Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I do not. I just own any original ideas found in this.

AN: Thank you so much for all the reviews, favs and follows, and for reading this to the end. I hope enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Malcolm was especially fun to write. Kinda sorry to see this end (only my second multi-chapter story on FF to be completed so far) and maybe that's why it took so long for me to get this written. Sigh. Or….my muse just ran off and did other things. Humph.

Anyway, enjoy this little chapter, and there is a line of dialogue from episode 3x23 "My Name is Oliver Queen" by Marc Guggenheim and Jake Coburn.

Previously:

Malcolm was silent. Oliver suddenly knew he needed to coral the discussion. "He partly hoped it would still shift the focus off of him. It didn't work. Ra's knew Malcolm was behind it all." He paused, gave a smile, and said, "He did offer me the opportunity to battle Malcolm. I of course declined."

"What?" Diggle snorted. "I kinda wished you had taken Ra's up on his offer, Oliver."

Malcolm was going to speak the retort hot on his lips, but seeing the ARGUS plane in front of him, he decided to delay it.

"Looks like we are at the plane. Why don't we hold off any more discussion until we take off?" Malcolm asked with a smile.

Oliver looked at the plane waiting for them at the end of the field being used as an airstrip. He observed three men armed with machine guns standing guard around the plane. When the jeep stopped, Diggle motioned for the others to wait. He got out, approached one of the men, and had a short conversation with him. The man signaled to the other two and all three of them boarded the plane. Diggle turned to the jeep and motioned for his team mates to join him.

The bone-weary group grabbed whatever belongings they had, got out of the jeep and walked over to the plane. As they entered the plane and settled themselves into the seats, an unnatural silence ensued. In spite of himself, a sigh escaped from Malcolm's lips. Under torture he might admit he was surprised and relieved by their escape. He couldn't believe he'd actually gotten away with his life.

Felicity couldn't help but glare at him. She still couldn't believe he really was as evil as to do all he had done, just to get Oliver to clear him of the blood debt. She thanked her heavenly stars for their survival. However, she wondered where they were going to go from here. Surely we no longer have a reason to associate with the evil spawn.

Before he took his seat, Diggle conferred with the assistant pilot, who handed him a small duffel bag. Upon entering the cabin, he caught Malcolm's eye and threw the kit at him, which Malcolm caught with a flip of his wrist. "You need help taking care of your injuries?" Diggle asked.

Malcolm considered the man, debating whether he was truly offering assistance. Deciding not to be too proud, Malcolm nodded, stating, "I would appreciate some assistance with them. I think the cut in my side requires stitches."

Diggle nodded and sat down next to Malcolm, putting on the seat belt. "We'll take care of it once we're in the air."

Oliver thankfully sank into his seat after watching the interaction between the other two men. He hadn't been so bone-weary tired in a long time. Not since the island. He still couldn't believe Malcolm had beat Ra's. And the nightmare was finally over and Thea and his friends were safe. Fixing a speculative gaze upon Malcolm, Oliver thought "at least I hope it is truly over. I really don't know where my relationship is headed with Malcolm. Or what his intentions are now that he was free from the fear of the League."

Once the sign flashed saying they were able to get around, Diggle began the job of taking care of Malcolm's wounds. Felicity, having sat behind Oliver, changed seats in order to sit next to him.

"How are you?" she whispered.

Smiling at her, Oliver said, "Okay. It has been quite the experience."

"Not the least of it having to work with that," Felicity sneered in Malcolm's direction.

Oliver shook his head in appreciation of her humor, but pretended to be stern. "Now, Felicity, you shouldn't be saying such things," but he winked at her.

"Hey, I heard that," Malcolm interjected.

"Don't move, Merlyn, or else I may end up sewing things together I shouldn't," Diggle warned. "You were lucky these wounds weren't worse."

"No, just skilled."

Diggle's lips twitched into a small grimace, but he continued his work in silence.

Felicity gave a sigh. "So, what happened with the battle with Ra's?"

"Malcolm killed him," Oliver replied.

