Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow.

The Glades

Night

"It's ironic," Darhk said as he and Green Arrow stood several feet apart, "years ago, I fought Ra's al Ghul and lost. Now, I fight you, the man who killed him, and I don't see how you can win. My old friend must be rolling in his grave right now."

"You'll find that I'm full of surprises. Only one of us is going to walk away from this fight Damien. And I have too much to lose, too much to live for to die here today." Green Arrow growled.

"A fool's hope. You've faced me before and failed, what makes this time different?" Darhk demanded.

"I was showing restraint. This time I won't be." Green Arrow told him calmly.

Green Arrow then fired an arrow. As per usual, Darhk held up his hand and the arrow was frozen in midair.

"How many times are you gonna fall for the same trick?" Darhk wondered.

Almost before he had stopped speaking, the arrow exploded. Although this one was a bit stronger than the usual ones, throwing Darhk back into a building. Darhk hit it roughly and fell flat on his face.

"Probably as many times as you fall for that one." Green Arrow quipped.

"What was that?" Atom asked as he and Spartan fought back to back against Malcolm's assassins.

"If I had to guess? Oliver and Darhk are fighting it out to the death." Spartan grunted as he punched an assassin in the face.

Darhk stood up, shacking with ager. Looking around, he saw the archer had seemed to vanish. Knowing that he couldn't have gone far, Darhk cautiously walked along the road. Cautiously keeping a look out, Darhk began to talk, hoping to draw Oliver out.

"You know, we could have been allies. It didn't have to come to this Oliver." Darhk said tauntingly.

"You're talking as if you had no choice in the matter," Oliver's voice seemed to echo throughout the area, "Do you have any idea what you have done to me? You killed the woman I loved, to spite Captain Lance. Then you put the Black Mercy on me. Do you what that thing did to me?! I saw Laurel again, I saw my parents, my best friend, people who I've lost in one way or another. And then I had to accept that it was all an illusion, do you know what that did to me!? You have this a long time coming."

"All of it was in pursuit of the greater good." Darhk said as he looked around for the archer.

"You really are mad as a hatter aren't you? You really see yourself as some sort of savior. Putting you down is almost a mercy…but it has to be done." Green Arrow growled as he fired an arrow.

Darhk sensed movement and moved a fraction of an itch, causing the arrow to go through his shoulder. Darhk screamed in pain as Green Arrow emerged from his hiding spot and rushed him. Sensing his approach, Darhk raised his hand and Oliver was pushed back by an invisible force. After pulling the arrow out of his shoulder, Darhk made a grabbing motion and Green Arrow suddenly found himself unable to move.

"I must admit, it's been a long time since I've had such a worthy opponent. It makes me almost regret having to kill you," Darhk said as he approached the immobile archer, "but the show must go on."

Darhk put his hand on Green Arrow's chest and the archer gasped. He felt his life force leaving him; his body was starting to become limp. As hard as he tried, he couldn't escape Darhk. It looked like this was it.

"It looks like you'll be with Ms. Lance soon." Darhk taunted and a memory flashed through Oliver's mind.

Monitors beeped as doctors stood over Laurel's dead body.

"Time of death eleven-fifty nine." One said sadly.

Green Arrow's arm suddenly reached out and struck Darhk across the face. Darhk stumbled back, stunned as Green Arrow's face returned to normal. Green Arrow then lunged for him, which Darhk blocked as he tried to push Green Arrow back but it didn't work.

"Why isn't my magic working?" Darhk demanded

"I guess I found something stronger." Green Arrow sneered as they threw punches at each other.

"What?" Darhk snarled.

"Pain." Green Arrow said simply.

"Well, that's all well and good, but this fight isn't over yet," Darhk grunted as he punched Green Arrow in the face and the two jumped away from each other, "I'm still a former member of the League of Assassins and even if I can't use my magic on you directly, I can still use it."

As if to prove his point, Dark raised his hand and gestured towards his enemy. The sword that had been discarded after Malcolm had been killed then rose into the air and soared towards Green Arrow at a lightning fast pace. Sensing the approach of the weapon, Green Arrow whirled around and used his bow to bat the weapon away harmlessly. Whirling back around, Green Arrow met Darhk again in another bout.

