Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or anything else you may recognize. All characters belong to their creators.

Alright, well here is the ninth Chapter. This one took longer to write, mainly because I rewrote it several times, you will have questions on the storyline and I would like to know what they are, remember my story is still developing, so, some parts won't make sense until later chapters. Hope You Enjoy.

[Motel Room]

Adam Hunt is pacing inside, on his cellphone, "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Look, all I'm doing is looking to get something going again. Yeah, I know. I know, but this time " he hears the sound of floorboards creaking and turns around, "I have to call you back." He hangs up the phone.

"What? Did you come back for another pound of flesh? You're going to be disappointed, pal. Thanks to you, I'm-" he doesn't get to finish as an arrow hits his chest closely followed by two more, dropping him backward onto the bed behind him. Stepping forward from the shadows was not the hood who Hunt believed to be talking to, but a figure dressed in black using black arrows instead of the green arrows the hood used.

[Lair]

Diggle and Sara are practicing knife maneuvers as Helena watches them, she had tried but was nowhere near their level.

"Nice. Picking up the pace." Sara comments as Diggle switches his pace.

"I could say the same thing about you two. You guys crossed 3 names off Oliver's father's list this week alone." Diggle says as Helena smiles, she's been able to help Sara without being a liability.

"Yeah, well, some of these guys are just giving it up now. All we got to do is pay them a visit. It seems the vigilantes' reputation is beginning to precede them." Helena says as Diggle gets cut from one of Sara's attacks. "Ah!" Diggle cries as he looks at his cut.

"Another round?" Sara asks and both Diggle and Helena reply, "No."

Sara smiles and goes to sit next to where Helena is as Diggle walks over to them, "Going to take my nephew over to the mall so he can let Santa know what he wants for Christmas."

"Oh. Christmas. I didn't even realize." Sara says, having gone 5 years without it and her birthday.

"That was because you've been logging in so many hood hours ever since that thing with Nyssa." Diggle reminds her as Helena shifts slightly neither catching it.

"I meant... There were no holidays on the island, no birthdays, no celebrations. Every day was... How do I stay alive? To do that, you had to forget things, like Christmas." Sara said as Helena wrapped her arms around her.

"Maybe you guys can give the list a rest and just enjoy the holidays with the family or each other. Besides, I hear St. Nick has a list of his own. I wager you guys are in the "nice" column. Go home, Sara, Helena."

[Flashback]

Sara is laying down next to the fire when she hears movement on the other side of the rocks closing the entrance to the cave, they stumble off and as light comes into the cave, the man in the hood walks through with water and food, placing them down near Sara.

"You not, dead, good." He says as he looks her over.

"Where the hell you been? I ran out of food and water days ago," She says as she reaches for the water, "Hey , hey, where are you going?" She asks as she sees him moving out of the cave but he returns shortly with a man and throws him on the ground, Sara upon recognizing who it was, "You," punches him in the jaw and before she can lunge herself the man in the hood pushed her back to the ground away from Fyers.

"Stop! Stop." He commanded.

"He's the one who tied me up and had me tortured. All because he was looking for you. He would've killed me if you didn't show up!" She reminds him, he looks at her and then grabs his knife handing it to her.

"Then you kill him. Or he can take you home." He tells her.

"What?" She looks at him confused.

He crouches next to Fyers before looking at her, "He has a plane. A way for you off this island."

[Lance's Apartment]

Helena and Sara were cuddled together on the couch watching a terrible movie, when Lance enters.

He looks at the two and smiles, "Sorry to interrupt," he looks at the TV, "okay, never mind it looks like you guys need the interruption." Both Sara and Helena laughed, it was good to hear his daughter laugh so carefree again.

He wasn't thrilled that Sara was with Helena, not because he was against their relationship, but because of her father, however, he had to admit that when Sara was around Helena she smiled more and laughed like she used to. Plus, when Helena had told him about how she had compiled evidence against her father for the FBI, it put all doubt in her motives away, she was nothing like her father.

"Hey, daddy, are you home for the night?" Sara asked getting up and hugging him.

"Unfortunately, no, I have some paper work to take care of, I just came to take a quick shower before heading back. Are you two going to be here or do you have plans?" He asked as he moved to the small kitchen and got himself some water.

"No plans for tonight, we were just going to stay in and continue watching," Sara looked at the TV not sure what they were watching, she turned to look at Helena who shrugged, she didn't know either, "uh, yeah, we have no idea what that is." She said pointing to the TV, making Quinten laugh.

