"A family can be the bane of one's existence. A family can also be most of the meaning of one's existence. I don't know whether my family is bane or meaning, but they have surely gone away and left a large hole in my heart."
― Keri Hulme, The Bone People

Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow. Sorry I've been gone so long, guys. First my illness flared up and I was really sick and basically just lying around sleeping through treatment for the best part of a fortnight, then I was scrambling to catch up with my assignments, and between it all I just wasn't up to writing until now. Hopefully this is good enough to make up for things. Just a handful more chapters and the epilogue left now I think. (Though who knows what the plot bunnies will decide?)

Chapter Thirty-One

Bane or Meaning

"What's going on?" Thea pressed her brother, tone frustrated as she, Roy and Sin all trailed behind him, walking through the lobby of SCT towards Felicity's office. "Ollie, why're you being so weird?"

Oliver had been tense and curt since he'd arrived at Verdant and insisted the three of them come with him with the vague excuse of "there's something that Felicity and I need to talk to you guys about." His refusal to elaborate was driving Thea, who was already stressed after she had somehow managed to leave hand shaped imprints on the bar, out of her mind.

Lately, her temper (which had always run hot) had been on a hair trigger. It frightened her, and it was worrying Sin and Roy. They were remaining steadily loyal to her despite her frequent snapping and everything else, and they had acquiesced to her desire to keep her strange new strength a secret, but Thea was terrified that she would end up accidentally hurting somebody soon. The furniture she kept breaking was causing enough problems. And the more stressed she became, the angrier she grew (nowadays it seemed as if every emotion, fear, anger, etc, all converted into anger. She'd always preferred anger to fear, but now she wished she could just be frightened. Fear didn't make her shatter a glass with what seemed like a light touch to herself, sending shards everywhere) the more incidents she had. The rapid healing of her injuries was freaky too. She should've needed stitches after breaking the glass, but there hadn't even been a scar left by the time Roy had returned to the bar with the first-aid kit they kept in the office.

Thank God for Roy. His loving concern and the way he refused to flinch away from her despite the strange incidents surrounding her at the moment gave her an anchor to cling to in the middle of the storm her life had become. He was the only one able to calm her down and get her to breathe when her emotions started to overwhelm her. How she would manage without his support, she didn't want to contemplate. She doubted it would turn out well. What was she going to do? She couldn't rely on Roy to be around to calm her down 24/7.

Despite her desire to lose herself in worrying over what the hell was happening to her, she couldn't. Not right now at least, when she was so busy running Verdant and starting classes to achieve a degree in pre-med (she had decided, after her community service at the free clinic, to become a paediatrics nurse, as well as becoming far more involved in the charities her mother and sister-in-law both supported and helped. Before that she had never really cared much about them, the events were often dull and repetitive, and Thea had never truly understood or considered until then what life was like for those without the millions of dollars her family received daily even when QC was on the verge of being bought out by Stellmoor International.). Whenever she did start to brood (she wasn't as bad as Ollie was, but, like her brother (and her late father, according to Moira) Thea could "win the gold for Olympic brooding" as Felicity had once put it in a fit of exasperation.

"Just wait until we're downstairs, then we can explain," Oliver replied tightly, running a hand through his short hair.

Thea huffed. "'We' being yourself and Felicity, I suppose?" She asked. Oliver only hummed as they entered the office. To Thea, Roy and Sin's surprise, it was empty. They'd assumed that Felicity would be waiting for them within, but clearly not.

"Wait, did you say downstairs?" Sin echoed in surprise. "Wha'd'you mean, downstairs? How do we get downstairs from in...?" Her voice trailed off in surprise as the trio watched Oliver open a secret door and stand aside to reveal a set of concrete steps going down into the darkness. It was a scene straight out of a movie.

"What the hell, Ollie?" Thea exclaimed, staring in shock. "Why does Lissy have the entrance to a secret room in her office? What the heck is going on?"

"We'll explain everything downstairs," Oliver repeated his earlier sentiment. He gestured them forward. Thea hesitated, although Sin had a hint of understanding in her eyes (not a surprise, given she already knew that Sara and the Canary were one in the same and that the Canary and Artemis were working closely with one another) and Roy just seemed excited, his green eyes gleaming eagerly as he eyed the stairs. The mystery obviously intrigued him.

The kid had a lot of promise, really, despite his background. Oliver wondered if it would be possible to get him into the Police Academy, and made a mental note to bring it up with Quentin, who's demotion had been reversed recently and was now once again the Lead Homicide Detective. The man probably thought his fortunes had been completely reversed, and Oliver dreaded him finding out that Laurel had descended into criminality. It would surely devastate the man, and Oliver could only hope and pray that he wouldn't turn back to alcoholism, the way he had after Sara and Felicity's supposed deaths.

He pushed those thoughts away to worry over later, instead focusing on the present task of convincing his sister, her boyfriend and friend to come down to the basement. Or rather, of convincing Thea, as she was the only one reluctant to go down.

"Speedy, do you trust me?" He asked her.

"Of course," she confirmed without hesitation, much to his relief.

