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

AN: Thank you for returning to this story. It still amazes me how slow this website seems to be. I suppose because it's summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Anyhow, hope this finds you all well, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well. Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favs!

I apologize sincerely for the delay in this story. Real life sometimes kicks us hard at times. We power through it though. Then our Muse runs away as well or runs after bright, shiny, new stories. Darn Muse.

Without further ado, let's see what's going on in the Arrow cave.

Previously:

Sara fidgeted again in her seat. She grimaced as she said, "One other problem."

"What's that?"

"Slade Wilson is here."

Laurel watched as her boyfriend's face lost its color. He was paler than she'd ever seen him in her life. Her eyes moved rapidly between Sara and Oliver, waiting for an explanation.

Into the shocked silence, Laurel injected her question. "Who is this man, Sara?" She swallowed nervously. "Is he dangerous?"

Oliver picked up her hand and held it in his lap. "Well, he thinks I killed his girlfriend, and he swore revenge against me. I'll tell you the details later, all right, Sweetheart? All of this has been most difficult for me."

Turning back to Sara, he asked, "Alive? Slade is alive, and he's here. Here in Starling." Oliver released Laurel's hand, stood up and began pacing. He stopped and turned with a sigh towards Sara. "But how? I killed him."

"I guess, besides super strength and super healing, Mirakuru gives the person the ability to come back from the dead." Sara shrugged.

Mirakuru? What's that? Return from the dead? WTH. Laurel wondered to herself.

"How'd you know this?" Oliver asked in a tightly controlled voice.

"I saw him get out of a limo on the West side. Into a building which had been originally a League safe house. Yesterday."

"Does that mean he's a part of this League?"

"I never saw or heard any sign of him, Oliver since I've been in the League. The league had abandoned that building several years ago when Ra's gave up his hopes to enlist this city as a stepping stone for his plans for world domination." She added, "I was there checking for a place to stay."

Oliver sat down, his left arm resting on his knee and his chin resting in his hand. He gave out a heavy sigh. "I suppose you don't know what Slade's game plan would be?"

"No, but I don't think there's a chance he's forgotten what he told you he was going to do to you."

"What?" Laurel asked, not liking the tension she now felt in the room. "What was he going to do to you, Ollie?" Watching as some sort of silent conversation happened between the two, Laurel attempted to be patient. However, when it appeared as though neither was going to answer her question, Laurel cleared her throat. "Oliver! You said no more secrets between us."

"I meant ones that matter to our relationship, Laurel." Laurel was taken aback by the coldness of his tone. It made her angry.

"And this one doesn't? It sounds to me like we have someone gunning for us now. Besides the run-of-the-mill criminals we chase every night."

Sara jumped in with, "Laurel, you never did tell me why you're helping Oliver with this. You don't have the skills necessary for doing this, even though you did hold your own the other night."

Laurel gave her sister a withering look. "Let me tell you, sister of mine, I've changed plenty while you were gone. It started, oh, let's say, when my own sister stole my boyfriend and went away with him the moment we got serious."

Sara held out her hands. "Wait a minute. Serious?" She looked at Oliver, "Ollie, what does she mean?"

Running his hands through his hair, Oliver rolled his eyes. "We don't have time for this," he muttered to himself. Laurel could see he was attempting to control his anger. "I guess, Laurel, you have unresolved issues regarding Sara now that she's returned."

"You mean returned from the dead." Which reminded Laurel of the original topic. "How can this Slade return from the dead, by the way? Was this island some sort of fantasy island?"

Oliver sat down again. "Yea, we really need to address this and Sara, we need to let Laurel know everything so she can help protect your dad."

"My dad? Why?" Laurel sat up in alarm.

"Sara, you know he's going to be gunning for your family as well as mine." Directing his comment to Laurel, Oliver said, "Slade swore vengeance against me, and he threatened my family. He'd been injected with mirakuru, which was a Japanese superstrength vaccine from World War II. It made him super strong but –"

"But also cra-cra," Sara added.

"And that's what makes me worried," Oliver said. "We weren't able to talk sense to him back then. With the passing of five years, for all we know, he might be even crazier."

Digesting the information, Laurel sat for a moment. "We need to get the team on this right away, Oliver. We need Felicity to see about a city-wide facial recognition search, and perhaps have Dig and Roy hit the streets and find out any new players, and –"

Sara cocked an eyebrow. "Wow, Laurel. You haven't changed, always taking charge. Very impressive."

Laurel looked at her sister, trying to figure out whether the comment was meant to be condescending. She decided to take it as complimentary. "I've been working with Oliver all summer."

"And I'm happy to say, a quick learner," Oliver added. "You really don't have to worry about Laurel's safety, Sara."

"And of course, law enforcement is in my blood after all, Sara. What's your reason?"

"Something like Oliver's, I suppose. But you're right, we should brainstorm and figure out how to be both on the defense and on the offense."

Looking at his wristwatch, Oliver said, "We need to go home and get some rest. Sara, do you have a place to stay?"

"I can't very well come home with you, can I?"

Oliver made a sour face. "I suppose not, since you don't want to tell your father yet you're home. Even though Thea has been spending most nights at her boyfriend's, it would be our luck she'd come home tonight."

