Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.

Nanda Parbat

Deep in the mountains, Oliver and Sara walked down the forest in the dark and approached a camp, where was a freshly extinguished campfire and Oliver went to examine it before they sensed an arrow behind them and Sara whirled around to catch it. A moment later, a red-hooded woman emerged from the shadows and attacked Oliver with her bow and they exchanged few blows before they stopped as they looked at each other's faces.

"Ollie?" Thea stared in shock as she lowered her hood.

"Hi, Speedy." Oliver smiled as he lowered his hood.

"A crisis?" Thea asked, staring in surprise as Oliver filled her in.

"I had hoped that I could find some answers in Nanda Parbat." Oliver said before he noticed the scar on Thea's cheek. "Where did you get that?"

"Athena." Thea explained.

" You destroyed the pits. You could have returned home, you know?" Nyssa pointed out as she approached with Roy and Sara.

"Pits may be gone, but the Thanatos Guild isn't. It's Malcolm's legacy and I need to make sure they can't hurt anyone, ever again." Thea said.

"That's fair." Oliver nodded in understanding.

"Look, Thea, I hope you understand why I left after Oliver got arrested." Roy said.

"I get it. Really." Thea nodded as she smiled at Oliver, Roy and Sara. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too." Oliver said.

"But I'm pretty sure I'm not the reason why you came here." Thea noted.

"Few months ago, I made a deal with a cosmic being named Mar Novu. He asked me to help him, but he's not very good at sharing information with the people he's working with." Oliver said.

"Sounds like somebody else I know." Thea drawled with a smile.

"Look, we're not quite sure if we can trust him, that's why we came here." Sara explained.

"I myself have no idea about Mar Novu but we know someone else who might." Nyssa said.

"What are you not telling me?" Thea asked apprehensively, since she could tell they were holding something back.

"I've seen the future. Barry and Kara are going to die, and I need to find a way to prevent that from happening, if I can." Oliver explained.

"OK. Well, let's try to figure out what we're dealing with." Thea said.

"I myself don't know much about Mar Novu, to be honest." Nyssa admitted.

"Me either and I asked Rip and the Legends but Gideon's information about the Monitor is vague at best." Sara said.

"We've kind of killed off every League member, haven't we?" Thea noted.

"I can think of one more." Oliver said.

"I thought you guys were friends now." Thea said as she walked down the forest with Oliver, Sara, Nyssa and Roy.

"Well, not exactly." Oliver said before they neared the ruins.

"OK, well, this place isn't the least bit creepy." Thea deadpanned as they looked around.

Suddenly, they were ambushed by a group of ninjas and Oliver, Sara, Roy, Nyssa and Thea engaged them.

"Hold! Leave us."

They all stopped in their track as a woman in black hood appeared.

"Your students used to ask questions first." Oliver said.

"I have learned that hesitation often proves fatal." The woman said as she put down her hood to reveal Talia's face. "You should not have come to this place."

"You owe me a debt. I'm here to collect." Oliver said.

"The five of you come here at great peril." Talia said, eying Oliver, Sara, Thea, Roy and Nyssa as she shot Thea an amused look. "Especially you. Word of your exploits has traveled far."

"I see you survived prison." Talia noted, turning to Oliver.

"Mm-hmm." Oliver nodded as he looked at Talia curiously. "Dr. Parker didn't. Heard he was killed with a sword."

"He received the justice he deserved." Talia shrugged.

"So now you're back to your old exploits?" Oliver asked.

"With the League gone, the region has become quite unstable." Talia explained.

"And you think training a bunch of assassins in a place like this is gonna stabilize it?" Thea questioned.

"I think it a wiser course of action than declaring a one-woman war on the Thanatos Guild." Talia said, amused.

"Much as I would like to have a debate with you, Talia, I need to know whatever the League might know about Mar Novu." Oliver said.

Talia narrowed her eyes, lost in her thoughts. "That's an unusual name. I'd remember it."

