A/N-My apologies for the late update, I had a nasty storm that knocked out my internet for a few days.
A special thanks to Maquis-Leader for helping me with some of Ra's dialogue and allowing me to play with her concept of how powerful Ra's is compared to Oliver's jack of all trades, master of none. (Except for archery.)
Oliver left Verdant, knowing that he was being followed by plain-clothed cops. He walked down several alleys before scaling a fire escape. He perched himself behind the concrete wall on the rooftop and peeked out to watch the plain-clothed officers illuminating the dark alley with their police issued flashlights. The high bright beams of light danced around the laneway, casting dark shadows.
"Where did he go?" One asked, with a gruff voice.
"The guy's not stupid, he spent the better part of five years on a jungle island. I'm sure he learned how to hide from predators like tigers, bears, crocodiles and the like..."
They were right he did know how to hunt and hide from predators, but it wasn't the animals that gave him pause. It was people. Monsters like; Kovar, Reiter, Winters, Ivo or Fyers. What the police didn't realize is that while it was true he knew how to evade his pursuers, he also learned how to turn the tables on them to become the predator.
Oliver paced away from the alley in a crouch, leaving his tail behind. He knew what he had to do. It was the only way to keep his family safe. Malcolm had thrown a grenade, a timed explosive into his family, and only now was it tearing his life asunder.
He walked down a long hallway lit with braziers every so often. Oliver felt the heat kiss his skin as he walked past them. The dimly lit claustrophobic hallway was hard to breathe in thanks to the lack of ventilation. Sara had told him that The League used outdated methods, but he didn't expect them to be casting fires for light, especially in a building connected to the city grid.
He prayed that what he had to do, had to say was believed by Ra's. It was the only way to keep his family safe. Laurel's words rang through his head as if she was right next to him.
"A mark of a hero is someone who is willing to sacrifice their wellbeing for innocent lives. You are a hero, Ollie." She had told him that to reassure him that he was doing the right thing going out every night as the Green Arrow, even when he had his infant son waiting for him at home.
Starling may never come to realize what he was planning on doing. How he was not just giving his life for a mass murderer, or his sister, but preventing the slaughter of every innocent life or otherwise in his city. It didn't matter to him if people knew. Even if some did; those in his inner circle. His friends and family.
He watched Nyssa walk towards him, bow resting in her hand. "Where is he?" He asked, cutting straight to the point.
Nyssa snarled, "Do you think my father, The Demon's Head, would grant you an audience simply because you wish it?"
He certainly hoped that him making his way to them, and requesting an audience, would allow him the chance to protect his family. "Yes, because I ask it."
Nyssa's lips were slightly upturned. "This way." She walked ahead of them, neither saying anything as he followed her into a large room, with men and women cloaked in their League garb, lined up in rows.
In the front and center of the soldiers, he saw the robbed man. Ra's. He was facing away from him. Oliver, out of the corner of his eyes saw Maseo— Sarab. A phantom wearing his friend's face like a mask.
"You will kneel before, Milak , The Demon's Head," Maseo commanded, as he held the grip of his blade.
Oliver straightened his back; he was not sworn to Ra's. Nor was he subservient to him. Oliver held his hands behind his back, in a polite, yet formal pose. He was willing to show some respect to the man if the older man would listen to him.
Sarab withdrew his blade, and stilled, as he caught sight of his liege raising his hand. A silent command.
Ra's then turned around, He looked Oliver up and down with a curious, meticulous eye. As if he were evaluating Oliver before him.
"You're just a boy." Ra's mused as if Oliver was a mere curiosity. "When we last saw each other earlier, you hid under the hood of a man that is much older than yourself.
Oliver remained stoic, yet once mentioned he was just a boy, his mind immediately found Connor. The jewel of his life. Connor would never grow up with a father. But he would at the very least have a loving mother, a protective loving aunt, and father figure in Diggle. And a grandfather in Ted Grant.
"Mr. Queen." Ra's said as he slowly walked towards him, his robe trailing behind him. "You failed this city. You are but a pariah, an outcast. A criminal. Now, no one will negate what will be done to the city you love, blood will flow through the streets. Blood of every person in this city that you protect and love."
