I do not own Arrow.


Oliver fell on his knees, gasping for breath as Ra's approached him.

"Don't be afraid, my son." Ra's assured, apparently regretful to kill who he considered a great warrior as he took a step near Oliver. "Death comes for us all. We can only evade it so long. Consider this an honorable exit."

Ra's stabbed Oliver in the chest as blood began pouring from his mouth, while Ra's said a prayer in Arabic before kicking Oliver off the cliff.


Oliver's eyes snapped open as he looked around, before noticing Talia snuggling next to him in the bed.

"Nightmares again?" Talia asked as she pulled the sheet to cover their bodies and placed her hand on his chest.

"More like memories." Oliver said as he wiped his face.

"You cannot give into despair." Talia assured as they kissed briefly before puling away. "It's the faith, hope and spirit to fight and will to survive that keeps you going. But to give faith, you must find it in yourself again. Do you fear my father?" Talia asked and Oliver nodded. "Does your sister?"

Oliver considered. "Not as much as she should."

"Courage isn't absence of fear. It's the spirit to overcome the fear in time of need. How can you move faster than possible, fight longer than possible, if not for the most powerful impulse of the spirit? The fear of death. The will to survive." Talia pointed out and Oliver had already come to see her point but Thea still needed to. "Tell me, are you afraid?"

"Yes." Oliver admitted as he looked down before meeting Talia's eyes again. "Not of dying. I'm afraid that if I die, there's going to be no one to protect Thea and my friends from Ra's al Ghul and the League. My crusade might outlive me but they still have much to learn and I'm afraid that I won't be able to teach them enough to protect my city. Thea is confident enough but she doesn't understand how dangerous the League is."

"And it will be only a matter of time before my father approaches you with his offer. To become his successor, he will want you to turn your back on everyone and everything you love and destroy your home. The next Ra's al Ghul must cut all ties to his past to ascend to his title. That is why you have to kill him before there's no help for your city and your loved ones." Talia explained.

"I don't know if I can." Oliver said.

"There is one place where you can cleanse yourself of your doubt. The place where your crucible began." Talia said and as Oliver looked into her eyes, he realized what was she talking about. She noticed the flicker of doubt in his eyes before she smiled and kissed him for encouragement before pulling away as Oliver smiled.


Later, Oliver met with Diggle, Felicity and Roy in the lair, filling them in.

"So you're leaving again?" Felicity asked.

"She's got a point, man. You just got back." Diggle pointed out.

"It's just for a few days. Ordinarily, I wouldn't do this but it's for Thea." Oliver turned to Roy. "I trust that you are going to follow Roy's lead."

"Don't worry, Oliver. We got this." Roy said.

"And don't let Laurel go out again in Sara's outfit." Oliver said and considering how Oliver managed to take her down easily, they couldn't argue with that order.


Back in the loft, Thea was packing her things, when Roy entered.

"Are you sure about this?" Roy asked.

"Honestly, even if I wasn't, what other choice do I have?" Thea asked as she put the weapons in the bag before she turned to Roy. "I can't believe you knew before I did."

"He saved my life, Thea." Roy said.

"He saved a lot of people's lives." Thea said, proud of her brother in a way she had never been before as she looked at Roy apologetically. "Roy… for what it's worth… I'm sorry."

Roy blinked.

"I'm sorry that I lied and… I'm sorry about trusting Malcolm more than I should've trusted you, Ollie, Dad and Mom. They loved me as their own and I…" Thea looked away in shame. "I threw it all away when I decided to become Malcolm's daughter, just because you guys kept secrets from me, when now I understand why."

"You were at your most vulnerable and Merlyn exploited that to his advantage. You're not the first person to fall under his spell." Roy said.

"That's what Ollie keeps telling me." Thea smiled.

"Look, I know you're feeling guilty about it but what matters is that you came to your senses and came back to us." Roy said as he held Thea's shoulder. "And I promise you, from now on, we're always here for you."

Thea smiled, assured as Roy hugged her before she looked at her watch. "I should get going. The plane's taking off soon."

Roy kissed her on her cheek. "Take care."


Later, Oliver and Thea were walking down the woods, carrying their bags, while Thea drank from her flask and panted out, showing more signs of exhaustion than Oliver.