"And do you trust Felicity?"

"Yes."

"Then come downstairs with me," he urged her.

She exhaled heavily and nodded, and Oliver proceeded to lead the way downstairs where the rest of the team was waiting for their arrival.

Felicity and Sara were sparring furiously against one another, dressed only in workout bras and sports leggings. The scars that they had earned were on full display, making Thea gasp softly and stare in shock. Oliver realized that, despite it being about a year and a half since her return from Lian Yu (and everywhere else she had been), this was the first time Thea had spotted Felicity's scars. She had known of them, but knowing and seeing were very different things, Oliver knew that from experience already.

Meanwhile, Tommy and Aly were working on setting up some medical equipment that the two of them insisted were vital to "keeping you insane adrenaline addicts alive" as Tommy had put it to Felicity. They had become full team members now, and Oliver couldn't deny how good it felt to have his oldest friend's support in their quest to rid Starling City of crime, not to mention the relief he felt knowing that trained surgeons were on hand to help with any injuries. They tended to trade off who was in the base while the other watched the kids, but had agreed to both be here when they told Thea and her friends about their vigilantism.

When Tommy and Aly had presented their list of needed equipment, Felicity and Sara had proceeded gone out and returned having obtained a portable x-ray machine, an ultrasound machine and an EKG machine among others. According to Tommy, who'd appeared slightly freaked out, everything was apparently high-quality and in perfect condition, possibly not even second-hand. None of them had dared to ask how the two women had gotten their hands on it all, in case they actually told them.

Finally, Dig was monitoring the police scanner, but he spun around in the swivel chair on their entrance, rising to come over as he crossed his arms over his chest. Tommy and Aly stopped working on setting up the equipment (they'd been working on setting up a medical space for the past few days, refusing offers help so as to ensure that it was all arranged just the way the doctors wanted it to be. Oliver had been surprised at how ably they set up the machines, but Tommy had explained that the workers at the free clinic often fixed broken equipment or set up new stuff themselves to avoid the costs of hiring a professional. It had left them well-able to manage it themselves.), and the girls stopped sparring, Sara rolling her shoulder in a way that said that Felicity had probably hit an old injury.

"Hey guys," Felicity broke the silence.

"What the hell?" Thea said for the millionth time that day. "What's going on? Why do you have this...?" She trailed off, gesturing at the room to explain her meaning.

Felicity gave a small smile that failed to meet her eyes.

"Thea," she began. "I'm Artemis."

"Holy shit," Roy said bluntly.

Oliver thought it was a very apt statement.

Lian Yu: early 2009

"Slade! Slade!" Felicity raced to Fyers' camp, with Sara stumbling along at her heels. The other young woman hadn't spent the past year navigating the rocky terrain, and as such had not, as Felicity had, developed the ability to race over the uneven ground as easily as a panther. They had destroyed or claimed most of the mercenaries' equipment and weapons, but the missile launcher they had left alone. The camp was in ruins from the missile hitting it, making it all the harder to run through. But there was no time to pause, not when their only chance to get off this hellhole and back home to their families was at stake.

As they had feared and suspected, Slade was at the missile launcher's control pad. The covering had been torn off and tossed to the side indifferently, and the former ASIS agent was at the panel, his body blocking her view of what he was doing. But she could tell he hadn't activated it yet at least, and she said a mental prayer of thanks for the small mercy.

"Slade!" She called again, and he finally turned.

"Felicity," he muttered as she came to a stop just outside of arms length. Sara stumbled up beside her a moment later, chest heaving as she sought to regain her breath. "Stay back!" Slade demanded, eyes wild, aiming the tip of his sword at her chest.

She held up her hands like she was soothing a wild animal, keeping her voice soft and gentle. "Slade, we know you're going to attack the freighter. Don't do it, Slade. Please, you have to listen to me."

"I'm going to send that murdering son of a bitch to rot at the bottom of the ocean for what he did!" Slade yelled.

She barely refrained from flinching. He was degenerating before her eyes, and nothing she did even slowed it down, let alone put a stop to it.

"Slade, I agree with you that Ivo needs to pay for what he did," she told him.

And it was true, she did. What a change in personality not quite two years on the island had given her. Before washing up on the beach of Lian Yu, she would never have supported revenge, even if she wasn't always the best example of a law-abiding citizen (hacking being her main offence). Hell, she'd been openly against the death penalty, for crying out loud! Now, though, she had seen a different side of life, and changed as a result. Ivo had murdered Shado in cold blood, and he deserved to, he would, pay for it.

"So why are you trying to stop me?" Slade bit out, glaring at her. But he wasn't working at the panel and had lowered his sword from her breast, nor was he making any threatening moves towards Sara, who was hovering quietly and anxiously in the background, watching Felicity's attempt to talk her grief and drug-crazed friend down.

"Because if you destroy the boat, you'll destroy our only chance at getting off this hellhole," Felicity told him reasonably. Slade paused for a second, the haze of anger in his eyes seeming to clear a fraction. Then it returned, much to her dismay.

