Sara pulled out her phone and texted Oliver as she, Laurel, and Nyssa approached Verdant's back door entrance to the foundry.
Sara: We're here. Ready for us?
Ollie: Yep! Come on in. They don't know about you yet.
Sara's pulse was racing and she drew in a deep breath. This was going to be a lot of people to see again all at once.
Outside the door Laurel said, "I'll go first and, well, I guess introduce you." She chuckled and Sara smiled in response.
"Okay, sis. Go for it."
They opened the door and stepped through. Sara and Nyssa stayed back out of sight and Laurel entered the room. She ran over and hugged Oliver. "Ollie! It's so good to see you. I'm still mad at you, but I'm glad you're alive." Laurel looked around and saw Diggle, Felicity, Roy, and Thea were there as well.
Felicity spoke up, "Laurel, did you miss the memo about getting here thirty minutes ago? Because you pretty much just missed Oliver and Diggle's whole crazy story."
Laurel laughed. "Well, I actually heard most of it from another source." She paused, realizing she wasn't quite sure how to tell everyone that her sister was alive.
"Are you okay, Laurel?" Roy asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Laurel smiled. "I kind of feel like I have. Guys, I have some amazing news for all of you. Two hours ago I had a knock on my door from the last person I would have expected."
Laurel reached out a hand and beckoned her sister to come. Sara hesitated, but Nyssa gave her a slight nudge and they both walked into the room.
Felicity, Roy, and Thea all gasped. Sara smiled shyly. "Hey, guys. I'm okay." Sara was caught off guard when Thea rushed over and wrapped her arms around her in a bear hug. All Sara could do was return the hug and hold her close. She could feel Thea shaking as she cried.
"Shh, Thea, it's okay. I'm okay."
"Sara - I'm - so - sorry." It was difficult for Thea to breathe and speak as she was sobbing.
Sara lifted her chin so they could look eye to eye. "Hey, you have nothing to be sorry for."
"But - I thought - I killed you."
Sara smiled. "But you didn't. And it's not your fault, Thea. I know everything. I know that Merlyn drugged and used you as a puppet in his plan. We all were puppets to some extent. But none of that matters anymore. I'm alive and you have done nothing to feel guilty for."
Thea just stared as Sara wiped the tears from her face. They never talked about it, but the two of them had always had a kind of sisterly bond - they were very much alike.
Felicity was in awe and slowly stepped forward. "Sara, how is this even possible? I saw you dead. You were lying here, on this very table, five months ago with three arrows in your chest. You lost so much blood, had severe internal damage, and no heartbeat. I don't understand."
Nyssa spoke up. "My father is the one behind all of this and I only just learned of everything for myself when I first saw Sara last night. I was just in the dark as you all were."
Roy turned to her. "So you're saying your father wanted Sara dead? He got Merlyn to mess up Thea and try to kill Sara?"
Nyssa looked to Sara to see if she wanted to tell her story, but she could read in her eyes that she was asking her to take it this time. Sara had already told the story in full to Nyssa, Oliver and Diggle, and then Laurel. Nyssa just smiled and nodded and then turned back to Roy, who tried in vain to follow their silent communication.
"To make a long story short, my father didn't want Sara dead, but he did tell Malcolm Merlyn to fake her death to put in motion a larger plan that would ultimately test three of us: myself, Sara, and Oliver."
Felicity shook her head. "This is crazy. Why did he want to test all of you? Well, I guess Oliver did just tell us that he was offered the position of the next Ra's al Ghul, which is probably the most insane idea I've ever heard, and believe me, since meeting all of you, that's saying something."
Nyssa nodded and shot Oliver a glance. "I couldn't agree more, but that's not up to me. It seems my father wanted to test Oliver to see if he had the strength, resilience, and dedication to purpose that would be necessary to take his place. Setting up Sara's death and having Thea shoot her were all done to get Oliver to challenge him in Nanda Parbat. We told Oliver he had 48 hours to find Sara's killer or citizens of Starling City would start to die, and I thought this was intended to be motivation for finding the killer. To my father, it was a test to see if Oliver would sacrifice himself for his personal crusade, which is the protection of his city and those he most cares for."
Thea had finally calmed down but her eyes were still red. She glanced at Nyssa and Sara. "So what were your tests?"
Nyssa hesitated. This was where things got personal for her, and she wasn't used to speaking to anyone but Sara about anything emotional. She looked to Sara, who smiled and picked up the story from there.
"Mine and Nyssa's tests were slightly different from Oliver's." She paused, trying to figure out how to explain what she wanted to say. "On the surface Ra's appears to be hardened and unfeeling, but the one person he deeply cares for his daughter. He has always meant for Nyssa to take his place as the next Head of the Demon and has been preparing her for that role since she was about eight years old."
Nyssa jumped back in. "But things changed when Sara came to us. For the first time in my life I felt love and joy and I even prioritized my love above my duty to the League. I didn't even realize that until my father pointed it out, but it's true. My father didn't stop us from being together, but he also didn't approve of our love. He told me it was because he knew it would only end in heartbreak and he didn't want me to get hurt. He needed me to be solely focused on my duties to the League. My father was actually deeply in love once himself, but she was brutally murdered, and by someone whose life he had just saved. It tortured my father and that event is what spurred him into becoming Ra's al Ghul. But when he recognized that I truly loved Sara and that it wasn't just an infatuation or a phase, it softened him, and gave him a glimpse of the joy his life once held and it reminded him of who I was as a child - happy and full of light. He then realized that what he wanted for me more than the League was to have a life with love." Nyssa paused, smiled at Sara, and still had a look of amazement at the thought of it all. "He only just told me all of this yesterday. I had no idea."