He felt his jaw clench. "Nobody in my city will die tonight."
"You were given an option boy; Hand over the person responsible for the death of; Ta-er al-Sahfer. You failed to do so. You chose a different path that was offered. So, unless you have come to offer a name so that we will do what is necessary until either you or your comrades will give us what we need to perform justice."
Ra's walked around him, and Oliver ceased to hear the man's muffled footsteps. "You come alone?"
Oliver gave a short jerk of his head. "I killed Sara." He looked calmly at the confused and hurting, Nyssa. "Sara begged me to skewer her with arrows. She couldn't handle the guilt on her conscience." He turned his head to look at Ra's. "You know this to be true, she wasn't stripped of her humanity from either Lian Yu or by The League. She was brought up by a man that had a very different philosophy to what you have here."
Oliver paused to let them digest his words. "It wasn't the first time she had chosen death over The League." He looked at Sarab with disgust. "I can't say that I don't understand."
Oliver internally prayed that Ra's, Nyssa and Maseo would believe his lie.
Ra's walked back to face him, face to face. Despite the man's shorter height, it felt like The Demon's Head was towering over Oliver, just with the way he eyed him. "I should have my horseman, Sarab make you a head shorter. Not for killing my daughter's beloved." He said slowly and methodically. "No, Mr. Queen, I should have you killed for you think me a fool."
Oliver bit the inside of his cheek. It was a gambit, and he should have known better than to try to outwit the man who has lived for centuries. "By League law, I have a right to trial by combat. Do you accept?" He asked slowly, and dangerously.
Ra's exhaled audibly through his nose in amusement. "It has been just shy of seventy years since someone has challenged me."
"Do you accept?" Oliver repeated.
"Oh, yes." Ra's said with a slightly amused voice. It's as if it were a child requesting an adult to a fight. It was at that point that he truly felt out of his depth. Ra's then walked away, leaving all but Sarab and Oliver behind. "You boy, have been trained well, but you are no master at fighting. I will show you what a master is truly capable of very soon, boy."
Sarab turned his head towards Oliver. "You didn't kill Ta-al-Sahfer. I have no desire to watch an old friend of Maseo Yamashiro's be killed." For a glimmer, a brief second, Oliver thought he saw his old friend back before it molded back into the phantom that stole his face. "Under our code, you have twelve hours to settle your affairs. On the thirteenth hour, you must be here." Not-Maseo handed Oliver a small note.
Oliver turned on his heel and walked out. He was under no illusion that they would punish him and everything he loved if he reneged on their customs.
:-: :-: :-: :-:
Samanda walked in the offices of the FBI, she couldn't believe it, she had arrested some of Starling City's criminals that were known to be elusive, and fly under the radar. Nothing that they, nor the local cops had on them ever stuck, and yet she had caught them.
As she opened the door to the bullpen, all her colleagues stood and clapped. Her senior agent walked up to her, shaking her hand. "You caught The Skipper . You caught that slippery asshole."
Samandra chuckled, and beamed at her superior, "Not just him, got his left and right hand as well. On top of all that, I also managed to also get two judges and a police lieutenant from Lamb Valley, and then guess who else? The deputy mayor."
"Damn. As if Starling City needed another scandal, their vigilante problem, terrorist attacks now this?" He clicked his tongue, before speaking, "The Irish must have been paying off all these people with more than sexual favors?"
Samandra gave a proud snort, "The computer guys have their computers. It's a matter of time before we find their money. Once we find it, who knows how far down the rabbit hole it will lead us?"
"Thank you, Daniel Brickwell, you, Cockney bastard."
"He is definitely the gift that will keep on giving." She said with pride, she could now show her superiors that despite the precariousness of her being in debt, she is a good agent and is an asset that is worth promoting.
All she had to do was keep Daniel Brickwell on a leash, and keep the carrot in front of him, and together they would be able to save hundreds of lives, and she would get the recognition she deserved and the promotion that will help her care for her brother Georgie.