The battle between the two armies was still going underway when something happened. Three jets emerged from the sky and started firing. The Ghosts and assassins were all either gunned down or forced to take cover as the bullets rained down on them while completely avoiding the heroes. Once the bullets stopped, ropes came down from the jets and multiple people in Argus uniforms slide down the ropes. Within moments, the remainder of Darhk's army was apprehended.

"Who are they?" Firestorm wondered.

"Argus. Backup from my wife." Spartan explained.

Darhk stumbled back after Green Arrow landed a punch on his face. Green Arrow rushed him and Darhk tried to fight back but it was really no use. After all the years of fighting using mostly magic, his fighting skills were rusty. With a solid punch to his face, Darhk was down on the ground. He tried to get up but Green Arrow was on him, his hand around Darhk's throat. Desperately, Darhk grabbed onto the bare arm of the archer and the skin started to turn grey as his life force was drained. Knowing that he needed to be in pain, Green Arrow let his walls down. Usually, he had to make great effort to stop his painful memories from crippling him, but his painful memories actually came in handy here.

"Survive." Robert Queen said as he put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger.

Shado scream as Edward Fyers pulled the trigger and Yao-Fei fell back, a bullet in his head.

"NO!" Oliver shouted as Anthony Ivo pulled the trigger and Shado went down, blood pouring from her head.

"Taiana I'm sorry." Oliver said fighting tears as he snapped her neck.

"Tommy?" Oliver asked in a cracking voice as he looked down at Tommy's dead body.

As Thea cried out, Slade stabbed Moira in the chest.

Oliver stared down at Sara's lifeless body, arrows sticking out of her chest as her eyes stared without seeing.

"Hi William," Oliver said as he began recording his video message, "I hope you're well and I hope you're safe. There's something that I want to tell you, I wanted to tell you before but…this is better. I'm your father. Biologically, that is. As far as really being your father goes, I haven't earned that yet. A father should be there for his child every day to make sure that they feel loved and that they feel safe. And a child should be able to rely on their father, to be able to go to him for guidance and reassurance. I have failed to do that for you. And now I'm gonna tell you why: I'm the Green Arrow. And my life is very dangerous, which is why we decided to keep you out of it for all these years. What happened to you in Star City that was my fault. And I can't allow anything like that to happen again, which is why I've asked your mother to move you far away. And to not tell anyone where she's taking you, including me. It's also why I've asked her to wait to show you this message until after you're eighteenth birthday. I wanted to give you a real childhood; I wanted to give you that gift. Goodbye son, I sure hope it's not forever."

Green Arrow knocked Darhk's hand away as he loosened his grip on Darhk's throat. Darhk was surprised as Green Arrow flashed a dark smile.

"You didn't think I'd let you die that easily, did you. No, that's much more than you deserve. You killed the woman I loved, remember? Allow me to remind you," Green Arrow said as he pulled an arrow out of his quiver, "first, you stabbed her with an arrow, just like this."

Green Arrow then plunged the arrow into Darhk's chest. Darhk gasped in pain as Spartan, Nyssa, Black Canary, and Atom walked on to the scene. They stopped, memorized and slightly horrified by the scene.

"Then, you twisted it, like so," Green Arrow growled as he twisted the arrow and Darhk made a little whimper of pain, "and then you yanked it out of her body."

Green Arrow then roughly pulled out the bloodied arrow. Darhk attempted a scram but all that came out was a gurgle. Darhk realized, with horror, that his lungs were beginning to fill with blood. As Darhk began to suffocate, choking on his own blood, Green arrow stood up and stared down at him stonily.

"Now you know how it feels." Green Arrow sneered as he tossed the arrow on the ground.

Darhk stared up at Green Arrow, horrified, before the light in his eyes vanished. The rest of Team Arrow approached him, all staring down at Darhk. No one felt even the tiny bit sad or remorseful for.

"So…it's over, it's finally over." Spartan said relieved.

"Yeah…it is." Green Arrow said tonelessly.

