Roy paced around the Foundry, body tense, feeling the need to do something, anything. He'd watched the security footage but he couldn't do it again, Dig taking over. Felicity couldn't be gone, she just couldn't be. It wasn't real. "Do you think we should have stopped him?" He asked John quietly.
"I've watched this tape five times. I've seen Felicity get shot and die in Oliver's arms five times. I think Oliver will do whatever it takes to get her back and I'm not going to do anything to stop him." John leaned back in the chair, rubbing his weary, red-rimmed eyes. "We couldn't have stopped him, even if we wanted to."
"But what if he gets himself killed? I know that he's beaten Ra's before but he's lost to him, too. That's the only reason Oliver even knows anything about Lazarus Pits is because Ra's al Ghul killed him. What if he does it again?" All he could think about was how angry Felicity would be with him if she knew he let Oliver run off to Nanda Parbat alone, which made him remember her lying on that table, the fresh devastation of her death hitting him again.
"I don't know, Roy."
Roy stopped pacing and was going to sit when he realized the only chair left was the one they'd found Oliver in when he was keeping watch over Felicity's body. His pacing renewed with increased intensity. "Maybe we should have gone with him."
John sighed, turning his attention back to the computers. "He wants us here. We can help by figuring out who this son of a bitch is and catching him."
Roy rubbed his jaw, nodding, steadying himself before grabbing that last chair and pulling it up to the computer. He needed to keep it together. The Lazarus Pit brought Oliver back once, maybe it could do the same for Felicity. He prayed that it would.
"It will work, Roy. It has to." John read his mind, doing his best to assuage his fears but Roy could hear the concern in his face. He wasn't the only one praying for a miracle.
It had taken over a half a day for Oliver to arrive in Nanda Parbat, a time span that felt like an eternity. He carried Felicity's body into the secret cave that contained the Lazarus Pit that Malcolm Merlyn had shown him all those years ago. His feet felt heavy from the trip up here, each step taking every bit of energy he could muster. He should have felt exhausted but he felt numb, number than he'd ever felt in his entire existence. His heart seized every time he looked down at her, her usually animated face serene and calm.
The images of her dying in his arms were on replay in his mind, ravaging his soul when he remembered seeing the acceptance in her eyes. They were supposed to fight until the very end, there was never any other choice other than to survive, and he couldn't help but feel she'd given up the fight too soon. What was he supposed to do without her? How was he supposed to live in a world without her smile? Without being able to listen to her ramblings? How was he supposed to explain to his two-year old son that he failed to save his mom? Despair surged through him as he pictured going home to Jack without Felicity. That wasn't going to happen. This was going to work.
"Oliver, I received word that someone saw you enter the city carrying a blonde woman. It didn't take much to figure out this was where you were going." Ra's al Ghul's voice behind him didn't shock him, he'd known the League would be made aware the second he stepped foot in Nanda Parbat. He'd only hoped that he would have a chance to get her in the pit before anyone showed up.
"I need to do this, Ra's," he kept the edge of a warning in his tone. He wasn't going to let anyone stop him.
"And I'm afraid I can't let you. I can't allow people to waltz in here and use the Pit whenever they need to. If I did that, this place would be overrun in days, if not hours."
Oliver's body tensed with anger. He didn't want to fight Ra's but he would if he had to. "I'm not going to let anyone stop me. I'm not going to let her die."
Ra's regarded Felicity's slumped over body with nonchalance before shaking his head. "She's already dead, Oliver. You need to let her go."
"She's my wife," he spat, tears brimming in his eyes again. "Don't underestimate what I'll do to get her back."
Ra's stepped forward, his hand clenching the hilt of his sword. "I stopped underestimating you years ago. I'm merely curious to see how far you will go to save your beloved wife."
"Don't forget that last time we fought, I killed you. If it wasn't for the Pit, you wouldn't be here," Oliver needlessly reminded him.
"And the first time we fought, you were the one who died. If it wasn't for that Pit, neither of us would be here. Are you going to challenge me with no weapons? Cross your fingers and hope you live long enough to save her life?"
"I'll do whatever it takes to save Felicity," he told him, not an ounce of hesitation in his voice. Felicity was walking out of here alive, even if it meant he lost his life in the process. That thought was the only thing that helped him hold it together.
Ra's took another step forward. "I've met Felicity and I enjoyed her presence, I don't particularly want to see her dead. The question I'm asking is what are you willing to do to save her?"
"Anything," Oliver answered quickly.
"I'll allow you to use the Pit to resurrect her on one condition." The words held an ominous tone but one look down at the lifeless Felicity made his mind up for him. There was nothing he wouldn't do for her. Nothing.
"I already told you, Ra's, I'll do anything to get her back."
"Join the League, work with me, and I'll allow you to save your wife."
