Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I'm only borrowing them for a while. I own the original ideas found in this.

AN: Thank you so very much for returning once again to this story. I apologize profusely for taking way too long in updating this story. Unfortunately, like so many of us 'amateur' writers, real life got in the way of my writing. Hopefully, though, my life will settle down soon. I'm finished with school (for now) and have moved, so I can now concentrate on writing. Besides looking for a job.

Previously:

Laurel ran up to Oliver as he approached the woman. Through a voice modulator the Woman in Black told them, "If you don't let me go, your lives will never be the same again."

Oliver told her, "No I think your life will be different." He ripped off her mask and gasped loudly. Laurel cried out as well as she observed who was under the mask.

"How is this possible, Sara? I saw you die."

All Laurel could do was look between her sister, being restrained in ropes like some sort of criminal, and her boyfriend, who had just said he'd watched her sister die. "Wait, Oliver, you said she drowned the night the Gambit sank. In the middle of the ocean. How can she be alive?"

Oliver looked at the love of his life and wondered how he was going to explain this. Whether he should. But he did decide to always tell Laurel the truth, now that she knew about the Hood. It left the biggest, scariest thing to tell her - his five years away. He simply wasn't sure how she would take it all.

"Ollie, you mean you haven't told her everything? Why does that not surprise me," Sara said with a wry smile.

Oliver sent her a hardened look. "Laurel, I'll tell you about it. But for now," he walked over to Sara as he was about to untie her.

"Wait, Oliver," Laurel said. "Shouldn't we get the truth out of Sara first before we untie her."

"What? You think I'll run away?" Sara said, a look of surprise on her face as if she couldn't believe her very own sister didn't trust her.

"Well, how long have you been in town and haven't told us you were here? Heck, even alive? What will our parents think?" Laurel asked her sister with all the unrestrained bitterness within her. "Or even what you've been doing since you've been here and why you're dressed like that."

"Maybe it's why I haven't told them. I haven't quite figured out how to tell them," Sara said, a look of sadness crossing her face before she gave Laurel a look of reproach. "I could ask the same about you, however." Shooting Oliver a look of angry, Sara asked, "How dare you bring her along with you, Ollie? I thought you cared for her more than that to get her involved with this crazy idea."

Oliver cleared his throat. "Regarding the reason why I 'allowed' her to do this with me, Sara, have you ever tried to keep Laurel from doing something she wanted to do? And regarding what to tell your parents, how about 'hey Mom and Dad. Guess what? I'm alive.' I'd think it would be a good beginning."

"With my father, Ollie? You think so? You really think it would go over well?" Sara asked, allowing all her skepticism to be heard.

After a moment Oliver shrugged. "Maybe you do have a point."

"Oliver!" admonished the other Lance daughter. "He wouldn't be that bad."

"Have you met our dad, Laurel? Tell me, how has he acted towards Ollie since he's been back?"

Laurel remained silent for a moment then shook her head. "That's different, Sara. He hates Ollie. He still loves you. You're still his favorite."

"I'm not sure about that, Laurel—"

"Why don't we save the sibling rivalry for another time? Sara, what exactly are you doing here?" Oliver asked.

"Ollie, do you really want to have this conversation out in public, on top of a roof, while all of us are in costume?"

Oliver considered their options. He also had his doubts whether Sara would stay in their company long enough to answer all their questions. He knew for certain she wasn't ready to confide everything to her sister at this time, if ever.

"What guarantee do we have you're not going to escape before talking to us?"

"I guess you just have to trust me, I suppose. Because it certainly would attract unwanted attention if by-standers catch a glimpse of a bound vigilante being led by two others."

Oliver said to Laurel, "She's right," as he began to untie her.

"Well, lead on, McGruff," Sara said once she was free.

Oliver led the way to where he and Laurel had hidden their cycles. "I suppose you can ride with me, Sara."

"Why don't you let me drive?" Sara asked with a cheeky grin.

"Have you been following us and know where our lair is?" Laurel asked.

Sara shrugged. "I mainly asked to get under Oliver's skin."

"I would strongly advise not doing that, Sara, at least for tonight." Oliver walked over to his Ducati. "Get on."

Sara shrugged again and sauntered over to Oliver and got on the bike behind him. Laurel rolled her eyes and got on her bike and followed Oliver as he took off.

Laurel had been tempted to pull ahead of Oliver and expend her angry energy into speeding to the Lair, but she controlled herself. It wouldn't be smart to have a vigilante speeding through the city without a reason.

~~OQ~~LL~~OQ~~LL~~

"So, Sara, start at the beginning," Oliver told her with steel in his eyes.

"Where exactly?" A small smile graced Sara's lips. "From the moment I was swept away the first time, for Laurel's benefit, or the second time for you?"

Laurel could tell Oliver was barely containing his frustration at her sister. She didn't know why Sara was being so difficult. Perhaps she was hoping to distract them from her story for some reason. Whatever the reason, it wasn't working, and Sara knew full well Oliver was going to blow if she didn't start talking.

"Laurel, your sister was separated from us when the yacht went under. I thought she was dead. Then a year later she shows up on a ship with a mad scientist and his crew." Oliver let out a huge sigh and rubbed his face with his right hand. "We'll tell you more about it, or Sara will, later. However, we were on the island together for six months when we got separated again." Oliver fell silent and looked down at his shoes.

"It was when he was fighting for his life with a man who had once been his friend." Sara's expression grew soft as she looked at Oliver. "During the fight, the ship we were on began to take on water. Something suddenly snapped, and torrents of water flowed into the hull. It ended up sweeping me away. Again."

Laurel studied Oliver as he sat there looking down. "You really weren't kidding. Those five years were awful, weren't they?"