:-: :-: :-: :-:
Thea sat on the cold steel bench and looked through the hard-translucent barrier to see Roy dressed in his prison jumpsuit. She hated having to the man she loved dressed as a guilty man as if he hadn't saved Starling from Slade, and his Mirakuru soldiers, or helped her and her family evacuate The Glades.
Her eyes stung as she looked at him, her eyes threatening to give way to the teary floodgates. "It didn't have to be this way, Roy."
She watched for what felt like hours, as his throat bobbed up and down as he attempted to rein in his emotions. He was trying to be strong. "Yes, it did. I did it for justice, and for my real family."
Her, Oliver, Connor, and Laurel.
Roy fell upon his sword, so they didn't have to. It was all Malcolm's fault, and they couldn't do anything because the rat bastard had recorded her killing Sara. Knowing how meticulous and conniving Malcolm was, he likely had more than one redundancy if he was either attacked, killed or his footage was destroyed or altered.
"I'm sorry…" She said as she pressed her hand against the pane.
"I'm not." He said sincerely. " You gave me a family, Thea. People that care about me, unconditional love. And it goes both ways." Roy mimicked her gesture, it wasn't what either wanted, to be separated by the barrier, but for now, it would suffice. "I never had a real family growing up and all of you gave me a place to belong."
"I love you." Thea croaked.
Roy looked pained, as if he wanted to say more, but couldn't. "I love you too, Thea Queen." He responded with a few tears escaping his eyes and falling down his cheeks.
The guard then patted his shoulder and helped Roy stand and leave the visitor area, and back to his cell.
:-: :-: :-: :-:
Laurel watched, as Oliver was whispering promises and declarations of his love to their son. Laurel blinked away the tears, as she busied herself washing up the dishes, after a little while, she noticed that Thea had silently started wiping the dishes with a tea towel.
Laurel lowered her voice so that Oliver couldn't hear her in the other room. "Ollie tell you about what he has to do?"
Thea nodded slowly, her lips pursing slightly. "First Dad, then Mom, Roy and now, Ollie… Feels like everything is being ripped apart." She mumbled.
She wished she had platitudes to give to her baby sister. It was her job as the big sister to keep Thea safe and happy. She was failing. Just as she had with Sara.
After a short silence, Thea wrapped her arms around Laurel. "How are you feeling?"
"Lost? And I can't help but feel that warriors are meant to be alone. If I never took you under my wing, Roy would be safe. If I never let myself get close to Ollie, he wouldn't be giving up his life for us." She exhaled. "I'm starting to think that Ollie was wrong when he came back from the island. He's not the one cursed. I am. Everyone I love leaves me sooner or later. I was told to focus on what I have, but… It all comes tumbling down eventually."
Thea tightened. "I'm not going anywhere, and I'll if Malcolm comes near Connor, I'll kill him. We're sisters, we have to protect each other."
A few seconds, a distraught, pale-faced Oliver walked slowly in. "Roy…"
"Ollie?" Thea asked as he kept one arm around her sister for support.
Oliver's lips thinned, as he tried to talk. "Roy… Roy was killed just under an hour ago, he was killed by a prisoner that held a grudge…" He looked at Thea, looking so broken, so guilty. "I'm so sorry, Speedy."
Thea felt her legs give out from under her and realized that she hadn't fallen, that Laurel had kept her up. "Roy's gone?"
The room was silent, as Thea, Oliver, and Laurel wept in each other's arms, at the loss of one of their family members.
Just then, Felicity and Diggle walked into their apartment. Diggle looked apologetic. "Please forgive us for this?"
Just then Roy walked between them, with his hoodie raised. Thea sprung from her place in the kitchen and into Roy's arms, hugging him, and kissing him. "How?" She murmured. Resting her head on his shoulder.
"Dig had a guy, a contact of Lyla's that knows how to fake someone's death. Roy Harper is dead."
"And Oliver Queen is innocent. A free man" Felicity beamed.
:-: :-: :-: :-:
Oliver looked at Laurel, and gave her a watery smile, and held her hand. He needed her to ground him. "Not for much longer. Ra's has given me the opportunity to save Thea. I'm going to fight him, in a few hours' time.