"If it helps, he's a cosmic god or whatever." Sara said.

"Well, such beings often go by many names." Talia considered as she turned to Oliver. "If I help you, I can consider my debt paid?"

"Yes." Oliver nodded.

"If the League has any information concerning this man, it will be found underneath the Karan Shah." Talia said.

"The League's stronghold." Sara said.

"It has since been destroyed but my father kept the League records in the catacombs, so with any luck, they're still there, waiting to be found." Talia said as she walked off. "We leave at nightfall."

"She's still fun." Thea quipped.

Later, Karan Shah

"Did Nanda Parbat look like that?" Roy asked as they went down the abandoned corridors of the ruined stronghold with Talia holding a torch.

"If this place took few renovations, yeah." Thea nodded. "Love what they haven't done with the place."

"I'm surprised you're helping us." Nyssa noted, sneering at Talia.

"As much as you might spite me, I still have some honor. And I'm willing to move past our grudge for now. Are you?" Talia questioned and Nyssa was silent. As much as she wanted to settle a score with her sister, there was more at stake.

"For now." Nyssa nodded.

"Assuming the Karan Shah hasn't been plundered, we're likely to find what we're looking for in 'The Chronicles of Al-Fatih'." Talia said. "He was the first Ra's al Ghul. According to legend, he was bestowed primordial knowledge by one of the sky gods. Now, my father kept a secret room with his most valued possessions, including information on Al-Fatih."

Talia pressed a hidden switch as the rock shifted, revealing hidden door as they entered the corridor and saw that the room had been ransacked.

"Looks like we're too late." Oliver noted.

"Not necessarily." Talia said as she put down her bow and opened a scroll, laughing. "The Chronicles of-Al Fatih."

"Why steal everything valuable and leave behind the one thing that we've been looking for?" Roy wondered.

"They didn't think it was worth anything to them." Nyssa explained.

"Right. What's it say?" Oliver asked.

"The phoenix is reborn in the fire." Thea read. "The path to your destiny follows me."

"Speedy, you just read Arabic." Oliver said.

"You speak Russian." Thea countered.

"The phoenix is reborn in the fire…" Roy repeated. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Every new recruit in the League must let their old selves die, so that their new one may be reborn." Nyssa explained.

Then it hit Oliver as he picked a torch. "We need to burn the scroll."

"The scroll is centuries old." Talia protested.

"Yeah." Oliver said as he burned the scroll and then found out that inside it was wrapped some metallic ball.

"Al-Fatih was a very paranoid man. He wouldn't let any traitor get to his secrets." Nyssa said as Talia was examining the inscriptions on the ball.

"I believe this leads to Al-Fatih's tomb." Talia said. "It stands to reason that he would attempt to take his secrets with him beyond the grave."

"A scavenger hunt then?" Sara asked.

"It would appear so, yes." Talia said.

"Why can't everything just be easy?" Thea groaned.

"Actually, your situation is more difficult than you think."

They all whirled around to see Athena and the Thanatos Guild assassins enter.

"Athena." Talia smirked.

"You have always been treacherous, Talia, but bringing outsiders into our sacred heart is a betrayal of the highest order." Athena said coldly as she turned to the ball in Talia's hand. "I'll take that. Relinquish it or perish."

Talia smirked. "As you wish."

"Sister…" Nyssa cautioned as Talia threw the ball to Athena.

"Attack them!" Athena ordered as the Guild assassins attacked them.

Oliver dodged and blocked with his bow as one of the assassins attacked with his sword and threw him away and knocked another assassin down. They exchanged blows before Oliver knocked them down. Roy dodged and threw another assassin against a shelf as it crashed before jumping over the pedestal and kicking another assassin. Sara kicked back another assassin and blocked their blades with her batons, while Thea blocked another assassin's sword with her bow and Nyssa kicked one of the assassins back before ducking as another one tried to cut her down and stabbed him with her sword, while Talia engaged Athena in swordfight

An assassin pinned Thea to the wall but Oliver and Roy knocked him back. Talia kicked Athena in the midsection as Athena stumbled back and dropped a flashbang on the ground as it exploded, blinding Athena and the Thanatos guild, while Oliver, Sara, Roy, Thea, Talia and Nyssa made their escape.

