Ellie Bishop: I wouldn't go that far, but yeah, it was pretty toxic. There's a theory out there that Constantine wasn't able to restore Sara's soul completely and it would not surprise me if that were true.

Guest: Glad you enjoyed it. Tell me about it. But because its Felicity, all is forgiven according to the writers. Thank you, you as well.

Arrow lair

Night

Oliver stared down at the copy of Quentin's blood work Diggle had just handed him, fury and dread welling up in him.

"You're sure about this?" Oliver asked.

"Got it straight from the doctors. Detective Lance didn't collapse because of any health issues, someone poisoned him with snake venom," Diggle said grimly.

"Let me guess, Tibet Pit Viper venom?" Sara asked as she reentered the lair, Oliver, Diggle and Felicity turning to her. "It's the League's specialty."

"You knew?" Oliver asked, noting she didn't look surprised, just angry and hurt.

"I suspected when I realized Nyssa was in town, she didn't exactly deny it when I confronted her about it. Nyssa's not gonna stop until she gets what she wants. And since my father is in a coma, her target will be-"

"Laurel," Oliver finished.

Roy's house

Not long after

Roy was asleep when his phone rang from its place on the nightstand by his bedside, waking him. Beside him, Jade groaned, tuning over as Roy picked up his phone. Seeing it was Oliver, Roy answered.

"This is my night off, this better be good," Roy said as he sat up.

"We think Laurel might be in danger. She's at Starling General checking on Detective Lance, head over there and keep watch. Look for anyone that seems suspicious and whatever you do, do not engage," Oliver ordered and Roy sighed.

"Alright, I'll be right there," Roy said before hanging up.

"What's going on?" Jade asked as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"A friend of mine needs a lift, their car broke down," Roy lied, feeling the knife twisting as he did. "I'll be back in a few hours."

"I can go with you," Jade offered.

"No, it's okay. I got it," Roy said, leaning down and kissing her before leaving standing up and grabbing his discarded clothes. "It'll be fine, don't worry."

Starling General

Later

Laurel had stepped out of her father's room to get some water. As the water poor into her cup, her hair stood on end. Someone was behind her, she realized. She whirled around; taking out the mace in her pocket before stopping as she realized who it was.

"You realize that mace won't work on anyone but your average crook, right?" Roy asked dryly as she lowered it.

"I didn't bring my gun," Laurel said as she pocketed the mace. "What are you doing here Roy?"

"Oliver thinks you might be in danger, he sent me here to watch you," Roy said and she looked at him perplexed.

"It's Starling City, I'm danger every time I step outside my apartment. What makes this any different?" Laurel asked and Roy shrugged.

"Not sure, but he sounded pretty worried," Roy said and Laurel sighed.

"More time fighting back," Laurel muttered and Roy frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Think about the last week. First, Blood gets murdered and Ollie is framed for it. Then, my Dad goes into a coma. Now I'm in danger. And part of me can't help but think that we did this by changing the present. The Ninth Circle wasn't even supposed to come after Ollie for another five years. Maybe-maybe this is time punishing us for playing God," Laurel ranted.

"Maybe this is our fault, maybe time is fighting back," Roy acknowledged after a moment. "But we knew there would be consciences to trying to change the future. We all agreed to do it anyway, you me, your dad, Thea and Mrs. Queen. Are you honestly telling me you'd make a different choice if you had to make it over again?"

"No. I'd make the same choice again in a heartbeat. Anything is better than that dystopian future," Laurel said after a moment and Roy nodded.

"Arsenal, Mia and Rene picked us for a reason. They trusted us with this mission, to help Oliver change the future. We can't stop now just because things aren't going as we expected," Roy said firmly.

Laurel nodded, conceding his point. Before she could say anything, an Arabian man in a lab coat rounded the corner. Roy looked over at him, feeling something off with this picture. Before he could even react, the man turned and buried a knife in his abdomen. Roy stumbled back, falling on his side as the man pressed a rag full of chloroform to Laurel's mouth before she could cry out. Laurel was knocked out almost instantly as the assassin picked her up bridal style. As he carried her out, Roy managed to get his phone out of his pocket and send a text to Oliver.

