Weeks had gone by.. And I still wasn't dead. Correction, I felt like death, but Deathstroke was keeping me alive. Barely. He wanted information.. Although the usefuleness of that information baffeled me. He already knew my indentity (the first time I woke up since fighting Deathstroke I was tied to a chair with my hood down and mask gone. He already knew Oliver's identity. My torture sessions went much of the same way.

Deathstroke would walk into the room, and his goons would leave. He would say "David Shuter.. The Ghost.. The Blue Lightning. One of my questions has already been answered. But I have another. Which Super Serum do you have coursing through your veins?" I shook my head "I don't know what you are talking about Deathstroke." He would then punch me hard in the face. "Don't lie to me Shuter. I felt your strength in our fight! I know you do not have the Mirakuru, you weren't strong enough for that. So what are you?" I would spit at him "You expect me to answer what I am, but you won't tell me who you are." He would always shake his head "In time, Mr Shuter, in time. Perhaps next time, you will be a little forthcoming." He then would have his goons come back and torture me some more. Every time.

As time went on it got harder and harder to hold back. I knew I could kill every man in this room. All I would have to do is use my powers.. Vent the air from the room.. A little lightning, and I would be free. But Oliver's words always came back to my head, how to protect this city, I had to hide my powers, or else I would attract unwanted attention. So I allowed myself to be harmed.. Day in day out. Sometimes to the point of blacking out. Time lost meaning.

One session.. Maybe a couple weeks after I had been taken.. Maybe more. Deathstroke had walked in. He started the session differently this time by saying "Mr Queen sends his regards." I struggled to look up at him "If you hurt him..." I said hoarsely. He laughed "Don't worry Mr Shuter, Oliver Queen is still alive. For now. You see I made that Kid a promise 5 years ago, That I would take everything from him, as he took everything from me..Once he has truly paid for Shado's death, then I will bring about his." I perked up some at the information Deathstroke had provided me. How he made Oliver a promise.. And about Shado's death. There was only one man I knew of that I had been on that Island with the Mirakuru in his viens.. And as far as I had known he had died 5 years ago when Oliver pierced him through the eye with an Arrow. It all made sense now. "It... Can't.. Be.. Slade Wilson?" He took of his helmet to reveal his face, with an eyepatch "You are a smart one, I take it Oliver has told you about me. Perhaps you are even closer than I presumed. But Now I believe you owe me. I told you who I am, now tell me what you are." I let loose a small chuckle, wincing as my broken ribs screamed in protest "Oliver will beat you Slade.. Whether I am there to help him do it or not. So do your worst. My answer to your stupid question won't please you. It's called Adrenaline. I knew I was going to die since you had the Mirakuru, it gave me the boost of strength I needed to give you an almost fair fight." He then hit me again "Fine, perhaps you need a little more persuasion." He then put his helmet on and left, his goons coming back in to torture me some more.

And that was how the session went on from there, I would tell him Adrenaline, and he would torture me. I began to wonder whether I really would die here. I had always hoped I faked my death so younger me could take up the mantle and protect the timeline. I thought when Rip pulled me away from my time and plopped me down in the 1100's that I would continue on past 2015, perhaps retake the mantle of Iron Thunder.. And see Natasha again. Oh Natasha... The last time I saw her we had just agreed to be exclusive, be proper Boyfriend and Girlfriend, not just casual Sex. I didn't know then that It would be over 900 years before I would have had the chance to see her again. My longing for her had grown over the years.. And I felt I truely loved her.. And now.. Now I would never get the chance to tell her that. And Zeus.. For him it had only been a couple years since I had seen him.. But for me I had even gotten used to not feeling his presence it had been that long. I would never feel his presence again. Percy.. Annabeth, Eragon.. Saphira.. Meghan.. All of them I would never see again. And Thea.. I never got a chance to tell her the truth about my time traveling so she didn't mention it to future me when I arrive with the Flash later this year.. In the hopes of not losing her friendship by telling her who I was earlier.. I may have destroyed the timeline. I had failed.

As more and more time past, I had given up hope. I knew Oliver and the team would be looking for me.. But they had to focus on the Siege and other things, and since they had not found me yet, I started to doubt they ever would. Or by the time they did, Slade Wilson would have gotten impatient and deciding my answer was not worth keeping me alive will have killed me.