Sara continued, "And Nyssa would always be the first one to search for me if I was ever MIA on an assignment. That instinct just carried over when I left after Merlyn's Undertaking. Ra's knew that when I left it wasn't because I was trying to leave her. I wanted to see my family to make sure they were safe, and when I found myself away from the League I realized that I couldn't go back, even for Nyssa, and that tore me apart. As much as I loved her I knew that the killing would change me for the worse. It had already started to and I didn't want to completely lose myself. When Nyssa came back for me I tried to tell her I wasn't in love with her anymore, but she knew better. She knew I was scared, and Ra's did too. And when Ra's realized how in love his daughter was, and that she would keep coming back for me even when I told her I was done with the League and I was released, he decided he needed to test me to see if I was worthy of that love, and see if what we had was worth him looking for another successor so that Nyssa could live a free life."
Nyssa nodded. "My father kept close tabs on Sara the whole time she was here in Starling working with all of you. He saw how she fought for the safety of her family and the people of her city. She was selfless and willing to sacrifice everything for those she cared for. Sara's final test was her part in Al-Saher's plan. Malcolm Merlyn approached her with a proposition that would free her from the League and allow her to finally be with her family. She resisted at first because she didn't want my father dead, but she realized that for her, the alternative was to be part of the League the rest of her life and continue being a killer, which would ruin her. So she agreed to risk her life in order to save her soul, and my father was very impressed at how strong a hold Sara was always able to maintain on her humanity and intrinsic goodness. The rest of us in the League were long past desensitized to all the killing, but she never was."
The room was silent for a few moments, then Diggle spoke for the first time in a while. "So let me see if I've got this all straight. Nyssa, your test ultimately was to see if you would be better off as the next Head of the Demon or living a free life with the person you loved. Your father was testing how strong your devotion actually was. And Sara, Ra's pretty much was testing if you were worthy enough for his daughter and if you could bring the light and humanity back into her life. But then he would need someone else to take Nyssa's place as the Heir, so that's where Oliver's test comes into play, to see if he would be worthy to take over the League so that Ra's can retire. Have I got that all right?"
Sara grinned. "Exactly right, Dig."
Felicity chimed in, "So now Ra's is just waiting on Oliver's answer, right? And I'm hoping Ra's has a plan B here, well I guess a plan C," she glanced apologetically at Nyssa for the unintentional jab, "because it's pretty obvious that Oliver is not going to accept this crazy man's plan." She winced and looked at Nyssa again. "Sorry... again. No offense, I promise."
Nyssa just rolled her eyes at the blonde, not deigning to respond at the accidental slights to herself and her father.
All eyes turned to Oliver. Most everyone agreed with Felicity's point of view. Oliver just shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know yet. I don't feel like it's as black and white as it seems at first."
"You're kidding, right?" Thea laughed. "You're not actually considering this? It's madness! Ra's al Ghul is an international assassin. Isn't that pretty much against everything you've been working toward lately? The whole 'not killing to honor Tommy's memory' thing you've got going on?"
"If I were in charge of the League I might be able to run things differently. Maybe I should be the next Ra's al Ghul."
Roy jumped in. "So, you're saying you could turn the League of Assassins into what, exactly? The League of Tie-'em-up-and-leave-'em-for-the-cops? That doesn't quite roll off the tongue as easily."
Oliver was starting to feel attacked and threw his arms up in the air. "Okay, okay, I hear what you're all saying, but don't you think that's already gone through my mind?" He let out a long sigh. "I think I just need to go clear my head and get some rest. We all should. Let's just continue on as we normally would and I'll figure this out before next week, okay?"
Felicity pursed her lips. "Sure, let's just keep playing Team Arrow while Arrow is thinking about playing Team Demon League. That sounds totally normal."
Diggle stepped in. "Hey, Oliver's at least right about one thing. We should all get some rest and I'm pretty sure crime in Starling City isn't going to take a break while he makes his decision, so I think we'll all have plenty of work to do in the meantime."
Felicity nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry, Oliver - you've been through enough and don't need me all over you," she laughed to herself, "which is funny because I've actually been all over somebody else..." She suddenly looked horrified. "I just said that out loud, didn't I? Well, you know what I mean - it's just an expression." She smiled guiltily, Thea laughed, Diggle raised his eyebrows in surprise, and Oliver made a mental note to figure out exactly what she meant by that not-so-subtle slip.
...Three days later...
The crew returned to the foundry after having just broken up a bank robbery by a gang in the Glades.
"Ollie, are you going somewhere?" Thea asked when she saw her brother pick up a small duffle bag he had stashed earlier.
"Yes, actually. Guys, I'm going to be gone for just a couple days."
Felicity was shocked. "Seriously? You are aware that you need to be back in Nanda Parbat in just three days, right? You aren't forgetting that minor detail?"
Oliver laughed. "No, Felicity, I didn't forget. That's why I'll be back in two."
"Where are you going?" Roy asked as he pulled off his mask.
"I'll explain more when I get back. I don't know exactly how things are going to go yet, but I'll fill you in later."
"Well, that's a bit vague," Dig pointed out. "You need back up?"
"Thanks, Dig, but this won't be dangerous. I just need to take care of something myself this time. I'm sorry I can't tell you more right now, but I promise you'll know everything before I return to Nanda Parbat."
Sara spoke up. "Then go. We all have to keep secrets sometimes. Besides, we've got plenty of manpower to hold down the fort here."
Oliver smiled. "Thanks for understanding." He looked around and still saw looks of confusion on the faces of the rest of his comrades. "Relax, guys, this isn't dangerous, but it's something I have to do before giving Ra's my answer."
Felicity just shrugged her shoulders. "Okay. You've gotta do what you've gotta do. We'll see you in two days."
Oliver nodded and left. Outside he mounted his motorcycle and sped off for Central City."
