Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I'm only borrowing them for a while. I own the original ideas found in this. I also borrow some dialogue from Arrow episode 2 x 19: "Seeing Red", written by Wendy Mericle and Beth Schwartz, for this chapter.

AN: So happy the last chapter was enjoyed. Sorry (not sorry) for leaving you in suspense. Thank you for all the kudos, comments, reviews and favs. Always appreciated. Hope you enjoy this next chapter as well.

Previously:

The place for this meeting was a two-story warehouse also in the Glades. Diggle pulled up the blueprints on his smart phone and reviewed them with the team. Sara was able to hack into the security cameras of the building to discover that, this time, Slade did have guards situated outside. It appeared that five guards made periodic sweeps of the outside grounds, while inside Sara located what appeared to be guards at every entrance and four who made rounds around the warehouse interior.

"How many Mirakuru soldiers do Slade and Isabel have?" Sara asked, her irritability and fear sneaking into her voice.

Oliver shook his head. "Yeah, we have to assume they're all affected. Thank goodness we made enough antidote arrows and bullets."

Studying the information, Diggle said, "I think our best bet, is Sara and I clearing the way for you to enter here," he pointed at a side door. "First, we all take care of the outside guards, so hopefully they don't set off an alarm. Then, Oliver, you enter and meet up with Slade while Sara and I take care of any other guards lurking around. Hopefully, if…"

"Don't you mean, 'when"?" Sara interjected.

Digg looked at Sara, "If or when stuff hits the fan, we are in place to provide assistance."

The rescue at first went according to Digg's plan. Oliver assisted Digg and Sara in taking out the guards around the perimeter. Oliver then entered the building by the side door, while the other two kept watch, and proceeded down the narrow hallway leading towards one of two large rooms on the first floor. However, as he approached the hallway which would take him directly to the room he suspected held Thea, Oliver heard a slight sound behind him. Before he could turn around, he felt as though his head was split open with something heavy.

The next thing he became aware of, Oliver's head was banging a rhythm he didn't like. He hadn't felt like that for a long time. Not since his partying days before the shipwreck. Something told him he needed to open his eyes, but it was such a struggle. His head hurt too much, but he knew he shouldn't let that stop him. He didn't hear anything, which on some level he thought was strange. Taking a quick inventory of his body, he realized he was sitting in a wooden chair with his arms and legs restrained to it.

As memories of Slade returned full force, his eyes shot open to find the concerned eyes of his mother and sister upon him from either side of him. Moira's face was drawn and pale, Thea's eyes were reddened and bloodshot. They were also restrained in chairs. Before his mind could react to the horrifying discovery of his mother there, his eyes followed the low chuckle which came from the man in front of him, standing next to Felicity, also tied to a chair. Oliver let out an involuntary gasp as his eyes met hers. Her face white, making her wide eyes even brighter, Felicity was clearly attempting to keep her fear and anger under control. Her small hands were gripping the arms of her chair with whitened knuckles, making Oliver worry for the state of her chair. He hoped she could keep her Mirakuru-influenced emotions under control until it benefited them. Gathering his composure, Oliver forced a blank expression on his face as he turned his gaze towards Slade.

Before he could speak, however, Slade broke the silence. "I told the women in your life to remain quiet as you woke up. I thought you needed all the rest you could while you had the chance."

Lips curling up in disgust, Oliver recognized the lie in that statement. Slade knew a spy's first rule when captured was to listen to the sounds around them before opening their eyes. Struggling against the bonds, testing their strength, Oliver said, "Very funny, Slade." As his eyes again met Felicity's, he felt his anger threaten to boil over. "What are they doing here? I thought you were going to let Thea go when I arrived? Not to mention my mother and Felicity aren't even supposed to be here at all."

"Oh, but Oliver. I decided since I enjoyed the game with the Lances so much, we'll reenact it for you using your mother and sister."

Oliver closed his eyes and concentrated on keeping his breathing steady, attempting to control his fear. I should've known from the moment I saw Mom and Thea he's going to make us relive my choice with Sara and Shado. Again. He opened them, meeting Slade's gaze headlong. In a steady but even voice, Oliver said, "You don't have to do this, Slade. Just kill me. Let my friend and family go. I'll suffer from knowing you made them watch me die."

"A very good suggestion, Oliver. An excellent alternative." Slade got into Oliver's face. "But I like my original idea better." He walked a few steps away from Oliver, returning to his original position in between the two women. Making a grand show of it, he opened his jacket, took out a revolver out of the side pocket, and removed the safety.