"Come on, Speedy, we have four more miles to make before nightfall." Oliver said.

"Ah, God." Thea groaned. "I get that we're supposed to get into shape so that we can face the League, but don't you think this is a little bit excessive?"

"We've been here two hours, are you complaining already?" Oliver asked.

"I started thinking it after the first ten minutes." Thea said in frustration, while eying the wreckage of Amazo at the beach of Lian Yu.

"Well, give it time. Eventually, this place will feel like home." Oliver said.

"This place doesn't feel like home." Thea grumbled.

"It was for me. For other people, this is purgatory." Oliver explained.


Later, Oliver and Thea were sparring with bamboo sticks, just as when Oliver was sparring with Slade when they trained together and Oliver had to admit, Thea had made a progress with her fighting skills and she seemed to fare herself better than Oliver did with Slade in the amount of time they were training before they stopped.

"Malcolm taught you all this?" Oliver asked, impressed.

"Say what you want about him, he's a good teacher." Thea said.

"Can't argue with that." Oliver noted as they resumed sparring.


Later at night, Thea was eating a piece of a roasted meat Oliver was cooking over a campfire and Thea was unable to tell what animal it was. "This is good, what is it?"

"If I told you, you probably wouldn't eat it." Oliver said and Thea put down the piece in her hand, looking disgusted before smiling at Oliver.

"Is it weird? You know, being back here with me?" Thea asked.

"Well, I've been back here before." Oliver explained. "You know, in a lot of ways, this place reminds me of who I am. Or I guess… who I've become. It's probably why Talia suggested we train here."

"Talia?" Thea asked.

"She's one of the people who trained me when I was away. I wasn't always on the island. And… let's just say that a lot of things happened to me during those five years that I was gone that I wasn't ready to come back. She taught me a lot and… how to cope with… what I'd been through." Oliver said with a smile on his face that Talia recognized.

"Were you two… close?" Thea asked.

"Not exactly… but… we could've. I wonder if there could've been more between us." Oliver explained and Thea nodded, seeming to be more understanding than ever before Oliver got up.

"Where are you going?" Thea asked.

"To take a walk. Clear my head." Oliver said as he walked away from the camp.


Oliver walked down the beach until he approached the entrance to A.R.G.U.S. prison where he had locked Slade and Harkness up and opened the hatch, climbing down the ladder before he approached the door. Part of him was asking himself why was he doing this but for some reason, Oliver needed to go in, even though he had hoped he would never have to face him again. Despite everything, Slade was Oliver's brother at one point. Oliver opened the door slowly as he saw Slade sitting on the bed. His hair and beard had grown since Oliver locked him up in there months ago.

"Slade." Oliver said.

"Hey, kid." Slade said warmly with a smile, much to Oliver's surprise. "I'm glad you came back."

Oliver froze. Last time Oliver was down here, Slade was ranting ragefully he would keep his promise and kill everyone close to Oliver but his demeanor was much different this time and Oliver saw in his eye a look he had never thought he would see again. The look of Oliver's brother.

Slade got up to his feet as he approached the bars. "What brought you back to the island?"

"You seem…" Oliver trailed off, eying Slade.

"What, in possession of all my marbles?" Slade asked bluntly and Oliver nodded. "The Mirakuru wore off not long after you put me in here, kid. I mean, I remember everything that happened." He said with a haunted look. "I'm not trying to escape that, but it feels like some bad dream. Regardless of my sanity, why did you come back here?"

"I'm training." Oliver explained vaguely, still unsure about Slade.

"Well, good luck with your training, kid. If I were you, I'd get out of here before the guard comes back here." Slade said.

Oliver's eyes continued examining Slade for a few moments before he turned to leave, closing the door behind him as he climbed up.


As Oliver made his way to the campsite, his survival instincts kicked in as he noticed the smoke and approached. The campfire had been extinguished and there was no sign of Thea. Oliver knelt on the ground and examined the tracks and broken timber. Obvious signs of struggle.

"Thea?" Oliver called as he got up to his feet and looked around before raising his voice. "Thea?!"