I'm not sure how long it has been, maybe a month, maybe less, maybe more. But after what seemed like forever, I finally heard a sound I thought I never would hear again. It was the sound of arrows being fired and bodies dropping. My two guards pulled out their weapons and stood with then pointed at the door. The moment I thought would never come.. The Arrow was here to rescue me. However my guards would completely destroy him. So I took a deep breath, ignoring the pain, and yanked hard on the handcuffs holding me to the chair. They snapped, but I almost puked from the effort. I then launched myself at the guy on the left, tackling him to the ground. I wrestled his gun from him and fired the clip into him. The scuffle was enough to break the scabs fro mmy torture and I began to bleed again, which lead to a wave of light headedness. I didn't have the strength or energy to deal with the next guy, luckily someone bust through the door and tackled him, I heard the breaking of a neck.

That was when Diggle's voice said "David.. David are you alright?" I coughed "Saved your life John." He then said "Guess we are even then." That was when Oliver's voice said "Roy, Diggle, help David out of here. Sara and I will cover you." I felt two pairs of hands on me and I was lifted to my feet, my arm thrown over Roy's shoulder. Diggle then said "Wait!" He then put my mask on me and pulled up my hood before taking my other arm and throwing it over his shoulder "Roy may know your identity now, but that doesn't mean the rest of the world should." I then coughed again and said "Wait.. Arrow.. Deathstroke.. Is.." Oliver then said "Slade Wilson. I know, it's how we were able to find you." Sara then said "We need to get him out of here before Slade gets back. David, I hope you don't mind, but I'm borrowing your weapons." My lips twitched, almost as if to smile "Welcome back Sara.." She flashed me a grin before They took point and Roy and Dig helped me out. I sighed once I felt the cold air of the night hit my face when we were outside.. I was finally free. Oliver then said "Dig, get him in the Van and take him directly to the foundry. Felicity, have the medical station prepped and the rest of our stock of Ambrosia and Nector ready. David's in rough shape." Diggle then said "Oliver, he's in worse shape than we expected, shouldn't we take him to Starling General." I coughed "No.. The Foundry is fine. I trust.. You." Oliver nodded "You heard the man. Get him in the Van, Roy and Sara start working on stopping the bleeding, I will escort you! Go!" They then helped me into the van and we took off.

Once at the Foundry they helped me inside and on to the table. Felicity handed me a small chunk of Ambrosia and said "It's all I could find, I'm sorry Lightning." I ate it whole and coughed "It's okay Fel. I should have brought more with me when I left.." Diggle then ordered "Lie down, lets see if I can get these wounds stitched up for you." I laid down, wincing as my body screamed in protest. I heard Sara whisper to Oliver "My Dad's about to break up a big deal.. I need to watch over him. Slade.. He could kill him." I coughed and said "Oliver... Sara.. Go. I'll be with you in spirit." Sara gave me a small smile and came over, kissing my forehead "Thanks David." I shook my head slowly "No thank you... And welcome.. To team Arrow." Oliver shook his head and chuckled, pointing at me "We are not calling ourselves that. But you, get better. It's not the same without my partner out there with me" I smiled and they turned and left.

Dig worked on patching me up and I tried to stay coherent. I noticed Roy standing in the corner, looking at me. I grunted out "I'm sorry ... that you...you had to find out this way Roy." He shook his head "It makes sense.. It all makes sense. How the Ghost showed up so fast when the Hoods attacked... Why you and Oliver have been checking up on me so much the past few months." I replied "Had to ensure you lived long enough to join team Arrow..." Dig then said "David, Stop moving so I can finish this. There is a lot to stitch up. I'm surprised you didn't use your powers to escape.. Slade really did a number on you." I sighed "To protect this city.. And the timeline. But I have to admit.. I did think I was going to die there for a while. Thank you..." He smiled at me "We've got your back man.. Just as you have had ours on many occasions." Felicity chipped in "And many more to come"