"I'm not an assassin. I'm not a killer, not anymore. What could you possibly gain with me here?"
Ra's shrugged. "I have my reasons. If joining us is not an option, then she shall remain dead. You said you'd do anything and this is what it'll take. Join us."
Oliver looked down at her. He wasn't a killer, something that wouldn't be changing anytime soon, but maybe he could join long enough to save her. He didn't care what happened to him as long as she was okay. "If I join you, you'll let me use the Pit to save her and you'll let her leave after? Head home to Starling and our family?"
"That would be the deal. I would give you my word in exchange for yours and I'm sure there is no need to remind you how seriously I take my word. You may not be a killer now, Oliver, but that's what it will take to get her back. Are you prepared for that?"
Oliver struggled to move his arm out from underneath Felicity, extending his hand out to Ra's. "You have my word."
Ra's shook his hand, an anticipatory smile on his face. "As you have mine."
Roy took to the streets as Arsenal, Diggle close behind him. They'd used the street cameras and facial recognition software to track the guy down to what they believed was his apartment. They'd waited until nightfall, worry that they hadn't heard from Oliver yet making them twitchy. They shared a nod outside the door before Roy kicked it in, storming inside with his bow drawn. The guy scrambled off of his couch, hands held up. "Woah, man, have you ever heard of knocking?"
Diggle bumped Roy's arm, pointing towards a purse sitting on the kitchen table. It was Felicity's. Roy stamped down the urge to let an arrow go, lodging it in the guy's throat. "Roger McConnell! You're coming with us."
Roger started to run but Roy shot an arrow, rope shooting out and wrapping around his ankles, tripping him and sending him sprawling to the floor. Roy threw him to his back, punching him dead center in the face, feeling his nose crack underneath his knuckles. "You killed my friend!" He yelled in his face before landing another punch. He got three more good ones out before John pulled him off of the guy.
"The blonde woman?" Now the guy sounded panicked, backing up against the wall, blood dripping from his nose. "Look, man, I was in deep with some bad people and they told me they'd wipe my debt clean if I sat outside that club to wait until I saw her alone. They wanted it to look like a mugging!" The words rushed out of Roger, eyes wide with fear. "I changed my mind but same crazy dude showed up and told me they'd kill me if I didn't do it."
Diggle picked him up by the collar of his shirt. "Who?" He shook the guy violently.
"I don't know! I don't know! The dude's face was covered up. He was wearing some sort of strange black get up and he held a sword to my throat. A sword! The guy looked like he walked out of the 1800's. I didn't have another choice!"
Diggle shook his head before knocking the man unconscious and letting him crumple to the floor.
"Sounds like the League of Assassins to me," John said.
"Do you think he's telling the truth?" Roy asked.
"I think the League is planning something and I think Oliver is playing right into their hands."
"We have no way to warn him, let him know that their responsible."
"It's not going to change his mind. You know Oliver as well as I do, he's not going to change his mind and I'm not going to change it for him."
Roy nodded, knowing that every word out of his mouth was the truth. Whatever happened in Nanda Parbat was out of their control, all they could do was pick up the pieces when they hit the floor. "What should we do with him?"
"We'll blindfold him and stash him in the Foundry, wait until Oliver gets back, let him deal with him."
"You know Oliver's going to kill him, right?"
Diggle sighed tiredly. "He might not. He's only broken his rule once and that was Ra's, who left him with no other choice."
"This is Felicity we're talking about. If he comes back and she's still dead, who knows what he'll do."
"That's a problem to deal with when he gets back. Our only other option is turn him over to Lance and then what if she comes back alive? How do we explain that?"
Roy didn't have an answer and he didn't bother trying to come up with one. John was right. "What are we going to do if this doesn't work? If she doesn't come back?" Roy finally asked the question he didn't want an answer to, the scenario he didn't want to contemplate.
"I don't know, Roy. I don't want to think about it. What I do know is that we can't do this without her."
Roy agreed wholeheartedly. She was the heart and soul of this team. If they lost her for good, he didn't know if any of them would recover.
They picked the unconscious McConnell off the floor but they didn't make it more than two steps before the glass behind them shattered, hearing the familiar thunk of an arrow hitting flesh. Roy caught sight of a blurred figure standing on the rooftop across the street. He disappeared quickly but not before Roy made him out to be a member of the League. Roy turned back to John, who was kneeling down next to McConnell, who was dead with three arrows in his back.
"Looks like you were right about the League's involvement," said Roy.
Neither of them understood what they were neck deep in but they knew it wasn't good.
