A/N: forgive me for falling off the face of the earth. This chapter was really hard to write.

Thanks so much for all the follows/favs/reviews! They mean a lot to me :)!

Huge thanks to KenyanCougar for her awesome Beta work! Seriously, y'all would not want to read this story without her Beta work!

All mistakes are mine.

Disclaimer: Does it count that I own the DVDs ;)?

Oliver quickly checked his comms and was relieved to see that he once again had a clear signal.

"Felicity, Digg and I are coming home." Oliver announced to his very worried team mate.

Chapter 6: Honesty

Felicity let out the breath that she didn't even realizethat she was holding.

"Thank goodness." She whispered quietly.

In no time at all, she heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs. She stood up quickly as Oliver and Diggle entered the lair.

"Are you guys ok?" Felicity asked as she moved toward them.

"We are fine Felicity." Oliver reassured her.

"So what now Oliver?" Diggle asked as he put his gun away.

"Now we figure out a way to stop Sara." Oliver replied determinedly.

"Who's Sara?" Felicity asked in confusion.

"Sara Lance is behind the attack yesterday." Oliver answered slowly.

"I though she, well, you know, drowned?" Felicity questioned

Oliver knew that it was time to tell his team the truth. He took a deep breath to steady himself as he began to speak.

"When the Gambit went down, Sara was sucked into the ocean. I tried to find her but I couldn't. It took all of my strength just tomake it to the lifeboat that my Dad was in. I believed her to be dead." Oliver closed his eyes as continued. "It was a year later that I found out that Sara was still alive. She had been rescued by a man named Ivo. Doctor AnthonyIvo. He was looking for a lost Japanese submarine. On the sub was a dangerous drug called Mirakuru. Ivo had dedicated his life to finding it and nothing was going to stand in his way. I ended up on his freighter, the Amazo, as a prisoner. Sara was in charge of torturing the prisoners to get the information that Ivo wanted. I knew that she did what she did for the sole purpose of surviving. When I looked into her eyes I saw regret, but mostly I saw fear. Fear of Ivo, fear of the prisoners, fear of what she had become. She told me not to tell Ivo that we knew each other and sent me back to my cell. When morning came, Sara, Ivo, and his men brought me back on the Island and ordered me to take them to the sub. I had no idea where it was, but I wasn't worried. I knew that Slade and Shado would rescue me. I also knew that I couldn't leave Sara with Ivo for one second longer. Amid all of the confusion caused by Slade and Shado rescuing me, I grabbed Sara by the hand and brought her with us. Slade didn't trust her. He thought that she would turn us all over to Ivo. If I had beenhonest with myself, I had those very same thoughts. But it was a risk that I was willing to take. I owed her this chance for survival. A chance to see her family again. I often wonder what would have happened if I had just left well enough alone. Would Slade and Shado still be alive? Would Sara havebeen able to return home?" Oliver's voice was laced with guilt and regret as he stopped speaking.

Seeing how upset Oliver was becoming and the dangerous path that he was walking, Felicity knew that she had to interrupt him. She took a few slow steps toward him and began to speak.

"Don't do this to yourself Oliver! What happened on the Island wasn't yourfault! You made the decisions that you did with the best of intentions. You did what you could to survive and to help others survive. That was all you could do. You are notresponsible for the choices that others made. Neither are you responsible for the consequences of those choices!" Felicity finished adamantly.

"But I am responsible for the choices that I made and the consequences that followed." Oliver stated quietly.

Looking up once more, Oliver continued his tale.

"During our rescue, Slade was seriously injured. The only chance of saving him was to find the very drug that Ivo was after and inject him with it. While we were waiting to see if it would work, if it really would save Slade, Ivo and his men found us. They quickly tied our hands behind our backs and dragged us out into a clearing. Ivo had the Mirakuru in his possession, but it wasn't enough for him. He wanted to make us pay for almost taking away his chance of achieving his life's mission. He knelt Sara and Shado in front of me and told me to choose. Onewould live and one would die. I begged him not to. Pleaded with him to kill me instead, but he wouldn't listen. When it appeared that he was about to shoot Sara in the back of the head, I quickly moved between her and Ivo's gun. Taking that as my decision, Ivo shot Shado before I even realized what was happening." Oliver whispered as he closed his eyes and hung his head.

