The Burdens We Bear

The moment he saw that red arrow dangling in Hermione Granger's hand was when Harry realized that there was no way he could keep his old life connected with this new one. There would be too many questions, too many variables to deal with and Harry couldn't handle seeing someone else he cared about getting hurt because of his "hobby" if you would call it that. She was standing there, pressed against the door and just staring him down like he was nothing but prey to her. It was actually kind of unnerving to see Hermione like that to be completely honest. Something about how calm and collected she was, yet he could feel the anger that formed from what he figured to her having figured out his secret.

"We need to talk..." she told him as the teen raised out of bed staring only at the arrow. It was the only thing he was focused on, not the fact she somehow knew where he was staying at, or anything like that. It was possible that Dumbledore told her since he had formally told everyone he was back from the dead, but still... there were some other ways that she could have found out.

The red arrow in her hand had a darker shade of red on it, and Harry realized it had blood on it. He suddenly felt his stomach lurch in fear, hoping to god that she wasn't too friendly with muggles that were in the police force, specifically forensics. If that was his blood, or Cho's, and she found out... something told him she would start asking the wrong questions.

"Where did you get that?" he asked innocently as he stood up, wiping his face, realizing he wasn't wearing his glasses. Double crap...

"So, you can see without your glasses now?"

"Well, there are things called contacts, 'Mione." Harry informed her with his accent breaking through. Hermione crossed her arms, unsure whether this was just a trick. "I fell asleep with them on, in case you're wondering. They're one of those brands that you can wear overnight without them drying up or whatever. I wasn't paying attention. Ollie got it for me."

"Ollie?" she questioned him, to which Harry sighed.

"Oliver. You know, the billionaire that I'm staying with, the guy who was stuck on that island with me. Do you even watch the news?"

"Considering I've been studying for the past few months intensely at Hogwarts, no... I don't." she retorted to which Harry rolled his eyes. "What? I feel better in the Wizarding World than I do out there, with people like..." Hermione was at a loss for words as Harry stepped towards her, awaiting the word.

"Like what, 'Mione? Like me? Is that what you're aiming towards? Do you think I'm the guy in the red hood, is that it?"

Hermione watched as Harry got only a few inches from her, and she backed up away from him, making him stop, noticing how she was actually afraid of him.

"Are you afraid of me?"

"Harry, the Red Arrow is a serial killer... and if you're him, then that means you're a murderer."

"So, you do think I'm the Red Arrow."

"Yes, quite frankly I do. I want to hear the truth from you, and not anyone else. And to answer your question I grabbed it at the Burrow after you took off. After finding that, and seeing your bag the other night... the pieces kind of fit perfectly. I mean, you get off that island and go to Starling City, and not even a day later the Red Arrow shows up here. You come back to England, and somebody tries to kill you, nearly kills the Weasleys, and to top it off I find a red arrow in the house. Now, tell me I'm wrong, please. I don't want to see you as a murderer..."

"I'm not the Red Arrow, and the fact you would assume I'm a murderer hurts me. I thought you trusted me."

"Harry, believe me... I do, but you understand this is not something normal! Why would this be at the Burrow?!"

"Because, he was the one who saved me that night before you showed up. He was inside the house. Why do you think I was trying to protect the Weasleys from that woman? The Red Arrow was incapacitated... I had to do something."

"Why is it I don't believe you?"

"Hermione, I would not lie to you about this, I promise." he held his hands flat against each other, trying to make Hermione believe in this lie. Hermione was smart, and he wasn't sure if he would be able to hide this from her. If she found out, like actually found out the truth, Harry wouldn't be able to go back. There are some lines you just can't cross, and for Hermione to find that out, would be the one line he would never forgive himself for.

She looked at him, contemplating for a moment before she sighed, tossing the arrow to him. "Do you know who he is?"

"No, I don't know who he is... but I do know that every person he has killed, deserved it."

"How did they deserve it, Harry? Did Umbridge deserve to die?"

Harry laughed, harder than he meant to, causing a look of distress from Hermione. "I'm sorry, but did you even look into Umbridge. 'Mione, she was one of the worst people imaginable. She would curse a pen so when people were writing something down, like a confession of something they didn't do, the pen would leave the words scarred on them. She killed people, tortured them... the Red Arrow put a stop to that. The people he killed when I got to Starling City, they had kidnapped us and were hitmen. They killed so many people it's hard to count all of them without losing track. Believe me when I say this, he has never killed an innocent person..."

"It doesn't change the fact he's a murderer."

"By that logic, all members of the military that have killed someone in combat are murderers, police officers who took down a criminal that was holding a hostage or was a terrorist are murderers. Not every person that has taken a life is a murderer by definition. Sometimes people have to get their hands bloody."

"What happened to you?"

"I grew up, kind of hard not to do that when you're stuck on an island for five years and you're only thirteen. I had to grow up fast just to survive, so I'm sorry if I'm not going to be on your side in this matter. You are one of my best friends, and I am grateful, but you need to leave the Red Arrow alone. He's not a bad guy, but he will do bad things to do what is right. Sometimes what the world needs is not a hero, but a monster... and that is a fact we have to live with."

