Author's note: So, the story continues. This time, we see things from Malcolm's point of view, as well as several OCs' (those of you who read my other Dark Archer stories will recognize them). Remember this is AU and some Canon combined.

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to the respective entities creating the show. This is done for entertainment purposes only.

Warning: angst, gore

Undefeated

Chapter 2: Craters

XxXxXxX

Lian Yu.

Malcolm staggered slightly after he jumped onto the landmine, struggled to regain his balance for a second after this complicated manouver of simultaneously pushing Thea out of harm's way.

"Oh my God!' Felicity screamed.

Malcolm allowed himself a brief sigh of relief as he shot a glance at Thea and realized she was okay and that the landmine didn't actually explode.

Thea jumped up and tried to protest; they all tried to talk him out of doing what he was about to do. Thea begged him to reconsider, her spiteful tone from just a few minutes ago replaced with the tenderness he remembered from their time in Corto Maltese. Even Felicity looked at him with concern.

Malcolm chuckled bitterly on the inside. People he had hurt, people that had hated, despised, wished him dead for years, now suddenly wanted him to live? How ironic. He couldn't dwell on that now, though. There were more important things he needed to focus on. He remembered what Oliver had said to him by the cages after they freed the prisoners, the boy's mild, pleading tone.

'Make sure that everyone stays safe.'

That was precisely what he was going to do. He was deeply touched by Oliver's trust in him, the way he relied on him again, like he had when they were infiltrating the League. Despte their fights, the way Oliver had maimed him, Malcolm still thought of him as a son. And he had made an internal oath he woud never fail him again. Neither him, nor Thea.

Suddenly, they heard running footsteps and a weird wooshing sound. A sharp boomerang lodged itself in a nearby tree.

Malcolm turned slightly, making sure his foot was still placed firmly on the mine. He noticed Digger Harkness and Talia Al Ghul's Ninjas approaching.

The time for action had come. He turned to the others.

"Alright, quick, get her out of here! All of you go!" he shouted.

Thea started to protest, but there was no time to dawdle.

"GO!" Malcolm yelled in his most commanding voice that brooked no objection, and she obeyed.

XxXxXxX

Life had taught Malcolm Merlyn to never enter a situation without a backup plan. This time was no different.

Despite his dethronement from the seat of Resh Al Ghul, he still had a network of associates and friends whom he had nourished for years.

The moment he learned he was to fly to Lian Yu with Oliver, he alerted four of his most trusted, most faithful friends about the situation. He had known them since the Undertaking. Two trained mercenaries, Emily Carson and Sabrina Snow; a former agent of the CIA, Kevin Mc Douggal and former MI6 operative, Timothy Kent. Malcolm actually had developed a romantic relationship with Emily, quite unexpectedly some time ago, and it continued on. They managed to combine it with their professional life seamlessly.

His four associates came to the Island on a separate plane, their presence a secret because the Dark Archer sensed some of Oliver's so-called allies were bound to betray him.

Malcolm had made a point of finding out everything he could about the Island when he'd sent Thea and Oliver there when he was training them. Right before this trip, he shared the information with his friends. Maps, blueprints of buildings, the works. He had a secret commlink to them, but had ordered complete radio silence.

The ordeal they faced with Talia and Adrian Chase complicated matters significantly. He wasn't sure of his associates' current location, or if they were even alive. They were the secret aces up his sleeve, but he was not sure of anything right then. Well, only of the fact he was standing on a landmine, with enemies approaching.

Yet another time when he apparently had to face it all alone. Why wouldn't he ever learn that he could rely only upon himself?

He was never one to give up though, even in the face of odds like these. He had to strategize, but also face the risk his strategy might fail. Was he ready for… Something he'd spent so long trying to escape? Well, in his type of life it was always a possibility, after all. And if it happened, at least it would be for something that was worth it. A purpose, a promise, a goal, for… family.

What awaited him on the other side? He found himself wondering. Was there even any 'other side', or just... nothingness? His time as Resh and the Lazarus Pit resurrections suggested there was, but it seemed different for everyone. Also, he couldn't exactly ask Sara or Thea to elaborate on their time there after they returned. All he knew was what he'd gleaned from some non-specific books in the Nanda Parbat library.

So, what was hidden behind the veil? Would he see Rebecca and Tommy? Malcolm chuckled inwardly again. If one were to go with the Catholic faith and assume that Heaven and Hell existed, he surely wouldn't. One thing he had no doubt about in all this was that his wife and son definitely qualified for Heaven and that was definitely not where he would be going. Hell it must be, then. Funnily enough, with all that he'd been through over the years, sometimes it felt as if he already was in hell while still alive.

All the popular imagery of eternally burning in fire, being tortured by the devil and his minions, used since time immemorial to scare the faithful away from sin didn't cause Malcolm any fear. He knew there were far worse things than even the most exruciating physical pain.

He didn't really think he had much to actually live for anyway. His daughter hated him, didn't even think of him as a father. Oliver… Oliver had never hidden the fact he wouldn't forgive him for what he had done to Sara, to Thea... His mild, even respectful demeanor towards Malcolm lately, devoid of its usual hatred might be just because… the Arrow needed him as a tool? What if this was what Oliver wanted? Would he care if…? Would anyone care?

Then his thoughts turned to Emily, the relationship they'd developed, to his other friends. But were they alive? Or had he lost them too?

No, he couldn't think like this. He needed to strategize, to at least try.

He relaxed his position, heard Harkness get closer and closer.

"Go after the rest!" Captain Boomerang barked to his minions.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Malcolm warned and something in his voice made the ninjas stop in their tracks, then start circling him instead.

"Oh, well, you don't seem too bright. You're out standing here in the open like this. What kind of backwards strategy is that?" Harkness mocked.

