Author note: This is the third update today. Vendetta is part 1 of this update

Pieces in Play

Occurring simultaneously as the viewing of Year's End

Helena stepped from the room to see Nightwing, looking worse for wear but waving her along. She couldn't believe her ears – Ta-er al-Sahfer captured? Impossible in the Huntress's mind. She could hardly believe that Ra's al Ghul would allow one of his top assassin's to be captured, but based on Nightwing's composure, this didn't appear to be a joke.

The two of them left the wing dedicated to Artemis's side project and into the prison and interrogation ward. Inside, Roy was already standing watch, tense and far from happy. Laurel stood at his side, her face pinched in disgust at the woman inside the interrogation room. Glancing in, Helena saw Artemis sitting – a fresh bruise forming around her eye – and across from her, a young woman dressed in standard League gear. Her dark hair was pulled back into her hood, and she looked quite relaxed considering the situation she now found herself in.

"How was she captured?" Helena asked.

"Luck?" Roy offered, but his tone suggested it was far from the truth. "We have three other League members in the healing ward, but everyone that escaped the asylum has been returned."

"Who was hurt?" Helena continued.

"Thea," Roy muttered under his breath, before answering truthfully. "Batgirl, Aqualad, Starfire. Titans." He shot a look over to the Huntress. "And Joey's here."

"Slade's son is here?" she hissed. "Is that really a good idea?" To this, she turned her attention to Nightwing. After all, it was their relationship and friendship that had turned Joey from an enemy to a distant ally, but he had never set foot on the Watchtower before this.

"He took a nasty hit to the head," was all Nightwing offered.

Inside the room, Thea leaned back in the chair, arms crossed, and eyes narrowed. Her hood was pulled back, mask still in place. The bruise around her eye throbbed, but not more than the cut in her side she had taken earlier from a different mental patient. She thanked her stars that at least Joker was too old for this nonsense anymore and had merely laughed maniacally from his cell as the chaos erupted.

"It's been awhile," Thea offered, trying to instigate any conversation with one of Ra's right hands. "Last I saw you, it was in Madrid." This brought a smirk to Ta-er's face; a small trickle of blood escaping from her split lip.

"Good times," she whispered. "You missed your shot, and I didn't miss mine." Ta-er recalled vividly her target and how desperately the Justice League had attempted to protect the young travler and his family, but the man should have known better. No one courts war with the League and walks away. The traveler had attempted to bring the assassins to light, and Ra's had been forced to order the man's execution. Ta-er had been fortunate enough to be assigned the case.

It did make her wonder however – why exactly her master has sought to send her on a goose change before deciding to entrust her with this. Had she not done everything in her power to prove her loyalty; she had tossed aside all bonds, all family, and names for the League. The League was family, life, and everything she was belonged to them. At least, Ta-er could be grateful that Ra's seemed to trust her now since he had sent her here with very specific orders. Unlike Nyssa, who was still being kept in the dark for very obvious reasons.

"I figured you were avoiding me," Thea stated, pulling Ta-er from her thoughts. The assassin merely tilted her head in consideration. "I thought my brother had…"

At this, Ta-er interrupted, "Oliver Queen is gone."

Inside the observation room, everyone tried not to flinch at the blunt proclamation from the assassin. They had all heard it a hundred times, and some had even heard the words from Ra's mouth… but it didn't take away the pain to think only Ra's was all that remained. It was really only Thea at this point that still believed her brother was there underneath all the League's torment and brainwashing.

"And yet I'm still alive," Thea argued. She tried not to shudder at the thought that it wasn't for lack of trying. That last fight had been proof of that. In the end, it had only been because of her father that she still breathed, and it was almost as though it was the final nail in the coffin. Waking up from that coma and discovering she was alive but only because of a man she had spent so much of her life hating, had led her to this grand and ridiculous plan.

"Fixable," Ta-er shrugged. "If you merely stayed out of the League's way."

"It's not our League's way," she said, cutting the assassin off. "Now why don't you tell me what you were doing in Gotham? Running around in a mental institute?"

Ta-er merely smirked and didn't respond. She adjusted in her seat as far as her bindings to the table would allow, then casted her gaze to the mirror on the wall. "Who's all here? Your lover, the sister..?"

"Sara," Thea tried, only for Ta-er to turn abruptly back to the table – rage all-consuming on her face.