"Athena showing up right when we did can't be an accident." Oliver noted.

"No, and neither was her giving Athena the sphere." Thea noted as they all shot Talia looks.

"If you're accusing me, I'd like to point out few things. First, Athena and I are blood enemies." Talia said.

"And the second?" Sara questioned.

"She was most likely trailing you." Talia pointed out as she turned to Thea. "The woman, who's declared war on her."

"Why would Athena give a damn about some rusty old scroll buried with Al-Fatih?" Roy questioned.

"She wouldn't. She would give a damn about what else is buried with him, namely his sword as revered as the ring of Ra's." Talia said.

"If Athena gets her hand on Al-Fatih's sword, she will be able to restart the League of Assassins, since whoever wields the sword commands absolute devotion." Nyssa explained.

"And now she's got the marble of destiny or whatever." Thea muttered.

"Actually, it's a map." Talia explained. "The markings on it were constellations indicating the tomb's location but we don't need it. I memorized them."

"What? You memorized them?" Oliver asked as they all stopped, eying Talia with skepticism and suspicion.

"You didn't?" Talia asked as they all shot her glares.

"I see some things don't change, do they, sister?" Nyssa sneered.

Then they heard footsteps.

"We should set up lookouts. Who knows how long before the Thanatos Guild catches up with us." Roy noted.

"Go on ahead. I'll stay with Talia." Oliver ordered.

"You can't be serious." Thea protested.

"Ollie—" Sara started.

"We should give you a moment." Talia noted as she left with Nyssa, leaving Oliver alone with Thea, Roy and Sara.

"Ollie, I thought we were way past this overprotective brother thing." Thea said.

"It's not about that." Oliver said.

"You came to me for help." Thea reminded.

"I came to you for answers. I wasn't counting on getting attacked by Athena." Oliver said.

"Ollie, I think what Thea means is that she's a big girl now and she doesn't need you babysitting her anymore." Sara noted.

"I know that. But if Athena is trying to restart the League of Assassins, that makes you her chief rival." Oliver said as he turned to Thea.

"I don't care." Thea snapped.

"I care, Thea. If you want to help me, just… just let me handle this." Oliver pleaded.

"Look, man, you know you don't have to do this on your own, right? We can look after ourselves and each other, whatever's going on, we're all in this together." Roy reminded.

"I know that, it's just that… I need to be sure we know what we're up against." Oliver said as he left.

Talia and Oliver went down the woods.

"How much further?" Oliver asked.

"Patience. You realize they're all involved in this with you, whether you want it or not? Especially your sister. She's the Daughter of the Demon." Talia pointed out. "She has a claim to the sword."

"She's carried enough of Malcolm's burdens." Oliver protested.

"Fate does not care what we believe we're owed." Talia said. "You're very familiar with that. Isn't that why you're here?"

"What do you mean?" Oliver asked, not understanding.

"You carry yourself with a heaviness I have not seen since Russia. This is the place." Talia said as they stopped at the cliff and Oliver realized where they were but it wasn't covered in snow this time.

"I've been here before." Oliver said, remembering where he dueled Ra's.

"Yes. Where my father vanquished you. Hopefully you have better luck with the mountain this time." Talia teased.

They went forward before hearing 'clang' and creaking as Oliver stepped on a pressure plate.

"Down!" Oliver ordered as he and Talia crouched, while arrows fired from hidden turrets as they saw the pillar at the edge of the cliff.

"The phoenix up there, triggering the spears!" Talia said.