That was when Oliver and Sara returned. Oliver ordered Felicity "Pull up anything you can on Helena." I looked at Oliver and narrowed my eyes slightly "She's back?" He shook his head "Not yet, but she will be." Sara then chimed in "Who is she?" They crowded around the monitor when I stayed on the table. Diggle said "Helena Bertinelli, daughter of Mafia boss Frank Bertinelli." Felicity added "Or as I like to call her.. Oliver's psycho Ex-Girlfriend hell bent on revenge against her father" Sara looked at Oliver "Ex Girlfriend?" Oliver asked "Thats what you took from that sentence?" Roy asked "Why does she want her father killed so badly?" Oliver then replied "He had her Fiancee murdered. She wants payback" Sara sighed "Puts the amount of fights I have had with my father in perspective." Felicity then sat at her computer "I've kept tabs on her for the past year, last known sighting was a month ago. Palermo." Roy then said "Shes been busy" Felicity then said "If by busy you mean torturing and killing dozens of mob bosses who might know where her father is, then yes." Diggle then asked "Bertinelli's arrest just hit the wires, how long do you think we have before Helena books a ticket home?" I moved to try and stand and grunted "Long enough for me to patch up my suit I'd wager." Oliver then said "No you don't. I will have you restrained to that table if I have to. You are in no condition to go head to head with a common drug dealer, let alone Helena." I looked at him and said "I'm not letting you face her alone Ollie! You said you wouldn't bench me again!" Sara walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder, gently pushing me back down on the table "Ollie Won't be alone David. He's got me. The more you rest the sooner you can join us out on the field, and the sooner we can get payback on Slade for what he did to you." I sighed and didn't move to get up again, knowing she was right. I then closed my eyes, and slowly sleep took me.

Sleep was eratic.. The memories of what Slade did to me... the pain... was just too fresh. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him.. His blade.. Red with my blood.. As scared of the dreams as I was, I forced myself to continue to try and sleep.. But seeing as they were waking dreams since I was half Elf... it made it even worse to bare. The next night Oliver, Sara and Roy suited up to go out and stop Helena who had apparently rented a car in her dead fiancee's name. I didn't move to get up, knowing I would just be pushed right back down again, so I said "Hey Ollie... Get her this time." He nodded before pulling up his hood and heading out.

Things of course did not go to plan as Helena used a decoy and got a ride into town from someone else. Felicity was going over the description of the person who gave them a ride, saying how anyone with boobs could get a frat boy to do anything, to which Oliver replied "I was a frat boy." I smirked and said "That explains a lot actually" Diggle added "You were the one who trained Helena how to be a more efficient killer last year after all" Oliver shook his head "Point." Diggle then pointed out "At least Helena didn't kill him, thats something." Oliver looked at him "Its not like Helena to show restraint." I nodded "Perhaps she knows if she leaves a trail of bodies, that you are going to add hers to the pile." He shook his head "Either way, Sara, John, keep up with SCPD chatter, let me know the minutes they find something." He then went to talk with Roy who had been shot on the job.. And I laid my head back down again to rest.

We learned that Laurel was going to spearhead the trail against Frank Bertinelli, which put a big target on her back. Sara was tasked with talking Laurel out of it, and Oliver prepared to take Helena down.. However he was preping non-lethal Arrows. John noticed this as he was changing my bandages and made his way over to Oliver. I did not pay much attention to the conversation. I instead was testing my range of motion. What had been left of the ambrosia helped in the sense not every move hurt.. But I was still greatly injured so could not move much.

Sara came bursting into the foundry saying "Laurel won't drop the case, she's headed to court right now!" Oliver got up and began to walk away "Hey! Where are you going?" Sara asked, Oliver replied "To the Court House." Sara then said with a hint of anger in her tone "well hey, you forgot your baby arrows!" I made myself sit up as Sara continued "Look, I get your whole no killing thing, but if it comes down to saving Laurel or killing Helena.." Oliver stepped forward "Sara.. Those aren't the only two choices." Sara then turned away and said "Well you were happy enough to let Dig take the kill shot when Slade was threatening your family." Oliver then said "This is different. I failed Helena. I created the Huntress." Sara then said "Yeah well you created Slade too" Oliver was silent for a second before saying "you're right.. But when it comes to our families, neither one of us thinks clearly." I then said softly "Oliver.. Not too long ago you weren't thinking clearly with Laurel either. Just because you feel you are repeating the same mistakes with Roy as you did with Helena, doesn't mean we trade lives." Oliver looked at me "Roy isn't the only friend I have failed, otherwise you would be coming to the court house with me! I will not continue to make the same mistakes." I then nodded slowly and said "Then don't fail Laurel. Don't go into this fight with one hand tied behind your back." He nodded "That is why I am going to tell Sara to stay here." Sara suddenly looked hurt "Ollie.. I can't" Oliver then said "I'm not going to let anything happen to Laurel.. I love her too.. But I will find another way.. One where I fail no one else." He then turned and left. Sara looked at me and I said "I hate being sidelined too.. But that tends to happen when Helena is involved." Diggle then said "But this time it wasn't by choice.. You heard him.. He wants nothing more than to have you by his side this time." I nodded "I know... which makes this even harder.. Since now it is my fault." Felicity then shook her head saying "Lightning.. No one blames you.. Oliver doesn't blame you." I shook mine "But I blame me. I went in to fight Slade alone. I underestimated Deathstroke. Now Oliver must pay the price of my failure." I then laid back down, not wanting to engage in any more talk.