Silence pervaded the lair. No one made a sound as all three individuals reflected on the words that had been spoken.

Felicity felt the tears rolling down her checks as she silently sobbed for the unimaginable circumstances that Oliver was forced to endure. Oliver had mentioned Slade and Shado before, but knowing some of the things that had happened to the trio broke her heart.

While equally effected by Oliver's words, Diggle did his best to control his emotions. Anger being at the front of his mind. The things that the young man in front of him went through were horrible. Made worse by the fact that they could have been avoided if his father had made wiser decisions in his life. No wonder he was so angry when he returned. Diggle thought to himself.

Oliver was exhausted. He had never opened up about his time on the Island as much as he just did. Although he wanted nothing more thanto leave it at that and call it a night, he knew that he had to finish his tale. He had to be completely honest with his team. That meant telling themeverything, even if he lost their respect in the process.

After regaining control of his emotions, Oliver once again began to speak.

"I blacked out after Shado was shot. Shortly after I came to Slade appeared. Miraculously he had been healed. He quickly began killing Ivo's men. Only after Ivo and his men retreated did Slade realize that Shado was dead. Before I even had a chance to explain what happened, Sara quickly told Slade that Ivo had shot Shado suddenly and without warning. I wanted to tell Slade the truth. He deserved to know what really happened. But after seeing how much the Mirakuru was truly turning him into someone else, I agreed with Sara's decision. I realized that if he knew the truth, Slade would undoubtedly kill Sara and I. Things were going well. We had a plan to take the freighter from Ivo and his men and get off the Island. Sara and I both knew that our success depended on me reaching Ivo before Slade did. As chaotic as the situation was, I did manage to get to Ivo first. He started talking about what had happened and I admitted that I felt that Shao's death was my fault. At that time Ivo made me aware that Slade was standing behind me. My guilty admission was all it took for Slade to lose control. Everything else happened in a blur. Slade attacking me, Sara and I trying to get off the freighter, Slade stopping my escape from the freighter. In minutes Slade was in control of the freighter and I was his prisoner." Oliver took a slow deep breath before continuing. "Things moves quickly after that. While I did everything I could to survive, Sara did everything she could to rescue me. Even when she had a chance to get off the Island, to go home, she chose to stay with me. Slade was my friend, my brother, I had to give him one last chance. Although it would be extremely dangerous, Sara still chose to stand by me. When we came face to face with Slade, he was going to kill me. He almost did but Sara chose to engage Slade to try to protect me. I had to watch as Sara, once again, was sucked into the cold ocean water. I truly believed that she had drowned. That was the last time I saw Sara before today. In my anger, I chose to kill Slade instead of save him." Oliver finished with a heavy heart and his voice filled with emotion.

Completely exhausted, Oliver sank down in the nearest chair and buried his face in his arms.

No one knew how long the silence lasted. While Felicity and Diggle both wanted to comfort Oliver, they knew that he needed times to process the memories that he had just relived. In all honesty they needed to process what had just been said also.

Finally Diggle broke the silence as he moved to stand in front of Oliver.

"You know Oliver you probably think that what you have just revealed will change our opinion of you, but it hasn't. You did whatever you could to protect Sara, Slade, and Shado. Do you really think that Slade would have changed if he didn't have the Mirakuru anymore? Because from what you just said, I don't think it would have made any difference. He was too far gone at that point. And Shado, man there was nothing you could have done. One of them was going to die. You and I both know that if Ivo had killed Sara instead you would still feel guilty that Shado lived and Sara died. As far as Sara goes, she made her choice. She chose to stay with you, she chose to protect you, and she also chose to not return home. She chose to turn into something else instead of returning to her family. She made the decision to become what she is now, just like you made the decision to become a hero!" Diggle finished with conviction.

"He's right Oliver." Felicity said as she moved to stand next to Diggle. "For reasons we don't know, Sara made the decision she did. And now you are going to stop her. I believe in you Oliver." Felicity finished with unshed tears glistening in her eyes.

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