Malcolm slumped his shoulders then, assuming a disappointed tone of voice.

"Can't you see there's no strategy here?! They just left me and ran away." Malcolm channeled all his past grief and pushed it into his voice to make the lie more believable.

"Well perhaps you should find yourself some better friends."

"You know, I can't even remember a time when I had true friends, it-it's so far in the past." He allowed his voice to grow weaker, hoarse with resignation.

Harkness came even closer, put a hand on his shoulder. "Perhaps you could find some right here and now. You know, you're a skilled fighter, we would appreciate someone like you. True friends, that don't leave you behind."

Malcolm pretended to lean on him slightly, manuvering Harkness onto the mine ever so slowly. A glance at his boots told him the man wouldn't even sense he was stepping on a landmine, the sole of his shoe was so thick. "Really, you would offer me that?" he asked, to distract him just in case. It worked perfectly.

"Of course." Harknesss said, but Malcolm knew what a huge lie that was.

"I would like that, so much," he said and slid fully away from the mine pulling the man closer in a fake friendly embrace. Harkness was now standing on the landmine. Malcolm heard the ninjas around them sheathe their swords at his feigned display of submission.

"So, now, we will go after your false friends and end them?" Harkness asked.

"Yes, and I think I know how to do it." Malcolm flashed him a pretend smile.

"Oh?"

Malcolm drew a short breath, channeled his determination. Now was the moment to risk everything for the ones he truly loved. Thea. Oliver.

"Let me show you." He hardened his gaze, braced himself, then grabbed the man's arm, used the leverage to perform a salto and jump away. Harkness was so shocked by the manouver that he took a step.

The mine was old, so it did not explode immediately, but the blast force still managed to reach Malcolm, throwing him against a tree. He hit his head hard and the world spun as if he were on some mad rollercoaster. His entire body hurt with what felt like a thousand bruises, he didn't even have the strength to check for injuries. He leaned against the tree and looked around, fighting against his increasingly blurry vision. He noticed with satisfaction that he had managed to take out Harkness and his ninjas.

He smiled at the thought that he had fulfilled his promise to Oliver, then allowed himself to slip into blackness.

XxXxXxX

Lian Yu, different part of the Island.

Emily, Sabrina, Kevin and Tim slipped through the woods quietly, senses on high alert for any signs of danger, weapons at the ready.

"Kev, are you absolutely certain you landed the plane where Malcolm instructed?" Emily asked when they stopped briefly by a large rock. She put away her bow and consulted the map again. "Because it sure looks like we should be clear of this part of the forest by now, and we passed the remnants of that old camp like an hour ago."

Kevin sighed in exasperation. "For the umpteenth time, Emily, YES, I am absolutely certain. Perhaps instead of questioning my navigation skills you should make sure you're reading the map right."

Emily turned on him with a Medusa glare, huffed, then looked at the map again. "YES, I am. We should have passed a stream, then a little bit more forest and a clearing, then more forest. Now, there was no stream and no clearing. Instead we got that weird fork in the road and... what the hell is THIS doing here?! It's not on the map!" she exclaimed, indicating a path she noticed just ahead that crossed the one they were on.

"Would you guys keep it down?" Sabrina admonished and approached the path, then crouched down to examine it. "This looks new. Ems, we all know the island holds tonnes of secrets and the maps Malcolm gave us haven't been updated for about two years. We also know for a fact that it hasn't exactly been uninhabited, so the topography might have changed and he warned us that some distances are estimations."

"Great, so this thing is pretty much useless." Emily smacked the map in frustration. "Tim, I need you to activate Malcolm's commlink again."

"Ems, his instructions were clear. Only in case of emergency. He'd kill me if he knew I did that once already."

"Well, the fact you activated it made us aware of that scumbag Harkness' betrayal and gave us a sitrep on what's going on, didn't it? We can listen in without alerting him, just like before. This IS an emergency, Tim. Adrian Chase is a whacko and Talia Al Ghul is completely unpredictable. I haven't even met the woman but I already hate her. Malcolm and the rest may have been ambushed or- or worse. And our rendezvous point might have changed."

"Fine." Tim took out a small device, pressed a few keys and the commlinks came back to life.

There was some crackling, sounds of multiple footsteps. Then they heard Malcolm.

"I've travelled halfway across the world to rescue you. I thought it would at least entitle me to a conversation."

"Yeah, well, it doesn't," came Thea's petulant voice.

Emily rolled her eyes. She was well aware of Malcolm's history with his daughter, of her stubborn refusal to forgive him, despite his best efforts at redemption, despite the numerous times he'd rescued her. She was also aware of how much he loved Thea, how much her rejection pained him. Just one look at his face when they met always sufficed to let Emily know he'd been to see Thea and received another dose of filial hatred. Emily tried to help him through it as best she could.

She was one of the very few who had seen the true Malcolm Merlyn, the heart that yes, still existed under the steely facade of coldness and cruelty he had to show the rest of the world to survive and protect those he loved. Despite his undeniable mistakes and the atrocities he had commited, he was a good person. Emily would not have fallen in love with him so completely if it were otherwise.

The fact that his own daughter, his own blood couldn't see his true nature, was beyond her understanding.

"Did it ever occur to you that I am here because I'm your father?" Malcolm asked. And there it was. That blink-and-you-miss-it tinge of sadness in his voice.

"No you're not. We really are nothing to each other, don't you understand that?!"

Emily winced. That must have felt like a dagger in his heart and since she shared this uncanny connection with him, she felt it too. Oh, what an ungrateful little brat! Emily thought angrily. If she'd been there, she would have slapped the girl across the face.

There was a sudden silence on the other side, then she heard Malcolm inform the others that Thea just activated a landmine. Awesome. What kind of an idiot walks through hostile territory without watching where they step?!