After transferring Laurel into a wheelchair, the assassin headed to a parking garage, where Nyssa was waiting. Loading Laurel into the back of a van, the door was closed and they got in. The van took off and was soon ridding down a road when, suddenly, a load screech pierced the air. The car windows shattered as Nyssa and the assassin saw Oliver and Sara headed towards them on a motorcycle. As they got behind the van, Nyssa climbed into the back. Nyssa fired multiple arrows as them but Oliver raised the motorcycle and the arrows bounced harmlessly off the bottom of his vehicle. Nyssa stopped, realizing it was pointless as the motorcycle went back onto the ground and Oliver gained on the van.

Sara jumped over Oliver and landed on the roof of the van. As Sara held on, Nyssa began firing arrows through the ceiling, forcing Sara to climb down until she was on the passenger's side window. Looking in, she got distracted as she saw Laurel. Nyssa took advantage of this, striking Sara in the jaw and causing Sara to lose her grip. Sara went flying, landing the ground as Oliver fired a few arrows, but they simply bounced off the back doors of the van as it got away. Oliver stopped, staring in horror as Sara got to her feet, letting out wails of anger and despair.

Starling General

Later

Oliver stood outside Roy's room in the hospital, staring at Roy's unmoving form in the bed as he heard someone rushing in. Turning his head, he saw an Asian woman he thought he'd seen Roy with at the club and at work a few times.

"Jade, right?" Oliver said, trying to remember her name.

"And you're Oliver Queen," Jade said, stepping up to Roy's room and looking inside. "What happened?"

"Not completely sure. I was visiting a friend in the hospital when I saw Roy being wheeled in on a gurney. From what I could get from the nurses, Roy was found in the hallway with a knife sticking out of his gut. He lost a lot of blood, but he's stable," Oliver said and Jade nodded, clear relief on her face. "Any idea what he was doing here?"

"He said he had to go pick up a friend, next thing I know, I'm getting a call that he's been stabbed. He's-he's gonna be okay, right?" Jade said uncertainly.

"From all accounts, he's gonna be fine. But he could probably use some company," Oliver said kindly.

Jade nodded before entering the room. Oliver waited a few more moments, watching as she took Roy's hand and sat down in her chair by his bed before turning and walking out. Nyssa al Ghul had just made things personal.

Arrow lair

Later

Sara was pacing back and forth, Diggle standing in the corner, arms crossed as Felicity sat at the computer, deep in thought. All of them looked up as Oliver entered the room.

"How's Roy?" Diggle asked immediately.

"He's lost a lot of blood, but he's gonna be fine. Roy got lucky, the way he was stabbed…it was a move designed to kill," Oliver said and he paused. "Any leads on Laurel?"

"I did some research on the drug Nyssa used on Detective Lance. Luckily for us, Tibetan Pit Viper venom is surprisingly difficult to transport. It starts losing its potency the moment it leaves the fangs," Felicity said before pausing. "Yet another sentence I never thought I'd say."

"So it was bought locally?" Sara asked.

"Not bought, Stolen. The Zoo had a break in. The perps didn't steal anything, so the cops chalked it up to a bunch of kids looking for a thrill. I pulled up the zoo CCTV footage from the night of the break-in," Felicity said, pulling up an image of a car before zooming in on the license plate. "I caught a plate. The car's a rental. Address is in the Glades."

Before Oliver could say anything, Sara's phone rang. Pulling it out, she answered almost immediately.

"Nyssa, don't do this," she begged.

"I tried to warn you, but you wouldn't listen," Nyssa said coolly. "I thought it would be instructive for you to know what it feels like to suddenly lose someone you love. To have them ripped from your life without warning."

"You're angry at me, fine, then punish me, take it out on me. Leave my family out of this," Sara almost begged.

"You have one day, Ta-er al-Sahfer. Make the right choice," Nyssa said coldly before hanging up.

