Just wanted to thank everyone for commenting, it really inspires my writing when I get feedback! Like the little debate that sparked on last chapter about the appropriate use of "Ollie" as a nickname. I can't say I gave it too much thought, but thank you guys for sharing your opinions because it gave me the idea for the flashback at the beginning of this chapter! Please leave more. Please. Please? Ok.

Beware the Dog

"Sara, come on! Get down from there!"

"Just one more second, Ollie. I'm almost there."

"No one's been up in that treehouse in years, you're going to get hurt!"

Sara rolled her eyes. She was ten, and he was thirteen, but he thought he knew everything and she knew nothing. Quentin built his daughters that treehouse when they were only six and nine. The girls used to love going up there, and Laurel would always invite her friends along, much to Sara's dismay. The treehouse used to have steps screwed into the tree leading right into it, but those were gone now, so Sara was climbing.

"Okay," Ollie said, "You reached it. Now will you please come down before your father blames me if you die?"

Sara laughed, "Right." She was pulling herself through the hole in the floor of the treehouse. "Wow, Ollie, you have to see this stuff! I can't believe it is all still here." She waved a comic book out of the hole and Oliver raised his hands to catch it. This was one of his favorite editions of Superman, he couldn't believe that this was where it was. He spent weeks looking for it, and there may have even been a tear or two shed over its disappearance. "Mom's necklace that Laurel stole. The tin box that we locked all that candy in. Even my hair elastic. You know, it really wasn't fair, I was only six, I hardly had anything worth losing up here. I'm not too nostalgic for a pink hair tie."

"Great. So come down." He could hear the wood creaking beneath her feet above his head as she walked across the treehouse.

"Don't be such a baby." She said, sticking her head out of the hole and dropping their mother's necklace down. "I'm sure she'll want that."

Oliver stared up at the bottom of the treehouse as Sara disappeared inside again. He could hear the creaks and see the wood move where she stepped. She was nearing a discolored spot in the wood, and Oliver furrowed his eyebrows, not knowing why that plank was different than the others.

He didn't figure it out until it was too late. The discolored piece looked rotted, and Oliver was about to yell to Sara not to step on it, but she already had. She fell so quickly that he had to run. He saw her foot come through the board first, and he jumped towards her. She crashed through the floor with a loud crack as the wood broke, and Oliver caught her in the air. Their momentum caused them both to fall on the ground, Sara still in Oliver's grasp. Her eyes were squeezed shut, but she'd stopped screaming when she collided with Ollie.

"Sara, we're fine." He let go of her and checked himself, brushing remnants of wood from his clothes. Nothing felt broken and he didn't see any blood. "Do you feel okay?"

"How did you do that!?" She bellowed, scrambling to her feet.

Oliver shrugged, "I knew you were about to step on that board. I was subconsciously prepared."

The whole walk home, Sara was raving about how he'd saved her life, her eyes and arms animated as she retold the story, like he hadn't been there. He let her go on until they were outside her house. "Look, Sara, I need you to do me a big favor. If you can, then we'll call it even, okay?"

"Yeah, Ollie, anything." She said, her eyes still wide and lively.

"Don't tell anyone what happened. My mother would kill me for taking you out there. And if she doesn't, your father would kill me for letting you go up to the treehouse."

Sara looked bewildered, "What? My dad would hug you for saving me."

"I don't think he'll see it that way. He'll only remember that I'm older and I put you in danger. So just…our secret, all right?"

"Yeah." She answered, "Whatever you want, Ollie."

Malcolm, Diggle, Felicity and Oliver were all leaned over the water of the Lazarus Pit. Sara's eyes were wide open and she looked scared. Like she could see through the water and it terrified her. "What does this mean?" Oliver asked, "Is she alive? Dead people don't open their eyes."

"Dead people don't breathe under water either," Felicity answered, "Actually, if we're going down that road, dead people don't regenerate their cells and heal themselves either. Dead people don't do anything, is my point, I guess."

"Can she…you know, see us?" Diggle asked.

Malcolm sighed, "There's no way of knowing. I have no idea what's going on inside that Pit. For all we know, this is just another illusion. I mean, the Lazarus Pit is unpredictable. It could have healed her lungs, her reflexes, maybe even her heart. But the brain is so much more complex, it won't be how it was, no matter what happens next. She may not be able to move, speak, or even think, depending on what parts of her brain have healed, if any."

"Are you saying you might have healed Sara just to be braindead?" Diggle accused.

Malcolm sighed, "It's possible. Anything's possible. I honestly didn't even believe that the water would heal her…condition when I dug her up."

They all sat over the Pit and waited longer. Sara didn't appear to be looking at any of them. Her chest was still moving as consistently as before. Felicity was fidgeting, getting anxious the more minutes that passed in that horrible silence.

She was about to ask how much longer they should leave her in there when Sara's hand moved under the water. The four of them exchanged glances. "Did you guys just see that?" Felicity asked rhetorically. She leaned closer to the water, trying to get a better view of her arm that had moved. The water was dark and distorted the shapes. "Maybe the water just moved." Felicity offered, more to herself again. She leaned closer. Her face was only inches from the water when Sara's eyes snapped up and met hers. The next thing any of them knew, Sara was flying from the water. It was like she'd been catapulted from the bottom of the Pit. Her hand was around Felicity's neck before her body was emerged.