Emily's angry thoughts were interrupted by Malcolm's announcement he was going to take Thea's place on the mine. She froze. Oh, no. Hell, no. She started to lift her hand to her ear to activate the transmission mode of her commlink, but Kevin grabbed her and stopped the movement. She turned to him in protest, but his grip remained firm as he shook his head. You know better than to interfere. Emily lowered her hand resignedly. She knew he was right. There was no way anyone could persuade Malcolm not to protect his daughter, whatever the cost to himself. She could only hope the others in Malcolm's group could find an alternative way to solve the situation.

Suddenly, there was a commotion on the other side of the line.

"What the hell are you doing?" came Thea's shocked exclamation.

"I'm gonna take care of them, disarm the mine, and I'll catch up with you," Malcolm responded, sounding a little out of breath.

"Yeah, how are you gonna do that with one foot planted on the-" Felicity piped up.

Emily's world suddenly became very, very small.

So he had done it. Of course he would. It didn't take a scientist to figure out Malcolm had somehow forced Thea off the landmine and was now standing on it himself. And the 'them' he'd referred to, it was obvious what that meant. They were being pursued by the enemy. And Malcolm couldn't move.

Emily listened to the rest of the conversation as if it were some sort of a bad dream. She vaguely noted the mortified expressions on her friends' faces as they did the same. There was nothing they could do to help. Even if they spoke to Malcolm now, there was no way they could pinpoint his location without GPS, or get there in time to make any difference.

Emily's heart sank even further when she heard the sound of Malcolm's companions running away, then his slow, deep breaths. A warrior, preparing himself to die in battle. It was so familiar, so close to her heart, and yet so distant.

Then she heard another set of footsteps approaching, followed by Harkness' smug remarks. Her heart almost shattered at Malcolm's sad, broken tone when he responded. She forced herself to listen anyway and quickly became aware of Malcolm's tactic. He was luring Harkness and his goons in, as close as possible, to take them out and protect those that had left him behind. He was the shield, the lone guardian that would destroy himself to protect those who'd given him nothing but hatred and then left him behind with so little persuasion.

Oh, Malcolm.

Emily looked around desperately, took a few steps forward, then stopped and changed direction, stopped again, swiveling from side to side in a futile attempt to figure out where to go, the desire to do something, to get a clue where Malcolm might be. The sound of his voice in the comm as he spoke to Harkness made it seem as if he was right there, next to her and it drove her mad that she couldn't see him or touch him. It was the most excruciating form of torture the universe could have ever come up with.

"Let me show you," Malcolm said to Harkness, clearly pretending to go along with the man's plan of killing Oliver's team.

Suddenly, they heard a deafening roar of an explosion. The woods around them echoed with the sound. Smoke appeared above the trees in the far distance to their left.

"MALCOLM!" Emily screamed. She quickly pressed the transmission button on her commlink and kept calling his name. Silence.

She let out a mixed cry of grief and frustration, then grabbed her bow and started running in the direction of the smoke. She disregarded whatever her companions were shouting after her as they followed. All she heard was the wild thumping of her own heart as she jumped over boulders and rocks.

Small branches of bushes and trees whipped her across the face, but she didn't even feel the pain. She admitted vaguely that she was displaying even more stupidity than Thea by not looking where she was going in a territory such as this, but she was beyond caring. A perverse thought hit her. If the worst had actually happened, if Malcolm was really… Then she would search for another mine and step on it deliberately herself.

Life just had no meaning for her without him. Over the years, he had become the absolute center of her universe. First he was her employer and mentor, a man she greatly respected and admired.

Yet, it wasn't long before their uncanny connection became obvious and the relationship progressed to something she had never experienced before. She'd never thought any sort of romance was in store for her, had given up on it in her early twenties after a series of disappointments and increasing disillusionment with basically everything.

Meeting Malcolm changed all of that. Her entire world shifted. Suddenly it had a purpose, it made sense. And the word 'romance' seemed like a cheap and cheesy way to describe her relationship with him. What they had was so much more. They understood each other on a deep, instinctive level that sometimes seemed almost supernatural. Neither of them was looking for a partner, and yet, during their first meeting something simply clicked, as if, even before they consciously realized it, their souls had recognized each other and whispered, 'Ah, there you are.'

With Malcolm by her side, she felt she could accomplish anything she wanted, weather any storm. He challenged and encouraged her, helped her overcome self-doubt and achieve things she never thought she would. He showed her love after she'd almost resigned herself to the fact she wouldn't find any.

His indomitable spirit never ceased to amaze and insipre her. His courage and refusal to give up, even in the face of overwhelming odds made him seem like an unstoppable force of nature. Thanks to Malcolm, after years of feeling as if life was just going through the motions, Emily finally felt happy.

Had all of it been taken away, snuffed out just minutes ago with that ugly, soul-splitting roar of an explosion?

"Let me show you," Malcolm's voice echoed in her ears. Her mind flashed back to when he had spoken these very same words to her so many times before, when they practiced combat techniques together, when he helped her increase her skills. And on other occasions too, when they travelled around the world on various missions and managed to sneak in some alone time, away from the madness around them. He'd show her breathtaking landscapes, surprise her with spur-of-the-moment trips, encourage her to try new experiences.

Were those precious words the last she'd ever hear from him, spoken to a scumbag of an enemy, right before… Emily choked on her tears. She came to a halt and leaned against a tree, breathing heavily. Her mind was ablaze with images of Malcolm.

The way he'd smile at her from across the table at dinner when they clinked their wine glasses, the surreptitious wink and sideways grin he'd throw her after they'd defeated an enemy during a mission. How he knew exactly what to do to comfort her in her moments of sadness or despair. How he would occassionally stand at the window and stare away into the distance, deep in thought, a myriad of subtle expressions flashing across his face... She'd learned to read them and loved each and every one.