Diggle frowned. "That's why you tried to put yourself into custody?"
"Ra's gave me two options; One, give myself up to the SCPD, or two, hand over the person who killed Sara. Considering I can't do that." He said gesturing towards his sister. "I'm taking her place."
"Oliver that's suicide," Felicity said narrowing her eyes at him. "What about us? Or your son, Connor?"
Laurel squeezed his hand as she spoke. "In the event, he doesn't survive. Oliver and I have discussed the future."
"So, you are just giving up?" Felicity continued, looking at the other members of the team for assistance. "You can't stop fighting, that's not who you are!"
"I'm being realistic. Getting my affairs in order before I fight a man that has lived more than any man has, or should. A man that leads a cult of assassins, The most ruthless fighting force in human history." He then looked at Diggle, before looking at Felicity. "We're not discussing this. The arrangement has already been made." He was going to protect his sister, his family, and his city.
Considering Oliver had said his farewells already, he moved to Laurel and gave her a searing kiss, moved to Thea to peck her on the forehead, shook Diggle's and Roy's hands and giving Felicity a small embrace, whilst ensuring she didn't put a tracker on him. Afterwards, he walked out of the apartment for the final time. Forcing himself not to look back.
Roy looked down at his shoes, before looking around. "I should head off as well. I can't be seen around here." He made his rounds muttering his farewells, before walking out with Thea to his new car, where she would give him a final farewell.
:-: :-: :-: :-:
Brick left the confines of his cell, and is slowly escorted to the weight room, as he opens the heavy door, he sees a number of other fellow inmates, he nods at some but continues to his bench, that holds the heavy bar of weights that he has been utilizing when he comes to exercise.
As he waltzed it towards the bench, every one of the inmates made way for him and stepped away from his direction. Once he makes it, he sighed sitting down at the edge of the bench and adjusts the prison jumpsuit before laying on the bench and starting his repetitions.
As he does so, another inmate stands above him to spot him while he lifts the heavyweights. After a few reps, he lowers the bar, ready to raise it once more, instead, the inmate held the bar down on him, and produced a shank.
"Snitch!" The man then stabbed Brickwell in his side.
Brick cried out, flinging the heavy bar at the inmate sending him hard to the ground. He panted, as he put pressure on the stab wound and trundled towards the now incapacitated inmate. Brick kicked the man in the face, before he picked up a heavy steel bumper plate and straddled the man, lifting the weight high above his head, and listening to the man beg, he threw the plate just away from his head, and retreated calmly away from the man, waiting for the guards.
As the sirens blared, the guardsmen ran in wielding their clubs, it reminded Brick of his former adversary. She had disappeared around the time of The Undertaking. As much as he would regret not being able to exact justice upon her. Now that she is now gone. Sure there was a rumor that she had appeared in Central City, but it was the words of people he could never trust. Lowlifes that would do anything to have him on their side to ward off potential threats, he had loftier goals that he had to return back to Starling City.
And now that The Green Arrow and his Merrymen have been made pariahs, and the man himself is now dead. No one would stand in his way from taking control of the city and taking back his position as the most powerful man in Starling. The Canary couldn't take his throne from the grave.
:-: :-: :-: :-:
Laurel returned to her home after hitting the hard-bags to release some of her pent up frustrations at the world. She knocked on the door, expecting their babysitter only to her mother. The woman that only appeared once Sara came back into their lives. She hadn't visited her eldest daughter in Central City, nor Starling. She just up and disappeared for years and came back once she knew Sara was alive.
During the birth of her baby, she had asked for her mother not to come, only for Ollie to convince her that her mother deserved a second chance, and should have the opportunity to know her own grandson. Thinking of her husband made her heartache, knowing that he was marching off to his death by himself.
"Mom?"
"Hi, Sweetheart," Dinah said as she wrapped her arms around her daughter. "Connor is asleep, and feed." Laurel blinked, as her mother continued. "I paid your babysitter, what's her name? Something Dawn Granger… at any rate, I cleaned up the mess of children's toys in the living room, along with doing your son's laundry."
