Hey everyone how's it going? Today we now begin Year 2 of Oliver's exile and the pertaining journey and horrors that awaited him during those years. I hope you'll enjoy.

JoeyDee: Thanks very much and good to know on the preceding chapter. And here we are now with Year 2 and I hope you'll enjoy this first part of it. And I see on other fics though I know at least three, written by Bl4ckhunter, Naitch03, and Stand With Ward and Queen, that did make it past Year 1 though Stand deleted his I think.

godric777: Thanks a lot and that's kind of you to say.

Yarnfan4life: That's great to hear and thanks for saying that. And here's more.

Disclaimer: I don't own "Arrow" or its storyline or dialogue.

New Threats and a Surprising Reunion

Year: 2040

Location: Hall Of Justice [Justice League Headquarters]

Setting: League Auditorium

Sara, barely alive, was lying on a piece of floating debris, dehydrated and delirious. She noticed a yellow canary landing on the debris before it flew away as a large steamer ship appeared.

Sara was escorted by two pirates, who wanted to know what happened to her. Sara quickly stammered out that she was on Gambit before they grabbed her and dragged her down the corridor, ignoring Sara's desperate pleas as they threw her in a cell.

Sara was in her cell, sleeping before a pirate woke her up. Sara was too frightened to comply before they dragged her towards more pirates.

Everyone present was watching the unfolding scene with growing apprehension for Sara and fury towards the pirates though none were angrier than Quentin especially along with Laurel, Nyssa, and Oliver who wished he could somehow return to that place and time and unleash tremendous fear upon those men for even thinking about doing what he suspected they'd intended to do.

"I swear if those bastards laid a hand on you or touched you in any way babygirl….!" Quentin growled while clutching his fists.

"Don't worry dad nothing actually happened although I was frightened something was going to and the worst might've indeed befallen me had it not been for what transpired immediately afterwards," Sara quickly reassured him which allowed him and the others to relax if barely. "But the price I'd had to pay was more than steep and only brought another kind of terror upon me as I was forced to commit terrible deeds to survive."

Her family and the other attendees present except for Oliver and Nyssa responded with grave expressions upon their faces as they inwardly speculated as to what she meant and could only hope it wasn't that terrible. Little did they know.

A man with grey hair and in casual clothes spoke up, ordering for the men to let Sara go, reminding them that the captain worked for them.

The man led Sara into his quarters as he locked the door and Sara looked frightened. The man assured her as she sat across him and the man was going through his now, introducing himself as Dr. Anthony Ivo. He then explained himself that he was going to save the human race and that he might need Sara's help.

"Who exactly was that man Sara and what did he mean about saving humanity?" Laurel questioned her, curious along with the others regarding Ivo and his motivations.

Sara looked down, her lips pursed.

"Originally I'd foolishly believed he was my salvation. But he'd eventually reveal the monster within himself," she'd answered her sister with a melancholy expression before it shifted into a colder one. "And as for him saving the human race, what he was searching for would've led to anything but had it been unleashed upon the world."

Laurel and the others felt trepidation upon hearing Sara's answer and could only wonder how much of a monster this Ivo was compared to Fyers while greatly intrigued by what it was the former man was trying to uncover.

Oliver and Slade were sparring with bamboo sticks in the fuselage, seemingly evenly matched. Slade laughed until Shado entered with a bird in a cage, wearing Yao Fei's hood. Both men stared at her for a moment before suddenly, Slade smacked Oliver in the face with his stick as Oliver fell to his knees, noting that women could be a distraction.

"You know Tommy but Slade actually has a point and while I don't have high expectations for you, in fact I don't even have low expectations for you, but if you applied yourself more towards what you might want to achieve in life instead of skirt chasing you might actually accomplish something worthwhile," Quentin gruffly suggested to the younger man who looked away awkwardly, not having anything to counter. The former could only hope he'd heed his advice and especially if he intended to continue seeing his eldest daughter.

Quentin wasn't blind despite what others might think or hope and he was fully aware of his daughter's and Tommy's whatever they wanted to call it. And frankly but if she was going to continue seeing the notorious playboy he wanted him to be at least someone who was more than semi decent.

Shado noted that Oliver's fighting skills had improved in few months, while Slade was working on beating him up and wondering how to get off Lian Yu.

Shado reminded them that she brought food as Slade checked on the bird. Oliver mentioned that Yao Fei brought him a pheasant as Oliver's first food on Lian Yu, whole Shado noted that Yao Fei was a terrible cook before Oliver and Shado kissed.

