He jumped over and threw the person to the ground. The man threw Oliver off of him and tried to get away, but Oliver grabbed his arm and threw the man over his shoulder. The man started crawling, but Oliver turned them over and pinned them to the ground. As he held him down with one hand he pulled the mask off with the other.
Immediately his chest tightened, his eyes widened, and his breath was caught in his throat. He backed away from the person slowly, gently and whispered, "Sara?"
"Hello Ollie," Sara said gently as he backed away from her.
He shook his head rapidly and whispered, "No, no, no you're not real. You can't be real."
"I am." She stood and walked over to him.
He held his arms out and yelled, "NO, stay back. You're not real." He rubbed his face and started panting. "I must've been poisoned."
She kneeled beside him and placed her hand on his chest. "I'm real."
He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. "Ollie, open your eyes." He didn't listen. "Ollie please." She placed her hand on the side of his face and guided it back to her. Her thumb rubbed up and down his cheek as she pleaded with him.
Eventually, he did open his eyes and was surprised to see her still squatting next to him. "How?"
"I'll tell you. I promise I'll tell you everything, but not here. You're freezing and someone might see us. I know somewhere we can go." She held out her arm for Oliver and waited for him to take it. He wanted to say he didn't want to move until he knew how she was still alive and why she pretended to be dead for all those years, but instead, he took her hand and followed her off the roof.
3 and a half years ago…
"Oliver, do you know what you're asking? You want me to be the only girl for you, for the rest of your life. That's a huge commitment. The whole reason we were on the Gambit together in the first place is because you were scared of commitment," she said truthfully.
Oliver looked up as he tried to find a way to convince her he's changed. "Yes, but I wasn't ready to commit to Laurel. I guess it's because I knew, somehow, I wasn't meant to be with her. Now I know I'm meant to be with you and it's not because we have a baby together, but it's because we love each other, and I couldn't imagine a day without you by my side."
Sara's worry lessened but didn't dissolve completely. He was the billionaire playboy who used to be on the news for all the stunts he pulled. But she wasn't going to let that determine things for her. She was her own person and she'd seen the way Oliver grew in the last year and a half. She loved every bit of him and felt the same way he said he felt about her.
Just as Oliver felt as though his nerves couldn't take the waiting any longer, Sara nodded. "Yes, I'll marry you." She threw her arms around him and he leaned back on the ground behind him.
Sara lead Oliver across the rooftops to a clock tower. They climbed through the clock, then Sara made Oliver sit as she grabbed a blanket and threw it over him. She sat across from him on a table that was covered with a white sheet. She reached out to grab his hand, but he pulled away.
"Tell me what happened, now," he said through gritted teeth.
Sara nodded. "I thought you guys were dead."
They had a small ceremony. Not that there was much they could do on an island by themselves, but Oliver picked some pink and blue flowers and tied some together to make a headband while Sara took Mei's soiled, torn shirt and made it into something that resembled a dress. Oliver stood by the tree they carved their names into while Sara walked down the dirt path the created with Mei in one arm and the flowers in the other. She helped Mei take the flowers and throw them over the path as she made her way to Oliver. When she was finally by his side, he took out one of the rings and placed in on her hand.
"Sara," he started, "When I first met you, I thought you were beautiful, but I was a dumbass who didn't make good decisions. If I had I would have asked you out and maybe we'd be home together, and I'd be helping you study for your classes or we'd be going out to parties together. But, I'm not an idiot. I know that if what had happened to us hadn't, I would still be making ridiculously idiotic mistakes and I would never know what true love was. We would never have this beautiful daughter. I think that this all happened for a reason and now I have hope. Tomorrow we are going to stop Slade and we're going to get home and be a happy family once and for all."
Sara brushed the tears from her eyes. She reached into her pocket and grabbed his ring. She slid it on his finger and said, "Ollie, You are the light of my life. That day on the ship when I thought you drowned my heart broke. I thought I'd never see you again, and then I found out I was pregnant. I thought she wouldn't even make it to delivery, but you saved us both. You spent that day and every day after making sure we were safe and happy and loved, and I couldn't ask for anything more. I know we'll one day be off this island and home safe with this little girl," She said as she held up a giggly Mei, "Whatever happens to us tonight, remember how much I loved you today."
Oliver leaned in and they kissed. Mei giggled as she stuck her fingers on her parent's cheeks to get them to pull away.
Hours later, it was time to go. They left Mei with Anatoli; they had no other choice. He stayed back and was given orders to blow up the ship in an hour if they weren't back.
They walked to the Amazo and searched endlessly for the cure.