"See, this is what bothers me, you make it sound like you're defending yourself!" she shook her head in disbelief.

"I already told you, I am NOT the Red Arrow, and if I was, wouldn't you be the first person out of anyone to find out? I would have told you from the very beginning. Plus, for me to be the Red Arrow, that would mean I would have killed someone back when I was what... fourteen, fifteen?" Harry sighed before lowering his head. "If you don't want to believe me, it's fine... but when you leave, don't come back. I don't need someone who distrusts me in my life."

"I don't distrust you, I'm just worried about you Harry. I don't want to see you die, not again."

"I didn't die..." Harry groaned, before he felt a pain in his side from where the stab wound had been, and he fell to the ground. "That has yet to happen... but perhaps soon..." he laughed as Hermione rushed over to him to see blood seeping through his shirt.

"What happened?"

"Oh, that? That would be my own stupidity. Don't worry about it. Just, do me a favor 'Mione, don't tell anyone about this, or that you found that arrow at the Burrow, please..."

"Why?"

"Hermione, you said it yourself, the pieces fit together well enough. I don't want anyone else accusing me of being that guy in the hood. Now, question if you're not leaving me because you think I'm a murderer, did you ever manage to get me some spellbooks to study?"

"Well, it's not exactly spellbooks per say, but rather simple potions you could make, and some other things that would be simple for someone of your experience, since you did miss out on five years of schooling."

"Can you bring them to me?"

"Uh, tomorrow night probably. I only had time to come here for a bit... I needed to make sure you weren't him. I have to go to Hogwarts to study under McGongagall. I'm quite busy really."

"Well, just bring them to me the moment you can, please?"

"Sure thing. Now, do me a favor, Harry, get that dealt with?" Hermione asked, as Harry nodded before slowly climbing to his feet.

He covered the wound with his hand and watched as Hermione sighed, putting the arrow on the nightstand. "I will deal with it, Hermione, you don't have to worry."

"Harry Potter, if there is one thing I know about you, I have a million reasons to worry about you."

She apparated away, leaving Harry to look at the arrow, and once he knew for certain she was gone, having waited about a minute, he grabbed the arrow and crushed the entire thing in his hand like it was made of paper.

"That was too close..." He tossed it into his briefcase, before he tended to his wound. Apparently the stitches had torn last night during his sleep, so he pulled out a needle and went to work. Let's just say it was a good thing he was used to this, because he would have screamed five years ago.

Once he was done stitching himself back together quite literally, Harry put on a fresh shirt, and grabbed his bloodied one, taking it to the bathroom to deal with the blood in it. The shirt was crumpled into a ball in his hands as he walked out of his room, bumping in to a hungover Thea, who merely made a "oop" as she bounced off of him, nearly falling down. Harry thankfully caught her before that happened, and he found that she was able to remember some of last night.

"Hey Castaway." she laughed, and Harry smiled back at her.

"Morning Speedy." he laughed as well, as Thea lowered her head. "I didn't think you would remember much of last night considering how wasted you were."

"Well, you were pretty wasted as I recall it, Ocean Man, take me by the hand..."

"Hey, we are not to talk about that. I don't even know why I did it." Harry admitted, holding his side weakly.

"Your accent came out, it was almost cute."

"Almost? What do you mean almost? I'm freaking adorable." Harry said brightly, as Thea rolled her eyes.

"Oh sure, have you been talking to my friends, because if you're trying to get me to call you hot, it won't work."

"I didn't know anything about it... and it's none of my business whether or not you think I'm attractive. The girls at that club last night thought I was quite attractive."

"They were drunk, they couldn't tell if you were Channing Tatum or Steve Bucsemi." Thea tried to put his ego down a bit, as Harry just smiled bringing her into a hug, one that she was surprised by, but returned.

"I had a good time with you last night, Speedy."

"As much as I hate to admit it, I had a good time as well, Castaway." she smiled, having been sarcastic when she said hate.

"So, you're seriously sticking with Castaway as my nickname?" he asked, to which she nodded.

"Only if you're going to call me Speedy." she looked up at him, and while Harry didn't seem like he was that tall, he did stand higher than Thea did. Just a couple years ago Harry was standing at 5'5, which was Thea's height, but now... he was about four inches taller at the least. He really didn't know if he was 6'0, but he was pretty close to Oliver's height.

"We're going to have to find a better nickname for me."

"I don't know, I like that name. It fits you," Thea said backing away, her eyes shimmering in the dim light in the hallway. "Now, if you would excuse me I need to go get some aspirin for this headache."

"Ok, I'll see you in a bit then?" he asked innocently, to which Thea nodded before heading downstairs, waving goodbye to him. Harry smiled as he heard his door open to reveal Sirius standing there with a goofy smile. "What?"

"Nothing, just watching you finally make something of your life, besides the bow and arrow." Sirius responded, although Harry was almost certain that his godfather was referring to something else.