"I have an idea." Oliver said, firing an arrow at the phoenix and the turrets stopped firing before they went towards it and a compartment opened in the pillar, revealing a piece of cloth and a metal key.

"The key to the crypt of Ra's." Talia said as she looked at the cloth, revealing it to be a map.

"Looks like the entrance is right there." Oliver said, pointing at the map.

"Yes." Talia nodded before pocketing the map and then she jammed a dart into Oliver's neck as he was slowly passing out.

"What are you doing?" Oliver whispered.

"I am sorry, Oliver. I can't let Athena get to the sword but I can't let your or my sister get it either." Talia said as darkness claimed Oliver and he fell down the stairs.

When Oliver came to, Sara, Roy, Thea and Nyssa were standing at his side as they helped him get up.

"Looks like you're down one evil companion." Thea joked.

"I thought I told you to stay in the camp." Oliver muttered as he came to.

"Pity we didn't ignore you soon enough." Sara said.

"Hey, I don't have time for an 'I told you so'." Oliver groaned.

"My sister is going to take the trail to the summit." Nyssa said. "She won't be exhausting herself so much. We'll need to go up the face of the mountain to get ahead of her and Athena."

"Thought you said it was harder." Thea said.

"I've done it before." Oliver said.

"OK. If you can do it, we can do it." Thea said.

"Thea…" Oliver shot her a look.

"Ollie, just stop it. Start walking." Thea said.

They climbed up the mountain wall before they sat down, taking rest.

"Thought you said this was the hard part." Thea said.

"Don't get cocky." Oliver warned as they all stared at the sunrise.

Thea sighed as she noticed the worried look in his eyes. "OK, what is going on with you, Ollie? You never were this overprotective, when I left Star City."

"Things have changed." Oliver sighed. "I left William behind, Speedy. John. Felicity. My friends. And I miss them. And every day, I wrestle with whether or not I made the right decision because maybe I didn't, and…" He stared at the horizon in worry. "I saw an entire world wiped out of existence, a world that you weren't in, by the way, because I wasn't around to protect you."

Thea stared down, realizing how hard it must have been for Oliver.

"I'm sorry, Thea, but the only way that I can bear this is if I become 100% certain that what I'm doing will protect the people I love. Barry and Kara are going to die in the Crisis, but maybe I can prevent this and if not, I need to make sure everyone else is going to be safe." Oliver said.

"You know, I've been thinking a lot about Mom and Dad lately." Thea said. "Wondering what they would think about the lives we've chosen. All the mistakes they made, all the… lies they told in their own very, very messed up way. They thought they were protecting us."

"They weren't. They didn't." Oliver said.

"No but… it did help us become the people we are today." Thea noted and Oliver shrugged. "They turned us into heroes. We can't change the future, Ollie. The past teaches us you might as well not bother trying to."

"When you'd stop being my baby sister?" Oliver chuckled as they all smiled proudly at Thea.

"No. I never did. I just grew up a little bit." Thea said, gesturing with her fingers. "Now can we please get off this mountain?"

"Yeah." Oliver said.

They climbed up to the top and approached the entrance, only to notice that it had been opened already.

"We're not alone." Oliver said before they turned around, hearing footsteps as Athena and the Guild assassins appeared with restrained Talia.

"Apparently, this day isn't going the way either of us have planned." Talia said.

"Surrender your weapons." Athena ordered.

"What do you want?" Oliver demanded.

"The route the Al-Fatih's crypt will be dangerous." Athena said as one of her men cut Talia's restraints. "Always good to have a few sacrificial lambs to tell us where not to stray." She shoved Talia, forcing her to enter. "After you."

They entered the tomb, with Oliver holding a torch.

"Underground in Nanda Parbat. What could possibly go wrong?" Thea drawled as Oliver lit up the remaining torches in the tomb. "Well, Indiana Jones made this look way more fun."

Talia read the inscription on the coffin. "To survive death, you must embrace it."