"Ollie?" Sara asked in a scared voice that made Oliver turn slowly. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist when he noticed Slade has his wife with a gun pointed at her head. He threw her to one of his men. Oliver fought him as long as he could, but Slade was too strong, so he too was thrown a henchman.
Slade paced back and forth. He kept yelling at Oliver and screaming as he pushed the water with his feet and grabbed his head in pain. Suddenly the ship was hit. Fire was blown through the room. Everyone was thrown in different directions. Oliver couldn't find Sara, so he yelled, "Sara get off the ship."
"Not without you," she yelled back. Oliver leaned over and grabbed an arrow off the floor. Slade came from behind and started to throw punches.
"Give me the Mirukuru," he screamed. He went to kick Oliver's face, but he guarded it and flipped him over, so he fell face-first on the ground. He got back up and kicked Oliver against a wall.
"Oliver," Sara yelled as she ran over to him. Slade grabbed her by the throat.
"NOOOO," Oliver yelled as she was thrown across the room. The ship was on its side, so Sara was pushed down by the water.
"OLLIE," she screamed. Then she was gone.
"I swam to the island, but I passed out on the beach. When I woke up the ship was destroyed, and I thought you died. I went to find Anatoli, but he was gone and so was Mei. I thought someone had killed them as well." Her breathing grew heavy as she remembered how horrifying those few weeks were. She felt nothing but darkness and pain. "I thought my entire world was gone and I-" Oliver cut her off but wrapping his arms around her letting her cry on his chest.
He waited until she had calmed down before asking more. "Sara, you've been following us around for weeks. Why didn't you come to us when you found out we were alive?"
Sara wiped her tears with her arm. "Because I'm not the person I was a few years ago Ollie. I was picked up by a group called the league of assassins. I was trained for years to hurt, kill even. I've done things to people, horrible things. Sometimes the people didn't even deserve it. I'm a monster and my daughter doesn't deserve to have that in her life."
What she said hit a hole in Oliver's chest. He thought of himself the same way. He didn't like the negativity he brought around Mei's life. All the people he killed; it took its toll on him.
"Sara, I'm not innocent either. I've killed people, too."
Sara rested her hand on his arm with a shake of the head. "It's not the same. You hurt people, to save others. I just followed Orders. I didn't have you or Mei anymore. I was so lost, and they gave me something to keep my mind on."
Oliver stood. "Sara, you are a good person. You might have done some terrible things in your past, but you can't let that change your future. Come with me and we can live the life we always wanted."
"You don't understand," she said with a sigh, "That's not the only reason I can't come back. If the league knew about you guys, it could put you in danger. They don't let people leave Ollie. If you sign up, you sign up for life."
Oliver swiped at his tears with his elbow. "I can help you get out of this. There has to be some way you can come home. We need you," he said desperately.
She grabbed for his hands and looked at them longingly. "I want nothing more than to come home, but people have tried to leave before, and they've all been killed. We can't put Mei's life in danger. She doesn't deserve that."
"She doesn't deserve to have to grow up without a mother either." They looked away from each other. "What if, what if I fight whoever the leader of this group is."
Sara shook her head. "No, you don't want to get mixed up in this. He has been killing people his entire life, he knows no life outside of being an assassin and if you die, who will take care of Mei. You know she needs you."
Oliver knew she was right, but he couldn't shake the feeling there was something he could do.
The room was small. It was surrounded by windows that gave it natural light and filled with only a bed, ceiling fan, and a small table. On the bed laid a man with long blond hair and no shirt. Suddenly, the man shot up, eyes wide and his hands gripping his pounding head. He didn't know where he was or how he got there. He leaned over and walked across the room, using the wall to keep him stable.
Before he got his full vision back, two men ran into the room shouting words he couldn't understand. One man threw him a shirt while the other pulled his suit jacket back to show his gun.
"Where is my daughter?" Oliver asked the men. Neither responded. One came over, grabbed his arm, and pulled him out of the room.
The sun was much brighter outside, and Oliver had to shield his eyes. The man who pulled his out pushed him towards a professional-looking woman.
"My name is Amanda Waller, Mr. Queen. We have a lot to discuss." The man behind her opens the door to a limo and waves for him to get inside.
"I'm not going anywhere until someone tells me where my daughter is," Oliver said.
Amanda gestured to the back seat. Oliver moved closer. His lips trembled as he jumped into the car and picked up Mei, who was crawling all over the seat.
"Da," she says with a tilt of the head a large grin. She reaches for him and sits on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and held her a little tighter than he probably should've.
"Daddy's here. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere," he promised as tears fell from his eyes and landed on her head. She looked at him, and he can see all the little things she inherited from Sara shining up at him. She might not have made it, but their daughter did. Oliver knew she would want him to be strong for her. "I'm going to keep you safe; I promise."
