to terms with her father and brother's death only a couple years prior, but while she seemed stable on the outside, the mention of their names or a memory would tear open the wounds she had desperately been trying to close. This time, she felt something more: hope. If two castaways could survive on a deserted island for five years, the thought of her father and brother still being alive didn't seem so crazy.