Unspecified location

Same time

Nyssa pocketed the phone before looking back at Laurel, who looked at her without fear despite being tied up.

"You can't make my sister love you," Laurel said simply.

"You understand nothing," Nyssa said as she turned away from Laurel.

"I understand that you are hurt and angry, but this won't make it better. You can't force Sara into doing wat you want, I learned that the hard way," Laurel said, remembering her own attempts to convince Oliver to move in together and where that had led. "Forcing Sara to be with you won't make her love you. It will make her resent you and make you both miserable."

Suddenly, Nyssa's sword was at Laurel's neck. Laurel paused, honestly unsure if Nyssa would kill her or not. This was not the Nyssa she had seen on those recordings, this was the Nyssa who had been fully capable of blackmailing Oliver with Thea's life in order to get what she wanted.

After a moment, Nyssa lowered her sword back to her side and tuned away from her. And, despite herself, Laurel just felt sad for her, as her words had clearly struck a chord with Nyssa. Because, whether Nyssa would accept it or not, she knew that Laurel was right.

The Glades

Later

Sara stood outside a warehouse, holding her baton as she waited. She did not have to wait long. Nyssa's partner glided down on a silk sheet as Oliver jumped down after him. Sara rushed in as she and Oliver engaged him, using their baton and bow respectively as he blocked with his Sai's. However, Sara managed to behind him and put him in a neck lock with her baton.

"Where is Nyssa?!" Sara demanded.

In response, he slammed his head down on the baton, hard and a snapping sound was heard. Suddenly, foam began to leak from the assassin's mouth and Sara let go in surprise as he fell to the ground before stilling.

"He had a cyanide capsule in his teeth," Oliver realized. "Nyssa planned for this."

Angrily, Sara stuck her baton on a nearby car, shattering the window. But it did not make her feel any better.

Starling General, next day

Morning

Roy groaned as he came to, feeling a spike of pain in his abdomen. It all came back to him as his eyes snapped open.

"Laurel!" Roy tried to sit up but groaned as pain shot through.

This awakened Jade, who had dozed off in the chair by his bedside.

"Hey, calm down. You're lucky to be alive right now, I wouldn't go trying to save anyone," Jade said as she pushed back until he was lying in bed.

"Jade?" Roy asked his mind still not really awake yet.

"Yeah, it's me, your girlfriend. You wanna tell me how you ended up stabbed in the hospital when you were supposed to be giving your friend a lift?" Jade asked pointedly.

"It's what I was doing. Laurel's car broke down so she called me to give her a lift," Roy lied.

"Laurel, Laurel Lance?" Jade asked in surprise and Roy nodded. "How do you know her?"

"I dated Thea Queen. You tend to meet a lot of high profile people when you date a Queen," Roy said dryly. "We were about to head out to my car when someone dressed like a doctor stabbed me. Do you know if she's alright?"

"No, no she's not," Jade said before telling him what was happening.

Queen Consolidated

Afternoon

In the lobby, the crowd was getting prepared for Moira's press conference as Oliver made his way over to Diggle and Felicity.

"How's Sara holding up?" Diggle asked almost immediately.

"Not well. And I need you to pick up the trail on Nyssa, because Laurel is running out of time. We almost lost Roy to this psychopath, I'm not going to lose anyone else," Oliver said in a voice that left no room for argument.

"I'm on it," Diggle said before walking off.

"Oliver," Oliver and Felicity turned around as Moira and Thea approached. "We heard about Laurel, is there anything we can do?"

"Do the best you can on this interview. I'll worry about Laurel, okay?" Oliver said trying not to let his mother and Thea see how bad it was.

"And Roy? I heard someone was stabbed, didn't take long to figure out it was Roy," Thea said, worry for her ex shining in her eyes.

"Roy's fine, the doctors are gonna keep him a few more days, but he should be back to normal in a few weeks," Oliver quickly assured her.

As Oliver and Thea talked, Moira looked over at Felicity. It was clear to her that Felicity had not told Oliver, judging by the 'deer in headlights' look she sported at Moira's look. Moira raised an eyebrow in a 'what's it gonna be' way as Mark approached.

