Hello my little Archers. That season premiere was bomb! That kiss! And I have a feeling Sarah isn't really dead, or at least I'm hoping because I hate Lauren and I don't want her anymore on the show than she has to be. Am I right? Anyway, here is another installment. I hope you like it.

After a night of revelations, everyone headed their separate ways for much needed reflection. The next morning Oliver and Diggle arrived to Felicity transfixed on her computer screen. They stood in front of her desk, hoping to catch her attention but were unsuccessful. Oliver cleared his throat and Felicity jumped slightly off her chair. Rearranging her glasses to their place she let out a deep breath. Raising herself from the chair, with her tablet at hand, she ushered Oliver and Diggle into the office. "Next time knock, will you?"

Oliver looked behind him at the open desk with no walls near it and raised his hands. "Knock, where?"

Ignoring his comment, she allowed both men to enter and quickly closed the door behind them, "So I've searched everywhere for the funds that Ghul is supposedly funneling into Queen Industries and found nothing." She tapped down a couple of windows and handed the tablet to Oliver. Diggle maneuvered behind him to be able to see the screen as well. "But then I started to think about its affiliates like LexCorp and UltraTech. And then I thought of S.T.A.R. Labs."

Both men watched as the pictures on the tablet presented themselves. "Ever since the reactor explosion, S.T.A.R. labs has been left bankrupt from having to pay for the damages it caused the city. Barry told me that they were about to shut everything down before Dr. Wells received an extremely generous anonymous donation with only one request; to study some sort of synthetic contagion that has been killing hundreds of people in third world countries." A picture of Dr. Wells and his colleagues cutting a red ribbon with the title A New Beginning above it appeared on the screen. "The ultra-secret project they have been working on is code named Headless Demon. It's literally got R'as Al Ghul's name written all over it. "

Oliver placed the tablet on the table shaking his head. "But, why does this Batman believe my company has anything to do with it?"

"It's really only been online and deep web speculation that Queens Industries has provided the funding. But, last week a statement was released from an anonymous inside source. A Queen must sacrifice to rebuild its Kingdom. I think someone just connected the wrong interweb dots and it led everyone to believe that it was your company trying to rebuild this city."

"Why would Ghul go through such trouble to convince people that Oliver did those donations?" Diggle asked as he leaned against the glass wall behind him.

"I'm not sure." Felicity dropped to the chair behind her and let out a sigh.

Oliver nodded acknowledging what Felicity had uncovered so far. "We have to find this Batman and give him this information."

"I think it's more of a him-finding-us kind of deal. Unless, he's already has someone investigating internally."

Oliver looked behind her and saw Bruce step out of the elevator and head to her desk. "Wayne?"

Felicity's ears perked and her arms jerked to the sides of the chair. "What do you mean, Wayne? Like Bruce Wayne? What makes you say that... I mean," laughing uncomfortably she rose from the chair to see Bruce was heading towards Oliver's office. "Oh, you mean Wayne has arrived."

Diggle gave her an inquisitive look as Oliver walked to her side and placing a hand on her shoulder to turn her his way. With a concerned look he asked, "Are you alright?"

She smiled and nodded. As Bruce walked into the office and Oliver released her, she took a deep breath of relief. She smiled at Diggle, who was still speculating what she was up to. They will eventually have to tell each other about their alter egos, Felicity thought. Until then, try not to have a heart attack when they are both in the same room Smoak.

The two men's hands rose and connected like magnets to greet each other. "What brings you to our offices Mr. Wayne?" Oliver asked speculatively.

"Please, call me Bruce," he said as he turned to face Felicity. "I'm actually here for a meeting with Ms. Smoak. We have some business to attend to."

"We do?" Felicity said confusingly. She looked up to see Bruce's face smiling with a raised brow and understood the subtle signal. "Yes, that's right we do, have that, ah, thing."

Feeling like he was losing his dominance in his territory, Oliver placed himself between Bruce and Felicity. "As liberal an authority figure that I am in my company, I do need my assistant today Bruce." His last word was said with a hint of annoyance.

Bruce pressed something on his phone and smiled up at them. "An assistant is what you need, and it is what you will get." Almost as if it was on cue, the elevator doors opened to reveal a tall woman wearing a gray business suit and hair pinned back on one side. "Ah, that is Sandra. She assists me quite well in my company, and I am sure that she will be able to fill this incredible assistant's red bottom stilettos. Temporarily of course." He smiled as Sandra entered the room and proceeded to open the door for Felicity. "I'll bring her back in one piece."