"Well if you guys stay in remember to lock the door if I'm not back by the time you guys go to sleep, or, if you decide to go out remember to tell me or leave a note." He said looking at them making sure they understood that it wasn't up for discussion. Sara smiled and nodded her head as she sat back down next to Helena.

They began watching the TV again when Quinten got a call, he answered, "Lance." He listened then sighed and hung up the phone. "I guess the shower will have to wait, I have to go I'll see you two later." He said as he headed to the door before Sara called out to him.

"What's wrong, daddy?"

"It's uh, Hunt, he's been killed." Was all that he could say as he left, Sara looked at Helena who got up from the couch and went to get their coats, they needed to find out who could have taken Hunt down and why her father seemed to be wary about what he told them.

[Crime Scene]

Lance is checking out the crime scene and talking to his superior, "Well, the daughter came over, used her key, found dad. Hat trick to the chest."

"The hood woman."

"That's what I thought at first. But these black arrows aren't consistent with her M.O. And neither is the fact that the Hood took Hunt for $40 million a few months ago, it doesn't make sense to kill him now. Something doesn't add up. We're dealing with a copycat." Lance explained.

Unknown to the entire police force present on the fire escape was the hood and the huntress hearing everything they said. Sara looked concerned and didn't notice Helena send out a text message.

[League Safe House]

Khatiya receives the message and when she reads it she quickly goes over to Haraba'. "Haraba' do you know where Nyssa and Oliver went?"

He looked at her hearing the urgency in her voice, "Yes, they were given a mission. Last I heard yesterday they were on route back. Why?"

"Can you tell them to get here faster?" She sounded concerned but before he could ask why she answered, "Hunt was killed, three arrows to the chest, according to Walssiada the grouping suggests an archer with the same training as Sara or more, and," she sighed before continuing, "they used black arrows."

Haraba' looked at her the realization of what it could mean hitting him, "I'll get in touch with them as soon as possible." Khatiya nodded and left, she might have to get ready in case she was right.

[Lair]

Sara, Helena and Diggle are discussing the events, "Who would kill Adam Hunt with an arrow? I mean, other than you?" he asked.

"A setup, maybe." Helena said as Diggle looked at them, "You mean someone looking to cover up killing Hunt by making it look like the work of the Hood?"

"Whoever it was, they're good. The grouping on Hunt's chest was tight. It's a compound bow, most likely. This archer is a..." Sara was assessing the other archer's skill, her mind thinking it might be the work of Nyssa and her Hood copy but they haven't looked into them since that night, they hadn't seen her either. While in her thoughts before finishing, Helena finished her thought for her, "Legitimate archer."

"So, someone who would be particular about their choice of arrows." Diggle thought out loud as Helena looked at him, "We get an arrow, we get a bead on where they purchased them." She added as Sara got an idea, one that she did not like one bit but it had to be done to get a lead on this other archer.

"So, what are you going to do?" Helena asks her noticing the argument going on inside of Sara's head, she turned around to face them, "What anyone does when they need help. Call a cop." Helena hugged her knowing that involving her father was not something she would ever want to do but in order to get a lead it had to be done.

[SCPD]

Quinten was sitting at his desk working when a delivery guy came in, "Quinten Lance?"

"Yeah." He looked up as the delivery guy handed him the package and a clipboard, "Sign here, please."

He signs and gives the clipboard back, "Thanks."

"Thanks." The delivery guy says back as he turns and walks away.

Quinten picks up the package and tears it open, he reaches in and out comes a phone. He looks at it studying it when it starts vibrating in his hands, he picks up, "Lance."

"I didn't kill Adam Hunt." The modified voice says through the phone as lance realizes who it is, "You..."

"You call me the Hood. It's not a great nickname. You told commissioner Nudocerdo that you might be dealing with a copycat, another archer, which makes me your best bet to take him down. But I need your help. I need one of the arrows from his murder."

"Yeah, we're pretty good at pulling down leads off evidence. Thanks." Lance shoots back.

"Not like I am. I can do things the police can't, go places they won't."

"Like I said, I don't even know who ," he doesn't get to finish before the hood cuts in, "If this archer doesn't stop with Adam Hunt, we both have a problem. Think about it. Then call me. Number's programmed in."

[League Safe House]

Khatiya gets an update on the case from Walssiada and hurries to see if Haraba' has had any success reaching Nyssa and Oliver.