Things of course.. Did not go to plan. Helena attacked the court house, took hostages, and Laurel was one of them. Sara made to go suit up but before she did she looked at the three of us "Are you going to stop me?" I shook my head and made to stand up, wincing from the effort "I'm going to join you." Dig pointed at me and said "I won't stop Sara, I say kick Helena's ass.. But I will stop you David. You are in no condition to be in the field, you can't even stand up." I grunted in frustration. "Fine. But Sara, when you take the bitch down, you make sure to tell her the boy in blue says hello." She suited up and then smirked at me "I'll do one better.. I'll say you sent me." I nodded "Go!" She left.. And not a few moments later Oliver called Felicity. He started off by saying "I'm with Lance as Oliver, and he just called the Arrow." My eyes widdened and I forced myself to stand up and limped over to the computer, leaning on the table for supported. Felicity said "Oh.. Oh! It's getting really hard to keep track of who knows whose secret identity" Oliver then said "Felicity, Laurel's still inside the court house." I then asked "Ollie, what do you need." Oliver then said "My work clothes.. Dig can bring them. David you stay there. I'm not ordering you as a leader.. But I'm ordering as a friend." I nodded "I know.. But I can still be of some help here with Felicity." He was silent for a second then said "Put Sara on the phone." we all looked at eachother before Felicity said "She's not here."

Diggle left to bring Oliver the Arrow suit and Felicity wheeled me over a chair to sit in and helped me into it. I then said "Felicity, patch me into Sara's and The Arrow's coms. And pull up blueprint of the court house." She then said "I'll do you one better. " She even pulled up live security cams of the court house. I then said into coms "Sara, Arrow, location check." Sara then said "I'm inside, I've got Laurel, I'm headed to an egress point, in the south wing." Arrow then said "Doing a perimeter sweep, heading towards the Exit point." There was some arguing over coms "What is going on?" Arrow asked. Sara replied "She won't leave." Arrow replied "Get her out of there now." I looked at the cameras and saw Helena with her crew and the hostages. I then said "The Huntress has hostages. In prioritizing Laurel it could lead to innocent lives lost." Sara then said "Its not like I can knock her out." Arrow then said "I don't want you engaging Helena!" Sara asked "Are you afraid of what she will do, or what I will do." Arrow replied "Sara... you're not a killer." she was silent before saying "I am what I need to be" And her comms went offline. I pursed my lips, this had just got a lot more complicated.

I turned to Felicity "Can't you hack into her com and remotely turn it back on." She shook her head "Not before she kills Helena." I sighed and lightly pounded the table with my fist, wincing at the impact "Damn it Sara! Okay Arrow.. Priority need to switch to the hostages. By saving them you also save Laurel." The Arrow responded "What the call Blue Lightning?" I quickly scanned the schematics and the cameras before saying "There is an access point on the third floor by the north wing where the Huntress is holding her hostages. Sara and Laurel will be coming from the opposite side, allowing one of you to get the drop on her. I count 3 men with the Huntress.. And a few more doing a sweep of the building." He then said "Copy."

I then noticed Sara make her move and said "Hurry, Sara has engaged the Huntress." I then watched as they fought, itching to be there with them.. And angry all I could do is watch. I then watched as Helena overpowered Sara and set her flying from the window "Sara has been thrown through the window. You are cutting it close Arrow!" There was silence.. Then Sara was back on coms "Laurel is still in there" I let out a breath of relief that I was holding since Sara was alive. I then turned my attention to the hostage room and said "Canary, Arrow, The Huntress has now taken Laurel hostage. Oliver.. You need to reason with her before she kills Laurel!" Oliver then said "Felicity, patch me through to Helena." She then dialed the phone in the room. Oliver then said "Helena this has to end." She replied "I agree, It will end with my father in a box." Oliver then said "The police are not just going to hand your father over to you!" Helena agreed "No they won't. That's why you are going to do it. Simple trade.. My father.. For Laurel." She then cut off the call. I then said "Arrow.. Remember what happened last time you tried to deliver her father to her. There is another way." Oliver then replied "I know Lightning! Felicity, call the Detective, have him escort her father to us. I will come up with something. Blue Lightning, continue to monitor Helena, let me know of any developments." I nodded "On it Arrow."