Felicity and Diggle looked at Malcolm, who smiled his characteristic smirk and cocked an eyebrow at them. "I believe the words you're searching for are 'thank' and 'you'."

"For solving a problem you yourself created?" Diggle asked.

Malcolm shrugged. "Well, what can I say? Life isn't always fair."

Felicity started to get out of her chair to strike Malcolm, but Oliver quickly grabbed her around the waist. "Don't, Felicity. It's not worth it."

Felicity shrugged off Oliver's hands and sat back down. "Then what happened?"

"Nyssa prevented me from beheading her father, so we left him with her. She will probably use the Pit to resurrect him, but the blood oath over my and Thea's heads have been erased."

Diggle said in slow, measured words, "So it's truly over."

Oliver said, "Yes, it is. Even if Ra's does come back to life, he has no beef with me. I didn't kill Sara. Malcolm beat him in a duel, so the blood debt is now erased from their heads. Unless we give him a reason, Ra's will leave us alone." Looking at Malcolm, Oliver said, "Ra's will not have any more reason to come after us, right, Malcolm?"

"No, there is nothing. And no, I don't plan to ever give them a reason again to come after me."

"Which brings up an interesting point, Malcolm. What are you planning on doing now?"

Malcolm considered the question. "Understandably I haven't really had a chance to think about it. However, I'm planning on resuming my life in Starling. I do have some business ventures still going strong."

Oliver pursed his lips. "I trust they are on the up and up?"

Malcolm said, "Now why would I give you any more problems, Oliver? Especially since we know each other so well."

Felicity whispered, "How can we trust him, Oliver?"

Shrugging, Oliver grimaced. "What else can we do, Felicity? However," fixing another solemn gaze upon Malcolm, "he knows what we are capable of."

Throughout the discussion Diggle had finished patching Malcolm up. Rising, Malcolm said, "Thanks, John," approached Oliver and held out his hand. Oliver looked at it for a moment then grasped it. "Are we burying the hatchet, Malcolm?"

"Yes, and unbelievably, not in each other. I promise you, Oliver, I won't do anything to bring out the archer side of you again."

"I will hold you to it, Malcolm. I hope so, for Tommy's sake. I promised him once not to kill you. I hope you don't make me regret that promise."

"I won't." Malcolm returned to his seat. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe I will catch up on my sleep. Sleeping on a hard dungeon floor isn't very refreshing, you know."

The team fell into a comfortable silence. Soon gentle snores were heard coming from Malcolm. Felicity stifled a giggle behind her hand. Oliver gave her a little hug, then also settled down for a nap. The rest of the trip was spent uneventfully. The group again was silent as they left the plane. Felicity walked with Diggle over to their waiting car, observing the limo waiting for Malcolm.

Oliver accompanied Malcolm over to the limo. Malcolm turned, and again offered his hand to Oliver. "Thank you again, Oliver. I know it may not mean much, but I'm truly sorry about all which had happened. I made some wrong choices, but I won't let you down from now on."

Oliver sighed. "I certainly hope so."

"And, if you need me with, you know, the Archer business, all you need to do is call me."

"It's your fault we got into this trouble in the first place. I don't know if I can trust you any time soon."

"I understand, Oliver. But I really do mean it." Turning, he got into the car, nodded to his driver, who took off.

Oliver watched the car leave the airfield. He shook his head as he wondered if it was all truly over. Whether Ra's would indeed leave them alone, after they had defeated him. Whether Malcolm was truly going to stay out of criminal activity. Giving a small shrug, he turned and walked towards the van where Diggle and Felicity were waiting for him. All he can hope for is to wait and see what the future may bring.

AN: Well, that's the end. I may decide to write a sequel, but at this time I'm going to leave this particular AU alone. However, you never know with that muse of mine. I would like to thank all of you for reading, and especially those who favored, followed, and reviewed. It really does feed the muse. I hope you will leave one last review for this story, and hope to see you again with my next story, or my other stories. And, no promises, but if you have any suggestions for a sequel, feel free to let me know. All sorts of interesting possibilities exist with this AU. Thanks again!