Maintaining eye contact with Oliver, Slade walked towards Thea and pointed the gun at her head. "Who will it be, Oliver? Your darling little sister?" Oliver watched as Thea's eyes involuntarily closed and her shoulders tense up as if she expected the gun to go off immediately. She opened them again to meet Oliver's gaze, tears in her eyes. She breathed a sigh of relief when Slade lowered the gun to his side, removing it from her head. Slade then took several steps towards Moira and pointed the gun at her head. "Or your own sweet mother?" As Thea cried out "No!" Moira met her son's gaze headlong and shook her head slightly.

Before he could find his voice, his mother asked angrily, "What the hell do you think you're doing, Mr. Wilson?"

Slade leaned back on his heels fixing upon Moira a calculated stare. "I'd have thought your son would've told you?" Putting on an act of waiting for an answer, he continued. "Of course, he didn't." Slade bent down beside Moira. "Your son had to make a similar choice on the island. An evil man had captured him, my love Shado, and Oliver's girlfriend Sara. He then made Oliver choose who he was going to kill." He stood up and glared at Oliver. "How dare you choose that bitch Sara over Shado? Shado was worth a million of her."

"As I've tried to tell you, you psychopath! It really wasn't any choice. I told Ivo, no I begged him to shoot me. Ivo instead pointed the gun at Sara and I thought he was going to shoot her. I meant to get in the way of the bullet, so I leaped in front of Sara. Ivo then turned the gun onto Shado and immediately shot her before I could stop him."

Slade rose and Oliver found him quickly in his face again. "If it were that simple, why didn't you tell me that right away? Why did you and Sara lie to me that night?" Slade pulled away, his eyes wandering off into the distance as he thought a moment. "It was Sara who first spoke the lie."

"Yes, it was."

"But you didn't refute it. Why?"

"I was afraid you would react without thinking, not understanding what we told you. Because of the Mirakuru."

"Oh, that it wasn't your fault that Shado died?"

"Exactly."

"But it was!" Slade screamed into Oliver's face. "It was your fault Sara was there in the first place." Walking towards Moira, he pointed the gun at her temple. "Should I shoot your mother, Oliver? Hurry, you need to choose."

"Mr. Wilson, my son will not choose," Moira sat straighter in her chair and glared at the mad man. "There is only one way this will end. We both know that, don't we, Mr. Wilson?" Sitting even straighter, thrusting her chin out, she said as she stared into Slade's eyes, "Both my children will live."

Oliver came out of his stupor, realizing what his mother was saying, and screamed, "No, Mom!" as Thea screamed, "Mom, what are you doing?" Oliver rocked his chair back and forth, trying to get his bonds loose. His face red with anger, he cried out, "You hear me, Slade! No way are you touching either one of them. Kill me instead. I beg you!"

Slade shrugged. "You beg nicely, Oliver, I have to admit. However, in this case, I must say no. And since your mother has volunteered…." as he raised the gun towards Moira.

"Thea, I love you. Close your eyes, baby!" Moira screamed as the gun once again pointed at her temple and she waited for the bullet to hit.

~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~

Felicity watched silently in horror as the entire episode played out in front of her eyes. If Oliver had indeed lived through something like this on the island, no wonder he felt damaged beyond repair. No wonder he was reluctant to share everything which happened to him while he was gone, if this was truly an example of it.

For Slade to even think about doing something like this, to kill in front of her children the mother of a barely out-of-her-teens young woman and a man who had suffered enough…it was truly, truly evil. Thinking the island had created such evil, helped Felicity realize the depth of suffering Oliver had survived through.

Luckily for the Queens, Felicity had a back-up plan. With everything else on his mind, Slade hadn't stopped to truly question whether she still had the Mirakuru within her. Because Slade kept walking back and forth in front of her, he didn't notice her loosening her bonds and breaking free from the handcuffs after repeated tries. As he was about to shoot Moira in the head, Felicity knew she had to make her move. With one yank, she was free of the chair and tackled Slade from behind, taking him by surprise as he was raising the gun to his chosen victim's head.

As he was falling, Slade's arm holding the gun was jostled towards the ceiling, and the gun harmlessly went off into the air. Felicity took the opportunity while sitting on his back to begin to pound her fists into Slade's lower back, kidneys and head. Even though he was stunned, Slade reacted instinctively, trying to roll Felicity off of him.

Felicity jumped out of the way before he could grab her, landing on her feet. She aimed a roundhouse kick at his upper chest, successfully sending him flying backwards several feet. A growl came out of Slade as he got back on his feet which, at any other time, would have scared Felicity, but now only made her more determined to take him down.

"You think you are able to take me, little girl?" Slade growled in a most menacing tone.

Felicity balanced her weight from one foot to another, her eyes on her opponent. "I did once before."

"But that was only because I made the mistake of underestimating you. I wouldn't make the same mistake now," Slade said, as he threw several punches at Felicity's head. Felicity dodged the first punch, but the latter one caught her just right, sending her spiraling backwards.

