Summary: What if the offer to become Ra's al Ghul was only an elaborate joke Ra's plays on Oliver? As punishment for getting involved with League affairs and for interfering with Malcolm's punishment? This story is AU after Oliver and Diggle leave for Nanda Parbat to rescue Merlyn, in episode 3 x 15 "Nanda Parbat", and begins with Thea turning Malcolm over to the League.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters; WB/DC does. I only own any original ideas found in this. Some scenes are from the 3 x 15 episode "Nanda Parbat" written by Erik Oleson and Ben Sokolowski.

AN: Welcome to yet another AU version of the Arrow episode 3x15 "Nanda Parbat". It may seem like my NP stories are all the same, but I think they differ from one another significantly. I guess, as a continued means of therapy, I continue to write about Ra's and Nanda Parbat in order to reconcile several things that continue to bother me about season 3. That arc just wasn't as exciting as I thought it could or would be.

This story starts with Thea turning Malcolm over to the League. I've borrowed some of the dialogue, especially that wonderful bromatic scene between Oliver and Diggle, from the episode written by Erik Oleson and Ben Sokolowski. In most of this, I have changed the actual dialogue but kept the essence of what was said. I offer this as a way of "correcting" some of the "errors" I see with season 3. Enjoy.

Oliver made his way to his sister's loft. He couldn't believe his sweet sister actually would do something so...unthinkable as to turn her father over to a most certain death. All his life he only wanted to protect his sister, keep her safe. Keep her from deadly mistakes. So, of course he'd want to keep her from the consequences of this mistake as well.

"Thea, what have you done?" Oliver asked his sister as he entered their loft in his characteristic "executive" fashion, with his posture soldier-erect and his "take charge" attitude, and observed her sitting on the couch in a calm manner. She met his eyes as though he'd have no reason to barge in on her privacy. With the look she gave him, his sister never resembled their mother more than at this moment.

"I decided I didn't want to lose you, the only family I have left, so when the League came asking I told them where to find Malcolm." Thea straightened herself as tall as she could, to meet the imposing form of her angry brother as he attempted to loom over her threateningly.

"You don't know what it's like, being responsible for someone's death. I do. I never wanted you to know the guilt, the burden, of doing such a thing."

"I don't care. You don't know what I went through seven years ago, when we thought we lost you. I never want to go through that again, if I can help it. And I could help it, in this instance. I don't owe Merlyn anything. He made me kill Sara. He doesn't deserve to live." She met her brother's glare without flinching. "If it means saving you, I'd do it again in a second."

"I know that's how you feel right now, but I'm afraid you'll change your mind. And when you do, there'd be nothing we can do to change it." Oliver turned and walked towards the door.

"What are you going to do?" Thea rose from the couch and called after him.

"I'm going to stop Nyssa."

~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~

Oliver raced to the airstrip, pushing the speed limit on his cycle. As he approached the group on the airstrip, he watched in horror as Malcolm was dragged towards a helicopter. He raced his motorcycle over to them. Before he could dismount, however, he was dragged off the bike. Nyssa was beating him with the escrima sticks, and Oliver did all he could to defend himself against her fierce attack.

Oliver finally got the upper hand, escaped her beatings, took a step back, raised his bow, and aimed a rope arrow at Nyssa, which incapacitated her. He then heard the helicopter zoom over his head. He watched it leave the skylights of the city.

"Malcolm Merlyn is now gone forever." Nyssa said as she defiantly looked up at Oliver. "Never to be seen again. You're too late."

Oliver pursed his lips in disgust, walked over to Nyssa, and dragged her to her feet. "We'll see about that."

~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~

Oliver brought Nyssa to the foundry and placed her in the cell. She didn't look at Oliver as she calmly lowered herself to the floor, got into the lotus position, closed her eyes, and began to chant softly.

"What's up, Man?" Diggle asked, approaching Oliver after watching the proceedings.

"Thea turned Malcolm over to the League. I tried to stop the plane from leaving, but Nyssa fought me and prevented me from stopping it." Oliver said, nodding towards Nyssa. "Malcolm is now on his way to Nanda Parbat."

"Why should we care, Oliver? All Malcolm has brought to us has been agony. Whatever karma has planned for him is only too good for him."

Oliver turned sorrowful eyes on Diggle. "But how can Thea live with herself if he dies because of what she did? She doesn't deserve that burden."

"Aren't we inviting the wrath of Ra's by imprisoning his daughter?"

Oliver shrugged his shoulders. "He's not going to get the opportunity to find out. She's going to tell us how to get to Nanda Parbat, and then I will let her go."

"And why do we want to know the location of Nanda Parbat?"

"Because I'm going after Malcolm." Taking a breath, Oliver decided to go ahead with his plan. "And I hope you'll agree to go with me."

Diggle shook his head, exasperation clearly written on his face. "Why should we go after Malcolm, Oliver? What has he ever done for us, except inflict pain and suffering?"

"Because Ra's will come after Thea and me next. We need Malcolm alive for us to survive this. We need his knowledge of Ra's in order for us to beat him," Oliver said.

"Then why aren't we bringing Roy with us?"

"The fewer the better. You and I can sneak in the palace, rescue Malcolm, and leave before they are any wiser."

Diggle fixed Oliver a skeptical look. Oliver met it with a wide-eyed look of his own as he admitted, "Okay, at least, that's the idea."

~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~

Even though Oliver had spoken so hopefully, he was still amazed he and Diggle were able to get into the castle so easily, handling the guards they met with minimal difficulty.

They went down several corridors before Oliver opened a door and the sight of Malcolm within a cell chained between two poles met their eyes. Oliver approached the cell cautiously, scanning the environment for possible booby traps. Diggle followed him slowly, constantly scanning the area behind them. They had barely crossed the length of the long room when they heard the sound of numerous guns cocking.

