A/N: I know that I said that the last chapter was going to be the final one. But the truth is, sequels generally don't do too well in fan fiction. People seem to prefer the 'all in one' kind of story. So, despite the fact I've always been a fan of separating things out book by book, I'm going to give the 'all in one' kind of story a try. So here we go with the beginning of the next story arc of "The Emerald Queen".

Chapter Eighteen

Oliver Queen stepped through the portal into a chamber at what he presumed to be S.T.A.R. Labs in Central City on Earth-1, Barry Allen at his side. Almost instantly, his eyebrows raised at the greeting party. "Such a warm welcoming committee," he said dryly, wiping away an imaginary tear at the sight of Team Flash, Black Canary, Atom, and Spartan waiting for them, the last of which had his gun trained directly on Oliver. "Hits me in the feels, as someone I know would say." That someone being his sister on Earth-38, Mia Queen.

"Barry, what the hell is this?" Spartan demanded to know even as Laurel and Ray relaxed, waving discreetly at Oliver, which caused Team Flash to relax as well. "You know Thea's been talking about Oliver for days. Did you go to some other Earth to bring one here for her to talk to?" Spartan tightened his grip on his weapon. "I won't let you hurt her like that."

"Oh, put the gun down, John, you're embarrassing yourself," Oliver said. "The only reason I'm here is because Barry has a way of convincing me to do things I'd really rather not. I doubt Thea wants to see me, but I'm here."

Spartan's eyes were narrowed as he kept his weapon trained on Oliver. "Tell me something only Oliver and I would know," he demanded.

"The Restons," Oliver said. "You told me that I had a very limited definition of what it meant to be a hero, and I told you that I wasn't. Then you tricked me into going to the hospital to visit that cop and arranged for his bills to be paid for by me by pushing me into a corner with his wife right there." Oliver tilted his head. "Or you could just ask Laurel, Ray, and Caitlin. They just spent a week with me, just as Barry did."

"Laurel?" Spartan prompted.

"It's true, John, it's him," Laurel said softly. "He's been on Earth-38 all this time."

"Why didn't Kara tell us?"

"At first she didn't know, and then she kept it quiet at my request," Oliver replied. "Now, I'd love to stand here and play twenty questions with you all day, Dig, but according to Barry my little sister is dying. And I gotta at least try to make things right between us. We can have whatever argument is boiling in your head later." Oliver moved forward, ignoring Diggle's instant reaction, Barry following him a moment later.

"We brought Thea to S.T.A.R. Labs because of what's happening to her," Barry said quietly. "It's a result of the Lazarus Pit, Oliver. The only way to stop it is to kill the one responsible for her death."

"Which she can't, because I killed him," Oliver acknowledged. "Anything else that can help?"

"According to Nyssa, killing in general will keep the symptoms at bay, but Thea refuses to become her father," Laurel said as she came up on Oliver's other side. "All of this started after Thea had a run-in with Damien Darhk. We don't know what Darhk did and Thea hasn't said anything about the confrontation, but I can't help but feel he activated this somehow. Thea's been fine all this time." Oliver hummed noncommittally as he listened to Laurel.

"Has Nyssa said anything else? Like the possibility of another way to cure her?" Oliver asked finally.

"She gave us one lead. An antidote of sorts created by a group called the Crescent Order," Laurel replied. "I went there. Tatsu was the one guarding it. I told her it was for Thea. But she refused to hand it over. The only way to get it is to fight her for it."

"I see," Oliver said quietly. "Did she give a reason why she wouldn't save my sister?"

"No," Laurel said quietly.

Oliver was silent for the rest of the journey to the infirmary just off of the Cortex. Thea was lying, still and very pale, on a bed. Roy Harper was seated beside her, holding one of her hands with his head bowed. Oliver approached the bed quietly. He placed a hand on Roy's shoulder. "How long does she have?" he asked quietly.