Laurel bit her cheek, so that she didn't say anything to her mother about imposing, nor turning up without warning, especially now of all times. "I didn't know you were coming to town?" She managed to say.
"I thought it would be a nice Christmas surprise for my family." She said with a beaming smile, "So where's Sara?" Laurel inhaled deeply, and blinked away her tears, as she relieved witnessing her sister falling down from a rooftop in front of her and Connor. Laurel moved around her mother to put down her handbag, pretending to be busy. "She's not answering my calls."
"… She's umm…Backpacking through the Andes." Laurel explained haphazardly, "I think…"
She couldn't deal with another person falling apart. She was barely doing that herself.
She looked up from her shoes to see her mother looking at her with sadness and grief. Instead of calling her out, her mother asked a different question, how was work, how she was coping after her father's death, and how was Connor.
They certainly were loaded questions and one that she didn't feel like sharing with her mother. She had been in London with her new partner, a doctor, for close to just over six years after the Gambit, and never made contact with her. She only came to Starling and the birth of her grandson because it coincidentally coincided with Sara's reappearance. She didn't even send birthday cards or Christmas cards.
"I'm fine. Works great, I married Oliver a few days ago, Connor's been full of life…"
Her mother looked at her with glassy eyes, seemingly ignoring the fact that her eldest daughter was now married, and decided to come back to Sara. It was always Sara with her Mom. "Something happened," She said, before adding. "Sara?"
It should have stung more than it did, her mother prioritizing Sara over her, over Connor. Perhaps Ollie was right last year when she said that Connor still had one grandmother who loved him unconditionally. "What?" She asked not expecting her mother to ask about Sara again so quickly. "No. No. Nothing's happened, Mom." Laurel tried to assure her.
"Don't insult my intelligence, Laurel." Her mother admonished Laurel. "It's Sara, isn't it?" Without allowing Laurel to breathe, to prepare herself, her mother continued. "When I mentioned your sister's name earlier, you seemed so broken."
Laurel shook her head. She couldn't deal with this. She had lost Jo, Tommy, Moira, her Dad, Sara, Roy and now, Ollie. Speedy was in the same boat as her. She couldn't handle seeing another person grieve.
"Sara is fine, Mom." The words felt sour to her mouth as she told the lie. "She's just being Sara."
Her mother gave her another disbelieving look. "You will find this out when Connor gets older, but there are very few things stronger and more powerful than a mother's intuition." She then sat next to Laurel on the sofa, "You're hiding something from me, Laurel. I know it."
Laurel looked down at her wedding band, spinning it around her finger until she felt her mother gently hold her hand in hers. "She's dead? My baby is gone?"
Laurel could only nod, and for a few seconds, nothing was heard besides her mother's weeping. "Mom, listen to me. Sara was involved with very dangerous people. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, Sara drowned with Robert Queen."
:-: :-: :-: :-:
Laurel, cradling her sleeping son in her arms followed her mother into the graveyard, instead of walking straight towards her father and sister, she laid a few flowers in front of Jo's, Tommy's, and Moira and Robert's graves before making their way to her father and sister's resting places.
Laurel knelt down in front of her father's tombstone, and rested her free hand on it, praying that he would look after Sara on the other side. She then turned and stood back up and moved a few paces behind her mother, who was kneeling in front of Sara's grave.
Without looking away from the headstone, her mother asked her if she remembered how she would play dress ups with each other when they were little. She explained that one day when they were playing, she had overheard the two of them pretending to be older versions of themselves.
Laurel smiled at the memory, Sara was a doctor, with a family, while Laurel was a cop just like Dad was, she like Sara also had kids. She bounced Connor slightly, to adjust his position on her arm. Only she had been able to see most of her dreams come true.
Was it wrong that she felt slightly guilty at the thought that Sara would never have that?
"She deserves more than this." She then looked over at her last living daughter, "You're her right? The Black Canary?"
Laurel blinked as it came out of left field. "Excuse me?" How did she even know?
