They marched single file in silence, the man called Maseo leading the way. Diggle followed right behind him, and Felicity nervously paced in front of the woman named Tatsu; her sword drawn but lowered idly in her hands. Diggle was angry at himself for being careless and allowing the deadly pair to sneak up on them. Oliver would've heard them coming, Diggle thought. He hated comparing himself to Oliver, yet he knew deep down Oliver was more skilled than he was and could learn from him. The downside was Oliver became so skilled at tracking and killing that he had lost any moral standing; at least Diggle was now slowly helping Oliver regain it.
"Do you think they're really taking us to Oliver, or are they just saying that so we won't resist walking into a trap at Nanda Parbat?" Felicity whispered, her nervousness ending the silence.
"I don't think the League of Assassins got their name from taking prisoners, so..." Diggle trailed off, realizing he wasn't being as comforting as he thought he was.
Felicity simply glared at him and passed him in their tenuous conga line, leaving Diggle with Tatsu and her sword.
"So are you really taking us to Oliver or are we walking into a trap," Diggle asked his female captor.
"No matter what answer I gave, would you believe me?" Tatsu simply replied.
"You got a point."
After just under an hour of their marching with their captors, they came up to a small cabin that was concealed almost entirely by the forest. The only sign revealing its presence was a thin wisp of smoke and a dim light emanating from a small square window. Maseo entered the cabin and called out.
"Oliver, you have visitors."
Diggle noticed Tatsu had tightened her grip on the sword, and took a stance that made her ready to strike at any moment. Diggle was just about to overtake her to allow Felicity to escape when Oliver Queen slowly stepped into the daylight.
"Diggle? Felicity?" Oliver said in disbelief. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Oliver!" Felicity rushed up and hugged him.
Tatsu only sheathed her sword when Oliver returned the embrace. I guess they were just trying to protect him like we were, Diggle thought. Diggle lowered his guard as well, and shook Oliver's hand.
"It's good to see you alive and well," Diggle said. He couldn't help but smile.
"Well, alive anyways," Oliver said, patting himself on his wound just above his heart. "Still not 100% after my duel with Ra's."
"But you're alive, so does that mean Ra's is, you know..." Felicity finished by running her finger across her throat.
"No, he's alive. He thinks I'm dead though, so that's a plus."
"How could he not know you're alive? It seems like the kind of thing he would notice," Felicity said.
"He sort of stabbed me in the chest and tossed me over a cliff."
"Oh. I guess I can see how he could think you were dead..."
"Why are you two here?" Oliver said with mild annoyance in his voice.
"What do you mean why?" Felicity asked, glancing back at Diggle.
"We're here to take you home; back to Starling City," Diggle answered.
"I appreciate you guy's coming all the way out here, but I'm in no shape to go anywhere. Thanks for coming."
And to add to the finality of his statement, Oliver turned his back and slowly started making his way to the bed at the other side of the room. Felicity blinked momentarily in shock, and then quickly cut him off from his destination.
"Thanks for coming? You don't give any kind of word that you're alive, Thea gets attacked by an assassin, Roy takes over as the Arrow, we risk our lives to search for you next to a fortress filled with an army of said assassins to bring you back home and that is all you have to say?!"
"Wait, what do you mean Thea was attacked? Is she okay?" Oliver asked.
"She's fine. In fact, she she's not only fine; she's badass. Roy said she fought off a League member all by herself."
"I thought you told me he retracted his orders for my sister," Oliver said to Maseo.
"He did, but Ra's has learned of this new Arrow and sent someone to figure out if you somehow survived," Maseo said. "Your sister was attacked to draw the Arrow out, and it did, which has only increased his suspicions."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"You were too severely injured," Tatsu said from the doorway. "You were barely healing and hadn't even regained consciousness; we didn't want to hinder your recovery."
"That's why you need to come back with us, Oliver," Diggle said. "To protect Thea."
Oliver looked away from Diggle and glanced over at Maseo and Tatsu behind them.
"No. If I go back now, it will only confirm Ra's suspicions I'm alive, and then Thea will really be in danger. Plus, I can barely get up to walk to the bathroom, let alone fight against the League of Assassins."
"So what about Thea?" Felicity asked.
"Go back, get Thea, and get as far away from Starling as you can."
"So we just give up and run?"
"That sound's an awful lot like what Malcolm Merlyn did," Diggle said.
"Well it's clearly the only strategy that has worked so far!" Oliver yelled, and immediately winced due to the strain from his injury. He weakly brushed past them and went outside of the cabin. He walked at a slow pace, and stopped just past the first few trees to catch his breath. His breath was fast at first was due to his injuries, but after a few minutes it remained due to his anger. How can I save anyone like this? Oliver thought.
"I thought I was the only one that got to storm out of awkward conversations," Felicity said as she approached him.
"I can't walk a hundred feet without feeling like I'm going to pass out," Oliver replied in between breaths. "I can't fight, I can't protect Thea, and that means I can't go back."
"So what do you want us to do?"
"Diggle is right. We can't follow Malcolm Merlyn's example of running away and looking over our shoulders for the rest of our lives. Not to mention the city; it still needs the Arrow."
"Which is Roy right now, by the way."
"He's there all by himself?"
"Nooooot exactly..." Felicity stalled.
"Felicity..."
"Laurel is there, she kind of finished taking over for Sarah as the 'Canary,' or something. And, maaaaybe Thea took over Roy's costume since she is kind of a badass now."
"What part of you thought having my sister be a part of this was a good idea?"