He sometimes seemed to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders and yet never complained. No matter what fate threw his way, how it tried to break him or how many times it caused him to fall down, he always found a way to rise again. He imparted that unique skill to her unlike any self-help book or psychology course ever could. All it took was a few conversations, but nothing spoke louder than his actions, the way he just naturally led by example.

Fate. This word, a word she vehemently hated, returned to her mind. Her mouth twisted in anger and contempt. Why was it so cruel to so many people? Why did it maim them and destroy their lives? Why had it been so unjust to Malcolm? He was an innocent person before his wife was torn from him. Emily was no stranger to sudden, unexplained loss herself, so she understod why he'd reacted the way he had. And despite all the killing and everything he had done since, he'd managed to retain his soul, no matter what other people claimed. Today, he finally proved it to them, once and for all, the blind fools that they were. But did it have to cost him his life? Emily's breath hitched and her entire body spasmed. No, this couldn't end like this. This was just... hell.

'If you're going through hell, just keep going.' One of Malcolm's favourite sayings rang in her ears. Emily straightened up and looked at the sky. The ugly smoke taunted her with its macabre dance. In that moment, it represented everything she abhorred. Fate. Loss. Injustice. Broken dreams.

'Keep going.'

Emily wiped away her tears, her gaze turning from sad to steely as she stared the smoke down. It was beginning to disperse. There was no time to dawdle. Whatever awaited her, wherever this beacon of doom was leading her, she had to get there and face it. She strenghtened her grip on her bow and broke into a run again.

'Keep going.' It was like a melody or a chant deep inside her that made her push on, run faster and faster, despite the burning in her lungs and the wild drumming of her heart in her ears.

'Keep going.'

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Emily cleared the densest part of the forest. The smoke was now just meters away. She could feel the change in the air; her eyes stung from its effects. Suddenly, she emerged onto a wide path and found herself looking at a small crater right in the middle of it.

The smoke was mostly coming from the smoldering branches of bushes and other undergrowth, not the crater itself. She approached it slowly and took in the macabre landscape. Charred and bloody pieces of human flesh were mixed with torn clothing, startlingly white pieces of bones sticking out from the disrupted ground. On the other side of the crater, she noticed black-clad, grotesquely twisted bodies of the ninjas that were clerly far enough from the mine not to get blown into pieces like… like anyone who had actually stood on it.

Fighting her increasing nausea, Emily crouched by the edge of the crater and stared into it again, carefully taking in every sickening detail, analysing the colour of the rags around the various bodyparts. The smell of burned flesh made her retch, but she coughed it away and kept searching for any sign of the familiar material of Malcolm's unifom. Suddenly, her eyes fell onto something else. She blinked several times as she studied the black object at the bottom of the crater. Emily dropped her weapon and jumped inside. She knelt and grabbed the object, desperately hoping it wasn't what she thought it was. And yet, the unmistakeable shape told her she had guessed correctly.

It was the lower part of Malcolm's bow, broken off just above the grip. She still refused to believe it, but the oh so familiar vertical gash on the weapon's limb caused by an enemy's scimitar during one of their missions cruelly removed all doubt. Emily let out an almost animal-like cry of anguish and started crawling in the dirt, grabbing one piece of flesh after another, ripping the rags away.

Black, all black ninja clothes, some black leather, but none of Malcolm's charcoal League uniform. She couldn't be sure though, her vision was blurred by tears and dirt and the rags were covered in dirt and ash, burned. She couldn't know for certain. She kept on crawling in a mad frenzy, her shaking hands dripping with blood and covered in tissue. She barely registered the squishing of trampled flesh and the guttural sounds emitted by her own throat.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her arm and her entire body jerked violently in surprise.

"Emily, Emily, Ems!" She turned to the speaker, wild eyed and confused. It was Sabrina, kneeling beside her, her face ashen with shock and concern. "Emily, what are you-" She broke off when Emily crawled away rapidly, grabbed something then turned back towards her.

"Look, Bri, look!"

"Oh, dear Lord!" Sabrina exclaimed as she recognized the object Emily was holding.

"Bri, y-you need to help me. I-I can't find… There's just these black rags… He… he's not here, I-can't see his- I…" Emily was still patting the ground frantically, slapping Sabrina's hands away.

There was a thud right next to them. Kevin. He helped Sabrina practically manhandle Emily into a standing position, then forced her to climb out of the crater. She tried to wriggle away from them and jump back in.

"D-don't you understand? I wasn't finished, I h-have to find him, I have t-to-" She broke off suddenly and sank into Sabrina's arms as if all of her strength gave out. Bri held her close and rubbed her back gently, tears starting to stream down her face as well.

Emily breathed in the scent of her friend's leathers and struggled to regain some clarity. Finally, she straightened herself up and took a small step backwards, still clinging to Sabrina's arm, holding the broken piece of Malcolm's bow tightly in her other hand. Kevin and Tim were standing nearby, haunted expressions on their faces. Nobody said a word.

XxXxXxX

The chaotic despair in Emily's mind was replaced by a kind of surreal stupor. She caressed the grip of the bow and tried to take a deep breath, but her lungs seemed to be constricted, unable to hold enough air. Her senses were selectively hyper-alert to certain stimuli. The red of the blood, the blackness of the rags and the dirt, the green of the surrounding forest, the spitingly cheerful blue of the sky. The feel of the broken weapon in her hand, the warmth of Sabrina's arm, the breath of wind on her skin.

Wait. Wind and clear blue skies? Emily's stupor shifted suddenly and she noticed that the smoke had cleared. The visibility was now incomparably better than when she'd arrived. She looked around again. Red, black, blue, green. So much green...