"Well, how do you embrace death?" Oliver questioned. "The coffin. Come on."

They opened the coffin, revealing hidden stairwell going down.

"Go on." Athena ordered.

"OK." Oliver sighed.

They went downstairs and saw a rope with a hole leading them to the lower level.

"Prisoners first." Athena said as they saw the tiles on the floor. "Watch your step."

They descended down as Thea saw the symbol above the door. "Ollie. A Phoenix."

"Alright. Crypt must be through there." Oliver said.

"OK." Thea said, about to approach the door but Oliver pulled her away.

"Thea!" Oliver yelled as flames burst from the wall.

"Thank you." Thea said, panting out.

"Yeah." Oliver nodded.

They noticed another inscription on the floor as Talia read it. "All beings burn, but a Phoenix rises from the ashes."

"You see the phoenix tiles?" Sara asked, examining the floor.

"I think we need to use them to get across." Thea said.

"Just like Indiana Jones, right?" Roy noted.

Talia and Athena's assassins jumped at the tiles with phoenix but one of them slipped, triggering the flamethrowers and burning them to death as Talia got across.

Oliver, Sara, Roy, Thea and Nyssa followed Talia.

"After them!" Athena ordered to her assassins.

"You hold them off, I'll get Talia." Thea ordered.

"Thea—"

"Just trust me!" Thea told Oliver as she entered the tomb.

Oliver, Roy and Nyssa shot down Athena's men as Athena blocked their arrows with their swords, while rushing forward and Sara engaged one of Athena's men.

Talia entered the tomb, picking Al-Fatih's sword, astonished by holding it.

"Talia?" Thea called out as Talia turned around.

"You're too late." Talia said as Thea picked a sword from a stand.

"As Heir to the Demon, I have the right to challenge you to combat." Thea said.

"You wish to fight me?" Talia asked. "Very well, I accept. I hope you prove to be a worthy opponent."

Oliver, Nyssa and Roy shot down two more assassins, while Sara kicked another assassin away and Oliver dodged, when Athena attacked with her sword.

Thea and Talia fenced with their swords, seeming evenly matched before Talia grabbed Thea's hand and cut her across her chest as Thea gasped.

"Your father and brother trained you well. Pity the tools they learned, they learned from my father and me." Talia said.

"Less talking, more fighting." Thea sneered as they resumed their duel.

Roy blocked Athena's sword with his bow as she kicked Sara back. Nyssa grabbed Athena, throwing her back as she fell towards the trigger tiles, triggering more traps as rubble fell down from above and crushed her to death.

Despite Thea's training, Talia was more skilled and experienced as she kicked Thea in the legs, while she fell down and Talia pointed her sword at her.

"You were a fool to think you could defeat me." Talia said.

Thea crawled back and grabbed a chain from the pillar as she got up. "Actually, you're right where I want you."

Thea dodged, when Talia attempted to cut her head off and grabbed the chain, wrapping it around Talia's neck, choking her.

"Do you yield?" Thea sneered as Talia groaned, struggling for breath as Thea pulled the chain, tightening the grip. For a moment, it seemed that Thea would kill her before Talia, much to their surprise, surrendered.

"I yield." Talia choked out. Thea let her go as Talia gasped for air, taking deep breaths.

When it was over, they went out as Thea read Al-Fatih's journal.

"What does it say?" Roy asked.

"It says Al-Fatih was visited by a god, who possessed the power to see all that is and all that will be. He believed that if he failed to keep the balance between good and evil, this god would bring forth the end of times, the annihilation of all things." Thea read, all of them sharing grim looks as they saw a portrait of a man, who resembled Mar Novu.

"If this is true…" Sara trailed off.

"…then it means that Mar Novu is not trying to prevent what's going to happen because he's gonna be what causes it." Oliver finished before they saw Talia packing up.

"You're leaving?" Thea asked.

