#####OQ#####
Oliver thought his heart was going to stop, as he watched the plane, and Ray come plunging down out of the sky. Ray was falling fast, heading straight for Felicity, and then unbelievably, Merlyn tucked her body beneath his and protected her, as Ray flew past them and crashed into the sand.
Ra's then bragged that the plane did not contain the Omega weapon, so he knew Ra's had been using the plane as a ploy to trap whoever was betraying him. Again he had miss-stepped since he was the one betraying Ra's and now everyone, and he meant almost everyone he loved was now in grave danger. The league was closing in on them, vastly outnumbering his team. He yelled down to them, "Surrender or die," while he hoped Ra's didn't give the command to have them stuck down then and there.
The team gave up their weapons throwing them in the sand. He was shocked to see that even Felicity had a small handgun. What was Felicity thinking? And what was his team thinking? They had attacked in broad daylight. What happened to sneaking around in the dark? He would have thought Merlyn had more sense.
#####OQ#####
Now with his team was in chains, he marched to them meet with Ra's. Of course, Felicity would be the one to speak first. "Hey, Oliver? Oliver? What is going on?"
He turned on his heel and said sharply, "If any of you speak, we're all gonna die." He looked quickly at each one. Merlyn gave him a sharp nod, and he knew as always the man had something up his sleeve. It was a shame, he wasn't up to speed with whatever the man was planning, but there was no time to talk to him.
"What?" said Felicity stopping to stare at him. Clearly, she didn't understand him.
He spoke directly to her and looked her straight in the eye, he couldn't help that his voice softened just a bit as he said, "I need you to trust me." Then he turned and matched them all before Ra's with the hope that somehow all of them would survive this exchange.
Ra's said, "The Chinese have a saying, 'You stir the grass and you startle the snake.' My ruse with the plane was meant to reveal any traitors among me." Ra's walked and looked Diggle straight in the eye and asked, "How did you know of the virus? Of the plane?"
Diggle kept quiet, and Ra's continued down the line looking hard at Merlyn then skipping the rest to stare Felicity down. Fear consumed him as Ra's looked hard at Felicity.
He told himself not to panic as Ra's stood before her and stared her down. Dishonorable thoughts about stabbing Ra's in the back filled his mind. His hand twitched, and he wanted to reach for his sword as Ra's stared at Felicity.
But he stood his ground as he waited, though he never took his eyes off of her and Ra's. Please keep quiet, Felicity, he thought, for you are not a good liar. He wondered if he stabbed Ra's in the back, could they fight their way out of this place? The odds seemed unlikely, if Ra's followers had any say in the matter. Then thankfully, Tatsu spoke.
"Maseo told me and I told them," she said in her strong voice.
Ra's turned toward her and said, "So a dead man told you. How convenient." Ra's voice held disbelief.
"He said only three men knew about your plan. You, him and Oliver." Tatsu said, giving Ra's the information Merlyn must have told her.
All eyes were now on him, and he said the words that Ra's expected. "Oliver Queen is dead. I am Al Sal-Him." He might have said the words but he could not meet the eyes of any of his people.
Ra's was considering her words, he could tell, then Ra's said, "This would not be the first time that Sarab has betrayed me to Maseo Yamashiro's weaknesses. But know your timing was a function of my gambit, it was, never the less fortuitous. You see by tradition, the Ra's would contemplate mercy upon his enemies on the eve of a wedding."
Trust Ray to open his mouth, he thought as Ray said, "You are getting married? Guess there really is a kettle for every pot."
Thanks Ray, he thought, as he wanted to punch him. He had hoped not to bring his upcoming wedding to Felicity's attention, but no Ray had to open his big mouth.
"The wedding is mine." He said in a strong voice, and he knew all eyes, especially Felicity's, were upon him as he stared at the floor. This charade just got harder and harder, and he found himself again unable to look at any of them when he said the words, "I am betrothed to Nyssa Al Ghul."
Of course, he couldn't look down forever, he had to look at her shocked face, and he tried again to tell her with his eyes that this was going to be okay. For so long he had told her with his eyes what he felt, and he tried now to tell her what was going on in his heart. In just a few seconds, he tried to tell her that he was so sorry for what was happening, that he couldn't control this situation, and that she needed to trust him. She should have understood what he was trying to tell her. But he had a feeling she had understood nothing. Then the moment was gone.