Charcoal.

Emily shook her head slightly and blinked several times to focus her gaze. She gasped. There seemed to be a charcoal-clad figure slumped against a tree some distance to their left. Emily squezed her eyes shut for a few seconds to make sure her imagination and wishful thinking weren't playing tricks on her. No, the figure was still there. She let out a stifled cry and started running towards the tree. She fell onto her knees next to it, but even before she turned the man onto his back, she knew it was him.

"Malcolm!" Emily put her hands on his cheeks gently. His eyes were closed, blood trickled from a gash on his forehead. He wasn't moving. Emily reached to check for a pulse, but her own heart was thumping so wildly that she couldn't sense anything else. She tried to see if he was breathing, but her hands were shaking too much. She was useless. All she could observe for certain was the unnatural pallor of his skin.

"Emily, move aside a little, I'm going to check on him." Kevin. She'd been so preoccupied with her discovery she hadn't even heard the others arrive just seconds after her. She shifted her position. Kevin had been recruited by the CIA straight from med school, so he was best equipped to examine Malcolm. He crouched next to the archer's slumped form and pressed his fingers to Malcolm's neck. The whole world seemed to hold its breath, seconds stretched into eternity.

"He's alive, but his pulse is weak. Let me see if he has any other injuries."

Emily slumped against the tree next to Malcolm in relief, holding onto his right forearm, wishing to transfer her own lifeforce to him in some supernatural way to help him fight on. She couldn't look away from his face. After thinking she'd never see him again, each tiny detail of his features was like a rediscovered, most precious treasure. She removed his glove and intertwined her fingers with his, gently caressing his hand. His skin was warm, so she took it as a good sign and let Kevin contiue the examination.

"Uh-oh," he said after a while.

"What is it?" Emily crouched closer again.

Kevin retrieved a medkit from his backpack and indicated a nasty gash in Malcolm's left thigh. A piece of metal was sticking out of it, blood drenching the trouser leg. Emily inhaled sharply as she noticed there was a pool of it sinking into the ground as well.

"Probably shrapnel from the mine. I can't remove it here. It might have nicked an artery and he'd bleed out. A tourniquet will have to do for now," Kevin explained, then took out the necessary items from the medkit.

"Oh, no," Emily said as she noticed that Malcolm's suit was also covered in blood on the right side of his abdomen, the leather torn. She examined it gingerly and noted with relief that it seemed to be only a flesh wound. The Kevlar vest Malcolm always wore under his suit had mitigated the damage from whatever lethal piece of metal the mine had sent flying.

Kevin finished applying the tourniquet, glanced at the wound in Malcolm's right side and confirmed Emily's diagnosis. "Damn, these mines are all sorts of weird-you-out nasty," he commented as he reached for more bandages. "I've seen some sick shit in my days at the Agency, but this just takes the cake. It's like an anti-personnel and anti-tank mine thrown into one and then put on steroids."

Emily just shook her head mutely and started cleaning the gash on Malcolm's forehead, then moved on to other minor scrapes and bruises.

XxXxXxX

Sabrina and Tim had returned to the road to make sure there were no more enemies arriving, and to secure the perimeter. They circled the crater, weapons at the ready. Tim shot a glance at Sabrina, noticed the tracks tears had made in the dirt on her cheeks. She wasn't crying now, her gaze determined and focused; her black and red bow ready to shoot at a moment's notice.

She didn't express her emotions as openly as Emily, but he knew that the entire situation had hit her just as hard, albeit in a slightly different way. Malcolm was her best friend and mentor. She often displayed character traits similar to the Dark Archer - stubborn and cold when necessary, firm and steady in her convictions, but at the same time warm and caring, capabe of every sacrifice for those she held dear.

"Hey, Bri, you okay? It was um, pretty intense down there in the crater with Emily," he asked, moving a little closer, his Beretta directed at a particularly dense cluster of bushes that rustled in the wind.

"Yes, but what hasn't been intense lately? And I'll be okay once we get off this hellhole of an island. I mean, I love nature and landscapes, but there is something majorly iffy about this place."

"Oh yeah, bad ju-ju in the air. This place gives me the creeps even when it's bathed in sunshine. They could definitely shoot a crazy-ass horror movie in here someday and they wouldn't even need props. It reminds me of this sick game I once played online with-"

"Shhh," Bri hushed him as they came closer to the cluster of twisted bodies lying near the far edge of the crater. "I think I heard something." She took a few steps forward, passed a large boulder and stopped suddenly when she saw a black clad masked figure of a ninja impaled upon one of the branches of a fallen tree trunk. He'd clearly been thrown there by the landmine's blast force. And, unfortunately, survived the fall. Bri grimaced at the guttural moan that escaped the doomed creature. The very thing that was keeping him alive now was the very reason of his impending demise.

Sabrina crouched by the figure and removed the mask. She noticed with shock it was a very young man, probably Chinese, barely in his twenties. His eyes flashed with pure fury and hatred, and despite his mortal wound, he still snapped his hand out and tried to grab her by the neck. Bri swatted it away with no effort, then pinned both of his hands to the ground, her temper flaring at his fanatical, animalistic behavior. He tried to writhe away stubbornly, causing even more damage to his already destroyed internal organs.

"Get… away… from… me, you bitch!" He said with a thick Asian accent.

Bri just rolled her eyes at the invective and took out a dagger from her boot, then pressed it to the boy's throat. She wasn't a person who'd torture a fallen, defenseless enemy just because they offended her with their expletives, but she had an idea of how to try to make the best of this hopeless situation. She cupped his head in her hand, the dagger still pressed firmly against his neck, drawing the smallest trickle of blood.

The hatred in his eyes was replaced by the briefest flash of panic.