"I have betrayed my honor and the sacred traditions of the League." Talia said. "The sword was destined to be yours, daughter of Merlyn. I am sorry for the pain that I've caused to you. All of you." She said genuinely to Oliver, Sara, Roy, Thea and Nyssa.

"And your students?" Sara asked.

"I've released them." Talia said. "They will follow you, if that is what you wish."

"It's not." Thea protested. "You're their teacher. They need someone to follow."

"If I was meant to lead them, I would wield Al-Fatih's sword but you do, so the honor and burden are yours." Talia explained.

"Yeah. Hard pass." Thea said, not wanting to have such responsibility.

"It is your destiny." Talia said.

"Sister, I've come to realize recently that destiny may not be carved into stone." Nyssa pointed out. "We can decide our own fates."

"Meaning?" Talia questioned.

"Maybe this world doesn't need another League of Assassins." Thea said. "It could use League of Heroes. It wouldn't be a one-woman job."

"You'd extend me that honor despite my betrayals?" Talia asked.

"We've all made mistakes." Sara said as Oliver nodded.

"Not one but two, three women to wield my father's sword? He would be aghast." Talia considered before smiling, amused at the thought. "I accept."

She shook her hand with Thea.

"I'm sorry you didn't get the answers you were looking for." Thea said as she walked down the ruins with Oliver and Roy.

"Got to see you." Oliver said as he smiled at her.

"Here's what I don't get." Thea said.

"OK." Oliver nodded.

"If Mar Novu causes whatever's gonna happen, why does he bring you in in the first place?" Thea wondered.

"I don't know. Look. I just… I know that if he ends up being on the wrong side of this… I'm gonna stop him." Oliver promised.

"If you're gonna take on a god, Ollie, you're gonna need all the help you can get." Thea said.

"Pretty good on help actually." Oliver smiled. "I have John, I have Sara and Laurel… believe it or not."

"And me. I'm not going to leave him behind." Roy said.

"I get it." Thea nodded.

"Besides, it seems to me you have your hands full rebuilding the League of Assassins into a League of Heroes." Oliver said.

"Yeah." Thea sighed.

"I can't believe I'm saying goodbye to you again." Oliver smiled.

"Well, you're not. Think of it as a… 'See you later, and please don't die.'" Thea said as they hugged each other in a tight embrace, with Oliver on verge of tears, which Thea noticed. "One of us is gonna have to let go first."

"Same time?" Oliver said.

"Mm-hmm." Thea nodded as they pulled away. "No hozen this time?"

"Not this time." Oliver said.

"I'm gonna miss you. Every day, I miss you." Thea smiled.

"Goodbye, Speedy." Oliver said.

"Bye, Ollie." Thea said as they parted ways and Oliver followed Roy and Sara.

When Oliver was walking up the hill, suddenly his phone rang as he answered the call. "Yeah? No, I'm actually on my way back to Star City. Why?" He then looked apprehensive, which Roy and Sara noticed. "OK. I'll meet you there."

Oliver hung up as Roy and Sara looked at him worriedly.

"What's going on, Oliver?" Roy asked.

"That was Slade Wilson. His son is on his way to Star City and we need to head back, now." Oliver said.

As I've said before, I have no intention of involving adult Mia or William at all, since Season 8, where Mia lashed out at Oliver for abandoning her and the backdoor pilot of "Green Arrow and the Canaries", plus the constant whining of the Laurel fanatics that Mia should be Oliver/Laurel daughter instead of Oliver/Felicity's or Oliver/Sara's greatly soured my opinion on the idea of Mia being Oliver's daughter, but I have a way around the Deathstroke arc. Frankly, it's disappointing that Manu Bennett didn't at least make a cameo in Arrow finale and I don't buy the ban because of DCEU and Titans. Come on, they got DCEU's Flash to make a cameo in Crisis on Infinite Earths, for Christ's sakes, so the excuses they had at that point for not involving Slade were nothing more than excuses.

So, what do you guys think?

Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.