"Sure," Harry emphasized hoping it proved to Sirius that he wasn't taking that as the answer, but the wizard never did answer. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of having you pop in?"

"Oliver told me you'd be home today. I heard you took on the town last night with Thea. Did you two-"

"No, god no!" Harry chuckled nervously. "There is nothing there! My god, she's like my adopted sister."

"Well, the way the both of you act, it certainly seems like there's something there, but it's like you said, nothing's there."

"Seriously, what's up? I wouldn't expect to see you here unless you had something to tell me about or show me." Harry fixed the course of the conversation, to which Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Harry, you don't like to chit-chat much do you?"

"Well, if you had shown up by coming to the door, then yes, but considering you literally popped out of nowhere, I kind of need to get to the business."

After a moment of processing it, Sirius nodded before pulling out two photos. "Your tatau. I found a person who knew the spell that caused the tattoos, and got pictures of them. Are these the right ones?"

Harry took them, examining them, focusing on every tiny detail. He nodded, although one part he wanted to change.

"Yeah, they're the right ones. Why did you get me these?"

"Well, I figured that perhaps you might want the tattoos, as a way to remember your past. They're a part of you, even if the magic is gone."

"I was thinking about getting them back, the tattoos. I know there's not many tattoo artists that would recreate these exactly, because it's more of a case of feeling like plagiarism, but I know someone that would recreate these for me."

"Do I know this person?"

"No, but he's the reason I know how to fight, better than Oliver anyway. I beat him in a fight, so he said if I needed anything, anything at all he would help me out, as long as I returned the favor in some way."

"Who is this person?"

"You remember Nyssa?"

"Of course, beautiful girl." Sirius smiled, remembering how Harry and Nyssa had always been an interesting duo.

"Well, it's her father. He'll make these for me, but I need to do something first. I want to make an adjustment to the tattoos."

"How are you going to do that?"

"Simple, really. I'm going to draw them out." Harry smiled, before he heard footsteps, and Sirius disappeared in the blink of an eye as Thea came back upstairs holding her head.

"Who were you talking to?"

"Oh, that was someone I was talking to about a possible job." Harry lied, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

"Alright then, I was hoping you weren't talking to yourself." she laughed, heading back to her room, as Harry took off for the bathroom to get the blood out of his shirt, then racing to his room to draw out the tattoos. One of the good things that being in the League was that Harry learned how to draw, really well. In fact he could sketch a person's face almost perfectly from a few minutes of seeing them. Ra's was not exactly the person you wanted to disappoint, and Harry wasn't going to let him down, because he didn't want to be killed for his failure.

Harry drew out the tattoos, noting how one specific part that ran down the front of his forearm had a long shark symbol. He instead put a sword in its place, and one of the bands that wrapped around his arm, he replaced with an arrow. Otherwise it was perfect in his opinion. He put it into his back pocket before he got up and went out to the hallway. Stepping in front of Thea's door he went to knock as she opened it, having heard him approach.

"What's up?"

"Oh, I was wondering if you wanted to go get something to eat." Harry asked, to which Thea smiled nodding lightly.

"Sure, although I'm going to wear sunglasses."

"Hangover that bad?"

"It isn't good."

"Alright, I'll see you downstairs in a couple minutes then." he grinned at her before she went to get ready as he himself got ready. For whatever reason, he felt like he couldn't leave her by herself at the moment, not while everyone else was gone, especially Diggle. While Cho only used magic against foes that wielded magic, he didn't want there to be no defense in place if she did attack. So for now, at the very least he was going to guard Thea, without her knowing.

Oliver entered the hospital room where Laurel was currently in, to find the lawyer laying in bed just having woken up. "Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked her with a tender smile, hoping she would allow him to be in here for a few minutes.

"Like I was in an explosion, but other than that I'm fine." she admitted weakly, as he sat down beside her, holding a bouquet of flowers he had bought for her. "Are those for me?"

"Well, I figured I should get you something... if you don't want them you don't have to-"

"No, no... they're beautiful." Laurel interrupted, taking the flowers from him, to which Oliver sighed lightly leaning forward.

"You know, you really had me worried there." Oliver informed her, causing her to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "I don't think anyone knew this, but I was the one that carried you to safety yesterday. I didn't stay there because I didn't want to be accused of being the reason you got hurt."

Laurel sat up, narrowing her eyes a bit. "Why would you be blamed for what happened?"

"Considering I was kidnapped the first day I got back, and then the day I renounce my death the courthouse is bombed. Knowing your father, he would be the first to blame me for this."

"It wasn't your fault, Ollie..."

"I know, I know... but I was just so afraid, seeing you hurt. I hurt you enough as it was." Oliver sighed, wiping his face, all while Laurel just looked at him with intrigue, before remembering Harry's words yesterday.

"Oliver, that was five years ago... I think it's time all of us move on, don't you think? That's what you want to do, right? Make up for your mistakes and move on?" Oliver looked at her with surprise. "You can't move on if you're too busy feeling sorry for yourself."

"I'm actually surprised you're not upset at me still, considering the way you were at the courthouse."