"Take them below," said Ra's.
########OQ#######
Returning to his room, he paced and tried to figure out how to stop what Ra's had put into motion. Tonight was his wedding, almost everyone he loved was in the dungeon, and Starling City was still in grave danger. Even knowing it was dangerous, he called the guard, and sent for John Diggle to be brought to him.
John's anger made the room crackle with emotion, from the time he entered.
"Leave us." He ordered the guards. Turning back to Dig, he asked, "Is everyone okay?"
"Like you give a damn."
Concern filled him. John was really angry. He had never considered that John wouldn't understand. "Didn't Malcolm speak to you?"
"He did. So was it a part of your plan to leave my daughter alone when you kidnapped my wife?"
Ouch, he should have known John would still be angry about Lyla and Sara.
"I had to do something to prove my loyalty to Ra's."
"So taking Lyla? That was your idea, Oliver? In front of our daughter?"
He knew when he had taken Lyla, he had stepped over a line and his guilt raced to the surface. He couldn't look John in the face as the word "yes," came out covered in his guilt. He tried to explain, to reach John by saying, "You met Tatsu?"
"What does that have to do with it?" John said angrily.
"Tatsu told me that in order to beat Ra's, I would have to sacrifice all the things in my life that I hold most precious and your friendship was on that list. "
"Oliver, you didn't just lose my friendship, you lost my trust, you lost my respect."
John's words were slamming into him, hurting him and when the door opened, he turned and screamed the word, "WHAT?" at the guard.
"Ra's demands that we return this man to his friends." Turning, he found John giving him a go to hell look, and he was forced to let him walk away with the guards.
#####OQ######
Ra's had called him to the great hall and who does he find but Merlyn in chains with Ra's sword to his throat. "What this," he asked as he entered the room. Trust Merlyn to stir trouble, like he didn't have enough.
"I'm sorry, Oliver," said Merlyn.
"My name is Al Sal-Him."
Ra's pushed the sword closer to Merlyn's throat as he said, "Not according to Mr. Merlyn here." He removed the sword and turned toward him and said, "He claims that you've been deceiving me the entire time."
It was almost funny. Poor Merlyn, he was the little boy that called wolf, for even when he told the truth, people had trouble believing him. He stood tall and faced Ra's and said, "I have killed for you. I have severed all ties with my past. I have hurt people who were friends to Oliver Queen, and if you hadn't of stopped me I would have murdered your daughter at your command." He could see the puzzlement in Ra's eyes. Should he believe Merlyn? Should he believe him? Who was lying?
"What if this is just part of your own elaborate ruse?"
"Then I will have nothing and no one to go home to. Oliver Queen is dead and the Arrow is gone." Even as he said the words, he wondered if he was speaking the truth. John was really angry with him, and who knew what the rest of them were thinking? Felicity's face when he had seen her last wasn't a pretty thing. He was sure he would have a lot to answer for later, if they all survived this ordeal.
Ra's eyed him darkly and said, "We shall see."
Together, Ra's, a guard and he walked Merlyn back to the dungeon. Merlyn was hanging back, and the guard gave Merlyn a small shove. Merlyn stumbled against Ra's in the small hall and almost fell but recovered.
Ra's held up his hand, stopping the group as he said darkly, "Ever the magician, Mr. Merlyn. Did you really think that would work?" He grabbed Merlyn's hand, twisted his wrist and removed the glass vial from Merlyn's hand. "Did you really think that you could steal the bio-weapon from my pocket? Again you have failed. You may have fast hands, magician, but not fast enough."
Malcolm shrugged, gave a small smile, and said, "You can't blame me for trying. Oliver knows how deceptive I am."
"I have told you that Oliver is dead. And Al Sal-Him has no time for your party tricks." Malcolm snapped his head around to look at him, and he almost missed Malcolm's small wink and nod. What had Malcolm just done, he wondered?
#######OQ#######
The guard opened the door and pushed Merlyn into the cell and seated him. Merlyn said with a smile on his face, "I told you about Oliver, you were supposed to."
Oliver was having problems understanding what Malcolm was doing, but he was doing something, he was trying to control the situation somehow. His mind was racing to understand.