Her mother didn't even explain, she just gave Laurel a determined commanding look, "You have to do whatever it takes to bring the person down, make them pay for what they did to your baby sister." Her mother then placed a strong hand on Laurel's free shoulder. "We always told you since you were young that it was your job to look after her, your baby sister."
Laurel gulped; Ollie was already giving up his life to protect Thea. To protect Starling and their family. Malcolm had weaseled his way into their protection with mutually assured destruction. It was more complicated than her mother would ever know. "Whoever did this will get their comeuppance." It may not be today, or tomorrow or even years from now. Malcolm will get what he deserves, especially after what he did to her two sisters. To her family.
Right now, Laurel's main priority was clutched to her chest, sleeping and then the city at large. Sara's justice would have to wait. No matter how much her mother prodded her. No matter how much she wanted to avenge her sister, or keep Ollie from giving up his life in a duel that they both knew that he wouldn't come home from.
:-: :-: :-: :-:
Samandra shot up from her desk, ignoring Olsen and made her way towards her boss's office. She had just heard that people were trying to poach Brick from beneath her. As she walked into the office, both Morgan and Fischer turned their heads and grinned at her, "There she is, the woman of the hour."
She looked past them, looking at Special Agent Talos, "A moment of your time, Sir?"
The balding agent gruffly told the other two agents to leave and to close the door behind them. Once they left, he gave her a proud smile, "Good work on catching the Irish." After a second, he spoke again, I know why you are here, and I can't give you Brickwell."
"I got Brickwell Brickwell to talk. Dozens of agents tried and failed, I didn't. I can get you more criminals, Brick had his fingers in many pies."
He gave her a sympathetic look, "We got some big fish, you should be proud. In fact, I will get on the horn and let D.C. know as soon as I can."
"But?"
"Everyone and their mother will be looking at you, everything, no skeletons, no secrets."
"I have nothing to hide, Sir."
"You are a risk, Watson. Your finances are a cause for concern; it makes you an easy mark."
"That's bullcrap! When you call D.C. to tell that nothing would have happened if it wasn't for the unexpected connection between myself and Brickwell." She then looked at Agent Talos with pleading eyes, "Please, Francis. How else am I supposed to get out of the red?"
"Fine. Brickwell's yours. But you need to keep that Englishman talking, Sam."
Samandra beamed at her former mentor, he had given her a lifeline, something to not just ensure that the brother was well looked after, but also to put a name out of herself in the annals of the FBI. "I got this, I won't let you down, Boss."
"He had better keep talking for years. If he goes silent, it won't just be your neck at stake, I'm putting a lot of faith in you, don't let me down, Sam."
Samandra rushed out the door to get ready for her new duty as Brickwell's handler.
:-: :-: :-: :-:
Oliver finally made it to the summit of the icy mountain. He turned to look at the sublime view, before turning around, ignoring the biting cold winds and walking towards Ra's, Nyssa, Maseo and the rest of the League that were there to bear witness.
He dropped his pack, at the strange runic circle, walking towards the center.
"Remove your shirt," Maseo commanded as he walked towards his old friend. "This is custom, to show the first blood." Oliver said nothing and followed the command, and refraining from shivering at the bone-chilling winds, "Ra's Al Ghul is not known to be merciful." He then lowered his voice, reminding Oliver that there was still his old friend beneath the glamour of Sarab, even if it were for a moment. "You may still have a chance at mercy if you were to chance it now."
Oliver removed his shirt, "I am here to fight." As he moved his arms, they felt like jelly, but he had to force through the discomfort and fatigue, his family depended on him.
His old friend and mentor sighed in defeat, as he took Oliver's shirt and jacket. "Choose your weapon," Maseo said. Oliver noticed that it was no longer Maseo talking, but Sarab, Ra's' horseman.
Oliver moved over to the array of swords and selected two. As he did, he heard The Demon's Head speak to him, albeit the older man had not turned to face him. "I was but a child when I killed my first man." He continued to explain that he could still recall the look of his face as he died. "I had stolen the most precious thing any man or woman has; life. And yet, I felt something. Pride. Because I had taken up arms against someone who sought to do ill against my family. I realized what I did was necessary."