Laurel could not help but feel a pang of jealousy at that moment though at the same time she was grateful that Oliver had someone to receive love and affection from. And neither she nor anyone else were particularly surprised he and Shado had gotten closer towards each other considering their obvious attraction during Year 1's events.

Slade broke the neck of the bird before they heard beeping. They checked Fyer's proximity detector that they salvaged from his camp.

They wondered what was nearing them as they saw thermal images of men in the forest, realizing they were not alone on Lian Yu anymore.

"Is that Ivo's men Ollie?" Thea questioned her big brother.

"Yeah Speedy, it is and their presence is only a prelude of what's to come," Oliver answered then warned her and the others, a fact which caused the tension in the room to elevate.

Oliver, Slade and Shado went into the forest, scouring the area as Shado went to take a flanking position. She and Oliver talked together in Chinese before she left as Slade made another sarcastic remark about how they were growing closer to each other.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out as Oliver and Slade checked the source of the noise and saw Shado's hood on the ground.

Nearly everyone except for the warriors and soldiers jumped slightly in their seats, startled by the unexpected onscreen gunshot while greatly worried for Shado and hoping Slade and past Oliver would ascertain her whereabouts.

Oliver and Slade were scouring the island until it was late at night and they saw Shado on her knees, surrounded by pirates. Oliver was about to engage but Slade stopped him before Oliver would do something reckless. Slade ordered Oliver to wait on his signal as Oliver nodded.

"Slade was right. If you jump into a volatile situation without some sort of plan and especially if you're all hotheaded. And even if those emotions are understandable, you risk creating an even worse predicament. Plus worst of all but if things go south then your actions could end up getting both yourself and the person you're attempting to rescue killed," Diggle voiced to everyone and his fellow soldiers plus the 3 warriors nodded in full agreement while the others found the wisdom and merit in his words.

The men asked Shado where were the graves.

The pirate smacked Shado on her cheek, when she denied anything about the graves and grabbed her by her hair and neared the knife to her face. Oliver glared, overcome by rage as he tackled the pirate and Slade hit another one in his face and shot the next one with his gun. Oliver punched the man before he grabbed a boulder, full of rage and smashed the man's face repeatedly as Shado and Slade yelled at him to stop before Oliver stopped and moved away, sitting down on the ground.

Thea, Moira, Laurel, and Tommy gasped in shock upon witnessing Oliver's brutality towards the pirate, Laurel's hand covering her mouth, while poor Thea especially flinched and she with Felicity quickly averted their eyes from the scene.

Quentin on his part grimaced but couldn't entirely fault Oliver for losing control considering the circumstances. He also fully understood the concept of blind rage due to having experienced it multiple times and especially yet regrettably during drunken moments.

"I'm truly sorry you all had to see that. Please know that it doesn't define who I am as a person and either then or now," Oliver apologized to everyone and especially towards his loved ones, imploring them to believe him. "When I witnessed Shado being hurt, potentially about to be killed, and after all of the trauma and horrors I'd already endured from losing dad to losing Yao Fei I saw only red. And I just couldn't bear to lose yet another person I cared about and therefore nothing else was important except to neutralize the threat and ensure it wouldn't rear its head again to extinguish another person in my life.

"Once it was over I regretted it, how much I'd lost control and afraid of the person I thought I was becoming. I can only hope you'll all understand and I suspect you'll witness more moments in the future where I lose control again and far worse than this so please prepare yourselves," he added then warned them.

Those closest to him absorbed his explanation and could feel nothing but sorrow over what he'd gone through and their hearts reached out to him. Moira especially wished that her beloved son hadn't gone through any of this and was the one to respond to his words.

"You don't have to worry my son. Despite all the pain you've regrettably experienced and no matter what you've done you'll always be my beautiful boy," she promised her son to which he softly smiled at her in gratitude as both of them did their best to hold back their emotions. Moira however failed and instead allowed her tears to stream down her face.

Oliver just stared, not quite processing what he just did as Slade picked the radio of one of the dead pirates as someone on the other side spoke Cantonese, making them all wonder where did those men come from until the scene changed to the freighter, Amazo, near the coast of Lian Yu.