"So long as Ivo dies, I don't care!" He declared.

She pushed on grimly, choosing her words delicately to avoid setting him off again. "Think of Shado, Slade," she said, aware of the risk she was taking by mentioning their lost friend but doing so anyway. "She wanted nothing more than for us to get off this place, to go home! It doesn't have to be either avenge her or go home, it can be both! We can kill Ivo, and then use the ship to get to the mainland and then back home, to our sons! Don't you want to hug Joe again? I sure as hell want to hold Will and never let him go. If you destroy that ship and leave us all stranded here, Slade, then what the hell did Shado die for?"

Slade stared at her for several long moments before at last, to her utter relief, he stepped away from the control panel.

"Alright Princess," he said gruffly. "I'm listening."

The trio listened to Felicity and Sara's explanation with wide eyes. Thea and Roy shot looks at Sin when she admitted to knowing that Sara and the Canary were one in the same, but said nothing about it. Felicity hid her nerves with practiced ease as she spoke. She loved Thea dearly, and knew that, to Oliver, his sister came just behind their son in terms of importance. She had been worrying over her reaction to the news since they had decided that they had to tell them what they knew, given Thea's situation, which Sara had grimly reported to overhearing was getting worse.

Technically they could've just told Thea, but Sin knew a large amount already from Sara, and asking Thea to keep something so major from the guy she was in love with, especially when his idolization of Felicity was so well-known, would have been cruel. They'd judged the risk to be minimal, given that Thea, regardless of her reaction, wouldn't want her brother to end up in prison, Sin was already keeping what she knew to herself, and Roy was almost a team member already, given the whole informant thing.

"So," Thea said slowly, taking in everything all of the information that had been dumped on her in the past ten minutes. "Felicity is the vigilante whose been going around shooting people full of arrows for the past year and a half?"

"Yes," Felicity confirmed softly, keeping her gaze on her sister-in-law.

"I know you must be furious with us for keeping this from you," Oliver said, voice a bit choked and gaze fixed on his little sister. "And this probably won't mean much, but I swear Speedy, all we were trying to do was keep you safe. We only lied to you to protect you."

"If we were caught and arrested, you'd get off because you didn't know," Felicity added.

Thea turned to look at them. "That time with the hoods," she muttered. "You were the one who saved me. Artemis hadn't been seen for months until then. Not since the Undertaking. And then again with those masked guys a few weeks ago. You saved me then, too."

"I was exhausted after the Undertaking," Felicity explained apologetically. "I felt that I had failed, and the family needed me. I needed to take a step back from being Artemis for awhile. But I could never have stood back when you were in danger, so of course I went after you. And as for the masked guys, yes, that was me as well. You're my family, I will always come after you, Thea love. Always."

Thea looked around. Everyone else had drawn back, leaving the Queens to speak in relative privacy, though Roy kept casting glances over at his girlfriend to check if she needed him.

"All those times you weren't around, or I got upset with you because I knew that you to us were lying about something, keeping something from me and Mom," Thea murmured. "All of those times, you were saving somebody's life, putting your own lives and freedom on the line to do it."

"Thea-" Felicity began, not fully certain what she was going to say, but she was cut off when the younger woman tackled her and Oliver in a group hug.

"Thank you," Thea said empathetically. "Thank you so much. I am so proud to be your sister. You are so strong, Lissy. Thank you, I love you guys both so much."

A heavy weight removed itself from the couple's shoulders at Thea's reaction. They had been dreading her response since deciding it was time to inform her of the truth and do something about the Mirakuru. She had never been a supporter of Artemis, even if she didn't dislike her as much as other members of the 1% did.

The complete acceptance and, furthermore, the pride she expressed towards their illegal activities was completely unexpected. It took away the fear they'd been carrying and put smiles on their faces brighter than they had worn since Sara and Felicity had realized that Mirakuru was in play in the world once again.

"You guys done hugging things out then?" Roy called, making several members of the group roll their eyes and causing Sin to thump him on the shoulder in chastisement at his insensitivity.

"We'll talk more later, right?" Thea asked her brother and his wife.

Felicity nodded in agreement. "We know you must have questions, details you want to be filled in," she agreed. "Once, once we've explained the rest, we'll answer any question you have."

"What is the rest?" Sin wondered.

"And for that matter, why now?" Roy added. "You've kept this secret for so long, we had no idea you guys were all involved in this. Why tell us now?"

Felicity and Sara exchanged grim looks before turning to Thea.

"You mentioned the masked guys earlier," Sara began, to give her friend time to compose herself. "Do you remember what they did when they had you?"

Thea was made confused and nervous by the question, and her anxiety wasn't helped by the grim looks worn by the members of Team Artemis (as Tommy had dubbed them, much to Felicity's dismay). "No," she shook her head anxiously. "I thought-I assumed they wanted a ransom. What did they do to me?"

Sara exhaled heavily, Oliver took Thea's hand to lend her his support, and then the Canary began to explain Mirakuru and everything they knew about it to the young brunette, who looked more and more frightened with every word that fell from the blonde assassin's lips.