"Not long," Roy responded absently, then stiffened as his mind registered just who's voice that he had heard. He stood slowly and turned, letting Thea's hand drop to the bed. His furious glacial blue eyes met Oliver's sad aquamarine's, and Oliver dodged as his right hook lashed out. "Where the hell have you been!?" Roy shouted in anger. "Two years! Two fucking years we've searched the globe for you, for any sign that you were alive! And now you just show up!?" Roy swung again and again, Oliver dodging each attack easily and parrying the few that came too close with a casual grace that he hadn't had before the League of Assassins.

"I've been on another Earth, Roy," Oliver replied quietly, "and to answer your question, my 'death' served a purpose. It galvanized the heroes of this Earth to realize that the mission always comes first, and that sometimes the right thing to do isn't the moral one. What would the revelation of my continued existence have brought? Doubt. Indecision. These two things would have crippled the Justice League. You know this."

Roy's anger-filled frame suddenly sagged, and in an instant, he went from an enraged powerhouse to a defeated young man. "We still could've used you," he muttered bitterly and stepped aside, allowing Oliver to step closer to his sister… who was looking at him with wide hazel eyes that swiftly filled with tears.

Oliver ignored the chair by the bed and sat on the edge of the bed, taking Thea's hand in his. "Hey, Speedy," Oliver said quietly. "It's been a long time." Oliver closed his eyes. "I'm sorry. What I did that day… it haunts me. But I wanted you to hate me; I wanted you to never look for me."

"Ollie," Thea whispered, squeezing his hand, and Oliver swallowed hard as he felt how weak his sister's grip was. Her voice was likewise weak, from both her conditions and the pain medications that were keeping her from feeling the pain she was in. "I figured that out. I forgave you a long time ago. I-I'm just happy you're alive, and that you're here. I don't want the last things we said to each other to be in anger." Thea pushed herself up and wrapped one trembling arm around her brother's neck. Oliver returned the hug, closing his eyes as tears he hadn't been willing to shed finally fell. He could feel Thea's tears soaking his shirt. He was vaguely aware of Roy leaving the infirmary.

Finally, Oliver and Thea pulled away from each other, both wiping at their eyes. "So, I got the highlights of what you've been doing from Supergirl," Oliver said quietly. "I ended up on Earth-38 when I was going to visit Barry after leaving Star City."

"And what have you been doing?" Thea asked.

"Depends on who you ask," Oliver replied. "Most people only know Oliver Queen, the billionaire philanthropist who sets up homeless shelters that help people get on their feet. But certain special people know about the Green Arrow, who fights both crime and corruption in Star City with an arsenal of trick arrows and a passion for championing the poor and disenfranchised." Oliver's expression grew pensive. "My girlfriend, Lena Luthor, knows both. She's very supportive of what I'm doing as both Oliver Queen and Green Arrow. It's… nice."

"Sounds like you've found your place in the world there," Thea said quietly. "I'm glad you found happiness, Ollie. But… how are you alive?"

"Kara's sister, Alex, found a cure for the Red Death," Oliver replied, and Thea shot a brilliant smile at him. "Thea, I have to tell you that when I first arrived they ran my DNA and that attracted the attention of the Queen family on Earth-38."

"Oh," Thea said quietly after a moment. "So… Mom? Dad?"

"Yeah, they're alive there," Oliver said quietly. "There wasn't an affair with Malcolm for Mom, though. She and Dad had a daughter of their own named Mia. She's… different. But Aunt Rebecca is alive there, too, and she and Malcolm have a daughter named Thea."

"So I don't technically exist there," Thea said quietly. Oliver shook his head. "You didn't replace me with this Mia, did you?"

"No. I do consider her my little sister, but you will always be my little Speedy," Oliver said, smiling at Thea's half-annoyed look.

"I'm glad you came, Ollie," Thea said quietly. "I-I need to ask you something. I need you to promise me something."