Felicity gasped, her lungs expanding painfully with the sudden intake of air. She shot straight up, clutching her chest, surprised to find that there was no blood. She distinctly remembered there being blood. Her surroundings finally came into focus and she discovered that she was no longer on the street. And she wasn't in the Arrowcave. She wasn't anywhere she recognized but she didn't have a chance to figure it out. Oliver wrapped her up in his arms tightly, almost too hard. He rested his head in her hair, inhaling her deeply. He pulled away, holding her face and searching it, like he couldn't believe that she was in front of him. He kissed her roughly, like he needed it to breathe. The kiss worried her more than anything. He broke the kiss, his forehead against hers as his shoulders heaved and she realized he was crying, something she didn't see often. "Oliver, what's wrong? What happened? Talk to me."
He took her hand, turning her palm up and holding it against his cheek, blue eyes meeting hers. "Hey," he whispered softly.
"What happened?" she asked, stroking his cheek, wanting to remove the anguish etched into his face.
"You died, Mrs. Queen." She recognized the voice from their one previous encounter and it sent a chill through her blood. If they were where she thought were, those words might actually hold some truth.
That thought her scrambling to her feet. At least, that's what she tried to do but her legs wouldn't cooperate with her, leaving her to rely on Oliver's help to stand. Her eyes darted between him and Ra's, trying to ignore the pit behind her. The last thing she remembered was going to get her purse, nothing after that. She focused on Oliver but he wouldn't meet her gaze. "Oliver, what is going on?" She was getting the idea they were in a very bad situation, a situation she would like to be made aware of.
"There isn't much time, Oliver. Say your goodbyes and I'll have Nyssa escort Felicity back to Starling City, alive and well."
Panic was starting to rise and she wished Oliver would say something, anything. "What does he mean goodbye? What do you mean goodbye?" She yelled at Ra's al Ghul.
"Felicity, you were shot and you died. You died in my arms," he said, staring intently at the floor, speaking in such a low whisper she could barely hear him. "I brought you here, it was the only thing that I could think to do, I had to do something, I couldn't let you die."
"Hurry it along, Oliver. I'm not feeling like a patient man today."
"My husband is coming with me," she snapped at him before she remembered who he was. "I don't understand what is going on here but I can tell you that things aren't going to move any quicker with you being pushy." Okay, that might not have helped as much as she'd hoped.
Ra's smiled, though it wasn't friendly. "Let me clear things up for you. You died, your husband tried to sneak you in here to use my Lazarus Pit without permission to resurrect you, and I caught him. I allowed him to use my pit on the condition that he stay here and join the League, work side by side with me. You're a smart girl and you're alive, I assume you can deduce how that negotiation went."
She turned back to Oliver, wishing she was seeing a different look on his face. "Oliver, is that true?" She placed one hand on his chest and the other grazed his jaw, drawing his eyes to her. She pleaded with him silently, needing him to tell her the truth. She needed the words to come out of his mouth, not from the leader of the League of Assassins.
He tried to smile for her but it wasn't very convincing. He was ecstatic that she was alive again but now he was losing her in a completely different way. Seeing her standing in front of him, eyes bright with questions, the smile became more genuine, and he knew that it was worth it. Whatever happened now was worth it. "I'm sorry, Felicity, but there was no other choice. It's a choice I would make again." He kissed her forehead, trying to commit her smell and the feel of her skin to his memory. "You're going to go home but I can't come with you."
She shook her head, tears spilling over onto her pink cheeks. Oliver brushed them away before taking her into his arms. "You're not a killer, Oliver. You can't be an assassin, it's not who you are," she whispered into his chest.
"What matters is that you're alive, Felicity. I love you so much more than my words can ever express, you're everything to me, and I don't want to live in a world that you're not in."
She backed up so she could see his face. "What about me? I can't go home without you because you are home. I'm not leaving without you."
"You have to, Felicity. Jack needs you."
"And he needs you!"
"You gave me your word, Oliver," Ra's warned.
"You have to go. I love you." He kissed her once more, the taste both bittersweet and salty from her tears.
A hand wrapped around her wrist, tugging as Oliver's lips left hers. She looked back at Nyssa, who'd entered the room unnoticed. "I'm not leaving my husband."
"I'm sorry, Felicity. We must go." Nyssa, for her part, didn't sound like she was enjoying what was happening.
Felicity yanked her wrist away, clutching it to her chest. "No."
"Please, Felicity," Oliver's voice cracked and her resolve diminished. She didn't want to leave him here but she wasn't going to be able to convince him tonight.
"Fine," she bit out through clenched teeth. "I love you, Oliver," she told him as Nyssa escorted her out. She stopped in front of Ra's al Ghul, standing up straight, and narrowing her eyes. "This isn't over."
He leaned in and she could feel his hot breath on her face when he spoke. "It is if you want to live, Mrs. Queen."
Roy entered the Queen mansion, Thea accosting him the second she saw him. "Have you talked to Ollie? Have you heard anything?"
He shook his head. He wished he could tell her something good, a piece of news that would brighten her day but there was none. "We found the guy that shot her."