"Listen, whatever your name is," Bri said in an even, matter of fact tone, "As I'm sure you've noticed, you've had a very unfortunate encounter with this tree branch here and to put it bluntly, you are a goner. However, what you do not realize is that dying from a wound like yours can take a long time. I know you're in a lot of pain. I can help you. The only thing you need to do is tell me what your masters are planning for my friends and where they're hiding. I promise you won't have to suffer then. I'll end it quickly."

The boy looked at her for a moment, then turned his head to the side and gazed in the direction of the tree where Kevin and Emily were tending to Malcolm's wounds. Suddenly, he started laughing. Bri almost withdrew in shock, but managed to keep her cool. "What's so funny?"

The ninja's cackles were broken off by a fit of coughing.

"Y-you," he gasped when it finally subsided, eyes still fixed on Malcolm. "You think you're so lucky because your friend there survived a mine explosion?" He snorted. "There's so much worse in store." He turned back to look at her, his gaze intense. "You're all going to die out here." He used her surprise to grab her hand and plunge the dagger deep into his neck. Blood squirted from the wound, his body convulsed violently, then went still.

"Freaking hell!" Tim exclaimed.

Bri looked at the rapidly spreading pool of bood on the ground, then shook her head, retrieved her dagger and got up. "Well, he wasn't going to spill his bosses' secrets anyway." She wiped the dagger and shoved it back into her boot. "But, he might have revealed more than he wanted. The way he made light of the mine explosion and how certain he was that we were all going to die here…"

"Might be just a fanatic's blind faith in the omnipotence of his masters." Tim suggested.

"I don't think so. There's something in the way he said it, it's just…" Bri started walking towards the trees, stepping carefully, eyes glued to the ground.

"You think there's more mines here?" Tim said as he followed her.

"Or worse. Adrian Chase is completely unpredictable, for all we know he might have... Wait." She stopped suddenly, then indicated a large boulder in the middle of a small clearing. "Doesn't this look a tad unnatural to you?"

"Yeah, kind of."

They approached the rock and noticed that the ground around it was recently disturbed. Bri crouched down and cautiously moved some of the dirt aside.

"Shit," she exclaimed when she saw a rectangular object buried just beneath the surface, connected to a bunch of cables.

"C4." Tim knelt next to her and helped her dig. The cables led to another stack of C4, then another and another, all the way to the tree line and beyond. "I can't find a triggering mechanism anywhere. The bloody thing just goes on and on like some twisted version of a Christmas tree garland."

Bri got up and turned away from the boulder. "This is useless. We better go tell the others."

XxXxXxX

"Alright, I think we've got all the major wounds patched up," Kevin said as he rolled the sleeve of Malcolm's uniform back down.

Emily nodded and put her hand gently on Malcolm's chest. She didn't know if it was just her wishful thinking, but his breathing seemed to be stronger and more even. She pressed her fingers to his wrist and detected a faint pulse. He still wasn't showing any signs of regaining consciousness, though.

Kevin seemed to have read her mind. "Ems, it might take some time before he wakes up. We've stopped the bleeding, that's a good thing. It's best if we let him rest for a while."

"I'm afraid that's not an option, Kev," Bri said as she and Tim approached them, both wearing morose expressions on their faces.

"What do you mean?" Emily frowned.

"We've just had a 'chat' with one of Talia Al Ghul's ninjas. No time to explain everything now. Suffice it to say, we have to get the hell out of here. We found stacks of C4 buried on the other side of the crater, all connected to what Tim thinks is a remote detonator. I bet if we searched here we'd find some too. The couple from hell probably has the entire island rigged. We need to head back to our plane as fast as possible."

"We really shouldn't move him just yet. He definitely has a concussion and probably other internal injuries we aren't even aware of. Ems hasn't been able to wake him up." Kevin ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

Emily kept her gaze fixed on Malcolm's face, weighing their options. What would he do in her place right now?

"Bri's right," she said finally, her voice surprisingly level. It was something she had learned from the Dark Archer. In certain situations, it was best to quench one's emotions and think analytically.

Kevin started to protest, but she raised her hand to silence him.

"Even if he has internal injuries, we can't identify or treat them here, Kev. And the longer they remain untreated, the worse he may get."

It was hard to quarrel with that argument, so Kevin just nodded as Emily retrieved a map of the island from her pouch. "Bri, you said it's a remote trigger, so I guess there was no timer on this thing?"

"Nope, there wasn't, and it figures. Chase probably wants to make sure he and his whacko allies are safely off the island before he presses the switch."

Emily nodded, studying the map. "So, we don't know how much time we have left and I'm guessing it's not enough. We can't go back to the plane, Bri." She sighed. "It's too far and for all we know the terrain around it is probably rigged as well."

"Well, then, where the the hell can we go?" Bri exclaimed in exasperation, peering over her friend's shoulder.

"Here." Emily indicated a red-marked spot on the map. "According to Malcolm's research, it's an old Chinese prison with extensive underground facilities and an anti-nuclear bunker built for the guards and any politicians that might be visiting. Now, I'm not an expert on explosives, but I guess if it can withstand a nuke, C4 won't be much of a problem?"

"Correct," Tim confirmed." And it should also have a medical wing."

"That we can only find out once we get there, but its four times closer to here than our plane," Bri said. "And medical wing or not, we will be much safer there than out here in the open like this. Let's not forget that aside from the C4 we might have another ninja ambush team to deal with soon if we stay put."

Tim nodded, then his brow furrowed as his gaze travelled towards Kevin, who had resumed his attempts to wake the Dark Archer up, to no avail. "And how do we transport Malcolm? He's still unconscious."

"Kinda hard to find a stretcher in the forest," Bri admitted.