As Oliver and Diggle watched the two enter the elevator, Oliver was equal parts confused and livid. He looked behind him at Diggle who had read Oliver's mind before he even spoke. "Right behind them."

Oliver turned to the woman beside him. "Shall I bring you a coffee, Mr. Wayne."

Smiling he slumped himself on his chair and sighed as he watched the elevator doors close and begin to descend with Felicity and Bruce Wayne inside it.

Felicity stared at the numbers on the screen above her counting down the floors to the lobby. She cleared her throat and tried to not appear nervous as she spoke. "So, do you mind telling me exactly what the thing we have to do is?"

Felicity caught him smirking from the corner of her eyes. Ignoring her question he asked, "I'm sure you've done your research on the S.T.A.R. Lab donation since yesterday," Her head turned towards him and he resisted the urge to look at her. "I had a feeling you were listening into our conversation last night."

Noticing that her jaw was almost hitting the floor she quickly shook her head and swallowed. "I was and I can tell you that those donations were not made under Oliv-Mr. Queens knowledge. He has nothing to do with whatever this Ghul is planning."

The doors to the elevator opened to the lobby. He stepped out in front of her and faced her raising an eyebrow. "How are you so sure about that, Felicity?"

Sighing she walked forward and placed a hand on each of his shoulders. "You know that my reputation precedes me. I'm an IT that has broken into some of the most secure firewalls in all the lands. I think you can trust my research skills in a company that I actually work for." Exiting the elevator she walked a few steps ahead of Bruce and stopped to face him. "Can you tell me what this thing is now?"

He watched her as she walk through the door he was holding open for her. He placed a hand on the small of her back to direct her to his car. Smiling as she got, he leaned in close to her and told her almost in a whisper said, "I'm going to teach you how to fight."

The room's florescent lights flashed a few times before turning on completely and revealing the huge room they were stepping into. The walls were covered with targets and there was gym equipment scatted throughout, with a large matted area in the center. Beside the mats were shelves of various weapons used for combat. Felicity walked to one of the shelves and picked up a fighting staff. She started to swing it around her like a baton.

Laughing, Bruce walked up beside her and took it from her hands. "First learn how to fight with your hands, and then with a weapon." He placed the staff back in its place and turned to face her.

Nodding, she put her hands in front of her and closed her fists pulling them towards her. "Okay, Obi One. Teach me your skills."

He smiled at her as she bounced on her heels from side to side like a boxer, her pony tail swinging in the opposite direction of her movements. "Let's try the basic stance." Bruce placed one foot behind his dominant side, forming a right angle with his feet and raising his arms. "Now try to take me down."

Felicity thought for a second and then ran as fast as she could towards him. As she was about to attack, he placed a foot in front of her, making her trip forward. She began to fall through the air and he caught her by the waist and turned her towards him, the end of her pony tail grazing the ground. It took her a second to process what had happened and as she did she looked up to see Bruce's face inches away from hers, their eyes meeting. "How did you-?" Felicity was still perplexed at how fast he had deflected her attack.

A corner of his mouth curved upwards in a smirk. "It's all about the stance."

The lesson went on for a few hours; first developing Felicity's footing and then moving to hand to hand combat. Bruce taught her how to use her weight for a better blow and how to anticipate her enemy's next move. "Watch the face," Bruce told her pointing to his own, "Their always going to look, even for a split second, towards their next strike." He taught her how to use the attacker's weight against him if he approached from behind, and how to keep calm and assess the situation when in a hold. "Breath through it, measures your options, and choose the one that has the best next move."

After the intense session, Felicity lay on the floor breathless. Bruce asked Alfred to bring them some refreshments and lowered a hand to help her up. She took it and in one swift tug she was on her feet. He directed her outside to a table where they sat and regained their energy over food and drink.

Felicity took a sip and watched as Bruce surveyed the grounds around them. "So, Ras Al Ghul's daughter…." Bruce turned towards her. Her eyes were fixed on him as she took another sip of her drink.

Felicity watched as his expression changed. His eyes drifted around him as if he was lost in his memories. "She was beautiful and intelligent. A passionate fighter and fiercely loyal to those she loved." He began to twirl a knife on the table with his hand. "I loved her with all that I was, and she me. But, Ghul made her choose between us when I refused to become his predecessor. She was torn by her loyalty to her father and her love for me." His eyes rose to meet Felicity's. "Blood is thicker than water they say. Her action to stay with him proved just that."

"You still love her?" Felicity asked, breaking Bruce out of his dreamy state.