"Oliver, are you ready to introduce your mother?" he asked.

"With pride," Oliver said as they headed towards the stage.

Starling City Cemetery

Same time

Sara stood over her own grave, feeling an odd sense of finality. Her phone rang and she pulled it out, already knowing who it was.

"Time's up. Have you come to a decision?" Nyssa asked as she answered.

"Let my sister go and I will return with you to Nanda Parbat," Sara promised.

"You're doing the ring thing Sara, for both of us," Nyssa said and Sara resisted the urge to throw her phone into her headstone.

"We'll see," Sara said before hanging up.

Sara pulled out the vial of Tibet Pit Viper venom she had stolen from the same zoo Nyssa had gotten hers from, staring down at it as she heard a pair of footsteps approach. She pocketed it as she turned around to face Sin.

"Why'd you want to meet here? "Sin asked before seeing the headstone. "Whoa, is that-"

"Me, yeah," Sara said with a nod. "But that's not important right now. I need your help."

Queen Consolidated

Same time

"I say this with confidence. Because the Moira Queen that I know is more than a successful CEO and philanthropist. She is a loving mother who has devoted her life to raising two wonderful children. Just to tell you how special she is, I'd like to welcome her son. CEO of Queen Consolidated, Mr. Oliver Queen," Walter introduced as the press conference began.

"Thank you Walter," Oliver said as he took the podium. "I'm here to say a few words about my mother. It's no secret that many people think they know my mother, but they do not. My mother…is a tenacious fighter for what she holds precious and what she believes in. Never have I seen someone with so much passion and love in her heart. And I know she will use all of it to help this city. Moira Queen everybody."

The crowd erupted into a round of applause as Oliver stepped back and kissed his mother on the cheek before she took the podium.

"Thank you! Thank you Starling City!" Moira said as she began her speech.

Arrow lair

Not long after

"Sara?" Oliver called out as he, Diggle and Felicity reentered the lair.

"She's gone," Diggle noted.

"You don't think…" Felicity trailed off.

"Felicity, activate her tracer," Oliver ordered.

"You put a tracer on her?" Diggle asked as Felicity walked over to the computer.

"She has a habit of disappearing on me. I am not going to lose anyone to Nyssa al Ghul. And, if Sara has another intention, if half the things I have heard about Ra's al Ghul are true, we will all pay if Sara kills his daughter," Oliver said darkly.

Starling City docks

Not long after

"You are free to go," Nyssa said as she untied Laurel.

Laurel stood up, fingering her wrists where the ropes had been. Hearing footsteps, Laurel turned around to see Sara and Sin enter the room.

"Sara? What's going on?" Laurel asked her heart filling with dread as she realized what Sara was doing. "No. You can't-"

"Sin, get my sister out of here," Sara ordered.

"No, Sara," Laurel said as Sin grabbed her and, using her superior strength, began dragging Laurel out of there. "Don't do this Sara! We can find another way! Sara! SARA!"

Sara waited until her sister's cries had faded until she started walking towards Nyssa. However, she had barely taken three steps before she collapsed onto the ground. Alarmed, Nyssa rushed to her side, taking her into her arms as Sara opened her eyes, revealing hemorrhaging blue orbs.

"You took the poison," Nyssa realized in dread.

"Can't take the killing anymore," Sara said weakly.

"NO! NO!" Nyssa wailed in despair.

"Can't do it anymore. It needs to end," Sara said weakly.

"Sara? Sara!" Sin, having been alerted by Nyssa's cries, returned and rushed to Sara's side.

As Laurel quickly followed her, Nyssa got to her feet, rage filling her.

"If you want to be with your family so badly, they can join you in eternity," Nyssa said coldly as she drew her dagger.

Before Sin or Laurel could do anything, an arrow suddenly hit Nyssa's hand and knocked the dagger out of it. She whirled around, seeing The Hood standing behind her.

"Live or die. It's up to you," he told her.