There was no answer, which confirmed Oliver's fears. Whoever was here, they had taken Thea but she still put up a fight. That was when his satphone in his jacket rang and he pulled it out to notice 'Private number' flashing on the screen and Oliver answered the call.

"Hello, Oliver." Talia said.

"Where's Thea?" Oliver demanded with restrained anger. This had Talia all over it with her cryptic lessons.

"Don't worry, she's alive. For now. I might have neglected to mention that you aren't completely alone on the island." Talia explained. "Your friend, Maseo Yamashiro, he has a brother. Takeo. Former Yakuza assassin and a member of Japanese Special Forces, who was necessary evil until they deemed him unnecessary. He was also my student but he had decided to use my teachings for what he does best. Killing. And he blames you for what has happened to his brother and nephew. I may have mentioned to him where you are. Consider this a test of your killer instinct, if you want to save your sister and defeat my father."

Oliver fumed. While he trusted Talia, at least that she was genuinely trying to help, he should have known he would not completely agree with her methods, considering that she had baited Oliver into brutally beating Yurievich back in Russia. "Talia—"

"Your satphone is going to stop working after this call." Talia said.

The call ended and Oliver heard beeping as he snarled in rage and threw the phone away as it shattered upon hitting the ground. He really needed to have a talk with Talia about her lessons, once he saved Thea and got out of here. But if Takeo was as dangerous as Talia had said, Oliver needed help to beat him and save Thea.


Slade was lying on his bed, when he heard the door open again and Oliver burst in. Slade got up and noticed the sweat on Oliver's face and him panting out, realizing Oliver had run all the way to the prison before Oliver opened Slade's cell.

"What's going on, kid?" Slade asked.

"I need your help." Oliver said in between heavy breaths. "There is a man on the island named Takeo Yamashiro. An assassin. Former Japanese Special Forces. He's here to settle a score with me and he's taken Thea as a hostage."

"I think I'm stating the obvious when I say that I killed your mother. For that alone, you should have killed me." Slade reminded.

"Maybe what's happening now is the reason I didn't." Oliver said, when a A.R.G.U.S. guard entered.

"What the hell is going on here?" The guard asked.

"We have a problem and I need his help." Oliver explained as he turned to the guard.

"He's not going anywhere." The guard said and Oliver refrained himself from rolling his eyes. He knew the guard was just doing his job but he didn't have time for negotiating. Oliver struck the guard in the face, knocking him out as he fell down, his gun sliding across the floor. Oliver turned to see that Slade had come out of his cell, when Oliver handed him the gun as a peace offering. Slade looked down at the gun in contemplation before he smiled at Oliver, while taking the gun.

"You and me, kid. Like old times." Slade said and Oliver felt a shudder on his back. Hopefully, this wouldn't be too much like old times.


Now wearing an A.R.G.U.S. guard's uniform, Slade exited the prison with Oliver as they went deeper into the island, walking down the woods and it didn't take them too long before they managed to track Takeo and Thea down and the scene was all too familiar to Oliver and Slade. It was just like when Ivo's men had arrived on the island and captured Shado.

Thea was bound, gagged and on her knees and across her sat an Asian man that Oliver could tell was Maseo's brother, given the family resemblance, except that Takeo didn't have a beard and his hair was shorter to a blocked neckline and hair combed to behind and he had a dark vengeful look in his eyes, much like Slade or Helena or other vengeful people Oliver had met.

"That's him." Oliver whispered.

"Do you have a plan, kid?" Slade whispered.


Takeo was sharpening the blade of his katana with a whetstone as he heard Thea's muffled yelling and turned to her. "I'm truly sorry about this." He said with no remorse in his voice. "But your brother is the one who has made this happened. I don't want to hurt you, you're just a means to an end. If you stay out of my way, I'll let you go once I kill your brother."

Thea glared and let out incoherent shouts through the gag in her mouth but Takeo paid it no mind, when he heard timber cracking and footsteps approaching as he got up and smirked, while Thea's eyes widened in horror at first before narrowing into a fierce, hateful glare.

"Well, well, well. I'll be damned." Takeo said as Oliver, with Slade behind him and holding him at gunpoint, approached the campfire.