"Somebody talked to me, and put things into perspective for me. I know why you said what you did at the party, Oliver. I got mad because I was trying to reach out, and you pulled the classic Oliver Queen card of backing out."

"I don't back out that much."

"Do I need to bring up the cases of you backing out of something?"

Oliver's face grew red before shaking his head. "No, let's leave that in the past, where it belongs. You know, as much as I would like to take the credit for saving you yesterday, I merely took you to safety."

"Who pulled me out of the courthouse then?"

"Uh, the Red Arrow. He saved everyone that was in the courthouse, including Emily Nocenti." Oliver smiled lightly, noticing how Laurel's face was showing nothing but shock.

"The Red Arrow, the guy with the bow and arrow that from what my father says, can flip cars with his bare hands, saved me?"

"Yeah. I don't know where his pal in the green hood was, but Red saved everyone that was there. I'm thankful he was there."

"Me too, it just, I didn't think he would show himself to the public like that." Laurel admitted, as Detective Lance appeared in the doorway, appearing rather unpleased with Oliver's presence.

"From what he told me when he handed you to me, he said he couldn't just stand by and watch innocent people die."

Lance cleared his throat, to which Oliver turned his head quickly to see the Detective. "Mr. Queen, what an unpleasant surprise."

"Dad... don't be mad. He came here to make sure I was okay."

"And he has, and you are. He can leave now."

"He can stay," Laurel informed him, as Oliver stood up.

"No, no... Laurel, he's right, I should go, let you two talk. I'll talk to you later." Oliver's voice showed defeat as he lightly hugged her goodbye, and slipped his way past Lance, disappearing around the corner.

"You don't need to be that way." Laurel sighed as Lance stepped into the room, looking pleased with himself.

"He's lucky I didn't do something more drastic... Laurel, listen to me. I need you to for once in your life listen to me and not argue, because things aren't going to be sunny and peachy when you get out of here."

"What do you mean, what's going on?"

"What's going on is that you, Ms. Nocenti, and your co-worker Joanna are getting around-the-clock police protection. Okay? There's an officer outside right now. You need to get used to their face, because they're going with you everywhere you go, no arguments."

Laurel laughed, coughing from the pain of her broken ribs. "I'm a lawyer, I live to argue."

"I'm your father, I live to keep you safe."

"Protective custody? I seem to recall you trying that once I discovered boys. It didn't work then either, and I don't need protection. That explosion was just an accident."

"This isn't a joke, Laurel. Martin Somers got attacked last night." Lance hissed coldly, causing a chill to run down Laurel's entire body.

"What?"

"Yeah."

"By who?"

"It doesn't matter. The point is, whether you like it or not, you have whipped up a storm with these guys, and until the dust settles you'll be protected, okay? End of discussion."

"That might have worked on me when I was eight, but it won't work anymore."

"This isn't up for discussion Laurel. You're insistent on doing your job, and that's great, but this is me doing mine, okay? And not just as a father, but as a cop. These people, they are more dangerous than you are willing to admit. And you have made them angry."

As Lance finished speaking, outside the room, in the hallway was Oliver, listening in on the conversation through an earpiece connected to a bug he had planted in the flowers he had given Laurel, as the moment he saw Lance he had known something was up. So when he hugged Laurel, he secretly put the bug in it.

Yeah, well if they want to hurt her again, they'll have to go through me Detective.

"New developments on yesterday's bombing that left twelve injured, four in critical condition. Sources are coming through that the bombing was an attempt to kill Martin Somers, with the Triads being the perpetrators of the attack. While we cannot confirm this, and Mr. Somers has declined to comment, we are also getting reports that the Red Arrow, one of the duo vigilantes that attacked Adam Hunt earlier this week was at the scene, rescuing those trapped in the courthouse after the explosion. And we also have a report that the Red Arrow is responsible for saving the life of a five year old girl trapped in a burning car that was damaged by debris. While this is unconfirmed from authorities, we are being told by the mother that the Red Arrow pulled the door off of the car with his bare hands..."

The news reporter kept talking about the explosion yesterday as Oliver stepped into the living room later that night where he found Harry laying on the couch flipping through the channels.

"Something tells me you're aren't too happy about what they're saying?" Oliver asked him noticing how tense Harry appeared.

"No, they're painting me as if I'm some kind of hero, Oliver. I'm not. I'm a bad guy, a bad bad guy who is just trying to make up for some of the wrongs I've done. Ollie, I don't want to be seen as a good guy when I'm not."

"Harry, you are not a bad guy. You did what you needed to do, there is nothing wrong with that. You can be whatever you want here, but you can't let what happened in the past hold you back. As Laurel told me, if you really want to move on with your life, you can't sit around feeling sorry for yourself over your mistakes."

"Well, I'm just not capable of doing that Ollie. I have more regrets than you do."

"Are you sure about that?" Oliver asked, and Harry looked at him with the most dangerous look in his eyes Oliver had ever seen.

"I'd bet my life on it."