Diggle swung around, his gun raised, only to see the sight of a dozen men dressed in League of Assassin military gear pointing their guns at them, apparently appearing out of thin air out of the darkness. The line separated, and Ra's entered the room, wearing a long red cape lined with gold trim. He lowered his head slightly and fixed his gaze on Oliver and Diggle. Oliver slowly lowered himself to the floor and gently laid down his bow, and Diggle followed suit with his gun.

"Is he still alive?" Oliver asked of the man in front of him, since they had been interrupted before they were able to check on Malcolm.

"For now. Just as you both are as well." Ra's motioned, and two men approached Oliver and Diggle from behind and placed handcuffs on their wrists, binding them behind their backs.

Shaking his head, Ra's said, "I would have thought you were smarter than this, Mr. Queen."

Oliver shrugged but said nothing.

"You liked the taste of death so much you wish to taste it again?"

Diggle chanced a look at Oliver and observed the telltale muscle twitch in Oliver's cheek. He quickly returned his eyes to the man in front of them.

Oliver continued to fix his gaze to a spot in front of him. He couldn't believe he was again in this position, all thanks to that miserable Merlyn. Not wanting to risk anything, Oliver bit back a reply.

"Take them to the dungeon." Ra's ordered.

They were led through dank stairwells heading downwards, tunnels curving this way and that. At the end of the journey, they were shoved into a cell, then watched as the soldiers left them in the semi-darkness.

"This is a fine mess you've gotten us into," Diggle said in a falsetto tone.

Oliver shot his friend a glare and walked to the back of the cell where a rickety cot sat. His lips twisted with distaste but decided to sit down anyway. "Ha, ha."

"Seriously, Oliver, did you actually think we had a ghost of a chance to succeed?"

Oliver considered his reply. "I guess I never thought it all the way through. My only thought was about protecting Thea."

"Man, I get it. I really do. Family is everything. But are you sure there's not another reason we're doing this?"

Oliver again considered his reply, and decided to face the truth headlong. "I just couldn't let him beat me again."

"Ra's."

Oliver nodded. "All I can think about is him beating me. Pushing me off the mountain. Stupid I know." Oliver blew out air in disgust. "You know, every time I close my eyes all I can see, all I can hear, feel, is just the fall." Meeting Diggle's eyes, he said, "I couldn't live like that. I couldn't live knowing there was someone out there who beat me."

"I get it, Man. Knowing someone's out there who can beat you...it gnaws at a man's confidence." Diggle looked at his friend. "You won't be you, doing the things you've done, if you didn't feel that way. Yeah, that makes sense."

"No, it's egotistical and insane."

"So is putting on a mask and jumping off rooftops, Oliver." Diggle paused. "To do that you have to be in a certain mindset. Every soldier on the battlefield, man, has to believe he's coming home. Otherwise he's paralyzed." Looking at Oliver in the eyes, Diggle said, "Ra's got in your head."

A companionable silence fell over the men as they thought their own thoughts. Until Oliver decided to break it, with a touch of levity. "What's that favor you wanted to ask me?"

"I don't think now's the right time."

"We're not dead yet." Against his better judgement, he couldn't help adding, "Now might be the only time."

Diggle cocked an eyebrow at his friend but said, "I always assumed if I got married again Andy would be by my side. When I lost my brother, I never thought I'd get another one." Taking in a breath and letting it out in a huff, Diggle said, "So, pretending for a moment we aren't two dead men, how you feel about being my best man?"

"I feel pretty good about it."

Oliver then heard a sound he had been expecting but fearing…boots marching toward them. Their cell door opened and Maseo entered.

"It's time, Oliver."

Oliver expected that both he and Diggle would be led out of the cell, but they only took him. Up several flights of stairs and over to a room decorated with dark brown plush rugs and red velvet curtains. And Ra's sitting on a high-backed chair watching his progress from across the room. Swallowing his fear, Oliver walked with his head high towards the man until he stood in front of the man. "Stop right there, Mr. Queen."

Ra's slowly stood up, commanding the attention of everyone in the room. Suddenly, Oliver found himself looking upwards as Ra's quickly drew his sword and aimed it at Oliver's Adam's apple. Stifling his first reaction, Oliver stood silently as he waited for Ra's to speak.

"Now, please tell me, Mr. Queen, why should I not kill you?"

"I will not beg for my life. I wish to beg for John Diggle's life instead. He doesn't deserve to die."

Ra's cocked his head. "Really? And why is that?"

Oliver searched his mind for the most persuasive answer. "Because his only fault was to follow me in blind loyalty and friendship."

"Please tell me, Mr. Queen, why have you and Mr. Diggle come to Nanda Parbat?"

"To plead for the life of Malcolm Merlin."

"Why would you do that? From what I understand, he has done nothing but add misery to your lives."

Deciding he no longer had anything to lose, Oliver began to tell Ra's the truth. "Because he is the biological father of my half-sister Thea."

"Isn't she the one who told us where to find Malcolm?"

"Yes, but she is young. She thought she was protecting me, not realizing how it would affect her to be the reason for her father's death. I only wish to protect her from lifelong guilt."

Ra's removed the sword from Oliver's throat and sheathed it. He began to pace in front of Oliver, appearing to contemplate deeply what Oliver had said. Stopping suddenly, his robes billowing around his lower legs, Ra's said, "And the fact that Merlyn had in his possession a video showing your sister killing Ta-er Sa-far has nothing to do with your desire to save his miserable life?"

AN: Thank you for reading this new little story of mine. I appreciate any comments or reviews you like to make. It is a little off the wall, something I thought of in fun, I guess. Hope you come back to read the rest!