Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I'm only borrowing them for a while. I own the original ideas found in this. Some dialogue borrowed from the Arro episode "The Climb" written by Jake Coburn & Keto Shimizu.
AN: Thank you for returning to this little story. I hope you also enjoy this chapter.
Previously:
Oliver quickly debated which question to ask. "If I may, have you decided what your plans are regarding me?"
A slow smile crossed Ra's' face. He strode slowly back and forth along the cell several times before turning back to Oliver.
"Yes, I have decided on what I am going to do with you."
Oliver bit his tongue this time to avoid making a hasty remark as he waited for the man to continue. He dared not breathe so as to draw any untoward attention to his nerves.
"I have decided you are to fight us to the death."
Oliver could only stare at the man in front of him. He wasn't quite sure he had heard Ra's correctly. "Sir, did you say 'us'?"
"I only have twenty men with me. With a man of your great reputation, surely you can take all of us on?" Ra's shrugged his shoulders.
Does he mean all at once or one at a time?
Oliver was able not to voice this thought, but instead waited for Ra's to continue. He wasn't disappointed. "You look slightly worried, Mr. Queen. Of course, I did not mean all at once. If you succeed at beating all my men, only then will you fight me."
That only makes me a little less worried.
Ra's nodded at two of his guards, who walked over to Oliver and hoisted him onto his feet. One proceeded to unlock Oliver's manacles from the chain. Oliver locked eyes with Ra's once again.
"If you will follow me, we will proceed into the courtyard." Ra's then led the men out of Oliver's cell, except for the two guards at Oliver's sides. One of them pushed Oliver to follow the group. Catching himself from falling, Oliver shook off the guards' hands and followed the other men.
They proceeded up a flight of stone steps and through an iron door. Oliver was surprised to find they were immediately outside, into a courtyard of sorts. Nothing appeared familiar to him. He couldn't place either the surroundings or the building itself. Oliver didn't think they had left Starling, but was discomfited by the fact he heard no sounds orienting him as to where in Starling they currently were. The size of the mansion behind them as well as the courtyard/backyard meant they must be at someone's estate. Besides the Merlyns and the Queens, the only other millionaire in Starling was the recluse Sterling Michelson. Surely they weren't at old man Michelson's estate? Michelson had been rumored to be out of the country for several months, but he was so reclusive, no one could be certain. Oliver doubted not even Thea, Oliver's main link to all gossip, would know. Neither Oliver nor his sister had ever seen the Michelson estate, and no media had ever published a recent picture of it.
One of the men stopped Oliver and removed the manacles from his wrists. The man next instructed Oliver to remove his shirt, which he took from Oliver. Oliver watched as the two guards removed their own shirts as well and took their places within the circle of men surrounding him, all shirtless. He quickly counted them and realized that apparently Ra's was going to have him fight his men in groups, beginning with seven of them. Seemingly without a signal from Ra's, three men rushed at Oliver. Oliver allowed the nearest man to get near him before ducking quickly and throwing the man over his back. Turning behind him, Oliver tackled the second man, then after rising quickly, he knocked the third man to the ground with a roundhouse kick.
Three other men rushed at him, and Oliver punched one unconscious and knocked the other two's heads together, bringing the total of unconscious fighters to five. The seventh man came at Oliver with escrima sticks, which Oliver took from him after several punches. He then turned to the man who had flown over his back and fought him for a minute before knocking him out.
Before he could take a breath, Oliver had seven more men rushing at him. He began battling with punches, kicks and using the escrima sticks at random, knocking out three of the men with the first round, then catching two others unawares with roundhouse kicks.
As he took out one or two men, two others joined in until Oliver was again fighting six men, three of them brought knives into the fighting. Oliver knocked a knife out of one man's hand. Turning around, he seriously injured three of the others, and knocked several more out with a few well-placed kicks and punches.
As he took down the remaining soldier, clapping made its way through Oliver's hazy brain. Dripping blood from several cuts on his arms and upper legs, as well as a bloody nose, Oliver turned in the direction of the clapping. Through blood and sweat he watched as Ra's al Ghul approached, nodding his head, his lips in a tightly drawn line as he slowly clapped his hands. As he removed his own shirt, Ra's spoke.
"Well done, Mr. Queen, well done. Nothing less than I had expected, given your reputation." Through more instinct than sight, Oliver caught the sword Ra's threw at him. "But if you think I will be easy on you, you would be incorrect, Mr. Queen," Ra's exclaimed as he brought a sword down on Oliver's head.
Luckily, Oliver leaped out of the way, meeting Ra's' sword before it could remove his head. Metal upon metal flashed and no other sound could be heard but the swords clanging as the men battled one another.
Oliver was more fatigued than he'd ever been, having fought twenty other men, but this was a fight to the death. He simply couldn't lose. Pulling out all his reserves, he tried to match strike with strike, feigning and striking out, trying to gain an advantage. After multiple attempts, and receiving several deeper cuts on his torso, he decided he'd be happy with simply maintaining a defense. Even with Oliver having a sword in one hand, a knife in the other, Ra's gained the upper hand and never gave it up.