"It's alright, Ollie. I'll return to the League safehouse again."

"Well, Sara, both Laurel and I have to work tomorrow, as well as the rest of the team. So, we will meet back here after 5pm tomorrow. All right?"

"I guess so." Sara stood up. "But, I'm going to hit the streets tomorrow and see if I can catch a glimpse again of Slade."

"Be careful, all right?"

"Of course."

Laurel watched in silence as her sister left. She wondered what other secrets she was hiding. Looking at her boyfriend, who was also watching Sara leave, she wondered how many of those secrets Oliver knew. She gathered her purse and coat and, taking Ollie's arm, they left the lair.

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

Previously:

In his travels around the world, acting as an assassin-for-hire, Slade had met a young businesswoman whose hatred for the Queen family rivaled his own. Slade made an agreement with her, accepting her assistance in bringing the Queen family down. Thus, Isabel Rochev became part of the plan to bring down Oliver Queen and his family.

It had taken them a year to place Isabel Rochev into a position to enter Oliver Queen's life. Slade had told Isabel, "He wouldn't know what hit him."

"Of course, I've told you, Slade, it's his mother's reaction I'm more concerned with."

"You have your motives, and I have mine. Luckily, they dovetail in such a way that'll bring havoc and despair to both the Kid and his mother, I promise you."

The next day at the office, without warning, Oliver received a telephone call from Walter asking to see him at Walter's office in the afternoon. Walter refused to say what it was about, only that it was important. Oliver could tell there was something wrong by the strange note in Walter's voice. Even though he was concerned, Oliver pushed it aside to get the work he needed to get done.

When he arrived at the older man's office, Oliver was met by a solemn Walter, who welcomed him warmly. After leading Oliver to a chair in front of his desk, Walter cleared his throat as he sat down. His assistant asked about Oliver's choice for coffee and left quickly. Walter caught Oliver's gaze before beginning.

Without preamble Walter said, "The company's in trouble, Oliver."

"What? How?" Oliver leaned forward in his chair, bothered by this news.

"One of our competitors has been buying our stock, somehow, from our shareholders, gathering up a majority. At the same time, a rumor has surfaced which accuses me of wrongdoing."

"That doesn't sound good."

"It really isn't, Oliver." Walter rose and began to pace in front of Oliver. "I need to ask you to take over the reins."

"What? I don't have any experience, Walter. You know this. I never did finish any of the business degrees I started."

"We must present a united front, and that means for a Queen to resume leadership in the company."

"What about Thea?"

"You're not serious, Oliver? Thea is very smart, but she's barely an adult. You know I love Thea as a daughter, but she doesn't have the education or experience to instill confidence."

"And I do?"

Walter let out a small sigh. "At least you have the experience as an adult, having lived a life filled with varied experiences. And at least some college experience and credits."

"I'm not sure how my experience as a castaway will help save the company, Walter."

Walter was quiet for a moment. "It's all I got, Oliver. Until we figure out what's happening and who's behind this attempted takeover."

"All right. I lean on your experience and knowledge, Walter. If you say this is what we need to do, then we'll do it."

Walter nodded silently. Oliver looked at Walter with concern. "What exactly are these rumors, and –"

"And are they true? Well, they say I've been embezzling from the company, and of course it isn't true."

"Of course."

"I've tried to have some of the people I trust implicitly to look into it, and so far, they've found nothing."

"Who? Certainly not Felicity Smoak?" Oliver was positive Felicity would've said something about it to him if she was working on it.

Walter coughed. "I know I had recommended her to you when you first asked about someone to help you last year. I simply wanted to keep this concern within the top levels of management. Otherwise, I'd have used her on this as well."

"I thought you said you believed her to be more talented with computers than her own supervisor?"

Walter's face turned a little red. "Err, um, yes, that's true. I still stand by that. However, I was afraid of it leaking somehow, even though I do trust Felicity implicitly."

"I think we'd all benefit from Felicity doing some checking." Oliver himself blushed slightly as he said, "I'm going to see her tonight to get more of her assistance on another issue. Why don't I ask her to look into it for us?"

"I'm not sure I like her doing it after hours. One because she wouldn't be compensated for it, I don't want to have to ask her to work after hours. But also…her computer isn't as safe as ours would be."

"Seriously, Walter? As talented as she is, of course Felicity's personal computer system is most secure. Probably more secure than QC's"

"Well, I guess I never thought that through. It makes sense. It just shows how computer illiterate I am."

"Well, it's why we delegate, right? We can't all be great at everything."

The rest of the afternoon was taken up with the men discussing the plans going forward regarding Oliver taking over the company. The time passed quickly as the men discussed and debated the various issues. Before he knew it, it was time for Oliver to leave and get to the Lair. He wished Walter a good night as they made plans to follow up on their actions.

AN: Another chapter done. I suppose the next chapter Tommy will find out about Sara, and perhaps we'll see what else Slade is up to.

I hadn't meant for such viciousness to occur between the two sisters, but I think I like it. It seems natural. After all, Laurel hadn't had time to process her feelings with her sister present, and Sara did, after all, sleep with her boyfriend. Hope it read that way to you readers.

Please leave a review if you liked something about this and return for the next chapter when posted. Hopefully it wouldn't be as long a wait.