"It was all-consuming, what I had with her. I loved her then and I love her still. It is difficult at times, I thought I knew her completely, but when I saw her devotion to her father after he revealed his plans to us, it was as if she was a stranger. But my heart is blind to her lies and still aches for her." He laughed under his breath and smiled at Felicity. "It's the ones that hurt us the deepest that we love the most, is it not?"

"I suppose it is." Felicity's thoughts went back to Oliver and the feelings she tried so hard but failed to suppress. Every time she felt she knew the man she fought beside, something from his past arose to contradict that. He was marooned on a deserted island for years, and yet had stories about a new girl he had met there every week for God's sake. It had seemed that his womanizing reputation had preceded him at first. But then, he began to change in her eyes. She began to see not just the wars that Oliver was fighting in the streets of Starling City, but the ones he fought within himself. She saw the struggle to accept that he was not the same person that was on that island, that he did not have to conform himself to killing. In Felicity's eyes he was not a man whose body had as many scars as his soul. He was a hero that protected the people of this city. He was her hero. She was attracted to him from their first meeting that was undeniable. She admired him from a far and was delighted with their occasional encounters, even if the reason for those encounters were somewhat preposterous. But, that attraction had grown to friendship and the friendship to affection and eventually that lead its way to place in her heart.

Because of the life I lead, I just think it's better to not be with someone I can really care about. The words echoed in Felicity's mind whenever Oliver would raise a wall to keep her at a distance.

"How long?" Ripped from her thoughts by Bruce's voice, she looked up at him and furrowed her brow not understanding. "How long have you felt the way you have for The Arrow?"

She laughed awkwardly shaking her head. "No, I don't- What gave you that Idea- That's preposterous he's – No." Her breathing began to accelerate and her heart was racing so quickly that she could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks. Bruce's eyes did not stray and he continued to stare at her waiting for the answer. She decided to swallow her pride and gave him what he wanted. "Longer than I have hoped. But, it will never be, he and I. He needs to be with someone who can fight beside him, not from a desk far away."

Bruce looked at her curiously and smiled shaking his head. "We wear our suits and fight our fights, but that does not define us. It is those that we surround ourselves with, those that we choose to trust with our secrets and our lives that make us who we are. We need people that know us beneath our masks." Bruce smiled at Felicity. "Once he realizes that, he will see very clearly what he is blind to at the moment."

Felicity smiled back and nodded, "Well you reveal yourself to him, The Arrow I mean? It would make it much easier to fight those fights if both of you knew who each other was behind the mask. Who knows you might have a few billion things in common."

Bruce smiled at the comment and nodded. "He is part of the league now. I suppose that secret identities should only be secret to those we fight against, not with. Although, I do enjoy these little rendezvous. And, you are an exceptional mediator." His mouth curved into a genuine smile.

"As much as I enjoy them too," Felicity raised herself from her chair and placed a hand on Bruce's shoulder, "I think my stress levels and blood pressure would both decrease if you could speak to each other without me in between."

Back at the Foundry, Oliver and Diggle were training with fighting staffs. Oliver whipped his staff across towards Diggle, and Diggle dodged it by ducking just in the nick of time. They both heard the door open above and watched as Felicity walked down the stairs. Placing his staff in its place, Oliver walked to the edge of the steps and waited for Felicity to reach him. When she tried to move around him, he blocked her passage. She tried a few more times, but he stood in her way. A bit annoyed, she sighed and looked him square in the eyes. "What?"

"Where have you been?" He said it with a calm low voice, but there was a sense of urgency for the answer on his face.

Felicity put both hands on his shoulders and moved him to one side. Walking past him to reach her computers she said, "I was with Bruce, at his estate." She logged in and looked back at Oliver, who clearly wanted more information. A door from the side opened and Sarah and Malcolm walked in with Roy not far behind. "He was teaching me a few things."

Walking closer to her, Oliver raised his voice slightly. "What kind of things?"

Felicity felt him behind her as she stood by the table and waited for him to be in the perfect position. Once he was, she turned quickly and threw a punch in his center. Caught by surprise, Oliver took her hand, swung her around, and held her against him. Realizing she could unlock herself from his grasp, she raised her arms and turned punching again and this time hitting a target. He grabbed her hand before she could bring it back towards her body, and pulled her towards him. Falling backward to the floor, he dropped his body catching her with one hand behind her neck and one on her back. Felicity closed her eyes, believing she would fall. Realizing that she had not hit the floor, she began to open them slowly, feeling his breath on her cheek. She smiled up at him. "It's apparently all about the stance," her breathing was heavy, partly because she had used energy but mostly because he was just inches away from her. "I'm still working on that." Oliver tried to fight the sensation he had on the sides of his mouth, but failed and gave in. He smiled at her as he slowly raised her up with him. His hands remained behind her neck and on her back as their eyes locked. Their breathing became synchronized and their gaze in each other's eyes gave voice to unspoken words between them.