When she walks in Haraba' lays down his phone turning to her and nodding, "They will make arrangements to arrive earlier than planned, in the meantime, they asked that you keep a closer eye on Sara and Helena."

Khatiya smiled knowing that it was time for her to be properly introduced to the small team, she sent the text to Helena informing her what was about to happen.

'It's time to properly meet the team.'

[Lair]

Helena is putting her coat on having agreed to go with Sara to meet Thea and Laurel for lunch when her phone vibrates, taking it out and reading the message she lets out a sigh, things were about to get even more complicated. She walked out of the lair and headed to Sara who was waiting for her at the factory door so they could leave together.

[Big Belly Burger]

All four women are sitting at a booth enjoying their shakes and fries, "I think there should be a national holiday for the guy that invented French fries. Or at least a statue or something." Thea said as the grouped laughed, "What? They're delicious!"

"And that's why we're here, Speedy, best burgers and fries in the city." Laurel said as she scooped up some of her shake with a fry. Thea nodded before looking at Sara and Helena, "I never thought I'd ever see you like this."

Sara and Helena looked at her confused by her statement, realizing what it sounded like she hurriedly corrected herself, "I mean HAPPY, since you've been back you haven't been like the Sara I remember, you don't socialize as much but ever since you met Helena I see the old you again, the happy free spirit that likes to be around people."

Sara and Helena couldn't help but smile at her, "Yeah, I never thought I'd feel like this again. I'm happy that I was wrong." She laid her head-on Helena's shoulder as Helena kissed the top of her head.

Thea and Laurel couldn't help smiling at the pair, she was beginning to open up again not so guarded and they were both glad, knowing some of what she had to endure on that island.

Just then a guy around Thea's age comes up to them, "Hi, Thea."

She smiled up at him before replying, "Hi. Shane. This is my friend Laurel, her sister Sara and her girlfriend Helena."

"Nice to meet you." He said quickly before returning his attention to Thea, "We're heading down to the bay to hang out if you want to come."

"Thanks, but I'm spending the afternoon with them, another time, maybe." She replied smiling at him, he smiled in return, "See ya."

Once he was out of earshot Laurel turned to Thea, "How do you know that Shane guy?"

"We rob banks and smoke crack together." She replied sarcastically.

"That's funny, yeah. I have a feeling I'm not going to be a fan." Laurel replied but before Thea could say anything Sara and Helena spoke in unison, "Agreed."

Everyone laughed and after a minute Thea smiling asked, "Can we please, change the subject?"

"Okay, okay." Laurel said, then looked at her sister, "Have you thought about how you want to spend your birthday?"

"Just with family and," she looked at Helena who smiled back, "with people I care about."

Laurel smiled, she was happy that her sister was happy. "That includes you Speedy, and your family." Sara added, Thea just gave her a small smile.

"Thanks, I'll tell them later."

Helena received a message and looked at Sara, "Do you think we can go to the lair after?" Sara looked at her but nodded, they returned to the conversation and teased Thea more about the boy.

[Lair]

"Why did you want to come back here tonight?" Sara finally asked Helena as they entered the basement where Diggle was already waiting.

"Hey, I got your message. Why are we meeting tonight I thought you guys were taking the night off?"

Helena looked at them and then looked down trying to figure out how to tell them. Sara, noticed her discomfort and asked, "What's wrong?"

"She's just trying to figure out how to tell you the truth." Came a modified voice from the darkest corner of the room. Sara and Diggle both turned to face the intruder, the other hood stepped out and looked at them. Helena walked over to the figure and stood next to her.

Sara was speechless, Diggle looked furious, "What's the meaning of this Helena! Why are you working with them, since when!?"

"Since the night, we had the talk with Nyssa," Helena said still not looking at anyone, "After my father shot me it was the man in the mask who took me away and healed my wounds." She revealed, Sara looked at her, why did she keep it a secret but more importantly why did Helena say it had been a warning?

Diggle still looked confused, finally being bored with the situation the hood reached for her mask and hood, Diggle pointed his gun at her, "easy there Diggle, I'm just taking off this hood, it's not my style."

Sara looked at Diggle and nodded, Diggle lowered his gun but kept it at the ready. The woman removed the hood and revealed a young woman, Nyssa's assistant. Khatiya saw the look on Sara's face and smirked, "My name is Cindy but I prefer Sin or as Nyssa and Hayij call me, Khatiya."

"That's Arabic for, Berserker and Sin." Diggle looked at her, she just smiled and nodded, "Yes, the man in the mask has many names but to us he is Hayij. Although I am not here on his orders but Nyssa's."