"Good thing neither of us are betting men." Oliver laughed sourly, as Harry sat up. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know, but I feel like something bad is going to happen, and it's going to happen to someone we know. I've had that feeling all day, and that's why I haven't left Thea's side," Harry explained, not even aware of just how exactly right he was about that.

Sitting in his warehouse once more, Martin Somers watched as a white haired woman in a red dress stepped into the hallway where he was sitting.

"Thank you for coming." he greeted.

"Anything for a friend."

"We're not friends. You smuggle drugs, I let you use my port." Somers corrected her as she stopped in front of his desk.

"For which you're paid a lot of money." the woman, whose name was Chien Na Wei, or as she went by now, China White retorted to him causing him to purse his lips lightly.

"I don't get paid enough to have arrows shot at me. I went with the plan that your associate, The Ghost, or whatever she's calling herself, made about the courthouse, as a way to show that I was not involved with this, and to paint a story that I witnessed Nocenti's murder at the Triads' hands, and they tried to silence me. Yet, last night I was attacked by that guy in the green hood. You need to take this guy and the Red Arrow seriously. They are a bigger threat to your operation than Nocenti ever was."

"Except now, it's Nocenti's daughter who's the problem. Unlike your friend with the hood, we know where to find her." China coldly explained as Somers began to feel annoyance with her suggestion.

"Don't be an idiot, you take out Emily Nocenti and Laurel Lance will never let this go. She won't stop until she burns you, me and then the entire Triad to the ground."

"Then we kill Miss Lance."

Cho Chang entered a small dark room in a skyscraper that had Queen Consolidated in its view as a man wearing an all black outfit appeared.

"So, did Potter get the message?"

"Yes, he knows that I have been in contact with you, Al Saher." Cho informed him, as the man nodded, pleased with her.

"Does he know I am in Starling City, and that I'm the one he's working to stop on this List of his?" Al Saher asked.

"I do not know. He seemed surprised when I mentioned your name. He knows you saw what he did to my father and he doesn't want the truth to be revealed."

"Listen to me, Ms. Chang. I know you have plans of your own, but I want to give you a reward for ridding me of both Harry Potter and his alter ego, The Red Arrow at the same time. If you kill him, I will pay you seven billion dollars for doing so. I might even add a bonus for your associate, mentor... what is China White to you?"

"She took me in after my father's death, that's all you need to know. As for the offer, very well. I'll kill Harry Potter, and at the same time... Red Arrow."

"Good, if he discovers that I know his true identity, that will complicate things. I need him dead..." Al Saher ordered, as Cho nodded.

"I will make sure he dies."

"Attorney for shipping magnate, Martin Somers has confirmed his client has no intention of testifying maintaining his innocence in the wrongful death of Victor Nocenti. Nocenti's body was found four weeks ago. Somers and his attorney have declined whether to comment on the possibility of Somers being the target of the bombing that rocked the courthouse two days ago that left twelve injured. We'll keep you updated as more information becomes available..." the reporter spoke as Oliver got dressed that morning, slipping on a blue long sleeve shirt as Thea stepped into the doorway, noticing the scars all over his torso.

"Uh, wait, how did you get those?" Thea asked moving towards her brother as he rolled his eyes.

"Don't you knock?" he scoffed angrily as he tried to close his shirt to hide the scars.

"No, wait, Mom said that..." she turned him around moving the shirt out of the way. "there were scars." She examined the scars with horror before looking at Oliver's face. "I-I'm, Oliver, what happened to you out there?"

He moved her hands out of the way and began buttoning his shirt up, almost whispering "I don't wanna talk about it." as he turned away walking towards the other side of the room, away from her.

"Of course you don't. You never wanna talk to me about anything. Except for my social life." Thea sighed disappointed as she turned around and began to leave the room.

"Wait! Where are you going?" he asked turning to face her.

"Why should I tell you?"

"I'm sorry Thea... I need to get better at talking about what happened to me there, but I'm not ready yet. Okay?" he asked in that brotherly tone.

"Do you have a second?" she asked as Oliver finished buttoning his shirt up.

"Yeah."

"Good. I wanna show you something out back." she began walking out of the room as Oliver reached for his jacket to follow.

"Sometimes, when I... felt... whatever. I'd come here." Thea sighed as she motioned towards the tombstones that sat in the backyard of the mansion grounds, as Oliver caught sight of them upon approach. It was Oliver and his father's tombstones... "About a month after the funerals Mom stopped going out. Pretty soon, she stopped talking altogether. The house got so quiet so I'd come here. To talk to you. I mean, stupid stuff. Like what I was doing that day, what boy I had a crush on. And then sometimes I'd ask you, beg you to find your way home to me. Now, here you are. And the truth is, I felt closer to you when you were dead. Hell, even Harry has been more open to me than you have, and he's a complete stranger Ollie. Look, I know it was hell where you were, but it was hell here too." She sounded like she was going to be in tears at any moment as she stepped close to him, looking him dead in the eyes as the morning sun glistened upon her skin. "You gotta let me in, Ollie. You gotta let someone in."

Thea turned and walked away from Oliver, as the billionaire turned to look towards her. "Thea, I did let someone in, and that was Harry..." he whispered lowly to himself as he watched her go back inside.