Oliver looked up at her. "You've seen my chest and back, Laurel. You've seen my scars. I certainly didn't do them myself. Your dad was right. I'll tell you more about those some other time as well. Just know, seeing your sister swept from me twice, thinking she was dead, were two of the most difficult times in my life."

"So, Sara," Laurel turned towards her sister. "Not even Oliver knows what happened to you the past, what, five years?"

"Yes. What happened was, again, a ship passed through, however, this time instead of a mad scientist and his crew this ship carried a band of assassins."

"Assassins?" Oliver asked.

"Luckily, the leader was impressed with me, and his daughter…" Sara bit her lower lip as she paused. "She fell in love with me." Sara's glance went from Oliver to Laurel. "And I feel in love with her."

Oliver's eyebrow raised, and Laurel swallowed a small squeak of surprise. Sara let the information sink into the two before breaking the silence. "I spent five years with this secret, most powerful band of assassins. First I learned how to fight, then I…" She cleared her throat. "I became an assassin."

"I understand how you feel, Sara, because I…I became an assassin too." Oliver took Laurel's hand. "Laurel, I think both Sara and I feel like we had to do what we had to do to survive." Sara nodded when both turned to look at her.

"Wasn't there a time when you could've returned to us? Your family? Sara, so many awful things happened since you left. The worst is our parents getting divorced because of their grief over losing you."

"That might be partially true, Laurel, but you know Mom and Dad had always had their problems."

"Not bad enough to get divorced, Sara. Not even close."

The silence of the lair took over until Sara spoke again. "You don't know how they were the years you were away at school. It got a thousand times worse, and I don't even know why. It simply happened. I think," Sara looked at Oliver and said, "I think it's why I acted out, violating curfew, sneaking to parties, and…."

"And getting involved with my boyfriend."

"The shipwreck outstanding, I'm so sorry I did that. You know, I've always had a crush on Ollie. I…it wasn't right for me to do what I did."

"And of course, it wasn't right for me to invite her in the first place," Oliver offered. "But Laurel, are you still unresolved about it? I thought, I thought you've accepted my apology."

Laurel looked down at her hands in her lap, opening up and making fists again. "I thought I was. I really thought that. But now, with Sara here now, I have to work through those issues yet again." Looking at Sara again, she repeated, "Why didn't you return to us, Sara?"

"Like Oliver said, doing that kind of work, killing people, I thought…I thought I was tarnished beyond help. It's why, on the island before I was lost again, I had told Ollie to tell my family I was lost when the Gambit sank. I didn't want you to know how much I had changed. I wanted you to remember how I was."

"And you thought withholding the information from us was right, Ollie?"

"Your supposedly dead sister asked me to. And I thought what good would the truth do. I thought it would only give you more pain. So I did what Sara asked me to. And because I owed her for bringing her along in the first place."

"Why come back now?" Laurel asked, looking at Sara.

"Because I'm tired of the killing. It has become too distasteful to me, the things I have had to do. And…I was concerned how you, my family, were after the Undertaking."

"You heard about it?"

"Being the love of the Heir to the Demon enabled me to hear news, especially about my hometown. So one day, after one of my missions, I snuck away instead of returning with the others."

Oliver leaned back into his chair, a thoughtful expression on his face. After a moment he asked, "This cult, or league or whatever they are called, will they come after you? Did you make an oath to stay a lifetime?" He looked at Laurel. "It's what usually happens with things like this."

Sara squirmed in her seat. "There is that risk. I only hope Nyssa, that's his daughter, can convince him to let me be. But, mostly, I thought I would come here, check you out, and—"

"And what, Sara? Leave again? How could you do that to us?" Laurel asked standing up, tears in her eyes and her hands clenched into fists.

"I have no choice, Laurel. They catch up to me, or figure out I'm here, they'll kill me and you and Dad. Perhaps even Oliver and his family. It's something I don't want to risk." Her voice softer, Sara said, "I shouldn't have come home. But I needed to see if things were alright."

Patting her softly on her back, Oliver said, "It's understandable you'd want that, Sara. How long do you think you can stay?"

"Well, I've been here a week already. I wanted to make sure things were safe around here. First I heard of someone in the city punishing the one-percenters who had been doing wrong. I wondered who it was. I had a funny feeling I recognized him. I finally caught a glimpse of the 'Hood' a few nights ago." Sara looked at Laurel, leaning towards her. "I recognized him by his butt." A raunchy laugh escaped her. Oliver turned pink and Laurel simply shook her head.

Sara sobered and grabbed Oliver's hand. "Why are you doing it? On the streets?"

"Dad gave me a book before he died and told me to avenge his wrongs. He gave up his life for me, Sara. I…I must do it. For him." Oliver looked at her. "You don't have to worry about me. I have received pretty much the same training in the fighting arts you have. And I'll protect Laurel. She's doing pretty good out there."

A few moments of silence lapsed. "Yeah, I've seen her. You both."

"So…does this mean you're leaving then? Now that you've made sure your family's all right, and I'm not going to get either myself or Laurel killed?" Oliver asked, not hiding his bitterness and anger.

Sara fidgeted again in her seat. She grimaced as she said, "There's one other problem."

"What's that?"

"Slade Wilson is here."

AN: How's that for a cliffhanger? Again I'm sorry it took so long for me to continue this. Once I get going, it's fun coming up with alternate ways for things to occur. Hope you let me know what you think of this chapter and return when I get the next chapter posted. I have it mostly done, so hopefully it wouldn't be so very long. And I hope this chapter wasn't too boring, just the three of them. I guess they had a lot to discuss, covering five years of events after all.