Sara finally found her voice, "Why did you tell me it was a warning when they saved you, why have you kept this from me?"

Helena couldn't look up, tears were forming in her eyes but Khatiya spoke for her. "It was the arrangement we had, I train her so she could aid you and not be a burden and in turn she kept you away from Nyssa and Hayij."

Sara looked at the younger woman barely older than Thea, "If you are worried she told us about you, you shouldn't be. Hayij knows more than she does, and he let her know some of your train of thought. He told me you might not trust her after this talk but my mission is more important."

"Yeah, and what mission is that?" Diggle shot out, "Keep you guys alive." With that Khatiya sat down on a table.

Sara looked at her wanting to ask more questions but she resisted and instead walked over to Helena who still refused to look at them. As she got closer Sara saw tears on her eyes and with that she lunged herself at Helena hugging her tight. "It's okay, I would have done the same."

Helena broke down and hugged Sara back tightly, "I'm sorry."

Diggle just looked angry but understood her position, "So, why did you introduce yourself?" he asked Khatiya who smiled, "Your mystery archer. We are not sure it's someone we are looking for but until we make sure I'll be around. If it's not, you can handle them, if on the other hand, it turns out they are who we think, then, I have been instructed to provide backup."

Sara looked at her, "You have an idea on who it might be?"

"No, not me but Hayij and Nyssa. Unfortunately, they are off on business and so tasked me to watch over you until they return to deal with it."

Sara nodded, "Don't think badly of Hayij, you should trust him. He's only aim is to keep you safe, from anyone that could cause you harm, including himself." Sara looked at her confused and thoughtful, "But he is right, you're a damn good woman."

[Flashback]

The man in the hood is leading the way followed by Fyers and Sara behind him. Fyers has his hands tied and Sara has the man's knife on him pushing him forward.

"You're a good woman. I can see it. Well, beneath the fortunate upbringing and the well-off veneer. I saw it when my man tortured you and you wouldn't give up your friend. Not even a friend, really. Someone you just met."

"Shut up." Sara told Fyers.

"What do you know about him? Nothing, I suspect. Do you even know what this island really is? It's a prison. I mean this literally. Until 8 years ago, the Chinese military operated this island as a penitentiary for criminals deemed so dangerous, they couldn't be safely incarcerated on the mainland. When the military shut the program down, my unit came in and disposed of all the inmates. With the exception of two. Your friend was one of them." Fyers said to her causing her to stop him and think about the situation.

"Who was the other?" She asked wanting to know more.

"You met him. He presided over your interrogation." Fyers revealed, Sara looked at him anger rising, "He tortured me."

"You had information I needed. What would you do in my position? What would you do to capture the man who slaughtered dozens of people?" Sara looked at him and then at the man in the hood and in the end, she put her trust in the man in the hood and shoved Fyers forward.

[Alleyway]

A man is talking on the phone, "Hell, yeah, I returned the money. $70 million isn't worth getting an arrow through the chest. And you can tell him, if he's got a problem with that, he can …" He doesn't get to finish before an arrow pierces his heart from behind and falls to the ground dead. The Copycat archer walks away.

Minutes later the SCPD is on the scene, "Commissioner, this is Nelson Ravich. The Hood hit him earlier this week. Ravich wired back the money he embezzled less than 5 minutes later." Lance informed his superior.

"All right. We tell the press the Hood did this. Hunt's murder is a page 10 story, at best. But Ravich makes this a serial murder case. We can't let the public get wind of the idea that there are two of these nut jobs running around." The commissioner told him.

"You want me to ignore a serial killer." Lance asked not believing what his superior was telling him to do.

"Just catch one of these psychos. I don't care which one. That is a direct order from your commanding officer."

"Well, you can forget it, then." Lance shot back.

"Fine. It's forgotten. And you're off this case, Sergeant, effective immediately." The commissioner tells Lance as the other members of the force look on dumbfounded.

[SCPD]

Back at the precinct Quinten is looking at the phone that the vigilante gave him, feeling in a corner he makes a decision and dials the number, "Don't bother trying to trace this back to me. You'll never make it through the encryption."

"There's a heating vent on the corner of O'Neil and Adams. You'll find what you're after there."

"It'd be a mistake to set a trap for me, Detective."

"I'm trading away just about everything I believe in here cause it's the only way I've got to get this bastard. You got till Christmas. And then, copycat or not... I'm coming after you."