Sara had Felicity pinned against the wall a few yards away before any of them could even react. Her breathing was erratic and her eyes were wild. Felicity grabbed at Sara's hands. "Sara, it's me." She wheezed through her obstructed windpipe. Felicity tried to look Sara in the eyes, but it was like she wasn't completely seeing everything. Her gaze was unfocused and Felicity couldn't help but think of the word animalistic. Her chest rose and fell with great effort.

"Sara," Oliver tried, approaching her with his hands in the air. Sara was soaking wet. The water was dripping off of her and onto Felicity, as well as a puddle on the floor. "We can help you. We just need you to calm down."

Sara's gaze lingered on Oliver, but no one else seemed to be familiar to her. "You know me. You remember me, don't you?" Oliver asked, coming closer. Sara watched his movements as if she were intrigued by them. She focused on his feet, his arms, his mouth; every movement he made, her eyes darted to watch. "I'm Oliver," he said, only a few feet away now. Felicity was turning white. "You're Sara Lance. Your sister Laurel and I are good friends. And so are we." He smiled. Oliver took another step, but Sara crouched, her grip still around Felicity's neck. "I won't hurt you," he pleaded, raising his hands again. Sara leaped towards him, and Oliver dodged her, moving quickly to pin her to the ground. She was on her stomach, Oliver on top of her, when he looked up at Felicity. "Are you okay?"

Felicity was holding her neck, "Yeah," she got out, "I think so." Diggle ran over to look at Felicity and Oliver nodded to Malcolm. Seconds later, a swarm of hooded men encircled Sara and Oliver. He got up slowly, keeping her wrists detained behind her back.

He allowed Malcolm's men to take Sara away, making a promise to her in his head that he would find her soon. He turned his focus to Felicity. "She's already bruising," Diggle said, "But her bones feel fine."

"Thank you, Dig." Oliver said, turning Felicity's face upward so he could see her throat. "Wow," he said, "her grip was tight."

"Tell me about it." Felicity snorted.

Diggle nodded, "Sara was strong, but add that to the adrenaline of being terrified and it could have been a lot worse. She held back."

"Because of you." Felicity said, pushing Oliver's hands away. "She recognized you. It's the only reason I'm not dead right now."

"We'll get her back. She just must be…very lost right now."

Felicity shook her head, "That wasn't lost that I saw in her eyes Oliver. She looked like a hungry, imprisoned animal ready to attack. Her eyes were just…inhuman."

Oliver nodded, looking to Malcolm, "Don't you have anything to say?"

Malcolm shrugged, "I don't think we should tell Thea yet."

They put Sara in the same holding room that his friends had been in a few months prior. The one that he'd poisoned them in. It was a much different sight inside that room now though. Before, he'd seen several pairs of sad, betrayed eyes looking at him as he stood in that doorway. Now what he saw was Sara Lance, throwing herself into the door and screaming at the top of her lungs like a wild animal. Oliver couldn't shake that whole, animal in captivity scenario Felicity had suggested.

"Sara," he tried for the millionth time. She wasn't as responsive as she'd been before, which wasn't really saying much. But even the sight of Oliver wasn't turning any wheels for her. Oliver looked at the guard by the door. "Let me in." All Oliver could see were the man's eyes, but they bulged at his request. The guard gained his composure and unlocked the door. Oliver held the handle shut for a moment, until Sara stepped away from the door. She only stepped away to give herself a running start before she threw herself into it again, but he quickly took the opportunity to slip in and shut the door behind him.

Sara froze. Her eyes wide and scared, her blonde hair in her face. It reminded him of the look in her eyes when she'd fallen from the tree, like she was surprised to be alive. "Sara," He said. "Do you know what happened to you?" Oliver held up his hands, like he did before. Sara's head cocked to the side at the gesture. She raised her own hands, mimicking him.

Oliver slowly stepped closer until he could reach her, careful not to make sudden movements. She seemed to be more relaxed now, with less people in the room, he supposed. He put his left hand out toward her, and she copied him with her left hand. So, he rested his right hand on top of her left as they faced each other. She looked down at his hand in hers for a long moment. Then she looked back up at him with untrusting eyes. He smiled, "It's okay." He said soothingly.

Sara took his offered hand in both of hers. She raised it to her face, inspecting his palm and fingers before turning his hand over and running her fingers over his scarred knuckles. She put her hand next to his, as if to compare. His were significantly larger than hers, but she smiled up at him.

"Sara, do you remember me?" She ignored him and looked back down at their hands. He wasn't sure why she was so interested in them. "Sara, it's me, Oliver. Do you know what happened? Do you remember anything?"

Sara stayed quiet. Oliver wondered if she was traumatized, if she'd forgotten her whole life and only liked him upon her instincts. They'd known each other their whole lives, maybe her intuition knew him before her brain could.

"Your sister Laurel is going to be happy you're back." Oliver tried, "Do you remember Laurel?" Sara's eyebrows pushed together, but she still didn't say a word. "Sara," Oliver sighed, finally letting the panic in that he'd been holding at bay. He felt so desperate in that moment, and sighing her name felt like admitting it.

Sara's eyes inspected his face, and she looked worried too. It was like she could feel what he was feeling too, and just decided to feel it along with him. She placed her hand over her chest. "Sara."

"Oh, god," Oliver sighed again, smiling. She smiled back. "Sara, I'm so glad you're okay. What do you remember? I promise, I will help you in any and every way that I can. We all will. You're back, and that's all that matters, okay?"

Sara's eyebrows furrowed again. She looked up at him confused. But then a smile spread across her face, responding to his. "Sara." She said again, touching her chest with one finger before picking his hand back up to examine all over again.

"You don't understand a word that I'm saying, do you?"