Later in the morning, Oliver looked at his bloodied hands for a moment before walking off as Slade and Shado looked worried, noting that more of the pirates would arrive, not happy that the trio killed off their friends. Slade checked the things the pirates had as he saw the maps they had of the island chain, Lian Yu included, realizing that whatever they were looking for, was on the island before they saw Oliver just staring into the Forrest. Shado looked at Oliver in concern, while Slade noted that he had met men, torn up by war, turning into someone they didn't even recognize anymore and needed someone to talk to.

The 3 soldiers in the audience could relate to that and while it wasn't severe as many other servicemen suffered from, they'd each had their own mild cases of PTSD, though Rene's had been slightly worse, before they'd recovered following months of therapy. They only wished more service members out there had access to the professional care they needed instead of suffering from the horrors of the battlefield.

Shado approached Oliver, holding his hand as later, she helped him wash his hands of blood at the river bank, assuring Oliver that he saved her. Oliver admitted however that he felt like the island had turned him into something terrible. Shado washed Oliver's face as she told him that everyone has light and darkness within them. A hero and a killer. Oliver considered and the next thing either of them knew, they kissed and started to remove their clothes.

Laurel, Thea, and Moira briefly looked away, the latter two not really wanting to see their respective brother and son getting intimate with someone while Laurel felt mildly uncomfortable due to her complicated feelings towards Oliver. At the same time but he'd clearly needed comfort after what had transpired and she knew it would be unfair to begrudge him of that moment and was grateful that Shado had been there to sooth his pain and provide him with a distraction from everything.

Meanwhile the soldiers, except for Quentin due to his personal black and white viewpoint on life though he understood where she was coming from, and warriors fully agreed with Shado about light and darkness due to understanding from their experiences that the world existed in shades of grey.

Slade then appeared, observing them with narrowed eyes.

"Oh my gosh. Slade was in love with her wasn't he?" Laurel and the others realized and Oliver nodded.

"He was. We both were and it was something which would cause some tension between us though I was regrettably unaware of that tension on Slade's end," Oliver confirmed and explained to her, causing her and the others to wonder how things would conclude for the 3 friends onscreen.

Slade cleared his throat as he turned around and called out, while Oliver and Shado put on their clothes. Slade ordered them to follow him, somewhat uncomfortably. Slade cautioned Oliver not to be too attached, as it would cloud his judgment and get him killed.

Later, Oliver found an entrance to a cavern hidden in the leaves as Slade pulled out his knife and they entered to see skeletons with misshapen skulls and one of them holding a rusted katana as Slade recognized them as soldiers of the Japanese Imperial Army and Shado noticed that they had been on the island before World War II.

They examined the bodies until Oliver found around the neck of one of them an arrowhead with markings.

Later, they brought one of the skeletons back into the fuselage as Oliver put down the Hozen. Shado checked the skeleton, admitting she was pre-med.

Oliver and Slade went out, checking a higher ground as Shado assured them she'd be fine.

Oliver and Slade walked down the island to find some high ground as Slade advised him to not to get too attached. Oliver protested, while Slade noted that Oliver was an idiot and Oliver pointed out that worrying about people can keep them alive, rather than get them killed.

Slade noted that Oliver truly was an idiot and Oliver replied that he would not change.

"In a way they're both correct," Lyla voiced to everyone. "On the one hand attachments can be a strength since it means you have someone looking out for you. But if you're overly focused on someone then you can become emotionally compromised which can cause one to become reckless which could lead to disasters results for one of them or them both."

Her fellow soldiers and the 3 warriors were in complete agreement with her. As for the rest of the audience but they were able to understand her point though they still strongly believed in the necessity of emotional connections.

Suddenly, Slade slipped as Oliver caught him before he would fall, remarking Slade should be happy Oliver was attached to him.

"It's a good thing you were with him and thank heavens you caught your friend when you did," Moira voiced to her son, feeling greatly worried for his friend when he almost slipped and glad Oliver was able to quickly catch him.

"Definitely. That looks like it would've been one nasty fall," Rene added to which Oliver grimaced, agreeing with the other man.

They got on top of the hill and they saw Amazo through their goggles until they saw the freighter open fire. Oliver and Slade realized that they must have found the plane as Oliver rushed back into the forest in horror and concern for Shado, avoiding explosions until one of them sent Oliver flying in the air until he fell down and saw Slade engulfed in flames until Oliver lost consciousness.

Thea squealed upon witnessing the horrifying scene and buried her head against her mother's side who in turn held her close and soothed her. Felicity, Laurel and Tommy paled as they witnessed the side of Slade's face engulfed in flames while Felicity shielded her eyes with her hand, unable to watch.