Oliver's vision becoming cloudier, with both fatigue and a mixture of blood and sweat getting in his eyes, Oliver struggled to gain an advantage, when suddenly his legs were swept from under him. Before he could block it, he suddenly felt a sword enter between his ribs on his right side, angling towards his heart. Above him, he heard Ra's say, "You should take pride. You survived longer than most. Don't be afraid, my son. Death comes for us all. We can only evade it so long. Consider this an honorable exit."
Oliver attempted to focus on his opponent, to gather his strength to rise again even though he knew it was hopeless. Visions of first his parents, then Thea, passed in front of his mind's eye, ending with thoughts of Felicity. Regret flooded his body as he heard Ra's continue to speak. "Forgive and have mercy upon him... Excuse him and pardon him... Make honorable his reception... Protect him from the punishment of the grave... And the torment of fire."
As the remaining bit of consciousness left him, Oliver believed he was dying. He was unaware of Ra's throwing his sword into the ground beside him and leaving him lying in a pool of his own blood, in the middle of a field, calling his men to follow him. Oliver was also unaware of the bustle within the building as the group from Nanda Parbat packed up in preparation to leave Starling City. Leaving its hero bleeding out in the backyard of one of their most reclusive citizens.
~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~
Previously:
"Ms. Smoak, may I borrow your computer to show you and Mr. Diggle the plans of the building where Oliver is being held?"
Felicity held her hand out to Malcolm, silently asking for him to hand her the flash drive. Malcolm shrugged, handing it to her. She quickly placed it into her computer, ran security scans on it, and pulled up the plans. Diggle pulled up a chair, with Malcolm standing behind them to point out areas of interest as they discuss the plans for the rescue.
Thus a plan began to develop, and a reluctant alliance among former adversaries forged.
The van containing Team Arrow, driven by Roy, rushed to the site where Malcolm directed them. Felicity attempted to sit still while feeling Merlyn's scrutiny on her, purposely avoiding the man's gaze even though he was sitting across from her in the back of the van. She bristled as Merlyn broke the silence by asking yet again, "Why are we bringing her along? She's useless in a fight."
"Because I don't trust you alone with my boys. And what I mean by my boys are Diggle and Roy, and yes, I am very aware they are both older than me, but I don't care. Someone needs to watch their back with you along, and so I'm riding along. Because I don't trust you, Merlyn. I only trust you as far as I can throw you, and considering you're way bigger than me, that isn't very far." Felicity shook her head to stop her babbling.
Merlyn only glared at her, while Diggle smiled and Roy coughed to cover up a laugh.
Deciding to change the subject, Felicity said, "I can't imagine this crook hiding on old man Michelson's estate. How can we be sure they are here?"
"Well we're here now, so hang on, I'm busting through the gate," Roy warned right before he turned the wheel sharply and gunned the gas.
Felicity put her head in her lap, placing her hands over her head to protect it. The clanging of the iron gates against the van startled her more than she would have thought. She barely stayed in her seat as Roy stomped on the brakes suddenly, and jumped as Dig startled her when he pushed open the van's side door.
"Roy, you and Merlyn will go through the front, and Felicity and I will take the back." Glaring at him, Dig silently dared Merlyn to make another stupid remark about Felicity. Instead Merlyn simply sneered at Diggle and followed Roy around the mansion.
"Don't worry, Felicity, just keep up with me. Looks like it's deserted, and I'm not sure what that means."
Felicity rushed in an adjusted walk-run to keep up with the man's larger stride. They hurried past the hedges bordering the open area, entering the well-groomed courtyard, when Felicity saw what appeared to be a man lying on the ground some distance away. As soon as she had gathered her wits to say something, Dig said, "I see it," and took off in a run. Felicity knew she wouldn't be able to keep pace with him, but instead followed as fast as she could.
When she got to the figure on the ground, Felicity confirmed what she knew in her heart. It was Oliver, with a severe wound in his right side, blood obscuring her view as to where exactly he was wounded. Diggle was kneeling next to him, and Felicity barely took in the fact he had moved Oliver's head into position to check his airway. Her knowledge of first aid kicked in as Diggle moved his head down to put his ear above Oliver's mouth and nose, and looked at his abdomen.
Diggle looked up at Felicity. "No respirations." Diggle then checked for a pulse at the side of Oliver's neck. "No pulse." As the other two men ran up to the group, Diggle commanded, "Roy, call 911, then go wait for the ambulance at the gate. Felicity, take over respirations." Diggle then moved next to Oliver's abdomen. "Merlyn, grab something and try to stop the bleeding. And don't get in my way."
Before she began giving respirations, Felicity took off her sweater and threw it at Merlyn, who had taken his place across from Diggle at the side of Oliver's abdomen. Merlyn quickly placed her sweater over the wound and pressed down upon it while Dig administered compressions. Silence covered the team until they heard sirens in the distance approaching.
AN: Well, how about that? A slight variation on Oliver's death as shown in the show. But unlike the show, is he really dead? Please return when the next chapter is posted to find out. And I hope you will be kind and send me a review on what you think of this chapter. Always, always appreciated. Like many have said, we fanfiction writers don't get any payment except for the feedback from our readers. See you next chapter!