"We're NOT leaving him, if that's what you two are suggesting!" Emily exclaimed, her eyes flashing.

"No one's suggesting that Ems," Bri said in a calming voice.

"There might be a way to wake him up, but it's risky," Kevin added after a beat.

"Tell me." Emily's tone brooked no objection.

"A shot of epinephrine. It would cause an immediate release of a major dose of adrenaline into his system. He'd be conscious and able to move, almost impervious to pain, but it also might result in a heart attack or other complications later on, given that we can't estimate the full extent of his injuries. Ems, I hate to pressure you, but we need to make a decision. And ultimately, I think this particuar choice should be yours."

Emily looked at Malcolm, conflicted thoughts running through her mind with the speed of lightning. It was a 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' type of scenario, multiplied times a gazillion. She could lose him either way and she wasn't prepared for that. She would never be prepared for that. There was no her without him, no life, no world, no moving on. Ever.

There was only one option, really.

"Give him the injection, Kevin," Emily said.

He nodded curtly and took out the injection gun. He pressed it to Malcolm's left thigh.

Emily squeezed her eyes shut, her fists clenched so tightly she felt her nails break the skin of her palms.

Time had come to risk it all.

XxXxXxX

Malcolm sat up with a gasp and looked around in confusion. His heart was racing and his senses were ten times sharper than usual, kicking in all at once, overwhelming him with their onslaught. Colours were more vivid, sounds louder and clearer. Despite the sunshine pouring from the sky, his veins felt as if they were filled with ice. He heard the hum of blood in his ears and felt a pressing urge to move. His hands were shaking, but he managed to lift himself up, barely noticing the arm that wrapped itself around his shoulder and helped him remain upright. Everything seemed to be more intense and yet distant, as if separated by a pane of glass. It was weird and contradictive.

"Easy, easy," Kevin's calming voice helped to get him in touch with reality.

The last thing he remembered was the deafening roar of the mine exploding and the agonizing pain as his body was tossed against the tree. Funnily enough, he didn't feel any pain now. No, to be quite frank, he couldn't be sure of what he felt, there was just so much his brain was trying to process at once.

"Malcolm!" Suddenly he found himself in a passionate and yet gentle embrace, breathing in the familiar scent of Emily's skin as she planted butterfly kisses on his face and whispered "You're here, you're here, tell me this isn't a dream! I've got you, I found you. Tell me you're here, Malcolm, tell me you're here, tell me this is not just a dream!"

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back. Nothing felt distant anymore. Her touch was like a breath of life, a hammer that broke the invisible glass that separated him from the world, a spark that ignited the fire inside.

"It's not a dream. I'm here, Emily. I'm here." He cupped her cheeks in his hands and stared into her stormy blue-grey eyes, wiped away the tears that were streaming down her face.

"Malcolm. My utmost, my everything."

"Emily."

"Never let me go."

"Never. Promise."

"We need to get moving, guys."

Malcolm nodded as Kevin put his hand on his arm.

"Ok, folks ya do your kissy kissy stuff when we get to safety," Tim winked.

"Yeah, behave!" Bri said in a commanding tone.

"Ok, ok!" Emily responded, focusing on the map. "We aren't exactly in the perfect circumstances!"

"Understatement of the year!" Sabrina exclaimed.

"Women!" Kevin and Timothy sighed in exasperated unison.

"To the prison we go, then. And wow, Tim, did I just say that?!"

"Yep," his friend confirmed.

"Awesome."

XxXxXxX

It took them quite a while to make their way to the underground entrance, Kevin and Tim kept supporting Malcolm, Emily and Sabrina with their bows at the ready.

Emily shushed Tim when he tried to start up his tablet. "There might be enemies here!"

Bri just knocked it away from his hands.

"Thanks, Sabrina, a thousand dollars just went out the window!"

"You're welcome! She just saved your ass; she knows what she's doing!" Emily shouted, supporting her friend.

"Okay," Kevin exclaimed.

"Shut up, then!" Sabrina shouted back.

"No hating on the tablets, you two!" Timothy protested.

"No one's hating, just being sensible," Emily said.

"Yeah." Sabrina confirmed. "Let's go, all of ya! We've dallied long enough!"

"Hang on," Emily said quietly, moving ahead of the group, preparing her bow. "We made enough noise just now to alert whoever might be here."

Kevin and Timothy took several steps back, guns at the ready.

Sabrina and Emily looked around as they went further into the compound. It was quiet and calm, but Kevin took out his flashligt anyway. "So far, so good," he said as they met no resistance.

"Don't jinx it!" Sabrina whispered.

"Ok, stop quarreling, we need to get to the medbay ASAP!" Emily said, trying not to shout.

Kevin and Tim nodded, seeing that Malcolm seemed increasingly weak.

Sabrina and Emily kept looking around the desolate place until they found the entrance that said "Medical wing." It was completely abandoned, but well-equipped and the electricity worked too. There were syringes scattered on the floor and tables, the whole place in somewhat of a disarray.

"This actually might be a good thing," Kevin commented. "Means whoever has been here left in a hurry some time ago with no intention of coming back."

He and Timothy helped Malcolm onto a bed. The Dark Archer's breath came in shallow and slow, his gaze unfocused. Kevin checked his pulse again and shook his head with worry. The epinephrine was wearing off. He took off Malcolm's shirt and connected him to a heart monitor as Timothy opened the medical cabinet and found several cases of IV fluid.

"Oh," he sighed with relief and took out a needle and disinfectant, then connected Malcolm to a drip.

The Dark Archer did not seem to get better. Emily sat down on the bed next to him.

"What else can we do?" Sabrina asked. "We need to at least somehow remove that ugly piece of metal from his leg."