Laurel sat quietly in her apartment later that night, having been released from the hospital yesterday, listening to music that was playing on her radio when she heard a light knock on her door. She wasn't expecting anyone, and seeing as she had protective custody at the moment, her guard was a little higher than normal. She stepped towards the door unsure of what she was expecting behind it. Reaching the door, she looked through the hole to find an all too familiar face waiting for her.

Opening the door she tilted her head with a small smile as she saw Oliver standing there awkwardly holding a brown bag in his hand.

"Ollie, hey... what are you doing here?"

"Came to see you... are you okay?" he asked sticking his thumb out pointing towards the street. "There's a couple police officers outside."

"That would be my father's doings... he believes I am in danger because I have apparently stirred a hornet's nest with the Martin Somers case." Laurel explained, to which Oliver nodded. "So, do you want to come in or something?"

"Actually, yes... you see, I was informed by my sister that I've been rather, distant since I got back from the island. I figured, if there is one person I could always open up to, it was you."

Laurel smiled, stepping out of the way motioning Oliver to come in. As he stepped in memories of the last time he had been inside Laurel's apartment came rushing back to him.

"This place hasn't changed in five years." Oliver chuckled.

She scoffed in the background, walking by Oliver as she explained "I haven't really had a chance to redecorate." Oliver couldn't help but notice how there was a hint of hostility in it.

He lowered his head, giving a pained grin as he proclaimed: "I'm a jerk." Laurel turned to look at the billionaire as he looked back at her, finally letting someone that wasn't Harry in. "Before the island, I was a jerk. And now, I'm just a..." his voice became weak as he shrugged. "I'm a damaged jerk."

Laurel pursed her lips as she looked at the brown bag in his hand. "Okay, jerk..." she teased him a bit, biting her lower lip. "What's in the bag?"

He held the bag up, opening it. "I thought of many things on the island but there was one thing I thought about every day... well... two things. But that's something for a different time. The one thing I thought about every day, I actually dreamed about it," he laughed at his own actions as he reached inside the bag, continuing to explain. "and I promised myself that if I ever got the chance to do it again, I'd do it with you."

Laurel must have been thinking that he was implying about something entirely different as she looked rather upset until he pulled out a container. "Eat ice cream." and just like that Laurel began smiling brightly.

Harry felt the strain where the stab wound had been from the courthouse, hardly able to believe it was still not healing like it should have been. Then again, ever since he got rid of the tatau he hadn't been much of a tank like he had been before. If he had really been the Red Arrow, tatau included, Cho would have been dead where she stood the moment she first swung that sword. Maybe that was just his killer ego talking, but Harry knew he was not the same as he was before the tatau got removed.

All it meant was he needed to be more careful and try harder to be more precise with his attacks. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, pulling it out to see a message from an unknown number.

Tell me, Potter... do you care for Oliver Queen's precious Laurel? Or is she just a means to an end, like my father?

Harry grimaced, squeezing his phone so hard it broke as he realized another person was now in danger of being hurt by Cho. He knew Diggle was with Oliver... and Oliver had gone to see Laurel based on the way he had said he'd be back. Whenever it came to Laurel, Oliver's voice was always a tad bit more timid.

Harry groaned internally, realizing he had just destroyed his phone, but thankfully he had the spare phone that Oliver had bought him, just in case his anger flared up. Harry reached into his drawer, pulling his phone out and quickly dialed Oliver's number as he rushed through the front door of the manor. Thea looked at him oddly as Harry rushed into the garage, taking one of the motorcycles out onto the road.

Oliver finished the last bit of the container, setting it on the table as Laurel continued to eat her bowl of ice cream on the couch. He was seated on the floor looking up at her. "You know, this is as good as I remember." Laurel smiled at him as Oliver sighed, resting his arms on the couch cushion. "You know, my mother wants me to join the company." he looked at Laurel, finding her expression to be exactly how he felt, unconvinced that it fit him. "Yeah. Take my rightful place as she says."

Laurel examined Oliver for a moment before saying "I can't exactly picture you as the master of the universe."

He nodded to her, turning away to look at the floor. "Yeah, me neither. I came back, and after five years I have plans. I have things that I have to do. I can't do that if I'm, I don't know... attending board meetings and stockholder briefings." Oliver explained as in the kitchen his phone vibrated, just out of earshot. It was a call from Harry.

"Oliver... you are a grown man. You can say no."

"Oh, I tried. It didn't take."

"Well, then... instead of telling them, why don't you show them? Be the person you want her to see you as." Laurel offered as she finished her ice cream, putting her bowl beside Oliver's container. "Trust me, I have plenty of experience with disapproving parents."

Oliver laughed, turning towards her. "I have been on the receiving end of your father's disapproval."

"He blames himself more than he blames you. He thinks that, you know, maybe if he had been closer with Sara, she would have told him about the boat trip. And he could have stopped her from going with you."

Laurel's voice was full of pain as she explained her father's thoughts to Oliver, but Oliver could only focus on the fact that he had hurt her so much more than anyone else had.