[Lair]

Sara and Helena are examining the arrow as Khatiya watches from a corner and Diggle paces around, "So, your father gave you a Christmas present after all." He asks Sara who finally puts the arrow down.

"Hmm. Teflon coated titanium blade serrated to split the bone." She looks to Helena, "Shaft is some type of specialized polymer, which is stronger than a typical carbon fiber."

"This...this is a custom job." Helena added as Sara nodded in agreement.

"So, Lance gave in after the other archer dropped another body." Khatiya stated as Sara looked in her direction.

"Nelson Ravich." She confirmed.

"Which is another name you crossed off your book list, thingy. So, is this archer trying to frame you or call you out?" Khatiya asked Sara.

"Either way, I need to find him."

[Queen Consolidated]

Having run into a dead end on the arrow, Sara thought that if anything could be found Felicity might have better luck. She walked into their shared office and notices that Felicity is concentrated on her tablet.

"Hey." She says trying to get her attention.

Felicity jumps not having heard anyone enter, "Don't you knock?"

Sara couldn't help smile at her office mate, "Felicity, this is the I.T. department. It's not the ladies room. And besides this is my office as well."

"Right." Felicity realizes and then trying to compose herself looks up at the other blonde, "What can I do for you?"

"Helena's friend Sin is really into archery. Apparently, it's all the rage now." Sara slightly lies, Sin was into archery.

"I don't know why. It's looks utterly ridiculous to me." Felicity says not realizing the look Sara is giving her, "Mm hmm."

"Anyway, it's Sin's birthday next weekend, and we wanted to buy her some arrows. The thing is, she gets these special custom made arrows, and I have no idea where she gets them. I was hoping you could find out where this came from." Sara opens a tube and takes out the arrow, "Careful." She says as she hands it to Felicity.

"Yeah." Felicity goes into her research mode and examines the arrow after a few minutes she speaks, "The shaft's composite is patented." She moves to her computer and begins to type, "And that patent is registered to a company called Sagittarius. That's Latin for the archer."

"Really?" She asks as she takes the arrow off of Felicity's hands, "Could you find out where and when this was purchased?"

Felicity looks at the info on her screen and after a few seconds finds what she is looking for, "According to Sagittarius company records, that particular arrow was part of a bundle shipment. 200 units. Sent..." She takes a sticky not and begins to write, "to this address." She hands the note to Sara.

"Felicity... You're remarkable."

"Thank you for remarking on it." Felicity says back slightly awkwardly.

Sara stands, "And Merry Christmas." As she gets close to the door Felicity replies, "I'm Jewish."

Sara stops, looks back and smiles at her, "Happy Hanukkah." Then proceeds out the door.

[Warehouse]

The hood, the huntress and Khatiya, in league armor, check the area around the warehouse before entering. This was the address that the arrows provided, so they had agreed to come and check it out.

Once inside they noticed that it was completely empty besides a single arrow impaled on the ground. They approached cautiously when the door they had entered through closed, and a liquid was heard dripping from behind them.

They turned to see a device with six cylinders emptying onto a larger cylinder that had electricity flowing through the top. Realizing what it was they bolted toward the door and just before they reached it, Sara fired an explosive arrow causing the doors to open as the bomb went off, the three women rolled out with no major injury just smelling of smoke and burned leather.

[Laurel's Apartment]

Laurel, Quinten, Thea, Tommy, and Diggle are all present for their little Christmas party/Sara's birthday party. Sara and Helena walk in followed by Sin, they've changed but the smell of burned hair and leather is still slightly present.

Diggle comes to greet them, "You guys okay?"

"We'll manage." Helena says as the three stretch a little.

"Is everyone having a good time?" Sara asked him.

"Yeah, Mrs. Queen and Mr. Steele unfortunately couldn't make it."

"Too bad I was looking forward to thanking them for their generosity." Sara sighed, Thea walked over to them, "Hey, how are you guys?"

She receives smiles from the two women and then she notices the younger woman, "Who's your friend?"

"Helena invited me." Khatiya responded, "She's a family friend." Helena tells Thea.

"Oh, cool. Nice look." Thea tells Khatiya referring to her punk/classy look. Khatiya smiles at Hayij's little sister, "I can give you some pointers, Queen."

Both laugh and walk away talking about fashion, Khatiya mainly listening. Sara looks on a little concerned but Helena grabs her hand to calm her. "She's not only looking after us. There are others who she keeps an eye on, Thea is one of them."1

Sara didn't like it but she trusted Helena. Tommy and Laurel walk over to them, "So, glad that you could make it, Tommy." Sara greets him.