"And?" Thea pushed.
"He said someone told him they would wipe out his debt for killing Felicity. That's all he said before someone from the League put three arrows in him."
Thea wrapped her arms around his waist, holding him close. She couldn't imagine what Oliver was feeling right now. "Why would someone do that?"
Roy shrugged, running his hands up and down her arms. "My guess is the League needed Oliver for something. Who knows what they're up to."
"What does that mean for my brother? I just lost my sister-in-law, I'm not losing him, too."
Roy was about to answer when a small voice stopped him. "Auntie?" Thea's eyes widened and she turned back to Jack, scooping the small blonde child into her arms.
"Shouldn't you be in bed, Mr. Jackson?" She tickled his ribs and he giggled in that way that only toddlers seem able to.
"Is Mommy home?" He asked around the thumb that was lodged in his mouth.
Thea looked over her shoulder at Roy and he knew that she was barely holding it together. He stepped forward, taking Jack from her. "Mommy isn't here but if you want, I can read a story."
His chin quivered, giant blue eyes welling up, signaling he was moments away from a tantrum. "I want my mommy."
Roy mustered a smile, kissing the top of his head. "I know you do, buddy. Come on, Uncle will read you one story and then you have to go to bed."
Jack nodded slowly, distracted by the idea of a bedtime story. He released a huge yawn as he mumbled good night to Thea. "Will my mommy be here when I wake up?"
"You'll have to go to sleep and find out," Roy answered, wishing Oliver would call and give them an update. The longer he was silent, the more Roy wasn't convinced that Felicity was coming back.
Thea gave Roy a grateful smile as he walked out of the room with Jack. She walked over to the stairs, sitting down and letting her head fall into her hands. She didn't understand how this could happen. Oliver and Felicity were happy, they had a relationship she was envious of, and now it had all been ripped away from them. She was happy with Roy but it was nearly impossible to measure up to the kind of relationship Felicity and Oliver have. They'd been married for four years and their love hadn't dimmed in the slightest, always touching or watching each other. You didn't have to know them to feel the love in the room, it was practically suffocating. She didn't think her brother would recover from this. She didn't think any of them would, she just hoped for the sake of Jack that they could pull through this.
The front door creaked open and she shot to her feet, hoping it was Oliver. When an exhausted and disheveled looking Felicity came into sight, Thea's heart jumped into her throat. She charged Felicity, nearly knocking her over. "How are you here? How is this possible?" The words rushed out of her.
"Is Jack sleeping?" She asked, dodging the question.
"Mommy!" Tiny footsteps slammed against the hard wood as Jack flung himself around Felicity's legs, Thea stepping away to make room.
Felicity picked him up, lifting him high into the air and smothering him with kisses. "Oh god, I missed you," she whispered in his fine, soft hair.
"Uncle Roy was going read me a bedtime story."
"Can it be a bedtime story if it's past your bedtime?" She asked in mock seriousness.
Jack pouted, confusion washing over the face that was so similar to Oliver's. Felicity did her best to ignore the emptiness in her chest, concentrating on her baby. "Where's Daddy?" Jack asked, avoiding any talk about bedtime.
"Daddy will be here later. Can you do Mommy a favor, Jackson?" He nodded, eyes sleepy and earnest. "Can you go to your room and wait for me to tuck you in? I'll be right there, I just want to talk to your auntie and uncle quick. Can you do that for me, little man?" He nodded again and she gave him an obnoxious smack of a kiss, making him laugh, before she set him on the floor, letting him run full steam towards his first floor bedroom.
She turned to Thea and Roy, dreading having to tell them that she left Oliver behind when Roy swept her into a crushing hug, nearly cutting off her air supply. "I can't believe it worked, he said when he finally let her go.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "You knew what he was going to do? You let him go to Nanda Parbat alone?" Her voice was almost a shriek and she took a calming breath, not wanting Jack to run back out or overhear anything about his father. "Never mind. I know it's not your fault. Oliver's thick-headed, he's going to do whatever he wants to do."
"Where is he?" Thea asked anxiously.
"He's still in Nanda Parbat. Ra's would only help him if he agreed to join the League." They both started to erupt with questions when she shushed them, pointing in the direction of Jack's bedroom. "We are going to fix this. There is no way I'm going to leave my husband there." Again, she thought to herself. "But right now, I want to go hold my son." She saw a nearly imperceptible tremble in Thea and she strode over to her, enveloping Thea in her arms. "We'll get him back, Thea, I promise."
That thought was the only thing that gave her comfort as she walked towards her son's bedroom. She peeked into his room, light from the hall casting a glow over his sleeping features, small hands clutching his favorite storybook. She crept silently into the room, crawling into the small bed with him, tucking him in close to her. It didn't take long before she fell into a fitful sleep, tormented by nightmares of death.