His phone vibrated once more on the kitchen table, with another call from Harry. By now it was the third call and yet Oliver didn't know about it.

"I, am sorry." he said weakly, closing his hand into a fist as Laurel leaned forward ever so slightly to where she was sitting straight up.

"You apologized already."

"It will never be enough. I've regretted that decision ever since that..." Oliver froze as a metallic thud came from outside. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Laurel asked as Oliver stood up and moved towards the kitchen, seeing his phone was lit up with missed calls from Harry.

"There's someone on the fire escape..." he claimed as he opened his phone seeing a text in all capital letters.

GET LAUREL OUT OF THERE. CHO'S COMING.

"Laurel..." Oliver's eyes grew wide as he grabbed a butter knife, rushing for Laurel.

"W-what?" she asked as Oliver pulled her to her feet.

"Come on." Oliver ordered, the two rushing towards the door to get out. The door burst open, with a Chinese man stumbling into the room, a machine gun in hand.

Laurel gasped in horror as Oliver pulled her away towards the living room. The man fired the gun at them, missing merely by inches.

Ducking into the bedroom, Oliver held Laurel back as another triad came launching through the window onto the bed...

The triad got up as Oliver once again dragged Laurel out of the room, hoping to get to safety. However, even if they could escape the two triads, Oliver witnessed the woman with the snow white hair step into view with two daggers in her hands.

China White was in the room with them, and Oliver felt his chest tighten up. There was no way he could get out of here without either Laurel getting hurt, or having his secret revealed. Where was Harry when he needed him?

Oliver's eyes gazed over to the Triad that had the machine gun, standing the hallway aiming towards them as a gunshot rang out. The triad twitched in pain as he fell dead. Oliver almost expected Harry, or even Detective Lance, but he found it was instead Diggle who came to their rescue.

China ran out of the hall and into another room, flanking Diggle as the bodyguard took out the other Triad. She sliced at him, while with her other hand knocked the gun out of his grasp. Diggle caught her one hand in time, grunting out of shock as he felt the blade cut his sleeve.

Diggle tried to punch the assassin, but she spun around, kicking him in the side sending him back a few feet into the wall. As she sliced again with her left hand, Dig ducked, grabbing onto her right hand. He was so fast that Laurel and even Oliver couldn't really see him knock one of the daggers out of her hand.

Outside, on a rooftop stood Cho smiling evilly aiming a gun at Laurel.

"If China can't get the job done... I'll take care of it."

"No, you won't..." a dark voice called out as Cho turned to see the dark figure that was Harry. "You're not going to hurt her again!"

"Oh how nice of you to show up... I was hoping you'd be here to see her blood spill."

"Only person that's going to end up bleeding is you Chang." he growled as he rushed towards her, tackling the assassin off the building, disappearing as Cho apparated the two of them away to somewhere less public.

Back inside Diggle was losing the fight, falling to the ground as China went to kill him with the other dagger she still had. Oliver without even thinking raced away from Laurel's side, aiming towards the blade, and threw the butter knife with enough speed and precision to knock the dagger out of her hand. China raced out of the apartment as Diggle recovered, getting up and grabbing his gun rushing to the door to make sure she wasn't coming back.

Laurel dashed into Oliver's arms as Diggle turned to him. "Are you hurt?"

"No." the billionaire responded as he held Laurel tightly.

"Are you hurt, Mr. Queen?" Diggle asked loudly this time.

"No! No."

"This is why it's a good idea to have a bodyguard." Diggle sneered at him as he checked the apartment to make sure the two triads weren't getting up.

Oliver turned his attention to Laurel, rubbing her hair carefully as he asked her if she was okay. Police sirens were growing louder in the distance. Oliver looked outside, having heard the sound that came with apparating. He smiled... knowing Harry must have come through for him once again.

Laurel's apartment was filled with law enforcement as the two dead triads were wheeled out in body bags. Lance had just rushed in there to hug Laurel.

"Oh, thank God! Thank God! Are you alright?" he asked his daughter as they parted.

"I'm okay. Those cops that you put on me..."

Lance sighed, as the four (Oliver, Lance, Diggle, and Laurel) all knew the truth already. "They..."

"I went outside to ask for a light and they were both dead in the squad car." Diggle informed her solemnly.

"It's alright, honey. It's okay. Mr. Diggle, thank you. Feel free to run as many red lights in the city as you want."

Diggle turned towards Oliver for a moment before glancing back at Lance. "I was just doing my job, sir."

"No, your job is protecting him." Lance hissed as he looked at Oliver who had been standing there absolutely silent throughout the whole ordeal. He stepped in front of Oliver putting his finger against the billionaire's chest. "It seems like whenever you're with one of my daughters, people die. You stay away from Laurel or I swear the next time you disappear it will be permanent."

"Dad!" Laurel cried out.

"No, Laurel..."

"It's okay. I understand. But how about you shut up for once?" Oliver asked calmly. "How about you shut up, and stop holding this grudge against me for one moment? If I wasn't here..."