Quentin, Lyla, Rene, and Diggle found themselves flashing back to uncomfortable experiences during which they'd witnessed their fellow soldiers on the battlefield being caught up in explosions, whether from landmines, grenades, or an enemy firing upon them. And sometimes they witnessed those soldiers being burned alive, either portions of their faces and bodies or their entire bodies in flames from head to toe.

As Oliver came to, he was in a cage, surrounded by guards as he was captured on Amazo. Later, he was dragged into Ivo's quarters by two pirates before he saw Sara, much to his own confusion but Sara kicked him, noting that prisoners don't speak before she left Oliver, who was confused by what the hell was going on.

Most of the audience were observing Oliver's current predicament with trepidation, wondering how he was going to extract himself from this while fearing for his friends wellbeing. They were shocked however by past Sara's treatment of him.

"Sara? Wha…..? I mean why…..?" poor Tommy tried to ask her while Laurel looked at her sister in stunned disbelief and in response the latter bowed her head in shame.

"Believe me when I say it nearly broke me that I had to do that to him. But if I hadn't then the people I was working for might've done terrible things to me and therefore I did what I had to as a matter of survival," Sara explained to them and the rest of her loved ones with sadness. "I fully understand it doesn't make anyone feel good or pleased and if I somehow found myself reliving this all over again I would've tried to make different decisions. I can only say now that I'm deeply sorry for my actions though I hope you can understand them."

"Please don't blame Sara for anything guys. Like she explained she didn't have a choice and was in an impossible situation," Oliver spoke up on her behalf. "I don't begrudge her for any of her actions towards me and both her and myself did terrible things to ensure our survival. You don't have to condone our actions but like she said we can only hope you'll understand."

Following his words Sara turned towards him with a watery smile and a look of gratitude as her eyes glistened with tears. Oliver on his part gave her a warm smile that was part comforting and part encouraging before pulling her into a side hug which she relaxed into before they parted.

One of the pirates, a black man with French accent approached Oliver in his cell, interrogating him, presumably the captain. The man demanded to know information about Oliver's friends, their weapons and whether they found the graves as Oliver remained silent. The captain threatened that he would torture him if he'd have to before killing him.

Oliver remained silent as he glared at the man. Oliver got up, telling the man to go to Hell but the man said they were already in Hell before he drew a gun and shot Oliver as she screamed and fell down.

Oliver was down, bleeding and moaning in pain as he held his wound before he saw a surgical tray with anesthetic and a syringe and tools to pull out the bullet and stitch his wound. The man next to Oliver's cell spoke with a heavy Russian accent as he showed his bullet wound, just as the remaining prisoners, explaining that their captors had done that to everyone they caught as they showed their scars.

Oliver didn't believe what he was seeing as the Russian explained that living was not for the weak.

Oliver picked the tools and pulled out the bullet and stitched his wound as Oliver was on the floor, resting before the captain entered and interrogated Oliver regarding the graves and skeletons with misshapen bones. Oliver said nothing as he glared but his defiance told Oliver everything he needed to know. Later, the pirates unlocked Oliver's cell and grabbed him as the captain promised that Oliver would only start screaming as Oliver let out weak screams of pain, still weak from the bullet wound.

Thea cried and whimpered over witnessing her brother's cruel treatment and being forced to operate on himself and Tommy was wishing he could leap into the screen and bash those men's heads for what they were doing to his buddy's past self.

Moira held her daughter close and did what she could to comfort her while bemoaning the fact that she couldn't unleash her own ruthlessness upon those vile men currently responsible for her son's torment.

Laurel meanwhile wiped her eyes as did her best to withhold the tears threatening to fall from them while observing the scene.

Felicity on her part winced at the scenes and turned her head a few times.

The soldiers and warriors present were not even surprised by the pirates sadism, having encountered cruel individuals who'd behaved that way during their own travels.

The scene changed again to Oliver accompanied to Ivo's quarters, where he was shocked to see Sara before she kicked him in the face and he was confused, wondering what was going on.

Oliver wondered how did Sara survive before Ivo entered, asking for Oliver's name. Sara subtly shook her head as Oliver replied that his name was Tommy.