Ra's interrupted Merlyn and said, "I was supposed to do what, Mr. Merlyn? Grant you mercy? I am. Because this death, will be a lot shorter than the one I had planned for you."
Merlyn stood to attack, and the guard hit him in the head, knocking him to the floor, unconscious.
Ra's removed the Omega virus vial from his pocket and held it up for all to see. Horror engulfed him as he realized that Ra's was going to kill them all. How could he stop this? He couldn't stop this. If Ra's broke the vial, everyone but him was as good as dead. Yet why had Merlyn just up smiled up at him? Then something clicked as his mind, as he replayed the exchange from just a few minutes ago.
Why had Merlyn winked at him? Why? Suddenly, he thought he understood. Merlyn was a magician that never got caught. Merlyn had wanted Ra's to catch him, so Ra's could to take the vial away from him. It would be an easy thing to take the Omega virus but to replace it would require more time so why not let Ra's make the replacement? What words had Merlyn used? "How deceptive I am."
Merlyn knew Ra's, and Merlyn had known Ra's was going to kill all his friends and him. Merlyn was a member of the league and understood that Ra's wasn't going to let any of them would get out of this dungeon alive. And Merlyn was helping him pass another of Ra's tests. And in order to kill Ra's, Al Sal-Him had to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Oliver Queen was really dead. Yes, the wink and the nod were to warn him that Merlyn had traded the vials, and Ra's had unknowingly helped him. Heaven thank him, Merlyn, had just saved all their lives. He so hoped he was right. Now, he just had to pass the rest of the test.
Felicity had panic on her face as she said, "Oliver, if what Malcolm says is true, if you are going to do anything, now is the time." He had to close his eyes to shut out her pleas, to steel himself for the coming ordeal.
Ra's said, "Al Sal-Him said the sword's woman is inoculated, so you can take her to another chamber." The guard removed Tatsu, and Laurel desperately yelled his name then said, "Oliver, we believed in you."
Daggers were plunging into his heart, for his mind was screaming what if he was wrong? But then it was too late for Ra's threw the vial, and it shattered on the concrete floor, releasing the virus.
"Seal the room." Ra's ordered.
It was too late now. If he was wrong they were infected and already dead. He prayed he was right and that Merlyn had traded the vials. He had to be right or almost everyone he loved was now dead. However, right now he had to pass Ra's test or all of this would be for nothing, and everyone in Starling City would also be dead soon.
He hardened his heart, as he shut the door while they screamed at him, thinking that he was letting them die. Never would he forget Felicity's cry that "we trusted you," for he would take that to his grave, and it would be new food for his nightmares if he ever returned to dreaming. But for right now he had to trust Merlyn, the magician. He had to believe that they would survive this and that was the only way he could walk away and not look back. He had to believe that Merlyn, the villain, had just saved them all.
Throughout the wedding, even as he stopped Nyssa's blade from stabbing him, all he could think about were his friends, drawing their last breathes, dying. His heart ached for his true love Felicity. The reality that all of them could be dying and that their last conscious thoughts were that he had betrayed them made him sick to his stomach.
As the priestess said that Nyssa and he were bound together, all he could think about was that he really had betrayed them, and he despised himself. The darkness inside him seemed to engulf him. He looked hard at Ra's and hate burned in his gut. I will kill you, he promised. No matter if they are dead or not dead. I swear it.
#####OQ#####
It was his wedding night. But Nyssa was not the one he wanted. He loved Felicity. Ra's was truly insane. Ra's had supposedly just killed all his friends and his true love. Ra's had forced him to marry a women he knew was gay, and Ra's thought he should right now be bedding Nyssa against her will. How sick was Nyssa father?
He eyed Nyssa as he entered the honeymoon suite. He could tell Nyssa was ready to try kill him again. Slowly, he held his hands up and shook his head. Moving to the desk, he grabbed a piece of paper and wrote. "I love, Felicity. She is my heart. I don't want you. I want her."
She read his words and smiled slowly then nodded.
He wrote, "Help me, your father is INSANE."
She took the pen and wrote. "YES. Help me. Together, we will kill him."
He nodded and wrote, "Together, we will kill him on the plane to Starling City."
She nodded.
Then he burnt the piece of paper and threw the ashes from the balcony. He would be careful this time.
#####OQ#####