Behind them Roy and Diggle turned toward each other with expressions of approval about what was happening in front of them. Sarah watched as they stood before one another motionless. She focused on Oliver's face and saw something she had never seen before. On the surface he looked impressed at what Felicity had just been able to do. But deeper still, in his eyes, there was an emotion that she could not distinguish and in the fifteen years that she had known Oliver Queen had never seen him have.

Malcolm walked towards a chair and began to clap breaking the silence and the wordless conversation between Oliver and Felicity. "Bravo. Apparently IT has claws." As he became comfortable in his chair he looked around to see stares from everyone in the room. Shrugging he leaned back tipping the chair and balancing on two of the legs. "Shouldn't we get on with the problem at hand? Or should we all just keep watching the staring contest between these two?" He raised one hand and pointed a finger to Oliver and Felicity.

Realizing he was still holding on to her, Oliver dropped his hands to his side slowly, waiting for Felicity to regain her balance. Unaware that Oliver was supporting her from falling backward, she moved slightly when he released her. Clearing her throat, she walked around him to sit on the chair in front of her desk. He turned following her with his eyes and leaned down near her ear when she had sat down. "Next time you want to learn how to throw a real punch," he whispered so that she was the only one to hear him, "I will be the one to teach you."

Felicity gasped, losing her ability to breath for a few seconds. Clearing her throat again and regaining focus, she began to recap her progress to everyone in the room. "I've been tracing scanners for police reports of illegal activity in and around Starling City. The only major crimes that have happened are robberies and all completely unrelated things." Pulling up a few photos on the screens, she explained what was missing. "Two Antonov An-2s, basically crop dusting aircrafts, and decontamination equipment from the local hospitals. But, something that wasn't mentioned in the wire was this," Pulling up a photo of a black briefcase with no distinguishable markings, "it's a skeleton key. The only people that knew that it was in Starling City were those who were going to test it, and me because my net catches everything. This key is a just a prototype, but from what I read it is dangerous; from getting anyone anywhere to messing with phone frequencies or even stopping trains." Pulling up one more photo, she turned to face the others in the room. "This is the robber's calling card; a black arrow was left at every scene of a robbery. Look familiar?"

Malcolm landed his chair with a loud thud and walked to get closer to the screens. He touched the photo of the arrow as if he could feel the metal it was made of through the screen. "This isn't a calling card for the police. This is for me. Ghul is trying to send me a message."

"What is that message exactly?" Diggle asked.

Malcolm lowered his hand into a fist. His face began to lose color, and Felicity could not help but think that she almost saw a hint of fear in his eyes. "He knows that I'm here. He wants me to show myself."

"If Ghul is here for you, why should we be helping you?" Roy said stepping closer to Malcolm.

"Are you blind child? I may be one of the reasons why Ghul is here, yes. But look at all he has stolen." He motioned towards the screens.

A light went off in Oliver's brain as he stared at the photos. "He's going to release the virus."

"Ding, ding, ding. Give this man a prize." Malcolm yelled. "I may not be the most ideal teammate, but I am a member of this team now. We can stop Ghul together."

Sarah watched as Malcolm pleaded to not just help but be helped. She had no choice to join the League of Assassins, but she did want her freedom. She could see that Malcolm wanted the same. "Fine," she finally spoke after a period of observation, "you fight with us, for now."

It was beginning to get dark and everyone was suiting up to begin patrolling the streets. Roy and Diggle left ahead to take the west side of the city. Malcolm and Sarah were packing up and heading out to take the east. Sarah motioned to Malcolm that she would be right behind him and took Oliver aside before leaving.

"About what happened a few days ago," she almost felt embarrassed to bring it up, "the kiss." Oliver nodded remembering what he had felt at the moment she kissed him. Safety. He allowed her to kiss him not because he wanted it, but with all that was happening around them that night it was a place of safety. "It was an in the moment kind of reaction. Old habits die hard I guess." She smiled looking at Felicity typing away on her computer behind him. "We are not our masks, Oliver, and we need people in our lives that don't wear one." She signaled towards Felicity by raising her head. Oliver turned to look back at her. "I think it's time for you to realize that there are people in this world who are strong enough to bear your secrets with you and that you are strong enough to let them."