"Merry Christmas and birthday Sara." He hugs her and hands her a small gift.

"Merry Christmas. And thanks Tommy." She replies and then hugs her sister, "Merry Christmas and a happy birthday."

"Thanks." Sara smiles at them both.

"Tommy, Helena, do you guys mind if I talk to my sister for a minute?"

"Yeah, let's go grab us a couple drinks." Tommy said as Helena followed.

Once they were out of earshot Laurel started talking, "I've been wanting to move forward with him, but something's been holding me back. I keep making these excuses; that it's my dad, it's my work, when really... it's Ollie. But for five years, I was emotionally... off, because you two had died. And the truth is, the last person that I expected to make me feel again... has."

"I'm happy. For both of you. And so would Ollie, he'd prefer you be happy rather than stop living because of him. Don't be afraid to move forward, Laurel."

"Thank you." She said and hugged her sister, "What did Tommy get you anyway?" Sara shrugged her shoulders. She took the small box and opened it, it was a picture of Laurel, Sara and Quinten, it had been turned into an ornament for their tree. Both Sara and Laurel smiled at the picture.

"Sara?" Diggle same over to them, Sara hugged Laurel once more before moving over to Diggle, "What's going on?"

"The other archers moved to the next level. This just hit the news. He's taken hostages." He shows her his tablet.

'Happy holidays, Starling City. For the past three months, this city has been laid siege by a vigilante. But the police have been unable to bring her to justice because they lack the will to do what justice demands.' The hostage reading continues through her tears, 'I will kill one hostage... every hour in the name of this vigilante until she surrenders herself to my authority.'

"Police are on the scene, Sara. I think you should let them handle this." Diggle tells her.

"Those people are there because of me." She looks at Helena, Thea, Sin. "I have to end this."

"Sara, this archer... this archer, is very dangerous." Diggle tries to reason.

"Diggle, there wasn't anything on the island that wasn't twice as dangerous as this pretender, and I survived there for five years." Sara looks him in the eyes before walking away.

[Flashback]

The man in the hood stops in a clearing taking out a walkie, "Call your people. Tell them to bring the plane."

"There's no need, Yao Fei. My people will be here shortly. Do you not think it convenient you captured me so easily?" Fyers says.

Yao Fei looks around and out comes the masked man that tortured Sara, "Go!" Yao Fei screams.

"What?" Sara looks around confused.

"Run!" He yells as he begins to fight the masked man. She takes off and as soon as she takes cover behind trees she sees the masked man get a good hit on Yao Fei. More soldiers come out and collect him, the masked man looks around but doesn't see her and move out with the rest.

[Hostage Scene]

Anchor: Starling City holds its breath as the hostage crisis unfolds. Police have attempted to enter the abandoned structure in the Glades, but found rigged explosives preventing them from doing so. At the moment, there's been no sign of the vigilante as her one hour deadline nears.

Outside in a different building SCPD is checking footage and bomb squad intel trying to see what their best options are, "I count three thresholds, each wired by Mercury switches to Semtex charges."

"Can you defuse one for HRC to use as a breach point?" the commissioner asks bomb squad.

"Well, that's going to take a while and then he's going to know which way we're coming in." Lance tells him.

"You got a better idea, Sergeant, now would be a lovely time." The commissioner shouts back. Just then the bomb squad member hears a thud and looks up to see the vigilante zip line onto the building. There's a loud crash as she enters through the window.

The hostages all seem to be fine when she gets to them, "Where is he?" she asks the woman who had read the message, "I don't know."

She cuts off their restraints, "It's going to be okay." Once that's done she herds them together, "Follow me." She leads them through the building until she reaches the stairs, "Get up on the roof."

"What about..." The last woman to go asks, "I'll handle them. Move!" And with that the hostages go up to the roof.

Lance notices something on one of the screens, "Hostages. We've got five hostages on the roof. Repeat, five hostages on the roof."

Sara move back down the halls, her instincts go off and she turns around to see the archer, he's dressed similarly to Sin. "Thank you for coming. After the warehouse, I knew I'd have to do something dramatic to get your attention."

"What do you want with me?" She asks.

"What any archer wants … to see who's better." With that the archer reaches into their quiver but Sara is just a bit faster, she reaches back and nocks an arrow and firing it in one smooth motion. The archer dodges and nocks his and fires, the hood ducks and the arrow hits a window behind her.