I watched as Helena changed into a cop uniform and escorted Laurel out of the building when swat charged in. I then said into coms "Helena and Laurel are clear, Swat has rescued the hostages. I have lost visual. It is on you two now." Sara then said "We've got it from here Lightning." I sat back and waited for the all clear. I then heard gunfire and leaned back in "Arrow, Canary? Status report!" "A little busy!" Oliver yelled into coms and then a little later "Frank Bertinelli is dead, Helena is in custody. We're headed back." I sighed and sat back, looking at Felicity "How do you do this every night.." She smiled slightly and placed a hand on my shoulder "by knowing me being here, helps. You did good tonight Lightning. Go get some rest now." I smiled as she helped me up "I'll never call you a Nag again." She looked offended "You call me a nag?" I smirked "Only when you deserve it." I then got back on the table and lied down. Needing the rest.

Later that evening Oliver came by to talk "How are you holding up?" I sat up slowly and looked at him "Not as good as I normally would be. I am sorry I did not plan far enough ahead for Ambrosia." He shook his head and sat down beside me "You have no reason to apologize David. We just have taken your magically healing food for granted. You deserve the time off. Oh and don't worry about your pay, once you went missing I put you on medical leave with pay. You can still afford your fancy apartment." I chuckled and winced at the pain "I'd hardly call it fancy." He smirked "Well, if you ever feel the need for the fancier things in life.. There is plenty of room at my place while you recover." I shook my head "Its fine Ollie.. I'm sure Thea would pick up on me being so bruised and scared." He looked down "I am sorry for that.. Truely. I failed you David." I looked at him "No Ollie.. I was stupid and because of that we almost lost Sara and Laurel tonight.. And Frank Bertinelli would still be alive." He shook his head and looked over at me "Well I will Fail you, the day I tell the younger you not to use your powers as Blue Lightning. Had you used your powers a few weeks ago when fighting Slade, you would have beaten him. Yet you chose to suffer probable death instead. I seems I am not cut out to be a mentor." I looked over at him and said "You're wrong Ollie. When You meet younger me later this year, I will be over confident, even a little cocky. You will be the one to teach me patience, and quite frankly, caution. Before I suited up as the Blue Lightning, I was always the more powerful one in a fight. I mean as a kid I was the son of the king of the gods.. Only Percy rivaled me in power. I rarely got myself into a situation where my powers couldn't get me out of them. Then as a Dragon rider in Alagaesia I had my dragon and magic which always gave me a edge, save for Galbatorix himself, I even became part elf to erase any self doubts I had. Once I became an Avenger I had my powers AND a nearly indestructible suit, which meant I was usually more powerful than my adversaries. It wasn't until I put on that hood that I learned real skill, real caution and patience. Without your guidance Oliver, I would never have survived the past 900 years as an Assassin, let alone beat Iron Man in a fight with skill alone. You did well with me.. And you will do well with Roy. So no.. you did not fail me."

That was when he took a breath "Ahh.. Roy.. Well I told him to break up with Thea for her protection.. But now she feels like everyone but me is keeping secrets from her, including you. Yet I am keeping a couple of the biggest secrets of all.. That I'm the Arrow.. And.." I nodded "And that Malcolm Merlyn is her biological father." He nodded, not even surprised I knew. I then said "Well.. Perhaps one more person will come clean with her. Later this year I meet her, like younger me. And she does not let on she knows me.. Which means she knew I was the Blue Lightning and a time traveller. I thought I had more time to tell her.. But after my fight with Slade.. I know I could be killed at anytime. The wound I received in the fight left the same damage to my suit that it had when I took it over later this year. I need to tell her everything.. But I would like your blessing." His eyes widened "The Reason I told Roy to break up with her is because being around him is dangerous, knowing who one of Starling City's vigilante's is almost as dangerous." I then said "She finds out anyways. I will not tell her who the Canary or Arrow is.. Just myself. It could be more dangerous if I don't tell her. Trust me Ollie, her knowing will not put her in any more danger than she is already in." He sighed and nodded "Okay David, I trust you and your judgement.." I smiled and nodded "Then trust in yourself.. As you are greatly responsible for my ability to judge a situation." He nodded and placed a hand on my shoulder "Get some rest. Get better. I need my partner in the field again." He then took his leave and I turned over, closing my eyes and planning how I was going to reveal the truth to Thea.