Regaining her balance and staying upright, Felicity shook her head to clear away the dizziness. She continued to bounce on her toes like a professional boxer, trying to weave and dodge the punches Slade continued to throw at her. After clearing her head Felicity began her onslaught of punches and kicks, trying to gain the advantage. Her aim clear, she wanted to take Slade down this time without fail.

As the Queens watched the incredible fight taking place in front of them, Oliver had taken the split second to ensure his mother was all right. He then focused all of his strength in breaking the bonds holding him. Also unknown to Slade, he had missed one especially well-hidden flechette in a secret pocket of his sleeve. With his hands bound behind him, Oliver had been able to slide the flechette out of its hiding place and begin sawing at the ropes holding him during his conversation with Slade. When Felicity made her move, Oliver was almost free of his bonds.

With one final expulsion of energy, Oliver broke the remaining fibers holding his bonds together, then bent down quickly and cut through the rope binding his ankles together. He knew the location of his bow and quiver for, upon waking up, he had located them discarded in the corner by the door. He sprinted across the room to them, grabbed them and rushed back to the fighters. Getting the bow into position, he nocked an arrow and aimed it at Slade, whose back was to Oliver.

"Oliver, do you really think I'd leave dangerous arrows lying around for you to use?" Slade said in between punches and kicks. "I removed the antidote arrows after I tied you up." Despite the quick healing factor, Slade's face had several bruises and his nose was bleeding from Felicity's punches.

"That's why I disguised several of them as ordinary arrows." Oliver allowed Felicity to distract Slade with several well-placed kicks, knocking Slade to the ground once more before letting several arrows fly towards him. "So you'd consider them harmless."

Slade laughed as he pulled the arrows out of his chest, thinking they had no effect on him, when suddenly he collapsed after several more arrows found their way into his chest and abdomen. As he lost consciousness, he realized Oliver had conned him into receiving the Mirakuru cure via "harmless" arrows.

Sara and Dig suddenly were entering the room, dragging an unconscious Isabel with them. Felicity walked up to them, and before either of her teammates knew what was happening, Felicity punched Isabel in the jaw so hard Diggle barely could hang onto the unconscious woman.

"Whoa, Felicity! Why'd you do that?" Sara asked, bestowing on Felicity a smile of pride despite being surprised.

"I wanted to get in one good punch for all the flak she has given me over the past year."

Dig exchanged looks with Oliver, who simply cocked an eyebrow at his friend and smiled. Dig shrugged, and with a signal to Sara, laid Isabel on the ground.

"Sure, I'd have preferred her awake so she could feel it, but I'll take what I can get," Felicity said, unexpectantly looking somewhat timid. A blush then began up her cheeks. "Also, I knew I wouldn't have this strength for very much longer."

"What happened to you two anyway?" Oliver asked.

Diggle nodded towards Isabel. "Her. She came flying at us just when we were about to join you. It took us a while to bring her down."

"Even with the antidote arrows," Sara added.

Moira, after watching everything in silence, cleared her throat. "I hope you'll be able to explain this to me some time soon, Oliver."

Diggle enjoyed watching his friend squirm in front of his mother.

"Yes, Mom, both you and Thea are owed complete explanations for everything."

"Everything?" Dig and Felicity asked simultaneously.

Oliver nodded. "It's about time, don't you think?"

AN: Did you enjoy this chapter? I sure hope so. I hope the action reads all right. I like to think I'm getting better at writing that.

[And for any Lois and Clark fans out there, just to let you know, when Slade tells Oliver he "begged nicely" I thought of the scene with Clark and Lex during the clone Lois arc when he was threatening Clark and the clone with the super-ray gun thingamajig (quantum disruptor, I believe they called it). Did any of you think of that scene? Just wondering. Probably not. I LOVE that LnC scene!]

And did you like Felicity having another opportunity to fight Slade? I thought that was the least I could do, for her, to have the chance to get back at him for making her and her friends' lives miserable. It's probably too short, but again, I'm still learning how to write fight scenes.

What do you think about me not ending this with a cliffhanger? In my first draft of the last three chapters, the chapter ended perfectly as Slade aimed the gun at Moira. Unfortunately, I added and changed, and edited, and the chapters got too large. Ha. Oh well. Maybe you appreciate not having a cliffie for once in this story.

This brings to an end of a huge chunk of story I had written it months ago. So, now again I have to create some more story. Which I don't know how long it will take me.

I got one more question, for the longest AN I believe in my history. Did I give it away about Felicity saving the day? Or did it read okay? I hope that the action flowed well. Like I've said, I still feel like a novice with writing action and fight scenes. (That's probably because I am.)

Anyhoo, thanks again for reading, and hopefully enjoying. If you be so kind, let me know what you think. Always makes my day. And see you the next chapter, for the "clean-up". And Moira finding out the truth, oh boy!