Oliver then drew another arrow, notched it, and fired. Nyssa jumped out of the way, picking up her bow from a nearby table and notching an arrow with it. She turned back to fire but Oliver had vanished into the shadows.

"No one has to die today Nyssa. I can still save her," Oliver said, his voice seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once.

"Worry more about yourself!" Nyssa snarled.

She suddenly whirled around, firing at Oliver, who jumped out of the way. The two of them began firing arrow and arrow, none of which made contact. They rushed each other and, with matching blows knocked the bows out of the other's hand. Nyssa drew a dagger before an arrow flew out, knocking it out of Nyssa's hand. Oliver and Nyssa whirled around; both shocked to see who had fired the arrow.

"Stand down sister," Talia said, aiming an arrow at Nyssa.

"Talia?" Oliver breathed.

Silently, his teacher tossed him a vial, which Oliver instinctively caught.

"That should act as an anti-toxin for the venom in Sara Lance's system. Take it to her, my sister and I need to talk," Talia said calmly.

Silently processing the fact that his teacher was also the daughter of Ra's al Ghul (which sure explained a lot), Oliver raced towards where Sara, Laurel and Sin were. Uncorking the vial, Oliver began helping Sara take the antidote as Laurel and Sin watched with baited breath.

"This does not concern you Talia," Nyssa snapped.

"It does when my sister is coming into conflict with my student, risking war with our father, which will not end well for him, the League, or Starling City," Talia said as she circled Nyssa. "What a foolish woman you've grown into."

"You know nothing!" Nyssa snapped and Talia gave her a flat look.

"I know you have torn this city apart to force Sara Lance to return to the League. But do you honestly believe Sara will love you if she returns to Nanda Parbat in this manner?" Talia asked pointedly. "No. She will resent you and, in time, she will grow to hate you. And then, years from now, she will attempt to kill you. I have seen it hundreds of times in my life. And, when that happens, either she is successful and father will have her head, or you will be forced to kill her in self-defense. Either way, it will end with Sara's death."

Oliver had given Sara the antidote but Sara wasn't responded.

"Sara? Stay with me. Come on. Come on, stay. Not again," Oliver pleaded as he, Sin and Laurel watched, desperately hoping Sara would wake.

After a moment, Sara gasped, her eyes flying open, to their relief.

"There is only one way to ensure her survival. And only you have the power to do it," Talia told Nyssa.

Looking back at Sara, as Oliver helped her sit up; Nyssa saw the look on Sara's face as she looked at her. And the fight left Nyssa as she finally accepted her sister's words.

"Ta-er al-Sahfer, in the name of Ra's al Ghul, I release you," Nyssa said in a choked voice.

"Thank you," Sara said quietly, an unforgiving look on her face as she stared at Nyssa.

Nyssa silently melded into the shadows, leaving them alone.

"Talia-" Oliver started.

"I stepped in in order to prevent you and my sister from killing each other and incurring my father's wrath. It would be a waste of my training to allow that to happen," Talia said with a slight smirk. "You are doing well Oliver. Continue to do so."

Talia then followed her sister, blending into the shadow.

"How normal is this?" Sin asked after a moment.

"More than you'd think," Sara said breathlessly.

Arrow lair

Night

"So, you were trained by Ra's al Ghul's other daughter?" Diggle asked as Oliver relayed the whole story to him and Felicity.

"It seems so," Oliver muttered. "She never told me her last name but, the way she talked, how she fought, even how she knew so much about the League…I'm not sure how I didn't put it together before."

"Well, it's been a long day. I'm gonna take off. See you both tomorrow," Diggle said as he grabbed his jacket and walked out.

"You okay Felicity?" Oliver asked as he noticed how twitchy she seemed.

"No. I need to tell you something," Felicity finally said. "I would have told you earlier but with everything going on, there just wasn't a good time."

"Felicity," Oliver interrupted her rambling. "Whatever you need to tell me, tell me."

"Okay," Felicity said, taking a deep breath as she put her thoughts together. "Last year, when Walter asked me to investigate Tempest, I left an embedded account alert, programed to tell me if anyone ever accessed it again. Then, four days ago, there was a wire transfer made from Tempest to a numbered account at Starling National Bank."