"Hey it wasn't my idea. In fact I kept saying how much you would hate to have Thea be involved at all. But then Laurel gave some little speech about strength in numbers and next thing you know she was in the lair."
"Well that's just great. With Roy as the Arrow and Thea as his sidekick it's no wonder Ra's thinks I'm alive."
"So then what do we do about the league?"
"Maseo is actually in the League, and he's been giving me information on what they're up to. He can make sure Ra's knows it's not really me as the Arrow, and hopefully that'll be enough to get him to believe I'm dead once and for all."
"How is he going to do that? Besides that, if he's a member, how do you know you can even trust him?"
"I know him from the 5 years I was missing."
"So he was on the island with you too?"
"Not really."
"You're always so vague about your time on the island. At first it was mysterious and somewhat attractive...now it's just annoying."
Oliver simply smiled, and began to walk back over to the cabin.
"Just because you can't be the Arrow doesn't mean you can't go back and be there for your sister."
"There is no going back," Oliver said, and walked back towards the cabin.
"There is no going back," Thea shouted as she roundhouse kicked a would-be mugger. "This is too awesome to be able to just go back to being a normal girl. Not to mention I look really awesome in this suit."
Thea took a moment to inspect herself, and her enemy took advantage of the distraction to rush at her. Suddenly an arrow pierced the mugger's shoulder and he fell to the ground, defeated once and for all.
"You need to pay more attention," Roy said as he lowered his bow.
"I knew he was there."
"Uh-huh."
"Who asked for your help anyways?"
"Don't get mad at me. I'm just trying to look after my girlfriend," Roy said.
They stared at each other awkwardly for a moment before Roy attempted to recover.
"...I mean, not like my girlfriend, but like you're my friend who is a girl...and..."
Roy gave up and simply walked away towards the motorcycles.
"Ouch," the would-be victim said as Roy walked past.
"Go home," Roy snapped in reply.
He met Laurel, who had hung back to look after their vehicles since there was only the one mugger.
"You know you could just tell her you still have feelings for her," Laurel said, leaning on her own motorcycle.
"I don't want to complicate things."
"You mean you think she doesn't want to complicate things. But you won't know for sure unless you talk to her about it."
"About what?" Thea said, arriving just in time to turn the conversation awkward again.
"Nothing. Laurel's just putting her nose in other people's business and-"
Suddenly arrows pierced through each of the engines on the motorcycles, knocking Laurel and her motorcycle over due to the sudden force. Thea immediately drew and shot at what seem to be shadows flickering on the rooftops. Roy glanced around quickly, waiting for a clear shot to present itself.
It doesn't.
The shadows stop flickering just long enough for 4 members of the League of Assassins to drop down next to them and draw their swords. Thea attempted to draw her bow once again, but had to block a sword swing with her bow instead. Roy quickly threw a knife at one target to his left and attacked the League member in front of him, while a third member rushed from behind. Laurel finally was able to jump back on her feet, used the Canary Cry to distract everyone, and guided Roy and Thea out of the close quarters combat. Thirty seconds later one of the members stomped on the device to silence the shriek, leaving a dull ringing in their ears.
Roy drew his bow and took down one League member with an arrow to the leg, but the others deflected the arrows from him and Thea as they charged. Thea ran out of arrows by the time they arrived, but at least now it was an even fight. Thea deflected a sword using her bow, Roy rolled under a wide swing, and Laurel blocked her opponent with one of her tonfas and quickly struck with the other. The three of them hold their own for a few moments before Laurel is struck with the hilt of her opponent's sword, knocking her down. He then turned swiftly and did a sweeping kick to trip Roy, and soon both him and Roy's opponent had him pinned with a sword to his throat while Thea cried out helplessly. All of them stood there, waiting for the killing blow on Roy.
"What are you waiting for?" Roy asked, trying to hold back the fear in his voice. One of the members crouched down and pulled the hood and mask off of Roy, revealing his identity for certain.
"It's not him," the member said, and then the sword was taken off Roy's throat. They calmly walked over to their injured man, and helped him limp away from the scene; leaving Team Arrow frozen with confused looks on their faces.
"We lost, didn't we?" Thea asked.
"Oh yeah," Roy said, rubbing his throat to clear the sensation of the blade that was just there.
"So then why did they just take off like that?" Laurel asked.
"Who cares, let's just go before they change their minds," Thea said.
They abandoned the motorcycles and began the long walk back to the lair, with Roy putting his mask and hood back on. Halfway to the lair, they come across a large crowd surrounding a stage with a woman standing at the podium. Every news station had cameras pointed at the stage as the woman continued what sounded like an acceptance speech:
"Thank you again for placing your faith in me to return our city to it's former glory. The rise of these so called 'super-criminals' have left an undeniable shock to us citizens who are simply trying to live a normal life. These criminals tore down our homes and businesses with earthquakes, amasses an army with inhuman strength, and used fear and intimidation on the most vulnerable citizens here in the Glades. That is why I wanted to humbly accept this honor here at the Glades; to show you all that you are not forgotten, and will no longer have to live in fear!"
She pauses for a moment to allow the crowd to cheer and clap before continuing.
"I am not the only one who has taken it upon themselves to help the Glades. My predecessors labeled them 'vigilantes' and wasted valuable police resources and man-power in trying to arrest the heroes who have been so intricate in protecting the Glades and, this city for that matter. They've placed their lives on the line every night alongside our esteemed police force to do what they can to help the people. I think it is time we stop trying to arrest these allies and instead embrace their presence and work along side them to stop the real criminals in this city!"
People clapped and cheered while Team Arrow backed into the alley unsure of the direction the city was about to take.