I do not own Arrow.
In the morgue in A.R.G.U.S. headquarters, a man in the outfit of the League of Assassins was sheathing his sword as he passed by the corpses of A.R.G.U.S. operatives he had killed and opened the drawer and pulled out Takeo's corpse. The assassin lowered his hood, revealing the face of Maseo Yamashiro, now going by 'Sarab'.
"When we were kids, you would always get into fights." Sarab said sadly as he stared at his brother's body. "And every time I had to be the one to step in and finish it. I'd hoped you would outgrow this… but apparently, some things never change."
Sarab put his hood back on before leaving.
In Roy's house, Thea slowly opened her eyes as she got up and the blanket fell off her. She had fallen asleep on Roy's couch and as the morning came, the memories of recent events came coming back in full force as she breathed heavily and dropped her face into her hands, when Roy walked in with a mug of coffee.
"I found you on the couch, when I came back here. I wanted to let you sleep in my bed but you were very tired." Roy noted and Thea nodded, numbly taking the mug in her hand and taking few sips before she looked up at Roy.
"Did you know? About me killing Sara?" Thea asked and Roy nodded, looking at her in sympathy. Oliver had already filled them all in on what had happened back on the island, when he called them that they were on their way back. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Honestly… how could I tell you something like this? And would you have listened to me?" Roy pointed out and Thea nodded, seeing his point and feeling more ashamed and guilty about ever trusting Malcolm as she looked down before Roy held her hand. "Thea, this isn't your fault. Malcolm knew how to get into your head and you were at your most vulnerable, so he used it to his benefit."
"I know. But I don't know how am I supposed to move on from it." Thea said.
"Come on. Let me show you something." Roy said as he and Thea got up and left the house.
Oliver had returned into the lair under Verdant as Diggle and Felicity were expecting him.
"How'd the training back on Lian Yu go down?" Diggle asked.
"Not… as well as I'd want it to but… it had its merits." Oliver said vaguely.
"So, what's the plan, Oliver?" Felicity asked as Oliver cleared his throat.
"Like I said, the League of Assassins is unlike any other enemy we've ever faced. John, you and Roy are skilled and I'm sure you can handle most of the usual threats the city faces but against the League…"
"…we need all the help we can get. Well, Malcolm Merlyn's excluded. Well, if your teacher who had saved you is among them, I guess I'm happy to work with anyone who helps us out." Felicity said and Oliver smiled thinly.
"You might reconsider that attitude soon enough." Slade said as he walked in as Diggle and Felicity froze in shock at first upon hearing his voice and once he stepped out of shadows, Felicity screamed and Diggle drew his gun, aiming at Slade.
"What… he's supposed to be in the prison on Lian Yu!" Diggle yelled.
"I let him out. He offered to help. He's the only reason Thea and I made it out alive back on the island." Oliver said.
"How can you trust that psychopath?! Have you forgotten what he did?!" Felicity demanded angrily.
"The Mirakuru wore off months ago." Slade said calmly.
"You said it yourself, we need all the help we can get, Felicity. And I haven't forgotten anything." Oliver reminded with a glare towards the blonde, who felt herself shrink. "You have a right to have your opinion but I'm the one that makes the calls here, not you. You're the one who left when this team needed you the most, so you of all people don't get to question my decisions. I'm not asking you for blind loyalty but we need to stand together on this, if you don't agree with my decisions, then you don't have to follow me into this. I want you to take some time to think it over. Tomorrow, you can decide whether you follow my lead or not."
"Oliver. Are you sure about this?" Diggle asked.
"I wouldn't be doing this, if there was any other way." Oliver said firmly as Diggle and Felicity looked at each other before they turned to Oliver.
"I hope you know what you're doing." Felicity said.
In the cemetery, Quentin was putting the flowers at the gravestone of Sara. It was even more painful than when he had lost her the first time and what deepened the grief was the anger over Laurel keeping Sara's death a secret from him for months. With the Arrow, he could understand that he was only respecting Laurel's wishes but he had no idea how was he supposed to move past this with Laurel and that was when Laurel approached.
"Dad."
Quentin turned to her and sighed heavily.
"I didn't know that you were gonna be here." Laurel said.
"Where else would I be?" Quentin asked as he sighed. "How long have you been keeping this a secret from me?"
Laurel sighed, knowing there was no point avoiding it anymore. "Since we arrested Zytle the first time."
Quentin scoffed. "Four months, then. For four months you were lying to me and keeping this a secret from me. Even made me think it was her under that wig and behind that mask." He turned to her as he got up. "Are you gonna get your mask and billy club and get yourself killed, just like—"
"Stop." Laurel said before she sighed. She didn't come to him to argue. "I know what you're gonna say but I already got the riot act, OK? I get it. I'm not Sara and it was wrong of me to fool you into thinking it was her. I'm not as good as her, I know it now. But after what happened with Zytle, I didn't know if your heart could take her dying."