"Easier said than done. That piece of metal lodged in there is probably near his femoral artery. We might nick it if we try to remove it, it could cut that and then he'd bleed out within seconds; however we have to do this anyway cause leaving it there won't help. I have an idea, though. Just wait a second, I need to search throuh these drawers for a coagulant. Oh, here it is!" Kevin took out a vial and a syringe, filled it with the liquid and made the injection. He waited a few minutes before he grabbed the pincers and carefully pulled out the piece of metal, keeping pressure above Malcolm's tourniquet.

The Dark Archer sighed in pain as Emily squeezed his hand.

"Ok,so we are done with that." Kevin dropped the abnormally large piece of metal into a bowl Timothy gave him.

Sabrina covered her mouth to stifle her exclamation. "Damn, that thing is huge!"

Emily just shook her head in shock.

Kevin looked at them with an expression of worry.

"Girls, please don't panic, but I think he may have a concussion. This level of pain should have woken him up."

"Oh no," Emily exclaimed, then lay down next to him. "How can we help him?"

"We need to wait. The best option is the IV, but that takes time to work."

"Ok. The exertion of the run didn't help any, I guess."

"Nope, but there was no other choice."

"There wasn't." Kevin confirmed. "Ems, there is an MRI machine here, it will help us to check for any internal injuries after he has his IV."

"Okay."

It seemed as if the IV took forever to drop. Sabrina sighed in exasperation as she paced the room, while all Emily could do was stubbornly stare at each drop of the liquid slowly making its way into Malcolm's vein.

"Ok, Tim, help me move him to the MRI machine," Kevin said when the drip finished and he switched on the screen.

Timothy obliged and soon the scan was underway.

"Hm," Kevin sighed. "The concussion is a given, and severeal fractured ribs too. I was afraid of a punctured lung, but there's no sign of that. Oh shit, and the bone of his right thigh has a tiny fracture. So it's not the vein that's damaged. "

"The news just keeps getting better and better," Emily sighed, putting her hand on Malcolm's cheek.

Well, actually Emily it's good news. It would be worse if the vein was punctured. The bone, we can stabilise in many ways."

"I'm sorry Ems, it will probably take several hours before he wakes up. But the good news is, we seem to have all the meds we need here. And Tim?! How's the kitchen situation?" Kevin asked Timothy who had exited to check out their provisions.

"Mostly canned food, but it should last us like two weeks. And I saw some herbs and stuff on our way here."

"Awesome."

"I think we might have to forget the herbs and stuff for a while," Sabrina said in a suspicious tone.

"What?"

"Just listen."

There was a sinister sound of things exploding above and the entire compound shook, even this far underground as it was.

"Adrian Chase and Talia frikking Al Ghul." Emily sighed.

"Well, no surprise there. We knew they were about to blow the whole island up," Kevin said.

"Doesn't make it okay," Emily grumbled.

"Well, Emily, none of us had a problem with the Undertaking, and most of the people endangered are the ones you hate, like Thea for example." Kevin grinned at his own wit.

Emily approached him, squeezing her dagger in her hand.

"Say that to me again!" she exclaimed as the tremors in the compound grew in strength, almost as powerful as her growl.

"Um." Kevin withdrew in the face of her anger."Sorry, Ems, I didn't mean to offend you."

"No! We all went into the Undertaking fully aware of what it would do, that we all agreed, regardless of Moira and Robert Queen or Frank Chen, or Kyle, we were the aces up Malcolm's sleeve and now you seem to say you are not one of the team?! Have you forgotten what this has always been about? Have you forgotten how your sister died? How my friend died, how Tim's cousin died? How Malcolm's wife died?! How much Bri sacrificed?! Are you that delusional?!"

"Emily, calm down, please!" Kevin exclaimed as the tremors in the room increased.

"No, I won't! You started this! Calling me out on hating Thea, really, Kevin?! You heard on the commlinks what she said to her own father! Whatever he did earlier, I KNOW his reasons, I know him better than anyone of you! He loves her beyond life itself, I thought you realized that! Have you met me yesterday, Kevin, has our friendship been just a fluke?!"

"Emily, no, I didn't want to hurt you."

"Well, you have, so congratulations. And now u made me feel like a bitch 'cause I went with he Undertaking and made yourself a hypocrite in the process 'cause you went with it as well."

"I don't regret taking part in the Undertaking," Kevin said.

"Could have fooled me with what you said just now," Emily exclaimed.

"Please, don't doubt me, Emily. This entire situation is just… taking a toll on my nerves. I worry about Malcolm, about you and Timothy and Sabrina, about Malcolm's daughter, about all of us, I want you to be safe and okay."

Emily approached him slowly and just hugged him spontaneously.

"Thanks, Kev. I'm sorry for blowing up on ya like that. This thing is taking a toll on all of us."

"Yeah." Kevin rubbed her back and whispered a few words that he knew would comfort her.

The tremors increased suddenly, became beyond violent. It seemed as if the entire compound was about to collapse on them.

Kevin grabbed Emily and Timothy did the same with Sabrina, then they all moved to Malclm's bed.

Small bits of concrete dropped down on them and it seemed that the ceiling was about to collapse.

"This isn't going well," Emily said as she lay down on the bed next to Malcolm.

"We need to get some cover!" Sabrina shouted, picking up one of the huge towels, then a few other ones and throwing them on Malcolm and Emily, then Kevin and Timothy, then finally on herself.

The entire room shook, the glass in the medical cases shattered, increasing the noise.

One explosion followed another, followed by a series of tremors.

"Okay, I truly really HATE this!" Emily exclaimed.

Her protest made no difference whatsoever.

Armageddon was in full swing.

XxXxXxX

Authors note: Here it is, the next chapter. OC characters made a major appearance, lots of Malcolm as well.

Review please.

And enjoy yourselves people!

I know I am!