"Don't you tell me to do anything. You don't deserve to even be here, you hear me?"

"I hear you... but next time you want to threaten my life, Detective... remember that my family has some of the best lawyers in the country, so if I were you, I'd choose your words very carefully." Oliver exhaled confidently as Lance turned away from him and moved over to his daughter.

Laurel wasn't sure what to say about Oliver's comment as an officer came over to Oliver for questioning.

Oliver tossed Diggle an ice pack once they were back in the manor as Diggle had cut his hand during his fight with China. "I'd say thank you, but I don't think that would cover it."

"Well, like I told your cop friend, I was just doing my job. Besides, I think it should be you, that I'm thanking." Diggle said as he stood up pressing the ice pack against the bandaged cut.

Oliver turned towards him with a tilted head. "What for?"

"The knife."

"The knife..." Oliver smiled lightly. "I got lucky."

"That was a kitchen knife. It wasn't even weighted properly yet you threw it with accuracy across a ten-foot room." Diggle explained as Oliver held up his hand with confirmation.

"Exactly. I got lucky."

"Mr. Queen, I'm not the kind of man you want to take for a fool, do you understand me?"

"Yes." Oliver assured him, giving a nod.

"And I think I'm just beginning to understand the kind of man you really are."

"Shouldn't take you very long. I'm shallow, and very tired, so..." Oliver turned towards his room and began walking away. He turned back to Diggle waving goodbye. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, sir." Diggle grabbed his coat and watched as Oliver went into his bedroom.

Oliver shut the door to find laying in his chair was a heavily cut up Harry, with dirt and soot all over his body. "So... how was your night?" he asked sarcastically. "Mine was great... saved Laurel from being shot by Cho, and ended up in a industrial plant. Thirty minute fight, and I barely managed to get a couple hits on her. She was using her magic to teleport around me. I couldn't keep up with her."

"Nice to see you're okay, Ollie. I was so worried..." Oliver mocked him. "Thank you by the way. Now, what happened?"

"Oh, just me, Cho... a sword, and some flames. It was great. I did hit her in the face with a hammer so it brought me some joy to hear her scream in pain. God, am I a bad person for enjoying the sound of someone else's pain?" Harry asked as he wiped blood off of his face.

"Considering what Cho has done to everyone, I think enjoying her suffering is fine."

"I take it... that Martin Somers is going to have a visit from the hoods?"

"Yes, and we need to hurry because I suspect he'll try to get rid of any evidence and get out of there before the Triads turn on him."

"Alright. I'll get cleaned up, and then I need to go to someplace real quick..."

"Where?" Oliver asked as he noticed Harry's tone become very serious.

"Someplace you can't know about... I'm sorry, I would tell you, but this is one part of my life you can't know about Ollie. I will be back to help you finish this. I'm going to come back... I just need to get some equipment."

"Okay, I gotta check in with Mom, and then I'm going to the Lair. I'll see you there." Oliver nodded, as Harry climbed to his feet and went to the bathroom.

By the time Harry got out, he was clean, and bandaged up, and in his room he grabbed the pictures of the tattoos he had on his left arm originally, and took off for the lair.

Upon entering the lair, Harry got suited up, leaving a note for Oliver that told him he could do whatever he had to do to hold China White and Cho off if they showed up at the docks before using a portkey to travel to the city where he knew Nyssa and her father would be. He landed in the sandy desert city, the tattoo drawings in hand, and went to face the Head of the Demon himself.

Stepping into the city, he was greeted by the League's soldiers, who upon seeing him knelt down, bowing at his presence.

"Welcome home." the soldiers greeted as Harry kept walking by, and into the city he went. One of the soldiers followed him, eventually reaching his side.

"What brings you home?"

"I need to speak with Ra's immediately, but I need you to do something for me. Go to my chamber, and underneath my bed there is a case. Bring it to me immediately. Is Ra's with the Pit currently?"

"Yes, he is."

"Good, now go."

"Yes, sir." The soldier took off, as Harry entered the main chamber where he found soaking in the waters of the mythical Lazarus Pit, was the leader of the League of Assassins himself, Ra's al Ghul.

"Welcome home, Shifrat Al-Shaytan... (The Demon's Blade) to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I have some information for you, and I think you're going to want to hear it, however it'll require that you give me back an investigation you swore I would never be a part of again."

"I'm listening..."

Guys, we are coming to the finale chapter for episode two! I hope you guys are ready for a good fight between Harry and Cho. As for Harry's League name, I thought it fit him very well.

I need your guys' help. You see, since Harry is skilled in swordplay like Slade Wilson, since he was trained by him on the island and then the League... Harry has two katanas I want to have show up. I need names for the two. I've personally been thinking of them having to do something with who Harry as a person is in this story. I tried coming up with names, but no luck. Can you guys help me?! I NEED HELP! Leave your ideas in the reviews, or PM it to me. I think the next chapter will have quite a bit of developments in it, and as many have asked me in messages for diversion from the show... the next chapter will have some diversion from the show.

Anyway, let me know what you guys thought of the chapter, and I will see you all in the next update.