Oliver remained silent; he could understand the sentiment. So much so that he realized that I mirrored him right now. Taking up arms for his family. For Thea, Laurel, and Connor.
"You see, boy. I had replaced evil with death. And that, son, is the sole reason the League exists. You and your comrades battle evil, not unlike we do. Only instead of ending the skirmish in death, you try to suffocate it, starve it. Lock it behind bars. Allow the evil to become stronger, to regroup. There is only one way to end evil, boy." Ra's moved towards him, with an almost regal aura, "I have killed thousands since then, and no doubt more to blood will taste my blade and the world is a better place for it."
"You're reign of death ends today"
Ra's gave a small amused snort, "No. You have lived your last day." He then looked between the two men, "We are ready."
Nyssa walked past him, her voice almost but a whisper, "I am envious of you, you will see her before I do."
"Now, fight me, boy." Ra's commanded.
"You are unarmed." It wasn't that he was opposed to Ra's being without a weapon, he just didn't want some sort of clause in The League's laws to bite him down the line, in the very minuscule possibility he came out of this fight alive. He internally smiled, at Laurel's legal mind, rubbing off on him.
Ra's sniffed. "Not to worry, I will pick up yours once you no longer have need of the blades." After a beat, Ra's immediately and without warning delivered a knife-blade strike to Oliver's neck.
Oliver groaned, gritting his teeth, sent violent swing after swing towards the Demon's Head, who elegantly danced around the blades, it was almost uncanny how the master assassin evaded each strike of the sword.
While Oliver was rusty with swordsmanship, it certainly wasn't his first-time wielding nor utilizing them. He, after all, was trained by Slade who loved his swords. They had spent a long while getting used to the weight of the blades, unfortunately, the weight and blade alignment with these swords were much different from the swords that ASIS provided Slade whilst on Lian Yu.
Oliver accidentally overextended himself due to the odd feeling of weight in the blades, and or his own fatigue from climbing up the rockface. Ra's sent a blow to his liver. Oliver swore as he forced himself not to keel over from the blinding pain. It felt like the air in his lungs was ripped out of his chest.
Oliver stood back up, running at the master assassin, only to be easily evaded. Oliver spun on his heel and sent another few violent strikes, each was blocked easily by the master assassin before the man grabbed Oliver by the wrist.
The next thing Oliver felt was the excruciating pain of his wrist being pulled the wrong way, followed by the sound of his bones breaking.
Ra's snatched the sword from Oliver's broken hand, before kicking him into the snow. Before Oliver could move, Ra's lunged sending the blade easily through Oliver's sternum, and out through his back.
Oliver could only blink. He could just make out some form of prayer from Ra's as he stood over him. Oliver's mind flashed to everyone important in his life. In front of him, he could see his Dad looking at him with pride, His mother, Tommy, Sara, and Quintin.
His mind then moved towards Family; Seeing Thea after he had returned from his five years in hell, how she whispered that she had missed him so much, watching Laurel assure Thea that their case would work out, and seeing her face when they first looked at each other.
Finding out the truth about Laurel and Thea, how they had saved him, someone that by all rights should have thought of as their enemy.
The Birth of Connor, his impromptu elopement with Laurel. God, he wished that he could have given Laurel the wedding that she deserved… "I'm sorry Laurel…" He tried to say before everything went dark around him before he felt nothing.
Ra's stood over the body of Oliver Queen, "Check if he still breathes." It was the custom of The League to see if the fallen enemy had survived the blade of Ra's if he did, the man had the potential to be a possible successor, if not a horseman.
The boy had lasted longer than most.
Sarab moved slowly to the body of his old friend, and presented his forefinger and middle finger against his carotid artery, feeling nothing. "Oliver Queen has fallen to your sword."
"Very well. Have the remains taken to Nanda Parbat, there we shall remove what is left of Mr. Queen and ensure that Al Sah-Him is born." He would mold Al Sah-Him to his will, and create a worthy successor that had not been infected by an outsider as his youngest had been.