"I'm Slade Wilson. You might have heard of me." Slade introduced himself.

"Of course. And we have one thing in common." Takeo said as he punched Oliver in the face, knocking him down. "Oliver Queen. You have no idea how long have I been looking forward to this." He kicked Oliver as he rolled over and coughed.

"I never should have trusted you." Oliver snarled as he glared up at Slade.

"I'm here to make a proposal. We both have a score to settle with the kid. I want to finally leave this place behind." Slade said as he stepped on Oliver's chest, making him cough.

"Of course." Takeo said with a smirk. "I assumed I might work with you to make Queen suffer."

"Assumption is the mother of all failures!" Slade said before he punched Takeo across his face as he stumbled back. Slade opened fire but Takeo quickly recovered and jumped away as the bullets grazed his clothes, while Oliver freed himself from his restraints. Takeo threw a small knife at Thea but Oliver threw one of his knives in the trajectory as they bounced off each other upon impact.

Oliver was about to engage Takeo but he pulled a pin from inside his jacket and did a throwing motion on the ground as an explosion followed, knocking Oliver and Slade down and when the smoke cleared, Takeo was gone.

Oliver recovered as he got up and approached Thea, freeing her. "Thea, are you OK?"

"Yeah." Thea nodded as she got up.

"He got away." Slade said as he got up to his feet.

"What's going on? And what the hell is he doing here?!" Thea demanded, glaring at Slade.

"His name is Takeo Yamashiro. It's complicated but he wants revenge on me since I caused for his family to be broken apart. Talia set him on us as an object lesson and I needed Slade's help to get you out of here." Oliver explained.

"That's insane!" Thea snapped.

"I know but right now we need to get to safety before he comes back, come on, Speedy!" Oliver ordered as he grabbed Thea's hand and they ran down the woods.

"Do we really need his help? You handled him just fine." Thea pointed out.

"We caught him off-guard, he's not gonna make the same mistake and we need more firepower on our side." Oliver explained.


The guard Oliver had knocked out was groaning as he got up to his feet, clutching his face, when Oliver, Thea and to the guard's shock, Slade, entered the prison.

"What… You let him out?! Have you lost your mind?!" The guard exclaimed.

"We've got bigger problems to worry about right now. There is a man on the island named Takeo Yamashiro. He's after me and Thea and he's gonna kill anyone who gets in his way. We need to work together, if we're gonna stop him. We can't call out for help, I tried, he's jamming all communications." Oliver said.

"How many men are here?" Slade asked.

"Me and few more guards." The guard explained and Oliver and Slade groaned.

"What weapons you have here? Do you have an armory?" Slade asked.

"Mostly guns. Few swords." The guard said and Slade smirked.

"Excellent. I like swords." Slade said, making the guard uncomfortable.

"Why should we trust you?" Thea demanded, glaring hatefully, the image of Slade stabbing her mother flashing in front of her as she turned to Oliver. "Did you forget what he did to Mom and how many innocent people he killed?"

Slade looked remorseful as he turned to Thea. "What you saw was the Mirakuru."

"What?" Thea asked, confused.

"The Mirakuru. Japanese super soldier serum from World War II, the same thing that Roy and the masked men during the Siege were injected with." Oliver said and Thea's eyes widened in realization. "Slade was injected with it too but he and Roy are cured now."

"I can't change what I've done to you and I'm not asking for forgiveness. But we need to trust each other or no one is making it out of this alive." Slade said pleadingly and Thea sighed, knowing she had no other choice now.

"I don't trust you… but I trust my brother. But give me one reason and I'm putting an arrow into your other eye." Thea sneered and Slade nodded.

"I'm not expecting anything less." Slade said.


I hope Roy leading Team Arrow makes sense, since in a lot of ways he is fitting as Oliver's successor but given the unavailability of Colton Haynes, Roy was mishandled, to say the least, just like other characters.

Takeo Yamashiro is from DC Comics, a minor character who was a brother of Maseo and a Yakuza thug. He would be played by Rick Yune, a real life brother of Karl Yune who played Maseo in the show. I would like to thank Stand with Ward and Queen for his permission to use 'Like old times' for an inspiration for the Lian Yu arc of the story.