They continue to fire until they each run further into the warehouse. The Dark Archer looks around where the hostages were, not noticing that the hood was on the rafters. He turns and spots a broken mirror, reflecting the hood up above, in a swift motion he turns and fires disarming the hood.

The hood dodges an arrow but as she tries to jump to another rafter the dark archer fires ones more and an arrow hits her on the back, she screams in pain and falls down hard onto the floor. The hood sees her bow and quickly gets it and fires back, the archer moves behind some crates and she follows, when she turns away she doesn't see that the dark archer is behind her, he shoots again hitting her on the left shoulder and fires once more at her right shoulder.

She stumbles onto a wall; the dark archer closes the distance and kicks her through it. She tries to get up but he kicks her again, "First Hunt, then Ravich, and now you." He says as he begins to kick her.

"I know about the list, and the man who authored it wants you dead. They call you the Hood. Let's see what you look like without it." Just as he reaches down to take her hood off, he jumps back as a tomahawk flies through the air and crashes hard against the crate shattering the side.

The dark archer looks to where the tomahawk came from but nothing, he looks around the entire place but there are no signs of anyone else, that's when he hears the voice, coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time, "Dire ealayk airtida' qadim jidda. lm yaeud ytm aistikhdamih min qibal al'aeda' alhaliiyn (The armor you wear is quite old. It's no longer used by current members)."

The archer stops moving, why was the league here, he had been careful to not draw suspicion onto himself. "Does Ra's know that a member is aiding a vigilante?" He shot back.

"Oh, he's very aware although he grew concerned when I told him about the list. Members of the league or past members as is your case must follow a code, one that you've violated. My father wants your head." The dark Archer looks back to where the hood is, another woman is standing there removing the arrows, she turns to face him, "Nyssa Al Ghul."

The dark archer says, shit, he wasn't expecting a member let alone the heir, "Why has the Head sent the heir? Surely the tomahawk wielding member could have sufficed."

"Oh, he would suffice. Except he's not just a member, he's the Heir and my husband." With that a man in a mask drops from the rafters right down beside her.

The dark archer freezes, Ra's had found another Heir and not only that he was good enough to marry into the bloodline, and Nyssa was by his side by choice. He knew he was going to have to make an exit so he notched and fired an arrow at the hood, but in one quick move the masked man catches and throws the arrow back at him hitting him in the leg.

Shit! Was all that he could think before the man in the mask was upon him, with a fury of elbows and knees, he tried to block the hits but that was a mistake, the impact did more damage. The masked man continued not stopping until the dark archer took a hard knee that sent him back through the wall and darkness claimed him.

Hayij was about to continue his assault when he heard Nyssa, "Nahn bihajat llieilaj jarahiha (We need to treat her wounds)." Hayij stopped looked at the fallen archer and then rushed back to Nyssa, grabbing the hood bridal style and rushing her to her lair.

[Lair]

Diggle, Helena and Sin rushed into the lair when Sin received a message from Haraba' that Sara was injured and was at the lair. When they walked in they saw Sara on one of the tables, Haraba' was finishing stitching her up.

"What happened?" Helena rushed over and Haraba' looked at her then Sin, "She engaged the archer and was about to be unhooded." Sin knew what that meant, Hayij and Nyssa had stepped in.

Diggle caught on to the statement, "What do you mean, 'Was about to be unhooded.'" Helena also looked at him.

"Did you get to her before he could?" Diggle asked trying to get answers.

Before Haraba' or Sin could answer his voice rang out and filled the lair, "No, Haraba' was instructed to never interfere unlike Khatiya." Diggle and Helena spun around trying to find the source of the voice but they couldn't find anyone.

They heard steps coming from the entrance and turned to see Nyssa, "We arrived earlier today and when we were headed to the party to keep watch we saw her leave and followed." Diggle relaxed his weapon slightly, before he asked, "We?"

A figure dropped down from above them and stood next to Nyssa, his presence alone was enough for Diggle to aim his weapons at him. Sin stepped in between the two, "Woah, woah, easy there, big guy. This man is Hayij, Nyssa's husband and my mentor."

"When we arrived at the warehouse Sara had already engaged him and was on the verge of being unhooded. My beloved, intervened and fought in her stead." Without saying anything Hayij just walked over to Helena who was standing next to Sara, looking at her he took a vial and handed it to Haraba; who nodded in response and opened it.