Lian Yu, next day

Morning

Slade was lying on his bunk, staring up at the ceiling when he heard the door open. Looking over, Slade was shocked, to say the least, when he saw Oliver of all people walk into the room. Standing up, Slade walked over to the bars of his cell as he looked at Oliver curiously.

"What are you doin' here kid?" Slade asked gruffly.

"Laurel died," Oliver cut to the chase and Slade blinked in surprise at the information, "the woman I loved died right in front of me. I wanted the man who did it to die, but it was more than that. I wanted him to suffer, like he had made me suffer. And for the first time…I finally understood you. I understand why you did the things you did."

"So what, you're saying you forgive me?" Slade asked mockingly.

"No, I'll never forgive you, " Oliver said bluntly, "I'll never forgive you for killing my mother, for trying to turn Thea against me, for trying to destroy my home. I understand…but I do not forgive. Ever."

His piece said, Oliver turned around and walked out the door before Slade had the chance to saying anything. Oliver walked over to the ladder and climbed it before opening the hatch. Oliver took a moment to look out over the island before walking down the hill and onto the beach. He met his travel companion across the beach.

"So, have you said what you need to say?" Nyssa inquired.

"Yeah, I don't think either of us has anything left to say to each other." Oliver said solemnly.

"So…what do you wish to do now?" Nyssa inquired curiously.

"Nyssa, I meant what I said before the battle. I don't know what these feelings are, but I'd like to find out." Oliver said earnestly.

Nyssa smiled before wrapping her arms around his neck and bring his head down to her level. The two kissed for a moment before they separated and began to work over to their ride, a plane piloted by an Argus operative.

"So, what do you intend to do about your sisters pregnancy? You promised you would help her with it." Nyssa pointed out.

"A father should be allowed to stay in their child's life. I have an idea…but I'm not sure that the others are gonna like it." Oliver said before he began to explain his plan to Nyssa.

Star Labs

Late afternoon

"So Darhk got a painful death. Exactly what he deserved." Cisco muttered as he typed at his computer.

"Yeah." Barry nodded.

"So dude, you gotta tell me all about it. It must have been so awesome!" Cisco said as he turned to Barry with a grin.

"I'll tell you later, have you seen Caitlin?" Barry inquired.

"Yeah, she's down in the pipeline, where we did the test to get your powers back," Cisco said and Barry sped off, "why thank you Cisco. No problem Buddy."

Barry walked into the room to see Caitlin looking around the room with an unreadable expression. Barry approached her and she looked over at him, smiling slightly.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Barry inquired.

"I'm fine, how about you? You just help save the world from a psychopath." Caitlin said and Barry smiled slightly.

"I'm fine, there was actually a few moments where I was sure I wasn't gonna make it. I'm fast but I can't survive a bullet or sword to the chest," Barry said with a faraway look in his eyes, "you know, they say when you die, your life flashed before your eyes? It's not true; it's people in your life, people that you love. The first person who came to mind…wasn't who I thought it would be."

"So it wasn't Iris?" Caitlin asked with a teasing grin and Barry rolled his eyes.

"Trying to be serious here Cait, don't ruin it," Barry said and she looked at him confused, "do you remember how I told you that sometimes great opportunities are right in front of us and we don't see them because we choose not to? Well, I think one's been right in front of me for a long time and I just haven't seen it."

"Barry…what are you saying?" Caitlin asked as her heart started to race.

Instead of answering, Barry stepped closer to her, took her face in his hand, and kissed her. Though she was surprised, Caitlin wrapped her arms around his neck and eagerly returned the kiss.

Star City

Same time

Oliver stood in front of a podium, new cameras and paparazzi in the crowd. He had called a press conference; no doubt people were expecting him to announce that he would be taking over as mayor. They had no idea what this really was. Oliver looked off to the side of the stage, where Nyssa was standing. She smiled at him encouragingly and he nodded before turning to the crowd.

"A year ago, the SCPD lead a man hunt against me, because they were told I was The Arrow. Roy Harper came forward, confessing that he was The Arrow. He lied, he was covering for me. I am The Arrow." Oliver announced as the crowd began muttering to each other in shock.

So, what do you guys think? Please leave any thoughts or comments you may have in a review, feedback is greatly appreciated.