"So someone's accessing Tempest again?" Oliver said on edge.

"Yes. Your mother," Felicity said and Oliver was confused. "She paid Dr. Gill, her doctor when Thea was born, a substantial amount of money."

"You know. About Thea," Oliver said lowly as he put it together.

"Yeah. And I went to confront your mother about it, trying to convince her to tell you-"

"Only to find out I already knew," Oliver said lowly, Felicity nodding, not liking the look on Oliver's face. "Why didn't you come to me about Tempest instead of digging into my family?"

"I wasn't sure what I was going to find. And…I was trying to protect you if It was something bad,' Felicity said lamely.

"Trying to protect me. That's the same logic my mother used to go along with Merlyn's plan," Oliver said, his voice growing colder with each word. "And going to blackmail my mother? What is wrong with you Felicity?! What gave you the right to decide you were God in my family's life?!"

"I just…I thought you deserved to know," Felicity same lamely.

"And you get to decide that? You get to decide what family secrets of my mother's I deserve to know? Is that it Felicity?" Oliver asked hotly and Felicity had no answer. "You should have come to me about Tempest! You had no right to dig into my mother's life, into my family!"

"I know," Felicity said quietly. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

Oliver turned away from her, trying to get his anger under control. Several moments passed before Felicity spoke.

"What are you gonna do now?" Felicity asked.

"Nothing," Oliver finally said as he turned to face her. "I realize that, in your own way, you were trying to help. Which is the only reason I'm not kicking you out and terminating your employment with Queen Consolidated right now. But let me be very clear Felicity. This is your second chance. There will not be a third."

Staling General

Same time

"You're free now," Laurel said as she and Sara sat in their father's room.

"I guess," Sara said, still in a bit of disbelief. "The League, it may have helped me survive, but it was also kind of a prison. I never really left it. Until now. I don't know what do now."

"Well, I think you have the rest of your life to figure it out," Laurel joked.

Sara's laugh was cut off by a groan. They turned towards their father's bed, seeing Quentin shifting as his eyes began to open.

"Dad?" Laurel asked as she walked over to his side.

"Hey sweetie. What happened?" Quentin asked weakly.

"It's a long story…but there's somewhere here to see you," Laurel said as she looked back at Sara.

With a gulp, Sara got to feet and walked over. Quentin paled as he saw her.

"Am I seeing things? Or is that Sara?" Quentin asked lowly.

"It's me Daddy. I'm here," Sara said, her voice thick with emotion as she reached out, taking his hand.

"She's back, she came home," Laurel said with an emotional smile.

Quentin nearly started sobbing himself as, ignoring the pain in his arms; he pulled both of his daughters into a bone crushing hug.

Arrow lair

Later

Oliver was taking out his frustrations out on a training dummy when Sara walked in.

"You've been crying," Oliver said, noting her red eyes.

"I was happy to know I still could," Sara said.

"Are you okay?" he asked in concern.

"Yeah. My dad, he's awake," Sara said with a smile.

"That's good. I'm happy for you Sara," Oliver said before attacking the dummy again.

"What exactly are you taking out on that dummy?" she inquired.

"Felicity," Oliver said as he stepped away from the dummy. "She took it upon herself to go digging into my family, decided to try and blackmail my mother."

"Wow," Sara said, completely taken back.

"Yeah. It's gonna be a while until I can trust her completely again," Oliver agreed. "So what now?"

"I don't know," Sara admitted.

"Me either," Oliver agreed.

"I do know one thing," Sara said as she stepped closer to Oliver. "I'm home."

For a moment, it was silent until they rushed forward, kissing passionately as Oliver helped her remove her jacket before she removed her shirt. He pulled her to him as it fell to the floor…

The more I rewatch season two in order to refresh my memory, the more I realize even back then, Guggie had his handiwork slipped in.

Case in point, Sara, who was trained by the League and knows all their tactics, not only doesn't search the Assassin working with Nyssa, but somehow can't stop him from taking the poison. Right.