He poured the content of the vial in the wounds and they began to heal at an alarming rate making Diggle, Sin, and Helena jump. They looked at Hayij, "What was in that vial!"

"Waters from the Lazarus pit." Hayij said, Diggle looked at him, "As in the Bible?" He nodded his head.

"The waters are normally only used by the current head; however, the heir also gets access once they're ready to take on the title." Nyssa informed them as she stood next to her husband who held her at the waist.

Before anyone could say anything else, Sara woke up, Hayij put his hand on her head and made her lie back down. She looked around the room, "Helena."

"Hey, relax. Relax. Just relax. You're safe. You're in the lair." Helena tries to assure her. Her body feels tired but the pain has subsided greatly, "What happened?"

"We found you being beaten by the Dark Archer." Sara looks to the direction of the voice, her eyes widen, as if to read her mind Hayij and Nyssa pin her to the table, "Easy there Sara, I mean you no harm, if I had I would have left him take care of it." Helena placed a hand on Sara's cheeks and calmed her down.

Hayij noticed she was calm and let go, taking a few steps back. "Your archer was once a member of the League, we now have proof, and we will hunt him down. It's your choice if you wish to pursue him or let us handle it. I will not stand in your way." With that he began to walk away and before Nyssa left with him she turned to Helena and Sin, "He will be training both of you exclusively from now on, the dark archer is not someone to take lightly." She turned and joined her husband as they walked out of the lair.

Watching them leave Sara turns to Diggle, "You know, Dig, when I confront somebody on the list, I tell them that they failed the city. But tonight, it was me who failed."

"No Sara, five hostages are home tonight with their families enjoying the holidays. Because of you." Sin said trying to uplift Sara a little, knowing that she should not be at the safe house just yet.

"This guy, the other archer... He'll get his. And you'll give it to him." Diggle reassured her not believing the events of tonight, that man was dangerous but he saved Sara, then there was the Lazarus pit, it was too much.

"We might have a bigger problem. The other archer told me that somebody compiled the list. I always assumed it was Ollie's father. But what if it wasn't?" Sara looks at them, Sin doesn't say anything knowing that the list was written in the league way.

"What do you mean?" Helena asked her, concerned for her.

"I think there's someone else out there. Someone who's more of a danger than the archer. And I am going to take him down." Sara tells them having made up her mind, he was in her city she would not just stand by as Hayij and Nyssa went after him. If she had to she would join them.

[Safe House]

Since they arrived back from the lair Nyssa sat down on a table watching her beloved train and shatter every training dummy he got his hands on. She looked concerned, Sara was injured and if they hadn't arrived at that time she could have been killed, he blamed himself again.

"I should have been here earlier." He said it in such a low voice that she barely registered it. She quickly made her way to him and placed a hand on his chest, "If you were and she still got injured we wouldn't have had the waters to take care of her injuries." He calmed at her touch and his body relaxed more as he listened to her.

He took his mask off and looked at her, "How is it you always know what to say?" She smiled at him, "Because I love you, Beloved." He smiled and kissed her. "I love you too." He said as they took a breath. She smiled at him as he held her closer to him, a little tighter than normal but she didn't care, she was glad she could help him in anyway.

[Flashback]

Three months after begging his basic league training he had advanced so far that one of the horsemen was assigned to continue his training. She couldn't help checking in on him so often, she missed talking to him like she had on the boat and was unsure why.

Oliver was meditating but he was smiling, she was behind him again checking in on him. She was good at hiding her presence but having lived on that hell with no allies his instincts were as high as the horsemen's.

He never called her on it, he didn't know why but he felt normal when she was around, the programming that the members had to go through didn't affect him and he wasn't sure why but he played along, he didn't want to forget their meeting.

He enjoyed the peace that she brought with her. It made his decision to stay easier and he wanted to prove to her that she didn't make a mistake in saving him.

They stayed in place for a while before he kissed her on the forehead, "Come on we need to rest, let's go back to our place.2" She nodded and without breaking their embrace they walked out of the safe house.

Authors note:

Hayij – Berserk(er)

Haraba' – Chameleon

Khatiya – Sin (literal translation)

Walssiada – The Huntress

1- Seriously who else besides Oliver would have someone watch out for Thea? Just connect the dots, right?

2- Yes, just like in season three where Oliver finds that Sara has a safe house, Hayij and Nyssa have one for themselves. They spend time in the warehouse to conduct League business only unless Hayij is training and then they crash there.