"Sara is dead," Ta-er stated. "This plan you have. Ra's al Ghul knows of it. I am here as your warning to stop your meddling. If you continue, there will be no more warnings or exceptions."

Behind the glass, Nightwing frowned, "How does Ra's already know about all this?" He glanced to the others to see similar confused looks and little explanations. It was concerning to think one of their enemies knew of a plan to change the past – if Ra's knew, did others? This plan was dangerous as it was – Flash had warned of time ripples and paradoxes. For this to work, things had to go exactly as was discussed at the last League meeting.

Unlike the heroes behind the mirror, Thea kept her face neutral and seemed unsurprised that Ra's had any inkling of her plan. "He should know by now that I don't take to his warnings well," Thea said, unperturbed.

"We still believe in honor enough to warn you nonetheless," Ta-er said.

Thea scoffed at the mention of honor. It wasn't honorable what the League had done to persuade her brother to them; it wasn't honor in how they used her against him; and it was far from honorable the catastrophe that had befallen Starling City.

Seeing that she wasn't going to get anywhere, Thea stood and re-latched her quiver to her back. Unable to help herself she turned back to Ta-er one last time and said, "You know if my plan works, it wouldn't just be my brother that we'd be saving. Your father…"

"John Diggle is dead," Ta-er stated firmly. "Just as your brother is. It is better they both stay that way." With a lasting, considering look, the assassin couldn't help but add, "Though it does make me wonder, if you're here and who I think is behind that mirror is here, who is watching your little science experiment?"

Growling, Thea slammed the door behind her and moved into the observation room only to be greeted by Nightwing, Helena, Laurel, Barry, and Roy. The Flash looked around as if to realize something at the same time Thea did.

"Shit," she cursed, "Who is watching them?"

In their haste and surprise at the capture of one of the League of assassin's top members, no one had communicated who was to stay behind. Barry held up his hands innocently, an apology on his lips, but neither Thea, Laurel or Roy stuck around to hear. They had already taken off down the corridor back to the wing that was housing them. Helena was three steps behind them as they ran.

"Slade's with them," Thea hissed, a tremor of fear in her voice.

"And they were watching the memory where Malcolm is revealed to be the Dark Archer," Laurel explained.

Without hesitation, Thea notched an arrow and her persona of Artemis took off. Even Roy had his bow at the ready – no longer caring if the group saw him. They'd explain things later; they could only hope, however, that there was no lasting damage in their absence.

The door to the viewing room slid open at Artemis's voice command, and she immediately fell into a combat roll as glass shattered from the viewing room. She came up to a knee to see Slade had her mother in a choke hold. A strangled 'no' barely slipped past her lips.

Before Artemis could do anything though, the person, who shattered the viewing window had leapt down and distracted Slade with a grin and a well-said line of, "Hey Dad."

"Joey," Slade choked out, only to curse when he felt Artemis's first arrow catch him in the thigh, and Roy's arrow catch him in the shoulder – both arrows missing Moira. He didn't completely loosen his grip on the woman until Joey had vaulted over the couch and stopped the man from crushing her windpipe with his own hand. Joey seized Slade's arm and pried his thumb back, allowing Moira the chance to slip free in the haze of pain and confusion Slade was experiencing.

Malcolm, immediately and without prompting, grabbed Moira's hand and pulled her safely behind him. Slade's confusion wore off quickly as he took a swing at Joey, a snarl on his lips as he did so. Artemis leapt up and landed a solid kick in the mercenary's side while Joey landed another solid hit to his once father's face.

Roy stepped into the room with Laurel and both went to separate the group from Slade, and Roy didn't waste any time separating Malcolm as well into his own corner. He kept an arrow trained on the older man, the unsaid warning. In this chaos, Roy didn't want Malcolm to see any opportunity to seize something or whatever the older man might want.

It took another arrow from Artemis's bow to put Slade down, the pit viper venom finally kicking in. The merc attempted to rise and tackle Artemis, but Joey put a quick end to that with one last kick to his father's face.

"Sorry about him," Joey sighed, running his hand across his head. He moved across the floor and helped to latch restraints on Slade while Artemis kept an arrow trained on the merc's throat.

"Do I want to know how you got into this secured wing?" Artemis growled.

Joey merely grinned and shrugged in response. He pulled Slade to his feet. "I assume you don't want to leave him in here?"