"Anything within reason," Oliver said, making sure Thea understood that he wouldn't remain on Earth-1 once she was gone.

"Help them take down H.I.V.E. and that bastard, Darhk," Thea said quietly. "Please."

"I'll help them," Oliver said quietly, thinking he could at least examine what they had and give them his professional assessment of H.I.V.E.'s forces.

"Thank you," Thea said quietly, closing her eyes and falling into an uneasy sleep. A moment later, the machines on the other side of her began to make distressing noises, and Caitlin was there in an instant as Oliver stood, backing away and one hand going to run through his hair as his sister began to convulse. Oliver kept backing away until he hit a wall, which he slid down as he watched Caitlin and Barry, who had ran in to help, struggle to bring his sister back around. But in the end, the long, continuous hum signaling no heartbeat filled the air.

Oliver barely noticed when Lena appeared beside him, crouching down and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. All he could do was stare at the bed where his little sister, the one he had always sworn to protect, lay with her eyes closed. If not for the lack of a steady rise and fall of her chest, she could have been sleeping. Oliver could barely hear the murmurs of Kara Danvers and her sister, Alex, in the Cortex. Despair filled him, despair and something else.

Rage.

*DC*

The funeral of Thea Queen was a small affair; the paparazzi were kept at bay with threats from a not-so-kind Oliver Queen, who was all for the dismemberment of such vultures and there was something in his eyes when he talked about giving them what they deserved if they dared interfere with his sister's funeral that gave even the slimiest and immoral soul pause. Oliver, Team Flash, Team Spartan, Kara, Alex, and Lena were all in attendance. Oliver sat quietly as the eulogy was given by Laurel, who got choked up more than once, and then the casket was lowered into the ground. The gravediggers were given the signal to start filling in the hole, and Oliver continued to sit and watch as his sister was buried forever. The other mourners slowly said their goodbyes and gave their condolences to Oliver, but eventually only three people remained at the graveside: Oliver, Lena, and Barry.

Oliver stood and approached the freshly-filled grave, Lena and Barry by his side. "Right before she died, Thea made a request," Oliver said quietly, speaking of the day his sister died for the first time. "She asked me to help take down H.I.V.E. and Darhk. I thought to myself that I could at least examine everything John and his team have on H.I.V.E. and Darhk, give them my professional assessment."

"But?" Lena prompted, knowing her boyfriend well.

"But that was before," Oliver said quietly. "I may think of the Queens of Earth-38 as my family now, but Thea is the one I grew up swearing to protect. There is a time when I would have thought that I brought this darkness upon us. There is a time when I would have laid the blame for my sister's death at my own feet. But I know it's not my fault; it is, however, my responsibility."

"Responsibility? To do what?" Barry asked.

"To end it," Oliver replied. "I'm going to kill him."

"Oliver, you've never killed," Lena said in disbelief.

"Not on Earth-38," Oliver agreed. "But on this Earth, I had a different sort of code. But neither the Arrow nor the Hood is strong enough for this. For this, even Al Sah-Him might fall short. This time, I have to create a new persona." Oliver tilted his head. "Men like Darhk and Ra's consider themselves to be like gods, not only because of their longevity and absolute power over those who serve them, but because they act as judge, jury, and executioner to their enemies. John and his team are acting as heroes, which they should, but it will take something more than heroes to defeat Darhk. It will take a god-killer."

"Oliver, you're starting to scare me," Lena whispered. She had heard someone talk like this before; Lex had talked like this often when it came to Superman. Was she destined to lose all those she loved to the darkness?

Oliver, unaware of his girlfriend's horrified thoughts, simply said, "Good. Because I'm going to make Damien Darhk beg for death before I'm through with him."

A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter.

Now, as someone who has attended therapy in the past and then quit, I can say relapses do happen. Sadly, Oliver's relapse, like everything else that he does, is extreme. Oh, and I do wonder if anyone can guess what Oliver is going to call himself.