"Do you see me breaking into pieces?" Quentin asked with restrained anger. "If I am, it's not because of losing her." He turned to Sara's grave. "I mean, I've lost her before. I can take it. I mean, I have to. It's my baby girl." He turned back to Laurel. "But what you've done, I don't see how can I move past this. I get that the Arrow and Smoak were probably just respecting your wishes but you… there used to be trust. A bond between us. But you broke it and I don't know how could you do it to us."
Quentin walked away as Laurel stared as tears began to form in her eyes as she looked at Sara's grave in shame as the guilt over shattering her family began to overcome her.
In another part of the city, Roy and Thea were in his car, while they observed a house in the suburbs.
"Really starting to wonder why I decided to come with you." Thea said.
"I told you I want to show you how I deal with the things that you're going through." Roy said, when another car parked in front of the house. "That's Michelle Vincent and her son Rory."
"Roy, why are you stalking some random family?" Thea asked.
"They're not random." Roy said with a pointed look.
Thea looked into his eyes and understood after a moment. "They're the family of the police officer you killed."
Roy nodded. "I give them cash, bring them groceries. I even got Rory a Boba Fett for Christmas." He noticed the look Thea was giving him. "Don't worry, they don't know it's me."
"Roy, you're torturing yourself." Thea said.
"No, it helps actually. It helps me deal with the guilt." Roy said.
"Look, Roy…" Thea sighed. "I understand and appreciate what you're trying to do but the cop and Sara… it's not the same thing."
"You weren't any more in control of yourself any more than me or Slade were." Roy reminded.
"But I was." Thea said guiltily. "I made my choice, when I left with Malcolm and let him into my life. When I turned my back on everyone and everything I care about."
"Thea, you can't blame yourself. You'll have to find a way to live with it. But that doesn't mean you can't redeem yourself." Roy assured, holding her hand.
"That's what Ollie and Slade told me. But… I just don't see how can I redeem myself from something like this." Thea said guiltily.
"Me neither. But one thing I know for sure is that you don't have to do this alone. Me, Oliver, everyone, we're here for you." Roy said as he held her hand with an assuring look, while Thea turned to him, contemplating his words.
Oliver and Slade had returned to the loft, when Oliver sat down.
"I'm impressed, kid. You laid down the law with them." Slade said.
"I said what had to be said. I can't have my team questioning my calls, if we don't stand together on this, we're not gonna survive this." Oliver said as he sighed tiredly. "Roy trusts me enough to follow my lead, but I can't say the same thing about John, Laurel and Felicity. I told them how dangerous the threat of the League is but I doubt they understand."
"Do you trust me?" Slade asked.
"I trust the man who used to be my brother." Oliver said as he turned to Slade with narrowed eyes. "But if you betray me…"
Slade nodded. "I expected as much, kid."
Unknowing to Oliver and Slade, few rooftops away, a figure in a black hood was observing them with goggles. "So, the Demon's Head has chosen you… an unworthy outsider." He gritted his teeth. "You don't deserve this honor."
In A.R.G.U.S. headquarters in Amanda Waller's office, Waller, Lyla Michaels and three other operatives were watching the security footage of a man in attire of the League of Assassins killing operatives, while making his way to the morgue.
"So, the League of Assassins is coming after us now. Why?" Waller noted.
"The assassin opened a drawer, the one with Takeo Yamashiro's body." Lyla said and Waller's eyes narrowed. Could it be…
Suddenly, there was a sound of metal piercing flesh as they turned to see a blade protruding from the chest of one of the operatives before he fell down, dead, revealing a member of the League of Assassins behind him. Lyla and the other two operatives were drawing their guns but the assassin threw a pair of knives, killing the two operatives and he then threw the third knife, disarming Lyla. The assassin then removed his mask to reveal Sarab's face.
"Maseo Yamashiro. It's been a long time." Waller said with no apparent reaction.
"Indeed. You have no idea how long have I been waiting for this." Sarab said.
Next thing Lyla knew, Sarab shoved her down on the floor and unsheathed his sword, plunging the blade into Waller's heart. Waller gagged as blood filled her mouth and Sarab twisted the sword before he pulled away and Waller collapsed to the floor, dead. Sarab turned to Lyla, who just stared in shock and disbelief.
"I'm not going to kill you." Sarab said, much to Lyla's surprise. "You are Lyla Michaels. A friend of Oliver Queen. That is why I will spare you, so that you may deliver him a message from my master."
"What message?" Lyla asked fearfully.
"Tell him that there is a prophecy. The man who survives the sword of Ra's al Ghul shall become Ra's al Ghul." Sarab said before he walked away, leaving Lyla to stare at the dead bodies around her in shock.
Up until now my story was doing things similarly to Stand with Ward and Queen with his 'Like old times' but from following chapter onward, things are going to go down more original route.
To be clear, Quentin is not mad at Oliver/The Arrow, since he understands why The Arrow kept Sara's death a secret from him because of respecting Laurel's wishes but Laurel is another matter altogether. It is understandable why she kept it a secret at first but the moment Laurel tricked Quentin into believing she was Sara, she had this coming.