Artemis glanced towards Roy, who had Malcolm against a wall, hands raised in the air to show he was harmless (far from it). "He can't stay," Artemis sighed. "We have a separate room for him that he can go until I'm certain he won't try something like that again."

"I'll show him where to go," Roy offered, not wanting to be in the same room as Malcolm for the moment. He quivered his arrow and motioned for Joey and the bound Slade to follow him.

Only once they were out of the room did Artemis turn to address the group. "That should have happened. I'm sorry." She looked more specifically to Moira, "Are you ok?" Inside, her nerves were on fire; the memory of Slade killing her mother at the forefront of her mind.

"I'm fine," Moira said, a bit breathlessly to be completely believable, but she remained steadfast in her answer. Thea, the younger one, came bolting from where Roy had corralled them to practically tackle her mother into a hug. Apologies falling from her lips immediately. Artemis recalled how much she wished she could have said she was sorry for after her mom had died, and she was glad this Thea now had that chance.

"I had hoped he would be more open," Artemis said, which was partially a lie. She didn't think he'd be open at all, but the rest of the League had out-voted her. "For now, he will be kept separate for your safety."

"And what about him?" Tommy growled, stepping forward, his finger pointing directly at the elder Merlyn. "Are you going to keep us safe from him?"

"Tommy," Malcolm began, his tone harsh. Artemis merely raised her hand and cut off both arguments before they could even start.

"I know it's hard to believe," she began with a sigh, "but I don't think he'll be a threat to you." Or to her younger self. For all Malcolm's crimes, he did have a sense of honor and wanting to protect his offspring. Even when he had sent the League spiraling after her and her brother, he had been protecting himself and in some sickening way, her as well. "However, from now on, someone will always be either in the room or above you watching."

Tommy scoffed, unbelieving of Artemis's words. "I suppose you aren't going to explain whatever that was that we saw on screen, either?"

"If I wanted to explain what you needed to do to change things, I would have simply done that instead of having you watch these memories," Artemis elaborated. "The answers you want, dear brother, are on that screen. So if you wouldn't mind taking your seats again?"

No one moved, and everyone kept their eyes on Mr. Merlyn. There was an air of unease, which Artemis couldn't exactly fault. Seeing that this situation wouldn't diffuse without some intervention, she moved across the room and seized Malcolm's arm. Before he could even think to disarm her or free himself, she had slapped restraints on his wrists behind his back and thrusted him into the far off seat that Slade had once occupied.

"Now if you please," Artemis tried, to which everyone slowly responded and re-arranged themselves in a manner of being as far as possible from Malcolm.

Thea, even, sat next to Moira; their hands clasped together. For now, Mrs. Queen's crimes against her newest husband forgotten given what had just transpired with Slade.

In a different wing, Roy helped with situating Slade into a solitary cell with a television that would continue to play the memories. Joey was all too happy to shove his once blood into the cell and activate the barrier with a wicked grin. He hadn't felt anything when his father had died and seeing his father standing here, he still felt nothing. His loyalty was to the League. Ra's had been clear with his orders and how he and Ta-er were supposed to proceed.

Certain that Roy wasn't paying attention, Joey leaned towards the barrier. After the room, Slade hadn't spoken; and that continued as the man stewed in the cell. "So Dad," Joey stated quietly, saying the word dad as though it was a joke, "Oliver Queen sends his regards."

Author Note: Update 3/3. For those that noticed, these updated are, well, quite late. Hence, why I spent the last three days getting these three chapters up and ready to go (wanted to apologize). I have the rest of season 1 transcribed; I just have to actually write in reactions.

So the thing is though, there are some "episodes" that I just have no interest in making reactions to (filler episodes), and in truth, I might skip those. The group will still "watch" them, but I won't spend time trying to write in reactions and force myself to. That just creates "blocks" and I'd rather spend time on episodes that I enjoy and get this story moving again (episode reactions and Ra's plan – which has just begun).

As for why I was gone, there really isn't any excuse, but I will say I wasn't happy with the direction the show took. I wasn't a fan of the second half of season 3 or how they ended that arc and all that potential. I was not happy with 4+, and I haven't actually seen season 5. So this is going to be season 1-3 AU still, and I'm just not going to address the later seasons.

As for now, I hope you enjoyed the twists and turns and introduction of a few characters I was really excited to put in place in this story (Sara, Joey, etc.).