He smiled shaking his head and turning back to her, "when did you get so wise Ms. Lance?"

"I was always wise, you just weren't always listening." She winked and him and took her gear to catch up with Malcolm.

"There's nothing here," Roy reported to the team and he jumped down next to Diggle's van and entered. "How about on your end?"

"Same here." Sarah announced as she shifted her line of view to the other side building. She and Malcolm were perched on a high roof top, surveying the area below them. "I don't think we're going to find anything tonight."

"We're going to head back to the Foundry," Diggle said turning the van on and putting it on drive, "How is it on your end Oliver."

"It's dead." Batman had met up with Oliver to patrol the center. "Let's all head back. It's been a long night and I feel we'll only get more tired."

"I agree," Batman surveyed his surroundings one last time. "There's not much to find tonight."

"Back to the foundry it is," Sarah grabbed her staff from the ground and began to disassemble it. She glanced at Malcolm who was motionless at the other end of the rooftop. "Merlyn, what are you doing?"

"Listen." Malcolm ears were perked up and he spoke to her in almost a whisper. He slowly stepped closer to her. "Do you hear that?"

Sarah, confused, held her breath and did as he asked. "I hear nothing. It's a quiet night."

His hands hovered in front of him as if feeling the air around him. "It's too quiet. When has there ever been a night like this in this city?"

Sarah took a deep breath understanding what he meant and tried tapped on the communication system in her ears. "Our coms aren't working."

Suddenly, four assassins landed on the roof where they were as if they had fallen from the sky. Sarah reassembled her staff moving closer to Malcolm. The assassins began to swing their weapons in front of them. Sarah and Malcolm glanced at each other and nodded understanding what had to be done. The five masked soldiers dress in black charged, raising their weapons in the air and meeting with Sarah's staff. Malcolm kneeled behind her, kicking one of them to the ground and shooting two arrows into another. Sarah twirled her staff hitting one in the face and back, sending him flying forward. The one in the rear of the group approached her and his sword was deflected by her weapon. He high kicked her in her center and she flew back, hitting the wall and dropper her staff. The soldier took a few large steps and raised his sword above her, ready to strike her. As he dropped his weapon down, Malcolm released three arrows consecutively, one hitting the sword to make it fly out of his hands and the other two taking the soldier down. Malcolm walked towards Sarah, picking up her staff on the way and giving her a hand to stand up.

"Team, remember?" Malcolm handed her the staff when she had stood.

"Yeah, I just didn't know that you did." Sarah looked at the opposite rooftop and the ten assassins that were jumping towards them. "Malcolm, we're dead against that many assassins. We have to go." She put a hand on his shoulders and pulled as she turned but he did not move. "Malcolm?"

"Lance," he raised a hand towards the group moving closer to them. "Look. It's-"

"Oh my God." Sarah could not believe her eyes. She glanced at Malcolm who was frozen in place and back to the group that was even closer than before. She stood in front of Malcolm, blocking his vision. "Malcolm we have to go."

Breaking his daze he nodded and they both leaped off the roof and headed back to the Foundry.

As Sarah and Malcolm made their way down the stairs, Felicity walked towards them. "What happened, you guy went off the coms and I couldn't find you?"

Malcolm walked past her and sat on the first seat he could find. "Something interrupted the feed," Sarah mentioned watching at Malcolm unravel in front of her. "We were attacked on the rooftop that we were patrolling on by some assassins and we… saw, someone."

"Who?" Oliver asked.

"Well," Sarah glanced back at Malcolm who turned in his chair to face everyone.

"Tommy," Malcolm exhale. "It was Tommy."

Malcolm began to replay the last moments of the rooftop battle; his arrows puncturing through the soldier about to attack Sarah, helping her up and handing her her staff, and turning to face the group of assassins that were heading their way, recognizing one of them. At first it was like an old friend that he could not remember the name of, a fuzzy mental image of someone he used to know. But then something in his brain connected the man in the group with the memories of the person that it was. It was Tommy. His Tommy. His only son, taken from his life by his own hands, alive and working with the man that he despised most in this world. So many emotions had run through his head at that time; astonishment, relief, anger, and shame.

"What do you mean Tommy?" Oliver raised his voice not believing his ears. "Your son Tommy?"

Sarah nodded. Watching Malcolm work through his thoughts about his lost child. She had almost felt heartbroken until she remembered that it was his fault that he lost him. "There's only one explanation that he is still alive."

Malcolm looked up at Sarah nodding, "the Lazarus pit."