Ivo asked Oliver how did he arrive on the island as Oliver said a half-truth about being the only survivor of their boat being shipwrecked. Ivo asked, whether Oliver explored the island, which Oliver admitted that he did a little and Ivo explained that during World War II all countries were attempting to develop an ultimate weapon, with the United States working on Project Manhattan, the Nazis on das Uranverein and the Japanese working on Mirakuru.

Sara explained that Mirakuru was stem cell genetic therapy, decades ahead of their time, while Ivo explained that Mirakuru was a serum developed by Japanese, causing increased strength and rapid cell generation, while Sara explained that Mirakuru meant "miracle" in English and Ivo continued to explain that they wanted to create an army of super-soldiers with a submarine of a supply of the serum being shipwrecked on Lian Yu by the Allied Forces.

"Man I'd hate to imagine what would've happened had those Japanese succeeded in their plans back then," Rene commented to which most of his fellow guests shuddered at the thought.

"For all we know it might've allowed the Axis Powers to win the war or worse the Japanese would've arisen as the dominant threat and overran everyone due to seeing themselves as the superior species. Either way but both scenarios would've been disastrous for us all," Lyla also added and at that point everyone there was feeling relieved that the Allied Forces had succeeded in unknowingly halting the Japanese plans.

Oliver glared at Ivo, saying that they killed his friends as Ivo replied that it was up to Oliver to lead them to the submarine.

Oliver was back in a cell as next to him Anatoli told him about a gulag similar to Amazo. To Oliver's surprise, Sara approached him, warning him not to let the crew know that they knew each other, otherwise they would both be dead. Sara handed him a cloth as she explained what happened to her as she also thought that Oliver was dead until she told him how she got onto the freighter, explaining that they saved her.

Oliver realized that Sara was scared and that she was playing along, for her own sake and that he needed to reach out to his friends, saying that they weren't easy to kill.

"I really hope you were both able to remove yourselves from this horrible situation as quickly as possible," Moira said to her son and one of the women she saw as another daughter to which they both sighed.

"Not quickly enough, though we did manage to escape pretty soon following this scene but things would only worsen shortly afterwards," Sara replied while unpleasant memories began to fill hers and Oliver's mind over everything which would transpire soon.

Back on the island, Shado was treating Slade as he trembled from his face being burned.

Shado spread the salve over Slade's burned face, assuring Slade she looks after people she cares about until Slade shivered from the cold before she snuggled towards Slade under the blanket.

The viewers watched the scene with sadness over Slade's suffering while being touched by the tenderness and comfort Shado was providing for him. In addition to feeling relieved they'd both survived Ivo's attack.

Back on the freighter, Sara opened Oliver's cell and let him out.

Anatoli begged Oliver to remember the remaining prisoners as Oliver promised to come back for him.

"Who was that guy Ollie and did you ever come back for him?" Tommy questioned in curiosity.

"His name's Anatoli, and he's a, friend," Oliver answered and explained, pausing for a moment when explaining their relationship considering the Russian men's background since he didn't want his loved ones to think badly of the man or himself. "And yes I eventually came back for him and a few years later he'd repay that favor in many ways."

His answer left everyone intrigued as to what role exactly Anatoli would play in Oliver's journey away from home.

Sara closed the door and accompanied Oliver to the radio room as she turned it on.

Sara turned on the radio and tuned in as Oliver tried to call out as he picked the mic. He called out in Chinese until Shado replied back. Before Oliver could say more, suddenly, Sara ripped the cord off the mic and snatched it off Oliver's hands, much to his shock.

Moira, Thea, Tommy, Laurel, and even Quentin, along with almost everyone else, all groaned loudly while viewing the scene with dismay. Though none of them blamed Sara since they knew none of this was her fault but it didn't help make them feel better and instead only increased their anger towards Ivo.

The captain and Ivo entered, satisfied that Oliver just confirmed the survival of their friends, much to Ivo's satisfaction, as much as learning Oliver's real name.

"If any of you are wondering how much worse things will become for them both and what happens next, gear up because they'll be significantly darker than ever and will culminate in yet another tragedy," Zoe informed them all over the intercom.

Hearing that left almost everyone deeply troubled and especially the part regarding another upcoming tragedy. There was nothing else for them to do however and so they continued watching the screen as the next set of memories rolled out, fearful for what was to come.

To Be Continued

A/N And so things are definitely getting intense onscreen as we remember and the viewers are about to see one of the darkest moments of his second year away.

As always but thanks for the feedback and support you guys have given this fic and I'll have chapter 4 available eventually though I don't known when.

Have a blessed day.